Each year the Japan Character Award is put on by the Character Brand Licensing Association. To win, you need to check off boxes in the following categories: marketability, novelty, sociality, creativity, and future potential. And some pretty big names have won this thing over the …Read more »
Today Goodbye, Don Glees! is receiving its North American debut at Anime Expo. But for those of us not lucky enough to be there, more viewing options are coming, and they’re coming to the big screen. GKIDS is working with Fathom Events to bring Goodbye, …Read more »
A new trailer has dropped for the anime adaptation of the light novel series Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World (or Isekai Meikyū de Harem o in the original Japanese). In it, you can hear the opening theme song “Oath” being performed by Shiori …Read more »
Toei Animation and Crunchyroll came out together for a big announcement: their CG anime Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya is receiving a second season! The first season launched in 2019 and consisted of twelve episodes, adapting the manga from the Galaxian Wars arc to …Read more »
The Rising of the Shield Hero has become a global hit. Starting out as a light novel series, it has spawned into other forms, including a manga series and an anime adaptation. The anime is currently airing on Crunchyroll, and both the light novels and …Read more »
Japan is famous for its BL culture, but it’s not the only place where women create stories about men in love. Thailand has a growing BL market, and it’s using it for tourism, particularly tourism aimed at Japanese women. A case in point: earlier this …Read more »
The anime adaptation of the light novel series The Eminence in Shadow (Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! in the original Japanese) will debut this October. In the meantime, Kadokawa dropped an English subtitled trailer where we get to see the characters Beta and Gamma. Looking …Read more »
Shuzo Oshimi is a skilled mangaka at building mood, taking on controversial subjects, and sometimes saying a lot through his art while saying very little through word bubbles. With Welcome Back, Alice, he deals with friendship and adolescent sexuality. The manga opens with Yohei, who …Read more »
The popular manga Berserk started serialization in 1989, but came to an end suddenly in 2021, after creator Kentaro Miura died from acute aortic dissection at the age of 54. At the time of his passing, he was in the middle of working on the …Read more »
Yesterday Otaku USA reported that the Spirited Away stage play was on hiatus because Romi Park, who plays Yubaba and Zeniba in alternating performances, had caught COVID. Rather than have the alternating actress take over as Yubaba and Zeniba, the production felt it was best …Read more »
Until I Meet My Husband is illustrated by BL mangaka Yoshi Tsukizuki and is about a man in relationships with other men. But it’s not your typical BL. It’s a true story—a manga adaptation of Japanese gay activist Ryousuke Nansaki’s prose book of collected essays. …Read more »
Talk to My Back is a sparsely illustrated and unsentimental look at married life. Originally published in Japan in the early 80s, it’s finally getting an English release. Talk to My Back was serialized in Garo, an influential alternative comics manga magazine, and one that …Read more »
Streaming giant Netflix has been releasing a lot of its own anime (as well as animated shows inspired by anime), but it’s been seeing a loss in revenue. After letting go of about 150 workers in May (and noting these layoffs were not because of …Read more »
People were getting themselves seated for the Spirited Away play at the Misono-za theater in Nagoya when it was announced the performance had been cancelled. Romi Park, who plays Yubaba and Zeniba in alternative performances, had been diagnosed with COVID. Park said she was using …Read more »
Saeko Umemura is a Communist politician in Japan who previously served a term in the House of Representatives, but who lost her reelection bid and has been out of office since 2017. She’s campaigning again, and she has an unusual supporter she’s showing off from …Read more »
Danica Davidson
