Be wary of working with animals, even in anime.

What They Say:
Amami, the owner of the Rainy Color café, assigned Nozomu Tokura as the manager of the new shop in Hawaii. Even though life of Nozomu is increasingly hectic toward the opening, he and his new fellows in Hawaii keep positive and make their efforts trying to get everything down. Can they make it by the date of opening?

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While the opening episode of Ame-Con!! didn’t set the world on fire it was a nice transition from the previous series to a new location while touching base with the previous cast. With this episode, Amami has headed out to Hawaii to see how things are going with Nozomu and he’s brought the dog Nana with him. The two have quite the relationship from the start but it’s when Amami reveals Nana’s secret talent that things “get real” for the show. That talent is one that I’m sure some baristas will enjoy as she can rank different kinds of coffees by smell, making her quite the connoisseur. It’s an amusing thing for the show to add to it but I was more amused by the way Nana keeps biting at Nozomu, leaving me hopeful for a nice relationship buildup to occur.

In Summary:
While the show is still struggling with its episode length a bit, this season has managed to work things better than the first two I saw and it’s proving to be mildly enjoyable. This one keeps things focused on Nozomu with the arrival of Amami and Nana so it’s a bit more small scale and doesn’t try to tie back to everything. That works well as you can see some fun coming from this dynamic over time and I’m curious to see if/how it’ll all evolve as the show goes on. Plus, the locations are enjoyable to look at so there’s that little bit of escapsim as well.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

© Kazutaro Yamada, Masaki Segawa, Masaki Yamada, Kodansha / Norihiko Sakura Production Committee

The reveal this past July that the Basilisk property was getting a sequel anime and manga series definitely surprised a lot of people but also made a lot of sense. The show has now been titled with Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou and is scheduled for a winter 2018 debut this coming January. It’ll be directed by Junji Nishimura based on the series composition by Shinsuke Oonishi. Takao Maki is handling the character designs and serving as the chief animation director with Seven Arcs Pictures producing the animation.

The Japanese cast includes:

Tasuku Hatanaka as Hachirō Kōga
Inori Minase as Hibiki Iga
Takuya Kirimoto as Kazuma Kusanagi
Ryū Yamaguchi as Kasō Himonji
Cho as Geiin Shichito
Shōhei Tō as Tenjin Yusa
Kosuke Sakaki as Kareha Shogyō
Chafurin as Hōetsu Tsuta
Yuji Murai as Itsuma Irootoroe
Tooru Sakurai as Shūgetsu Suiren

Funimation previously released the anime over the years while Del Rey Manga initially brought out the manga before Kodansha Comics took it over and released it all digitally.

Original Concept: The Iga clan and the Kouga clan have been sworn enemies for more than four hundred years. Only the Hanzo Hattori truce has kept the two families from all-out war. Now, under the order of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, the truce has finally been dissolved. Ten ninja from each clan must fight to the death in order to determine who will be the next Tokugawa Shogun. The surviving clan will rule for the next thousand years.

But not all the clan members are in agreement. Oboro of the Iga clan and Gennosuke of the Kouga clan have fallen deeply in love. Now these star-crossed lovers have been pitted against each other. Can their romance conquer a centuries-old rivalry? Or is their love destined to end in death?

The latest sale rankings have come in from Japan for the week ending October 8th, 2017 with what’s selling in the manga and light novel realm. The manga side has a decent week as the newest volume of Haikyuu ranks well with 365,000 units moved so far. It’s a solid boost over the second place title with Blue Exorcist at 220,000 units. We’ve also got some good things for Black Clover and Gintama with March comes in like a Lion has great second week sales that has it closing in on the 600,000 mark.

On the light novel front, Overlord adds another 40,000 un its in its second week to take it far while the newest volumes of A Certain Magical Index and Kino’s Journey have some strong debuts as well. This past season of anime didn’t inspire a lot of strong backlist sales of light novels so there’s not too much standing out there otherwise.

Manga Rank / This week’s sales by copies / Cumulative sales / Titles

*1. 364,818 *,364,818 Haikyuu!! Vol.28
*2. 219,650 *,219,650 Ao no Exorcist Vol.20
*3. 178,709 *,578,885 3-gatsu no Lion Vol.13
*4. 128,236 *,128,236 Gintama Vol.70
*5. 100,937 *,100,937 Black Clover Vol.13
*6. *96,024 *,*96,024 Shuumatsu no Harem Vol.4
*7. *81,312 *,*81,312 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.8
*8. *73,573 *,*73,573 Grand Blue Vol.9
*9. *66,489 *,*66,489 Ookami-heika no Hanayome Vol.17
10. *59,344 *,*59,344 Robot x Laserbeam Vol.2

11. *53,231 *,*53,231 Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan Vol.23
12. *50,319 *,*50,319 Gakuen Babysitters Vol.15
13. *47,197 *,299,030 Saint☆Onii-san Vol.14
14. *44,541 *,*44,541 Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai Vol.3
15. *32,573 *,210,556 Hoozuki no Reitetsu Vol.25
16. *29,829 *,202,154 Ookiku Furikabutte Vol.28
17. *29,122 *,233,263 Kinou Nani Tabeta? Vol.13
18. *26,043 *,*26,043 Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Arc-V Saikyou Duelist Yuuya!! Vol.2
19. *25,859 *,*25,859 Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Arc-V Vol.4
20. *25,826 *,*25,826 Kuroko no Basket: Replace Plus Vol.7

21. *24,716 *,*24,716 Darwin’s Game Vol.13
22. *24,243 *,230,746 JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 8: JoJolion Vol.16
23. *23,512 *,*23,512 Tomodachi Game Vol.10
24. *22,612 *,*67,171 Uramichi Oniisan Vol.1
25. *21,938 *,*21,938 Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun Vol.7
26. *20,626 *,*76,738 Granblue Fantasy Vol.3
27. *20,362 *,270,555 Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen Vol.3
28. *20,094 *,*20,094 Karadasagashi Vol.15
29. *19,807 *,264,859 Diamond no Ace Act II Vol.9
30. *19,456 *,542,079 Boku no Hero Academia Vol.15

31. *19,314 *,*19,314 Sengoku Gonbee Vol.8
32. *17,552 *,112,492 Kou no Dori Vol.19
33. *16,217 *,284,310 Ajin Vol.11
34. *15,674 *,*16,071 Ameiro Paradox Vol.4
35. *15,402 *,*15,402 Aho Girl Vol.10
36. *15,334 *,*83,987 Ashi-Girl Vol.9
37. *14,884 *,*14,884 Noumen Joshi no Hanako-san Vol.3
38. *14,806 *,*14,806 Taishou Otome Otogibanashi Vol.5
39. *14,664 *,*87,780 Inuyashiki Vol.10
40. *14,252 *,122,639 Fruits Basket: Another Vol.2

41. *14,151 *,*14,151 Sword Art Online: Project Alicization Vol.1
42. *14,123 *,*85,424 Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge Vol.9
43. *13,895 2,431,652 One Piece Vol.86
44. *13,884 *,178,503 P to JK Vol.10
45. *13,670 *,*59,164 Seirou Opera Vol.7
46. *13,603 *,*13,603 Cross Account Vol.1
47. *13,561 *,*59,933 Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Double Seven-hen Vol.1
48. *12,903 *,112,778 Himouto! Umaru-chan Vol.11
49. *12,493 *,252,576 Mahoutsukai no Yome Vol.8
50. *12,286 *,*12,286 Harapeko no Marie Vol.2

Light Novel Rank / This week’s sales by copies / Cumulative sales / Titles

*1. 39,990 138,540 Overlord Vol.12
*2. 16,304 *16,304 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Vol.19
*3. 14,804 *14,804 Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World Vol.21
*4. 13,491 *33,717 Knights & Magic Vol.8
*5. 12,451 160,936 Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.Vol.12
*6. 11,226 *18,963 Kokuhaku Yokou Renshuu “Heart no Shuchou”
*7. *9,704 **9,704 Kekkai Sensen 2
*8. *9,647 199,872 Sword Art Online Vol.20
*9. *8,381 *13,161 Shounen Onmyouji “Kegare no Migiwa e Koishitau”
10. *7,623 **7,623 Netgame no Yome wa Onna no Ko ja Nai to Omotta?Vol.15

11. *7,343 *54,352 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Vol.14
12. *7,157 **7,157 Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon Vol.24
13. *6,458 **6,458 Black Clover: Kishidan no Sho
14. *6,086 **6,086 Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? Vol.7
15. *5,356 *14,631 Kenja no Mago Vol.7
16. *4,850 *38,895 Hidan no Aria Vol.26
17. *4,787 **7,683 Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Mou Ichido dake, Aemasu ka? Vol.5
18. *4,163 *95,259 Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Vol.4
19. *3,812 **3,812 Majutsushi to Torikago no Hanayome
20. *3,520 **5,218 Ichika Koukyu Ryourichou Vol.5

21. *3,509 *85,133 Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Vol.5
22. *3,688 **3,688 Saikyou no Kanteishi tte Dare no Koto?
23. *2,844 **2,844 Outo no Gakuen ni Kyousei Renkou sareta Saikyou no Dragon-Rider wa Chou ga Tsukuhodo Inakamono
24. *2,531 **6,538 Ikinokori Renkinjutsushi wa Machi de Shizuka ni Kurashitai Vol.1
25. *2,494 **3,096 Mahoutsukai no Konyakusha Vol.5

[Source: Oricon Youtaijou via MAL]

The success of the new Major 2nd manga series from Takuya Mitsuda that began  in 2015 is going the expected and very welcome route of getting an anime adaptation. The next installment of Weekly Shounen Magazine is set to confirm the news that was teased as that installment of the manga will get the cover and a color page as well. The series has eleven volumes out as of this month for this incarnation.

That original series ran for sixteen years between 1994 and 2010 from Takuya Mitsuda where it produced seventy-eight volumes to its name and over fifty million copies sold. And, of course, a couple hundred anime episodes and a few films.

Plot concept: Daigo is born as the son of Gorou, a father who is too great. What path will Daigo, who is burdened with great expectations, take in baseball?

[Source: ANN]

With Marvel Comics digging into more of the Legacy line aspect of things, the recently renumbered Daredevil is making out well as the 595th issue is landing on November 8th, 2017 and a preview has come out for it. The book comes from writer Charles Soule with artwork from Stefano Landini. It also has a striking cover from the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz that’s almost worth the price of admission alone.

“”MAYOR FISK is really about just one thing: Kingpin becomes…the king,” says series writer Charles Soule. “On page 1 of the story, Wilson Fisk has already become the mayor, with all of the power and resources that come with the position. So, Daredevil has lost the one thing he thought he could always rely on, the place he was sworn to protect: New York City. From there, we see how, and if, he can fight to win it back.”

“The entire DEFENDERS Legacy storyline, KINGPINS OF NEW YORK, is about the power vacuum left in the underworld now that Fisk has become Mayor and gone legit, and how a number of players start a big gang war attempting to fill it,” added SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort.

“The nice thing about the story is that Fisk isn’t just mayor in Daredevil,” said Soule. “It happens in every book across the Marvel Universe. So, every street-level hero (and even the Avengers-types) will feel the pressure from Fisk’s term in office. As you might imagine, he makes New York a very uncomfortable place for anyone who dares to call themselves a superhero. I’ve been building to MAYOR FISK since my first issue on the title, and it’s designed to be a huge epic in the best Daredevil-Kingpin tradition.”

“The Mayor’s reach can even be felt beneath the city streets in VENOM, where he’s deputized Kraven the Hunter to exterminate Stegron’s subterranean community of dinosaur-people,” added editor Devin Lewis.

Plot Concept: Matt Murdock has always had the law on his side, but now that Manhattan is under new rule, the tables have been turned: and it’s the vigilante hero who is on the outside of the law, with the Mayor of Crime ruling over Manhattan.

But Mayor Fisk’s rule won’t just affect the street team – all Marvel characters will feel his power! For fans who have been looking for a closer connectivity within the Marvel Universe, DAREDEVIL #595 is a perfect jumping off point.

DAREDEVIL #595
Written by CHARLES SOULE
Art by STEFANO LANDINI
Cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ
FOC – 10/16/17, On-Sale – 11/08/17

There’s not a lot of anime that gets me to want to really see it on the big screen but my envy is front and center with this. Anime Limited has a limited event coming up at select Cinemaworld theaters on October 27th and 28th in the UK and Ireland for Perfect Blue, the film that really introduced Satoshi Kon to many anime fans. But that’s not the only showing as Showcase, VUE, ODEON, Picturehouse and independent cinemas will be screening it on Halloween night, October 31st. They’ve also brought out a new trailer to promote it that you can see below. The film is being shown in its original Japanese language with English subtitles only.

The title was previously released by Manga Entertainment in the UK and in North America but it’s been out of print for a few years and no Blu-ray release has been offered outside of Asia until Anime Limited brought it out in the UK back in 2013.

Plot Concept: In the world of make-believe… The price of fame… May not be worth the cost of identity…

Pop singer Mima Kirigoe looks forward to a bright new career when she quits her chart-topping trio to become an actress. When she lands a role in a sexually-charged murder mystery, Mima’s life begins to fall apart. Reality and hallucinations merge into a terrifying world where innocence is lost and dreams become nightmare.

Quickly descending into a dangerous state of paranoid delusions, Mima watches as Internet sites appear describing every intimate detail of her life. She is helpless and afraid as her associates are threatened and killed by a mysterious stalker.

TV Tokyo is continuing its promotion for the long running ongoing series Youkai Watch. The 193rd episode of the series is scheduled for an October 20th, 2017 debut and they’ve now brought out the first teaser preview for it.

Please note that TV Tokyo takes these previews down when the episode airs.

The series is directed by Shinji Ushiro based on the series composition by Yoichi Kato. Toshiya Yamada is handling the character designs and it’s animated by Oriental Light & Magic.

The Japanese cast includes Etsuko Kozakura as Jibanyan, Haruka Tomatsu as Kēta Amano, Tomokazu Seki as Whisper, Aya Endo as Fumika “Fumi” Kodama, Chie Satou as Kanchi Imada, Naoki Bandou as Jinmenken, Ryoko Nagata as Kēta’s mom and Tooru Nara as Gorōta “Kuma” Kumashima.

Plot Concept: When Keita frees Whisper, a ghost-like yōkai, from 190 years of imprisonment, Whisper pledges to protect Keita from supernatural dangers. Whisper also gives Keita a watch that allows Keita to see other yōkai. Together with the twin-tailed cat spirit Jibanyan, they encounter lots of yōkai-related problems and solve them.

Aniplex USA has been bringing some of its anime titles to the go90 streaming service from Verizon in order to expand their reach and attempt to catch the attention of potential new viewers that might not see anime otherwise. The distributor’s titles have shifted to numerous services over the years so this isn’t a surprise to see them do that again with some of these. They’ve now added eight more titles to the service, some dubs and some subs, to see what will draw in people that are using g090. The new shows include:

1. Blue Exorcist (Season 1) (dub)
2. Durarara!! (Season 1) (dub)
3. Erased (sub)
4. Eromanga Sensei (sub)
5. Fate/Zero (Seasons 1 & 2) (dub)
6. GRANBLUE FANTASY: The Animation (sub)
7. Gurren Lagann (dub)
8. Hell Girl (Seasons 1 to 4) (sub)

[Source: WTK]

The fall 2017 anime series Himouto! Umaru-chan R is getting into its run a bit more and ahead of the second episode arriving on October 15th, 2017 TOHO has now brought out a preview for it. The anime adaptation of SankakuHead’s manga series is directed by Masahiko Ohta based on the scripts by Takashi Aoshima along with character designs by Aya Takano and that it’ll be done at Dogakoba.

The main cast is set to include Aimi Tanaka as Umaru Doma, Yurina Furukawa as Sylphynford Tachibana, Haruka Shiraishi as Kirie Motoba, Akari Kageyama as Nana Ebina, Kenji Nojima as Taihei Doma, Tetsuya Kakihara as Alex, Hiroki Yasumoto as Bonba and Ami Koshimizu as Kano.

The original manga series has six volumes to its name so far. That property has been running since 2013 in Weekly Young Jump.

Plot concept: The sibling gag comedy manga centers around Umaru, Taihei’s little sister who boasts beautiful looks as well as prowess in both school and sports; however, “Himouto” (beautiful little sister) has a certain secret.

The second series for March Comes in Like a Lion found its home with Crunchyroll recently and they set their plans for it previously . The show was originally scheduled to premiere on October 14th, 2017 at 11:25am ET for their members but will now land at 12:30pm ET. Additionally, it was originally listed as being open to members worldwide outside of Asia but is now set for North America, Central America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The series has Akiyuki Shinbou directing it at Shaft with Nobuhiro Sugiyama as the character designer, Yasuhiro Nakura working on the art setting with Seiki Tamura as art director while Toshiki Kameyama worked on sound direction. Yukari Hashimoto is handling the music for the series.

The Japanese cast includes Nobuhiko Okamoto as Harunobu Nikaido, Kengo Kawanishi as Rei Kiriyama, Ai Kayano as Akari Kawamoto, Kana Hanazawa as Hinata Kawamoto and Misaki Kuno as Momo Kawamoto.

The opening theme song will be performed by BUMP OF CHICKEN and they’ll also be providing the ending theme song with the “Fighter” piece that they collaborated with on previously.

Plot Concept: The protagonist is Rei, a 17-year-old shogi player. He lives by himself, does not have a family, does not go to school, and has scarcely any friends. Among his acquaintances is a family, which consists of a young woman, Akari, and two young girls, Momo and Hinata, and who also keep a numerous number of cats.

© 2017 Yasuhiro Naito / Shueisha · Blood Blockade Battlefron & BEYOND Production Committee

The second episode of Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond is set for October 14th, 2017 and TOHO is doing some new promotion for it with the first preview. The series is seeing simulcast through Crunchyroll as part of their fall season. It’s scheduled to run for twelve episodes with Shighito Takayanagi directing while Yasuko Kamo will be writing it. Toshihiro Kawamoto is the character designer and Bones will be producing the animation.

The show comes from the manga of the same name by Yasuhiro Nightow, who made a name for himself early in the previous decade with his Trigun work. The manga began in 2009 and has nine volumes released so far, with six of them out in North America through Dark Horse Comics. The first season of the anime adaptation was produced by Bones with Rie Matsumoto directing based on scripts by Kazunao Furuya and character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto.

The Japanese cast includes Daisuke Sakaguchi as Leonardo Watch, Rikiya Koyama as Klaus Von Reinhertz, Kazuya Nakai as Zapp Renfro, Yu Kobayashi as Chain Sumeragi, Hikaru Midorikawa as Zed O’Brien, Ai Orikasa as K.K., Banjou Ginga as Gilbert F. Altstein, Mitsuru Miyamoto as Steven A. Starphase and Yūma Uchida as Sonic Speed Monkey.

Plot Concept: Produced by Studio Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist, Space Dandy, Soul Eater) and created by Trigun writer Yasuhiro Nightow, Blood Blockade Battlefront brings compelling characters and dynamic plotlines together for one unforgettable adventure. After a breach between Earth and the netherworld opens up over New York, humans and creatures from other dimensions become trapped in an impenetrable bubble that surrounds the city. Forced to coexist in a new city known as Salem’s Lot, the shaky peace between humanity and the netherworld creatures is protected by an underground group of super humans known as Libra. When a case of mistaken identity brings not-so-ordinary delivery boy Leonardo Watch face-to-face with this group, he joins their ranks hoping to help prevent the destruction of the world by a group of monsters and madmen lead by a powerful being known as the King of Despair.

German Distributor Kaze Deutschland brought out the first volume of Brynhildr in the Darkness back in August but it’s the release of the second volume this week that has gotten them to bring out their first trailer for it. It’s one that works out well to showcase the dub cast and how well aspects of it works in the German language. The show is getting a four-volume release that covers the run on separate DVD and Blu-ray editions. The DVDs are priced at 30 euro each and the Blu-ray’s at 40 euro. The solicitations at the moment don’t reveal whether they’ll be dubbed in German or not.

• v1 w/slipcase: August 11, 2017
• v2: October 13, 2017
• v3: November 10, 2017
• v4: January 12, 2018

Check out our review of the North American Blu-ray release here.

The property comes from Lynn Okamoto, original creator of Elfen Lied and is directed by Kenichi Imaizumi (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Student Council’s Discretion Level 2) with character designs by Hiroaki Karasu (MAOYU, Gatchaman Crowds), scripting by Yukinori Kitajima (Hamatora, Senran Kagura), and animation production by ARMS (Elfen Lied, Samurai Girls).

Plot Concept:  A high school senior Murakami Ryota had a childhood friend called Kuroneko who died in an accident. Ryota had made a promise with Kuroneko that he will prove there are aliens in the universe. In order to fulfill his promise, he joined the astronomy club at the school as its only member and kept observing the stars almost every night. One day, a girl who looks like Kuroneko transferred into his class. To his surprise, the girl’s name is Kuroha Neko which is really similar to his childhood friend’s name. However, it seems that there is something unusual about her. It turns out that she is a witch who actually escaped from a research laboratory.

TC Entertainment is digging into its past a bit with the scheduled release of the Dash! Kappei anime series for its 35th-anniversary. The series from 1981 ran for sixty-five episodes and is being planned for two Blu-ray box sets priced at 25,000 yen each. The sets are being produced from the original negatives with a new HD master and will including a booklet, previews, and the clean opening sequence.

Directed by Masayuski Hayashi and Seitaro Hara, Sukehiro Tomita wrote the series composition for it based on the manga by Noboru Rokuda. Animated by Tatsunoko Productions, Sadao Miyamoto worked on the character designs for it.

The Japanese cast includes Akira Murayam as Daiba, Akira Murayama as Daiba, Chika Sakamoto as Kaori Natsu, Hideki Fukushi as Ishiyama, Hiroshi Masuoka as Okazaki, Kazue Komiya as Natsu Kaori, Kazuhiko Inoue as Tachibana, Kazuyuki Sogabe as Kyoshiro, Keiko Tomochika as Akane’s Mother, Mayumi Tanaka as Kappei, Mizuho Tsushima as Akane aki, Osamu Kato as Principal, Shigeru Chiba as Shogo Shimada, Shunsuke Shima as Akane’s Father, Tooru Oohira as Seiichiro, and Yoshio Nagahori as Ushiyama.

Plot Concept: Kappei is a dramatically short guy but he is a master in every sport. He lives as a guest in sweet Akane’s house, and he’s in love with her, but there’s a strange rival, her dog Salomone (Italian name) who plans evil traps to encumber Kappei. But the dog has also another function: he explains all sport rules when a new sport is depicted. Kappei is fond of white female underwear, always trying to lift girl’s skirts up.

[Source: Dash! Kappei]

The second cour of the second season of My Hero Academia has wrapped up and Funimation’s getting some extra promotion out there for their involvement in the series. The distributor is working through the simuldub of the show and they’ve now brought out a new promo for it that focuses on Momo Yaoyorozu as played by Marina Inoue in Japanese and Colleen Clinkenbeard in English.

Animated by studio Bones, the series is directed by Kenji Nagasaki based on the series composition from Yousuke Kuroda. Yoshihiko Umakoshi serves as the chief animation director and character designer.

The Japanese cast includes Daiki Yamashita as Izuku, Kenta Miyake as All Might, Ayane Sakura as Ochako Uraraka, Kaito Ishikawa as Tenya Iida, Aoi Yuki as Tsuyu Asui, Ryou Hirohashi as Minoru Mineta, Marina Inoue as Momo Yaoyorozu, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Yuuki Kaji as Shoto Todoroki, Eri Kitamura as Mina Ashido, Kōsuke Kuwano as Yūga Aoyama, Kei Shindou as Kyōka Jirō and Masakazu Nishida as Mezō Shōji.

The English cast includes Christopher R. Sabat as All Might, Justin Briner as Izuku Midoriya, Luci Christian as Ochaco and Clifford Chapin as Bakugo.

Originally starting back in the summer of 2014, after creator Kouhei Horikoshi Barrage series ended, My Hero Academia is one of the more well-received books in the English edition of Weekly Shonen Jump.

Horikoshi received a Tezuka Award Honorable Mention in 2006 after publishing several short stories in Akamaru Jump. His first serialized work was Oumagadoki Doubutsuen back in 2010.

Plot concept: What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless? Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but he hasn’t got an ounce of power in him. With no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes, his life is looking more and more like a dead end. Then an encounter with All Might, the greatest hero of them all, gives him a chance to change his destiny.

The summer 2017 anime series Konbini Kareshi, aka Convenience Story Boy Friends, has its home video release in Japan being handled by VAP. With the first volume out recently we’re getting a bit caught up on this one and have a good look at the design that will run for the length of the seies. The twelve episode series is getting a standard six-volume release that began on September 20th, 2017. The LE Blu-ray’s are priced at 6,500 yen while the LE DVDs are priced at 5,500 yen. You can also get the regular edition DVDs for just 3,500 yen.

The series was directed by Hayato Date based on the series composition by Sayaka Harda. Tomomi Ishikawa served as the character designer with Studio Pierrot handling the animation.

The Japanese cast includes Takuma Terashima as Haruki Mishima, Kenichi Suzumura as Towa Honda, Shinnosuke Tachibana as Mikado Nakajima, Yuki Kaji as Nasa Sanagi, Hiroshi Kamiya as Natsu Asumi, Takahiro Sakurai as Masamune Sakurakouji, Sayaka Kanda as Miharu Mashiki, Yui Horie as Aki Kasukai, Ami Koshimizu as Nozomi Itokawa, Miyuki Sawashiro as Kokono Minowa, Rie Kugimiya as Mami Mihashi, Yukari Tamura as Waka Kisaki, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Makoto Sakamoto, Koutarou Nishiyama as Keiichi Miki and Mariko Nagai as Akira Mishima.

Plot Concept: Spring. The season of beginnings.

Mishima Haruki and his friend Honda Towa begin attending Aokisora High School. While they each have a girl they’re interested in, there are no signs of a relationship starting for either of them. As they awkwardly make it through each day, they meet their classmate Sasaki Nagisa and their seniors Asumi Natsu, Nakajima Mikado, Sakurakoji Masamune and others, and their thoughts and feelings begin to intertwine. It’s the road everyone follows at least once, the story of a pure love racing through the moment.
The same old train.
The same old road to school.
The same old convenience store.
These static sights may, starting tomorrow, look a little bit different.

[Source: Konbini Kareshi]

Saturday is here and that means the growing deluge of new anime episodes continues. Crunchyroll has a good slate of known shows hitting today with these shows unlocking last week’s episodes for free and following up with this week’s new episodes of:

• 7:00am - TIME BOKAN THE VILLAINS’ STRIKE BACK 
• 7:30am - CASE CLOSED
• 8:00am – CODE: REALIZE ~GUARDIAN OF REBIRTH~
• 9:30am - FOX SPIRIT MATCHMAKER
• 10:30am - LOVE LIVE! SUNSHINE!! SEASON 2
• 10:45am - LOVE RICE 2
• 11:30am - THE IDOLM@STER SIDE M
• 12:00pm - TWOCAR
• 1:00pm - BLEND-S
• 1:30pm - THE REFLECTION
• 1:30pm - THE ANCIENT MAGUS’ BRIDE
• 3:10pm - BLOOD BLOCKADE BATTLEFRONT & BEYOND
• 9:30pm - FOLKTALES FROM JAPAN SEASON 2
• 9:40pm - CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD G Z  

Funimation has several shows on tap today that includes two simuldubs and two simulcasts with:

HiDive has a trio of simulcasts up today with:

• 7:00 am – Classicaloid 2 Episode 2
• 8:00 am – Dynamic Chord Episode 2
• 1:30 pm – Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 2 Episode 2

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! OVA Packaging

With some fun TV series material out there already we now have the OVA scheduled for the Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! OVA property. The show is scheduled for a November 15th, 2017 release where the DVD is priced at 6,000 yen and the Blu-ray at 7,000 yen. The release will include the clean opening and closing sequences as well as the teasers for it.

The TV series were directed by Shinji Takamatsu while Chizuru Miyawaki assisted and they worked off of the series composition done by Michiko Yokote. Masakazu Ishikawa handled the character designs and the series was produced at studio Diomedea.

Property Concept: Binan is a city somewhere in Japan. The “Earth Defense Club” at Binan High School was a club that did absolutely nothing. When club members Atsushi Kinugawa and En Yufuin were chilling out while soaking in the hot tub at the bathhouse Kurotamayu, a pink beast (Wombat) suddenly appeared out of thin air. “I want to save this planet… can you please lend me your strength?” The two feel the mood has been ruined by Wombat, who talks to them in Japanese about how he wants to save Earth with the power of love. Just then, the son of the bathouse owner Yumoto Hakone shows up, and as soon as he sees Wombat, he chases it, screaming “Let me fluff you up!”

The next day, Kinugawa and Yufuin are caught by Wombat once again at school along with the other club members Io Naruko and Ryu Zaou. Bracelets clasp onto the wrists of these four, along with Yumoto Hakone, who bumped into them after chasing after Wombat, with a command that they must save the Earth. “It’s about love-making!” they hear as a bright light emanating from the bracelet envelops their entire bodies. The five transform into the “Battle Lovers,” the heirs to the throne of love…

[Source: Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

© Hiroyuki Eto · / SQUARE ENIX

With the main series for Magic Circle underway this fall, Kadokawa also has some shorts that they’re showing on AT-X and Hikari TV in Japan as well as streaming with Guru Guru Puchi Anime Gekijō. The shorts are only going to be online for about two weeks for each episode but will likely be collected with the home video release. Check out the fourteenth one below!

The property comes from Hiroyuki Etou and ran for about a decade back from 1992 to 2003 where there were sixteen volumes produced. The property did have an OVA back in 1994 and it had a TV series in 2000 that ran for almost a year. A sequel series landed in 2012 and the seventh volume came out recently.

The staff for it has Hiroshi Ikehata as the series director with Hisaaki Okui working on the series composition and Naoyuki Asano on character designs.

The Japanese cast includes Shizuka Ishigami as Nike, Konomi Kohara as Kukuri, Katsuyuki Konishi as Kita Kita Oyaji, Yō Taichi as Juju, Yukiyo Fujii as Toma and Takahiro Sakurai as Gipple.

Plot Concept: Nike, a boy from the Boering Village village, is forcefully sent along on a quest to defeat the Devil King after his Hero-worshipping parents see a posting from the king summoning potential heroes.Following the village’s traditions, he visits the magical old lady where he is entrusted with caring for a young girl named Kukuri, who can use the mysterious Guru Guru magic. According to the old woman’s claims, Kukuri is the last survivor of the Migu Migu clan who wields Guru Guru, and she has been waiting for a Hero to appear. It will be a journey filled with laughter and occasional tears.

SMIRAL is handling the distribution for the summer 2017 anime series A Centaur’s Life and has set a fairly standard plan for it. With the second volume about to hit in Japan in a few weeks we now have a look at the cover artwork for it that’s definitely appealing. The series is getting a six-volume release on Blu-ray only where there’ll be priced at 7,000 where it began on September 29th, 2017. Check out the full schedule below.

Fumitoshi Oizaki serves as the general director with Naoyuki Konno working as the series director. Touko Machida is on board to work on the series composition while Hide Shibuya is serving as the character designer and chief animation director. Studio Emon and Encourage Films will be handling the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes Seria Furukawa as Himeno Kimihara, Yuuki Kuwahara as Nozomi Gokuraku, Haruka Shiraishi as Kyouko Naraku, Yuna Kamakura as Manami Mitama, Yuu Ayase as Quetzalcoatl Sassassul, Emi Miyajima as Mitsuyo Akechi, Honoka Kuroki as Inukai, Takaki Ootomari as Makoto Komori, Daisuke Oohashi as Chidori Hyappo, and Yomoya Yano as Yutaka Nekomi.

The opening theme song is “Oshiete Darwin” by Purely Monster while the ending theme song is “Edelweiss” by Asaka.

The manga comes from creator Kei Murayama which began in 2010 in Comic Ryu magazine and has fourteen volumes so far. It’s been released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment who brought out the eleventh volume this month.

Plot Concept: Himeno is a sweet, shy little centaur girl. In her world, everyone seems to be a supernatural creature, and all her classmates have some kind of horns, wings, tails, halos, or other visible supernatural body part. Despite their supernatural elements, Himeno and her best friends, Nozomi and Kyoko, have a fun and mostly normal daily school life!

A Centaur’s Life Japanese Volume 2 Cover

A Centaur’s Life Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: A Centaur’s Life]

Robot Girls Z

The 2014 and 2015 series for Toei’s Robot Girls Z has had both of those seasons come out separately before on DVD and Blu-ray and now Toei recently set up for a complete collection release. While we’ve got a bit to go before it arrives we have what looks to be the main cover artwork for it that should delight fans pretty well. The show, clocking in at 133 minutes, is set for January 10th, 2018 priced at 7,000 yen. It’ll have all of the material produced for it on one disc. Extras are to be determined.

The series takes characters from Toei and Dynamic Planning and changes the various giant robots into cute girls for wacky and silly adventures that will delight many and infuriate others. It’ll be directed by Hiroshi Ikehata based on scripts by Kazuho Hyodo with Tetsuya Kawakami doing the character designs at Toei Animation. It stars Kazusa Aranami as Grenda-san, Inori Minase as Gre-chan, Mariko Honda as Z-chan, Sayuri Yahagi as Liga-sama, Maaya Uchida as Gecchan Dragon, Misaki Kuno as Pon-chan, Minami Tsuda as Jeeg-san, Natsumi Koike as Paan-san, Emi Nitta as Raicchi, Kaori Takaoka as Triple Gai-chan, Naomi Ozora as Bal-chan, Emi Hirayama as Shoo-chan, Shiori Mikami as Go-chan, Ari Ozawa as Gai no Jo, Minami Takashi as Bong,  Manami Maeda as Gurangen and Ayana Taketatsu as Bossborokko.

Plot concept: Robot Girls Z centers around three girls based on Toei’s famed Mazinger Z franchise: Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, and UFO Robot Grendizer. The girls go around Tokyo raising awareness about the promising new energy source “Photon Power.” However, when the enemy Mechanical Beast girls appear and attempt to steal the energy, the girls, collectively called “Team Z”, must battle them in order to prevent the Photon Power from being stolen!

Robot Girls Z Japanese Cover

[Source: TFP Forums]