Anime

Hello Kitty is heading to Hollywood! The classic Sanrio character is set to star in her first US movie as part of a deal with New Line Cinema. Born in 1974, Hello Kitty released her first merchandise line in 1975 and hit the States in 1976. In Japan she’s long been the star of movies

The upcoming Digimon Adventure movie has revealed a 30-second trailer and teaser visual along with an announcement that it will release in spring 2020! The trailer features the DigiDestined having fun in summer back then with a grown Taichi narrating. The visual, created by character designer Nakatsuru Katsuyoshi, shows Taichi and his Digimon partner Agumon

Japanese mangaka are internationally popular, but it is not only Japanese people who have mastered special comic or drawing skills. Many other internationally established artists have discovered the art for themselves. But how does their everyday life look like? Which dreams are they following and what kind of difficulties did they have to face? An

Wonder Festival is the premiere destination for figure and garage kit fans, providing a showcase for professionals and amateurs alike to share their most recent creations twice a year. Held at Makuhari Messe on Feb. 10, the Winter 2019 edition once again featured a host of upcoming figures from all the major manufacturers inspired by

Held twice a year at Makuhari Messe, Wonder Festival is a paradise for figure and garage kit lovers, providing a valuable platform for sculptors to show off their latest creations. This winter once again featured a range of fantastic figures and garage kits inspired by some of today’s most popular franchises! Old favourites like Lupin

The 55th Prize Fair held its Tokyo edition on Feb. 19 at TOC Ariake, once again showcasing some of the fantastic prize set for release from July to September 2019. As one of the exhibiting companies, Banpresto brought some of their best new products to the stage with a collection of figures inspired by both

Popular superhero anime One-Punch Man will be returning to TV screens from Apr. 2! Alongside the confirmation of the broadcast date, the show also released a new key visual featuring Saitama looking goofy as usual alongside a host of key characters. It was also announced that voice actor Furukawa Makoto, who plays Saitama, will perform

Popular anime Gintama has announced that it’s not done just yet, with a brand new anime project in the works! [embedded content] The last season of the TV anime concluded abruptly with a trial in which Gintoki was the judge, and so far there isn’t any indication as to how the franchise’s animated side will

Pokémon: The First Movie was released all the way back in 1998, and now more than two decades later it’s getting a full 3D CGI remake! In the movie, a team of scientists finally discovers a fossil of the legendary Pokémon Mew and succeeds in cloning it to create Mewtwo. However, Mewtwo remains unaware that

Board game maker The OP is teaming up with Kingdom Hearts for a special RPG-style version of its Talisman game. Talisman is a tabletop RPG-style “sugoroku” dice game from Games Workshop, which is known for the Warhammer series. The player chooses a character and then plays through the three-level board fighting battles and encountering events

The live action/animation hybrid Hollywood movie adaptation of Nintendo 3DS game Detective Pikachu has released its second full length trailer! [embedded content] The latest trailer showcases a few more of the iconic Pokémon who will be appearing in the movie which follows the titular Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) as he teams up with detective’s

Following on from Red and Green, the two games will take place in the idyllic countryside and modern cities of Galar. Three new partner Pokémon will be introduced in the games, including Grookey, a curious and naughty grass based monkey Pokémon, Scorbunny, an energetic fire bunny, and Sobble, a timid water-based lizard. (C)2019 Pokemon. (C)1995-2019

Season 3 of of TV anime Chihayafuru will not be broadcast until October 2019. Based on the popular manga by Suetsugu Yuki, the series follows high school student Ayase Chihaya as she strives to become the world’s best karuta player. The first season of the TV anime aired in 2011, with Season 2 following in

Merlin will be played by Sakurai Takahiro, and Ana by Asakawa Yu. The TV anime is inspired by the Babylonian arc of the popular smartphone RPG spin-off to the Fate franchise. Akai Toshifumi will direct with lead character design by Takeuchi Takashi, character design by Takase Tomoaki, and music by Haga Keita and Kawasaki Ryou.

Set to air from Apr. 10, original anime CAROLE & TUESDAY has revealed not only a second key visual and a new promotional video, but also its main cast plus opening and ending theme information! [embedded content] Shimabukuro Miyuri and Ichinose Kana, both relative newcomers to the industry, will play protagonists Carole and Tuesday respectively.

In the Feb. 22 edition of manga magazine Jump Giga, it was announced that Sorachi Hideaki’s Gintama will continue through an official app. Set in an alternate Edo period where aliens have invaded the earth, Gintama follows the adventures of samurai Sakata Gintoki and his friends Shinpachi and Kagura as they struggle to pay the

The Fruits Basket reboot anime has released a teaser video featuring the new voices of Sohma Yuki, Kyou, Shigure, and more! [embedded content] Originally created by Takaya Natsuki, the phenomenally popular manga ran in Hana to Yume from 1998 to 2006. It follows the adventures of high school girl Honda Tohru who finds herself living

Popular web novel If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord is getting a TV anime adaptation! Originally written by Chirolu and illustrated by Truffle, the series follows adventurer Dale, who adopts a little devil girl he finds wasted away in the forest. The first key visual released for the TV anime

Popular anime Digimon Adventure will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on March 6, 2019! A newly released key visual features a number of the DigiDestined along with their trusty Digimon companions, including protagonist Yagami Taichi and Agumon. A selection of commemorative pixel art merchandise will be available from Village Vanguard from Mar. 6, with GraffArt

Popular otome game publisher and developer Voltage Inc. will be launching a new app titled Ayakashi: Romance Reborn for iOS and Android this summer! [embedded content] Promising a love story 1000 years in the making, Ayakashi: Romance Reborn begins when your Onmyoji Diviner skills are awakened by a mystic wand. With the capital under attack

Popular smartphone game Fate/Grand Order will be teaming up with Sunshine City Prince Hotel as the first of the chain’s “Ikepri 25” themed floor tie-ups! The Ikepri 25 project will collaborate with a series of anime and manga franchises to transform a floor of the hotel to appeal to fans. The floor boasts four communal

The TV anime is inspired by the Babylonian arc of the popular smartphone RPG spin-off to the Fate franchise. Akai Toshifumi will direct with lead character design by Takeuchi Takashi, character design by Takase Tomoaki, and music by Haga Keita and Kawasaki Ryou. CloverWorks will produce. Voice talents confirmed so far include Takahashi Rie as

The Hollywood live action/animation hybrid Detective Pikachu movie has released its latest trailer. Inspired by the Nintendo 3DS game of the same title, the movie stars Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pokémon icon Pikachu and opens in the US on May 10. Toho will distribute the film in Japan for a planned May

Anisong streaming service ANiUTa has selected J-Rock band OxT as its artist of the month for Feb. 2019! Pronounced “okuto”, OxT is a digital rock duo featuring vocalist Oishi Masayoshi and guitarist Oshima Tomohiro (also known as Tom-H@ck). The latter composes for the unit, while Oishi has also written and/or performed songs for Monthly Girls’

500 Days of Summer and Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb will be helming the Hollywood remake of the smash hit movie from Shinkai Makoto, Kimi no Na wa.! Released back in 2016, Kimi no Na wa. became a worldwide box office phenomenon, picking up a series of awards both in Japan and abroad. The Hollywood

The third installment in the Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System movie series has released a new trailer featuring a remixed version of TV ending theme “Namae no nai Kaibutsu”! Titled Case.3 Onshu no Kanata ni, the movie is the third in a trilogy inspired by the original TV anime, the first season of which was

Based on the manga by Coolkyousinnja, the series follows tired office lady Kobayashi, who ends up living with a dragon that has transformed herself into a human girl in a maid outfit. The first season of the TV anime was broadcast from January to April 2017. Official merchandise featuring new illustrations from Coolkyousinnja is also

Anime movie Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl has announced its release for Jun. 15 in Japan along with its latest key visual, featuring heroine Makinohara Shouko in both her middle school and grown up incarnations. Inspired by the popular series of light novels by Kamoshida Hajime with illustrations by Mizoguchi Keeji, Rascal

The visual features Lelouch without the Zero mask, while the commercials feature comedy duo NON STYLE doing a voiceover and a short Geass-themed skit. Code Geass began in 2006 as an anime series created by Sunrise, and gained popularity both in Japan and worldwide, especially for the portrayal of moral conflicts between its main characters.

Popular smartphone game Shoumetsu Toshi will be getting a TV anime adaptation set to air from April. A new key visual just released for the show features Yuki’s brother Souma as well as Taiyou, Tsuki, and Suzuna. Takahashi Hidenori will play Taiyo and Imai Asami will play Tsuki. As previously announced, Asai Ayaka will voice