"Barakamon"Anime vs. Real Life

 It's Barakamon time

Broadcast Schedule Confirmed for "Blue Exorcist :Kyoto Saga"

The son of Satan is back for another round starting next month when Blue Exorcist -Kyoto Saga- premieres.

The new series will air on the following channels:

TBS: Saturdays at 1:55 AM starting January 7
MBS: Saturdays at 2:10 AM starting January 7
CBC: Saturdays at 2:50 AM starting January 7
BS-TBS: Sundays at midnight starting January 8

Attack on Titan Season 2 Gets a Release Date

Attack on Titan is finally getting ready to return for a second season, which mean that it's time for Hiroyuki Sawano to think up some more confounding titles for the tracks of a new soundtrack.  The popular composer closed out November by Tweeting that he's glad to be returning to the format and the series, and is now having fun preparing to record in the new year.

In July, season 2 was announced for spring 2017.

Original: Hajime Isayama  (Bessatsu Shonen Magazine / Kodansha)
Chief Director: Tetsuro Araki
Director: Masashi Koizuka
Series configuration: Yasuko Kobayashi
Character Design: Kyoji Asano
Chief Animation Director: Kyoji Asano, Satoshi Kadowaki, Ayumi Yamada
Assistant director: Hiroyuki Tanaka
Action Animation Director: Yasuyuki Ebara, Arifumi Imai, Takuma Ebisu
Art Setting: Yuho Taniuchi
Titan Setting: Takaki Chiba
Color design: Ken Hashimoto
Art Director: Shunichiro Yoshihara
3DCG Director: Hiroshiju Shigenori
3DCG Producer: Yabuta Shuhei
Director of Photography: Yamada, Kazuhiro
Editor: Aya Hida
Acoustic Director: Masafumi Mima
Music: Hiroyuki Sawano
Sound effect: Shizuo Kurahashi
Sound Production: Techno Sound
Animation Production: WIT STUDIO

• Cast
Eren: Yuki Kaji
Mikasa: Yui Ishikawa
Armin: Marina Inoue
Jean: Kisho Taniyama
Annie: Yu Shimamura
Sasha: Yu Kobayashi
Christa: Shiori Mikami
Connie: Hiro Shimono
Reiner: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Bertolt: Tomohisa Hashizume
Ymir: Saki Fujita
Levi: Hiroshi Kamiya
Erwin: Daisuke Ono
Hanji: Romi Park
Hannes: Fujiwara Keiji

M.A.O to Voice One of Three Heroines in TV Anime "One Room"

The official website for SMIRAL animation (Ani Tore!, Makura no Danshi)'s new original short TV anime One Room confirmed today that 24-year-old voice actress M.A.O will voice one of its three heroines, 17-year-old high school girl Yui Hanasaka who will be featured in the first to fourth episodes. M.A.O recently played the lead character Luluco in the Space Patrol Luluco TV anime for Trigger, and is currently voicing Baranowska in Classicaloid, Sayaka Miyata in Keijo!!!!!!!!, and Papika in Flip Flappers.

According to the character description, Yui Hanasaka is a 17-year-old high school girl in the third grade. She had lived in Hokkaido, but recently moved to Tokyo to concentrate on her study for the coming university entrance exam, living with her older sister who is trying find a job. She is neat, serious, and works hard on everything. While being naive and slow, she is also mentally strong and sometimes takes a positive attitude unexpectedly.

"Sabagebu!" Manga Author Posting Countdown Illustrations

The final chapter of Hidekichi Matsumoto's survival game-themed comedy manga series Sabagebu! is published in the January 2017 issue of Kodansha's Nakayoshi shoujo manga magazine released today in Japan. To celebrate the end of the manga's six-year serialization, the author has been posting countdown illustrations on her official Twitter.

The Ancient Magus' Bride Anime's Part 2 Trailer Shows Riichi

Shochiku began streaming a trailer for the second part of The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star (Mahō Tsukai no Yome: Hoshi Matsu Hito), the three-part anime based on Kore Yamazaki's manga The Ancient Magus' Bride (Mahō Tsukai no Yome), on Wednesday.

Riichi: Welcome to the Library of the Forest.
Elias: It all began with a book that Chise received.
Chise: The Lonely Little Star
Elias: Chise's past in Japan, and the young man that she met.
Riichi: My name's Riichi. Riichi Miura.
Riichi: It's been a long time since anyone's been come by here. I'm glad.
Riichi: I'll do something special, just for today.
Elias: A previously unknown story in The Ancient Magus' Bride begins here.
Chise: When I'm reading, I can forget about all the bad things.
Chise: What book is that?
Riichi: Oh, that? That's uh... what book was it again?
Chise: It's reading the very last page that I like the most.
Riichi: Chise Hatori, I have something to ask of you.
Chise: Miura!
Elias: The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star Part II
Riichi: Something tells me that this book is something you'll need.
Shochiku also revealed a visual for the second part. The text on the visual reads, "I've been waiting for a star like you."

Source: animenewsnetwork

One Piece Film Gold Begins Listing Theaters for U.S. Screenings

The Fandango site began offering pre-sale tickets for the January screenings of the One Piece Film Gold anime movie in North America, and the site offers searches by city or ZIP code. The One Piece Podcast compiled a partial list of participating theaters in the United States. Fandango is not necessarily listing all of the theaters that will eventually screen the film.

IGN previously streamed a video previewing the film's English dub earlier this month.

35-Year-Old Man Arrested for Uploading "My Hero Academia" Illegally

Illegally Uploaded My Hero Academia
On November 29, Gunma Prefectural Police arrested a 35-year-old newspaper delivery man from Sendai-city, Miyagi Prefecture, on suspicion of using the file sharing software Perfect Dark to illegally upload two files including the TV anime My Hero Academia. According to the police investigation, the suspect made the files available to the public on the internet without the permission from the anime's two copyright holders in Tokyo between May 29 and July 1. He has already admitted the charge, saying "I wanted to show the good anime to other people."

Illegally Uploaded Kimi no Na Wa 
Gifu Prefectural Police referred a 36-year-old unemployed man residing in Naha-city, Okinawa Prefecture, to the Public Prosecutors Office on a charge of alleged copyright infringement (violation of public transmission rights) on November 24. The man is suspected of uploading a file of Makoto Shinkai's anime film Kimi no Na wa./your name. onto the internet using the file sharing software
Share around October 20. This is the second criminal charge for illegal uploading of the film following
the 54-year-old unemployed man in Kanagawa Prefecture early this month. As with the first one, the
video file included English and Chinese subtitles.

"Kabaneri" Movie Premium Pre-Screening

The first half of the two-part Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress big-screen compilation is set to debut in Japanese theaters next month. And with the premiere right around the corner, we're starting to get more news about the release -- as well as the above poster art, featuring Haruhiko Mikimoto's character designs.

The two films, which we now know are titled Tsudou Hikari ("Gathering Light") and Moeru Inochi ("Burning Life"), will premiere on December 31, 2016 and January 7, 2017 respectively.

In addition, there will be a special premium pre-screening of Tsudou Hikari at Tokyo's Shinjuku Piccadilly on Thursday, December 22. Voice actors Tasuku Hatanaka (Ikoma), Sayaka Senbongi (Mumei), Maaya Uchida (Ayame), Toshiki Masuda (Kurusu), Yūki Kaji (Takumi), and Mamoru Miyano (Biba) are slated to be in attendance, and will appear after the screening of the film.

Kubikiri Cycle Anime Volumes 3 to 8 Delayed

The official website for Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregoto Tsukai (Decapitation Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Prankster), the original video anime project based on the first volume in NisiOisin's Zaregoto novel series, announced on Tuesday that the release date of volumes three to eight of the anime have each been delayed by one month. The new release dates are as follows:

Volume 3: January 25
Volume 4: February 22
Volume 5: March 29
Volume 6: April 26
Volume 7: May 24
Volume 8: June 28

The second OVA episode will ship on Wednesday, November 30.

The first of eight planned DVD and Blu-ray Disc volumes shipped on October 26. Both the DVD and Blu-ray Disc volumes retail for 3,600 yen (about US$36), and include a "character commentary" written by NisiOisin, a 12-page booklet, and a clear case.

Source: Otakomu / animenewsnetwork

Death Note Light Up the World has Earned 2 Billion Yen

The live-action Death Note Light up the NEW world film has earned 2 billion yen (about US$17.85 million) and sold 1.5 million tickets as of Wednesday. The entire live-action film franchise has sold more than 10 million tickets. The 2006 live-action Death Note film sold 2.27 million tickets, while the 2008 Death Note: The Last Name sequel sold 4.19 million tickets. The 2008 L change the World spin off sold 2.49 million tickets.

The film also ranked #2 overall (and #1 among debuting films) in its opening weekends in Thailand and Singapore, and are the highest earning Japanese films of the year for both countries. The film opened on November 3 in Thailand, and on November 10 in Singapore.

Death Note Light up the NEW world opened in Japan on October 29. It earned 458,645,800 yen (about US$4.37 million) on 342 screens, and sold 342,309 tickets on its opening weekend.

The film opened in the #1 spot during its opening, beating out Makoto Shinkai's your name. anime film for the top spot. Shinkai's your name. had held the top spot for nine consecutive weeks since it opened in Japan on August 26, though it reclaimed the spot in the following week, with Death Note Light up the NEW world falling to #2 in its second weekend. The film fell from #4 to #7 during its fifth weekend.

Source: Anime Times / animenewsnetwork

"Girls und Panzer" Film Has Earned 2.4 Billion Yen from Its One-Year Run in Japan

The official blog and Twitter of the Girls und Panzer anime franchise yesterday reported the total box office result of Girls und Panzer Der Film, its first feature film that has been running in Japan since November 21, 2015. By November 27, 2016, the film had earned 2,440,849,294 yen from the 1,421,237 ticket sales, becoming the 13th top-grossing Japanese film and 9th most successful anime film of 2015.

"Love Live! Sunshine!!" Christmas Song CD Ranks 3rd in Weekly Chart

According to the latest Oricon sales report released today, "Jingle Bells ga Tomaranai" (Can't Stop The Jingle Bells), the 11th single from the Love Live! Sunshine!! franchise, performed by its nine-member voice actress unit Aqours, sold a solid 44,000 copies in its first week, ranking 5th in the weekly single sales chart. The Christmas song CD was released in Japan as the unit's first collaboration single for the Love Live! School idol festival smartphone game on November 23.

The franchise's all 11 singles have ranked above top 10 so far. Its top-selling title is Aqours' 1st single "Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru Kai?" released in October 2015 and has sold 80,928 copies. Check the sales data of the franchise's CDs below.


"Love Live! Sunshine!!" CD single sales (October 2015 - November 2016):

Title                                                                                                     Total Sales
1. "Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru Kai?" (Aquors)                         80,928
2. "Koi ni Naritai Aquarium" (Aquors)                                               77,193
3. "Genki Zenkai Day! Day! Day!" (CYaRon!)                                  47,719
4. "Torikoriko Please!!" (Azalea)                                                        46,639
5. "Strawberry Trapper" (Guilty Kiss)                                                 50,530
6. "Aozora Jumping Heart" (Aqours)                                                  72,465
7. "Kimeta yo Hand in Hand/Daisuki dattara Daijoubu!"                   52,442
8. "Yume Kataru yori Yume Utaou" (Aqours)                                     56,138
9. "Yume de Yozora o Terashitai/Mijuku Dreamer" (Aqours)             52,345
10. "Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare/"Mirai Ticket" (Aqours)                       41,978
11. "Jingle Bells ga Tomaranai" (Aqours)                                            44,000

Source: Mantan Web / Oricon / Crunchyroll

Differences Between Novel & Anime - "No Game No Life"

As an art, adaptation is a lot like translation—you can’t expect an adaptation to be exactly the same as its source material. Novels can be great at showing introspection and getting into the characters’ heads, while animation has to rely on visual shortcuts in order to get the same point across. Just because an adaptation omits something from the novel doesn’t mean it’s worse off for it. I find it incredibly fascinating to examine the choices anime directors make in order to bring a story to life through a visual medium.

With that preamble out of the way, let’s kick off the first issue by looking at a popular light-novel-turned-anime from 2014: No Game No Life! (This article contains light spoilers for the first four episodes, so be warned.)

"Star Ocean: Anamnesis" Trailer Promotes with a Short Anime

We'll have to wait and see whether the new Star Ocean: Anamnesis mobile game is worth playing, but for now you can at least have some fun with a new animated trailer. Anamnesis just closed beta sign-ups, and it's currently scheduled to make its debut on iOS and Android this year, so dig into the video below for some familiar faces.

Baki TV Anime is going to Resume

Keisuke Itagaki's 25-year-old martial arts series Baki will be celebrating its anniversary next month with an OAD shipping with volume 14 of the latest run on December 6th. This will be adapting the Prisoners Saga (Saikyou Shikeishu-hen/The Deadliest Condemned Criminals arc) in the manga's second installment Baki (1995-2005) rather than the ongoing fourth installment Baki-Dou (2014-).

But, that's not all. An early look an announcement has revealed plans to bring the story to a new TV anime.

The series started with Baki the Gappler, which ran 42 volumes starting in 1991. Then, Baki ("New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero") ran 31 volumes starting in 1999, followed by Baki Hanma ("Baki: Son of Ogre"), which ran 37 volumes starting in 2005, and now,  Baki-Dou (Baki: The Way), which started in March, 2014.

Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen New Visual Revealed

Story:

"I think it's about time I talked about Kiss-Shot-Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. I believe it's something I have to do. I met her in the spring break between my second and third years of high school. That meeting had such impact and was also quite devastating."

(Source: Araragi Koyomi Novel Synopsis)

The official website for the the Kizumonogatari film trilogy revealed a new visual on Thursday for the third and final film, Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen (Cold blood). The image features the film's heroine Tsubasa Hanekawa holding a red umbrella.

"KanColle" Fans Still Speculation On The Voice Of French Kanmusou

Through December 7th, original KanColle browser game is running fall event, Proclamation! Fleet Strategy Plan #3! It introduces four KanMusou with two new Japanese destroyer girls as drops and the second American ship, standard carrier Saratoga along with first French ship, Seaplane Tender Commandant Teste as rewards. While fans have figured out the voice actresses for the other three, the new friend from France is still a mystery.

Voice Actress: Shizuka Itou
Artist: Shizuma Yoshinori

"Sword Art Online" Game Presents Sexy Waitress Rabbit Outfits

This month, Sword Art Online smartphone Code Register game is doubling down on vice. Through this weekend, four heroines are getting gambling den bunny-girl waitress ★ 7 cards with Rabbit of Hearts Asuna (serving drinkings, despite being, 15, 17 or 18 years old depending on the point in the story), Rabbit of Diamonds Yuuki (15 years old), Rabbit of Clubs Leafa (15 or 16 years old depending on story) and PlayStation RPG original Strea as Rabbit of Spades.

"The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2" Footage Debuts

PlayStation 4 sequel The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 was first dated and teased a month ago, and now Nippon Ichi Software has some new footage thanks to a showing at the Fall 2016 Dengeki PlayStation Premium Event. This includes the latest official trailer, as well as 12 minutes of gameplay, both of which you can see in Dengeki's video below.

Source: Gematsu / crunchyroll

Re:Zero Volume 11 Art has been Previewed

"Re:ZERO" And "Konosuba" Creators Meet In Crossover Book

Konosuba fans and Re:Zero will no long have to debate whether comedy or drama is a better take on the alternate world reincarnation set-up as two series will be shaking hands in a Re:Starting Life Blessing This World crossover book, to be published in Japan on December 31st.

Tappei Nagatsuki and Natsume Akatsuki will discuss developing the two series, Shinichirou Otsuka and will discuss illustrating them, and Daichi Matsuse, artist on the Re:Zero manga adaptation, will create a crossover manga. For the anime fans, Yūsuke Kobayashi (Subaru) and Jun Fukushina (Kazuma) will have a main character crossover interview, while Rie Takahashi (Megumin and Emilia) will discuss voice roles in both series.

Following a cast event at Aeon Makuhari New City, Konosuba published the news.

See How Much Money "PPAP" Has Made From the Song

"Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" has been an internet sensation, garnering over 90 million views on YouTube. "PPAP" has even charted om Billboard's Top 100, hitting #1 in Japan and #77 in the U.S. With all this popularity, the big question is, "How much money has Piko Taro racked in?"

The answer Piko Taro gave to that question was: "I haven't received a single yen from the song." This is incredibly strange, because the track is available as a paid download on iTunes, is commercialized on YouTube. Someone must be making a ton of cash off the viral sensation, and if Piko Taro is telling the truth, then someone needs to give him his due.

Source: crunchroll

21st "Detective Conan" Movie Gets Release Date

Titled Meitantei Conan Kara Kurenai no Love Letter ("Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter"), it's set to release in Japan on April 15, 2017. The film will be set in Osaka and feature a new character named Momiji.

"Gintama" TV Anime's Return Scheduled

In a follow-up to the September news that a new Gintama TV anime was being planned, TV Tokyo has started listing that Hideaki Sorachi's alt-history-sci-fi-action-comedy will return late-night between January 8 and 9 at 1:35am.

The series was last adapted in the Spring 2015-Winter 2016 Gintama°. It and earlier seasons had been running at 6:00pm - which has been cause for complaints in the past.

Anime Vs. Real "Keijo"

Story:
Kaminashi Nozomi (17) is an exceptional gymnast. So much so that colleges with some of the best gymnastic programs are trying to recruit her. Unfortunately for them, she has other plans. Due to her family being extremely poor, money is everything to her. That's why she wants to step into the world of "Keijo." "Keijo" is a type of gambling sport where girls stand on a small floating platform and compete against one another. The aim is to push the other contestant off of the platform into the water, but they are only allowed to use their butt or breasts to push the others off. Will Nozomi be able to compete in the intense world of "Keijo" and bring wealth and fortune for her family?

Early Preview of Youjo Senki Opening

Overlord and Youjo Senki, a pair of light novel series published by Kadokawa's enterbrain label with anime adaptations, just did a crossover webcast, featuring Yumi Hara (Albedo in Overlord), voice actress Aoi Yūki (Clementine in Overlord, Tanya Degurechaff in Youjo Senki), and musical act MYTH & ROID (MYTH & ROID (Re:Zero, BBK/BRNK - pronounced as Miss Android) as guests. Check out the announcements here. And, MYTH & ROID previewed the winter anime's opening, "Jingo Jungle."



MYTH & ROID - "Jingo Jungle" Live | Youjo Senki OP by pKjd

Source: crunchyroll

Main Staff Revealed for "Hinako Note"

The main staff has been revealed for Hinako Note, an upcoming TV anime based on a humorous 4-panel comic by Mitsuki about a shy girl and her unusual friends.

Story:
The story of Hinako Note follows the titular Hinako, a girl who is not very good at talking to other people. However, Hinako is so good at communicating with animals that the people of her hometown use her as a scarecrow. In high school. Hinako moves to the big city and decides to join the drama club to deal with her communication issues, but she finds herself in a strange setting: her boarding house is a used book store, and her new best friend is a beautiful girl who eats books!

New Images Released for "Lupin III" Film

The Blood Spray of Ishikawa Goemon will premiere in Japanese theaters on February 4, 2017.

Images released today show a decidedly younger Lupin and Goemon, as well as a new, brutish villain known as The Bermuda Spectre. By all accounts, the film is pitching itself as a prequel to the long-running franchise. While we have seen and heard various accounts of the first meeting between the two characters (a notable one being in the 30th anniversary special Episode 0: First Contact), this could well put them all to shame.

If we go back to some of the earliest accounts in the manga, Goemon hangs out with Lupin and the gang because he wants Lupin dead -- in particular, Goemon wants to be the one to kill him. Whether this will hold true in the upcoming film is anyone's guess, but seeing as the recent run of Lupin media has gone back to some much older concepts (such as Goemon and Fujiko being an item), it just might.

Source: Lupin Central / crunchyroll