Animation Production: Production I.G (Kuroko no Basket, Ghost in the Shell)
Visual:
Psycho-Pass is an original animation from Production I.G. The Sci-fi, crime solving anime began airing from October 2012 and ended in March 2013. The series was directed by first timer Naoyoshi Shiotani, with the story being written by veteran Gen Urobuchi and the characters designed by Akira Amano. The series has received a manga and light novel adaptation, that began publishing in November 2012 and February 2013 respectively. Additionally, an Xbox One game based on the series is currently in development
The series takes place in the near future, when it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person’s state of mind and personality. This information is recorded and processed, and the term “Psycho-Pass” refers to a standard used to measure an individual’s being. The story centers around the “enforcement officer” Shinya Kougami, who is tasked with managing crime in such a world.
In the future, it is possible to quantitatively measure a person’s emotions, desires, and every inclination. In this way, it is also possible to measure a person’s criminal tendency factor, which is used to judge criminals.
This is the story of a team of policemen dedicated to maintaining public order. Some of them work in the Enforcement Division, responsible for the apprehension of criminals, while others belong to the Supervisory Division which oversees their colleagues in Enforcement.
It won’t be long before you get to see the second season of the Gatchaman Crowds anime since the official website of the anime has launched revealing that the series will be airing before the end of 2015. In addition, the site has also revealed that the upcoming season will be titled Gatchaman Crowds Insight.
The site also reveals that the second season will feature the blue NOTE device from the original Gatchaman anime:
The first Gatchaman Crowds anime season aired from July 2013 in the Fall/Autumn 2013 anime season for a total of 12 episodes and starred:
Maaya Uchida (Rikka Takanashi from Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!) as Hajime Ichinose
Daisuke Namikawa (Rokuro Okajima in Black Lagoon) voiced Joe Hibiki
Ryota Osaka (Nagate Tanikaze from Knights of Sidonia) voiced the role of Sugane Tachibana
Aya Hirano (Lucy Heartfilia in Fairy Tail) voices Paiman
Mamoru Miyano (Rintarou Okabe in Steins;Gate) was voicing Berg-Katze
Kotori Koiwai (Renge Miyauchi from Non Non Biyori) played Utsu-tsu
Daisuke Hosomi (Souichirou Mikuni in C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control) voicing as O.D
Ayumu Murase (Shun Aonuma from Shinsekai yori) as Rui Ninomiya
The main staff of the first anime consisted of:
Director: Kenji Nakamura (C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, tsuritama)
Series Composer and Script Writer: Toshiya Ono (tsuritama, Suite Precure)
Anime Character Designer: Yuuichi Takahashi (Macross Frontier, tsuritama)
Music Composer: Taku Iwasaki (Akame ga Kill!, Gurren Lagann)
Animation Studio: Tatsunoko Productions (Ping Pong The Animation, Psycho-Pass Season 2)
Gatchaman Crowds is one of the five anime adaptations based on the original 1972 anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. The 12-episode anime aired on July 2013. It was directed by Kenji Nakamura (Mononoke, Tsuritama), licensed by Sentai Filmworks and streamed on Crunchyroll. Only few of the characters from the previous season were announced to play their roles in the sequel. (More information will be provided soon.)
The story is set in Japan in the early summer of 2015. 180,000 people live in Tachikawa City, the “second metropolis” of the Tokyo area. Among them are “Gatchaman”—warriors who fight in special reinforced suits powered by “NOTE,” the manifestation of special spiritual powers in living beings. A council has scouted a group of individuals with latent powers to protect Earth from alien criminals. In recent years, the council has assigned Gatchaman warriors to deal with the mysterious entity known as “MESS.”
The second season of the Gatchaman Crowds anime, Gatchaman Crowds Insight, will be airing later this year.
On November 28, 2014, Yahoo! japan bookstore conducted a poll that asks who is the best-looking glasses character exclusively focused among Kodansha’s 20 glasses-wearing male characters. Last month, the preliminary results were announced. And today, the final results are up, with only five winners out of 20.
Looks like Arata Wataya from Chihayafuru managed to grab the second spot from Saruhiko Fushimi from the anime, K. Akechi Kengo from the Kindaichi series and Kazuma from Noragami successfully got the two runner-up places ahead from the remaining fifteen candidates.
Sadly, the remaining candidates didn’t manage to rank within the five seats. Here is the list of the remaining candidates:
Kousei Arima (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)
Hikaru Hoshi (Kirara no Hoshi)
Hikari Tsutsui (3D Kanojo)
Nozomu Itoshiki (Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei)
Shuu Koibuchi (Princess Jellyfish)
Kuro Gokokuji (Yokai no Oisha-san)
Masazumi Kaneda (Dakara Kaneda wa Koi-ga Dekinai)
Asuka Mitarai (Swing Joker)
Koudai Hino (Megami-no Libra)
Ginjirou Sannomiya (Hatsukoi Monster)
Rindou Hayashida (Shimashima)
Youta Koizumi (Ani-ga Imouto-de Imouto-ga Ani-de)
Gowther (Nanatsu no Taizai)
Shinji Karasuma (Liar x Liar)
Hosaku Samon (Kyojin no Hoshi)
And that concludes the guys-with-glasses poll! Did you get a chance to vote for someone you like in the list? If so, did your candidate won a place in this poll?
Held twice a year annually, one for summer and one for winter, on Tokyo Big Sight convention center, the world’s larget doujinshi fair, Comic Market (also known as Comiket), successfully finished the 87th fair on December 28 to 30, 2014 with a blast. Comiket 87 received 180,000 visitors on just the first day, passing the 170,000 visitors Comiket 86 had last August 2014. With this many attendees, the doujinshis, markets and cosplayers are numerous too! Most especially on three of the most popular subjects for cosplay and doujinshi which are the anime series: Yowamushi Pedal, Amagi Brilliant Park,Kuroko no Basuke and Kantai Collection. We also get a cosplay shot from one of the characters of Danganronpa, Love Live!, Super Mario, Youkai Watch as a bonus!
Two reporters will be interviewing some cosplayers around the Cosplay Area of the fair! and, it will be an “assault interview” where they randomly interview cosplayers and let them introduce to us who they are and what character and anime their cosplay is from.
Reporter Yunmao Ayakawa is on the Cosplay Area of the fair to interview some cosplayers from Yowamushi Pedal. She is dressed up as Manami Sangaku from Yowamushi Pedal‘s Team Hakone Gakuen. Here she introduces the cool-looking cosplayers from the same anime and school/team she cosplays. Ayakawa is even amazed by the effort of Touichirou Izumida’s cosplayer put in for Andy and Frank (the name of his abs)! and in the end, we see a short glimpse of posing from the team members. Here is the list of the cosplayer’s characters from the order of introduction:
Manami Sangaku
Jinpachi Toudou
Juichi Fukutomi
Arakita Yasutomo
Hayato Shinkai
Touichirou Izumida
The CEO of ONIGIRI PLUS Inc., Yui Kanan, will be reporting from the Cosplay Area with her kimono! Here Yui introduces us to one of the main characters of the anime Amagi Brilliant Park which is Sento Isuzu complete with her gun and her unique top hairstyle! In the end we see a striking pose of Sento and her gun.
Yunmao Ayakawa is back to interview three of the ship girls from Kantai Collection: Kancolle! She interviews us the cosplayers for Choudokyuu Senkan Hiei, Haruna Choudokyuu Senkan and Choudokyuu Senkan Kongou respectively. She also asks how they feel for the anime adaptation of the card game which airs this season. And they seem so excited for it! As usual, we get to see their nice smile and pose in the end.
Yui Kanan introduces us to another one of the ship girls from Kantai Collection: Kancolle! And here, we see Mogami Class Heavy Cruiser, Kumano in her uniform! Plus, an “I will do my best” pose in the end!
Say hello to Kuroko no Basuke‘s Generation of Miracles! Arakawa introduces us to six of the members of the “legendary” basketball team. But sadly, Kuroko wasn’t included. However, we get a loud intro and rambling of Midorima so I hope you don’t surprise yourself! (Despite his real calm personality in the anime). Here is the list of the cosplayer’s characters from the order of introduction:
As a bonus, we present you Yui Kanan once again interviewing Danganronpa‘s Junko Enoshima in her quite sexy outfit! As her first time in Comiket, she is doing fine with her cosplaying skills and posing!
Also, we get a cosplay from one of the Youkai’s of one of the most popular anime today in Japan, Youkai Watch! An adorable personification of Coma with a Youkai itself!
And there’s more! Featuring the μ’s idol group from Love Live! School Idol Project!
Follow Yui Kanan’s Twitter account here and Yunmao Ayakawa’s Twitter account here.
That’s Comiket for you! Massive amounts of attendees and gorgeous cosplayers! And a trivia: admission in the event is totally free, but the products sold in the fair, of course, they’re not. Would you like to see more of the cosplayers for next year’s Comiket?
Following up on the Umi Sonoda and Honoka Kosaka figure we recently covered, Nishikino Maki who has the qualities of a tsundere receives such a perfect figure that it will leave an impact on you (well, your wallet at least).
Figurine manufacturer Teruyuki have done a remarkable job with this figure, she’s wearing a two piece pink bikini with a hoody while striking a cute pose which unveils her toned elegant figure and perfect legs. She’s 230mm in height and the color perfection was done by none other than Eimi Hoshina.
As of Thursday, January 8th up until Monday, January 12th – digital game distribution website Steam is hosting an anime sale for over 40 titles, including the likes of Trails In The Sky, Sakura Spirit, BlazBlue games, Analogue Visual Novels, The King of Fighters XIII, Strider, and even The Legend of Korra (for some reason). Check out the full sale here.
It’s up to a 75% discount which is pretty sweet for many of these games (though some go on sale fairly frequently). Still, if one is looking for a new VN to check out or perhaps was just looking for a sale of some kind, this is the time for fans of anime-style games to pick one up. Happy shopping!
Just a few of the many games on sale!
Are you picking up any of the games included? Any you’re interested in but debating over? Let us know in the comments section! I personally would recommend Trails In The Sky as it’s a great, underrated JRPG that made a decent transition to PC.
The first visual has been released for the upcoming second cour of ufotable’s Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works anime, which will be debuting this April. The visual was revealed in the winter 2015 anime guide magazine by Gigazine which was handed out last December during the Comiket 87 event.
The anime is a split cour series, the first half aired on October 4 last year and the second half will air in April next year. The anime’s cast from previous anime and visual novels will return to reprise their roles. The main cast includes:
Noriaki Sugiyama (Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto) will be back to voice Shirou Emiya
Kana Ueda (Yumi Fukuzawa from Maria-sama ga Miteru) returns as Rin Tohsaka
Ayako Kawasumi (Megumi Noda in Nodame Cantabile) voicing as Saber
Junichi Suwabe (Dandy in Space☆Dandy) as Archer
Nobutoshi Canna (Masato Inohara from Little Busters!) voicing Lancer
Mai Kadowaki (Mimi Usa in Kodomo no Jikan) will voice Illyasviel von Einzbern
The series will be once again directed by Takahiro Miura (Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon) with Hideyuki Fukasawa (Vividred Operation) composing the music and ufotable (Fate/Zero, Kara no Kyoukai Movie Series) animating the series. The first Blu-ray boxset of the anime’s first cour will release on March 25 in Japan.
Fate/stay nightis a visual novel released by Type-Moon for the PC in 2004, and is the first in their Fate series. The visual novel was very successful and claimed the title of highest selling visual novel in that year. 2006 saw two adaptations of the game, a manga by Datto Nishiwaki and an anime series by Studio Deen. Additionally in that year, a light novel series titled Fate/Zerowas written by Gen Urobuchi. It is a prequel to the visual novels, set 10 years prior. An anime and manga adaptation of Fate/Zero were created, with the manga written by Urobuchi himself in 2011 and the anime being animated by ufotable. A second season of Fate/Zerowas also produced.
Raised by a mysterious sorcerer after the horrific death of his parents, Shiro Emiya has only just begun to help others using the small tidbits of magic that he’s learned. However, when he’s suddenly caught in a battle between two more powerful Magus, Shiro finds himself performing a spell above his expected ability, summoning the beautiful spirit warrior Saber to protect him! But safety is only momentary as Shiro and Saber now find themselves thrust into in a secret world of dark magic and deadly challenges: a no-holds barred duel to the death known as the Holy Grail War! At stake: a prize of unimaginable power. But can the inexperienced Shiro and Saber survive long enough to even enter the contest? First they’ll have to withstand waves of treachery and assassination, even as Shiro scrambles to learn everything he’ll need to know to stay alive as seven teams of Magus and Spirit Servants face off in mortal combat!
The second cour of the Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works anime will be airing from April next year, during the Spring 2015 anime season.
The latest issue of Shueisha’s Bessatsu Margaret magazine has revealed the main cast and staff members of the upcoming Spring TV anime adaptation of Kazune Kawahara and Aruko’s Ore Monogatari!! (My Love Story!!) manga.
The magazine has revealed the main cast of the upcoming anime:
Megumi Han (Gon Freecss in HunterxHunter) will voice Rinko Yamato
Takuya Eguchi (Kazuya Kujou in Gosick) is going to voice Takeo Gouda
Nobunaga Shimazaki (Haruka Nanase in Free!) voices Makoto Sunakawa
The first members of staff of the upcoming anime will include:
Anime Character Designer: Kunihiko Hamada (Chihayafuru, NANA)
Animation Studio: Madhouse (Death Note, No Game No Life)
Here is the first promotional video that released at Comiket 87:
Ore Monogatari!! was first released by Kawahara the October 2011 issue of Bessatsu Margaret, a popular shoujo manga magazine. The original 100-page version of the story started off as a one-shot, but then returned to Bessatsu Margaret as a serialized work. Shueisha recently published the seventh compiled book volume in November 2014. The series won the Best Shoujo Manga award at the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards ceremony last year. It also received a crossover with Komi Naoshi’s hit manga Nisekoi.
Ore Monogatari!! synopsis from Haruhichan:
Takeo Gouda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don’t want him! (They want his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa.) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn! Takeo can hardly believe it when he crosses paths with Yamato again, and he finds himself falling in love with her… But with handsome Sunakawa around, does Takeo even stand a chance?
The Ore Monogatari!! TV anime adaptation will air from April in the Spring 2015 anime season on NTV. Additional information about the series will release soon.
On Tuesday, the February issue of Shueisha’s Bessatsu Margaret magazine will be released with an announcement that Io Sakisaka’s (Strobe Edge, Ore Ride!!) drama and romantic-comedy shoujo manga, Ao Haru Ride, will end in the following issue which will be released on February 13, 2015, a day before Valentine’s day. Along with the last chapter, the magazine will include an exclusive clear file folder with a new manga illustration. On November 2014, it was announced in the December issue of the magazine that the series is about to reach the climax soon.
Climax Announcement
Ending Announcement
Sakisaka began publishing the manga under Shueisha’s Margaret Comics label on January 13, 2011. As of December 12, 2014, there are currently 12 compiled manga volumes published. The tenth compiled volume of the manga includes a Drama CD bundle. Volumes 11 and 12 have an original anime DVD included.
Volume 1 Manga Cover
Volume 2 Manga Cover
Volume 3 Manga Cover
Volume 4 Manga Cover
Volume 5 Manga Cover
Volume 6 Manga Cover
Volume 7 Manga Cover
Volume 8 Manga Cover
Volume 9 Manga Cover
Volume 10 Manga Cover
Volume 11 Manga Cover
Volume 12 Manga Cover
The manga received a light novel adaptation where Sakisaka served as an illustrator while Akiko Abe served as the writer. The novel began publishing on December 27, 2011. There are currently five compiled light novel volumes and the latest volume was shipped on November 29, 2014.
Volume 1 Novel Cover
Volume 2 Novel Cover
Volume 3 Novel Cover
Volume 4 Novel Cover
Volume 5 Novel Cover
The manga has also a live-action movie adaptation that was premiered on December 13, 2014. It was shown on 295 nationwide movie screens and has achieved 210,497 viewers for the first two days of release.
Movie Visual:
Trailer:
Ao Haru Ride received a 12-episode anime adaptation and it was produced by Production I.G. (Usagi Drop, Kimi ni Todoke) and was directed by Ai Yoshimura (Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru., assistant director for Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou). The anime aired on July 8, 2014 to September 23, 2014. The 2 OADs included in the 11th and 12th volume served as an adaptation for the prologue of the manga (Chapter 0) and the continuation for the last episode.
Anime Cast:
Yuki Kaji (Sukitte Ii na yo‘s Kakeru Hayakawa, Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta‘s Akina Hiizumi) as Kou Mabuchi
Maaya Uchida (Gatchaman Crowds‘s Hajime Ichinose, Sankarea‘s Rea Sanka) as Futaba Yoshioka
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Tsubasa to Hotaru‘s Aki Hidaka, Love Lab‘s Masaomi Ikezawa) as Touma Kikuchi
KENN (Brothers Conflict‘s Futo Asahina, Kyoukai no Kanata‘s Akihito Kanbara) as Aya Kominato
Ai Kayano (Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai.‘s Meiko Honma, Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara‘s Akane Mahousagawa) as Yuuri Makita
Mikako Komatsu (Nagi no Asukara‘s Miuna Shiodome, Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji‘s Aki Tezuka) as Shuuko Murao
Anime Visual:
Synopsis of Ao Haru Ride from Haruhichan:
Yoshioka Futaba has a few reasons why she wants to “reset” her image and life as a new high school student. Because she’s cute, she was ostracized by her female friends in junior high, and because of a misunderstanding, she couldn’t get her feeling across to the one boy she has ever liked, Tanaka-kun.
Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends won’t be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Tanaka-kun again, but he now goes under the name of Mabuchi Kou. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but now things can never be the same again. Will Futaba be able to continue her love that never even started from three years ago?
Visit Ao Haru Ride‘s official anime website here, official manga website here or the official movie website here.
With just one day to go until launch the official website for the upcoming Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season has revealed a new countdown illustration. Character designer Takako Shimura (Aldnoah.Zero) has also been building up the hype by doing daily countdown sketches which are now complete and can be viewed here.
The second countdown illustration was revealed yesterday and features Asseylum Vers Allusia.
Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season will return on January 10th, and air at 11:59pm JST on Tokyo MX every Sunday.
In addition to this, the first promotional video which features the opening theme song &Z by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki was revealed earlier:
Aldnoah.Zero is a brand new original series created by Gen Urobuchi, the writer of the Fate/Zero light novels and anime, and Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. The anime is directed by Ei Aoki who directed the Fate/Zero anime – teaming up with Urobuchi once again. The series is written by the “Olympus Knights”, a group of writers from Nitro+ (known for their science adventure visual novels) that is helmed by Urobuchi. Katsuhiko Takayama (Mirai Nikki) is the series composer, managing the flow and story of the series.
The character concepts are done by Masako Matsumoto (Naruto Shippuden) and the final character designs from Takako Shimura (Aoi Hana). The series features mechs designed by I-IV and Kenji Teraoka (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), and the music is composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan). The series is produced by A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail) and studio TROYCA (new studio opened by Aoki). The first series had a total of 12 episodes and was earlier confirmed to be a split cour.
In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission found a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Upon landing, astronauts discovered a enchanted utility later referred to as ‘Aldnoah’, giving the astronauts a status of superiority. Soon, many humans have relocated to Mars, and have adapted to the name ‘Martians’. After Princess Asseylum, a royal Martian princess, descends onto Earth in an attempt to create a treaty between both planets, a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.
With Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season launching on January 10th at midnight JST on Tokyo MX, BS11 and Niconico, original character designer Takako Shimura (Aldnoah.Zero) has revealed the final countdown sketches.
Two sketches were done for the final day of the countdown:
Previous countdown sketches:
The official website also launched a countdown illustration featuring Asseylum Vers Allusia yesterday:
Aldnoah.Zero is a brand new original series created by Gen Urobuchi, the writer of the Fate/Zero light novels and anime, and Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. The anime is directed by Ei Aoki who directed the Fate/Zero anime – teaming up with Urobuchi once again. The series is written by the “Olympus Knights”, a group of writers from Nitro+ (known for their science adventure visual novels) that is helmed by Urobuchi. Katsuhiko Takayama (Mirai Nikki) is the series composer, managing the flow and story of the series.
The character concepts are done by Masako Matsumoto (Naruto Shippuden) and the final character designs from Takako Shimura (Aoi Hana). The series features mechs designed by I-IV and Kenji Teraoka (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), and the music is composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan). The series is produced by A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail) and studio TROYCA (new studio opened by Aoki). The first series had a total of 12 episodes and was earlier confirmed to be a split cour.
In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission found a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Upon landing, astronauts discovered a enchanted utility later referred to as ‘Aldnoah’, giving the astronauts a status of superiority. Soon, many humans have relocated to Mars, and have adapted to the name ‘Martians’. After Princess Asseylum, a royal Martian princess, descends onto Earth in an attempt to create a treaty between both planets, a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.
The official website of the Ghost in the Shell anime has announced that the upcoming 2015 Ghost in the Shell anime film will be releasing in Japanese theatres early this Summer. In addition to that, the first visual, promotional video, staff and cast members were also revealed.
The new film, tentatively titled Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, is produced in celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary. The movie will be set in the same timeline of the Ghost in the Shell Arise OVA series after the events of the fourth and final OVA, with its Blu-ray and DVD releasing in Japan in April. The new movie is also having an unannounced collaboration with the Psycho-Pass movie, which is releasing on the 9th in Japan.
The website revealed the main staff of the upcoming film, which will be slightly different to the Arise series.
Chief Director and Anime Character Designer: Kazuchika Kise (Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Tansuwarashi)
Screenplay Writer: Tow Ubukata (Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Mardock Scramble)
Chief Animation Director: Tooru Ookubo (Blood-C: The Last Dark, Sengoku Basara)
Music Composer: Cornelius (Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Appleseed: Ex Machina)
Animation Studio: Production I.G. (Psycho-Pass, Kuroko’s Basketball)
Though the site has revealed that the main cast from the OVA series will return in the new film, though their roles have not yet been revealed.
Maaya Sakamoto (Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Kenichirou Matsuda (Batou in Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Tarusuke Shingaki (Togusa from Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Takurou Nakakuni (Saito in Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Youji Ueda (Pazu from Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Kazuya Nakai (Borma from Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Ikkyuu Juku (Daisuke Aramaki in Ghost in the Shell Arise)
Miyuki Sawashiro (Logicoma from Ghost in the Shell Arise)
The first promotional video for the film was also released:
Ghost in the Shell started off as a manga in 1989. Written and drawn by Masamune Shirow, the manga was published by Kodansha and ran for 8 years for a total of 3 compiled volumes. The manga received high praise, and was eventually adapted into an animated film in 1995 by Production I.G. The film was directed by Mamoru Oshii and also received very high praise and has inspired many audiences, including the directors and writers of The Matrix. An original sequel film was released in 2004. An anime TV series was also created, titled Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, that aired from 2002 to 2003. A second season followed in 2004, and an animated film subtitled Solid State Society aired in 2006. Production I.G. have also unveiled an OVA series called Ghost in the Shell ARISE in 2013. The fourth and last entry into the OVA series, Ghost Stands Alone, released in Japanese theatres on September 6th last year. A live-action Ghost in the Shell film is currently in production starring Scarlett Johansson.
Here is a synopsis of the original series:
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as ‘The Puppetmaster’ begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster. The pursuit will call into question what makes a human and what is the Puppetmaster in a world where the distinction between human and machine is increasingly blurry.
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie will be releasing in Japanese theatres this Summer for the 25th anniversary of the series. More information about the film will be released soon.
The official website the Durarara!! anime has been counting down to the first cour of Durarara!!×2 Shou, the second season of the adaptation of Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda’s light novel series. The accounts have been releasing new images every day since the New Year counting down to the anime’s debut on the 10th.
As of this post, there are only 2 days left until the debut of Durarara!!×2 Shou on Tokyo MX at 11:30pm JST. Here are the main images of the countdown starting from 9, which released on New Year’s day, and new images release every day at 12:00pm JST:
Durarara!!x2 will be split up into three parts starting with the first season, Durarara!!×2 Shou, airing from January 10th during the Winter 2014/2015 anime season. The next part is Durarara!!×2 Ten, which will be airing in July 2015 during the Summer 2015 anime season. And finally, the final part of the series, Durarara!!×2 Ketsu, will air from January 2016 in the Winter 2015/2016 anime season.
The main cast of Durarara!!x2 has been earlier revealed and consists of mostly returning characters and cast members alongside a few new ones. The cast includes:
Mamoru Miyano as Masaomi Kida
Kana Hanazawa as Anri Sonohara
Daisuke Ono as Shizuo Heiwajima
Hiroshi Kamiya as Izaya Orihara
Sanae Kobayashi as Namie Yagiri
Jun Fukuyama as Shinra Kishitani
Eri Kitamura as Mairu Orihara
Hisako Kanemoto as Kururi Orihara
Houchu Ohtsuka as Haruya Shiki
Ayahi Takagaki as Erika Karisawa
Kazuma Horie as Seiji Yagiri
Mariya Ise as Mika Harima
Takaya Kuroda as Simon Brezhnev
Takuma Terashima as Saburou Togusa
Yūichi Nakamura as Kyōhei Kadota
Yuuki Kaji as Walker Yumasaki
Saki Fujita as Ruri Hijiribe
Daisuke Kishio as Kasuka Heiwajima
Misato Fukuen as Saki Mikajima
Akio Ohtsuka as Shingen Kishitani
Katsuyuki Konishi as Tom Tanaka
Keiji Fujiwara as Kinnosuke Kuzuhara
Masaya Onosaka as Max Sandshelt
Some changes were made to the staff:
Original: Narita Ryohgo “Durarara!!“
Original Illustration: Suzuhito Yasuda (Durarara!!, Hariyama-san, Maid Machinegun)
This new anime is part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Durarara!! series, which began as a light novel series in 2004 published by ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko. The original light novels ended in January this year, but the creator of the series Ryohgo Narita, has stated that he will be begin a new series of light novels titled Durarara!! SH, set two years after the original’s conclusion. The first issue will release on April 10th. The light novels received an anime adaptation in 2010 from animation studio Brains Base. In addition, two manga adaptations were also released and a few visual novels. To date the light novels has a total of 13 volumes. and are illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda.
A manga adaptation by Akiyo Satorigi started serialization in the shounen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy on April 18, 2009. An anime adaptation began airing in Japan in January 2010. Two games based on the series for the PlayStation Portable were released, and a game for PlayStation Vita was released on June 19, 2014 in Japan.
Here is a synopsis of the series from Haruhichan:
In Tokyo’s downtown district of Ikebukuro, amidst many strange rumors and warnings of anonymous gangs and dangerous occupants, one urban legend stands out above the rest—the existence of a headless “Black Rider” who is said to be seen driving a jet-black motorcycle through the city streets.
Ryuugamine Mikado has always longed for the excitement of the city life, and an invitation from a childhood friend convinces him to move to Tokyo. Witnessing the Black Rider on his first day in the city, his wishes already seem to have been granted. But as supernatural events begin to occur, ordinary citizens like himself, along with Ikebukuro’s most colorful inhabitants, are mixed up in the commotion breaking out in their city.
Durarara!!x2 Shou will be airing from January 10th on Tokyo MX at 11:30pm JST during the Winter 2014/2015 anime season. The anime will then return in the Summer 2015 anime season as Durarara!!×2 Ten and then in the Winter 2015/2016 season as Durarara!!×2 Ketsu.
Today, English publishing company, Seven Seas Entertainment announced on its official Twitter account that they had acquired the licenses to publish Akuma no Riddle (Riddle Story of Devil), Golden Time, Orenchi no Furo Jijou (Merman in My Tub) and Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu (Jobless Reincarnation) manga. These four newly-acquired manga will begin its release on Fall 2015.
[LICENSE #1] AKUMA NO RIDDLE: RIDDLE STORY OF DEVIL from Yun Kouga & Sunao Minakata. Coming October 2015! pic.twitter.com/4CIRQDFJLY
Yun Kouga (Loveless, Earthian) wrote the story for the action, school, shoujo-ai manga, Akuma no Riddle, while Sunao Minakata (Sayuri Hime, Yuri Hime Selection) served as the illustrator. The manga began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten’s Newtype magazine’s September 2012 issue. It currently have three compiled Japanese manga volumes and the third volume just published on December 10, 2014. Seven Seas Entertainment will release the first English licensed volume on October 2015.
Volume 1 Cover
Volume 2 Cover
Volume 3 Cover
A 12-episode anime adaptation for Akuma no Riddle produced by Diomedéa (Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?, Kantai Collection: KanColle) aired on April 4, 2014 to June 20, 2014. An unaired 13 episode titled as Akuma no Riddle: Shousha wa Dare? Nukiuchi Test served as an original video animation and was released on November 22, 2014.
Synopsis of Akuma no Riddle from Haruhichan:
The story is set at Myoujou Academy, a private girls’ boarding school. The 10th year’s Kurogumi class has 12 assassins with their sights on one target, Haru Ichinose. Tokaku Azuma is a recent transfer student who is also targeting Ichinose, but she gradually develops feelings for Ichinose.
Golden Time is a romantic-comedy seinen light novel written by Yuyuko Takemiya (Toradora!, Watashitachi no Tamura-kun) and illustrated by E-ji Komatsu (Maburaho, Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu). The light novel has 11 compiled volumes (three of them are side-story collections). It received a manga adaptation illustrated by Umechazuke with the same name a year after the publication of the light novel, September 27, 2011, under ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Daioh magazine. The manga has 7 compiled volumes and the latest volume was shipped on December 20, 2014. Seven Seas Entertainment will release the first English licensed volume on October 2015.
Volume 1 Manga Cover
Volume 2 Manga Cover
Volume 3 Manga Cover
Volume 4 Manga Cover
Volume 5 Manga Cover
Volume 6 Manga Cover
Volume 7 Manga Cover
The light novel series had received a 24-episode anime adaptation produced by J.C. Staff (Nodame Cantabile, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo). It aired on October 4, 2013 to March 28, 2014.
Synopsis of Golden Time from Haruhichan:
Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses. The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to him. “Freshman, congratulations,” was all she said, and then left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was his childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now she showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there.
Orenchi no Furo Jijou is a fantasy-comedy shoujo manga written and illustrated by Itokichi (Kagerou Days Koushiki Anthology Comic) . It is serialized on Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Gene since 2011. It currently has 5 compiled manga volumes and the fifth volume was released on September 27, 2014. Seven Seas Entertainment will release the first English licensed volume on October 2015.
Volume 1 Cover
Volume 2 Cover
Volume 3 Cover
Volume 4 Cover
Volume 5 Cover
The manga has received a short 13-episode anime adaptation produced by Asahi Production (Medaka Box, Time Travel Tondekeman!). It aired on October 6, 2014 to December 29, 2014.
Synopsis of Orenchi no Furo Jijou from Haruhichan:
Tatsumi is a high school boy who lives by himself; however, a devastatingly handsome merman named Wakasa moves into the bathtub in Tatsumi’s home. Wakasa is a bit self-centered but cute, while Tatsumi is cool but a busybody.
A fantasy light novel titled Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu written by Rifujin na Magonote and illustrated by Sirotaka began publishing on January 23, 2014. The light novel has 5 compiled volumes. Four months after, the series had received a manga adaptation illustrated by Yuka Fujikawa (Dokugan Ryuukai, Radiata Stories: The Epic of Jack). It began serializing under Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Flapper magazine on May 2, 2014. It currently has 1 compiled manga volume and was released on November 23, 2014. Seven Seas Entertainment will release the first English licensed volume on November 2015.
Synopsis of Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu manga from MAL:
A 34-year-old NEET gets killed in a traffic accident and finds himself in a world of magic. Rather than waking up as a full-grown mage, he gets reincarnated as a newborn baby, retaining the memories of his past life. Before he can even properly move his body, he resolves to never make the same mistakes he made in his first life ever again and instead live a life with no regrets with the new one that was given to him. Because he has the knowledge of a middle-aged man, by the age of two, he has already become a prodigy and possesses power unthinkable for anyone his age and even older. Thus begins the chronicles of Rudeus Greyrat, son of swordsman Paul and healer Zenith, as he enters a new world to become the strongest mage known to man, with powers rivaling even the gods themselves.
Four new manga has just been licensed in English! What other more manga would you like to get licensed?
In addition to this, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chanwas featured in the latest issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace magazine which revealed many new staff members that will be production the anime series, they include:
The issue has revealed many new staff members that will be production the anime series, they include:
The main cast of the upcoming series was also earlier revealed and features the return of the cast from previous Haruhianime:
Minori Chihara as Yuki Nagato
Tomokazu Sugita as Kyon
Natsuko Kuwatani as Ryouko Asakura
Yuko Goto as Mikuru Asahina
Yuki Matsuoka as Tsuruya-san
Taniguchi: Minoru Shiraishi as Taniguchi
Megumi Matsumoto as Kunikida
Daisuke Ono as Itsuki Koizumi
Aya Hirano as Haruhi Suzumiya
Aya Hirano has recently went on Twitter and revealed that the upcoming anime will be scheduled to air from April next year, during the Spring 2015 anime season.
The anime adaptation of the spin-off manga was made late last year. Anime store Docomo was revealed to be streaming the upcoming series, as well as the two other spin-off shows in the Haruhi franchise, The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyoron Churuya-san.
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is a spin-off manga in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, where it stars the eponymous character Yuki Nagato. The series takes place in the alternate universe established in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. The series is written and drawn by Puyo, which started in February 2010. To date, the series has a total of 5 volumes with the 6th volume releasing on December 26th this year.
There is very little information regarding the anime announcement of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, including whether or no Kyoto Animation will produce it. Two other spin-off manga were also produced into anime: The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyoron Churuya-san.
Yuki Nagato, the shy president of the literature club, has never been very sure of herself around other people. But around Kyon, the only boy in the tiny, three-person club, Yuki finds herself faltering even more than usual. For Kyon, and for her precious club, Yuki must find her confidence and let her true personality shine! Enjoy taking a fresh look at your favorite characters in this brand-new story set in the world of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya!
The anime adaptation of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan will be airing during the Spring 2015 anime season on Tokyo MX and AT-X. Further information about the anime will be revealed soon.
If that isn’t enough to convince you, here’s a few gifs from the series itself:
Anime visual:
Tesuto Uesu’s Shinmai Maou no Testament light novel series debuted in October 2012, and the latest fifth volume was released last March. Volume 4 ranked eighth of all light novels in its first week on the Oricon sales charts. Nekosuke Ookuma illustrates the series, which has also inspired two manga adaptations. Another of Uesu’s light novels, Hagure Yuusha no Estetica, was adapted into a TV anime in Summer 2012.
“Hey, you said you wanted a little sister, right?” First year highschool student, Toujo Basara, was suddenly asked by his father and fell into a state of panic. On top of that, the eccentric father told him he will be getting remarried.
He then departed overseas after bringing Basara two beautiful step-sisters. But Mio and Maria’s true forms are actually the newbie Demon Lord and a succubus!? Basara was almost entered into a master and servant contract with Mio, but a “reversed” contract was formed by mistake, and Basara is now the master!? Moreover, Basara is being hit by one ecchi situation after another due to the contract, but Mio’s life is being pursued by other demon tribes and hero tribes! The most powerful contractor’s desire action drama begins!
In addition to this, the anime’s website also revealed earlier the main cast members and the character designs of the anime. The main cast are as follows:
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito from Sword Art Online) voices the lead character Bell Cranel
The first promotional video for the DanMachi anime was released at Comiket 87, which introduces the series’ world and main characters.
Anime visual:
Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru no Darou ka?, also known as DanMachi for short, is a Japanese light novel series, written by Fujino Omori and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda. SB Creative has published six volumes since January 2013 under their GA Bunko imprint. It has received a spin-off light novel series and three manga adaptations. An anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff is scheduled to air from April 2015.
Commonly known as the “Dungeon,” the city of Orario possesses a huge labyrinth in the underground. Its strange name attracts excitement, illusions of honor, and hopes of romance with a pretty girl. In this city of dreams and desires, new adventurer Bell Cranel has his fateful encounter with the tiny Goddess Hestia.
Thus begins the story of a boy striving to become the best adventurer and a lonely goddess searching for followers both hoping to reach their goals and perhaps have some romance in the side.
The official website for the upcoming second season of Yui Hara’s Kiniro Mosaic manga began streaming the first commercial on Wednesday. The second season is titled Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic and the commercial gives us a preview of the opening theme song Yumeiro Parade! by Rhodanthe.
The second promotional video was unveiled earlier which also revealed that Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic will be airing from April next year:
The main cast will be returning for the anime; Asuka Nishi (Hakata Kanamori from Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu) as Shinobu Omiya, Manami Tanaka (Neko Miyabi in Sakura Taisen: Kanadegumi) as Alice Cartelet, Nao Touyama (Kanon Nakagawa in The World God Only Knows) as Karen Kujou, Risa Taneda (Mirai Kuriyama from Kyoukai no Kanata) as Aya Komichi, and Yumi Uchiyama (Nagisa Tennouji from A-Channel) as Yoko Inokuma. The series will be directed by Motoki Tanaka (Kiniro Mosaic, Grisaia no Kajitsu) and produced by Studio Gokumi (Kiniro Mosaic, A-Channel).
Visual:
Kiniro Mosaic synopsis from Haruhichan:
The story begins with Oomiya Shinobu, a 15-year-old, seemingly pure Japanese girl who actually did a homestay in Great Britain. Even after coming back to Japan, she still misses her time overseas. One day, an airmail letter arrives from Alice, the girl in Shinobu’s host family in Great Britain. The letter reads: Shinobu, I’m coming to Japan! The Japanese/British girls’ mixed comedy follows the lives of Shinobu, Alice, and other girls from both Japan and Great Britain.
Japanese viewers of the 13th episode of Sunrise’s mecha TV anime Cross Ange took out their anger on social media website Twitter last Saturday, mainly due to the fact the 2nd opening animation for Cross Ange is just a rehash of clips from the first cour’s sequences.
Here’s the opening animation in question, the song is titled Truth of the Apocalypse and performed by Yoko Takahashi:
After the confusion settled down, Creative producer Mitsuo Fukuda expressed his regret over the muddle on Twitter. He explained that after seeing episode 13 one more time after work, his blood pressure instantly shot up again.
He also said, “Regarding the opening, rather than saying it was involuntary, it’s more the level of, ‘I didn’t give this kind of order!'” He noted that he absolutely wants to fix this problem by the time episode 14 airs next week, and explained that there is not much leeway when producing an anime during the end of the year, even though TV channels are still going during the end and beginning of the year. Fukuda wrote that he was extremely regretful about the situation, explaining that the photography process could not catch up to the frames that were already done.
This was to be expected since half a week before the episode’s airing, Mitsuo Fukuda tweeted about the bad quality of the opening sequence. He complained that it wasn’t what he imagined. He also wrote that due to the busy schedule, he could not take any time off for New Year’s to correct this error.
Mitsuo Fukuda also informed fans that the opening sequence featured on television and the one included in the home media version will be different, with the girls featured in one portion being naked in the home video version. He noted that since it would be boring with lots of censor bars during the television broadcast, the decision was made to put clothes on the characters.
Cross Ange second cour visual:
Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo also known as simply Cross Ange is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise and began airing from October 2014. A manga adaption began publication in August 2014.
A manga adaptation of the series started publication in August 2014 in the Japanese ComicWalker website.
Due to humanity obtaining the data technology that has evolved to a great amount—called “Mana”—the human race is able to subjugate all wars, starvation, pollution, and other problems on Earth by using its power, which is similar to magic. Earth has obtained the utopia of complete peace and no wants.
First princess of the Misurugi Empire, Angelize. As with everyone else, she also had no wants or worries. She was celebrated by the people of the empire, and was supposed to wear the crown. However, she realizes the shocking truth that she is a Norma. “Norma”: An irregular existence that cannot use Mana, and are treated as heretics and as “things” rather than people. Having everything stolen from her, she isolates herself on a remote island.
What was waiting for her there was a fateful meeting with a group of Norma girls who know nothing but battle. The girls spend their days riding humanoid robot weapons called “Barameiru” hunting giant dragons that have come from another dimension to invade. Having her name taken from her, what will soldier Ange see at the end of the fight? What can she believe in? What will she obtain? The story of a single girl’s fortitude starts now.
We’re 2 days away from launch and original character designer Takako Shimura (Aldnoah.Zero) is still building up the hype for the Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season by sketching countdown pictures each day until debut.
Today’s sketch features Inaho Kaizuka and Slaine Troyard:
Previous countdown sketches:
The official website also launched a countdown illustration featuring Asseylum Vers Allusia:
Aldnoah.Zero is a brand new original series created by Gen Urobuchi, the writer of the Fate/Zero light novels and anime, and Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. The anime is directed by Ei Aoki who directed the Fate/Zero anime – teaming up with Urobuchi once again. The series is written by the “Olympus Knights”, a group of writers from Nitro+ (known for their science adventure visual novels) that is helmed by Urobuchi. Katsuhiko Takayama (Mirai Nikki) is the series composer, managing the flow and story of the series.
The character concepts are done by Masako Matsumoto (Naruto Shippuden) and the final character designs from Takako Shimura (Aoi Hana). The series features mechs designed by I-IV and Kenji Teraoka (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex), and the music is composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan). The series is produced by A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail) and studio TROYCA (new studio opened by Aoki). The first series had a total of 12 episodes and was earlier confirmed to be a split cour.
In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission found a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Upon landing, astronauts discovered a enchanted utility later referred to as ‘Aldnoah’, giving the astronauts a status of superiority. Soon, many humans have relocated to Mars, and have adapted to the name ‘Martians’. After Princess Asseylum, a royal Martian princess, descends onto Earth in an attempt to create a treaty between both planets, a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.
Swaps4 Productions and Big Bang Studio are excited to unveil the highly anticipated launch of Melody's Melon Mania, featuring Projekt Melody! This captivating, free-to-play...
