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Vinland Saga Season 2 to Stream on Crunchyroll

Date: 2022 October 26 19:56 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us details of their latest streaming acquisition. Vinland Saga Season 2 will stream on the service simulcast from January 2023.

It follows the story of Thorfinn a young Viking with a passion for revenge (well that was season 1). Season 2 follows the further adventures of Thorfinn! The historical action anime series feels like tale Vikings would tell around a campfire at night. It's violent in a way you'd expect medieval Europe to be, and it's amusing to hear it all in Japanese. It's also great to see certain places in the UK get a mention as they off to Gainsborough and Bath in season 1!

We really enjoyed Season 1 (which is currently showing on Netflix and Amazon Prime).

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Art of Dragon Ball Showcase Auction at Heritage Auctions

Date: 2022 October 12 18:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from Heritage Auctions have sent us details of an upcoming Art of Dragon Ball Showcase Auction. Set to run from October 20 - November 17.

The auction line up contains plenty of production cels from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT along with various other items.

Read More... | Souce: Heritage Auctions

One Piece Film: Red Takes Over New York's Times Square

Date: 2022 October 04 19:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The new One Piece Film Red is about to hit the big screens this November 2022. To celebrate in New York, they're going to take over Times Square!

The One Piece production committee have announced that a large-scale takeover ad campaign in New York's Times Square will run exclusively on Saturday, October 8 2022 between 7:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m. (EST). Set to launch during New York Comic Con, this isn't one bill board. This is going to be the whole of Times Square.

Visit onepiecefilm.red to find a screening near you.

Read More... | Souce: One Piece Production Committee

Pantopia - Figure and Animation Project

Date: 2022 September 04 14:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

We've just been sent some details about Plantopia a collaboration between Japan's anime figurine makers - Good Smile Company, Max Factory - and anime producers Twin Engine (with credits that include Vinland Saga).

Plantopia is set to be a figure driven anime series, with lots to offer fans who like collecting detailed figures.
They've set up a Kickstarter so you can read more and make a contribution if you like.

Read More... | Souce: Plantopia Website

My Hero Academia Season 6 comes to Crunchyroll this October 2022

Date: 2022 August 09 18:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming giant Crunchyroll have sent us details about the streaming release of My Hero Academia Season 6. The latest series will arrive on the streaming service from October 2022. Lots of action is promised as Tomura is now in charge of even more villains and is set for some good up coming conflict!

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

The Deer King Movie Review

Date: 2022 July 25 18:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The Deer King is set to hit cinemas around the UK from Wednesday 27th July 2022 thanks to the good folks from Anime Limited. The movie marks the directorial debut of veteran animator Masashi Ando. Is the action adventure worth seeing? Well read on to find out!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Crunchyroll Reduces Monthly Subscription Price in Nearly 100 Countries including UK and Ireland

Date: 2022 July 18 19:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming mega service Crunchyroll have just announced they're reducing their monthly subscription price for almost 100 countries and territories including the UK and Ireland.

In the UK, Mega Fan will change from £7.99 to £5.99 GBP and in Ireland, Mega Fan will change from €9.99 to €6.49 EUR.

All subscription tiers allow you to watch ad free content, while the basic fan tier allows you to watch Crunchyroll on one device at a time, the Mega Fan tier allows off-line viewing and for 4 devices simultaneously.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Crunchyrolll Announces Chainsaw Man Streaming Rights

Date: 2022 May 16 19:01 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime mega company Crunchyroll have just revealed that they have the streaming rights for the upcoming Chainsaw Man anime series. Crunchyroll state that it'll be shown sometime in 2022 in one of the upcoming seasons simulcast. They've yet to confirm a release date. It'll be released subbed and with dubs in English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French and German.

The Chainsaw Man anime series will be animated by MAPPA who are best known for Attack on Titan Final Season; Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuri!!! on Ice and many more. The Chainsaw man manga is created by Tatsuki Fujimoto who blends action, horror and violence with the occasional comedic twist. Part of the joy of the series is you can't predict where it's going next. Fujimoto has also created some amazing stand alone one shot manga titles, which suggest you read Look Back and Goodbye, Eri, which can be read on Viz.com.

You can buy the manga from all good booksellers, including Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll Announces Release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Date: 2022 May 10 19:39 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The good folks from anime media giant Crunchyroll have just announced that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero the movie will be released globally this summer 2022. The movie will debut in Japan on 11th June 2022, and then be released in cinemas across the globe in Summer 2022.

The latest offering from the hugely popular franchise sees the return of the Red Ribbon army with new foes for our fighters. This is the second film in the Dragon Ball Super franchise. Dragon Ball Super: Broly was released in 2018 to fans around the globe. It grossed over $120 million at the box office globally and is the 5th highest-grossing anime movie at the box office in the US. We imagine this movie will perform similarly!

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Discotek Media Announces Licences for Q2 2022

Date: 2022 March 21 20:22 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

Discotek Media announces new, rescued, and existing license info via Twitch livestream.

North American anime label Discotek Media announced on Monday night via their Twitch live stream that they had licensed several new titles as well as providing production updates for upcoming, already announced releases. The new licences in the line-up the 1980's version of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy, Symphogear GX (Season 3 of the franchise), a 2k, director-approved re-release of Cyber City Odeo 808, the English dub version of Mon Colle Knights, US animated 90's show Double Dragon, licence rescues, and more.

Read More... | Souce: Discotek Twitch channel

Crunchyroll and Funimation Merge into One Offering

Date: 2022 March 02 22:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Anime streaming service Crunchyroll have announced that they've merged brands with Funimation. Crunchyroll now replaces Funimation for all global content.

In December 2020, Sony bought Crunchyroll for $1.175 Billion USD. Sony also owned Funimation. Up until now they were running the streaming services separately with fans having to buy subscriptions to both if they wanted to watch exclusive titles on each platform. This issue has now been resolve and merging into Crunchyroll makes sense as they have more brand recognition as a streaming service. As a result all titles that were exclusively available on Funimation will now be added to Crunchyroll.

Funimation will also be rebranded to Crunchyroll for home video offerings. In April 2021, much loved brand Manga Entertainment UK (which was also owned by Sony, via Funimation) rebranded as Funimation. Now the brands will be consolidated to Crunchyroll.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Voidol2 Anime Style Voice Changing Software Review

Date: 2022 February 08 21:06 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Features

After we heard about Crimson Technology's voice changing Voidol2 software we were curious to know more about it. It's aimed at those who want to change their voices to that of a Japanese school girl, robot or something else for whatever reason. It's mainly aimed at streamers, VTubers and other content creators.

Thanks to the good folks at Crimson Technology we were able to get our hands on a review copy to give it a go.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Bonhams Auctions Classic Anime Cels

Date: 2022 January 30 20:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from international auctioneers and valuers Bonhams have sent us details of their latest online sale The World Of Anime is set to run from 24th January until 2nd February 2022. The auction features various anime classics included Sailor Moon, Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptor Sakura, One Piece, Evangelion and many more. The sale is being headlines by Studio Ghibli cels including some key scenes from Kiki's Delivery Service and Totoro.

Anime cel auctions are uncommon with traditional auctioneers, but unlike other online avenues you know that they've taken the time to verify the items on sale are authentic.

Highlighting the auction is a Kiki's Delivery service production cel featuring Kiki flying with Jiji. Bonhams estimates this cel will sell for anything between $15,000 - $25,000 (USD). In the same price bracket they've got a cel of Totoro asleep!

We'll be very interested to see what happens with all the cels up for auction. Some have already got some bids in place between the asking prices, while others have yet to gain any attention. As with any auction it's always the last 60 seconds where things get really interesting!

Read More... | Souce: Bonhams

Mamoru Hosoda's Belle Review

Date: 2022 January 27 20:37 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Mamoru Hosoda's latest movie Belle hits cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Friday 4th February 2022. Thanks to the good folks at anime company Anime Limited we've been able to see the movie in advance.

You can find out if the movie is any good by finding screening near you and book tickets via www.bellefilm.co.uk. Or you could read on to find out our thoughts on this fantastic movie with our or own review.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Sing a Bit of Harmony Review

Date: 2022 January 24 20:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Anime movie Sing a Bit of Harmony will be out in UK and Ireland cinemas from Friday 28th January 2022. The film tells the classic story of Japanese School Girl meets robotic AI with hilarity and pandemonium ensuing. We've been lucky enough to catch it already. So read our review to find out what we thought.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Crunchyroll Announces New Anime for 2022

Date: 2021 December 22 17:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have just revealed details of their new anime for 2022. They headline with Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2, along with anime style FreakAngels (inspired by the works of writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield), My Dress-Up Darling, Orient, and The Case Study Of Vanitas.

They'll also be continuing to stream Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc and Platinum End alongside new episodes of Blade Runner: Black Lotus and of course One Piece.

We're most excited about Ranking of Kings, which will be streaming on Crunchyroll soon. Previously it was a Funimation exclusive but now it'll also be available on Crunchyroll.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Funimation Announces 20 New and Returning Shows for 2022

Date: 2021 December 20 19:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We're still processing 2020 and the good folks at anime distributors Funimation are telling is it's almost 2022 and they've got 20 new and returning shows. They'll be showing Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 from 9th January 2020, while from the 8th they'll be showing My Dress Up Darling. They'll be more Demon Slayer too, as the Entertainment District Arc continues along with lots of other good shows.

But let's be honest the one everyone is talking about is Ranking of Kings, we won't say anything about it. Just head over to Funimation and watch it if you haven't already.

Read More... | Souce: Funimation

Mamoru Hosoda's Belle English Language Dub Cast Announced

Date: 2021 December 16 20:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The good folks from anime company Anime Limited have just sent us details of the dub cast for Belle. The English language dub features the voice talents of Chace Crawford (The Boys, Gossip Girl), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Good Place), and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria). In her first lead role Kylie McNeill is cast as Suzu and her digital alter-ego Belle.

Not only have they got a variety of voice talent for the dub they've who also recorded English-language versions of the film's soundtrack under the supervision from the film's original music team including Taisei Iwasaki, Takayuki Chiyo, and Ludvig Forssell. As singing is a key part of the movie this makes sense. It's great to see that the dub production team are going to these lengths.

Mamoru Hosoda's latest cinematic outing tells the story of country girl Belle, who becomes an online singing sensation in the virtual world of "U". It's a reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast, with it's own modern digital take. We've been lucky enough to see it, and can only describe it as "perfection".

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Entertainment District Arc Now on Crunchyroll and Funimation

Date: 2021 December 05 15:45 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Quick reminder for fans of the anime version of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. The Entertainment District Arc has just started on streaming services Funimation and Crunchyroll.

This latest arc follows on from Mugen Train Arc and introduces new demon Daki.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

An Anime Steeped in History: Princess Mononoke

Date: 2021 November 27 13:40 | Posted By: Franki Webb

Category > Anime

In a change to our regular scheduled news, we bring you an academic article titled Steeped in History: Princess Mononoke. It delves into historical context of the much loved Studio Ghibli film focusing on how social class, race and religion are depicted. It also looks into the archaeological record, and written sources to understand how the film conveys these aspects while maintaining its fantasy element and pro-environmental message.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Voidol2 Anime Style Voice Changing Software Release Details

Date: 2021 November 25 21:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from Japanese software firm Crimson Technology have sent us details about their English language launch of Voidol2. This is real time voice conversion software primarily aimed at streamers, v-tubers and people who have the need to change their voice in real time.

The software has many voice modes and can make you sound like an anime character or even a robot and everything else in between. It retails for 13,200 JPY (about $114 USD / £86 GBP), but is currently on offer for 8,800 JPY (about $76 USD / £57 GBP). It's available to download on Windows or Mac via Sendowl.

Read More... | Souce: Crimson Technology

Crunchyroll Announces Spy x Family

Date: 2021 November 22 20:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details of their upcoming titles. The headline announcement is the release of Spy x Family, based on the manga of the same name it follows a master spy working in a cold war European-esque country. His newest mission requires him to build a family in order achieve his objective. This action comedy has been highly anticipated by fans of the manga (this includes us). Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Hunter x Hunter, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn) on board as Director while Kazuaki Shimada (The Promised Neverland) serving as Character Designer.

Other titles lined up for 2022 include Dance Dance Danseur (it's about dancing if you didn't guess), Aoashi which is based on the football (soccer) manga, plus the second season of the spooky In/Spectre.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 Airs on Crunchyroll

Date: 2021 November 19 19:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us details about Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2. It'll stream from 9th January 2022, available subtitled in eight languages and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. It'll also appear on Funimation and Hulu.

Keen eyed fans will notice that it's been marketed as "epic continuation" not the epic conclusion. So does this mean that there'll be another part of the final season? Only time will tell. Manga fans will have already had a chance to discover the ending as the final volume of the mega franchise was released in Japanese in June and in English last month.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Movie Review

Date: 2021 October 30 13:05 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The latest My Hero Academia movie has just hit cinemas around the world. We've just seen this third instalment of the franchise. So read on to read our review.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Cinema Release Details

Date: 2021 October 11 19:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The good folks from anime mega firm Funimation have sent us the release details for the latest My Hero Academia Movie. Titled My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, Deku and his classmates have only two hours to save the world! While off internship with the number one Pro Hero Endeavor Agency, Deku and his new friend Rody find themselves wanted nationwide for a crime they didn't commit. Can Deku and his friends stop Humarise's global plans of eliminating all Quirks?

The story promises lots of action from Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugo.

The movie hits cinema screens in both sub and dubbed versions in United States and Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland Australia, New Zealand and Sweden all on October 29th 2021, South Africa October 28th 2021. While
Denmark, Norway, and Iceland from November 11th 2021.

Read on to find out about the exclusive to Showcase is a limited edition My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Vol. W Specialty Manga Booklet.

Read More... | Souce: Funimation UK

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train Now on Crunchyroll

Date: 2021 October 05 20:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Anime streaming super service Crunchyroll have just sent us details about their latest release. They've just put up Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train. The box office smash is now available to stream on Crunchyroll. Which means if you haven't already you can get on the hype train and see what all the fuss is about.

They've also sent us a reminder that they have the original series that leads up to the events of the movie.

Availability wise the series and film will be available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese in English-speaking countries; and in Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America -- both in subbed and dubbed. The series will also be available in French-, German- and Russian-speaking countries as well as the Nordics. The film will also be available in French- and Russian-speaking countries as well as the Nordics.

Don't forget Viz have just released the complete box set of the original manga which contains the whole story!

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission Movie Release Details

Date: 2021 August 25 16:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The good folks from anime distributors Funimation have just sent us some exciting news about the new upcoming My Hero Academia movie. My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission will be arriving cinemas in North America, UK and Ireland on 29th October 2021, while fans in Australia and New Zealand will get the film on 28th October 2021.

The third movie in the franchise, this time around Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo crisis in My Hero Academia history, with only two hours to save the world! The action takes place while the trio are at their internship with the number one Pro Hero Endeavor Agency. The villains this time around want to eliminate all quirks!

You can catch the official trailer here.

We're currently enjoying the 5th season of the anime, which is available to watch on funimation.com and Crunchyroll.

Read More... | Souce: Funimation UK

Sakugan Episode 1 Streaming Review

Date: 2021 August 04 19:45 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

New anime Sakugan is due to hit streaming service Crunchyroll in October 2021. If you want to catch episode 1 early , the world premiere of Sakugan will stream at Virtual Crunchyroll Expo.

The good folks at Crunchyroll gave us access to a screening copy of Sakugan to review. So read on if you want to know about the show!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Crunchyroll Summer 2021 Line Up

Date: 2021 June 29 19:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us details of their Summer 2021 line up. They've got a mix of new stuff along with continuing popular favourites. This season the very silly Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, returns in the form of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S. They've also got Season 2 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, plus I'm Standing on a Million Lives Season 2.

For new stuff they've got SD Gundam World Heroes for all your international tiny Gundam needs. Along with the intriguing Peach Boy Riverside.

While other stuff still on going includes Tokyo Revengers (it's like Erased, but with more violence),
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Case Closed, One Piece and My Hero Academia (Season 5) (with more Hawks).

As always with Crunchyroll there's something for everyone. While there's a great selection of stuff, we just want more quirky shows like ODDTAXI. It's a show that caught us by surprise! If you haven't caught it yet, watch it!

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Discotek Media Announces New Licences for Q4 2021

Date: 2021 June 09 20:51 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

US anime label Discotek Media announced on Monday evening via Twitch they have licensed Shaman King, Super Dimension Century Orguss on blu-ray, Case Closed: The Darkest Nightmare, Lupin the Third: Part 5, Galaxy Cyclone Braiger on blu ray and Fatal Fury: The OVA Collection on blu-ray. They also gave updates for new releases coming from August 2021 onward.

Read More... | Souce: Discotek Media

Small Totoro Honnori Lamp Review

Date: 2021 June 01 18:13 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

At Otaku News HQ, we don't often buy that much merchandise any more, mainly due to space limitations. With so many great items out there, it's easy to get carried away and we've become very selective.

Just by luck when browsing Twitter something caught our eye. It was this brilliant little lamp.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Crunchyroll Team up with Anime Limited to Bring Movie Night at Homes Series from 1 May 2021

Date: 2021 April 21 20:21 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at anime streaming service Crunchyroll have teamed up with anime distributor Anime Limited (aka All The Anime) to bring Movie at Home to Crunchyroll. The season brings a new film each month to Crunchyroll from Anime Limited's portfolio. From the 1st of each month each film will be up on the service for a month to enjoy.

Some of the shows are restricted to the UK and Ireland, while others are UK, Ireland and the USA.

The showcase kicks off with Penguin Highway from 1st of May 2021. They've got some great stuff lined up. Including Patema Inverted, Promare, Giovanni's Island, the delightful Mai Mai Miracle and some Makoto Shinkai films running from January 2022 until April 2022. This a great way to catch a movie you wouldn't always have a chance to see.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

Key Stateside Crunchyroll Talent Joins UK's Anime Limited in Expansion Move

Date: 2021 April 15 21:05 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks at anime distributors Anime Limited have just sent us details of their new hire and key leadership promotion.

The anime firm have announced that they've hired Miles Thomas as their new Chief Marketing Officer. Miles was previously at the anime streaming giants Crunchyroll for 8 years making waves as he expanded their social media network and setup the Editorial Programming department. He brings his industry and domain knowledge to an already strong firm.

Internally there's been a bit of a restructure with Jessica Poce having also been appointed Chief Operating Officer and Kerry Kasim has been promoted from her position as VP Marketing to the role of General Manager, UK and Ireland.

The details of the expansion plan aren't fully explained in the press release, they hint at expanding to other territories and verticals. Reading in-between the lines we're guessing they intend to expand their music offerings and maybe their streaming services, but we're just inferring this from their press release.

It's interesting to see the next stage in the anime industry as Manga Entertainment fades away as it gets absorbed into Funimation, which in turn also owns Crunchyroll.

Anime Limited has always had excellently presented releases. Their collectors and ultimate editions always contain a ton of extra content and are fantastically packaged (we're eager to get our hands on their upcoming release of Violet Evergarden). They've also always been good at cinema releases, bringing Your Name and Mirai to name a few to the big screens. Anime Limited have also gone the extra mile at events as they tend to bring guests from Japan to events like the MCM London Comic Con. We hope they continue with these core strengths as they expand and are interested to see what they've got planned.

Read More... | Souce: Anime Limited

Crunchyroll Spring 2021 Line Up

Date: 2021 March 28 14:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have revealed their line up for Spring 2021.

It includes the return of old favourites such as the highly anticipated latest season of My Hero Academia, some new Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Digimon Adventure and of course One Piece. Along with the conclusion of Fruits Basket, titled Fruits Basket: The Final Season (hmmm, a bit like Attack on Titan there).

New seasons include To Your Eternity, which we're curious to see how the anime adaption will compare to the manga. The intriguing ODDTAXI, plus a whole crop of different titles such as Tokyo Revengers, Zombie Land Saga Revenge (Season 2), The Slime Diaries, JORAN THE PRINCESS OF SNOW AND BLOOD, Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose, Those Snow White Note.

Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll

I Hear the Sunspot: Limit Volume 3 Manga Release Details

Date: 2021 March 11 20:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The good people from One Peace Books have just sent us the release details I Hear the Sunspot: Limit Volume 3. The final volume of the manga is due out on 13th April 2021. The publishers promise us that "The moving love story between two young men, the hard-of-hearing Kohei and the eternally-optimistic Taichi, reaches a tear-jerking finale".

They also tell us it's "Praised for its nuanced representation of disability, and named a best graphic novel for teens in 2019 and 2020 by the American Library Association's YALSA division, I Hear the Sunspot: Limit showcases the protagonists' immense emotional growth while continuing its thoughtful exploration of disability representation and issues."

One Peace Book always publish an interesting range of manga, and this one is certainly worth adding to your reading list.

You can pre-order the book from all the usual places including Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, US Bookshop.org, UK Bookshop.org.

Read More... | Souce: One Peace Books

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

Discotek Media Teases New Releases for 2021

Date: 2020 December 23 12:51 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

After showing off their releases for the start of 2021, Discotek have announced the next batch of titles for 2021. Unlike their earlier announcement, these titles have no release dates or preorder link details.

The list includes older titles, OVA's, newer shows and standalone movies. They also gave an update on their future release of Project A-Ko on blu-ray.

Titles announced are:

• Arion
• Bananya 2
• Black Rock Shooter
• City Hunter 2
• Fighting General Daimos
• Grimms Fairy Tales
• Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple
• Kodocha
• Laserion
• Lupin The 3rd: The Columbus Files
• Lupin The 3rd: The Return of Pycal
• Lupin The 3rd: Part 3
• Mahoraba
• Medabots Season 3
• Memories

Read More... | Souce: Discotek Media

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.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

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.

Read More... | Souce: AT&T

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!

Read More... | Souce: Mangamo

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

Discotek Media Announce 2021 Titles

Date: 2020 November 08 14:20 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

Hot on the heels of Anime Limited's own solicitations for 2021, US anime label Discotek Media has announced its latest batch of releases. These include their second 4K UHD release and an SD on BD release.

The line up is as follows:

• Lupin The 3rd: The Castle Of Cagliostro (4K UHD)
• Kiss X Sis
• Hajime no Ippo The Fighting!
• Genocyber
• The Legend of Black Heaven
• Symphogear G Season 2

Read More... | Souce: Discotek Media

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.

Read More... | Souce: One Peace Books

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

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 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

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.

Read More... | Souce: Yen Press

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

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

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.

Read More... | Souce: Cloud Matsuri

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.

Read More... | Souce: Cloud Matsuri

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