Category > Anime
The good folks from Screen Anime the curated monthly streaming anime festival have sent us the details of their April 2021 showings. As always they've got a great line up.
For April they headline with Makoto Shinkai's Children Who Chase Lost Voices (also known as Journey to Agartha).
Then they've also got the Tiger &Bunny Movie - Tiger & Bunny: The Rising. Set in a world where superheroes get sponsorship from big name brands similar to sports personalties.
They've also got five short films from Production I.G, in the form of Pigtails & Other Short Films.
While for their curated offering, they have RE:Cyborg 009.
For their TV series offering this time around they'll be showing Eureka Seven Part 1.
The shows are available from from 25th March 2021 until 25th April 2021. The subscription based service costs £3.98 a month or £39.98 per year. You can also gift a subscription for up to a year.
Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime company Funimation (who own Manga UK and Cruchyroll) have just sent us details about their Nintendo Switch App. The app is now available on Nintendo Switch in the UK and Ireland. They also plan to expand to other territories in the coming months.
Read More... | Souce: Funimation
Category > Cuisine
We've covered plenty about food for fans of Japan in the past before. With lockdown still underway in the UK people are always looking for something a bit different to eat at home. So some companies have been innovative and created DIY at home cooking kits. This elevates it from a regular takeaway it's an activity you can do at home. Ramen chain Shoryu Ramen with branches in London, Manchester and Oxford have just teamed up with Hatsune Miku to create Miku x Shoryu DIY kit. This limited edition ramen kit is dedicated to fans of everyone's favourite vocaloid.
You can order now for delivery between 16th March - 4th April 2021. Each pack is £44 and serves 2 people. There's a meat eater (which contains pork) or vegan option. Each pack also contains Matcha Detox mocktail for 2, along with 2 white chocolate turquoise cookies a plus Hatsune Miku x Shoryu tote bag.
Read More... | Souce: Shoryu Ramen
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
Category > Events
The good folks from the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival have teamed up with Wales One World Festival to Celebrate International Women's Day. Together they'll be hosting free family friendly online event on 13th March 2021. The event will show case works by up and coming female directors. They'll be showing various family friendly short films on the Zoom Stream. The event is free to attend, but registration is required.
They'll also be running a free drawing workshop with the Japanese animator and illustrator Chie Arai.
Read More... | Souce: Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival
Category > Anime
The good folks from Screen Anime the curated monthly streaming anime festival have sent us the details of their March 2021 showings. As always they've got a great line up.
For March they headline with the live action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul, along with the classic anime Mind Game, which marks the directorial debut of Masaaki Yuasa. For the festival favourite they'll be showing The Case of Hana & Alice and for the final feature Summer Days with Coo will be showing too.
For the TV Series subscribers will be treated to the popular sci-fi show Planetes.
This month we highly recommend Mind Game and Planetes, but everything they've got (as always) is worth your time.
The shows are available from from 25th February 2021 until 25th March 2021. The subscription based service costs £3.98 a month or £39.98 per year. You can also gift a subscription for up to a year.
Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime
Category > Anime
The good folks from the Japan Foundation in the UK have sent us a reminder about their Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2021. As we've mentioned before in addition to the eighteen finest and most talked about recently released Japanese films, the programme will host 7 online talks where 8 Japanese directors in total will talk about their work and explore issues existing in Japanese society.
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.
You can sign up to watch the films and talks at home check out https://onlinecinema.jpf-film.org.uk.
As always we've they some really good titles.
The live action adaptation of Little Miss Period stands out. If you enjoyed the manga or are curious about personifications of that time of the month, then it's well worth catching!
For anime fans they'll be showing HELLO WORLD, a romantic story with a sci-fi twist.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2021
Category > Anime
The good folks from streaming anime service Crunchyroll have just sent us news that they'll be streaming the original Gundam Series Mobile Suit Gundam 0079. This is the original 1979 anime that started it all!
Hugely influential, it's the start of the massive Gundam franchise, the show that spawned so many other shows and countless bits of merchandise (which was the point of the show).
Crunchyroll have both the sub and English dubbed versions available.
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
Category > Anime
The good folks from Screen Anime the curated monthly streaming anime festival have sent us the details of their February 2021 showings. As always they've got a good line up.
Headlining this month is Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai. It's a charming movie about a small child with of course a Hosoda like twist. You can read our review of the Oscar nominated movie here.
They've also got the first ever anime feature film Momotaro: Sacred Sailors. the Japanese 1945 propaganda film was made using prisoners of war as the voice actors. It's interesting from a historical and academic standpoint and certainly worth watching.
If you're looking for a melancholy sci-fi romance type anime film then HAL is for you.
But if you want some old school anime with a very sweary 1990's dub, Sci-fi action extreme violence and exploding neck collars then the classic Cyber City Oedo 808 is for you.
For the TV show they've got the visually stunning Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.
This is such a a great selection this month. It's available from 25th January 2021 until 25th February 2021. The subscription based service costs £3.98 a month or £39.98 per year. You can also gift a subscription for up to a year.
Read More... | Souce: Screen Anime
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.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2021
Category > Events
The good folks from geeky event MCM Comic Con have sent us details for their plans for 2021. They intend to continue with some virtual Metaverse events in the spring and summer and then MCM Comic Con London is set to return on Friday 24th to Sunday 24th October2021. MCM Comic Con Birmingham is set for Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th November 2021. We're told that due to COVID-19, these will be the only physical MCM events taking place in 2021.
They'll release the show format and health and safety measures in the coming months.
At it's peak pre-COVID-19 MCM Comic Con London attracted over 136,000 attendees over the 3 days and a combined total of over 489,600 attendees spread across all their events in a single year. In COVID-19 time the 10 months to October 2021 is a long way away, it's not certain when normal events can resume. Other events by other organisers in London have started advertising various events in London for September 2021. So it seems there is some consensus with other organisers in other industries.
We're reassured that in the past MCM Events have always considered safety a priority. On the MCM Comic Con after the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017, MCM had to drastically increase security of the event at short notice and this required a lot logistics in order to keep attendees safe. In 2020 MCM cancelled it's events due to COVID-19. At this stage we're uncertain how safe it will be to run an event in October 2021 or what kind of restrictions and limitations any events will have. We are certain though that MCM will make the event safe or postpone it depending on the situation in October and November 2021.
Read More... | Souce: MCM Comic Con
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Read More... | Souce: Scotland Loves Anime Festival 2020
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.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
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
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.
Read More... | Souce: Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2020
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
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
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.
Read More... | Souce: Animex - International Festival of Animation, VFX & Games
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.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
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
Category > Manga
The good folks at manga publishers Yen Press have just announced a fresh batch of licensing acquisitions. They've got the rights for 13 new titles in print and digital. Release dates are not yet detailed.
The releases include the following:
Read More... | Souce: Yen Press
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.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
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
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
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
Category > Manga
The good people from Drawn & Quarterly have sent us details of their latest release The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud by Kuniko Tsurita.
Available for the first time in English this book collects the best short stories from gekiga manga artist Kuniko Tsurita.
Tracking bohemian culture, the politics of late 60's and early 70's Tokyo, along with other experimental works and an early exploration of gender fluidity with gender ambiguous protagonists.
The manga is out from July 2020 (so it's out now).
You can order it from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk or any other bookseller using the ISBN: 978-1-77046-398-1.
Read More... | Souce: Drawn & Quarterly
Category > Manga
The good folks from Manga App Mangamo have just sent us details of their latest manga addition. The subscription service has just added the manga of Japan Sinks 2020. It's a reimagining of the Netflix anime which has just been released today, which in turn is based on the best-selling novel written by Sakyo Komatsu in 1973. The anime is from Science Saru, who did the fantastic Keep Your Hands off Eizouken, Lu Over The Wall, Devil Man Cry Baby, and so much more.
Read More... | Souce: Mangamo
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
Read More... | Souce: Yen Press
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
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?
Read More... | Souce: Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2020
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
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
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
Category > Press Releases
UK fans of Japanese Cinema will be exited to hear about the BFI's release of the Takeshi Kitano Collection. Containing Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine these three films will be released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Due out on as a blu-ray release on 29 June 2020, then 27 July 2020 on iTunes, Amazon Prime and on BFI Player. The collection is packed full of extras, but you should note, only the first pressing contains the 44-page book with new writing on the films and their director by Japanese film experts.
Also known as Beat Takeshi, the director, writer, comedian TV presenter and actor burst into Japanese cinema with his 1989 film Violent Cop. If you've seen the live action Ghost in the Shell Movie, you'll remember him as Aramaki.
You can pre-order the collection now from Amazon.co.uk or from the BFI Shop Online.
Read More... | Souce: BFI
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
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!
Read More... | Souce: BFI Sight & Sound Magazine
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.
Read More... | Souce: MCM Comic Con
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
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
Category > Anime
The good folks from anime streaming service Crunchyroll have sent us news about their current dubbing process. Dedicated to bringing you anime under lockdown their current cast of voice actors are currently recording from home to ensure you'll still keep getting English dubbed versions.
They've now switched to a fully-remote workflow. We wonder if this will become the new normal for voice actors? Normally most anime voice actors in the US are based in industry hubs near LA, Texas and sometimes New York, but now will they be able search for new talent further afield?
Read More... | Souce: Crunchyroll
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.
Read More... | Souce: BFI Japan 2020
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.
Read More... | Souce: Mangamo
Category > Retail
A couple of years ago we covered an excellent exhibition on Anime Architecture: Backgrounds of Japan. It was hosted at House of Illustration. The exhibition focused on the lavish and detailed backgrounds used in anime. It included backgrounds many seminal anime films.
Stefan Riekeles the curator of the exhibition has teamed up with Volume to publish a book based the images from the exhibition. This hardcover 256 page publication promises to be "The definitive visual guide to the cityscapes and buildings of the most celebrated and influential anime movies". "This overdue celebration offers a peerless survey of these cinematic arenas - including material from AKIRA, Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tekkonkinkreet - through original background paintings, storyboards, drafts, sources of inspiration and film excerpts. Produced in direct collaboration with the original Japanese production studios, Anime Architecture offers privileged views into the earliest conception stages of iconic scenes, through to their development into finished films."
The art book itself is a collectors item and is limited to 1,000 individually numbered copies. It also includes a screen printed acrylic slipcase.
It's available now for pre-order for £75 from Volume and will ship some time in Q4 2020.
If you want to know more about the original exhibition, then why not read our interview with Stefan Riekeles?
Read More... | Souce: Volume
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