Anime

Upcoming Sword Art Online game app Alicization Blading has released its first trailer featuring hints at the story and gameplay, including several battle scenes! Inspired by Kawahara Reki’s popular series of light novels, the game is set within the world of the Alizication arc and features an original story supervised by Kawahara. The official website

YuruYuri has released a new trailer for its 10th anniversary OVA! [embedded content] The trailer features a new song recorded for the OVA, “YuruYuri, Tenya Wanya☆”, perfect for listening to while watching the girls enjoying their laidback lives. Created in celebration of the manga’s 10th anniversary, the OVA project was completed through a crowdfunding campaign.

Inspired by Hasekura Isuna’s series of light novels, Spice and Wolf VR was first released on Steam and Oculus Rift in June this year. No further details regarding the sequel’s story, platforms or release have yet been revealed. However, a series of reference drawings for the first VR anime, the subject of which includes popular

Comiket returned to Tokyo Big Sight for its 96th event from Aug. 9 to 12! The area occupied by this summer’s Comiket was slightly reduced due to preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, meaning that the event was held over four days (one longer than usual), and also charged an entry fee for the first

Smartphone game Mario Kart Tour is finally arriving on Sept. 25 for iOS and Android! Inspired by the iconic Nintendo racing game, the app will feature three gaming modes as well as bonus challenges. In addition to the classic courses from the original game, the app will also feature new ones inspired by real world

KonoSuba is about to release its very first smartphone game! The game is holding a campaign ahead of its launch, in which fans who pre-register can get their hands on a series of in-game bonus items. To be in with a chance of winning, simply register via the official site where you can click to

Superhero anime My Hero Academia has confirmed the artists for the opening and ending themes of its upcoming fourth season, which airs from Oct. 12. Four-piece rock band BLUE ENCOUNT will perform opening theme “Polaris”, while singer-songwriter Sayuri will be performing ending theme “Koukai no Uta”. Adapted from the manga by Horikoshi Kouhei, My Hero

Sega’s upcoming game Project Sakura Wars has unveiled its cover art, starring heroine Amamiya Sakura! Project Sakura Wars is the latest entry in the Sakura Wars franchise, which began as a video game for the Sega Saturn in 1996. Like the original game, the new installment will again take place in Japan’s Taisho Period, starting

Berserk author Miura Kentarou is set to produce a new manga based on his original story, titled Duranki! Duranki will run in new manga magazine Young Animal Zero, the sister magazine to Young Animal, which ran Berserk. It will publish its first issue on Sept. 9, which will contain the first two chapters of Duranki.

The Saekano franchise’s first movie, Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata. Fine, has released a new key visual designed by CloverWorks! A new trailer for the movie featuring the main theme by Haruna Luna titled “glory days” will also be screened in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya on Aug. 29. [embedded content] Saekano is adapted from the popular

YuruYuri celebrated its 10th anniversary this year with a new OVA, and fans will be able to get their hands on it through a Blu-ray slated for release on Nov. 13! The OVA was first made available through a crowdfunding campaign, but now anyone can enjoy it thanks to this standalone Blu-ray release. YuruYuri first

In the middle of a sweltering Tokyo summer, Hobby Maker Joint Figure Exhibition returned with yet another fantastic selection of upcoming figures from all sorts of popular makers, like Good Smile Company, Max Factory, and FREEing. Being a summer exhibition, it was no surprise to see a fair few swimsuit figures on offer from Bellfine

Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced a new Sword Art Online game app titled Alicization Blading! The app is the latest smartphone game to be inspired by Kawahara Reki’s series of light novels and will be set within the “Alicization” arc. Further information is expected to be released at the end of the month. (C)2017 Kawahara

The TV anime adaptation of popular smartphone game A3! smartphone game will air as a two cour season, with Season Spring & Summer airing from January to March 2020 and Season Autumn & Winter following from July to September. [embedded content] The new trailer showcases the handsome Spring Troupe’s profiles, along with spoken lines from

Hit volleyball anime Haikyu!! will be back for Season 4 in January 2020! The series will also release an OVA, Haikyu!! Riku vs Sora, on Jan. 22. The OVA will cover the Tokyo qualifiers and star Okitsu Kazuyuki as the captain of Nohebi Academy. Along with the announcement, the show has also released a series

Voice actress and singer Suzuki Minori has been selected as ANiUTa’s artist of the month for August 2019! Suzuki shot to fame after participating in an open audition for popular mecha anime Macross Delta at the age of 17. Having taken the top place over more than 8000 other hopefuls, she won the main role

Mecha franchise Mobile Suit Gundam is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019. The original anime debuted on April 7, 1979 and has since received countless manga and game adaptations, as well as a huge number of iconic “gunpla” model kit series. Behind Gundam‘s success is creator and director Tomino Yoshiyuki, who will be making his

Granblue Fantasy ( GBF ) is a popular role-playing game beloved for its profound story and vast number of characters. The game is currently picking up fans in Japan thanks to its charming setting of islands floating in the sky and has already begun expanding into other media with manga and anime adaptations as well

Polygon Pictures was founded in 1983 and is one of the oldest digital animation studios in the world. With the mission “to do what no other has done, in unparalleled quality, for all the world to see and enjoy,” Polygon Pictures has brought innovation to the anime industry in Japan and worldwide through their works

Dr. Stone has released a trailer that teases its upcoming “Village Arc”, featuring several of the characters who live there. [embedded content] Inspired by Inagaki Riichiro and Boichi’s manga, which is currently running in Weekly Shonen Jump, the anime takes place in a world where humanity has been mysteriously turned to stone. Genius boy scientist

Violet Evergarden side story Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll has released its main trailer! A spin-off from the original anime, the movie revolves around Isabella, a young lady from a good family who attends an elite ladies’ college under a “contract” with her father. However, the beautiful school with its white camellias in bloom

Her Blue Sky, an upcoming theatrical movie from the team behind AnoHana, has released its third key visual! Drawn by character designer Tanaka Masayoshi, the poster image features the four main characters, Shinnosuke, Akane, Aoi, and Shinno. Tatsuyuki Nagai will direct with a script by Okada Mari and Tanaka Masayoshi handling character design/animation direction. Set

Arc System Works has announced a new Guilty Gear game set for release next year. The upcoming game will be the franchise’s first completely original title released since 2014’s Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-. Ishiwatari Daisuke will return to direct. Pricing and platform information has not yet been confirmed, but the game is scheduled for release

Chihayafuru Season 3 will air from Oct. 22! Its main trailer was released along with the announcement. [embedded content] It was also confirmed that veteran voice actress Sakamoto Maaya will be joining the cast as Inokuma Haruka. Based on the popular manga by Suetsugu Yuki, the series follows high school student Ayase Chihaya as she

Hotel Tavinos, a hotel for overseas visitors, will open in Hamamatsucho, Tokyo on Aug. 1. The hotel’s motto is that it is a “travel hub hotel that supports active travels,” and it aims to be a hotel that offers visitors complete services at low prices. Also, with its AI concierge and manga-themed interiors, it’s unlike

A new Gintama anime movie is now in the works! First teased at the “Gintama Shirogane Matsuri 2019 (Kari)” event in March, the new project was finally confirmed along with the release of the 77th and final volume of the collected manga. No further details have been released and it remains unclear whether the movie

Aside from Nine, the trailer shows Deku along with Bakugo Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako, Iida Tenya, and Todoroki Shoto as they continue All Might’s mission and face off against their greatest foe yet. Inspired by Horikoshi Kouhei’s hit manga, Heroes Rising is the second big screen outing for the My Hero Academia franchise, which has previously

Renowned anime studio Kyoto Animation suffered an arson attack on July 18th, 2019 (JST), which took over 30 lives and injured more. As the studio behind countless beloved anime like K-ON!, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and Hibike! Euphonium, Kyoto Animation has received an outpouring of love from fans all around the world. Those who

Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eternity and the Auto Memories Doll, a side story to the main anime, has released a key visual ahead of its Sept. 6 release. A Kyoto Animation work directed by Fujita Haruka, it will be screening for three weeks only at 73 cinemas across Japan, a week longer than originally planned. It

On July 13, the exhibit “Kow Yokoyama Maschinen Krieger Exhibit: The Fantasy World of 3D Figures” began at the Hachioji Yume Art Museum in Hachioji, Tokyo. The exhibit features figures and artwork on display with a focus on mecha that have appeared in the sci-fi series Maschinen Krieger which modeler and illustrator Kow Yokoyama has