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The Japan Foundation UK Touring Film Programme 2021 Line-up Announcement

Date: 2021 January 16 20:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just received details from the good folks at The Japan Foundation in the UK. They've just revealed the line up for The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2021. The yearly film festival has always been a great way of seeing a wide range of Japanese films. This year around for the first time ever the festival is going online. It's set to run from 19th February to 10th March 2021.

Screening dates will be announced on Friday January 22nd 2021.

They've curated 18 Japanese titles under the theme of This is My Place - Carving out a sense of existence and belonging in Japanese Cinema.

Anime wise they'll be showing HELLO WORLD, a romantic story with a sci-fi twist.

They've also got the live action adaptation of Little Miss Period. The movie is based on the manga about personified visitations of that time of the month.

As always they've got a lot of good stuff showing and we're spoilt for choice. This time around you'll be able to watch it from the comfort of your own home.

Crunchyroll Announces International Slate of Anime Dubs for Winter 2021

Date: 2021 January 06 20:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

For those anime fans out there that enjoy a dub, you'll be pleased to hear that anime streaming service Crunchyroll have revealed their anime dub line ups for some of the top shows of the latest seasons of Dr Stone, Jujutsu Kaisen and Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Screen Anime January 2021 Streaming Line Up

Date: 2020 December 26 13:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from Screen Anime the curated monthly streaming anime festival have sent us the details of their January 2021 showings. As always they've got a good line up.

This time around brings us the magnificent Miss Hokusai the story of Hokusai's daughter. The Place Promised in Our Early Days which marks Makoto Shinkai's feature film debut. You may have seen his other works Your Name and Weathering with You.

If you fancy a dark story with a fairy tale feel, then Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade is for you. From Mamoru Oshii the director of the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell feature film.

If you're after something a bit off beat then the Genius Party Beyond anthology is for you.

While last, but no means least if you're after something really off beat, fast paced and enjoyable then the TV series offering of The Tatami Galaxy is for you. It's from director Masaaki Yuasa who also did Night is Short, Walk on Girl and Lu over the Wall.

This is such a a great selection this month. It's available now until 25th January 2021. The subscription based service costs £3.32 a month or £33.32 per year. You can also gift a subscription for up to a year.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

An Interview with Sara Linsley Manga Letterer

Date: 2020 December 14 20:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Localising manga is more than just buying the rights and getting it translated, there's also sorts of factors to consider to bring it to market. While people often consider the translation there's another part of the localisation process to consider, the letterer! All the words you read on the page aren't just magically put into place, there's actually a lot of art and craft to lettering a manga page. So we thought we'd catch up with a manga letterer to find out more about the process.

Sara Linsley is a software developer and comic book letterer living in NYC, she has done lettering for manga including Sweat and Soap, Spoof on Titan, LDK and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. Recently she's also just released a font of her own intended for manga use! We thought we'd catch up with Sara over e-mail to find out how letterer can make or break a good localisation.

Sony Buys Crunchyroll for $1.175 Billion USD

Date: 2020 December 10 21:14 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The news is out! Streaming anime platform Crunchyroll have just been bought by Sony for $1.175 billion (USD). In their corporate structure Sony will put Crunchyroll as part of the Funimation Global Group.

This means Sony now own a substantial amount of the English speaking distribution companies, in the UK they own Manga Entertainment UK along with Funimation UK and in Australia they own Madman Anime Group (which was a part of Madman Entertainment) and in the US they own Funimation.

Crunchyroll's General Manager Joanne Waage says:

"We are excited to embark on this new journey. Crunchyroll has built a world-class brand with a passionate fan-base of over 3M subscribers, 50M social followers and 90M registered users. These amazing fans have helped to propel anime into a global phenomenon,

"Combining the strength of the Crunchyroll brand and the expertise of our global team with Funimation is an exciting prospect and a win for the incredible art form of anime."

Lots of people are publishing their own opinion on this acquisition. At Otaku News our own opinion on this is neutral to negative. We've been hearing whispers of this deal for at least a month. Funimation now have a large chunk of the English speaking anime distribution market and a monopoly of anime streaming services. Worldwide their competition includes Netflix which have been releasing some truly excellent and innovate anime recently. Also consider Amazon Video who do have some good titles such as Vinland Saga but is limited and discovery of decent anime on the Amazon platform is difficult at best.

Additionally less competition generally means less innovation and a lower likelihood of beating their rivals offerings. So those nagging issues with video play back on certain versions of certain players might not be prioritised to fix any more. The question remains what will happen now that Funimation has two streaming platforms with their own Funimation offering and Crunchyroll. Will they be merged under one brand? Will they be kept separate and the technology consolidated? When such technology platforms get merged, it isn't always the best platform that wins, there could be other internal considerations that don't always present as a good result to end users.

Will all the Funimation titles be ported across to Crunchyroll now or vis-versa? Will some titles where the streaming rights are owned by other companies be pulled from Crunchyroll now they're owned by a rival? What will happen to staff with duplicated roles in both companies? At this stage it's all speculation and we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

Screen Anime December 2020 Streaming Line Up

Date: 2020 December 02 20:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming festival Screen Anime have just announced their line up for this month. It includes a mix of the late great Satoshi Kon's films in the form of the joyful Millennium Actress, along with the psychological thriller Perfect Blue. Plus some Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel II Lost Butterfly, then for those who like a bit of action we've got Psycho-Pass movie Sinners of the System. For the series screening they've got the madcap Anonymous Noise.

Screen Anime have also launched their apps for for iOS, Android, tvOS, and Amazon Fire TV.

The subscription based service costs £3.32 a month or £33.32 per year. You can also gift a subscription for up to a year.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

Mangamo Releases Android App

Date: 2020 November 26 20:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from manga subscription service Mangamo. They've just released their app on Android, so you can grab it from the Google Play Store. The app is already available iOS (iPhone and iPad) on the Apple App Store.

The app itself has a great collection of top tier manga titles including Attack On Titan, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Fire Force, In/Spectre and Fairy Tail. A subscription costs $4.99 USD a month and is a great way to read manga officially. The service is offering a 30-day free trial for new Android users and is also available globally for iOS and offering a 30-day free trial for new iOS users. So you can try before you buy.

Sony have also just invested in Mangamo via the Sony Innovation Fund. Sony have a large interest in the anime industry already owning 95% of Funimation, in turn also own Manga Entertainment in the UK and Madman Anime Group via Aniplex. So it looks like Sony is also expanding into manga distribution!

Anime Limited Announces 2021 release dates and Xmas Sale details

Date: 2020 November 21 23:23 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

UK anime label Anime Limited followed up on their earlier announcement of new titles with release dates and news of their yearly Christmas sales. They also teased further releases for 2021.

Crunchyroll Announces Autumn 2020 Dub Slate

Date: 2020 November 14 15:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have just announced their dub line ups for autumn 2020.

It includes the dub of Jujutsu Kaisen, I'm Standing on a Million Lives, Tonikawa: Over the Moon For You and Noblesse

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

AmeCon Postponed from April 2021

Date: 2020 November 09 20:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

With COVID-19 still limiting what you can do across the UK, the fan favourite anime convention AmeCon rescheduled their AmeChibi to April 2021. They've now revealed that the April 2021 event has been postponed. The committee are being transparent and clear that it's unfeasible to run the event as it stands in April 2021. They're currently figuring out all the details with the venue about their options and will let everyone know what will happen next in due time.

It should be noted that AmeChibi hasn't been cancelled (as incorrectly reported elsewhere), but postponed until a future date. At the moment there is too much uncertainty so they cannot commit to a date.

Souce: AmeCon

Anime Limited Showcases Upcoming Release as of November 2020

Date: 2020 November 05 20:16 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

UK anime company Anime Limited have hosted a live stream livestream to announce details for their upcoming 2021 titles. They used the stream to promote their annual 12 Days of Christmas sales period. Set to run from the 1st to the 12th of December 2020.

They've also revealed some new titles coming soon (hopefully December, but it's tentative).

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Liz and the Blue Bird at The Leeds International Film Festival 2020

Date: 2020 October 25 18:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Update: Due to COVID restrictions The Leeds International Film Festival 2020 have had to move online for the whole event.

The Leeds International Film Festival always offers some interesting movies. In 2006 they ran the UK Premiere of Paprika by the late great Satoshi Kon. They've just launched the LIFF 2020 programme.

Anime fans will be interested in Liz and the Blue Bird from Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice) and Kyoto Animation. It is set to play at City Varieties Music Hall on at 10:00 am on Saturday 7th November and 1:45pm on Sunday 8th November 2020. At this stage it's not clear if it'll be a subbed or dubbed screening. The film is a must for fans of the Sound! Euphonium Series (which you can pre-order from Anime Limited).

We're also waiting for the festival to reveal more details around it's screening of The Message - Onoe Caponoe as part of it's music video competition. The music video is from creative duo TOCHKA. You can catch the part animated video here.

Some of the festival will be taking place in the real world, while other bits will be online via the Leeds Film Player.

Thanks to Jordan Scott for sending us details of the festival.

Souce: The Leeds International Film Festival 2020

Scotland Loves Anime Festival 2020 Details and Call to Crowdfunding

Date: 2020 October 17 18:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

With the ongoing trend of everything moving online due to the constraints of COVID-19, the Scotland Loves Anime Film Festival have teamed up with Screen Anime to bring the 2020 festival online. The collaboration is an obvious choice as the founder of the Scotland Loves Anime is also the CEO and founder of Anime Limited, which runs Screen Anime.

The online festivities will run from 25th October until 25th November 2020. Additionally to help the ailing cinemas industry. Screen Anime will also be supporting the festival's crowdfunding efforts, donating two-thirds of all proceeds made during the festival to its usual hosts, the Edinburgh Filmhouse and Glasgow Film Theatre cinemas.

You can help support their funding efforts by visiting their Crowdfunder page, you can receive some nice goodies for supporting the festival too.

Highlights for the festival include a lot of the lovely Lupin III (try saying that twice as fast), along with some Love Live!, breaking the letter L convention they'll also be showing some upside Patema Inverted, some Penguin Highway, plus Weathering With You with an exclusive optional commentary track featuring Dr. Jonathan Clements. We haven't heard the commentary track, but if it's anything like his other commentaries it will be well worth listening to in order to gain extra insight into the movie and anime production in general.

Plus they'll have the Production I.G. Short Film Collection, and some work in progress features around The Tiger and the Fish and Inu-oh.

Akira 4K Blu-ray UK Release Details

Date: 2020 October 16 21:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at Manga Entertainment UK have just announced a Akira 4K Limited Blu-ray Release. This release follows on from the recent cinematic outing of the movie in the UK and Ireland.

The luxury set includes the newly remastered 4K version of Akira on 4K UHD Blu-ray, 2 standard blu-rays plus a 40 page booklet.

The release is due out on Monday 30th November 2020. It's set to retail for £59.99.

You can pre-order Akira 4K from Zavvi.com for £49.99 or from Amazon.co.uk for £44.99.

Spirits of Action: Japanese Manga and Sports Online Talk

Date: 2020 October 14 19:41 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

With COVID-19 still placing restriction on events the good people at Japan Foundation London have got a great range of talks and workshops appearing online soon.

One talk we're excited about is the Spirits of Action: Japanese Manga and Sports . Yoshimura Kazuma will discuss the position of 'sports manga' in Japanese culture and how its contents have evolved to reflect the time. After the presentation anime and manga expert Rayna Denison will join in the conversation.

The online event is set to run at 12:00pm (BST) on Wednesday 28th October 2020. The event is free to attend virtually but places are limited and registration is essential.

Farming Life in Another World Manga Release Details

Date: 2020 September 27 13:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from One Peace Books have sent us details of their latest manga acquisition - Farming Life in Another World. The isekai manga is pitched as guy gets transported to fantasy world, but instead of fighting monsters and villains he sets up a farm and gets involved in agriculture. It forms part of that isekai sub-genre of getting transported to another world and doing normal things (we're thinking of The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlour in Another World, amongst others). This is the manga adaptation of the popular light novel of the same name by Kinosuke Naito.

Farming Life in Another World comes out on Wednesday October 28th 2020 in print and digital. You can pre-order it from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2020 Details

Date: 2020 September 24 20:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

While many events have had to be cancelled this year due to the current COVID-19 crisis a lot of events have been able to shift online. As a result it means there are some great festivals and talks you can go to while staying comfy at home while not having to travel. So the good folks at the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival will be celebrating their 10th anniversary with short film screenings and events on their YouTube channel and via Zoom.

We've been told there will be 3 Zoom meetings and 4 short film programmes featuring award winning film makers and emerging talents from various universities across Japan.

All films are in Japanese with English subtitles and everything is free to view. Some events do require booking. Content wise the stream is declared safe for children, the equivalent of a U rating in UK cinema. So will be appropriate for all ages.

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival has always had a great line-up, so now you just need to keep a weekend free to appropriate some truly lovely animation!

Everything is set to run on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th October 2020.
Check out their festival programme for more details and remember that streaming times are in the UK times.

Screen Anime October 2020 Streaming Line Up

Date: 2020 September 23 19:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at online anime film festival channel Screen Anime have revealed their October 2020 line up.

As always they've got a bit of something for everyone, movie wise they've got the premiere of Birthday Wonderland from Keiichi Hara (Miss Hokusai), Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel 1: Presage Flower (a little something for Fate/Stay fans). They've also got the classic Makoto Shinkai film 5 Centimeters Per Second, this is the Your Name director's earlier film and has a good dose of Shinkai melancholy.

For something a bit different they've got the eclectic Genius Party, which contains an anthology of 7 short films from some of the most celebrated directors in anime including Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Carole & Tuesday) and Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave).

Series wise they'll be showing Bartender, an 11 episode TV series, about a hidden bar in Ginza and it's great bartender who knows just the tipple you'll need.

Screen Anime is available in the UK & Ireland for £3.98 a month or £39.98 for a year. Members can take advantage of benefits including discounts at Anime Limited's online store and more. Currently the service can be access via your web browser, with apps promised for for TVos, iOS, Android & Amazon soon.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

Violet Evergarden Collector's Edition Blu-ray UK Release Details

Date: 2020 September 21 19:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime distribution company Anime Limited have just revealed the details of their Violet Evergarden Collector's Edition Blu-ray. It features the series, the OVA and extend version of the series finale theatrical versions and more. The show is dubbed in English and also in Japanese with English subtitles.

As well as all the content on blu-ray it contains a 156 page artbook, some art cards and stamp books too.

The Kyoto Animation series is renowned for it's high production values. It's a lavish lush show with so much detail. It's set in a post war European-esque world the series follows the aftermath of the war. It focuses on Violet Evergarden, a young girl raised as a deadly weapon and must adapt to becoming an Auto Memory Doll. She must learn how to transcribe people's thought and feelings in words, she has to learn how to capture their own thoughts into writing better than they can themselves. It's a curious mix of writing with a side dash of violence as we look into Violet's past.

The collector's edition is due out on 30th November 2020, with Anime Limited taking pre-orders on Friday 2nd October until Thursday 29th October 2020. The set will retail for an SRP of £69.99 with Anime Limited selling it for £39.99.

The show is currently available to watch on Netflix.

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Animex 2020 - International Festival of Animation, VFX & Games

Date: 2020 September 17 20:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

With COVID-19 still limiting peoples movements online virtual events have been proving popular. Animex The International Festival of Animation, VFX & Games has moved on-line and is set to run from Monday 21st September to Friday 2nd October 2020. The event is free to virtually attend this year so book now to grab a place.

The event is packed with workshops, screenings, Portfolio Reviews, Talks, exhibitions and much more.

Founded 20 years ago by Teesside University the festival aimed at creating a world-class inclusive festival that would draw some of the games and animation industries' brightest lights and future stars together to share their knowledge with the next generation.

This is event will be of interest to those who want to get into the animation industry, regardless of if you want to work in VFX, video games, animation or something else! Or for those who are curious to see the inner workings of a creative industry.

Akira 4K Comes to Cinemas in the UK and Ireland

Date: 2020 August 29 13:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The good folks from Manga Entertainment UK have just revealed that they'll be bringing the 4K edition of Akira to cinemas around the UK and Ireland soon. The screenings will include select IMAX screens and up to 300 other locations.

At the moment locations are to be confirmed, but you can register your interest on the booking website.

Akira is regarded one of the most seminal anime movies ever made. It's a classic dystopian future has influences on movies, cyberpunk culture and even predicted that the 2020 Olympic games would be held in Tokyo! It's one of those movies you just have to see on the big screen to fully appreciate.

Burn The Witch to Stream on Crunchyroll in October 2020

Date: 2020 August 24 18:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us details of a new title released in October 2020. Burn the Witch is based on the manga by Tite Kubo, who is best known for Bleach. This anime is set in the same universe, but this time around in London! Not normal London, Reverse London, a special hidden side of city where dragons roam. The story focuses on the adventures of witch duo Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole who are protection agents for Wing Bind (WB) an organisation for dragon conservation and management.

The trailer shows scenes from London, that are all around Westminster. We've got the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, and other Thames landmarks making prominent appearances, City of London Dragon Crests, a shot that looks like Shad Thames. We really love playing a game of spot the locations with stuff like this! Some artistic liberties seem to have been taken, does that looks like a US style fire hydrant in the trailer (blink and you'll miss it)? But then again Reverse London could indeed have American style fire hydrants as they've also got an Emergency Dragon Blockade System (this is one of the unwritten rules of London, you don't talk about the Emergency Dragon Blockade System, it's just known, like standing on the right and walking on the left on the escalator...).

If you big action and shonen then it looks the Burn The Witch anime will hit the spot. It'll hit Crunchyroll early October 2020.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Manga Entertainment UK Winter 2020 Release Schedule

Date: 2020 August 14 20:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from UK anime distributor Manga Entertainment UK have just announced their winter 2020 line up.

Headlining the releases they've got the very popular Dr. Stone which includes an hmv exclusive blu-ray release.

They've also got some Golden Kamuy (featuring a very CGI bear), Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious, Kemono Michi: Rise Up and The Quintessential Quintuplets.

Jujutsu Kaisen Exclusively on Crunchyroll this Autumn 2020

Date: 2020 August 12 19:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good people from streaming service Crunchyroll have just sent us details of their up coming anime release. Jujutsu Kaisen will stream from October 2020 exclusively on the streaming platform. The show is a dark fantasy horror focusing on a world where Curses can run rampant.

The series is based on the manga by Gege Akutami and is currently being released by Viz in English. You can buy it from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk if you want to get ahead and see what to expect!

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll Announces Removal of Sentai Filmworks Titles from Streaming Service

Date: 2020 July 31 21:33 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

Crunchyroll's rights to a number of Sentai Filmworks titles have expired, site gives users 24-hours to catch up on series before they leave the service.

Crunchyroll announced on July 31st that over 70 titles, which currently are licensed through Sentai Filmworks, will leave the service on August the 1st 2020. This leaves users less than 24 hours to watch these hours if they don't already subscribe to Sentai's streaming partner site, HIDIVE. Online, users have been vocal in their displeasure of the lack of notice given to them by Crunchyroll. While most of the titles affected are available on HIDIVE for UK and Irish viewers, some are not by virtue of licensing rights.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll Hits 3 Million Subscribers

Date: 2020 July 28 20:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us the details of them passing a landmark number. They now have over 3 million subscribers, and over 70 million registered users.

To put this in perspective, when Crunchyroll started in 2006, it took about 10 years for them to hit 1 million subscribers, then it took them 2 years after that to break over 2 million subscribers. These are users who pay to use Crunchyroll and get to avoid ads along with seeing anime ahead of regular registered users.

The press release includes an interesting infographic detailing the growth of the service. It's always interesting to see actual numbers too.

On average subscribers watch 100 minutes of content a day (which works out about 4 25 minute episodes). This is about 35 billion minutes viewed over the past year.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Screen Anime July and August 2020 Line Up

Date: 2020 July 23 20:35 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from streaming anime film festival Screen Anime have just revealed their July/August 2020 screening line up. This round is set to run from 25th July 2020, it includes two features from the amazing studio Science SARU, including a premiere of Ride Your Wave, keeping on with the watery theme they'll also be showing Lu Over the Wall.

Then to keep it a bit fun and sentimental they'll also be showing the charming Mai Mai Miracle, we discovered the film at it's Barbican Screening in London in 2009 and were immediately fans.

Then they'll be polishing that off with some mecha action with Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution Anemone.

For their TV series offering, they'll be continuing the agricultural adventures of Hachiken with series two of Silver Spoon. Where we're introduced to more farming life and some extra horse riding too. Oh, plus a puppy. Anime is always better with puppies!

You can sign up to Screen Anime for £3.98 a month or £39.98 a year.

It's available in the UK and Ireland via your web browser, with apps for TVos, iOS, Android and Amazon to follow over the coming months.

You can read our review of Lu Over the Wall here.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

Weathering With You UK Blu-ray and DVD Release Details

Date: 2020 July 19 13:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at anime distributors Anime Limited have just revealed more details about their up coming home video release of Weathering With You.

The Collector's Edition, Standard Blu-ray Edition and Standard Edition DVD will all be released on Monday 28th September 2020.

While the Deluxe Edition with UHD Blu-ray/Blu-ray and soundtrack CD will be released as a Zavvi.com exclusive on Monday 2nd November 2020 (with pre-orders open from Monday 20th July 2020 at 11am).

The collectors edition includes steelbook packaging, the film on Blu-ray and DVD, and the original soundtrack on CD.

While the Deluxe edition includes steelbook packaging, the film on Blu-ray, 4K UHD Blu-ray, 104 page book, poster, art cards and a bonus Blu-ray (contents of the bonus Blu-ray to be confirmed).

The Collectors edition is set to retail for £39.99, but you can pre-order it for less, while the Deluxe Edition is set to retail for £69.99.

Anime Limited also revealed that they've now got the whole Makoto Shinkai back catalogue and will release 5 Centimetres per Second and Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below (aka Journey to Agartha) in due course.

You can pre-order the Collectors Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray or Standard DVD from Amazon.co.uk.

Why not read our review of Weathering With You?

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Yen Press Previews 13 New Manga Acquisitions For December 2020

Date: 2020 July 05 12:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

It's convention season and traditionally a time of big license announcements, but conventions aren't really running in the physical world, however Anime Expo Lite offered a virtual experience and the chance for companies to announce their up coming releases and acquisitions.

Yen Press have just announced 13 new manga acquisition, which include

A Witch's Love at the End of the World
Strawberry Fields Once Again
The Vampire & His Pleasant Companions
Slasher Maidens
Eniale & Dewiela
Mieruko-chan

Plus some new light novels:

The World's Finest Assassin
Reincarnated in a Different World as an Aristocrat
The Place Promised in Our Early Days
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Unnamed Memory, King of the Labyrinth
Reign of the Seven Spellblades

We're very excited about Eniale & Dewiela from Kamome Shirahama who is also responsible for Witch Hat Atelier.

The Real World Locations from Sing 'Yesterday' For Me

Date: 2020 July 04 12:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Anime streaming service Crunchyroll have just sent us details of a great article they've put up exploring the real world locations used in the anime Sing 'Yesterday' For Me. It's always interesting to see how detailed and close to real world locations certain anime titles are.

We must admit we've got a soft spot for title, it's a bit of a slow burner gentle slice of life romance. You can catch it now on Crunchyroll.

We've also run similar articles before, including that time we discovered the actual house used in Kinmoza. Kinmoza is currently available to watch on Crunchyroll too.

Souce: Crunchyroll

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2020 Special Online Screening Event

Date: 2020 June 24 20:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

With social distancing still in place across the UK virtual events are proving to be a popular alternative. Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival have just sent us details of their 2020 offerings, which include a free online screening event on Saturday 25th July 2020 at 11am and 6pm (UK time).

They've got a line-up of fun films that range from stop motion to 2D and it's all for free. All people have to do is go to the Kotatsu Festival YouTube channel at either 11am or 6pm to watch the films.

Animators include current names like Miho Yata and Arisa Wakami and veteran animator Fusako Yusaki. So why not tune in on Saturday morning or evening to enjoy some insight into animation?

Anime Limited Acquires Latest Masaaki Yuasa Film INU-OH

Date: 2020 June 19 19:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We're all excited about Anime Limited's latest announcement. They've acquired the rights to the latest Masaaki Yuasa film INU-OH for the UK, Ireland and France.

Anime Limited have previously released Masaaki Yuasa other excellent features including Ride Your Wave, Lu Over the Wall, and The Night is Short, Walk on Girl.

Character design for the film is by manga artist Taiyo Matsumoto, who has worked with Masaaki Yuasa before on Ping Pong. You may also be familiar with Matsumoto's other works Tekkonkinkreet and the slice of life series Sunny.

The movie will be hitting cinemas sometime in 2021.

If you're interested in reading more about his past works we interviewed Masaaki Yuassa a few years ago last time he was in London.

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Screen Anime Bring Weathering With You and Your Name To Their Monthly Online Film Festival

Date: 2020 June 15 20:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at anime company Anime Limited have just sent us details of the latest line up on their online film festival Screen Anime.

The curated anime experience changes it's screenings one a month. This time around from the 25th June to 25th July 2020 they'll be showing Makoto Shinkai's fantastic Weathering With You, along with his super smash hit Your Name. So you can have a double bill of these amazing movies. If you want something a bit different and emotional they'll also be showing Anthem of the Heart. They'll be showing summer romance movie (with a time travelling twist) Fireworks too.

Plus for their TV line up Screen Anime have Silver Spoon. From the manga creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, this story goes in a completely different direction as it takes us to agricultural college with city boy Hachiken. This sweet slice of life show is a gentle comedy. You'll learn about Japanese agricultural practices and farming life in general.

The service is available for £3.98 a month or £39.98 a year.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 and Rent-A-Girlfriend on Crunchyroll

Date: 2020 June 13 10:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us news about Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 along with with OVA dub premiere of Rent-A-Girlfriend.

The OVA for Ascendance of a Bookworm (episodes 14.5 part 1 and part 2) will launch on Crunchyroll on Saturday, 13th June 2020, and episode 15 will launch on Saturday 20th June 2020.

Meanwhile Rent-A-Girlfriend will start on Crunchyroll as part of the summer season.
As we've covered before Crunchyroll are also keen to share that their whole dub cast have been working from home recently.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Neon Genesis Evangelion UK Blu-ray Release Details

Date: 2020 June 01 20:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

During the online convention Cloud Matsuri, on their panel Anime Limited revealed that they have the rights for the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV Series and the original Evangelion movies Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion.

Anime Limited will be releasing the super hit anime as a blu-ray boxset in the UK some time in 2021. They intend to release it as an Ultimate Edition. Generally Anime Limited grade their releases into three tiers, standard (which is a normal release with the disc and maybe a few postcards etc), collectors editions which often have lavish packaging, artbooks and all sorts of extra content. Then their top tier is the Ultimate Edition, which is an over the top collectors edition with as much content as they can gather. Ultimate Editions in the past from Anime Limited have been very special, they've had a Cowboy Bebop Boxset shipped in a special Cowboy Bebop branded vinyl flight case along with tons of soundtrack content and art books. Their Fullmetal Alchemist Ultimate Boxset included a 5kg (yes, five kilogram) of The Gate from the series.

At the moment all Anime Limited are able to say is that it'll be released sometime in 2021. They have not been able to say which dub will be on the discs, if it's the original ADV dub or the new Netflix version or even if it'll include both. It's not even clear which regions the discs will be. They could be Region B only (which will work in the UK and Australia) or also Region A (US and Japan). As of yet It's not certain who will be releasing Evangelion in other English speaking countries.

Normally what the company includes in their editions depends on how much official content they can acquire from the original licence holder. Evangelion has tons of content available, so there can be plenty of speculation as to what they'll release.

The series has been out of print for a long time on DVD, leaving fans to either buy expensive old DVD editions or resort to bootleg copies of the show.

Last year the show was released on Netflix remastered in high definition with a new English dub.

Evangelion is regarded as one of the greatest anime series of all time. It's been hugely influential and cause an anime boom in the mid to late nineteen-nineties. The franchise has caused an endless stream of merchandise. We'll wonder if they'll include any of this merchandise in the the boxset?!

Souce: Anime Limited

Cloud Matsuri Reminder

Date: 2020 May 29 20:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

While lock down has impacted events for anime fans around the globe there is a good range of virtual events cropping up. Up this weekend is Cloud Matsuri. Set to run online from Saturday 30th to Sunday 31st May 2020, the event will play host to top Japanese industry figures along with UK based and US anime firms.

You can access all the streams for the event for free with details to do so via Cloud Matsuri's website.

Anime Special of BFI Sight & Sound Magazine Out This Week

Date: 2020 May 27 21:01 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

A quick reminder to our readers as part of the BFI JAPAN 2020 Season the BFI's magazine Sight & Sound has just published an anime special as it it's latest issue. The June 2020 bumper anime issue includes plenty of articles by anime experts, including Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy, Jasper Sharp and many more.

The issue is out now you can buy a print issue, get the digital edition or subscribe to the magazine.

To be honest even though it's packed with great content they had us with the Totoro cover!

Multiple MCM Comic Con Events Cancelled for 2020

Date: 2020 May 19 20:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just received a press release from the good folks over at ReedPOP, the group behind MCM Comic Con events. They've told us that due to the COVID-19 virus multiple MCM Comic Con Events are cancelled. The upcoming MCM Comic Con events in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Scotland are affected.

At this stage it's uncertain when the next MCM Comic Con event will be. This doesn't just impact ReedPOP itself, but it's exhibitors. We are aware of a many specialist small business that make the majority of their income from events like MCM Comic Con. If there's a stall like that you enjoy buying stuff from that's normally at your favourite geek event, check out their website and maybe buy something from them. Every little helps.

Anime Limited Launches Screen Anime To Bring The Festival Experience Home

Date: 2020 May 18 20:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime distributors Anime Limited have just announced their latest venture Screen Anime. It's the first online anime film festival! Enjoy curated film & extras, refreshed monthly.

We're impressed with the opening line up which includes PROMARE, Penguin Highway, Patema Inverted and Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, along with a to be confirmed TV show. They'll also have bonus content for each feature.

The streaming service will cost £3.98 monthly or £39.98 a year, with yearly subscribers getting a physical membership card that entitles them to further discounts from Anime Limited's shop.

We think they've nailed the pricing options as it'll cost more to rent the films separately or you could save money by paying up front. Screen Anime will be available in the UK and Ireland from Monday 25th May 2020. You can access it from your web browser, with apps for TVos, iOS Android & Amazon following over the coming months.

We're keen for apps so you can watch it directly on your TV with ease. However in our opinion we think the quality of the apps is what will make it and take it to the next level. Ideally you want as many options as possible to watch and enjoy anime. We hope Anime Limited are able to develop high quality apps to support Screen Anime quickly. They already have a excellent track record of acquiring top tier anime titles and always go the extra mile at events, often having something special up their sleeve such as a Japanese guest or exclusive item.

So head over to Screen Anime to register your interest.

Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime

Cloud Matsuri - A Virtual Convention

Date: 2020 May 15 12:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

It's the start of convention season, while events are inevitably being postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 online events are becoming a sensible alternative and Anime Limited are stepping up with their buddies to launch Cloud Matsuri.

The virtual convention is set to run on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st May 2020. The event is completely free.

The show will feature exclusive interviews and talks with special guest from the world of anime and more.

They're hinting that there will be more guests to announce, but the line up they're showing us at the moment is fantastic with Eunyoung Choi - CEO & Executive Producer, Science SARU (most recently responsible for the fabulous Keep Your Hands off Eizouken). Eiji Inomoto President & Founder, Studio Orange. The CG specialists created Land of the Lustrous and Beastars. Shuzo Shiota president of Polygon Pictures (who are involved in Knights of Sidonia and AJIN: Demi-Human to name a few). They'll also have Yasuhiro Kamimura CEO of GroundWorks Co., Ltd who will talk about his career to date and share stories with managing the Evangelion brand.

Drawing Kimono: Online Session with Kutsuwada Chie

Date: 2020 May 12 21:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

While events in the UK have had to be postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19, some event runners have switched to online sessions as an alternative. Japan House London will be running a Drawing Kimono: Online Session with Kutsuwada Chie. It's set to run on Friday 15th May 2020 at 14:00 to 15:00 UK time. Booking is required, but the event is free.

Kutsuwada Chie is a Brighton based Japanese artist who will show people attending the online session how to draw a male figure wearing a kimono.

BFI Japan 2020 Over 100 Years of Japanese Cinema

Date: 2020 May 05 20:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

UK readers will be very interested to hear that the BFI have just announced a fantastic new season called BFI Japan 2020.

Starting with Akira Kurosawa and other classics in May, they'll then run different themes every month until October with some J-Horror (just in time for Halloween). We you know you'll want to watch some anime too, which is why they'll be showing anime in July, this will include films from Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Hosoda and the late great Satoshi Kon, plus some other top tier titles too.

There is pretty is much something for everyone during this fantastic season. Currently catering for the audience at lockdown at home they aim to bring cinema to you via their BFI Player and BFI YouTube.

When the cinemas reopen (which the BFI anticipates will be late 2020 or early 2021) the BFI will also re-release the Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, along with monthly seasons at the BFI Southbank in London.

Additionally the BFI will be releasing some DVDs and Blu-ray features too including Ozu's Tokyo Story, The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice, Toshio Matsumoto's Funeral Parade of Roses, along with a Takeshi Kitano Blu-ray boxset featuring Sonatine, Violent Cop and Boiling Point.

Evangelion, Gunpla and other Anime and Manga T-Shirts at Uniqlo

Date: 2020 April 21 19:39 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Fans of anime franchise based t-shirts will want to head over to the Uniqlo website to grab the latest Evangelion and Gunpla 40th Anniversary designs.

The Japanese clothes company always has some great t-shirts in their UT Graphic Print range. They intend to release some designs that appeal to all kinds of manga and anime fans including their Manga UT line, which includes Osomatsu-kun, GeGeGe no Kitaro and The Genius Bakabo.

They'll also have Manga UT Ribon 65th Anniversary which includes Chibi Maruko Chan, Tokimeki Tonight, Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai, Gokinjo Monogatari and Marmalade Boy.

If you like something from Young Jump then Uniqlo have you covered with Manga UT Weekly Young Jump 40TH Anniversary. They'll have tees from Golden Kamuy, Tokyo Ghoul and Kingdom.

While if you want something more tokusatsu to wear then you'll be excited about the upcoming Ultraman t-shirt range.

Genki Gear April 2020 Sale

Date: 2020 April 17 19:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from geek t-shirt company Genki Gear have just sent us a reminder that they've got a sale on. They've got t-shirts from £4 on offer along with their usual geeky designs. You maybe familiar with their designs as they often have a popular stall at events like MCM Comic Con and Hyper Japan.

Genki Gear also have Tokidoki and BT21 Official Merch too! We're particularly partial to their £10 t-shirt range too.

The geeky clothes company are also reassuring us that they're being extra diligent with all deliveries being made with safety in mind

Souce: Genki Gear

Mangamo The New Mobile Manga Subscription Service

Date: 2020 April 16 19:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just been sent the details of a new mobile manga subscription service. Mangamo promises more titles than any other legal mobile manga service.

It's currently on iOS Devices (iPhone and iPad) with subscriptions costing $4.99 USD a month. The Tokyo based company has partnered with 11 publishers to bring the wide range of titles, including Attack on Titan, Battle Angel Alita, Somali and the Forest Spirit, along with Fire Force and many more titles. A full list of current titles can be found here. They also promise regular updates to the titles available.

Mangamo is available on the Apple App Store globally with the exception of Japan, China and Korea. Currently all titles are in English.

As this is a legal service you can be certain that the money goes back to the original creators helping fund the manga industry itself.

Manga Entertainment UK Summer 2020 Release Schedule

Date: 2020 April 12 19:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from Manga Entertainment UK have just revealed their Summer 2020 release line up.

Highlights include Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? Arrow of the Orion, High School DxD HERO, and the very silly (and equally enjoyable) Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, along with Bungo Stray Dogs.

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki UK Blu-ray/DVD Combi Release Details

Date: 2020 March 21 22:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from Anime Limited have revealed the UK release details for Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki on Blu-ray and DVD (combi). The documentary shot over two years charts legendary anime directory Hayao Miyazaki creating his first CG animation.

We've seen the broadcast version on NHK World and it's certainly worth watching as it shows the behind the scenes creative processes. There's lots of little gems in this. Subtle moments you might miss too. There's a great moment where Miyazaki draws a storyboard for the CG team to use and they're clearly amazed by the quality and draughtsmanship of something that's supposed to be a very rough piece of work.

Miyazaki is famed for founding Studio Ghibli, where he created many of his movies including Spirited Away, Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, and many more. They can currently be enjoyed on Netflix.

The feature is due out on Monday 13th April 2020. You can pre-order it directly from Anime Limited or from Amazon.co.uk.

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Crunchyroll Announces Crunchyroll Originals

Date: 2020 February 27 21:38 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us some exciting details about their latest venture - Crunchyroll Originals. We're told the shows, produced with respected publishers including Kodansha, animation studios such as MAPPA, and from Crunchyroll Studios, represent Crunchyroll's continued commitment to delight fans and expand the global anime community through fresh stories and unique perspectives from a global slate of creators.

They've got some original anime content that you can watch now, including In/Spectre, which mixes monsters and mystery.

Interestedly they've also sourced some great content from other parts of the world. UK based fans may already be familiar with with the excellent FreakAngels graphic novels from Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Manga Jiman Competition 2019 Winners

Date: 2020 February 26 22:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

It's that time of year again! Recently the Embassy of Japan in the UK revealed the winners of the prestigious Manga Jiman Competition 2019. The competition often marks rising stars in the UK industry too. Competition prizes range from an amazing two flights to Japan for the 1st place winner, to lovely A3 scanners for second place and so.

This years first place went to Tori Jones for A Heart of Gold or Some Other Metal, while Alexandra Cook took second place with Kiyomi's Prequel. Third place went to Mina Ghosh with The Last Day of Uther Adriss.

Many of the shortlisted artists were first time entrants, showing that the competition has endured for the 13 times it's been run.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Review

Date: 2020 February 23 15:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is the latest cinematic offering for the My Hero Academia series. It hits cinemas around the UK and Ireland on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February 2020. Of course you want to know is it any good? Well read on to find out!

Call For Papers - Anime and Manga Fandom Before the Year 2000

Date: 2020 February 09 11:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Readers in academic circles may be interested to hear about this call for chapter proposals. It's for a book devoted to archival research in anime and manga fandom before the year 2000. Co-edited by anime and manga expert Helen McCarthy and Dr. Darren-Jon Ashmore, Professor of Anthropology, Yamanashi Gakuin University.

Helen McCarthy tells us "Independent scholars are welcome to submit, you don't have to be attached to an institution, anime and manga don't have to be your primary areas of study if you are. We're really keen to get new thinking and rigorous archival research"

Details can be found on https://cfplist.com/CFP/25594.

Souce: CFP List

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