#okamoto nobuhiko appreciation post
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BnHA Episode 122, a.k.a. NOBUHIKO YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN
THEY CAN'T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!
oh my god.
so first off, let's just get the one big major criticism out of the way: this episode was definitely not up to the same high quality standards as the first third of this season. and hey, I get it! you're doing 24 episodes in all, you're on a time crunch, and you've only got so many animators to go around. and the quality of some of these earlier season 6 eps (118 and 119 especially) was seriously some of the best this series has ever had. by contrast, chapters 284 and 285, while still easily ranking among my favorite chapters of all time, definitely do not go as hard with the visuals as some of the other War arc chapters (that very last 285 page being the one standout exception).
anyway so yeah, it was still a slight disappointment, but I'm fine with it. it does mean Deku vs Kacchan 2 will still retain its crown as my all time fave, but the real meat of this episode was never going to be about the flashy visuals -- it's all about that sweet, sweet character development.
two more very minor criticisms before I get to the OMG nonstop gushing part of this post! one, they did cut out this scene from ch 282 where Tomura originally had TWO quirk-be-gone bullets in his possession and Kacchan actually destroyed the second one.
YOU THOUGHT WE WOULDN'T REMEMBER, BONES. BUT WE DID. so for everyone who is giving Kacchan his well-earned love, praise, and admiration today, don't forget to also give him props for saving Aizawa's other leg, or whichever other appendage this doubtless would have hit. my boy out here lowkey saving his sensei from being ReDestro'd.
and then one final nitpicky little quibble, which is that the anime subtitlers declined to use the "Catch-A-Kacchan" translation, despite it being the single cleverest translation of all time, and by far Caleb Cook's biggest and most important contribution to the BnHA canon. alas, twas not meant to be. BUT ANYWAY NOW ON TO THE GUSHING.
okay so first off, we all know that Aizawa is an absolute badass and the most metal motherfucker in this entire series, and that Shouto has by this point all but perfected the art of swooping in to save the day at pivotal moments, and that the U.A. kids all need ALL OF THE THERAPY GODDAMMIT, and that Deku is a COMPLETE LUNATIC who thinks that HAVING FUNCTIONAL ARMS IS OVERRATED ANYWAYS. yes and yes and yes and yes. and if you wish, you can read all about my thoughts on these things and more, here and here and here and here.
but you already know what I actually came here to talk about today.
first of all, YOU GUYS. the music. THIS FUCKING MUSIC, THOUGH. they used the exact same OST track that was used for the "why was I the one who ended All Might?" speech all the way back in DvK2. THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE "TIME FOR NOBUHIKO TO FLEX HIS VOICE ACTING CHOPS" MUSIC. A TRADITION HAS BEEN BORN.
anyway so if anyone needs me I'll just be sitting here playing this scene on repeat until the end of time. no big deal though. I can quit at any time. not like I'm obsessed with it or anything. I definitely love this scene and this character a perfectly normal amount.
All Might talking about how Katsuki understood from the get-go about how OFA was a secret that could put other people at great risk really hits hard in hindsight. especially when you realize that Katsuki really did know right from the start, and he willingly accepted that risk with no hesitation, and he absolutely did suffer consequences for it (it was his knowledge of OFA that led to him following Deku and subsequently getting involved in this battle). and I don't doubt that he has absolutely zero regrets.
okay but can we seriously just talk for a sec about the way Kacchan's anxiety is practically boiling over when he starts to ask All Might about the Fourth's cause of death?? I feel like this is one thing that kind of got overlooked at the time in the manga because we were so completely distracted by EVERY SINGLE OTHER DAMN THING IN THAT CHAPTER lol. but hearing it again here, you feel how worried he actually is about Deku, and idk why but it all of a sudden just hit me so damn hard.
"I'm worried about him. you are, too." because that truly is what this whole conversation is really about. or at least that's the driving force behind it. behind this whole episode, in fact. it's simple, when you get right down to it: Kacchan is afraid that Deku is going to die. it's literally been the biggest fear on his mind ever since Deku unlocked SIXQUIRKS. right from the start, his mind was immediately going to the worst case scenarios. he immediately deduced that OFA might have a deeper connection to AFO than any of them realized (shoutout to Kacchan for being the original "Deku is a horcrux" truther lol. ONE DAY HORIKOSHI WILL FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH AND PROVE US RIGHT). he instantly zeroed in on the sobering fact that all of the previous OFA users died young. and as he reveals here, he took particular notice of the fact that All Might seems to be hiding something about OFA IV's death, and he is goddamn PRESSED about it.
and I absolutely LOVE the way that Nobu voiced this part of the conversation. when he starts to question All Might, his breathing starts to pick up a little, and his voice starts to get louder, and the words start to spill out faster and faster almost like he's in a rush to get it all out, and his voice starts to crack just a little, and he goes from not looking at All Might to hesitantly, almost fearfully glancing at him from the side, and then finally turning to face him head on with his eyes all wary and his teeth gritted like he's bracing himself for the very worst (because he is).
and then he finally just asks him, "was it because you realized something?" and then he takes in this achingly hesitant little breath before finishing with, "...about One for All?" and just. the whole scene is just SO well done. like, he's seriously so fucking scared about this, though. but at the same time he just needs to know, and just. oh my god. and Nobuhiko manages to emote all of this so clearly, and that is such a difficult line to walk when you're dealing with a character like Katsuki who's always so hesitant to show his vulnerability. he has to portray these two separate layers of Bakugou at the same time -- the part of him that is trying his hardest to be nonchalant and matter-of-fact in order to hide his fears and emotions; while at the same time also portraying said emotions which are clearly seeping through anyway, regardless of his efforts.
anyway so yeah. I could talk about this for eighty years and never get sick of it honestly but let's move on.
let me tell you guys, I've been bracing myself for this scene for two full years, and it still kicked my ass. THIS SCENE HAD NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. literally RIGHT IN the feels. direct hit.
"he's always been that way." no, but guys. the regret when he says that. the way he states it with such simplicity and clarity. almost profound. this is just a truth of the world. this is just how Deku is. this is something that took him so long to understand, but now that he does, he can't fathom how he was never able to see it before. and then that ever-so-slight bitterness that creeps into his voice as he goes on to describe how he fucked it all up. ;_;
and then last but not least!!
"ijimeta." one word, in Japanese. it all comes down to that. and his voice gets so quiet. this whole last part of his speech is so quiet and so soft. but when he says this very last part, his voice wavers perfectly on that last word, and it just. sounds so resigned, somehow, but also just... almost faltering, for just a moment. you can hear the regret as clear as day, but you also hear the fear once again as he finally reveals this fact -- literally his biggest shame; the worst thing that he's ever done -- to All Might. his hero. just, damn.
anyway. so needless to say, despite my expectations being SKY HIGH, this scene absolutely met all of them and blew me away. as expected from the best fucking voice actor in Japan, according to me, a single lone person, whose subjective opinion is absolutely definitely not biased in any possible way.
back to the action! and Nobu getting to do his very best Deku impression lol.
can you believe this kid. one single nerdy analysis speech was all it took for him to start emitting such powerful Main Character Energy that even Endeavor got taken in and was just automatically following orders lol.
awesome choice of music here while Deku and Tomura continued to battle and Bakugou laid out his plan. you know it's good when they still manage to make you feel the tension even though this is basically just a generic action scene, and you additionally already know exactly what's going to happen.
I have no idea why, but that part with Deku's "Kacchan... my 'Deku' means 'you can do it!'" speech juxtaposed against the image of him going all out against Tomura with such fierce determination hit me like 100x harder than it did in the manga. I was NOT expecting that to be as powerful as it was. damn near gave me chills.
literally the only time I've ever been on board with the whole "FUCK YEAH, I'LL JUST BREAK ALL MY BONES AT YOU!!" deal lol. it literally makes no goddamn sense but this scene is just so raw.
THEN WE YEET THE ENDEAVOR!!!!
SO ON-BRAND. NO DEKU-INSPIRED PLAN IS EVER TRULY COMPLETE WITHOUT A GOOD YEETING.
and then the next few moments are some of the most legitimately unsettling of the entire series, as we have Tomura screaming at the top of his lungs while being burnt to cinders (and I mean, I love Tomura dearly, but I get it; he literally just Thanos'd tens of thousands of innocent people), followed by AFO's creepy fucking ghost hand reaching out all "LEND ME YOUR BODY~~~" which is a scene that absolutely NO ONE ASKED FOR but okay.
but then right afterwards though! when AFO finally did take over, and you hear that "TV shutting down" sound effect all of a sudden? and then the next few scenes with all the BKDK flashbacks are also weirdly TV-themed? I could not for the life of me figure this out at first, but now I'm actually thinking it could be a reference to the chapter 306 color page?
OR MAYBE NOT? I actually have no idea. anyway though it may have been random af but it worked for me, what can I say.
AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH AT LONG LAST.
THIS ACTUALLY IS SO PRETTY THOUGH?? LIKE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT COLOR COMBINATION AT ALL?
AND IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY!!!!??? YOU BARELY EVEN HAVE TIME TO BLINK?!?!!
oh. my. god.
THE WAY THE MUSIC SUDDENLY GOT QUIET. THE WAY HIS NARRATING VOICE CAME ON AND, PRAISE EVERYTHING, IT REALLY WAS DEEPER. THAT REALLY WAS THE ADULT HIM. SAME AS DEKU. MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS!! THE SCENES OF THEM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!! AND GROUND ZERO!! AND THEN CUTTING TO THE TWO OF THEM AS LITTLE BABIES, AND THE TV SCREEN ALL OF A SUDDEN SWITCHING TO COLOR??? AND THE HANDS??? THE REACHING?!?!
AND THEN?!?!?!
"HEY MAKESTE, IF WE GO AHEAD AND ACTUALLY MAKE THE VOLUME 29 COVER CANON, WILL YOU FINALLY FORGIVE US FOR ALL OF THE HALF-BAKED PAINFULLY OOC FILLER EPISODES AND OVAS?" WELL, STUDIO BONES, YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, BUT HOW CAN I POSSIBLY REFUSE.
AND THEN THEY FULL ON MURDERED ME!!!!!
that's right bitches. DREAD IT. RUN FROM IT. THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARRIVES ALL THE SAME.
holy shit. and then THE END CREDITS oh my freaking heart. words can't even describe.
Studio Bones out here not resting until they've succeeded in making EVERY SINGLE PERSON feel the MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SADNESS THAT A HUMAN BEING CAN SUSTAIN. their callousness truly knows no bounds.
anyway so there we have it! part one of the spectacular season 6 Bakugou Katsuki Redemption Saga. I laughed, I cried, I cried, I cried, I cried a little bit more, and then I cried a little bit more after that. final verdict: yeah, it was pretty good.
#bnha#boku no hero academia#bnha season 6#bnha episode 122#bakugou katsuki#bakugou meta#makeste watches bnha#okamoto nobuhiko appreciation post#and I feel character development in this chili's tonight
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Nobuhiko Okamoto Appreciation Post
Tokyo Revengers Season 3 is out and everyone is crazy over Sanzu, but did you know the other characters Sanzu's VA also voices???
Other Notable Roles:
and so many more!
#okamoto nobuhiko#nobuhiko okamoto#appreciation post#tokyo revengers#my hero academia#blue exorcist#twisted wonderland#haikyuu#horimiya#shokugeki no soma#owari no seraph#black butler#demon slayer#juuni taisen#maid sama#kamisama kiss#monthly girls' nozaki kun#danmachi
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It's nobu birthday, guys!!! Happy 32th birthday, Nobu 💙❤
#will post the real appreciation post later because i haven't prepared anything yet#Okamoto nobuhiko#okamoto nobuhiko#seiyuu
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30 day seiyuu challenge Week 2
Hello~ This post is for the 2nd week of the ongoing seiyuu challenge (or should I say Seiyuu appreciation?)
click here for week 1
Due to the nature of questions, there might be a bunch of minor spoilers here (in GIF or video form) for various anime (like Robotics;Notes, Nanbaka, Assassination Classroom, Danshi Koukouse no Nichijou, Psycho-pass 3, Kuroko no Basuke, Tada-kun wa Koi Wo Shinai, etc). If you absolutely hate spoilers, you may want to skip or proceed with caution.
If you don't particularly care about minor spoilers and have nothing better to do, you are most welcome to take a plunge in this long post filled with my opinions and fangirling.
8. Seiyuu with most impressive range (character types)
Fukuyama Jun
I was debating whether I should swap my answers for number 7 and 8. Ishida Akira and Fukuyama Jun both have impressive ranges in terms of pitch and character types. I just decided to go with my original answers.
You can tell that he is an experienced voice actor.^^ He has a variety of characters that'll make you go: "Wait, that was HIM?" "How can these two characters have the same voice actor?!"
I remember laughing so hard when I learned that Kazuma's(Noragami) seiyuu is the same as Lelouch's(Code Geass)…and then I saw Assassination Classroom.
Now I don't get too shocked. My reactions are more on the lines of…"Oh? Cool! As expected of Fukuyama Jun.”
9. Seiyuu with best character singing voice
Toyonaga Toshiyuki
Toyonaga Toshiyuki already has a nice singing voice. It is even more amazing that he can sing in different voices.
It's no surprise if a seiyuu can sing well. Sometimes, though, in character songs, I tend to hear the seiyuu rather than the character. [Hmm…I can't find the right words to explain this…It is like…Say for example I listened to Seiyuu A's character songs from various anime, it would sound like it came from the same person--which is understandable, since it is much harder to voice act while singing (Don't get me wrong please, I'm not trying to criticizes other seiyuus. I'm just trying to show better what I admire about Toyonaga-san. I'm also no authority on voice acting/singing.)]
What makes Toyonaga Toshiyuki's singing special is that even when singing, his characters sound different from each other. Other seiyuus are able to do this too, but I think that Toyonaga Toshiyuki's range is much wider.
Note: I do have a video compilation of Toyonaga Toshiyuki's character songs, but it might take me a while to post it. Stay tuned~
In the meantime, here is a nice compilation I found on Youtube:
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Can we admire how he can change his tone & voice quality and still sound good?
10. Seiyuu with best inside voice
I couldn't think of the right word then, but what I meant was inner monologue.
Sugita Tomokazu
Need I explain this?
THIS IS just one of the reasons WHY:
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This is just a fraction of his voice acting prowess. But I just love the contrast between the character's inside voice and speaking voice.
11. Seiyuu with best drama/ crying
Nakamura Yuuchi
When his character cries, you'll want to cry to. Personally, I don’t react much when watching anime (I usually watch with someone else). But Nakamura Yuuchi's powers are too strong. And it's not even the strong emotional outbursts/bawling yet.
Maybe the reason why it's so effective is because he usually gets casted as a tough character. So when his character cries, you know that it’s really serious.
How can he express so much sadness with minimal crying noises?
12. Seiyuu with best laugh
I know some seiyuu are known for their unique, contagious laughter (like Shimono Hiro). I decided to focus on voice acting laughter^^
I never gave much thought to how much information about a character’s personality is communicated just by the way he laughs. Seiyuus are amazing.
Kakihara Tetsuya
His character laughs are just lighthearted, pleasant to listen to AND contagious. even when it’s supposed to be annoying
He also does great creepy evil laughs.
Special mention: Nakamura Yuuchi
His laughs sound different for each character, and they never sound awkward.
13. Seiyuu with best scream
Kimura Ryohei
Similar to Okamoto Nobuhiko, Kimura Ryohei's screams sound controlled and real. Plus, he also delivers the necessary emotions.
Can we please appreciate how Kimura Ryohei delivered this scream of shock and anguish? (in Robotics;Notes)
I like how “carefully measured” his screams/shouts/miscellaneous noises sound. No matter how loud/emotional, it doesn't hurt my eardrums. He is so good in controlling the intensity of his voice.
PS. His voice sounds really good when you listen through headphones.
Special mention: Uemura Yuuto
Impressive performance as Yuliy Jirov, Jyugo, and Atsushi Nakajima. (He is really good with calm characters that are part beast :P)
14. Seiyuu with best English
Miyano Mamoru
It is expected that seiyuus who spent years outside Japan would have much better English pronunciation (seiyuus like Ayumu Murase, Hino Satoshi, Wataru Komada etc). But I chose Miyano Mamoru for biased other reasons.
For a non-native English speaker, Mamo-chan's English is pretty good. It's not perfect, but it does sound that much effort was put behind it.
Have you heard him speak English as Asano Gakushu (in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, the sports festival episode)? That really got my attention.
Or as Rin Matsuoka in Free! Eternal Summer?
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Please appreciate his clear pronunciations and proper pauses.
And he also knows enough English that he can intentionally sound bad at it.
#miniaturestitches#seiyuu#seiyu#30 Day seiyuu Challenge#Seiyuu Appreciation#seiyuu challenge#fukuyama jun#toyonaga toshiyuki#nakamura yuuichi#kakihara tetsuya#sugita tomokazu#kimura ryohei#uemura yuto#miyano mamoru#lelouch lamperouge#kazuma#rin matsuoka#danshi koukousei no nichijou#possible spoilers#nanbaka#assassination classroom#ansatsu kyoushitsu#fairy tail#bungou stray dogs#gin no saji#Kise Ryouta#hachiken yuugo#robotics;notes#sorey#kuroo tetsurou
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Nobuhiko Okamoto’s voice appreciation post
HIS VOICE IS FUCKING AWESOME
there, I said it
#okamoto nobuhiko#bnha#my hero academia#bakugou katsuki#kimetsu no yaiba#demon slayer#shinazugawa genya#assassination classroom#ansatsu kyoushitsu#karma akabane#haikyuu!!#nishinoya yuu#food wars#shokugeki no souma#ryo kurokiba
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Thoughts on/reactions to the BNHA: Heroes Rising movie since I need somewhere to gush about it (now that I’ve gotten to see it officially in theaters):
NOT SPOILER-FREE/SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT
(As an FYI, I saw the film in the original Japanese with English subtitles. Not sure if I’ll ever watch it in the English dub, seeing as I didn’t watch the first movie or the anime in English dub. I don’t mind it, and I’ll watch clips of it here and there, but I don’t feel like going out of my way to watch BNHA in its entirety in English.)
In no particular order (this is long, kinda a mess, not verb tense consistent, iffy at a few points because I don’t remember some exact details, etc. Be forewarned. Split into sections for a semblance of convenience):
The Fight Scenes/Class 1-A (General Overview):
This movie is pretty action-packed! The majority of the film consisted of fight scenes—but never quite to the point that it felt tiring. Now, I’m no expert on animation or fight choreography, but I thought the battle sequences were STUNNING! I really feel like the animators put a lot of care into this film.
Speaking of fight scenes, I was pleasantly surprised to see how a lot of the less-centric 1-A students were able to get their time to shine. Uraraka got a cool Badass™ moment (kinda reminded me of her fight versus Bakugou at the Sports Festival). Sero goes all out on a villain (was it Nine?), getting thrown back, but still earning a concerned “Sero!” from Bakugou (so that’s a win). Aoyama is surprisingly a force to be reckoned with his Navel Laser. Shoji deserves the title of Honorary Big Brother to Katsuma and Mahoro (the kids) with the way he devoted himself to protecting them throughout the battles (seriously made me emotional at one point!). Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were sick as usual! Kirishima gets another Unbreakable moment—this dude’s seriously got guts!
Todoroki, while arguably one of the main protagonists of the series, admittedly didn’t feel like he got TOO much screen-time during this film (I feel like it’s because they wanted to focus on the relationship between Deku and Bakugou). That being said, his defeat of Chimera was AWESOME. It was a nice touch having him remember Endeavor’s advice as he prepares his final attack, his father’s profile dissolving into his own. Todoroki really went Plus Ultra there (almost too much, like, damn, I think you got him). There were a few times like that throughout the film, like with Bakugou vs. Mummy, where I was like, pretty sure these villains should not be alive right now, but accordingly to anime logic, they’ll be fine (plus, we can’t have the hero students be killing anyone...). Basically, everyone was really cool, and I think this movie proves how they all deserve to be at UA.
The climax battle (Deku & Bakugou vs. Nine): I kinda wish I didn’t spoil so much of HR before seeing it officially—not that it ruined my enjoyment of it, but I feel like it would have been more intense/emotional if I went into it blind. So I knew going in that Deku and Bakugou were going to share OFA (and I may or may NOT have seen clips of it online beforehand... because I have no self-control), but it was still really great seeing it on the big-screen! Didn’t cry like I thought I would, but the moment where Deku and Bakugou did their Detroit Smash together for the first time got me kinda teary-eyed, with them doing an All Might-esque one-fist-raised pose. It’s just so heartwarming to see these two work together, carrying on All Might’s legacy.
Deku + Katsuma & Mahoro (the two main, local kids of Nabu Island):
Speaking of getting emotional: THAT scene when All Might arrives post-final battle and he’s cradling an injured Deku in his arms and Deku apologizes to him for having to give away OFA because he feels like he’s failed him: OH MY GOD! Major props to Daiki Yamashita for his voice acting in that scene (as for all his scenes as Deku, of course), it was so raw and emotional! Same praise applies to Nobuhiko Okamoto for his respective scenes as Bakugou, naturally.
Also, I SUPER enjoyed Deku in this film! I mean, I’m already a huge Deku stan (perhaps this comes as a bit of a surprise, since I never shut up about Bakugou and Bakugou only), but you could really see his development in HR! He comes across as a lot more confident, steady, level-headed, and sure of himself than he used to be! It was incredible to see him fight too: his first encounter with Nine in the forest stood out to me in particular. Ever the strategist. Sure, he’s still a little bit of a push-over (he apologizes to Mahoro, who’s just a little girl, after she scolds him for not coming to “rescue” her brother fast enough—it’s a pretty funny scene), but he really feels like he’s filling out his role as All Might’s successor. Not to mention all the parallels of his relationship with Katsuma to Deku’s own relationship with All Might. Also, of course, Deku is a huge sweetheart, and it was so endearing to see him interact with the island kids. Katsuma and Mahoro might seriously have some competition when it comes to the cutest characters in this film: they really amped up the sweetness of Deku in this film. But maybe I’m biased because I’m a Deku stan so I’ll shut up now. But seriously, big mama bear vibes from Deku with the kids.
While I’m on the topic of cuteness, Oh My God, Katsuma and Mahoro were PRECIOUS! Now I understand why Horikoshi couldn’t stop drawing them—seriously, they are the total opposite of the usual annoying kids trope. Katsuma’s shyness/timidness was adorable. Mahoro’s sass and attitude was adorable. On top of that, they were very brave and protective of each other. Their brother-sister relationship was also very wholesome. But seriously, almost every time these kids were on-screen, I could hear people in the audience going “Awww” and I was like “YES! AWW IS RIGHT!”
The Bakugou section (because my adoration of him warrants an entire section of its own):
This doesn’t seem like too natural of a segue, but cuteness has now made me think about Bakugou and how he was in the film. Can I just say, I love how all the comical, raging Bakugou scenes made the audience laugh; I love that we all share the same amusement of this angry gremlin. The part where Bakugou finds out that Mahoro tricked him by making an illusion of a villain and he goes into Rage Mode to the 10th power was amazing. The edgy guitar rendition of Bakugou’s leitmotif playing in the background as they zoom into his furious face thrice as he gets increasingly incensed, with fiery flames in the background, was peak comedy. And then Deku has to hold Bakugou back as the kids escape his wrath. Even when the two tumble to the ground, Bakugou Grudge-crawls up to them with Deku clinging to his back. One of my favorite scenes in the film: it was hilarious. Oh, Bakugou. Never change.
Bakugou’s old ways aside, I do like how he seemed to warm up to the kids a little by the end of the film. His genuine smile and sort-of wave upon seeing the kids saying goodbye to them as they sail away on the ship was sweet! Earlier, when Bakugou first grabs Katsuma and carries him along to show him where the “villain” is, once they locate it, Bakugou immediately yeets Katsuma aside like an empty soda can (he was fine, of course). While, admittedly, I found that moment hilarious, I did feel the general reaction of audience also being like, jeez, Bakugou, you don’t throw kids like that, lol. I did like how, despite tossing Katsuma aside, Bakugou did grunt a quick “Go hide” to him, showing that he did care at least a little for Katsuma’s safety: more than he outwardly demonstrates, at least. I like how the whole “proper handling of kids” thing came back during the final battle when Bakugou catches Mahoro from falling when Nine tosses her aside (not totally unlike how Bakugou tossed Katsuma aside earlier.. hmm...). And Deku was the one who punched (kicked?) Nine at that moment instead (showing a little reversal of roles when it comes to saving and fighting). Seriously, Bakugou puts Mahoro down so gently on her feet too! It was so sweet! And then he proceeds to give her his whole “This is why I’m going to be the number one hero” spiel too. If my memory serves me correctly, I think Mahoro wasn’t even going to fall that far, and would have probably been fine if she just dropped to the ground, but Bakugou still went out of his way to catch her, which is great. But yeah, though obviously Bakugou is nowhere near as bad as Nine, I like how this was one of the moments which proved the difference between Bakugou and the villains, that his rescue demonstrates just the kind of hero Bakugou is eventually going to become.
Another moment like that, which I haven’t seen too many people talk about, is when Bakugou and Deku are immobilized by Nine’s 2 Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and Nine gives a speech on something along the lines of how power is great and he wants to create a world in which the strong rule over the weak, yada yada, total domination. Deku, of course, is infuriated by Nine’s evil plans, but I was also pleasantly surprised to see Bakugou tell him off too, telling him how he’s crazy for wanting to do something like that. Of course, it's been clear for a while that Bakugou is not necessarily the power-hungry, overlord type, but this moment really made a little more clear to me that Bakugou is more concerned with winning and the sense of self-fulfillment that comes with it, rather than ruling over others with his power (though I don’t doubt that Bakugou finds some enjoyment in being able to beat up villains. I mean, look at that feral smile).
Also, Bakugou melting a whole-ass mountain and hurling it at Nine. Freaking lava monster. That is all.
The Deku & Bakugou Dynamic:
Deku really wasn’t intimidated by Bakugou anymore in the film, so I appreciated those moments when Deku stood up to him and wouldn’t take his shit. One example was when Deku held Bakugou back from scolding the kids. Another moment I thought was great was when Mahoro called them about Nine’s arrival, and Bakugou answers the phone, thinking she’s crying wolf again, and starts to chew her out until Deku snatches the phone out of his hand. Bakugou just stares at him in shock, he looks so offended, haha! He can hardly get out a word of protest before just slumping in defeat, annoyed, but still letting Deku talk to Mahoro on the phone. Really like those moments where Deku takes charge like that.
Bakugou eavesdropping (as per his usual nosy self) on Katsuma and Deku’s conversation, in which Katsuma apologizes for their prank earlier, explains his story, and Deku talks about how saving and winning are both important (*hint hint, nudge nudge*). And Bakugou’s so engrossed that he doesn’t notice his popsicle melting until it drips onto the floor. And he just stares at it in vague bafflement. Yes. Good.
This was another really small moment, but it was cute, so I have to talk about it. Deku’s training outside and Bakugou runs into him on his patrol. They have their whole talk about how they’re going to surpass each other, and then, right at the end, Deku kinda just smiles at him. It’s such a fond smile, you can even hear him giving a small laugh along with it. And then Bakugou meets it with a determined stare, and he almost gives a gruff little “huh?”. It was just a funny little stare down they had there, except they’re coming at it with completely different expressions/sentiments. Bakugou almost seemed a bit confused by Deku’s happy smile; it reminded me of that moment during Deku vs. Kacchan 2, when Deku takes a moment to smile at Bakugou, impressed by his progress, and Bakugou gets pissed at him for looking so happy. Like, c’mon Bakugou, let the guy be proud of you! I think now, post-DvK2, Bakugou does understand Deku’s words/expressions a little better, but he still doesn’t seem to fully comprehend how much Deku respects and cares for him. Either that, or he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Here’s to hoping Bakugou comes to realize it at some point. Bakugou-accept-compliments/affection challenge 2020.
I think everyone’s already said what there is to say about Deku’s decision to give OFA to Bakugou, and Bakugou’s reaction to it. Even so, I have a few things to add. One, I like how Bakugou’s grown to respect Deku as a rival/fellow hero in the movie, which is especially evident once Deku gives him OFA. Deku, of course, trusts Bakugou enough to give it to him, saying how it’s alright if it’s him, really hammering in that bond they have between them (that and well... he’s really the only other option here...). Two, Bakugou’s initial reaction after Deku implies that they need to share OFA, his expression right before he reaches out his hand to take it, has some people talking. I initially thought that the reason Bakugou looked so defeated/begrudging/upset, was because him having to accept OFA/help from Deku in order to win was a blow to his pride (kind of like in the Final Exam team-up). Or that it also means that Bakugou can no longer beat Deku at his strongest (Bakugou with OFA would become the better hero by default, kind of like how Endeavor rose to Number 1 after All Might’s retirement, instead of earning it through besting him fair and square). But I’ve also seen people say it was because Bakugou was reluctant to have to put an end to Deku’s dream (not unlike the way Bakugou put an end to All Might’s career?), since Deku was forfeiting OFA. Which I can kind of believe, but then again, this is why Bakugou is so hard to pin down: we rarely get his inner narrative, so his expressions are often multi-faceted/layered. So who knows what he was thinking? Granted, I tend to actually not give Bakugou the benefit of the doubt in these situations, but I do hope it was a mixture of all these things. But I think Bakugou really did feel bad about Deku’s hero career potentially being over: he even asks him if he was sure about his decision immediately after accepting OFA. Which is a huge 180 from the beginning of the series, when Bakugou WANTED to put an end to Deku’s dream. Now that’s growth.
This is going to delve more into just Bakugou himself, but I had additional thoughts about the whole OFA transfer thing, and how All Might (tentatively?) concludes that the predecessors returned OFA to Deku, even though, supposedly, it is non-returnable. The fact that Bakugou doesn’t remember the OFA transfer might be a better thing that I thought, since, if it really was the predecessors’ decision to give it back to Deku (and not just because he conked out before the transfer was done), then that just means that Deku is the one who is really worthy of OFA, and not him. At least, that’s one way of looking at it. Which might have crushed Bakugou, even though Bakugou likely doesn’t want OFA for himself. But I almost think that explains part of Bakugou’s reaction I mentioned in the previous point. Maybe, deep down, Bakugou doesn’t think he deserves OFA? Sure, Bakugou’s made it clear that he wants to become the best hero with his own power/Quirk, but it still hurt/confused him in DvK2 that All Might chose Deku. OFA itself choosing Deku and not him might as well just confirm that Deku is truly the better hero. Of course, we can’t really know for sure why the vestiges returned OFA to Deku. Personally, I would find it kinda funny/sad if OFA just thought Deku was better. Maybe it’s destiny? Maybe Deku’s journey is just not meant to be over yet? Or maybe, Bakugou, in the OFA mindscape, actually relinquished OFA to Deku of his own accord? Either way, as much as I love Bakugou, I think the vestiges were right in going back to Deku. Not even just for plot-reasons, but that OFA really is better suited for Deku. It’s a Quirk meant to be used for the sake of other people, and Bakugou simply isn’t of that mindset (yet?). I’m sorry Bakugou, but I’d choose Deku too.
Overall, I really feel like Deku and Bakugou’s teamwork was so natural and in-sync! They seem to act like one unit, not even having to talk to each other during the final Double OFA showdown, like they’re on the same wavelength or something. This film really made me believe that these two are going to become hero partners in the future or something, they’re too good together to be ultimately separated. Or maybe that’s just me being hopeful. We’ll see.
Meme Corner:
Bakugou after finding out that Mahoro was creating an illusion of a villain:
Bakugou: *winces from the pain of breaking his arm using OFA*
Deku, not even bothered, multiple-time champion of the arms-breaking club:
also:
Bakugou to the kids: “I’m gonna show you why I’m gonna be the number one hero!”
*proceeds to get the shit beat out of him by Nine* (cue the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme).
Wrap-Up/Conclusion:
There’s probably a lot more to discuss (that other people will likely touch on), but this is mainly what I cared about, so I’ll leave it at that. But just as a brief summary for everything else: LOV was good as usual, were mainly only at the beginning of the film; speaking of, that opening car chase sequence was pretty neat; the brief, Endeavor vs. Dabi was cool; Endeavor hugging Todoroki after they were rescued and Todoroki Not Having any of it was funny; Nine was alright as the main villain, could use some more depth, but I guess that’s what the short spin-off manga and bonus material are for. Hawks was great too. Even though I didn’t watch the English dub, I really liked the short clip I did see of him in English. His English VA suits him well (as does the Japanese)!
I don’t feel like going into critiques, even though there certainly are things to critique in the movie. I just enjoyed this film for the joyride that it is. Main nitpick: maybe NOT drop a bunch of high-schoolers on an island without a Pro-hero presence. Maybe NOT do that. But we got the Good ol’ Hero Commission going: “Oh boy, what could POSSIBLY go wrong??? 🤷🤷🤷”
Oh, and I do think that this film is safe for anime-onlies. The only thing is that people who haven’t read the manga will see things/characters they don’t really know about it and will, thus, be left wondering a little about them, but I don’t think it’s a huge deal.
If you took the time to get to the end of all my rambling, thank you and congrats! I didn’t include screen-caps for this post because the movie’s not on digital or DVD yet (and I don’t want to use other people’s camrips because Reasons), so I might do additional analyses once that happens.
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Link to Unofficial Part 1 of My Thoughts on HR (based on leaks, before actually seeing the film; but I do go more into depth on other points of the film, such as OFA)
#bnha heroes rising spoilers#this post was basically me going 'how many other ways can i say the word heartwarming'#tl;dr: this film made me very happy
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The Ultimate Introduction to Hosoya Yoshimasa Part 1 [Everything you should know about Hosoya Yoshimasa #3]
37th Birthday Special
10 February, the ultimate day as a certain baby turns 37. Time really flies... I still remember creating posts for his 36th bday last year in my main account @akaskira
This is taken from a Chinese source: PukiWiki
Translated by me!
Introduction
Source: 新R25 Interview (Japanese)
Hosoya Yoshimasa [細谷佳正]
Born 10 February, 1982 in Onomichi, Hiroshima.
Height of 175 cm (5 feet 7), Blood Type B
Left hander.
Was a member of Mausu Promotion till 1 July 2014 and has been Freelance since.
Nicknames include Yosshi (used by Ono Yuuki), Posoya-kun (used by Sugita Tomokazu)
Called Hosoyan by fans and Hikasa Yoko
According to himself, has rarely been given nicknames.
Favourite food includes sea urchin. Likes to drink but doesn’t smoke.
Likes ghost story and horror movies but gets scared as hell in haunted houses (click for link!)
Probably can see ghosts - many colleagues have heard real ghost experiences from him.
Okamoto Nobuhiko once said he wanted to go to haunted house most with Hosoya as his reaction is interesting
In the world of Male seiyuu Singers, he is considered to be of mid-high ranking.
Used to do busking and released his own songs.
Sang albums for character Shiraishi Kuranosuke in “Prince of Tennis”
The first album “Medicine or...?” got 7th in Most Daily Played and 10th in Most Weekly Played. The second album “Poision” achieved 3rd in Daily and 6th in Weekly [Oricon Style]
CD or LIVE, his performance is worth a praise. His condition has been good since his first performance, “Prince of Tennis Hundred Song Marathon”. He then received praise for his singing plus dancing in FESTA 2009, and also is the first from Prince of Tennis to have his very own solo concert and album in 2010.
Doesn’t really sing as his characters, so the songs you hear are all his own style.
Seiyuu with the same experiences as him include Tsubasa Yonaga, Kaji Yuuki, Okamoto Nobuhiko etc.
One of Mima Masafumi (Director of audiography)’s favourite seiyuu. It’s like wherever there’s Mima there’s Hosoya
Experiences
High School
Used to be in fencing and acting clubs, and quit fencing for acting.
Was in a leader position in acting, but didn’t know whether to pursue it.
After that, watched “Martian Succesor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness” recommenced by a friend and decided to be a seiyuu as he was inspired by Yamadera Koichi’s character.
Voiced in the remake Space Battleship Yamato 2199 as Katou Saburou, fulfilling his dream of voicing with Yamadera.
Achieved Best Supporting Character Awards in 2014 and 2016 tho he has no luck in MC
Characteristics
Has a natural mid-range voice, therefore often gets cool / calm Sports Captain roles. To other people, Hosoya can also be seen as a man who’s calm with few words.
Because he started as acting in Western works, he’s better at “natural calmness” performances rather than exaggerated.
Mostly voices young characters from straightforward to cold ones. Also can voice as some bad “Uncle” (Ixion Saga DT as Pet)
Basically after Takamatsu Shinji’s (animator) favourtism, his image has disappeared (this is a compliment)
Maybe because Hosoya’s tone is a little plain (Hey!!) he rarely voices as MC but as supporting roles (MC’s friends etc)
For some reason, always voice some “big Brother” characters and recently, 80% of his roles are muscular guys
Accepted more roles as he grew popular.
Voiced as an insane character in a game “Princess Arthur” and received praise for it.
Before that, also voiced incanely in “Edel Blume” but the game wasn’t good so it wasn’t popular
Common traits of his characters: glasses, prideful, disses, dialect.
Real person is a helpless dork which is totally different from his characters, so may surprise people who don’t know him well.
Started by dubbing in Western shows / movies, so isn’t known in ACG (Animation, Comic, Game) community until his role as Shiraishi.
One of the few who dubs a lot in both ACG and Western films, where he voices in almost every season.
Often receives dialect roles (Osaka, Fukui, Hiroshima etc). Says that his voice is like a plain Ochazuke (rice with tea).
Has very few R18 works.
In BLCD, only appeared for a passerby and never a seme/uke role.
With the exception of Miyano Mamoru and Irino Miyu who both have acting backgrounds, Hosoya being famous even without a R18 character is considered as really special.
People may mistake Hosoya as voicing in more shoujo themed anime due to his popularity with women and large variety, but he actually focuses more on dub and shonen works.
Hosoya EVERYWHERE
In 2016 October, he accepted roles from 12 more works out of his normal ones, and with different varieties as well.
Probably because of overperformance, he hurt his throat and took a break from 23 April 2017 to August 2017.
Personality
Speciality: plays guitar and likes shooting
Is bad at technology so doesn’t have Twitter or personal blog (except link)
Known as the most woman-like male seiyuu.
Ogata Megumi: “Among male and female seiyuu, the one with most girl powers is Hosoya Yoshimasa.”
Actually also wants to be popular so often asks tips from other male seiyuu
A member of Mizuki Nana’s female team
Proved by a lot of people that he loves to talk about love.
Self-claimed masochist. Is actually also very masochistic
Gets nervous easily and sweats a lot. When he’s nervous, he always speak incoherently / stammers so he’s often teased by others.
Always at the bottom of the food pyramid.
In Free, was bullied by “predators” Miyano Mamoru and Suzuki Tatsuhisa.
Nobunaga Shimazaki: “Sorry—”
Hosoya: “We’re not gonna lose like this!!”
Masafumi Mima: “In Knb, 50% of seiyuu were new and perhaps to calm their berves they decided to tease someone. That someone is Hosoya. Even though he’s the captain, his reaction when bullied is priceless.”
Known as the natural dork, which often comes into topic when he’s not around.
Has a weird way of thinking sometimes.
Often leaves audience and cast speechless (and is usually made fun of later), but can tell he means what he says, and usually still has a good relationship with others.
Likes to not look at the camera in pictures, affecting people around him. Fans have also started to imitate it.
Easy to go along with and humble.
Often calls person with “san” behind and uses respectful language (formal)
Depending on atmosphere, he does call people by their first name and vice versa.
People he calls first names include Ono Kenshou, Osaka Ryota, Ishikawa Kaito etc.
“Will go crazy in unreasonable situations” - Hikasa Yoko
Too many sports roles. Fans often say he can “hold an Olympic on his own” and those roles are still renewing.
Some include tennis, Basketball, baseball, soccer, Volleyball, piano, drums, judo, karuta, Swimming, rugby, ice skating.
Fans often check if he’s voicing in new sports anime - and it’s a common habit.
Seems to also notice himself and talks about doing them sometimes.
Relationships
Male Magnet.
Attracts both senpai and junior’s appreciation.
Accidentally stepped into a gay bar and was almost harassed.
Even Fukuyama Jun, who doesn’t work with him much, would mention him from time to time.
Kamiya Hiroshi: “He’s a good kid who’s too serious.”
Has many hidden fans in the industry. Ishikawa Kaito has played his songs directly from his phone before.
Others
Likes girls who’s younger but mature big Sister type omg that’s me
Seems to like... boobs, D-cup in particular.
Had a defect where he was born with six fingers on his right hand but had the extra surgically removed.
Was a fan of the manga “Ushio and Taro” so was very happy when he voiced Akiba Nagare in it.
To be continued
I’ve kind of run out of space so I’m going to do a separate post later. For now, I’m so glad I decided to rewatch anime or I wouldn’t have found out about this adorable dork who made me who I am. I just came back from Japan after studying there for about 4 months, and it had just been the best knowing we were in the same country, breathing the same air, almost living in the same city.
While I didn’t manage to go to a Hosoyan event, I would definitely go at least once just to “meet” and see him live.
I love him with all my heart and wish him the best in everything.
#hosoya yoshimasa#hosoyan#facts#everything you should know#happy birthday!!!!#hbd to my baby#yes thats my baby right there#i love him so much u cant imagine#february 10#37 years old#pls get married#translation#my translation#skira translate
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Interview: The Two Dekus
Here’s the whole interview with both the Japanese and English voice for Izuku Midoriya (Deku).
This Anime News Network interview features the two voice actors behind Deku: Daiki Yamashita (Japanese dub) and Justin Briner (English Funimation Dub).
I just wanted to bring out this interview. But before we begin, I’m just going to say that since I watch Boku no Hero Academia subbed, I hold a bit of bias. Since I did crop a few parts out, you will find that Justin Briner might have said a few additional things in the interview, so if you want to get a few more comments from him, check out the original article! I tried to keep it even for the most part though.
I will also be including some additional posts, sources, videos, etc. of things that relate to this interview regarding the Japanese cast of My Hero Academia. I tried to limit myself to put under ten links and failed... sorry about that! Hopefully, you’ll find something you might like though!
[...] = additional words in their answer that I felt wasn’t crucial
ANN: First, thank you both for your time, I really appreciate it. When you auditioned for this, did you know what you were auditioning for, and did you know what a big deal it was?
DAIKI YAMASHITA: Yes, I was reading the manga before and I knew that this was going to be popular if it was made into an anime.
JUSTIN BRINER: Yeah, we got our hands on it a little later [...] You can tell, spending a little bit of time with the source material, that it's something special. [...] And after I checked out that first episode I got hooked, so I figured a lot of other people did too.
Did you immediately see yourself as him?
BRINER: No, not necessarily. [...] I didn't want to get my hopes up for anything for this.
YAMASHITA: You auditioned for pretty much all the male characters?
BRINER: Yeah, Deku, Kacchan, Todoroki, Minari, Tokoyami. I wouldn't have been good as many of them.
YAMASHITA: You tried out for so many characters.
BRINER: Yes, uh uh. I just really wanted to be a part of it, it seemed like something special to me.
Now that you're in season 3 and you did the movie, how has your relationship with Deku changed since the beginning? Do you feel like you play him differently now as his character has changed?
YAMASHITA: I think the mental part of it has helped me. At the beginning of the show, Deku seemed to be very weak. Very soft. You feel like “oh, is he okay? Is he gonna make it?” as a viewer, you see that. But once he inherits the power from All Might, the mental part of his character, he's become so strong. As I play him more and more as the seasons went on, I try to gain that strength as well for myself. So when I play against the strong villains, in my acting I try not to back down – I try to convey that mental strength in my acting as well.
BRINER: It's essentially the same answer here. [...]He started out very weak and insecure. [...]you can tell that he's gaining confidence. [...] Just being able to incorporate a little more confidence, a little more heroism every time, that's part of Deku's growing up.
Do you read ahead in the manga? And if so, does it help you prepare emotionally for what's coming?
YAMASHITA: Yes I do, I do. I read ahead and then I regret reading ahead. I was like “All Might—ohhhh, no.” So when I read that All Might and All For One battle in the manga, I was like “oh my gosh, I saw it, I didn't want to see it… I regret it.” It was shocking to me, before I even received the script.
BRINER: Same. I do read the manga, and I feel like I'm pleasantly surprised by every new development. It's so smartly written that I can't find myself not reading it every week.
Do you have a personal favorite scene, or a scene that meant the most to you personally from this show? Or the film?
YAMASHITA: There's so many. It's very hard to choose one scene, but in particular the second episode, where All Might tells him “you can be a hero.” That scene, along with the most recent scene when All Might points to Deku on TV and says “you're the next.” Those two scenes are very, very memorable. For me, myself, as well as for Deku as a character, those two scenes are very pivotal moments for the character, and very important to both myself and Deku as a character. And I think that those two lines and those two scenes are going to stay with Deku forever, and that's going to become a core of his becoming a hero in the future.
BRINER: I love that. [...] there's a moment in the sports festival when Deku and Todoroki are fighting against each other, and in the middle of the fighting he says something to the effect, to Todoroki, of “it's yours, it's your quirk, not his.” That's such a wonderful moment of—because Deku isn't the most confident person of all time. His quirk isn't even necessarily his own, but he's learning to live with it and make it his own in his own way. So to be able to instil what little confidence that he's gained to a friend in need is really beautiful to me, I think.
Deku gets into some guttural screaming, just world-class screaming. How do you prepare for that? Do you have to recover from it?
YAMASHITA: I eat a lot to prepare. I don't do anything particularly to protect my voice, but I feel like if I don't do anything then my throat is gonna get stronger. Like, if you do more—so essentially for me, it's eat whatever I want when I want and sleep when I want.
BRINER: Yes!
So you're playing the main character in a giant, hit show that could potentially run years and years and years and years and years. Do you feel like you're prepared for that, and do you see yourself still relishing the role, if, say, a decade from now you're still playing Deku?
YAMASHITA: Yes. In a narration, where Deku says “this is the story of me becoming the best hero.” So I would like to see him become the best hero. I would like to see that, and I would like to continue playing him as he becomes a hero. So I'll try not to die in the middle, in the process. I might be a grandpa by the end, but I would like to perform this character until he becomes the best hero that he can be.
BRINER: I mean yes, I love Deku, I love the source material so much and so dearly that I'd love to be a part of it for as long as I can. It really means a lot to me that way.
As a brief follow-up, when you were starting your career, did you ever have the aspiration to be like “well, I basically want to be Goku in a series that's as big as Dragon Ball.” You're the Goku of this show. Did you ever see yourself in this position? And was that ever your aspiration?
YAMASHITA: Yes. When I started out, yes that was my hope that I would be able to encounter roles like this. I think that it honestly takes a miracle for this type of encounter to happen, to get a role that can be in a long-running show, and something like My Hero Academia is very, very rare. So I'm very grateful for the opportunity, and I feel like, as I said before, I'd like to stay with it until Deku becomes the best hero that he can be. When he becomes that hero, maybe that's the time that my life ends. That's how I feel, almost. So I would like to continue playing and breathe life into this character until he does, so…
BRINER: All I've ever known that I wanted to do was act or perform in some capacity. I never knew exactly what avenue that would be. But the world of anime has always been something that's been very important to me growing up. I watched Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon before I knew what anime was. It was just another cartoon that I would rush home after school to watch. To be part of something so pivotal and so prescient, especially nowadays, is really special in that way. [...]to be a part of it now is really incredible. Because it feels like I'm working my hardest to be a part of something that's much bigger than me. And I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing my part in that.
All right, I've got two short ones left. One, if you were playing any character in the show that was not Deku, who would you want to play?
YAMASHITA: I can't think of anybody else but Deku to play.
Fair enough.
BRINER: True, I love Deku too. If you make me answer, Froppy.
Perfect!
YAMASHITA: Kero Kero.
BRINER: Kero!
YAMASHITA: Maybe like a villain. One of the villains.
Last question. In your heart, who do you think Deku should wind up with in the show? As a romantic partner.
YAMASHITA: As far as I can tell for now, just by reading the manga and doing three seasons, it looks like Uraraka is very high on his list. But in the movie… I feel (original character from the My Hero Academia film) Melissa Shield has gained… she climbed up the ladder towards the top, the top of the list. So when you think about the future development of the story, there might be a chance that Melissa-chan comes back. In that case, there might be a battle between Uraraka Ochako and Melissa!
BRINER: [...] I feel like Uraraka is… they're just meant to be, somehow. Let me just introduce Tsuyu into the mix, Froppy. I don't know, I don't know.
It's a good pick. It's a good pick.
YAMASHITA: Isn't it that you like that character? Do you just like her—
BRINER: Uhhhh, maybe?
Everyone likes that character!
YAMASHITA: I think it's your taste!
Tsuyu Is Popular With Everyone [video below]
youtube
“Who is Best Girl?” [Cast Answer]
BNHA Cast Interview (Daiki Yamashita, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Masuda Toshiki) - Relationship between the characters
Cast Imitating Their Characters
Seiyuu Comic (Daiki Yamashita, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Yuuki Kaji, and Kouki Uchiyama) with additional details
Ayane Sakura’s Nickname Origins
Yuuki Kaji Interview on Shouto Todoroki
Nobuhiko Okamoto Interview on Katsuki Bakugou
Junichi Suwabe Interview on Shouta Aizawa
BNHA Movie Special Event
Additional Cast Images
Recording Bakugou - Nobuhiko Okamoto
If you like content like this, I recommend checking out my spam blog! It’s where I post my voice actor, shitpost, fanart, and just about everything else!
#daiki yamashita#bnha seiyuu#justin briner#bnha interview#boku no hero academia#mha#my hero academia#seiyuu
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My 2018 Tumblr Top 10
My blog might be a music blog, but I guess that’s not all that popular! Hmm... these are my top ten. I didn’t post it at first because I was a bit embarrassed that almost none of my music made it (number four being an exception), but alas, I appreciate the appreciation either way!
1). BSD NEKOS!
472 notes - 07 September 2018
2). BNHA X DISNEY PRINCESSES!
419 notes - 12 November 2018
3). KIRISHIMA AND SERO’S TRUE FORMS
236 notes - 14 November 2018
4). [MUSIC] BSD ORIGINAL MUSIC!
97 notes - 21 February 2018
5). THE REST OF THE BAKUSQUAD’S TRUE FORMS!
84 notes - 28 November 2018
6). My Very Bad BNHA x Avengers Translation
53 notes - 12 April 2018
7). BSD Comic
42 notes - 18 June 2018
8). The Little Mer-Shouto
40 notes - 28 November 2018
9). Top Twenty Favourite Anime GIF set
29 notes - 11 August 2018
10). Happy Birthday Nobuhiko Okamoto!
15 notes - 23 October 2018
This is my 100th post!
Until I go through my archive and delete something!
Created by TumblrTop10
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MBS Anime Fes 2017 Report
My first seiyuu event with Kaji Yuji, Ishikawa Yui, Ono Kensho, Jun Fukuyama, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Yonaga Tsubasa, Nakamura Yuuichi, Amamiya Sora and surprise seiyuus headlining the event!
I have never attended a seiyuu reading event before and this was my first time since moving to Japan! Held at Osaka-jo Hall, the sold-out crowd of 10,000 attendees plus another 10,000 live-viewing audience all over Japan was possibly one of the biggest event I have ever attended. This is a 4-hour long event with zero breaks/intermission. So this is going to be a looooong review.
The event started with a recap of the MBS Anime Fes 2016 starring Haikyuu. We had Kei Tsukishima guiding us through the rules of the event (no recording, photo-taking etc) and him teasing poor Hinata. It was really cute!
Shingeki no Kyojin (Season 2)
Linked Horizon was the surprise band that led the opening act. Revo blew the roof off with Guren no Yumiya and Shinzo wo Sasageyo! Everyone switched their light-sticks to red and it was breathtaking!
Kaji Yuki (Eren) and Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa) did their live readings (afureko) of various scenes from Season 2 and SUDDENLY from the floor of the stage opened up and Yoshimasa Hosoya (Reiner, surprise guest) appeared from the floor lift contraption, cue intense screaming.
Kaji and Hosoya read lines from the scenes where Eren and Reiner fought in their Titan forms. Kaji Yuki also read lines from Hannes’ death/Mikasa’s confession scene (alone) and literally kept biting his hand as he read from his script. His expression was exactly the same as the footage of Eren playing on the big screen.
The entire hall went silent and you literally hear everyone holding their breaths, tensing in their seats. Kaji Yuki, you are phenomenal live. That scene was really hard to act out and you, my man, deserve the Seiyuu equivalent of an Oscar.
Ao no Exorcist
After SnK ended, we opened to Ao no Exorcist with Jun Fukuyama (Yukio) and Nobuhiko Okamoto (Rin). They read from a completely original script of Yukio and Rin exploring Osaka and getting lost along the way to the Osaka Castle Hall. Jun Jun and Nobuhiko literally ran all over the huge stage, and made puns of Rikuro Cheesecake, Kushi katsu and 551 Horoi nikuman! JunJun and Nobuhiko really acted as the characters while holding their script booklets!
Of course JunJun had to stumble in his lines and misread ‘Kyojin’ and ‘Chojin’, as the stage elevated them up, the camera zoomed into JunJun’s face and you could see him trying not to laugh out loud. Too cute! Of course, all jokes must come to an end when the duo started doing really intense afureko scenes of Rin being the son of Satan. and no matter what Yukio and Rin will always be brothers forever. When Nobuhiko transformed into his devil-form, actual blue flames really shot up from the stage!! The effect was so cool!! Because I am quite near to the stage, I could feel the heat from the flames.
Act 1 ended and the cast of Shingeki no Kyojin and Ao no Exorcist came out to greet the audience as themselves, each one of them calling for cheers! Kaji invited the audience seated on the ground level to cheer, next Yui invited us on the stands to cheer. Poor Hosoya did the awkward live-viewing cheer. JunJun and Nobuhiko complained that they have no more audience to cheer for and Nobuhiko invited the whole of Japan to cheer. JunJun then got the entire planet Earth to cheer (lol). They then spoke about their characters and answered questions from the moderator before it was time for them to move off for act 2.
Big Windup!
Act 2 began with a baseball anime led by Yonaga Tsubasa (Ren) and Nakamura Yuuichi (Takaya). I know nothing about this anime so I did not really pay attention to the scenes, just enjoyed watching two seiyuus do their thing.
Next we had a surprise guest band FLOW appearing to sing two songs. Again, I am not a fan of FLOW so I just politely listened to them perform.
Full Metal Alchemist
After FLOW ended their performance, the stadium went dark and the projector started drawing Human Transmutation Circle and some fans started shrieking. I was still clueless until they revealed the special guest anime Full Metal Alchemist with Romi Park (Edward) and Rie Kugimiya (Alphonse) as special guest seiyuus. I have never watched FMA so I could not really follow what was going on. But I certainly did enjoy watching vetaren seiyuus perform their afureko live. Romi had tears dripping down her cheek at her intense portrayal of Edward. It was so beautiful to watch.
Act 2 ended and once again, we have all four seiyuus return back for some friendly banter. Romi was sharing how she had snot running down her nose when she was performing but she could not wipe it off till later. And Rie was like “... you held hands with me after we were done!” Romi jokingly pretended to be offended and said there are people out there that want her snot (cue fans screaming yes). Rie and Romi were so cute together on-stage.
Kuroko no Basuke
Act 3 opened with Ono Kensho alone on-stage, reading his afureko with the video playback of Kagami’s voice, that he really enjoyed playing with his new light.
The scene shifted to him recapping his time at Teiko and suddenly from below the stage, Juichi Suwabe (Aomine) appeared as the surprise guest seiyuu (SO MUCH SCREAMING AT THIS POINT).
OnoK and Junichi did a few scenes as former light and shadow before the scene changed. A familiar shoe appeared on the screen and the stage wall slid open and Kimura Ryouhei (Kise) appeared as the second surprise guest.
We watched as Junichi and KimuR did their Toou vs. Kaijo match afureko. The stage floor elevated them up 1-metre into the air with the screen flickering with blue and yellow flames, illuminating their zone state. Again, the 3 seiyuus did a marvelous job with such a serious and intense scene. And the trio ended their afureko, the stage swinging open for GRANRODEO (surprise band) to take the stage! They sang two songs from Kurobas and rocked the entire hall!
Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai)
Kaji Yuki returned back again to read as Meliodas and Amamiya Sora as Elizabeth. Their surprise guest seiyuu was Aoi Yuuki (Diane). I have zero knowledge of this anime so I didn’t really pay much attention to it as well. Their segment ended with FLOW and GRANRODEO doing a collaboration song together. And the staff released huge balloons into the crowd for them to bounce/throw around. We didn’t get any on the stands!
FLOW also announced that they will have an anime-themed concert, details to be revealed later.
Act 3 ended and we had all 7 seiyuus return to the stage, greeting us! They shared about how it was so hard to keep a secret, teased each other and bantered a lot. It was really cute.
We then had the credit roll running on the big screen but hey...it is actually 40-mins too early to end the night. So everyone in the hall was murmuring...and the screen started fizzling...and fizzling to reveal a SUPER SECRET GUEST ACT...
She is none other than Yoko Takahashi. She sang the theme song from Evangelion and another song which I forgot...sorry I am not a fan of hers so I was just politely waving my lightstick, secretly hoping the next surprise will be someone that I know and like.
When she was done, the credit roll started running again but a voice suddenly boomed out from nowhere...
“2002年から始まった？違ぇよ！俺が始めたんだよ！なら、俺が終わらせてもいいだろ！” (It started from 2002? WRONG! I have just barely started. That is why, I will be the one to end it!)
and T.M.REVOLUTION came bursting out and started singing Ignited from Gundam Seed and Sword Summit from Sengoku Basara!!!! My sexy ojiisan was all decked out in black leather and holy shitttt the entire hall was SHOOK!! Typical of Nishikawa’s concerts, he started stripping off his cardigan by the second song to reveal his muscular arms. Daaaayum!
After T.M.Revolution finished his songs, the entire seiyuu cast returned back on-stage for their final thank you/appreciation. They all also joked about how it was so hard to keep a secret. Kaji Yuki actually called out on Kimura Ryohei on his spoiler tweet (he posted a shot glass and asked fans to guess which bar he was at), and Kaji Yuki was like...’Be more responsible!!’ Each of them made a speech, thanking fans for always supporting their work and also to look out for future works by them. We ended with a cheer, the seiyuus shouting MBS and the audience shouting ANIME FES. The cheer ended with a loud bang and shower of gold and silver streamers into the crowd.
It was so beautiful and I am so happy to be able to be part of this event! It was worth it! I will be attending the Shingeki no Kyojin live reading and orchestra at the end of October (evening show), so stay tuned for my event report!
(Picture credits from official channels on Twitter and https://mantan-web.jp/photo/20171008dog00m200003000c.html?page=031 )
#shingeki no kyojin#kuroko no basuke#seiyuu#mbs anime fes#kaji yuki#ono kensho#junichi suwabe#flow#granrodeo#tm revolution#pamyinjapan
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Summer Preview 2018!
New Post has been published on https://animeindo.org/blog/2018/07/01/summer-preview-2018/
Summer Preview 2018!
After a scorcher of a spring (and an unusual delay in the previewing process—sorry about that), the summer season is looking down right sleepy. Are anime studios trying to get people to go out into the sticky Tokyo summers? Those monsters! Fortunately there are a few stars lurking amid the sleepers, which means outside activity will not be required. Some of the biggest headliners are hotly-anticipated sequels, from the split-cour continuation of the lich conquering hero protagonist of Overlord III, the return of the glistening swimming boys of Free! -Dive to the Future-, the final season of Gintama, and the third season of the world-shattering hit Shingeki no Kyojin. There are plenty of promising new adaptations as well, such as the crime thriller set in 1980s New York City BANANA FISH, adaptations of the acclaimed Front Wing visual novel ISLAND, the supernatural comedy romance Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san, and a look at the more, uh, dedicated side of love with Happy Sugar Life. There are fewer originals, but I’m keeping my eye on several, including the absolutely bonkers Planet With, a supernatural stint with pretty boys in London in Phantom in the Twilight, and the other anime with jaegers and vampires by the name of Sirius the Jaeger. There’s always more anime to watch, so join us as we tell you all about it. This is the Random Curiosity Summer 2018 Preview!
This season we’ll continue using the Excitement Levels we introduced last year. Don’t recall why? Because trying to anticipate how a show is going to turn out is a fool’s errand, but we can definitely tell you how excited we are! Just remember that these levels reflect our own subjective excitement for each show, and do not necessarily reflect how each will pan out. For more information, check out the Overall Impressions section at the bottom, which includes an expanded explanation of each category and a list of all shows by excitement level.
Disclaimer: Back in ye olde year of 2012—which is practically ancient history now—previews were done by a single writer, Divine. Since none of the current writers are bonkers enough to take time off of work and/or school to solo this thing, we’ve divided everything up among our staff (Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Takaii, Zaiden, and Zephyr) in order to maintain the quality of this preview. We will try to point out what appeals to us in each series, in the hope that it will help you determine if it coincides with your tastes.
Disclaimer #2: Please note that this list does not reflect all the series airing this coming season. It is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, but omissions have been made for shows that stray from the anime norm or seem to be oriented toward young children. Please check out MOON PHASE for complete listings, syoboi for specific air times, and Fansub DB for a list of potential sources for each series.
I’d also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire Random Curiosity crew for working together to finish this preview. This past season has been rocky for everyone, and we ran into several unexpected roadblocks while working on this post that were the cause of its horrific lateness (sorry!), but everyone banded together to get it done. I love you all, and you rock. Special thanks go to Xumbra for encoding the PVs; Zephyr for doing early prep work; Stilts (that’s me!) for editing, people wrangling, and formatting; Cherrie for doing the rest of the formatting, links, and etc; Passerby for proofreading and the shorts section; Takaii for gathering the images; and Zaiden and Pancakes for being swiss army minions who jumped on any extra tasks that were needed last minute. Also, thanks to everyone who wrote previews, which was most of us. For a more Enzo-centric point of view, give a gander to the LiA summer preview for a second opinion on many of these shows.
Finally, thank you to all of you, the readers and community of Random Curiosity. Thank you for sticking with us when the site went down, thanks for having patience while we were working on this preview, and thank to everyone who keeps coming back, even amid the doldrums of the mid-season views/comments slump. We really appreciate everyone who stops by to read, no matter how infrequently, but those who drop by during a sleepy week of episode sevens surely do boost our spirits something extra. We wouldn’t keep doing this if it wasn’t fun, and it’s fun because of you, so thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, on to the anime!
Technical Note: The chart below is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
Preview by Takaii
Based off one of the longest running manga out there, Baki returns to the small screen via Netflix with a new 26-episode adaptation revolving around the “Most Evil Death Row Convicts” arc from the manga. An arc that, as the name implies, involves some of the deadliest people on the planet who have reached the point of being so powerful they’re trying to die. Which is why when it’s revealed that the star of the show, Hanma Baki (Shimazaki Nobunaga), is training to be stronger than the Strongest Man in the World (his dad), these deadly convicts take this opportunity to travel to Tokyo to challenge Baki in hopes that he’ll be able to completely and utterly destroy them. And when you have the world’s deadliest convicts coming for you, you’ll need a group of friends to watch your back, which luckily Baki has from his travels in the underground fighting scene. Together Baki and his friends will band together to take on these foes with their lives on the line.
I have mixed feelings about Baki. On one hand it has a really unique aesthetic that gives off JoJo vibes but, once you get past the cool factor of insanely skilled buff dudes fighting each other, is there enough substance to keep things interesting? That said, I think action fans and people looking for a fun time of watching insanely strong fighters beat the living crap out of each other will be in for a surprise. For Baki, I think its success will revolve around just how well its showrunners are able to adapt its premise from manga to anime. Luckily, with 26 episodes to work with and a plethora of source material to supplement everything that’s going on, it feels like this series has a lot of good things going for it. Even if the art style isn’t your thing (I wasn’t loving it at first either), Baki might be something to keep on your radar for some unexpected fun.
Watching This: Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zephyr
From studio feel. comes an adaptation of the Front Wing visual novel Island. Set on an island called Urashima, the story revolves around a series of misfortunes which have led the island to cut off all contact with the mainland. As Urashima falls into decline due to an unwillingness to abandon tradition and a suspicion of the mainland as the origin of a mysterious disease, a lone man washes ashore. Claiming to be from the future, Setsuna’s (Suzuki Tatsuhisa) arrival creates a stir as the island’s inhabitants recall a local legend telling of a tragic love between a boy named Setsuna and a girl named Rinne. With his arrival, individuals with both names are now on the island, making others wonder about the legend’s significance and the role the daughters of the Urashima’s three great families will play in saving the island. Kawaguchi Keiichiro (Hayate no Gotoku!, Minami-ke Tadaima) will direct the series and Arakawa Naruhisa (Outbreak Company, Sousei no Onmyouji) will handle series composition.
Following in the footsteps of the award winning Grisaia franchise, Island is the most recent Front Wing work to receive an adaptation, as well as an official English release of its source material. While I haven’t had the chance to read the visual novel yet, the general reception seems to be good and the fact that they’re taking a chance by releasing it in English without using Kickstarter hints at a novel they feel will succeed on its own merits. A well-received source doesn’t always translate into a good adaptation, however, and I worry whether Island will suffer from the same issues the Grisaia adaptations had early on, given that Island is similarly lengthy (30-50 hours to complete). I’m optimistic given the staff’s experience and the source’s reception, but with the visual novel’s English release coinciding with the anime, there is an alternative to consider if you want the full experience as originally intended.
Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High
Preview by Takaii
Badminton fans, rejoice! Hanebado! is a new sports show devoted to demonstrating just how amazing a sport badminton really is. The setup is simple. Enthusiastic high school badminton coach Tachibana Kentarou (Okamoto Nobuhiko) ends up in a sticky situation where his new team dwindles to just a few members. With his back against the wall and the future of his new team (and career) at stake, he has a chance encounter with a student named Hanesaki Ayano (Ohwada Hitomi). A girl who, though at first glance you would never guess, has the physical skill and aptitude of an Olympian. With the key to saving the badminton team in sight, Kentarou tries his best to convince Ayano to join, only to be constantly shot down. However, with a once in a lifetime athlete right in front of him Kentarou refuses to give up, and inadvertently gets the ball rolling when he tricks Ayano into accompanying him and the team to a training camp.
Hanebado! is definitely a tough series for me to pick apart since there are so many things that I both love and hate about it. When it comes to sports anime, I have fairly easy to satisfy requirements: fun and memorable characters, a story that integrates something more than just the journey to the finals, and a shtick or two that you can only do with whatever sport you’re focused on. In Hanebado’s case though, there’s this strange vibe about it that doesn’t pull me in like other shows have, the biggest of which has to be coach Tachibana’s extreme drive to get Ayano to join the team. Unlike other shows where a surprise star player appears to help the team kick things into gear, Hanebado is odd in that it disregards all of its other players in favor of making Ayano feel like this mythical creature that they must have to find success. Sure, as we make our way through the first few chapters of the source material the characters realize that people are people and not URs in a game, but even then it feels like there’s a certain human element missing. That said, I’m hoping the transition from manga to anime means the material can be tweaked to sell the stronger points of the story while downplaying all the negatives. If you’re looking for a badminton show that has a fun group of characters, you won’t go wrong taking a peek at Hanebado.
Watching This: Choya, Takaii, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Pancakes
After a devastating nuclear war left the world completely ruined, humanity came together and united through the efforts of the World Government. Sweeping away the ashes of the old, the World Government helped rebuild society, but in the process stripped away all semblance of freedom, regulating down to the smallest of actions and banning personal ownership of any and all weapons. Such tyrannical rule, however, is not without its critics, with a small resistance group called the Kijuushi emerging to fight back and recover humanity’s freedom. Arming themselves with antique guns left behind as art, these fighters inherit the “spirit” of their weapons during battle, becoming incarnations of the very guns they now valiantly wield. The Kijuushi don’t know if this power and their determination will be enough to prevail in their struggle, but they will do whatever it takes to see their mission through.
At face value Senjuushi is a funny one to look at. Based on the mobile game of the same name, this one is an eclectic mix of post-apocalypse shenanigans and Upotte-esque anthropomorphism which runs Enlightenment aesthetics and an all-male cast against a backdrop of authoritarian dystopia. Or in other words, SukaSuka without the fantasy-romance. Especially the romance. Given Senjuushi’s mobile game origins and the quality of similar adaptations, it’s a total crapshoot what manner of story we wind up with, but with a unique military flair and a largely dark plot, the show easily has all the pieces needed to truly surprise. It’d be best to hedge bets as to any dark horse proclamations, but if Senjuushi can stick to seriousness and minimize the structural flaws plaguing similar series like Norn9, it stands a good chance at being one of this season’s more unique fantasy offerings.
Watching This: Pancakes Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Stilts
Back Street Girls is the story of three young yakuza who screw up big, causing their boss to lose millions. Normally said yakuza would have their fingers chopped off, but he decides to have mercy on them since that wouldn’t bring back his money anyway. Instead he gives them a choice: become idols or die. With the decision quickly made, the three men are sent to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery and are promoted as an idol group. Back Street Girls follows the men girls of Gokudolls Nijigumi as they navigate their (unexpectedly successful) careers while trying to hide their true identities from their fans, as well as battle the frustration they feel at having to live two lives they never wanted, both on and off stage.
This is another of those shows that make you say, “Only in anime!” The idea is absurd, but it’s the presentation that will determine whether you want to watch this. First, check out the promo videos. The animation is atypical, and has more in common with a grimy yakuza comic than a slick anime, idol-based or otherwise. The switching between male and female seiyuu for the main characters leads to some fun, though the entire premise has this aura of such depressing frustration and dread that—well, your mileage may vary. It’s a comedy, after all, so what tickles your tongue is unique to you. The main characters are hapless and depressed, but easily riled up and quickly led astray. It’s a heady mixture, and I can’t think of anything else quite like it. Other stories where characters are unwillingly genderbent usually plumb the premise for drama, for the idea is anxiety-inducing to many. Back Street Girls goes in for dark humor instead, so whether you’re on board for that sort of ride is up to you.
Watching This: Choya, Passerby Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
You might have heard about Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, the story of an unlucky man who found himself gambling in life-and-death games aboard an illegal cruise ship. Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa is an off-shoot of Kaiji’s dark adventures, focusing on Tonegawa Yukio (Morikawa Toshiyuki), a middle manager who works at the evil whims of business magnate Kazutaka Hyoudou (Tsukayama Masane). In this precursor to the events of Kaiji, Hyoudou is an extremely wealthy individual who enjoys preying on desperate debt-ridden individuals, and orders Tonegawa to set up secret death games involving these unfortunate victims. Despite the morally objectionable nature of such a task, Tonegawa must now collaborate with his subordinates to create these death games, in order to keep the president in a good mood. Otherwise, considering the volatile and sadistic temperament of Hyoudou, the kind of retribution they might receive would be nigh unimaginable.
Madhouse takes charge and have reunited with veteran director Sato Yuzu to continue their work on the Kaiji franchise. However, we should pay particular attention to the original mangaka. I’d highly encourage those who are put off by the art style to give this a chance, because any work by FKMT has substantial depth in its relentless cynicism, which typically levies scathing commentary on the state of society. Fukumoto Nobuyuki (affectionately known as FKMT) takes a back seat as a creative influence this time around, leaving most of the story to his successor, Hagiwara Tensei. Consequently there will be a difference in tone compared with other FKMT works, although the dark humour remains ever-present, alongside the distinctive art style. If it continues along similar lines to FKMT’s previous works, this series won’t be for the faint of heart, as it will strive to showcase the worst in humanity. People get horrifically betrayed to their dooms, greed rules beyond ordinary comprehension, and some individuals take warped delight in seeing people cry and beg for their lives. Pretty disturbing to say the least. But if this is something you can stomach, Tonegawa’s adventures may prove a morbidly engrossing account that keeps you at the edge of your seat.
Watching This: Zaiden Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
The pectorals of young men glisten to the symphony of youth, gleaming with a wet masculine charm, just as they’re about to dive into the swimming pool. That’s right, our boys in speedos are back, and who isn’t excited for Free’s triumphant return? Dive to the Future looks to continue the story of Iwatobi Swim Club’s members: Nanase Haruka (Shimazaki Nobunaga), Tachibana Makoto (Tatsuhisa Suzuki), Hazuki Nagasaki (Yonaga Tsubasa), and Ryuugazaki Rei (Hirakawa Daisuke). Of course, things are never complete without Matsuoka Rin (Miyano Mamoru), Haruka’s eternal friend and rival where swimming is concerned. Join the group on their journey of self-discovery and friendship through the wonderful world of competitive swimming!
There is very little to be gleaned from the visuals and trailers for this sequel, with KyoAni guarding against any leaks that could be considered spoilers. However, it seems apparent that many new characters will be introduced, which suggests a far greater focus on the competitive aspect than ever. As a guy who watched Free! for the competitive swimming, and who felt really invested in the narrative of Haruka vs Rin from the first season, this is exactly what I want from the series. Also, there is absolutely no doubting that KyoAni will put up a visual stunner for everybody to enjoy, even if the content is not to your taste. If you’re new to this series and it caught your interest, I highly recommend marathoning the first two seasons, as well as the movies. But it will be important to note that Utsumi Hiroko left KyoAni after directing both seasons of Free!, which means that the third season will be helmed by another. She’ll be replaced by Kawanami Eisaku, a veteran who directed the Free! movies Take Your Marks, Timeless Medley, and Starting Days. Whether he can live up to his directorial predecessor is one thing, but I’m sure Free!’s loyal fanbase will love this third season no matter what. All that’s left is to wait and see the exact kind of future we’ll be diving into!
Watching This: Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High
Preview by Choya
A beautiful girl from Italy named Euphrosyne (Hayami Saori) had been zombified and kept in the basement of a university building for one hundred years. One day during summer vacation, six undergraduate college students accidentally disturb her slumber and steal the “Secret Stone” which maintains her body’s integrity. After they run away, a maid named Alma (Ogura Yui) confronts Euphrosyne to tell her to kill the six students to regain the stone. But as she starts to kill the students, she encounters unexpected counterattacks from them.
Much like Euphrosyne, this series had quite the slumber itself. It was the year 2012, when Kadokawa originally announced the anime adaptation in June and streamed a promotional video a month later. Since then, no new information about the series came out until April 2018, when this anime adaptation was announced for the summer season. Studios Stingray and Gonzo share double-duty as they produce the newly re-announced anime. The story sounds unique as Euphrosyne goes on a violent, dark, and comical—yes, comical—manhunt against college students that rustle through her belongings and wake her up. The set-up is akin to many slasher films, yet the focus on Euphrosyne gives us the chance to see it unfold from her perspective as she must kill her way toward the path to her own survival.
Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Limited
Preview by Stilts
Sunohara-sou no Kanrinin-san is the story of a boy who looks like a girl, and a slightly perverted woman with huge boobs. Shiina Aki (Kitamura Eri) is the boy; back home he was constantly treated like a girl due to his feminine looks, so he decided to move to Tokyo for middle school to change himself. Sunohara Ayaka (Satou Rina) is the woman; she’s the kindhearted caretaker of the dorm. Add in the three female members of Aki’s school’s student council who are also living there, and Ayaka’s busty little sister, and the liquor store owner, and Aki’s older sister, and others, and it looks like Aki is going to have a lively time in his new Tokyo life with the girls of Sunohara-sou.
This is a fun little manga, all the chapters I read were charming, goofy, and made me smile, but the killer selling point is the anime’s staff. I don’t usually focus too much on the studio in charge of production, because it doesn’t matter as much as you think, but combine Silver Link’s house animation style with a bevy of talented, experienced, and just damn damn good staff members with a history working at Silver Link (that helps), and that’s a recipe for success. Oonuma Shin is the chief director. Shimo Fumihiko is on series composition, and just stop and look at his resume right there! I needn’t go on, and I shan’t, save to say that everyone has worked on comedies, romantic comedies, and/or Silver Link productions I highly enjoyed, and for many of them Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is among that list, which means they’ve worked together as well. Add on a solid source material, luscious animation, and a great seiyuu cast, and I see all sorts of reasons to get hyped up. But of course, this is still a creature of its genre, and I don’t expect it to subvert our expectations and become the next trope-shattering apple of critics’ eyes. I do expect it to execute on the source material faithfully, though. I’m looking forward to this one, and I hope you’ll join me when it premieres as well.
Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Stilts
In the MMORPG Cross Reverie, Sakamoto Takuma (Mizunaka Masaaki) was known as the Demon King due to his overwhelming power, equipment, and skill. Offline he was less impressive, as a NEET with crippling social anxieties and a deep hatred for riajuu (normies), but that’s neither here nor there. In game he was unparalleled—until one day he was summoned to another world with the exact appearance of the game. There, he meets elf Shera L Greenwood (Serizawa Yuu) and pantherian Rem Galleu (Waki Azumi), who both claim to be his real summoner. Takuma is targeted by enslavement magic—but it backfires! His Magic Reflection ring activates, and the two girls are turned into his slaves instead. Now Takuma, in the guise of Diablo, is in a world where he possesses unparalleled power, but he doesn’t have any social skills to speak of. In a panic for how to talk to a real girl, he falls back on the only thing he knows how to do: act the like the Demon King he roleplayed in the game! this is the story of the Demon King (acting) that would soon inspire the world, and his adventures as he takes the alternate world by storm with his absolute strength!
Here’s your isekai light novel adaptation of the season. That might sound dismissive, and it’s true that if you’re skeptical of isekai stories you’re probably not going to be won over by this one, because the parts of the source material I read were rife with the usual tropes. The key to a good isekai story, though, is to lean into the wish fulfillment while making the main character not feel like an insufferable Gary Stu, even if they have the power of one. It’s not easy, but series like Death March show it’s possible by focusing on different elements. Here it’s the Demon King roleplay, where Takuma/Diablo becomes trapped in his persona because he doesn’t know how to operate without it, and the whole setup would be totally depressing if he wasn’t also really powerful while being constitutionally unable to exploit people with his power most of the time. Also the promos show off a whole bunch of ecchi, so it has that going for it. My feeling is that this won’t rock the world, but the animation is nice, the story is undemanding, and series composer Fudeyasu Kazuyuki has one helluva resume. Maybe it won’t light the world on fire, but it could be a fun little story. If you’re predisposed to isekai stories, nothing I’ve seen so far should dissuade you from giving this a watch.
Watching This: Pancakes, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
The Heroine (Kimura Haruka) is your average girl, who randomly receives an invitation to become the princess of a world powered by energy generated from the dreams of its inhabitants. One day, the dream world is attacked by a dream eater, sending many princes into a catatonic state. Haruka must now rescue their dreams in order to wake them up. Let’s accompany the heroine on her adventure to save the princes and prevent the dream world from being destroyed by the malevolent dream eater!
As of now there is no detail on the production team aside from the entirely novice studio GCREST in charge, so I’ll have to sell you the premise based off its source material. Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100-nin no Ouji-sama is a smartphone puzzle role-playing game that has the manservice dialed up way past 11 as a way of enticing its female demographic. Seeing how it ranked as Japan’s 15th favourite game in the Otamart poll at the end of 2017, I would say it did a pretty good job of meeting that goal. To give you an idea of what it features, demon princes are chained up in shirtless glory, while having a tendency to blush if you take the time to appreciate their exquisite physique. Might I also add that there’s a shota witch, and even a splendid tsundere snow prince? Sounds too good to be true. Fujoshis from all over the world must be delighted with this summer entry, and whether your best boy made it or not should be somewhat alleviated by the good selection you’ll still have to choose from. As they say, different strokes for different folks.
Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Limited
Preview by Passerby
1985, New York City. A series of puzzling suicides are baffling the NYPD. But down in the Bronx it is not the law that holds sway, but crime, and mafioso Papa Dino Golzine (Ishizuka Unshou) rules. He is intent on killing off any investigation into these suicides for good, literally, being quite comfortable with murdering whomever pokes their nose into this suspicious business. This heavy-handedness piques the curiosity of Papa Dino’s 17-year-old adopted son and charismatic gang leader Ash (Uchida Yuuma), especially when he is given a vial of a mysterious substance and an address in the dying breaths of one of the syndicate’s latest victims. Pieces start to fall into place when Ash comes across Okumura Eiji (Nojima Kenji), a Japanese photojournalist assisting on a piece on New York’s street gangs. Perhaps the suicides are related to a story from the Vietnam war. Towards the end of the war, one American soldier had gone mad, gunned down his buddies, and then fallen comatose. In brief moments of consciousness he can be heard muttering one thing to himself, over and over: ‘banana fish’.
Banana Fish is based on a manga of the same name by Yoshida Akimi, and boy is it old. 33 years old. That means that it’s from a time when a manga can be considered ‘shoujo’ just because there are gay men in it. Perhaps things aren’t much different now and a target demographic is a target demographic, but don’t be so quick to pigeonhole Banana Fish. At its core it’s a hard-boiled crime drama with a gritty, twisting plot that will keep you gripped. Sure, the cast is basically all male and Free! director Utsumi Hiroko is heading the project, but overall it should be a show with wide appeal. It could well carry itself by quality alone; in addition to the director, we have the accomplished Seko Hiroshi on series composition, and animation studio MAPPA has been doing lots of excellent work. If all else fails, it’s a mature story set in 80s New York City, which is rare enough to stand out. All in all, with all the good things that have been lined up, this is a perfect season for Banana Fish.
Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High
Preview by Pancakes
In the modern world there existed a widely popular MMORPG called Union, and in it a famous party named Subaru. Composed of a bunch of elementary school friends, Subaru did what no one else could, pushing boundaries and exceeding game limits by taking advantage of Union’s unique “Sense” system. At least, until catastrophe struck. After Subaru member Kuga Asahi (Omori Nichika) died while inside the game, Union was shut down and the remaining Subaru members drifted apart. For Subaru’s vanguard Amou Haruto (Takanashi Tengo), this proved devastating, and he spiraled into a six year state of depression which only ends when a classmate convinces him to try Reunion, Union’s rebooted sequel. Reunion, though, winds up being more than simple rehabilitation when Haruto stumbles across Asahi in the game world. Shocked, confused, and more than a little dubious, Haruto doesn’t know whether to believe his eyes, but with Asahi before him once again, he’s determined to find out what’s really going on.
You like alternate worlds? You like mystery? Want more than simple save the world? Well boys and girls, Shichisei no Subaru has you covered. Compared to the recent wave of similar series, SnS takes its thematic cues from .hack and AnoHana, effectively offering up an alternate world murder mystery complete with personal struggles, dealing with regrets, and more than a little drama. It’s your tried and true character-driven story, meaning the game world and its mechanics will play second fiddle to the trials, tribulations, and love triangles of the Subaru cast. SnS’s writing will naturally determine how well it works in practice, but with the talented Yoshioka Takao handling the series composition and Lerche having a good deal of fantasy adaptation experience, a train wreck is probably not on the cards. It may be too soon to bet on it rising to the level of Re:Zero and company, but if there’s one alternate world story to pay attention to this season, this is it.
Watching This: Pancakes, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Choya
Based on the episodic psycho horror adventure game also known as “Angels of Death”, the premise focuses on Rachel Gardener (Chisuga Haruka), a young girl who wakes up in the basement of an abandoned building. Without any memories of what happened to her or where she is, she wanders the building, dazed and lost. That is, until she encounters a sickle-wielding murderer covered in bandages named Zack (Okamoto Nobuhiko). Although they are initially adversaries and they only form a bond based on a strange promise they made with each other, Rachel eventually finds herself learning more about her own identity as the two unravel the secrets behind their imprisonment.
There’s something special about a property that can go from being a freeware game made on RPG Maker to becoming a full-on franchise that is highly inspiring. It’s easy to get a soft spot for indie horror games like this series, where you can create genuinely creepy imagery in a game made by a handful of people with easy assets and talented writing, so it must be exciting to have been involved with the original and see it blossom into an anime series with a high-profile studio and seiyuu lending their talents to the work. It’ll also be fun to see how the anime adapts the story, as the game thrives on the unnerving feeling of diving deeper into the building to witness one terrifying, trippy scenario after another with every new secret revealed. The trailer has an edgy atmosphere to it, but its indie horror cred gives it an eccentric, quirky vibe that is bound to bring a far more amusing and freaky experience to this anime.
Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Takaii
In a world where there’s an anime for just about every sport, in comes Harukana Receive, a new beach volleyball anime that’s going to tackle the intricacies of playing a high-intensity sport on sand with only a third of the players you typically have in a regular volleyball match. For those out of the loop, beach volleyball has a vastly different playstyle compared to indoors volleyball. With a total of four people on the court (two per team), the matches have a different feeling as the players not only compete against each other but the elements themselves. From constantly changing wind speeds to the sand shifting under their feet, it’s almost like you’re watching an entirely different sport.
In Harukana Receive’s case, the story revolves around Oozora Haruka (Yuuki Kana), a second year high school student who has just moved to Okinawa, and her cousin Higa Kanata (Miyashita Saki), who is also a second year student. The two end up becoming partners and play beach volleyball together after Haruka unintentionally takes on a challenge from the current high school national champions. All of which might sound like a pretty standard setup for a sports show, but let me dive into a few points that might help turn your mind around. Just like every other successful sports anime, Harukana Receive understands that it takes more than great “action” moments to grasp a viewer, and there’s a lot of supplemental material to help you learn to love and/or hate characters. One big selling point is the focus on not being the right size for what you want to do. Be it the struggles of being tall and unable to find clothes and shoes, or being shorter and constantly worrying that you’re bringing your partner down due to your physical limitations, the human element thrown into the mix is definitely one we see quite a lot of. The other huge factor (at least for me) is how a show looks and based off of the PVs, and it looks beautiful. From the thickness of the lines to the choice of how eyes are stylized, all the way down to the sound effects whenever a volleyball is smacked—this show will, if nothing else, be fun to watch. All-in-all, this is shaping up to be a great looking sports show that has a lot more than just eye-candy going for it.
Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Takaii
Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro is a wild show that revolves around our titular character Miyamo Chio (Oozora Naomi), who without a doubt will end up in some kind of wild situation on her way to school. With each day starting out pretty rough, since she tends to stay up way too late playing computer games, it’s not atypical to find Chio trying to parkour her way around town à la Assassin’s Creed or roughing up a tough biker dude in order to show him how to get back on the straight and narrow. That said, Chio has one major weakness and it’s her need to not draw the attention of others. So when it comes to things that you and I take for granted, like interacting with another human being, Chio ends up doing the wildest things to try (usually in vain) to stay hidden.
In a nutshell, Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro is kind of like the realization of the fantasy anyone who’s ever commuted to school has had. A fantasy where you wish your everyday mundane walk or ride to school could turn into something so much more than just simply … going to school. Instead of just letting societal norms, life, or even reality boss you around, you look any of the three straight in the eyes and tell them that you’re about to do your own thing since you refuse to be late. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how the source material did it, but there’s so much charm oozing from this one that I can’t wait to see it come to life. No matter who’s watching, you’ll be able to see some part of yourself in Chio since she’s such a well fleshed out character. Be it regretting staying up late playing games, being unable to mingle with others because of your social anxiety, or wondering whether or not you’d be able to punk out a rough looking guy because you’ve committed to your act, there’s something for just about anyone here who’s looking for a fun time out of a show that’s managed to take something we’ve all done before and enhanced it through the power of the medium its being adapted to. If you’ve been looking for a comedy that’s a little different from your typical fare, Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro is definitely for you!
Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Takaii, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Stilts
Ongaku Shoujo follows the titular 11-member idol unit organized under Pine Records. Despite abysmal sales numbers, producer Ikebashi and the girls are trying their best to up their game. They decide what Ongaku Shoujo needs is a new member who can be a catalyst for success, so they start holding auditions. That’s when the soon-to-be legendary group meets a girl named Yamadaki Hanako (Fukagawa Seria).
Ongaku Shoujo (TV) was spawned from the short film of the same name, originally produced by Studio Deen for Anime Mirai 2015. The original followed two of the twelve girls from this iteration, though the story is completely different and the character designs have changed so much I can’t tell which is whom, so I don’t think seeing the original is necessary. Or even helpful—it may be more confusing than anything, if those two are only the same in name and seiyuu. That leaves this as a mostly-original series, which means we don’t know much. It’s an idol story, certainly, in the striving-for-greatness sports anime mold, which has always been my favorite type even if we’ve been getting a glut. The staff isn’t chock full of experience, though they are promising, which can be said for several of the seiyuu as well. Animation looks fine, with no hint of CGI so far, though maybe they just left that out of the trailers. The issue with this show is that while it looks perfectly serviceable, it’s not doing a lot to suggest itself either. If you like idols or JPop, then certainly give it a shot, but I can’t say much for everyone else. We’ll have to see if it surprises once it begins airing.
Watching This: No one yet Excitement Level: Limited
Preview by Zaiden
What exactly goes on inside your body? Trillions of cells carry out their jobs to keep us alive, but Hataraku Saibou puts a spin on this concept as the human body is treated like a microcosm of human society. And since we’re talking about the human body, these cells never get a moment of rest. Supplying oxygen to your body parts? Red Blood Cell-chan (Hanazawa Kana) can handle that. Policing out germs and viruses? Let White Blood Cell-kun (Maeno Tomoaki) put them in their place. And little Platelet-chan (Naganawa Maria) makes sure that your body is fixed up shortly after incurring an injury. Between keeping clear of antigens and delivering proper materials to various parts of the body, there is an oddly relatable story in the daily lives of these cells, filled with character and personality that are reflective of the roles they play.
Hataraku Saibou is a manga by Shimizu Akane about all the wonders of the human body, told through an anthropomorphized perspective, with cells characterised as being humans themselves. (Editor’s note: something something Osmosis Jones.) Suzuki Kenichi has been tasked with directing this adaptation, and upon closer inspection, Drifters and Stardust Crusaders both stand out as impressive on his portfolio. So there will definitely be a wildcard type of expectation, provided that action between white blood cells and foreign pathogens take the spotlight, which isn’t too far-fetched when the immune system serves as the focus for the series. That said, I have mixed feelings about the how the series composition might turn out. Kakihara Yuuko presents a worrying flip of the coin, since her scripts can either make a whole lot of sense (Chihayafuru S2, Gakuen Babysitters, Tsuki ga Kirei) or make absolutely no sense even with a great source material (Orange, Unbreakable Machine Doll), with practically nothing in between. Will this be a hit or miss? That’s hard to predict right now, but going by recent track records, this should turn out fine. Even if you dislike biology as an academic subject, keep an open mind and you may be pleasantly surprised by Hataraku Saibou.
Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Zaiden Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Pancakes
Suou Yuuto (Sakai Koudai) is just an ordinary boy in an ordinary world. He lives life to the fullest, has plenty of friends, and retains a healthy taste for all manner of urban legend. It’s the latter which winds up wreaking havoc on his life when Yuuto joins his childhood friend Shimoya Mizuki (Uchida Aya) in testing out a local myth. After taking a selfie in front of his community’s divine shrine mirror, Yuuto finds himself whisked off to a Norse-influenced world in the midst of war, with only a solar-powered smartphone for help. This phone, however, gives Yuuto all he needs to find a place for himself in the local Wolf Clan, rapidly rising through its ranks to become its king and suzerain. Now protector of the clan and overlord to several powerful Einherjar, it falls to Yuuto to not only rescue his adopted people, but help save their world from fated destruction.
If there’s one constant for anime these days, it’s that every season will feature an alternate world story adaptation or three, and Hyakuren no Haou continues that time honoured tradition. This one sticks close to the well-trodden formula: we’ve got the overpowered main character, the deus ex machina device, and the ever essential harem of pretty girls to round everything off. It’s your quintessential wish fulfillment story, but HnH does have some things that help set it apart. Unlike Isekai wa Smartphone, problems in HnH are largely solved through Yuuto’s own ingenuity rather than any smartphone shenanigans, and Norse mythos in place of the usual fantasy story and setting gives a good foundation for interesting plot and characters. The main concern is that, with Kobayashi Kousuke being a novice director and Takahashi Natsuko of Isekai wa Smartphone fame handling series composition, we may not be too likely to see much thematic imagination. HnH certainly has the pieces needed to be an entertaining ride, but until we can see it in action, expecting the usual alternate world hijinks is a pretty good idea.
Watching This: Pancakes, Zephyr Excitement Level: Limited
Preview by Choya
This surreal gag comedy centers around three friends as they play games with each other. Kasumi (Kohara Konomi) is studious at everything but English and a natural at games, but has built up a hatred for them after years of losing to her older sister and being made to do chores with every loss. Olivia (Nagae Rika) is an American girl who was raised in Japan, but pretends to be bad at Japanese. The pig-tailed Hanako (Kino Hina) has a bright personality and enjoys observing games, but has a hard time becoming the normal person she aspires to be and consistently loses against the other two girls. Together, they take on traditional hand games, board games, card games, and anything in-between.
What makes this series stand out as a promising comedy is how looks can be deceiving. The artwork and premise seem like they could fall under a cozy slice-of-life, up until you dive into it and find out how eccentric, hilarious, and clever the chapters get. They weren’t lying when they said it was, above all else, a surreal gag comedy that just happens to be about cute girls bonding. One of the aspects of the show that’s intriguing is the character of Olivia, considering how many anime with Americans or Westerners have them either as side characters or as people in the background as opposed to being in the front seat. It will be cool to see how deep they get into the games they play and if it will be the type of series to indulge and geek out over how fun they can be.
Watching This: Choya, Passerby Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Stilts
Kuroi Souya (Abe Atsushi) lives a peaceful life despite having no memories of his past. But one day, the world is attacked by huge unidentified floating objects that cause a panic (and look like giant cats with five arms, three ears, and a giant back-nose). Soldiers are sent to stop them, but they desert and head home to their families. Then seven heroes arrive to fight the unknown threat, by first flying through the sky in a flash of light and then enveloping themselves in giant robot frames. Souya is dragged into the fight by the cat-like Sensei (Koyama Rikiya) and gothic lolita Ginko (Izawa Shiori). Is this the time for Souya to join the heroes and fight for humanity? No. Apparently he has to fight off the heroes instead.
Coming to us from Mizukami Satoshi (Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer), Planet With is a story only manga and anime could tell. Not because other mediums couldn’t do it, but because they wouldn’t even think to try. The first two chapters of the manga, released in advance of the anime, are bizarre. They weren’t the weirdest thing I’ve read in a manga—that’s a hard prize to win—but Planet With is scratching that itch. The whole thing is a big ol’ “Wait, WTF!?”, which should make for a fun first few episodes even if I have no idea what it will settle down into after that. What I can say is that this was an original I wasn’t all that interested in prior to previewing it, but now I’m intrigued, dammit. Because I want to know why Souya is fighting the heroes—even he doesn’t fully remember—but also because this is a story I can’t get anywhere else. Anime is good when it’s serious, funny, flirty, or mysterious, but it may be the best when it’s flat out weird. That’s the flavor you can only get here. The main character getting swallowed up for a cabbage-eating cat in order to manifest the mecha to fight off the heroes? You have my attention!
Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Passerby, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Choya
Set in an alternate history where aliens conquer late-Edo period Japan and outlaw carrying swords, Gintama is centered around three characters: Sakata Gintoki (Sugita Tomokazu), an eccentric samurai equipped with a sharp blade and an incurable sweet tooth; Shimura Shinpachi (Sakaguchi Daisuke), a teenager who aims to help out his older sister Tae and keep Gintoki focused on important matters at hand as his apprentice; and Kagura (Kugimiya Rie), a skilled girl with a violent past who finds normalcy in sharing Gintoki’s bad habits, eating pickled seaweed, and taking care of her massive dog Sadaharu. Together, they set up shop in Gintoki’s apartment room as Yorozuya, an odd-jobs company that would do just about any freelance work to cover their monthly rent. Along the way, they form a rivalry with the local police force, meet old comrades from a bygone era, and face off against the dreaded PTA. Will unforgettable bonds be forged through blood, sweat, tears, and laughter? Is it really the final season!? Because I have some ideas to keep the show on-air. We have them fight vampires that consume souls, visit the Land of Tea, or get trapped on an island for an entire arc. I can mail out the scripts I’ve written if you’d like! If that doesn’t sound appealing, take year-long hiatuses every two episodes to play Id*lm@ster or Dr*gon Quest. Please Pierrot, it’s all I have left!
After a brief hiatus, Gintama is back in gear to wrap up its final season. In the process of writing out the synopsis of the anime, it became increasingly difficult to cope with the idea of bidding farewell to Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura. It’s been a highly enjoyable shounen series to follow with how much fun it has with its humor and parodies of pop culture, and how well-done its action sequences and drama have been. Gintama truly is one-of-a-kind because of how it manages to be hilarious with its comedic chapters yet engaging and dramatic with its serious segments. As the story ends, it will be interesting to see what culminates in this last season’s efforts to unite the cast against a common foe, bringing an end to the conflict that stands in the way of their peace. Will their send-off be a tongue-in-cheek wave goodbye or a bittersweet reminder to be less sad that the series is over and happier that the series happened? Hopefully, Gintama’s curtain call will be something special and will give the wonderful cast that’s grown over the years a worthy farewell.
Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Established
Preview by Pancakes
From the manga of the same name, Jashin-chan Dropkick tells the epic tale of a little demon girl named Jashin (Suzuki Aina) and her struggle to return home. Abruptly summoned to the human world one day, Jashin finds herself in a dilapidated apartment owned by gothic lolita Hanazono Yurine (Omori Nichika), a university student with the taste for the arcane and a serious love of horror. While Yurine summoned Jashin, she had no idea how to send the half-snake demon back, and with Jashin as equally confused over her summoning, both girls wind up forced to live with one another. At least until Jashin comes up with the bright idea to kill Yurine in the hopes that’ll send her back home. Now locked in a constant fight against death, Yurine must find a way to ship Jashin back to where she came before her cute summoning experiment ends up blowing her to hell.
Oh boy do we have a fun one here. If it wasn’t immediately obvious, Jashin-chan Dropkick is pure slapstick comedy, effectively mashing together the likes of Binbougami ga!, Gabriel Dropout, and the monster girl series of the season into one seriously outrageous and gut busting package. Emotional damage, physical abuse, and a whole host of hilarious situations are on feature here, and that’s before getting into Yurine’s terminal case of goth-infused chuunibyou. How well it works will of course come down to personal preference and one’s taste in humour, but with over nine volumes of material to adapt and some equally ridiculous side characters to feature (Medusa, you timid cutie pie, I’m looking at you), Jashin-chan Dropkick will not be lacking for raucous entertainment. It may not be setting any new comedy records, but if you’re in need of a good laugh this summer, Jashin-chan Dropkick more than has you covered.
Watching This: Choya, Pancakes, Stilts, Zaiden Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Choya
Ai (Matsui Eriko) is an ordinary girl and a dancer whose friend, Machi (Shibasaki Noriko), is superior in her knowledge and dancing abilities. Despite finding Machi’s talent to be disheartening, Aya discovers her secret: the existence of the Aguu, palm-size entities who grant those who hold them talent far beyond those of anyone else. Machi is trapped in her role as a “Seamstress” who makes Aguu, but Ai pushes to rescue Machi by becoming a “Savior”. Because Saviors have been fighting Seamstresses for generations, Ai now finds herself needing to face Machi to free her from the Aguu.
Aguu: Tensai Ningyouhas potential to be a neat supernatural anime. A concept where talents can be given to someone by possessing supernatural entities offers up numerous possibilities on what shapes the people who have them and how they use the talents. The characters’ abilities are put to the test, and their strengths must go beyond what the Aguu can grant them to become either Seamstresses or Saviors. Other factors play into the anime’s intrigue as well, such as the story’s origins as a manhua, the versatility of Studio DEEN as of late, and the character design’s refined yet artistic flair. You might just want to grab onto the Aguu for keeping up with multiple anime by adding this one to your watch list.
Watching This: Choya, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
My favourite café in London would be the Rainforest Café next to the Trocadero, because it’s such a vibrant and fun place that brings back happy childhood memories. However, word on the street is that a new establishment has opened up for a very particular niche of customers. Café Forbidden is a mysterious café that only opens at night, where handsome men work to serve coffee, while upholding their duty as guardians of the boundary between humanity and the supernatural world. Bayrou Ton (Hanazawa Kana) is our lead heroine, and a girl who came to London as an international student. After a sequence of unpredictable events, she finds herself accidentally stumbling into Café Forbidden. Her subsequent encounter with the supernatural will be sure to alter the trajectory of her life, as she plunges into a world filled with magic and conspiracies.
If I gave Phantom in the Twilight a chance, it would be down to the fact it is set in my home city, and Kana-chan is voicing the protagonist. Kunihiro Mori has an uninspiring CV as director, but Maruto Fumiaki’s involvement in the series composition gives me cause for hope, given his track record as the writer of SaeKano and White Album 2. We have some aesthetically pleasing character design and the music is guaranteed to be a blast thanks to TOMISIRO, who is highly acclaimed for his role behind Macross Delta’s legendary music score. But since there’s so little that’s been revealed about the premise, it’s difficult to predict how well this might turn out, even with what seems like a highly capable staff on paper. If I had to guess judging by the few trailers, there will be a dose of reverse harem for all the fujoshis out there. So if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy, or simply wouldn’t bother you, then it could be worth checking out Phantom in the Twilight for its considerable dark horse potential.
Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Choya
In this light, antique mystery, high school girl Mashiro Aoi (Tomita Miyu) finds herself working part-time at the “Kura” antique shop nestled in Kyoto’s Teramachi Sanjou shopping district after running into Yagashira Kiyotaka (Ishikata Kaito), the grandson of the store’s owner. The polite yet hot-tempered Kiyotaka is known as the “Holmes of Teramachi” for his keen intellect in solving mysteries within the town, often due to his experience with antiques. With Kiyotaka’s talents as an apprentice appraiser and Aoi’s sharp eye, they solve odd cases together related to antiques and items brought to them by various clients.
True to any anime involving the word “Holmes”, we are taken into the realm of mystery in this anime. However, the tone is calming and light, allowing the show to take on an identity of its own as a charming, mellow, and lighthearted mystery anime. Much of the tone comes from just how cozy the artwork looks, with warm colors and bright lighting, as well as its traditional setting in the elegant, refined city of Kyoto. The chemistry between Kiyotaka and Aoi should also provide for some engaging material as they work together to solve mysteries and learn more about each other. There are other cast members that join along the way, but it will be the mysteries that these two work to solve that will make for a nice relaxing mystery anime.
Watching This: Guardian Enzo Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Pancakes
In the year 2138 after a crazy twelve year run, the leading MMORPG game Yggdrasil is finally set to shut down. Scheduled to turn off at midnight, everyone but the elder lich Momonga (Hino Satoshi), one of Yggdrasil’s strongest wizards and head of the powerful clan Ainz Ooal Gown, has called it quits, leaving him alone to ride the servers until they turn dark. Rather than being thrown out as expected, however, Momonga is shocked to discover he’s still conscious as his character, and more importantly, unable to log out. With all player functions unusable and only the loyal NPCs of Ainz Ooal Gown present with him, Momonga decides to find out what happened the only way he knows how: by taking over this newly transformed game world.
That’s right boys and girls, Papa Bones is back for more. After a successful second season largely spent fleshing out the world building of the first, Overlord surprised quite a few with its sly split cour announcement and reveal that some of the best arcs of the light novel series would see full adaptation. For a show unapologetically devoted to slow but steady development it’s the best possible outcome, particularly with another full cour to work with and the story poised to show (finally) Momonga’s conquering spirit in action. How far we actually get with this new season is an open question, but with all cast and crew returning significant shakeups shouldn’t be expected, and with Madhouse remaining at the helm you can bet any fights will get the royal treatment. While everyone will have an opinion or two on Overlord at this stage (Lizard arc says hi), if the series continues to remain faithful to the light novels and adapts the next set of arcs in the order expected, this season stands a very good chance of being the best material it has put forward yet.
Watching This: Pancakes, Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Passerby
The year was 1268. Kublai Khan was growing restless. He was the Khagan of the Mongols — the supreme emperor, the King of Kings. His enlightened reign had swept through northern China and pressed Korea into vassalage. But still the western hordes did not respect his rule, and still the Chinese Song dynasty put up their futile resistance. And now, some island nation to the east dared defy him, too. Twice the great Khan had sent emissaries to Japan, offering them his mercy in return for tribute. Twice he had been rebuffed. They test the limits of his magnanimity, but Kublai Khan was no fool. He knew that to conquer Japan he will need a sizeable navy, one his empire could not afford presently. But in six years, he will be prepared. In six years, the Mongols will bring theses islanders to heel. And Japan will also need to prepare, as exiled samurai Kuuchi Jinzaburou (Ono Yuuki) knows all too well as he comes face to face with the Mongol invasion. For the first time in history, the samurai will need to stop their political infighting and come together in their country’s defence. It is here that they can truly call themselves warriors of Japan.
For a medium so rooted in Japanese culture, there aren’t really all that many anime about Japanese history. Those that are seem mostly preoccupied with the Sengoku Jidai or the Bakumatsu. This is not to fault those shows, as those times make for some great stories, but when an anime goes out of its way to explore other periods we should pay attention. In particular, the Mongolian invasion of Japan is quite relevant for anime fans like us, for it forms the basis of much of the samurai mythology. Samurai basically just fought each other for political power and oppressed the occasional peasant, but the idea that they are the martial face of Japan finds its roots in their defence against the Mongols. And more: the katana came out of this war, as did the idea that Japan was sacred ground that could never be successfully invaded, as did the now familiar word ‘kamikaze’. Now, I don’t know how historically faithful Angolmois will be (perhaps not very, since the first war was basically just Japan getting thrashed until a freak typhoon swept the invasion away). I don’t even know how good Angolmois will be (series composer Yasukawa Shogo is experienced enough, but director Kuriyama Takayuki is completely fresh). But the PVs look good, the show is promising, and the setting alone makes Angolmois worth checking out this season.
Watching This: Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Choya
A reboot of a gag manga by Akatsuka Fujio, this anime will bring the misadventures of Bakabon (Irino Miyu), his father (Furuta Arata), and his family to a contemporary setting. The story follows a dim-witted boy named Bakabon, an elementary school student who enjoys causing mischief and working part-time to give his mother a birthday gift. His partner in crime is none other than his father, who eventually becomes a central character in the series as the mastermind of the harebrained solutions to otherwise simple tasks the two are involved with. Along with Bakabon’s child prodigy brother, his patient mother, and the devious people that live nearby, the family has their work cut out for them if they want to stick together without getting themselves hurt.
Much of the enthusiasm for the show comes from the resurgence of interest in Akatsuka’s work after two seasons of the highly successful reboot of Osomatsu-kun emerged. Now Pierrot is working their magic again with a modern take on Bakabon’s manga 18 years after its last adaptation aired. On top of a very talented seiyuu cast, the big question will be how the anime will depict the family, as Osomatsu-san went the extra mile by transforming six children identical in looks and behavior into 20-year-old slackers each with their own abhorrent personalities. While it’d be easy not to take as many liberties given how everyone seems to be the same age as before, it’ll be interesting to see if this adaptation shares the distinction of bringing a bawdier sense of humor to the series.
Watching This: Choya, Passerby, Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Passerby
Tokyo, 1930. Vampires! That’s basically the gist of Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger, the latest anime original offering from the studio P.A. Works. Apparently, vampires had always existed and had long steered the course of human history. But, there is push-back. An organisation styling itself as ‘Jeagers’ has been rooting out the vampires sequestered within human society. One such Jaeger is a young man named Yuliy (Uemura Yuuto), who happens to be a werewolf. Vampires destroyed his hometown, and now he kills them in the name of vengeance. He and the crew of Jaegers he joined have been chasing one clan all across the globe, finally cornering them in the far ends of the Orient. Here in Japan, the vampires seek a mystical artefact, the Ark of Sirius, with which they will be able to regain their rightful place as the rulers of the world. Whatever conspiracy the vampires are hatching means little to the Jaeger; their hunt continues apace. But even these skilled professionals need to be careful. When the prey are so deadly, it is all too easy for the hunter to become the hunted.
It’s always risky to make too many predictions about an original series. They are, by their very nature, untested, and where Hollywood likes putting the entire movie in a trailer, anime studios instead have a predilection for surprise. Which is great, and we should always encourage experimentation, but sometimes experimentation creates the cure for cancer and other times it sets the lab on fire. While P.A. Works is a studio that puts out a lot of good work, now and again they also manage to make Glasslip (which I will unfairly never let them live down). The most useful prognostication we can do, really, is based on who’s actually making this show; after all, almost any premise is viable so long as it’s matched with skillful execution. The most notable name on that front is director Ando Masahiro, who’s worked on quality anime like Akagami no Shirayukihime and Sword of the Stranger. And, hey, have a look at the PVs. Engrish aside, Sirius the Jaeger simply looks good. If there’s one thing anime does well, it’s stylish period pieces, and 1930s Tokyo, post-Modernisation but pre-War, is an ideal period for style. So at the very least we should have a snazzy action thriller on our hands, and if Sirius the Jaeger aims to be more, that’s just a bonus.
Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High
Preview by Stilts
Part of Bushiroad’s latest mixed media project, the Shoujo ☆ Kageki Revue Starlight franchise centers on Starlight, a song and dance revue troupe loved throughout the world. Aijou Karen (Koyama Momoyo) and Kagura Hikari (Mimori Suzuko) made a promise with each other when they were young that one day they would stand on that stage together. Now the girls are 16 years old, and Karen is enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to heart. Meanwhile Hikari has transferred schools and is now far away. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The two friends, along with other Stage Girls, will compete in a mysterious audition to gain acceptance into the revue.
When I first heard about this, I thought it was another idol thing. Then I watched the preview, which has dramatic music and a series of on-stage sword fights, and now I don’t know what to think. This is one of Bushiroad’s mixed media things, which is usually a red flag—and still is, but the really money grubbing-sounding 2.5D live action concerts have already happened, so maybe they’re trying to earn the next round of exploitation with some good storytelling. We can only hope. The trailer animation fluctuates between pretty close-up shots and more cartoony remote shots, while the seiyuu are primarily new faces. My big question is whether the story will be worth our time, and the over-serious trailer has really thrown me for a loop. If this will be super serious, I don’t know if I can hang, but those sword fights were stylish as heck. I’m conflicted. I may have to give the first episode a peek to see what this thing’s about.
Watching This: Passerby Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
It is 1991, the height of popularity for arcade gaming in Japan. High Score Girl goes back to to relive this nostalgic period through the perspective of 6th grader Yaguchi Haruo (Amasaki Kouhei). A social outcast at school who doesn’t care about his education or chores (much to his mother’s dismay), Haruo would rather spend time playing Street Fiighter II at the local arcade, earning him the epithet “Beastly Fingers Haruo”. But one day, he gets served a sequence of humiliating defeats. His classmate Oono Akira (Suzushiro Sayumi), a rich honour student who looks totally out of place in an arcade, demonstrates her skills as a top-class gamer. She goes about wrecking scrubs using her mastery of Zangeev, in what can only be described as complete and utter domination. Having lost to Akira seven times in a row, and keen to end her 29-win streak, Haruo resorts to cheap and dirty tactics using Guyl. Not only do these underhanded measures fail, they also provoke a well-deserved punch and a kick from the otherwise demure Akira. This incident serves as a rocky start to their dynamic relationship, as she brazenly follows him from arcade to arcade after school, while he marks her as a rival who must be defeated. As they continue to face off, they build a fierce reputation which precedes them wherever they go.
After surviving a lawsuit from SNK Playmore for infringing the copyright for King of Fighters, I’m truly glad to see High Score Girl bounce back and receive an anime adaptation. The magnum opus of mangaka Oshikiri Rensuke, we can look forward to a coming-of-age romantic drama/comedy that examines the unique relationship between its main characters. Outside of their passion for arcade games, as well as having violent tempers, Haruo and Akira are pretty much polar opposites. I can’t wait to see how their seiyuu bring their petty squabbles to life, while catching the nuance of their feelings for one another via subtle interactions. J.C. Staff has entrusted Yamakawa Yoshiki with directing, a stalwart of the industry who has a fantastic record on many beloved shows (B: The Beginning, DanMachi, Little Busters). I’m expecting the sound direction to be stellar with the inclusion of Aketagawa Jin, and the series composition is in the experienced hands of Urahata Tatsuhiko (Kyoukaisen, Monster, Tsurezure Children). With a fantastic premise and excellent staff, I’m highly optimistic for this adaptation of High Score Girl, as it looks to be nothing short of a guaranteed hit.
Watching This: Choya, Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Pancakes
Based on the collectible card game of the same name, Lord of Vermilion takes place in a near-future Tokyo rocked by the extraordinary. After a mysterious high frequency sound and red mist knocks several thousand unconscious in the suburbs, Tokyo is forcibly quarantined until those affected miraculously awaken six days later. A rapid return to normality, however, is nowhere in sight, as strange incidents begin plaguing the relieved city while numerous high schoolers start discovering powers long hidden within their blood. Called Hero’s Blood Weapons, the affected teens know little of this power besides its attraction to others possessing the same, and that its awakening is likely due to the “Great Resonance” that disrupted Tokyo so much. Now caught up in a situation growing stranger by the moment, these kids will soon find themselves involved in a struggle where their futures and lives are all on the line.
Card adaptations in anime typically go one of two ways: using the game mechanics as a plot device in of itself (Yu-Gi-Oh), or treating it as flavour in a thematically “different” story (WIXOSS). In this case Lord of Vermilion looks to be the latter, focusing heavily on its conventional fantasy plot of prophecies, fates, and gods with little involvement (if any) of the game mechanics central to its name—don’t expect too much in the way of gritty urban fantasy card battling here. For a card game with minimal lore such a strategy is quite ambitious, but should LoV successfully replicate WIXOSS’s ingenuity in a fantasy-action format, it stands a good chance of being pretty damn impressive. Plus having Kodomo no Jikan’s Sugunuma Eiji serving as director doesn’t hurt either. Scepticism is always recommended when it comes to any type of game adaptation, but should LoV manage to pull off what few game adaptations have managed before, it could easily be one of this season’s biggest surprises.
Watching This: Pancakes, Zaiden Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Passerby
Matsuzaka Satou (Hanazawa Kana) is a model high school girl. She is smart. She is pretty. She is popular. The problem is, her parents passed away when she was young and she has never understood love. So she flits from one boyfriend to the next, saying yes to anybody without care for commitment nor reputation. But one day, she decides to put an end to her frivolous lifestyle. She had fallen in love. Specifically, with a little girl named Koube Shio (Kuno Misaki). To Satou, there is only one thing to do: kidnap Shio and start a new life devoted only to her. Satou makes preparations. She puts in the hours. She saves up money. And in her life with the innocent Shio, she finds bliss. But despite Satou’s efforts, there still seems to be so many people who get in her way. So many rotten souls who don’t understand her love. And that just will not do. Love is sweet. Love is bright. Love is beautiful. It is the highest calling and Satou will do any ugly thing for its sake. It doesn’t matter whom she hurts, how much blood is on her hands, whatever sins she commits. All can be forgiven to protect her happy sugar life.
Happy Sugar Life is an adaptation of a manga of the same title by Kagisora Tomiyaki, and it is this title that we should be paying attention to. In our cynical, post-modern age, not even the fluffiest cute-girls-doing-cute-things slice-of-life would dare call itself something as saccharine as ‘Happy Sugar Life’. Such titles must either be shameless or ironic, and Happy Sugar Life is, for better or worse, the latter. It is not ‘happy’, not ‘sugar’, and the body count disqualifies the ‘life’. Protagonist Satou is a crazy yandere of the highest calibre, but while a criminal sociopath may usually have a villainous role, here one kind of has to root for her, simply because those around her are even more broken — or, perhaps, are not broken enough to have Satou’s steely-eyed clarity. Despite this, and despite Satou’s relationship with Shio being genuinely sweet at times (and making for morbid juxtaposition), Satou’s life is an oncoming trainwreck. But it’s a trainwreck from which it’s hard to tear one’s eyes away, and it makes for a fascinating look into the obsessive and self-destructive ways of this thing humans call love. I’m a tad concerned about the adaptation, though, as neither directors Kusakawa Keizo and Nagayama Nobuyoshi nor writer Machida Touko have particular experience making a show like this, and their actual experience can be dubitable. But the voice cast is star-studded and the premise itself can be enough to carry the show. Happy Sugar Life is genuine psychological darkness, beyond just gore or torture, and that is the kind of twisted mirror worth facing from time to time.
Watching This: Choya, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Zaiden
Kitahara Iori (Uchida Yuuma) begins his studies for mechanical engineering in the sleepy seaside city of Izu, where he spent his childhood holidays visiting extended relatives. He envisions a fulfilling college life, complete with beautiful girls and good friends. But upon moving into his uncle’s diving store, named Grand Blue, he is met by an inexplicable sight: a dozen or so rowdy and naked upperclassmen, who just happen to be hankering for a freshman victim to join the university’s diving club. After being forced to sign up, there’s just one small problem: Iori doesn’t know how to swim! But is that really an issue when the club’s activities mainly consist of being naked and getting drunk? We’ll soon see. With a new best friend in Imamura Kouhei (Kimura Ryohei), an ikemen otaku who is open about his fetish for little sisters, and his tsun cousin Kotegawa Chisa (Anzai Chika) to look over him, he shouldn’t have problems passing through the crazy ordeals that come his way.
I’m amused that this manga got the greenlight for an anime adaptation, considering that the age of drinking is 20 in Japan, a threshold that most of the characters do not meet in spite of their copious drinking habits. But it seems that Grand Blue might have gotten by on a narrow technicality, with the author claiming that it falls under the ‘isekai fantasy’ genre as follows: Isekai – A world in which the age of drinking is different than the real world; Fantasy – the existence of demi-humans who can chug high-grade alcohol in one go. Even if all else fails, just claim that they are drinking Oolong tea – flammable Oolong tea! But as a big fan of this ‘diving’ manga, you won’t catch me complaining too much, even if all the controversial stuff ends up getting censored. Grand Blue (not to be confused with Granblue Fantasy), is the creative lovechild of Inoue Kenji (writer of Baka to Test) and Yoshioka Kimitake (artist of the Amagi Brilliant Park manga), which means it was destined for spontaneous ingenuity. What sets it apart from most slice-of-life stories is a setting and cast that often go under explored within anime: college and college students. While there are no overt sexual acts on display, talk of it is rampant between the characters, and excessive alcohol consumption occurs irrespective of the time in the day. But don’t let this distract you from the fact that Grand Blue is a diving manga at heart! While the characters don’t spend every waking moment underwater, effort is clearly put into preparing for trips, getting licences, and getting important information about diving techniques and risks. I cannot recommend Grand Blue enough, and if you decide to give it a chance, you will be in for an intoxicating treat.
Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Zaiden Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Zaiden
Fuyuzora Kogarashi (Ono Yuuki) has been possessed by ghosts since childhood, granting him spiritual powers. But it has mostly been a source of trouble, leaving him destitute and wishing for a better life. In his pursuit of cheap accommodations, he stumbles across Yuragi-sou, a boarding house with an urban legend behind it. Formerly a popular hot spring inn, it is rumoured that the spirit of a murdered high school girl haunts the place. Kogarashi doesn’t think this will be a problem for him and agrees to become a tenant, immediately setting out to banish this evil spirit. But the ghost turns out to be a dorky 16-year-old girl named Yunohana Yuuna (Shimabukuro Miyuri), who is cute and well-endowed. Instead of exorcising her, he agrees to help her overcome the lingering regret that binds her to the living world, which means they will continue living together in a room for the time being. Soon, Kogarashi discovers that the inn is a hotspot for more supernatural activity than he expected, meaning that his daily life certainly won’t fail to excite!
As a rookie mangaka, Miura Tadahiro wrote a series I really liked called Koisome Momoji. I started following his subsequent releases, and after three years of failing to land a long-term serialisation, he struck gold with Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san, which has been dubbed the spiritual successor of To Love-Ru. This is a weighty claim it fully lives up to. Back in the days, tosh (of Shokugeki fame) was once an assistant to Miura, which should speak to Miura’s credentials as an ecchi artist. And while there’s a lack of timey wimey sci-fi aliens, the supernatural serves as an adequate replacement for the ecchi shenanigans, generously laden with misunderstandings. However, the staff is questionable. As well as having limited experience in the role, Nagasawa Tsuyoshi’s only success as a director came long ago, with Haiyore! Nyaruko-san in 2012, whereas the recent Clockwork Planet sticks out as a sore thumb. Koyasu Hideaki barely has any series compositions to his name, and most of them weren’t memorable. Fortunately, I’m expecting the musical score to be pretty good with both Kikuya Tomoki and Aketagawa Jin on board, so there will definitely be awesome accompanying tracks for the actions scenes. Regardless of staff concerns, I’d say it’s pretty difficult to mess up such a simple and honest premise, where action and fanservice are both tinged by spiritual elements. Expect Yuragi-sou to be a complete package of supernatural fun!
Watching This: Choya, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: Optimistic
Preview by Passerby
Cities have historically been dangerous places. Packing so many people and their dwellings in one place invites both disease and disaster, and back in the day one of the statistically easiest ways to lower one’s life expectancy was to move to the city. This was no less true for Tokyo, especially before it was called Tokyo and was instead called Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. We may take for granted our modern public health infrastructure and emergency services, but the people of old Edo had little recourse against Japan’s infamous earthquakes and tidal turbulence. In fact, in the Fukugawa ward, fires and floods were so common that, rather than anachronistically invent fire insurance to protect their assets, residents decided to outsource their material possessions. Instead of buying their own pots and futons and clothes — things that will weigh them down when fleeing — they rented them from specialised shops. In Tsukumogami Kashimasu, one such shop, the Izumaya, is run by Okou (Komatsu Mikako) and her younger brother Seiji (Enoki Junya), but their humble store deals in more than mundane household appliances. According to Shinto mythology, man-made items can, after a century of abandonment and disuse, gain life as spirits called ‘tsukumogami’. The sibling can see and talk to these spirits, and sometimes even rent them out to customers. Some of their clientèle have some unique problems, and perhaps can be aided by just a bit of supernatural assistance.
Wow, two-thirds of the shows I preview this season are period pieces. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. Period pieces are one of the more interesting ways to learn history, as long as you consider learning history to be more than just memorising dates. And it is. History is nothing without culture, and that’s what Tsukumogami Kashimasu, based on the novel by Hatakenaka Megumi, provides. As a bonus, the supernatural elements also gives us a look into the mythology of the era, and if any of you are Tolkien fans you’ll understand the fascinating interplay between culture, mythology and language. Besides all the needlessly high-brow stuff, Tsukumogami Kashimasu looks to be a charming little show. Sure, neither director Murata Masahiko nor screenwriter Shimoyama Kento have particularly impressive records, and Telecom Animation Film is not an industry titan by any stretch, but the execution challenge of Tsukugami Kashimasu is not particularly high. It’ll be a pleasant slice-of-life with a dash of the supernatural mixed. Can’t really go wrong with those.
Watching This: Choya Excitement Level: Average
Preview by Zaiden
One year after the second season of Isayama Hajime’s blockbuster manga, Wit Studio returns with the third instalment of Shingeki no Kyojin, a prospect that is bound to excite anime fans worldwide. The series takes place in a world where monstrous creatures known as Titans have put humanity on the brink of extinction, with the last vestiges of civilisation retreating behind walled off cities. Following one hundred years of peace, the sudden arrival of a new Colossal Titan leads to the destruction of the city’s outer walls. And on that day, mankind received a grim reminder that they lived in fear of the Titans, disgraced to live in these cages called walls. Having survived the initial onslaught, two children – Eren Yaeger (Kaji Yuuki) and Mikasa Ackerman (Ishikawa Yui) – find themselves at the centre of the fight for humanity’s survival as they join the Survey Corps, a military branch in charge of exploring and reclaiming territory outside the city’s protective walls. At the end of season two, in the face of despair, Eren awakens a power deep inside of him that the Titans seem to be after. Can he use his newfound ability to pave a way for humanity to prevail, or will it spell the end for civilisation as our characters know it?
For those that need an explanation, after its first season in 2013, Shingeki no Kyojin became one of the most popular and recognizable series of the last decade, briefly rivaling the likes of One Piece in terms of sales. As stated by Zephyr in his preview for S2, it rose to fame on the backs of its blade-wielding protagonists, nightmare-inducing enemies, and dramatic plot twists. This was a series whose opening sequence alone inspired a wave of memes and recreations, and it blew up to a point where it was impossible not to stumble onto something Titan related even if you weren’t watching the show. The third season announcement immediately followed the end of the second season, with Wit Studio and the same staff returning for a slice of the action. Consequently, there’s no reason to expect anything different outside of continued success for this franchise, even if some of the hype has cooled down in recent years. As someone who keeps up with the manga, the upcoming arc wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. But with a focus on political machinations that rivals Game of Thrones, in both complexity and brutality, I’m sure my sentiment won’t be shared by the majority of fans.
Watching This: Guardian Enzo, Pancakes, Passerby, Stilts, Zaiden, Zephyr Excitement Level: High
Preview by Passerby
Japan has a problem the supernatural. Vengeful ghosts haunt public places, mischievous spirits pester honest citizens, and all manner grotesque beasts pose dangers for civilised society. Mundane law enforcement is not equipped to deal with these supernatural crimes, and thus a new ordinance is passed: to punish magical crimes, one needs magical laws! And obviously, to prosecute magical laws, one needs magical lawyers. Duh. Enter Muhyo Torou (Murase Ayumu) and Kusano ‘Rouji’ Jirou (Hayashi Yuu). One is a young prodigy and merciless executor of the magical law. The other is his friend/apprentice/lackey. Together, they fight crime! Specifically, they run the creatively named Muhyo & Rouji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, where they take on cases brought to them by concerned victims. In this capacity Muhyo is not just a lawyer, but also the judge, jury and executioner, deciding the fate of the spirits he exorcises. Most only need be banished or sent on their way, but there also exists true evil, and there’s only one thing to do: condemn it straight to hell.
The original Muhyo to Rouji no Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho manga by Nishi Yoshiyuki ended back in 2008, clocking in at a healthy 18 volumes. Now in 2018, a good ten years after, it’s getting a sequel, which means it’s a good time to launch an anime adaptation of the first series to drum up publicity and get new fans up to speed. Which brings us here. The actual story is something of a cross between paranormal mystery and human drama, in which some mundane conflict inevitably leads to a supernatural problem and both need to be resolved jointly. That’s a common enough premise in anime and brought us hits like Bakemonogatari and Mushishi, though in this case it’s a significantly simpler narrative spiced with some magical legalese that brings up themes of tempering justice with mercy. It’s also very ‘shounen’, having strings of monsters-of-the-week that must be defeated with magical powers. Appropriately, we have a shounen director Kondo Nobuhiro in the big chair and Naruto screenwriter Suzuki Yasuyuki on series composition, and they are workhorses who should do well with Muhyo & Rouji. It’s set to be a good time, and if you’ve been interested in the new manga this year there’s scarcely a better way to catch up than a round of anime.
Watching This: Guardian Enzo Excitement Level: Average
Technical Note: As of the Fall 2016 Preview onward, short one-cour series that are being broadcast with irregular duration times (under the 24 minute per episode norm) have been separated from the main preview into their own section. This is to account for the increasing number of short series and to allow for ease of viewing for those who have a preference for one type of series over another. While the list should be complete, two notes: we have excluded shows intended for younger audiences, and there are short series that have been announced very close to the start of a season that may not have made it onto the list. If you notice an anything missing, incomplete, or incorrect, please feel free to point it out in the comments or e-mail Passerby directly.
Technical Note: OVAs are sorted by the date they are released. For series that have multiple episodes coming out over the course of the season, please refer to the Notes column for additional dates. More information on each OVA can be found on their respective websites, including promotional videos in some cases. Movie premiere dates are not included since they don’t mean a whole lot to viewers outside of Japan. BD/DVD movie releases are, however. This list is likely incomplete and will be updated as more titles surface (usually by the next season’s preview). If you notice anything missing or incorrect, please feel free to point it out in the comments or e-mail one of us directly (Stilts, Zephyr).
Once could be a fluke, but twice is a pattern. After recent summers have been surprisingly strong, it was something of a surprise when summer 2017 rolled around with a relatively weak line up, but now that summer 2018 has pulled the same trick, we shouldn’t be surprised. Yes I, Stilts, the eternal optimist, am a bit down on this anime season. Not because there’s nothing good to watch—there’s always something fun to watch—but because there’s not much of it, and because few shows seem to be reaching for the stars. Maybe the studios tired themselves out in spring, and now they’re unloading their more sketchy offerings. Maybe there are a ton of sleeper hits lurking amid these premises, and time will prove them out. Or maybe everyone didn’t want to compete for attention with Shingeki no Kyojin. Whatever the case, there are still good anime to be had, we all just may need to dig deeper and give more series a chance, or finally work on those backlogs we’re all lying to ourselves about all the time.
As for levels, we’ll continue with the Excitement Levels introduced last year, which includes four main levels plus Established for special cases. Our goal with this change was to make it easier to use the top and bottom of the scale, and to take away the incentive to hedge our bets—after all, we’re not saying these shows will be good or bad, we’re just saying how excited we are. Exciting things can be flawed, and unambitious things can be fun! Hopefully this guide will help those of you with limited time understand which shows to try first, based on our preliminary examination of each show’s staff, seiyuu, and source material. Failing that, it’ll give you another reason to laugh when we get all hyped up about a show that ended up failing in spectacular fashion.
As usual, these levels were arrived at by our regular (and reliably shady) “Excitement Council” of Passerby, Zephyr, and yours truly, Stilts. While we’ve gone to great lengths to consider multiple viewpoints and not get swept away by their own proclivities, these aren’t predictions, and shouldn’t be taken as such. Take these labels with the requisite helping of salt.
Note: Lists are sorted in alphabetical order.
High excitement shows are the ones we’re truly pumped about. These are the shows we want to watch the most, and which we think have a good chance of being exemplars of their kind — or at least come close. Shows in this category might be sequels to excellent anime, adaptations of highly regarded source material, projects with stellar pedigrees, or even originals that just light up our minds. They don’t have to be perfect, but they do have to feel like something special. If you consider yourself a casual fan who only gets your toes wet every season, then these are the shows we feel you should most keep an eye on.
Optimistic shows are ones that we’re hopeful will be really good, and which we have good reasons to think they might be. The underpinnings of these are generally strong, with a lot to suggest in each of them, but with one or two elements that give us pause and keep our enthusiasm from boiling over. They still have most of the makings of very strong series, though, and many stellar anime will arise from this category. If you’ve exhausted all the High shows, or want to delve deeper into your favored genres, check out these as well.
Average excitement shows look middle-of-the-road to us. They could be good or they could be bad, but they don’t provide much immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that are firmly ensconced in their genres’ tropes, or which overly rely on some of anime’s overused plot devices. It can also apply to shows that seem deeply flawed, with elements that could make them amazing, but with so many potential pitfalls that we’re not getting hyped up. However, in many of our experiences these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment, and may turn out a lot better than they appear. Personal taste comes heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.
Limited excitement shows are ones that we simply aren’t all that excited about. They often don’t seem to be striving for much, and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fanservice. Other times they’re doing the same thing we’ve seen a thousand times, with few mitigating signs that they’ll rise above their tropes. That doesn’t mean they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that they’re not doing a lot to suggest themselves. Keep in mind what kind of show they are, though, and you might find something you enjoy amid this cohort.
Established shows are any series that has aired for more than 40 episodes or has been previewed three or more times. This can include anything from never-ending shounen and decade-spanning dramas to that quirky comedy that keeps getting renewed season after season. The only commonality is that they’ve aired a lot of episodes, and that they’re the kind of show that most viewers will want to catch up on all the previous content before watching the new. Spin-offs and remakes don’t automatically qualify, since they’re considered new series.
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Congrats on the 100+ followers ahhhh!!! I was wondering if you have any fav youtubers?? Also maybe why you like your top 3 characters (as in explain why you do) ??
Thank you! The blog is currently at 166, I’m blown away @_@
I spend a lot of time on YouTube, actually, when I’m not on here, but I’m v picky about my content.
Fave YouTuber of all time is Dan Howell, formerly known danisnotonfire, but I also really like AmazingPhil, Philip DeFranco (watch his news show every weekday, and vlogs on the PhillyD channel), JackSepticEye, TomSka, and TheDeFrancoFam! I’ve been watching the ones whose channels are OG YouTube since the beginning when I was a wee little 10/11 year old, so I’m a very dedicated person when it comes to supporting my favorite YouTubers; I own a lot of Dan and Phil merch, and some Philip DeFranco stuff. Haven’t been able to snag any JSE stuff yet though :’(
As far as my top 3 characters, I mentioned my top ten in another post but I didn’t say why I like them!
1) Katsuki Bakugou: at one point, I hated him even more than I hate Mineta, can you believe it? I had friends like him in high school, I was not tickled by his attitude towards Izuku in the beginning, when he tells him to kill himself. I actually stopped watching season 1 at episode 4 because I couldn’t stand him, and the pacing of the show was too slow… My husband forced me to jump in on the beginning of season 2, and all of a sudden I was a certified BakuHo™.
The reason I began to actually like Bakugou was because, at some point between season 1 and 2, I had missed some bit of character development (when I went back, I realized it was the Deku v Kacchan fight and the USJ incident), and he was less of an actual asshole and more of a comedic asshole. Also, his character design sets a fire in my loins, he’s a good looking dude. More importantly, I’m sensitive to auditory stimulation and Okamoto Nobuhiko’s voice drives me nuts, he’s perfect for Bakugou, and I love hearing Bakugou talking. He’s intelligent, he does actually think a lot of things through, even when he’s in the midst of a mental breakdown during his fight with Izuku, and I will defend this boy from everything and everyone until the day I die, but he was pretty shit in the beginning.
He’s an extremely well written character, even if he is -especially in the beginning- an unsavory dude, and I appreciate every aspect of his character because it’s relatable to me. I’ve been in a lot of the mindsets we see Bakugou in, I understand what’s going on with him, and I can very easily identify with things he says and feels. I’ve never been that big of an asshole, but the feelings, I understand them and have felt them myself at various times during my life. He’s so supremely imperfect that I love him for it.
2) Eijiro Kirishima: he’s just so pure??? Like, he’s such a nice dude, he gets along with everyone, including my boy Bakugou, who makes it almost impossible for anyone to get along with him, and he’s manly! 男らしい! He was one of the first characters I genuinely liked. Also, have you seen his hero costume? He’s good looking too! Not fair, they’re drawings, I shouldn’t be this thirsty. I genuinely enjoyed watching his relationship with Bakugou develop, it really actually helped pull me into liking Bakugou. So, without Kirishima there to bridge the gap between the rest of Class 1-A and Bakugou, I might not have ever actually liked my main man.
Kirishima isn’t stupid, either, and he’s a funny guy. He’s got a good heart, he tries his best to make the people around him happy, and he’s too damn cute with his obsession with manliness. I like how he has his ideals and sticks to them, he is determined to become a great man and hero, and I admire that. Why can’t all guys be as good as Eijiro Kirishima? We need more men like him in the world; people in general, really, but yeah. Also, his seiyuu has a very nice voice, I’m into it, Kirishima can take me.
I usually put Tamaki Amajiki with Kirishima as a tie for second place, but I’ve mentioned before that I like him because I’m just as much of a wreck irl as he is, and that also he looks like Rin Okumura and Sasuke had a baby so sign me the fuck up for that!
So, to round out the list
3) Shouto Todoroki: I originally liked him because I found out he’s 1 cm taller than I am. That’s it, that’s the only reason I liked him. He doesn’t get a whole lot of development in season 1, but when I watched season 2, much like with Bakugou, I fell in love. He’s got so much going on, and I can hella relate to his awful home life, except it’s my mom that’s awful like Endeavor. My dad is the nicest bean ever, he rivals Izuku for that title, but my mom is a piece of work, though I still love her.
I find his quirk to be quite interesting, and his conviction to get ahead without his father’s power is appealing, though I’m really glad he’s learned it’s his power, not Endeavor’s, and that he can become the kind of hero he wants to be. His growth throughout the series has been really fun to watch, and I’m not gonna spoil anything for those of you who don’t read the manga, but he just gets better and better the further along you progress into the series, just as the other kids except Mineta because he’s still as much of a piece of shit now as he was before
So, there’s the answers to your questions, dear anon! If you wanna know anything else, feel free to ask!
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