Category > Anime
Returning for its 14th year, Welsh anime festival Kotatsu has a two-part convention packed with feature films, shorts, music performances, and more running from October 5th to 6th and again on October 25th to the 27th 2024.
Read More... | Souce: Kotatsu Festival Website
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details about the up coming cinema outing for everyone's favourite socially anxious rock guitar playing girl. Bocchi The Rock Recap Part 1&2 Recap Film will hit cinemas around the UK on Monday 7th October 2024.
Originally announced as two separate films the recap film condenses the whole of season one into a double feature. A new lyric video, "Tsukinami ni Kagayake" ("Shine as usual"), was created for the opening sequence of the compilation film, as well as a new ending theme song, "Ima, Boku, Underground Kara" ("Now, I'm Going From Underground") by Kessoku Band.
It's always good to watch more Bocchi and it's great we can catch her guitar journey on the big screen. We're hoping the movie hasn't edited out everyone's favourite drunk rocker Kikuri.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
The good folks from Scotland Loves Animation have sent us details for the 2024 run of their festival. The long running and much loved festival will also be popping down to London too!
Highlights include Naoko Yamada's highly anticipated coming-of-age film The Colors Within along with Look Back based on the critically acclaimed manga by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. We're also looking forward to something classic in the form of The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe.
The festival is set to run in Glasgow from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd November 2024, in Edinburgh from Monday 4th to Sunday 10th November 2024 and in London from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th November 2024.
Read More... | Souce: Scotland Loves Anime
The good folks from Trinity CineAsia have sent us details of an up coming cinema release. Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram is due to hit cinemas around the UK and Ireland from Friday 27th September 2024.
This marks Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) first UK and Ireland national cinema release. The hugely popular detective series follows the adventures of a genius teenage detective who now has the body of child. He still solves mysteries despite this and gets into all sorts of adventures. This time around we'll finally find the truth behind Conan's rival Kid the Phantom Thief.
The franchise is hugely popular with this movie becoming 2024's highest grossing film in Japan, with 6 consecutive weeks at number 1 and over 10.8 million tickets sold. The manga is one of the most popular series of all time with over 270 million copies sold over it's 30 year run.
Read More... | Souce: Trinity CineAsia
Category > Features
Dan Da Dan hits streaming services this October 2024. Ever since the anime adaption has been announced fans have been eagerly looking forward to it, not just because the manga is popular, but also because of the studio behind it - Science SARU who have released such amazing titles as Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Tatami Galaxy and Tatami Time Machine Blues. Science SARU are one those studios with cult appeal to anime fans, so the hype engine for this title was racing. Bunched together as a special preview the first 3 episodes will hit cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Friday 13th September 2024 under the title Dan Da Dan: First Encounter. We were lucky enough to get avoid getting abducted by strange beings and gained access to a special review screener. So let's find out is it actually any good?
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll sent us a coded message. Using the S cipher we able to decode it. It was a secret message just for our eyes, it told us that Spy x Family Code: White will be hitting the streaming service from Friday 6th September 2024.
The movie had a cinema release in April earlier this year. We'd describe the movie as exactly what'd you expect for a Spy x Family cinema outing, it felt very much like a movie length version of the TV episode with high stakes, high action and lots of laughs. You can read our review here, but to be honest now it's on Crunchyroll, you should just watch it.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Retail
The good folks from anime streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us some details about their collaboration with clothing brand Bershka to bring us some Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Chainsaw Man clothing and accessories.
We've got Frieren t-shirts, hoodies and crop tops, a bag, a mobile phone case, plus socks! You too can finally own some Fern socks. Chainsaw Man wise we've got t-shirts, a baseball cap, jeans and a bag, all with a mix of either Chainsaw Man or Pochita. Sadly no Chainsaw Man socks.
In the past Crunchyroll have teamed up with Bershka to sell other anime inspired merchanidse, our favourite recent tie in was the Junji Ito Clothing Collection.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime streaming giants Crunchyroll have just sent us details about their anime playlists on Spotify. They've got a dedicated shelf of animated related music for your listening pleasure.
Personally at the Otaku News HQ, we listen to some Bump of Chicken, Hitsujibungaku, Yaosobi, Yoko Kanno, Radwimps and many more.
You can always visit Spotify's global Anime Hub to find some more tunes too!
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from Bandai Namco Europe have sent us details of the new action RPG That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles was released on Thursday 8th August 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC. It allows you to relive iconic moments of the original story as well as an entirely new one, featuring new characters created under the supervision of the original author, Fuse.
Read More... | Souce: Bandai Namco Europe
The good folks from boutique anime firm Anime Limited have revealed that Dan Da Dan will have a cinema outing across the UK and Ireland in a special preview event for one night only. The first 3 episode preview hits big screens on Friday 13th September 2024. It's been titled as Dan Da Dan: First Encounter.
The anime version is adapted by Science SARU, who also recently made Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and Tatami Time Machine Blues. We think the quirky nature of the manga makes it an excellent fit for the type of show Science SARU normally create, it feels like a natural pairing.
The show will stream on both Netflix and Crunchyroll from October 2024.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited
Category > Anime
In preparation of the sporting summer, the good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have just announced free streaming of Olympic sport anime. The sporting anime in question will stream for free with adverts, until 15th August 2024. Highlights include football anime Blue Lock and Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club. We highly recommend the gloriously ridiculous golf anime Birdie Wing (read our review) along with table tennis anime Ping Pong the animation.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Events
The good folks from Hyper Japan have just sent us the latest details for their 2024 London festival. Set to run from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st July 2024 at Olympia Events. Hyper Japan will bring you all the fun and games you'd expect including, food and drink, performers, workshops, various exhibitors and of course lots of good stalls selling stuff for fans of Japan.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan 2024
The good folks from the Elysian Film Group have revealed that My Neighbour Totoro will be re-released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 2nd August 2024. The Studio Ghibli masterpiece by 2 time Oscar winning director Hayao Miyazaki is much loved and hugely influential. It's available to stream on Netflix, but seeing in on a big screen is another experience and we strongly advise you to catch it if you can. The film will be released just in time for the summer holidays when schools out. So children and adults alike can enjoy Satsuki and Mei's encounter with woodland spirits. The film itself is perfection. So much so the Royal Shakespeare Company adapted it for the stage and it has hugely successful run at the Barbican.
So check your local cinema listing from Friday 2nd August 2024 to find a screening near you.
Souce: Elysian Film Group
Category > Interviews
Madcap school comedy anime My Deer Friend Nokotan hits streaming services today. It's already caused a stir on social media with many fans hooked on the concept of a former delinquent school girl making friends with deer turned human.
The anime will be available on multiple streaming services including Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime.
Being intrigued about the anime adaption, we decided to get in touch with the Japanese Voice actors of the show to ask them more about it. So here's our interview with Megumi Han who plays Noko Shikanoko "Nokotan" and Saki Fujita who plays Torako Koshi "Koshitan".
Otaku News would like to thank Megumi Han and Saki Fujita for being available for interview and giving such awesome answers to all our questions. The anime will be available on multiple streaming services including Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime. The manga will be available in English from Seven Seas Entertainment.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Blue Lock is the hugely successful football manga with over 30 million copies in circulation. The franchise has one season of anime so far, with a season 2 in the works. Blue Lock - Episode Nagi is a spin off of the main the main franchise, with the events following Nagi instead of Isagi.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
We've just received news about the upcoming One Piece Music Symphony 25th Anniversary Concert. The live show contains the most memorable moments of the TV series projected on a giant screen to the sound of a 50-musician orchestra. It's set to tour around the US from July 6th 2024, then will tour other key locations around the world including Australia , Europe and elsewhere.
UK based readers can catch the show on 16th November 2024 at the Appolo Eventim.
Read More... | Souce: One Piece Music Symphony 25th Anniversary Concert Website
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details for their June to September 2024 DVD and Blu-ray release schedule.
Highlights include Mob Psycho 100, Blue Lock and Vinland Saga. We're keen to get our hands on the mellow slice of life anime with a twist A Galaxy Next Door (which arrives on Blu-ray on 17th June 2024). The majority of titles are blu-ray only, with a few being DVD and blu-ray available options.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Features
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is due to hit cinemas in the UK and Ireland from Friday 31st May 2024 thanks to the good folks at Crunchyroll. The hugely popular volleyball franchise has mant fans and will this sports movie live up to the hype? Read our review of the new movie to find out.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details about Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction. The new series is due to land on the streaming service from Friday 24th May 2024. Expect a story with high-school best friends and dystopian sci-fi antics with a lingering space ship.
The series is animated by studio Production +h. who are best know for the Netflix series The Orbital Children. Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction was originally a manga by Inio Asano, who is best known for Goodnight Punpun.
Watch the official trailer
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
The good folks at anime giants Crunchyroll have sent us the details for the UK and Ireland cinema release of Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary Haikyu!! anime fans will be treated to a cinematic outing. It's set to hit cinemas around the UK from Friday 31st May 2024. It'll be released in both dubbed and subbed formats.
The Haikyu!! volleyball franchise is hugely popular with the manga selling 60 million copies in circulation. If you haven't seen it yet, you can also catch the series on Crunchyroll.
Plot synopsis as follows: Shoyo Hinata must join forces with his old nemesis Tobio Kageyama during the thrilling showdown between Karasuno and Nekoma high school in the highly anticipated "Dumpster Battle". Which team will remain standing when the two underdogs duke it out?
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Manga
The manga tech start up Orange Inc recently raised over 19 million USD in funding for machine translated manga. We were quite intrigued because machine translation hasn't always worked out in the past for manga titles. One recent example was the Ranking of Kings Manga that had to be pulled because the quality of the translations were so poor. What's worse was the lack of quality control from everyone involved in the publishing of the title.
As we were curious, we reached out to some professional translators to ask their opinions on the current state of translation.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details from CCXP Mexico, where they announced some new and returning titles to the service.
Coming some time in 2024 is Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister, while set for October 2024 we have Nina the Starry Bride along with the return of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3. Re:ZERO has been hugely popular with anime fans and it's return is highly anticipated.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details about their Ani-May promotion.
For starters some of their top 20 shows will be available to watch for free with ads. This includes the utterly fantastic Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vinland Saga and Chainsaw Man.
Across the UK 120 HMV stores will be rebranded for the month and will play host to the exclusive early release of shows on DVD and Blu-ray including Mob Psycho Season 3, KONOSUBA - An Explosion on This Wonderful World!, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! At HMV they've also got a competition running with a chance to win a VIP trip to Paris for Japan Expo, with Crunchyroll!
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details for their UK home video release schedule for May to August 2024. Titles include Blue Lock, Mob Psycho, One Piece, The Quintessential Quintuplets, Bofuri, Dr. STONE - Season 3 Part 1 and Vinland Saga - Season 2 Part 1. Guility pleasure anime includes Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! Season 1 and 2, plus Tomo-chan Is a Girl! - The Complete Season.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Hugely popular anime Spy x Family is going to hit cinemas in the UK and Ireland from Friday 26th April 2024. To find a screening near you can visit spyfamilyfilm.co.uk.
But before you do, don't you want to know what we think about the movie?! Read on to read our review about the Forgers first cinematic outing.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
The good folks from anime distributors Anime Limited have sent us details of the upcoming release of the Spy x Family Code White Movie. The film is due to hit the UK and Ireland in selected cinemas from Friday 26th April 2024 in Japanese with English subtitles, and an English-language dub.
For the uninitiated Spy x Family is a hugely popular series, which started as manga and had a truly excellent TV anime adaptation. The series is set in a 1960's like world where rival nations Westalis and Ostania are in a state of cold war. Westalis spy codenamed Twilight takes on the identity of Loid Forger in order to get closer to the inner circle of Donovan Desmond leader of the National Unity Party. With all access to Desmond effectively closed off, the only route to meeting him is pretending to be a parent at Ostania's exclusive private school. So Twilight has to build a false family in order to so. He adopts Anya as his daughter, who unknown to him is a telepath and Yor, an assassin. While each is oblivious to each others secret, only telepathic child Anya is aware about the rest of her family's true identities.
We'd describe Spy x Family as an action comedy. We're really excited about this movie and if you love the TV show you're bound to encounter more of the same with this new movie. They've also made the effort for people new to the franchise so if you're not familiar with Operation Strix it looks like it'll form a great introduction into the world of Ostania.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have just revealed their Spring 2024 anime line up.
The streaming service will be releasing some hotly anticipated titles. We're most looking forward to Kaiju No. 8. Based on the popular manga, the anime adaptation by Production I.G. is due out on Saturday 13th April 2024. Set in a world where giant monsters ravage Japan our hero wants to enlist in The Defence Force to help save humanity, action and a twist ensues.
Laid Back Camp returns for Season 3, we're looking forward to seeing more of this comfy camping slice of life show. We've got more of Rin, Nadeshiko and friends riding around Japanese country side. What's not to like.
While also interestingly we've got an old favourite returning. Spice and Wolf returns. The fan favourite is an interesting franchise about trading economics and a wolf girl.
There's so much to pick from this season, but one you shouldn't overlook is a new adaptation of Bartender, this version is called Bartender Glass of God. It's about bar hidden away in Tokyo, where only those truly in need seem to find it. While there the bartender just happens to make the perfect drink to sooth your worries. Each episode a different drama unfolds and we're treated to a new drink recipe.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron has won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film 2024.
The highly coveted gold statue is considered the biggest award in Hollywood circles. Miyazaki is not only the first and only Japanese director to have won in this category, but he has also won it twice! Spirited Away won the Oscar in 2002.
Miyazaki's other movies Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises have been nominated in the past, but did not win. While other Ghibli movies The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There and The Red Turtle have all been nominated previously too.
This is an exceptional achievement and marks another award on the shelf for The Boy and the Heron, which also won a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA.
Souce: The Oscars 2024
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details about Dandadan arriving on Crunchyroll. The anime version will be adapted by Science SARU, who also recently made Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and Tatami Time Machine Blues.
The quirky nature of the manga makes it an excellent fit for the type of show Science SARU normally create, it feels like a natural pairing.
The show is due to hit the streaming service this October 2024. Interestingly, Crunchyroll are calling it Dan Da Dan, while manga publishers Viz have localised it as Dandadan (without the spaces).
You can watch the the official subtitled trailer on YouTube.
We're really looking forward to this series as Science SARU always produce such amazing anime.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Current Affairs
It's been announced today on X (the site formally known as Twitter) and on the official Dragon Ball site that Akira Toriyama passed away on 1st March 2024 due to acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old.
It's a massive understatement to call Toriyama a legend, the popularity and influence of the Dragon Ball Series by itself is huge. He's also had success with other projects including the artwork and character design for video games Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. The up coming game based on his work Sand Land is due to be released on multiple formats this April too.
You can read the official statement from the Dragon Ball Official Website, BBC News, The Guardian also pretty much every news outlet has an obituary of some kind.
Akira Toriyama work was iconic and his passing will surprise many fans around the world. As news of his death spreads around internet many industry professionals are posting condolences and also admit that it's because of him they first got into manga and anime in the first place.
Souce: Dragon Ball Offical
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime giants Crunchyroll have announced the winners of The Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024.
Winners of the coveted award include Jujutsu Kaisen for Anime of the Year, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc for Best Animation, and SPY x FAMILY Season 1 Cour 2 for Best Comedy.
The awards have been running 2017, this annual event has recognized and celebrated anime's finest series, films, and the talented people who make them. Fans from around the world, along with a global panel of judges, cast their votes in a variety of categories, and the results are revealed at our live awards show.
Our editor Joe Curzon (that's me), was on the judging panel this year.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll Anime Awards
The good folks from Anime Limited have just sent us details about the up coming cinema release of Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom. It lands exclusively in selected cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 23rd March 2024.
This continues the story of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny TV series.
It'll be available in Japanese with English subtitles for one weekend only. For more information visit gundamfreedomfilm.co.uk.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited
Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron has won the BAFTA for Animated Film 2024. It was running against Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Elemental and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The Ghibli film was the only anime film running this year, and also the first to win a BAFTA. Interestingly this is the first anime movie to be nominated for this category. Generally only three or four films are nominated each year for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts are the most coveted awards in the UK entertainment industry.
As we've reported previously The Boy And the Heron won a Golden Globe Award.
Souce: 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards: The Winners and Nominations
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details of a new Studio BONES Documentary. The celebrate the anniversary Crunchyroll have produced a new 4 part documentary to capture the history behind such hits including Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (the Cowboy Bebop Movie), My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and much more.
BONES 25: Dreaming Forward will be available from Tuesday 13th February 2024 and will coincide with the launch of Studio BONES new anime, Metallic Rouge.
You can check out a trailer of the documentary on YouTube.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Retail
We do like a fun collaboration. The good folks at US firm Game Beauty have teamed up with Kodansha to create a limited-edition Attack on Titan makeup collection.
"Embrace the strength of the heroes with four natural-toned lip glosses, each capturing the essence of a beloved character: Eren's unwavering courage in a brick red, Mikasa's fierce loyalty in a fiery red, Levi's icy precision in an almond pink with silver shimmers, and Armin's strategic brilliance in a peachy nude with golden shimmers..."
Game Beauty is female-owned business that aims to bridge the two worlds of makeup and virtual-reality by offering high-quality beauty products inspired by your favourite video game and anime concepts.
The make up collection is available to pre-order now from Game Beauty until 7th March 2024.
Read More... | Souce: Game Beauty
The good folks from Crunchyroll have sent us the DVD and Blu-ray UK line up for February to May 2024.
Highlights to the home video releases include Makoto Shinkai's Suzume (review here) , SPY x FAMILY Part 2, One Piece: Collection 33 and RWBY: Ice Queendom.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
Blue Giant is a new jazz themed anime movie that's based on the award winning manga of the same name. It follows the adventures of aspiring jazz saxophonist Dai Miyamoto. Thanks to the good folks at Anime Limited the film is due to hit selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland from Wednesday 31st January 2024.
If you're curious about this movie then read our spoiler free review to find out more about the upcoming release.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details about the special world tour of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training-.
The film combines episode 11 of the Swordsmith Village Arc which concludes the story arc and then follows on with Episode 1 of the Hashira Training Arc.
It'll hit the UK and Ireland from Friday 23rd February 2024. A special screening will be held on Sunday 25th February 2024 at BFI IMAX in London featuring guests Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado's voice actor) and producer Yuma Takahashi. Tickets will be available soon.
The movie will be released across various countries / territories this February 2024. Read on to find out more...
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from Kadokawa have sent us details about a great little social media campaign they're running to promote the new Delicious in Dungeon anime that's now streaming on Netflix.
The anime follows the story of a group of adventures who have failed on their quest. With Laios the hero down on his luck and against the clock as his sister is slowly getting digested by a red dragon. He has to return to the dungeon to rescue his sister, but is flat of our money and resources to buy food, so resorts to eating dungeon monsters!
The comedy series is animated by Studio Trigger, who have also down the fantastic Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, BNA, Kill La Kill and Little Witch Academia to name a few of their titles.
The manga is availble in English from Yen Press.
Anyway, the competition in question is a follow the X (formally known as Twitter) accounts and repost the giveaway post in order for your chance to win some signed goodies.
Read More... | Souce: Delicious in Dungeon Social Media Giveaway Post
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime giants Crunchyroll have sent us details for the UK home video release of Suzume. Makoto Shinkai's latest cinematic outing tells the story of Suzume, a girl pulled into an adventure to close magical disaster causing doors around Japan. The road trip movie will be released on DVD and blu-ray on Monday 1st April 2024.
Initially 4 editions will be available a DVD Regular Edition, a Blu-ray Regular Edition, a DVD & Blu-ray Steelbook Edition and a DVD & Blu-ray Limited Edition. The DVDs and blu-rays are available now for pre-order from your favourite home video retailers. A Blu-ray 4K edition is also scheduled for release later in the year.
You can watch the movie on Cruchyroll now.
You can also read our review of the movie, or our interview with film's creator Makoto Shinkai where we catch up with him and talk about the film.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Animated 2024. The coveted award forms part of Hollywood's Award season. Miyazaki is the first Japanese director to have won this category (which was established in 2007).
Anime has been nominated in the past (such as Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai and Masaaki Yuasa Inu-Oh), but has until now failed to win. This year the film went up against Makoto Shinkai's Suzume, Wish , The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental.
The Boy and the Heron was also nominated for Best Original Score - Motion Picture for Joe Hisaishi's work, however he Ludwig Göransson won this category for the Oppenheimer score.
The Boy and the Heron has been shown in the US and UK will probably get a wider release due to award win.
Hayao Miyazaki was also the first Japanese Animation director to win an Oscar for Spirited Away.
Souce: The Golden Globes
Category > Events
The good folks from City String Ensemble have sent us details about an up coming performance. City String Ensemble: Best of Anime which is set to run at EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney) in London on Saturday 3rd February 2024.
They promise an evening of iconic melodies from Studio Ghibli to the adrenaline-pumping beats of Attack on Titan. To get a feel for their performances take a look at their Eventbrite listing which includes links to their Spotify Anime EP along with some other samples on their YouTube Channel.
We've interviewed Sophie Poteratchi, the founder and violinist of City String Ensemble about the up coming event.
Originally the event was scheduled to run in December 2023, however due to rail strikes and venue audience number restrictions for December, they've rescheduled to Saturday 3rd February 2024 instead.
We've heard anime music played by live string quartets before and it is something special. If you're a fan of anime music or classical music, there's plenty to enjoy.
Read More... | Souce: City String Ensemble
The good folks from The Japan Foundation, London have sent us details of the The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. The UK's largest Japanese cinema festival, is set to start from Friday February 2nd 2024 and will run until Sunday 31st March 2024.
This will be the biggest showcase ever with 24 titles from human drama, horror, LGBTQ films, comedy, and sci-fi and so on. Most of them are UK premieres too!
The programme is set to run across 30 cities in the UK including Oxford, Lancaster, Chichester, Liverpool, and as far as Orkney!
There's plenty to choose from whatever your taste in films. There's also lots of interesting movies to try if you're curious and looking for something new!
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation UK Touring Film Programme 2024
The good folks from anime distributors Anime Limited have just announced the UK and Ireland cinema release details for Blue Giant. The jazz themed anime movie is based on the award winning manga of the same name. It follows the adventures of aspiring jazz saxophonist Dai Miyamoto.
The film is due to hit selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland from Wednesday 31st January 2024 and as you'd expect it features a stunning jazz soundtrack. So it's a film for anime and jazz fans!
Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have just sent us details for their Winter 2024 line up. As 2023 winds down, they've got some great titles to lined up to start the new year.
Headlining on 29th December 2023, Burn The Witch returns and we'll get more adventures in Reverse London.
While 6th January 2024 sees the continuation of One Piece, and we're introduced to new series Solo Leveling and A Sign of Affection. We've covered Solo Leveling before when it had a special London screening. We're also very curious about A Sign of Affection as the romantic series looks promising.
We're most excited about the confirmation that Frieren: Beyond Journey's End will be continuing too. We've really been enjoying this story of Elf Mage Frieren who's quest has finished and has started to figure out what to do next.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Retail
The goods folks from retailers United Publications have sent us news that they're to retire from the anime and manga retail market.
The UK based retailers and publishers were a regular fixture at UK anime conventions, they also had a presence at the MCM London Comic Con. You may remember them for their bold yellow banners with black text similar to a warning sign. They were a popular source of import anime DVDs and later blu-rays, but also had a big selection of manga and figures.
Anime fans of a certain generation will remember them fondly from the London Anime Club (which ran until 2008) as one of the main two retailers there. Fans would places orders to collect at the club and discover new titles over the dealers table and enthusiastically trade recommendations.
However change and reconciliation in the market has made anime and manga retail impractical for them and they've slowly started to wind down that side of the business.
We're told you should check their website for bargains, as MVM has given them some nice discounts on all titles as they reduce stock for the new year.
Read More... | Souce: United Publications
Category > Culture
We've just heard news that the stage adaptation of Spirited Away has been extended by 5 weeks due to huge demand. It's set to run in London from Tuesday 30th April 2024 until Saturday 24th August 2024. They've made an extra 90,000 (yes ninety thousand) extra tickets on sale!
You can catch this performance at the London Coliseum. The stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki's much loved Spirited Away closely follows the original movie and does feature singing and dancing, but is not a musical. It will be performed in Japanese with English subtitles visible from each seat.
You can visit the London Coliseum website book tickets
If you want to catch more Miyazaki on the London stage, don't forget about the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican. This second run of the truly fantastic stage play is set to run from Tuesday 21st November 2023 until Saturday 23rd March 2024. We saw the run last year and you can read our review if you're curious to know more about the 2022 run.
Read More... | Souce: Spirited Away Stage Play Adaptation London Coliseum Official Website
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details about a special screening of Solo Leveling. Ahead of the series hitting the streaming service in January, you can catch a premiere screening of the first two episodes at Cineworld Leicester Square in London on Wednesday 13th December 2023.
Solo Leveling is a Korean manhwa and is adapted into an anime series by A-1 Pictures (who are responsible for Sword Art Online, Black Butler and Fairy Tail to name a few of their titles).
Tickets are on sale now on Eventbrite.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Events
Update: Due to unforeseen circumstances the Best of Anime Concert has been rescheduled to Saturday 3rd February 2024. All tickets for the December event will be valid for the February 2024 one automatically.
They intend to prepare a new set including music from Ghibli's latest movie The Boy And The Heron.
Just a quick reminder to our readers who can get to London this weekend. On Sunday 3rd December 2023 City String Ensemble will be performing their City String Ensemble: Best of Anime which is set to run at EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney).
We've announced the event before and interviewed Sophie Poteratchi, the founder and violinist of City String Ensemble about the up coming event.
We've heard anime music played by live string quartets before and it is something special. If you're a fan of anime music or classical music, there's plenty to enjoy.
It's also worth noting just across the road from the venue on the same day the Yokimono Japanese Christmas Market will be running, which promises all sorts of food, crafts and performances, so you can make a day of Japanese culture!
Souce: City String Ensemble
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us news that Makoto Shinkai's latest movie Suzume will be available on the streaming platform from Thursday 16th November 2023.
The director is best known for anime box office smash hits Your Name and Weathering With You. Suzume is his latest offering in with the titular character must travel around various ruins across Japan closing doors that are the cause of devastation. The film went on to gross over $300 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, making it the fourth highest-grossing anime film of all time.
If you want to know more about the movie you can read our spoiler free Suzume movie review or our interview with Makoto Shinkai about the film.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
Remember remember the 5th of November as that's when Attack on Titan Final Season The Final Chapters Special 2 will be arriving on Crunchyroll. The epic conclusion to the colossal series will be available on the streaming service from 5th November 2023 in the UK and over 200 countries and territories around the world.
This will conclude the anime series, which has been running for 10 years now! Based on the hit manga (with over 100 million volumes sold worldwide) it tells the tale of Eren Jaeger and his friends who live inside the towering walls of a fortified city. The last of humanity survive behind the safety of the walls as outside roam man eating titans. Eren's life goes downhill when titans bust into his part of the city and chaos ensues.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll