Master Keaton Case 6: White Goddess

Case 6:  White Goddess


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Mushishi: The Next Chapter film previewed in teaser

The Mainichi Shimbun paper's MAiDiGi service began streaming the teaser trailer for the Mushishi Zoku Shou:  Suzu no Shizuku film on Thursday. The same teaser trailer debuted on the anime's official website in April.

Sentai Filmworks Licenses My Love Story!! Shojo anime

North American anime licensing company Sentai Filmworks announced on Thursday that it acquired the ongoing My Love Story!! (Ore Monogatari!!) television anime series. It plans to release the anime "soon" through select digital outlets, with a home video release to follow.


Viz Media is publishing Kazune Kawahara and Aruko's original shojo romantic comedy manga in North America, and the publisher describes the story:

Takeo Gōda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don't want him! (They want his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa.) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn!

The anime's main cast includes:

• Takuya Eguchi as Takeo Gōda
• Megumi Han as Rinko Yamato
• Nobunaga Shimazaki as Makoto Sunakawa

 
Morio Asaka (Chihayafuru, Aoi Bungaku Series' No Longer Human, NANA, Card Captor Sakura) is directing the anime at the studio MADHOUSE (Parasyte, Hunter x Hunter, Summer Wars, Paprika).  Natsuko Takahashi (Brothers Conflict, Nobunaga Concerto, Akatsuki no Yona, Yokai Watch) is in charge of the series scripts, and Kunihiko Hamada (Chihayafuru, NANA, Monster, Summer Wars) is designing the characters.

Crunchyrollhas been streaming the anime since it premiered in Japan in April.

I've been a fan of the series ever since the first volume of the manga was released stateside so I'm very eager to see how it translates to an anime format.  I already know Episode 4 is a chapter from later on (Chapter 6 or 7 if I'm remembering correctly) but it's placement as Episode 4 doesn't hinder things in the slightest as far as character development goes.

Sentai's dubs however are very hit-and-miss with me so while I would have preferred FUNimation to acquire the rights to the series I'm just happy someone stateside has the anime for us fans to purchase!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 'Season 1' DVD Listing Unveiled

An Amazon listing has gone up for 'Season 1' of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, listing it for a July 28^th release, from Warner Home Video. ANN has confirmed through Viz Media – who are the master merchandise license-holder for the franchise – that they are not involved in this release, though they are releasing the original manga.

Not much else is known about this release as of now. 'Season 1' might not even mean the original anime series adapting Parts 1 and 2 of the manga, as a 'test dub' of a few 'Season 2' episodes which adapts Part 3 of the manga was released online last year. Hopefully this is a release of the first anime however, before they can move on to the later material at a later date.

Digimon Adventure Tri Update News: Trailer, Movie, and Cast Announcement

News on the upcoming 'Digimon Adventure Tri' series has been coming out at a somewhat steady, somewhat slow, pace ever since it was first announced, but at the end of a recent streaming of the original series, Toei dropped some pretty big bombshells about it, as well as giving us a teaser trailer.

Digimon Adventure Tri, which was originally announced as a TV series, is now apparently a six-part film series instead, the first of which is titled 'Saikai' (or 'Reunion') and is due out on November 21^st. The series has also reunited the cast of the Digimon partners from the original series, but the DigiDestined/Chosen Children themselves have all been recast.

Taichi Yagami – Natsuki Hanae

Yamato Ishida – Yoshimasa Hosoya

Sora Takenouchi – Suzuko Mimori

Koushiro Izumi – Mutsumi Tamura

Mimi Tachikawa - Hitomi Yoshida

Jou Kido – Junya Ikeda

Takeru Takaishhi – Junya Enoki

Hikari Yagami – MAO

The series will be re-using the original series opening and closing, 'Butterfly' by Kouji Wada and 'I Wish' by AiM, as well as Ayumi Miyazaki's 'Brave Heart' being used as the insert song. Whether this means literally the same songs or re-makes of them by the original artists is yet to be known.

Overall, this is some big and rather shocking news. The anime was originally supposed to start this Spring as a TV series, but then it was delayed, and now seems to have shifted formats entirely. This, as well as the main cast upheaval, is a bit of a sign for worry, but the trailer definitely peaks my interest, and I'm still eager to see where this goes.

Master Keaton Case 5: Paris Under the Roof

Case 5:  Paris Under the Roof


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Master Keaton Case 4: Immortal Man

Case 4:  Immortal Man

  

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J-Stars Victory Vs.+ Receives Western Release Date!

It's been known for a while that Western audiences were finally going to get to play J-Stars Victory Vs. at long last, but we didn't know exactly when...until now.

Bandai Namco has just announced that the US will receive the game for PS3, PS4, and (digitally on) Vita on June 30^th! The UK will see a release four days prior to this on the 26^th.

J-Stars Victory Vs. is the latest in a 'series' of games from Japan that mashes up characters from various Shonen Jump titles such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and many many more. The game allows you to duke it out in various locales from the included series, as well as play a story mode in a world that's a mash-up of these series as well. Unique to the non-Japanese release of the game however (hence the '+') will be some gameplay tweaks to balance the characters better, as well as an 'Arcade' mode to add further replay value.

Europe (and the US if they order from GameStop) will have the option to pre-order and receive a 'compendium' which will have character art and brief blurbs about the various titles included.

I am super excited for this game, being a big fan of a lot of the titles included as well as Shonen Jump in general. Time to pre-order!

Level E Review Update

This is just an update on the progress of the Level E review. Originally, I was planning to do it episode by episode, as was being done with Master Keaton by Alc, but due to the heavy back-and-forth during my work and this style just not presenting itself as the best method for my writing on most things, I'm having to change it to a post-series 'full series' review. I may tackle other series in an episode-by-episode format in the future, but for now, it will have to be full series reviews. Sorry to anyone this may have disappointed, but I hope you still look forward to the review!

The Boy and the Beast's Second Trailer Posted, Cast Announced

The second trailer for Mamoru Hosoda's upcoming film 'The Boy and the Beast' has just been released.

The film will tell a story set in the human world's Shibuya ward of Tokyo, as well as the bakemono realm. These two worlds are not meant to intersect, but one day, a lonely bakemono named Kumatetsu discovers a lonely boy lost in the bakemono world, and takes him on as a disciple which he re-names Kyuta.

Hosoda first gained notoriety with his previous films 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' and 'Summer Wars' before following it up with 'Wolf Children' in 2012, but the man's work goes back a long ways. Before breaking out on his own, he directed both of the 'Digimon Adventure' films (most notably 'Our War Game' – or the second half of 'The Movie' was it was released in the US – which shares many similarities with Summer Wars) as well as the sixth One Piece film.

In addition to the trailer, the cast of the film was also recently announced.

CHARACTER – ACTOR

Kumatetsu – Koji Yakusho

Kyuta (child) – Aoi Miyazaki

Kyuta (adolescent) – Shota Sometani

Kaede – Suzu Hirose

Grand Master – Masahiko Tsugawa

Monk Momoaki – Lily Franky

Tatara – Yo Oizumi

Iozan – Kazuhiro Yamaji

Ichirohiko (younger) – Haru Kuroki

Ichirohiko (older) – Mamoru Miyano

Jiromaru (younger) – Momoka Ohno

Jiromaru (older) – Kappei Yamaguchi

Chiko – Sumire Morohoshi

Kyuta's Father – Keishi Nagatsuka

Kyuta's Mother – Kumiko Asou

As a huge fan of all of Hosoda's previoius works, my level of excitement for this film is off the charts!

Boruto: The Movie First Screenshots Revealed

A Japanese website has unveiled the first screenshots for the upcoming 'Boruto: Naruto The Movie' film, showcasing both the leads Boruto Uzumaki and Sarada Uchiha, as well as their fathers, Naruto and Sasuke. While it's not much, the screenshots do seem to show that the animation will be keeping to the level that other recent Naruto productions have kept to.

In addition, the cast for Boruto and Sarada was also recently revealed, as the pair will be played by Yuko Sanpei and Kokoro Kikuchi respectively. Yuko Sanpei is probably best known for Renton Thurston from Eureka Seven and Nozomi Yumehara in various Precure incarnations, while Kokoro Kikuchi has played such roles as Kruppoh in Toriko, and Potpourri in Precure – though it's also notable that she was the voice of the young Boruto Uzumaki in The Last: Naruto the Movie.

Master Keaton Case 3: Strange Tale of Lasagna

Case 3:  Strange Tale of Lasagna

 

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Review Announcement: Level E

The next series to receive a review by the site has been decided – joining the ranks alongside Master Keaton, is going to be Level E!

From the creative mind of Yoshihiro Togashi, more known for Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, Level E tells the story of an Earth that has been populated by thousands of aliens from all over the galaxy. While all the other aliens are aware of their presence, it is a secret only from the Earthlings. Baka, the prince of the planet Dogra, crash lands on Earth and loses his memory. Yukitaka Tsutsui is a freshman who moved out of his parents' home to live on his own, hoping to pursue a baseball team position at the new high school he's attending. The normal life Yukitaka once knew is quickly pulled away when he arrives at his new apartment only to discover Baka waiting inside, and as he becomes the target of the prince's torment.

ThatKaitoDan's RWBY Reviews - More Coming Soon!

Fans of RoosterTeeth's hit series RWBY have been coping with the loss of beloved creator Monty Oum for a few months now, and it's understandable why – for such a creative young soul to be taken from us so early in life is nothing less than a tragedy. The outpouring of love from fans have been keeping the RWBY torch burning strong with all kinds of fan art, fan fiction, and sometimes even dissections.

One such fan, ThatKaitoDan (a good friend of the site) is getting ready to delve further into his dissection of the series over on his Youtube channel. If you're a fan of RWBY and you haven't already checked them out, I'd definitely suggest you do so – you can watch the entirety of his reviews from the playlist here.

Discotek Licenses Lupin the 3rd V.S. Detective Conan TV Special & Film, & More!

Discotek Media has announced this past Tuesday that it has licensed a slew of new anime, including both the Lupin the 3^rd V.S. Detective Conan TV special from 2009, and the Lupin the 3^rd V.S. Detective Conan film from 2013. Both the TV special and the film feature a combination of casts from the two franchises. The former tells a story about a country called Vesparand, where a new mineral with super stealth properties has been discovered which attracts Lupin's attention. At the same time the untimely deaths of Queen Sakura and her son, Prince Gill leave Princess Mira next in succession to the throne. During a trip to Japan, Princess Mira finds her double in Ran and takes the opportunity to trade places, which ends with Ran being spirited away to Vesparand with Conan, Zenigata, Kogo Mouri, Lupin and Fujiko in tow. There they meet a waiting Jigen and solve the mystery of the deaths of the Queen and Prince; the latter is a follow-up tale of sorts where Conan's attempt to stop Kid from stealing another jewel brings him face-to-face with Lupin and his gang once more. Meanwhile, Emilio Baretti, a famous Italian singer arrives in Japan with his entourage for a concert that is in danger of being cancelled because of an anonymous threat. As the cases come together, Conan has to solve the underlying cause of unwanted developments unfolding after their arrival.

This is an exciting time for Detective Conan (or as it is also known in the US, 'Case Closed') fans, as it marks the first time since FUNimations run with the series that a new company has licensed something from the franchise. While this doesn't automatically mean anything as Discotek has become the go-to company for Lupin, it does mean they are at least aware of Detective Conan as well – only time will tell if they pick it up as well.

Other titles licensed by Discotek in the same wave of announcements are Library Wars, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Giant Gorg, Sonic X, Dororo, and Shin Getter Robo V.S. Neo Getter Robo.

Master Keaton Case 2: Little Giant

Case 2:  Little Giant

 

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Master Keaton Case 1: Man in a Maze

 

 

Case 1:  Man in a Maze

I want to make a special note, I will be doing any and all anime reviews whilst watching their English language dubs.  If no dubs are available I will of course use their subtitled versions but this will be a very rare occurrence.  If you don’t like that factor well…I’m sorry but I was born and raised in the United States of America and while I like watching subs I actually only speak my native English language.  I just generally get more enjoyment out of dubs (usually) than subtitled versions of anime or films.  That’s not to say the dubbed versions are superior but as a native English speaker I listen/watch and enjoy those more than versions where I’m constantly staring at a 1 inch frame of space to read subtitles whilst missing the nuances of character reactions or beauty of backdrops and character interactions. 

That said I won’t comment on performances all that much as that can be a very touchy subject for most fans.  Subbies and Dubbies still exist, they’re still animalistic with each other, and I don’t want that shit coming in and ruining reviews or even just genial discussions any of you may want to have in the comments below.  If you like or dislike a performance that’s fine.  If you despise an actor that’s fine, but don’t hound about it in the comments. 

In terms of the dub of Master Keaton I have watched the original Japanese version a handful of times but I much prefer and enjoy the dub version produced by Ocean Group.  Why?  Well it’s an odd thing but in Japanese the actors only do one thing:  speak Japanese.  There are no real attempts at any sort of accentual changes or ways of really speaking.  In the English version we are able to have the actors speak one concrete language but have the actors use accents varying by character and the region in which the stories take place/characters are from.  While many praise the anime’s dub as one of the better dubs Ocean Group produced they also comment about the accents used in the show.  Most think a majority of the accents are over exaggerated.  I’d say for me there are one or two characters where this is the case but most of the actors make their accents more realistic which fits with the show.  Now, off of my soap box and onto the review!!!

 

 

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Persona 3's Fourth Film Adaptation To Be The 'Final' One

'Persona 3: The Movie #3: Falling Down', the third anime film adaptation of the popular PS2 game, has just hit Japanese theaters, and the ending has revealed that the next (as of yet untitled) film will be the “final episode”. The first and second film have been released in the US, via import, by Aniplex USA, however neither film has been dubbed, and like all Aniplex DVD's, sell at far too high a price for any but the most ardent fans to stomach.

Reports from fans that have seen this movie already seem to suggest this third film ends with Ryoji and Aigis facing off on the bridge, which leaves a fair amount of story left to cover in the fourth film, but not so much as to be impossible. Whether we will then see a future adaptation of the 'The Answer' chapter of Persona 3, or anime adaptations of the 'Persona 4 Arena' series which crosses over the Persona 3 and 4 games, is up in the air.

Master Keaton review announcement

Master Keaton is a Japanese manga series created by Hokusei Katsuhika and Naoki Urasawa (though disputes as to the real creator have sprung up time and again over the years).  The manga was serialized in Big Comic Original between 1988 and 1994 and ran for 144 chapters.  The anime adaptation was created with 24 episodes airing between October 1998 and March 1999 in Japan on Nippon Television.  An additional 15 episodes were created and released as OVAs airing between December 1999 and June 2000, bringing the total to 39 episodes.  The manga's target audience was Japanese men in their 20's and 30's, a comparatively older target audience than is common for most anime series. 

Gurren Lagann 'Rescued' By Aniplex

Aniplex of USA have announced that they have re-secured the North American rights to the Gurren Lagann TV series, and plans to re-release the series via two different formats. The company already owned the rights to the two feature-length movie versions of the series.

The series will be re-released on DVD in a set featuring the entire TV series (in English and Japanese), an 'unaired' episode, two soundtrack CDs, a 36-page-booklet, a double-sided poster, a 12-post card set, and two stickers of Kamina's quotes. Video extras will include a 3D test animation footage, staff interviews, the 'Yoko Goes to Gainax' video, amongst other extras. The DVD box is set to be released on May 9th, at a price of $174.98.

The Blu-ray box set however will be an import of the same Blu-ray set due to come out in June in Japan. The set will include the TV series in both Japanese and English, both movies (which only exist in Japanese form, but will have English subtitles), and various extras. The set will include 10 Blu-ray discs and 5 CDs, amongst a variety of other 'exciting' extras. This Blu-ray set will cost $669.98 MSRP.

If this news report sounds a little more sterile than most of my other ones, it's because I am thoroughly un-excited by this news. I already have the TV series via the Anime Legends set from Bandai thankfully, but the very idea that Aniplex is hiking up prices this badly (something they're known for) makes me see red. I am truly livid.

For those that don't know, this kind of pricing is pretty standard practice in Japan, where actually owning a copy of a show isn't something most 'regular' people do, it's more for the extremely hardcore fans. That sentiment isn't shared in the US however, so for Aniplex to try and use the same marketing strategy over here is insane. Pardon my French, but Aniplex can kiss my ass - even if I didn't already own the series, there would be no way in hell I'd pay that much for this series, no matter how good it is.

I highly urge everyone to vote with their wallets however. Try and find copies of the Bandai releases of the series and buy those, rather than doing anything illegal, because then Aniplex will have absolutely no power or right to complain about your way of getting the series. This is a great series, but no series should cost your first-born child to own it.