As a whole, VTubing has made great strides in the last year, especially outside of Japan. After announcing its overseas subsidiary COVER USA expansion, COVER has curated opportunities to engage North American audiences with its Hololive VTubers talent pool, including the popular Los Angeles Dodgers …Read more »
Natalie Van Sistine works in different parts of anime, including as a voice actor, script writer and engineer. Her best-known acting role is as Yor in the hit SPY x FAMILY, and while she was a guest at Detroit’s Youmacon convention, Van Sistine spoke to …Read more »
Just in time for the official release of Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town on the Switch and Steam, we had a conversation with the game’s producer, Akira Nagashima. I recently wrote a preview of the first three days of the game and fell …Read more »
Matsuda Minoru’s manga He Was My Brother mixes horror and romance, and is currently available on the Mangamo manga app. You can check out Otaku USA’s review on it here. Just in time for Halloween, Minoru did an interview about how Japanese horror films have …Read more »
With a new album release and anime debut on the horizon, Japan’s leading virtual artist, KAF has been plenty busy lately. Debuting in 2018, KAF’s digital avatar is anime-inspired but her smooth vocals and emotional lyrics are real. Forging a path for virtual singers, the …Read more »
Gannibal is a creepy horror manga (check our review on it here) that also has a live-action adaptation on Hulu. With the second manga volume dropping on September 24 from ABLAZE, Otaku USA interviewed creator Masaaki Ninomiya on becoming a manga artist, the series’ cannibalism …Read more »
After a hiatus, the Black Butler anime is back with Black Butler -Public School Arc-, now streaming on Crunchyroll. That also means that Brina Palencia and J. Michael Tatum are back to play their characters, Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis, respectively. Otaku USA spoke to …Read more »
Ragna Crimson is a dark fantasy manga by Daiki Kobayashi where Ragna is a dragon hunter, battling against the dragons that could wipe out humanity. Square Enix Manga & Books is publishing the series and dropped volume 12 this week, and its anime adaptation can …Read more »
When Yuu Toyota started Cherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! as a short webcomic, she had no idea how successful it would be. Now it’s a whole manga series (with ten volumes currently out in English), a live-action show and …Read more »
krage is the singer of Solo Leveling’s ending theme song “request,” which was produced and has lyrics by TK of Ling Tosite Sigure. The track is out now from Milan Records, and krage spoke to Otaku USA about how she got into music, what “request” …Read more »
What does an anime-themed Japanese food truck do after overcoming adversity in the business? Make an anime about it, of course. The Okamoto Kitchen OVA, out now on YouTube (or the Okamoto Kitchen site here), is a comedic take on what the real business Okamoto …Read more »
The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror XXXIII in 2022 included a brilliant spoof of Death Note titled “Death Tome,” nailing everything from the opulent music to the animation (using an animation studio that worked on the real Death Note!) to Lisa thinking she’s bringing justice as …Read more »
SHUEISHA’s MANGA Plus recently released the first chapter of Rugby Rumble, and readers quickly noted the poor lettering and text placement (see above). The reason? The lettering was done by AI, not a person. Specifically it was done by Orange Inc., which says it has …Read more »
The jazz-themed anime movie Blue Giant, based on the popular manga by Shinichi Ishizuka, will be hitting select theaters on October 8 and 9, and tickets are available for preorder here. The film is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa, who has directed everything from Mob Psycho …Read more »
Lonely Castle in the Mirror is playing in select American theaters June 21 and 22. In the fantasy film, adolescent Kokoro is terrified of going to school, and finds a mirror to a castle where other children are dealing with the same school phobia. Director …Read more »
Brianna Fox-Priest
Danica Davidson
