#new jun fukuyama op!!

[5-pp-man]

JANUARY 9TH HERE WE GOOOOOOOO

[crehador]

the vampire dies in no time is back for a second season and it is as gut-bustingly funny as ever, i have missed draluc and ronaldo’s shenangians so much and i have missed our lord and savior JOHN even more so i’m beyond thrilled to have them back for winter 2023

look, listen, i know this brand of comedy isn’t going to be for everyone but i think broadly speaking it’s one of the funniest damn things to be adapted to an anime in recent years

not only do we get hilarious vampire/vampire hunter hijinks, wherein the vampire is specifically the shittiest vampire you can imagine, we get some incredibly relatable struggling writer segments too as our equally shitty vampire hunter tries to avoid being thrown into his editor’s iron maiden for failing to meet deadlines on his autobiographical works

plus! the cast!! last season gave us such wonders as saito soma playing a toiler-paper obsessed vampire twink, and this season we already have a silly vampire-of-the-week voiced by zakki in the very first episode

of course we also have furumako and fukuyama jun back as our mains, who are at least as funny (if not funnier) than they were in season one

i will say the new op is cute but not even close to living up to the absolute banger of an op we had in the first season, but that’s to be expected because the last op was just too good

basically, i can already tell this is going to be one of the highlights of my week!

[ecargmura]

Delusional Monthly Magazine Episode 6 Review - Cat Gathering

…Is this episode some kind of My New Boss Is Goofy reunion? Did they seriously get Jun Fukuyama and Hiro Shimono to be the guest voice actors for this episode? The fact that Tomokazu Sugita is also in this anime as the villain? They got Shimono to voice another cat? Am I hyped for this episode? Fuck yeah, I am!

Jun Fukuyama voices Johnny, a rather pompous ladies’ man and model who has a cat allergy. Lately, cats have been gathering around his apartment complex, causing him to sneeze and lose his flings. Because of this strange incident, he goes to the Delusional Monthly Magazine crew to help solve the case. Johnny is mainly the person who tells the crew about the issue, but he doesn’t really do anything to try and solve his situation. His main importance is the odd story about strange cat gatherings and that he works for White Pegasus as an advertisement model. He tries to hit on Catherine, but she’s only interested in cats.

After the success of voicing Hakutou, Shimono guests in this anime as another cat—this time, he’s a boss cat! It’s hilarious how he voices another feline in a new seasonal show. Unlike Hakutou’s cute meows, the boss cat, Sotetsu, is a hulking, deep-voiced cat that sounds nothing like Hakutou. It turns out that the broken MOPart from Episode 2 got caught in his ear and that’s how Sotetsu went from cute kitty cat to mobster boss cat. He was hilarious as he was the crew’s allies against Noin and Perch.

Speaking of which, this episode debuts a new Motarian! Jiro transforms this time! What does he transform into? Some sort of goat? Anyways, unlike Taro who cannot talk when transformed, Jiro is able to retain consciousness and speaks. He hoof-slapped Noin so hard it made the transformation wear off. He’s just that OP! However, when Jiro reverts back, he cannot remember anything. Odd. And there’s the whole thing at the end with them finding a Motarian ruin in the cafe’s basement. How convenient. Why is it there? Did someone put it there? There’s also the part with Jiro remember an ancient city. Is he related to the Motarians in some way?

Anyways, I do wonder if Saburo and Goro are able to transform later on? There are so many questions I have that will hopefully be answered in future episodes. In all honesty, I do like the wacky vibes of this anime and it’s doing a good job being consistent. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[jackiewepps]

Anime Talk - More on Kamonohashi Ron

Remember that novel of an analysis I did back in July on some anime I'm super-excited for? If not, look here. One thing I realized I completely forgot in all the excitement and the hard work I put into it, is the summary, the most important part! The airdate is now only a few days away, so it's high time I did it, don't you think? There are also some more exciting updates on the OP and ED soundtracks and new cast members. So what are we waiting for? Let's have Jackie drone on some more about the story that she thinks everyone should care about but no one does.

As I said, let's start with the summary.

So, Ron, as he will probably be called by everyone, was a star detective student at BLUE Academy in London, until he was kicked out due to a certain incident. Five years later, Toto, a young police detective who has a lot of motivation for his job, but not a lot of skill, is assigned a new case. He is adviced by a supperior to go seek out an acquointance of his, a former genius detective. Toto does this and this is how he meets Ron and as they work together, they learn that they are a perfect team and continue to solve cases, with the goal of solving the Bloody Field Trip case, the case that got Ron expelled from BLUE Academy. The genres, as listed on livechart.me are Detective and Mystery.

I hope I managed to make it sound as interesting as I think it is.

Let's move on to the opening and ending soundtracks.

As mentioned in my previous post, the OP is going to be done by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN. The song is called Ikenai Fool Logic. I just listened to a bit of it, and it sounds good.

The ending soundtrack is Lip-sync by hockrockb. I checked them out on YouTube. It seems like they are more of a pop-group, but I liked what I heard, that one song I checked out. I hope this song is good too.

When I posted back in July, we knew the voice actors of Toto, Ron, Spitz and Amamiya. Now two more characters and voice actors have been added to the list.

The first one is Usaki Mofu (Mofu Usaki in English). She is going to be voiced by Touyama Nao. Among others, she is currently active in the role of Sasaki Chiho from Hataraku Maou-Sama!! 2nd season. She also played one of the main characters, Mogami Asahi, in the anime Kami Kusu☆Idol which aired last year and which I also made a post on here about. Based on these characters alone, I'm not too worried (at the moment).

The second role is Kawasemi Omito, surprisingly, he is played by someone who's name I knew immediately. The voice actor is Fukuyama Jun. He has had quite a few big roles in his long career, including Okumura Yukio from Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist), Kazuma in Noragami and Korosensei from Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (Assassination Classroom), among so many more that I had to pull myself together to not list them all. I admit, I like his work. He has skill, and if the roles I have listed are no indication, I think he can pull off Kawasemi's seriousness while making him seem just as rediculous as I think he is. I will actually be looking much forward to this.

I just watched the 2nd preview of the show. If you are curious, here is the link. I like the animation. I think they caught the expressions really well. I wasn't sure about Ron's voice at first, but I think it might turn out to be a good fit for him after all. But they have a lot of the pictures from the manga in the shots they show, so at this point, it seems promising, very promising.

The airdate is October 2. 2023 at 22:30 (JST). I hope I have time to write something on here about my thoughts on the first episode.

[vampiredies]

The Vampire Dies in No Time anime season 2 OP & ED (Extended) News

“NEW DRAMA PARADISE“ will be the name of the Season 2 Opening that will be sung by Jun Fukuyama, while “Cozy Crazy PARTY!“ will be the Season 2 Ending theme that will be sung by TRD’s Takayuki Kondo and Daisuke Ono

The three singers are VAs for the series’ characters Draluc, Kameya, and Hiyoshi respectively

In a similar spirit, The Vampire Dies in No Time Soundtrack will be released on December 21, 2022! (Cost: 3300 yen)

It will have ALL soundtracks from the first season and as well as bonus character songs that will be individually sung by Ronald, John, and Draluc.

There’s no jacket cover for the soundtrack at the moment but it will be drawn by Bonnoki Itaru(the author).

[sakuwsker]

Fall 2022 Anime List

30/9

うちの師匠はしっぽがない/Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga Nai/ My Master Has No Tail

It looks fun and cute, shapeshifting tanuki girl being main character. Theme is quite rarely seen, about Rakugo -storytelling tradition so I'm interested to see this anime and it being from Taisho era so background and history will be nice to see. Of course cast is nice as well.

1/10

農民関連のスキルばっか上げてたら何故か強くなった。/Noumin Kanren no Skill bakka Agetetara Nazeka Tsuyoku Natta./I Somehow Became Stronger by Raising Farming-Related Skills

Looks quite interesting, and PV looked nice. Enoki Junya voicing main character. Action, adventure and fantasy themed.

SPY×FAMILY 2nd Cour/Part 2

Meeting again Forger -family! Excited to see this and how they each develope and their family time. OF course seeing their new addition to the family!

後宮の烏/Koukyuu no Karasu/Raven of the Inner Palace

This looks amazing, love the animation style. Characters is looking interesting and pretty, story is interesting so curious to see this. Cast is nice; Yashiro Taku, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Shimazaki Nobunaga...

悪役令嬢なのでラスボスを飼ってみました/Akuyaku Reijou nanode Last Boss wo Kattemimashita/I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

Umehara Yuuichirou. Looks amazing and funny, and of course Umehara being Demon King's voice *melts*.

2/10

勇者パーティーを追放されたビーストテイマー、最強種の猫耳少女と出会う/Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou sareta Beast Tamer, Saikyoushu no Nekomimi Shoujo to Deau/ Beast Tamer

Nekomimi characters. PV looked cute and funny. Curious to see this, probably quite heartwarming anime.

4/10

忍の一時/Shinobi no Ittoki

Ninja anime. PV looked great and cast is nice. Two clans fighting, action scenes also looked nice. Excited to see this.

VAZZROCK The Animation

This is also one anime I have been waiting for ages so finally able to see these boys. Music sounded great when they showed sneak peeks from the OP/ED music and cast is nice. So excited!!!

5/10

Human Bug Daigaku/Human Crazy University

Not sure about this but I'm curious to see this. Story seemed nice and interesting... Cast is great; Saito Souma, Uchida Yuuma, Sugita Tomokazu, Midorikawa Hikaru...

6/10

虫かぶり姫/Mushikaburi-hime/ Princess of the Bibliophile.

PV looked pretty and characters handsome. Story seems interesting, and cast is great, Kimura Ryouhei, Uchida Yuuma, Hatano Wataru, Uchiyama Kouki.

8/10

聖剣伝説 Legend of Mana -The Teardrop Crystal-/Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana - The Teardrop Crystal

Umehara Yuuichirou, Shimazaki Nobunaga. PV looked nice and animation style interesting as well as quite colorful. Curious to see this as story is looking nice.

ブルーロック/Blue Lock

Have been waiting this football anime forever so finally able to see this. PVs have been teasing us, and the cast is incredible, so excited!!!

10/10

永久少年 Eternal Boys/Eikyuu Shounen Eternal Boys/Eternal Boys

So curious to see this anime, a little different approach of idol group, as they are middle aged men. Cast is nice; Konishi Katsuyuki, Fukuyama Jun, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Namikawa Daisuke... and PV looked great and funny.

11/10

クールドジ男子/Cool Doji Danshi/Play It Cool, Guys

This looks so cute and funny, and main cast is great; Chiba Shouya, Kobayashi Chiaki, Uchiyama Kouki and Umehara Yuuichirou. Love the animation style and excited to see how they live their daily lives. Sad that one episode last only 15 min.

チェンソーマン/Chainsaw Man

It's been ages (or it seems so) when they published that MAPPA will make this anime. So quite curious to see this finally, and PV looked really good and fight scenes very MAPPA style. For me quite new cast so excited to hear their work and of course see Pochita.

13/10

ある朝ダミーヘッドマイクになっていた俺クンの人生/Aru Asa Dummy Head Mic ni Natteita Ore-kun no Jinsei/My Life After I Became a Dummy Head Mic One Morning

Plot sounded hilarious and just curious to see this, and Sugita Tomokazu is one of the main characters (Dummy Head). Don't have any expectations but still excited to see this.

うる星やつら/Urusei Yatsura (2022)

Haven't seen the original anime but my friend recommended to watch this new version so really curious to see this anime. Good cast; Miyano Mamoru, Kamiya Hiroshi and Hayami Saori.

23/10

不滅のあなたへ/Fumetsu no Anata e 2nd Season/To Your Eternity Season 2

Watched first season and liked it quite much, so excited to see Fushi and Kansatsusha (Tsuda) again and how Fushi is holding up after what happened the end of first season.

OVA:

8/12

女の園の星/Onna no Sono no Hoshi/The Star of Girls' Garden

Quite interested for this one, story sounded nice.

MOVIES:

30/9-25/11

銀河英雄伝説 Die Neue These/Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Sakubou/Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These 4th Season

Curious to see how the story will continue as it ended quite of a cliffhanger and see once more Yang, Lohengramm and Reuenthal.

21/10

ぼくらのよあけ/Bokura no Yoake/Break of Dawn

Story sounded interesting, and robot is cute.

11/11

すずめの戸締まり/Suzume no Tojimari/ Suzume’s Door-Locking

PV looked great, and it's from Shinkai Makoto (Your Name, Weathering with You...) so expect great animation style and interesting story.

25/11

劇場版 転生したらスライムだった件 紅蓮の絆編/Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken Movie: Guren no Kizuna-hen That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Movie - Scarlet Bond

23/12

かがみの孤城/Kagami no Kojou

PV was interesting and curious about the story. Animation style looked nice.

[rainstormfes]

Anime Expo Lite Day 1 Experience!

Program: Warner Bros. Japan Presents "Stay connected with Anime"

This whole program made me so frickin happy, SEIYUU AND JAPANESE GUESTS EVERYWHEREEEE WHILE TALKING ABT ANIME YESS (note: i typed most of this while the event was going on so pls bear with all my keyboard smashes and small comments lolol i just rly wanted to make a review for this event since i knew tons of seiyuu and anime that i love would be there and talked about. Also also i am not allowed to share any screenshots or recordings of it so just fyi 👍🏻)

It started out with talking about DanMachi 3 with guests Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (voiced Bell Cranel) , Minase Inori (voiced Hestia) , Osawa Nobuhiro (from EGG FIRM), and Matsukura Yuji (producer from J.C. Staff)

They answered many questions like how the author was inspired by the voice acting from the two guests specifically, talking about specific scenes

MINASE-SAN PERFORMED A SMALL LINE WHICH WAS SO FRICKIN CUTE

one of the producers was asked about production for DanMachi and he was like ‘brUH the volumes got thicker and thicker as they kept getting released like DANG’

They prepared a teaser image for the third season and for the big reveal Matsuoka had to tear a curtain off of a huge posterboard but the curtain got caught and made it almost fall xDD (very cute and awkward moment, Matsuoka never change pls omg youre too precious)

Matsuoka was asked if there was any difficulties when recording s3 and he just talked about how Bell went through lots of growth and that he had to think about how to properly act out just how mature Bell got, considering he’s now a leader of his group

Minase-san answered the same question. She talked about how she made sure to try and keep in mind how close all of the characters are and Hestia’s mental and social growth

Iguchi Yuka (voiced Chigusa) sent in a vid message since she sings the opening!! And it was announced that sajou no hana would be performing the ending song! Both vid messages were very nice and cute and both artists just talked about how they were looking forward to everyone’s reactions to their songs and to look forward to the anime

Airing of DanMachi 3 will begin in October woop woop!🎉🎉

OML WHEN MATSUOKA-SAN DID HIS ENDING REMARKS he pointed to the posterboard and was like ‘thIS NEW CHARACTER IS CUTE’ and said ‘whO TF IS THIS’ (pointing to new characters on the posterboard lol)

The next anime that they talked about was Shokugeki no Soma: The Fifth Plate with guests: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (voiced Yukihira Soma) (MY GOSH HES SO AWK AND CUTE OMLLLLL he was like ‘can i speak now’ cause there was that kind of awkwardness in the first segment too 😅) and Yonetani Yoshitomo (animation director)

Yonetani-san was asked how he felt abt the anime. He talked about how he wanted to express how amazing the cooking/food was as well as wanted to excite (oh b o y 😳) the audience

Matsuoka-san was asked the same thing. He talked about how he’s been following Soma since day one and thinks a lot abt his growth in Totsuki. He talked about how he kinda thinks about his own high school days (comment from director lol that he might just cry during his final recording session which i feel, its been 5 years since the first season was aired)

THEY RECORDED AN IRL SHOKUGEKI?!??!?! OMGGGG. FUKUYAMA JUN (voiced Saiba Asahi) AND TAKAHASHI MINAMI (voiced Tadokoro Megumi) WERE THERE (yall can i just- JUN LOOKS SO MF GOOD OML). 

bruh matsuoka’s mixture for a sauce for tonkatsu was frickin WACK he put strawberry jam, cream, waSABI???, KETCHUP?!?!?!, along with SOY SAUCE, there was more but that combo i put alone looks so frickin wack. 

Jun’s sauce oMG HE STARTED W NUTELLA AND PEANUT BUTTER WTF OMG THIS MISCHIEVOUS MAN I CANTTT 😂😂. He put in LOTS of mayo uhm... he crushed sesame seeds and dried fish together OMLLL HE WAS LIKE SHE NEEDS HER CALCIUM W THE FISH HES SO CHAOTIC and since he ran out of time he couldnt crush the fish properly so there were just HUGE CHUNKS OF FISH IN THE BOWL. omg when he was mixing it..... ew. the takamina was like E W. the way he was selling it was pure g o l d OMG HE PUT IN MF SQUID JUST NOW I CANTTTT HE IS IRL SOMA XDDD poor takamina she was fake crying, girl saME (she’s the judge)

Takamina surprisingly enjoyed matsuoka’s sauce (she was like the ingredients somehow WORKED xD) “it feels like i had a nice meal” (GIRL HOW??? XD)

as for Jun’s sauce review: FDSAFD TAKAMINA SAID THAT THE SQUID WAS STARING AT HER I CANTTT. she described it as a theme park which is perfect. tons of flavors were trying to be the main thing. The squid leg works with tonkatsu so it was ok in the end

matsuoka’s sauce won bc the squid in jun’s was kinda unnecessary but in the end she liked both (kinda surprising lol)

ADSJFKSFJ YONETANI-SAN DID THE ‘bursting’ thing ONCE THE SHOKUGEKI VID WAS DONE, SHOWING A SHIRT W MEGUMI AND TENTACLES OMG

Matsuoka’s comments on the shokugeki: he enjoyed doing it w jun since he was very good at talking (especially when he was making the sauce). Both their sauces were “okay” lol

Yonetani-san’s comments: he talked about how he struggled to cook when he was a child but even through the small irl shokugeki they did he learned smth lolol

Matsuoka was asked which lines were more memorable for him (other than soma’s lol): he talked about how the explanations for the dishes (the monologues when theyre being made and when theyre being presented) were difficult and whenever he recorded those kinds of lines, it was kind of difficult to record since it would be hard to express a good portrayal of soma’s energy if he didn’t even know what he was talking about (so on the side he had to keep using wiki to understand what soma was even talking abt lol)

Question abt the production of the anime: Yonetani-san talked abt how there were lots of complicated words; there were lots of cuts in certain scenes made to try and portray the energy that they wanted in the anime

“If you could try any of your character’s dishes which one would you choose?” Matsuoka: he wanted to try the chicken wing dumplings and a recipe book was released before so he tried it... and it turned out BAD XDD

Someone asked abt where the producers get ideas about the ending theme sequences: Yonetani-san’s used the songs as inspiration for the backgrounds used for the ending themes, also trying to relate to the cooking and the theme of high schoolers just going through life etc

OH SCHIZ THERE WAS A SPECIAL MANGA RELEASED. A small part of it was voiced by matsuoka, jun, and takamina it was vvv cute (the full would be released on Shounen Jump at a later date)

Ending remarks: FASDFDSA THIS ACTUALLY WILL BE THE LAST SEASON OF SHOKUGEKI OMG 😭😭. OMG MATSUOKA IS SO FRICKIN CUTE AND AWKWARDDDDD he was doing a small clap at the end hes so adorable someone protect him pls :(((

The next and last anime talked about was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, where there was a behind the scenes vid made:

Ono Kensho (voiced Giorno Giorvanna) was there ofc along w two producers from David Pro (Kasama) and Warner Bros Japan (Omori Hiroyuki)

OMG FIRST THEY TALKED ABT THE STAND CRIES YESSS. DSFDSAF THEY ACTUALLY COUNTED HOW MANY MUDA’S ONOKEN HAD TO SAY that is so amazing i love the dedication. onoken mentioned how he talked to koyasu (voiced Dio Brando) abt counting the muda’s but he was like ‘ehhhh i never did that lol’. overall, everyone from all seasons tried to match the scenes but koyasu was basically the odd one out not rly needing??? to follow it lol

FDSAFDSA BRUH THERES 17 RERO RERO’S hirakawa-san practiced in the BATH the dedication is INSANE i love this

lolol onoken scrunches up his face when he says his mudas lol vvv cute (so thats a good tip for anyone wanting to say it properly)

one of the reasons they chose onoken in the first place to voice giorno was the fact that his muda’s were strong, thats frickin awesome (and he asked for a redo so that just shows great dedication, smth that staffs would want in their seiyuu)

next they talked abt the anime-only scene of giorno giving gelato to a kid. they wanted to show how kind giorno was despite eventually becoming a gang-star. its personal to kasama-san since he had actually went to italy and had experienced intense heat there and went to a gelato stand so he wanted to preserve that memory in film

they moved on to talk abt how the hitman team was first introduced in ep 10. they decided to enhance the anime by showing the many teams of passione in their own meeting places, trying to emphasize how close everyone was in their respective teams

THEY MENTIONED HOW THEY PURPOSELY PUT CHARACTERS THAT ARE LATER INTRODUCED IN THE ANIME WITHIN FRAMES JUST TO TEASE omg i love

next they talked about how the second theme for golden wind was kinda hard to make (the animation and song IS amazing which i personally appreciate). considering that they needed to kind of match up with “Fighting Gold” (the first op), it was hard to produce something for it. And they had already decided to make an alternate version of it as well, animation wise. For a while they were stuck but eventually they managed to create smth which ofc ended up as the second op for Golden Wind (and also mentioned how that also happened for Stardust Crusaders, with changing the op’s animation to showcase everyone’s stands and also the small interaction between joutarou and dio)

AHHHHHH THEY MENTIONED THE FAMOUS DIO POSE THAT GIORNO DID AHH YESSSS THANK YOU DAVID PRO FOR DOING THAT, they said that they felt that they needed to live up to fans’ expectations so considering how dedicated of a fanbase we are, they decided to put that little nod toward dio’s pose with giorno doing it too

Ending remarks: lolol kasama-san was like ‘watch jojo in these difficult times to brighten up your day’ and honestly i just might :D

Omori-san was also a guest for the live broadcast too! Plus, Kanno Yugo who’s in charge of the music for Golden Wind!!! (a frickin king providing giorno’s iconic asf theme)

OMG THE THEME LETS GO HE TALKED ABT IT: considering his experience with parts 3 and 4 for the themes, he felt he needed to try and one up himself lol; he’s grateful that his music is loved by the fandom and hopes to meets everyone’s expectations (my king you’ve done amazing work)

He talked about how making music for jojo feels like competing in the olympics (cant blame him lol its a pretty difficult job to one up yourself every time theres a new season. since he started working with jojo at stardust crusaders and considering how iconic joutarou’s and josuke’s themes are, needing to make smth as amazing as those themes mustve been tough but he def delivered in the end)

OMG KANNO-SAN PERFORMED LIVE AHHHHHH and ofc its Il vento d’oro :)) THAT WAS SO FRICKIN AMAZING OMG ugh that made me so happy

Ending remarks: both guests were very wholesome, saying to stay safe during this situation. Omori-san stayed behind to say a small message on behalf of warner bros japan, saying to continue to support them and thank you for supporting the anime :))

Overall an amazing experience 😊

I loved everything that happened. It was nice to finally see some of my fave seiyuu at an event despite what’s going on in the world right now, it definitely brightened up my day :D

[recentanimenews]

Madness and Mayhem Run Wild in High-Rise Invasion Anime Trailer

  A new trailer, new cast members, and the OP / ED theme song performers have been revealed for High-Rise Invasion (known as Tenku Shinpan in Japan), an upcoming Netflix Original Anime based on the survival horror manga written by Tsuina Miura and illustrated by Takahiro Oba about a group of people that find themselves trapped in a strange world of sky-scrapers inhabited by murderous, mask-wearing psychopaths.

  The new cast members for High-Rise Invasion include:

    Jun Fukuyama as Mamoru Aikwa.

    Yōko Hikasa as Yayoi Kusakabe.

    Megumi Ogata as Shinji Okihara.

    Kōji Yusa as Kazuma Aohara.

    Chika Anzai as Ein.

    And Shizuka Ito as Dealer Mask.

  The opening theme song, entitled "HON-NO", is performed by EMPiRE. The ending theme song, entitled "Watashi no Na wa Blue" ("My Name is Blue"), is performed by Have a Nice Day!.

      The original High-Rise Invasion manga is serialized online on DeNA's Manga Box app and is collected into print volumes in Japan by Kodansha, and an English language version of the series is also published by Seven Seas Entertainment. Netflix describes the story of the series as follows:

  High school student Yuri Honjo finds herself lost in an “abnormal space” where countless skyscrapers are connected by suspension bridges and “masked figures” mercilessly slaughter their confused and fleeing victims. To survive in this hellish world, she has two choices: kill the masked figures or be killed. Yuri is determined to survive in order to destroy this irrational world, but what will be her ultimate fate?

    High-Rise Invasion is directed by Masahiro Takata and features animation production by Zero-G. The series is scheduled to stream on Netflix in various territories worldwide beginning on February 25, 2021.

  Sources:

Ota-suke

Comic Natalie

  Copyright notice: © Tsuina Miura・Takahiro Oba・Kodansha / High-Rise Invasion Production Committee

    ---

Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time

By: Paul Chapman

[pkjd]

A new key visual for the “Ahiru no Sora" TV anime has been unveiled. Its broadcast will begin October 2019.

-Synopsis-

“He’s short, weak, and has just transferred to a new school. Kurumatani Sora is the main character in this story who loves basketball. He has been shooting hoops ever since he was little and has been trying to grow tall just like his mother, who “used” to be a basketball player. What has happened to her and what Sora is going to do at the new school is all up to you to find out!”

-Staff-

Director: Shingo Tamaki

Series Composition: Gou Zappa

Character Designer: Yoshino HondaW

Music: Hiroaki Tsutsumi

OP: the pillows「Happy Go Ducky!」

ED: SAJI「Tsubasa 」

Animation Production: diomedea

-Cast-

Yuuki Kaji

Yuuma Uchida

Katsuyuki Konishi

Kishou Taniyama

Mamoru Miyano

Taku Yashiro

Chado Horii

KENN

Sayaka Senbongi

Yuna Taniguchi

Aya Endo

Kazuya Nakai

Soma Saito

Jun Fukuyama

Makoto Furukawa

Daisuke Namikawa

Hiroyuki Yoshino

Takahiro Sakurai

Yuuichirou Umehara

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Yuuto Uemura

via: ahirunosora.jp

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Morose Mononokean II 1 | Mob Psycho 100 II 1 | Meiji Tokyo Renka 1 | My Roommate is a Cat 1 | Promised Neverland 1

I think I’ve got too many cute fluffy creatures this season...

Mononokean II 1

For some reason, before I started watching this I kept reminding myself of Tomodachi Metre and fearing the new OP (because there’s almost always a new OP when dealing with a second season) would be faster-paced…the song is faster-paced, but not in the way I thought it would be (I thought it was going to be hard rock kind of pace, but it’s at least a tad slower than that).

Utakuni is such a fluffy kitty!

Ah, Moja Moja is best moja, indeed. Gossamers from As Miss Beelzebub Likes just don’t compare, y’know?

The Legislator is practically the king of “You mad, bro?”. (LOL)

Okay-dokay, lemme explain. There are 3 arms of government (known as the separation of powers, in order to have a series of checks and balances) – the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary, meaning we’re missing that final one at the moment…

I never knew Morose Mononokean was so obsessed with comedy…or maybe I’m just noticing it now that I have experience with comedy I get bored at…

Abeno’s face of disgust really sold that moment with Moja, LOL.

Well, by virtue of being a sequel to something I watched previously, it’s more likely to get coverage, but you can never say for certain until the first episodes are over and done. On to the next thing – Mob Psycho!

Mob Psycho 100 II 1

Alright, all these “II 1”s are going to make me confused someday, aren’t they…?

I think the dude’s Suisho simply means “water crystal”. But I’m only guessing as to what kanji are being used here, so I could be wrong.

The pixel art bit was good. More like that, please!

“Your life is your own” – is that Mob Psycho’s slogan, in the same way Symphogear has that thing about “holding courage to fist” and whatnot?

Unlike Mononokean, which you only need to know the very basics (which are in turn explained in the episode itself), it seems Mob Psycho is playing hardball in that department – if you don’t remember that time Kamuro started kicking his lackeys around, you’re going to have to watch it again. (Either that, or you watch the Reigen recap.)

Hmm…”[something to help Mob] grow” sounds a bit odd, but that’s a correct translation. That’s what seichou suru means.

Oh great…you know how I said I was cleaning out the house lately? Someone found an old copy of this book called Inventing Elliot, which I despised studying about (because it got me some of the lowest grades in my school life, aside from outright failures and close scrapes with failure). The problem is, I’m getting Inventing Elliot vibes from this particular plotline…and since that’s Mean Girls in a boys’ private school + Mob Psycho is all about the abuse of power, that’s completely a storyline the show would go with. *gulp*

Hey, they have actual eyecatches now! Hooray!

A certain kanji for “Emi” (with a mi in hiragana, IIRC) is “smile” in English, so I find it interesting they paired Mob up with a girl like her. (Then again, if it were a hiragana/kanji mix, that’s not a name.)

Oh yeah, the hitode (starfish) shirt.

Rinshi! Ekoda-chan 1

Why am I covering an R18+ series? It’s a long story…

The jokes are, as of this segment with the old lady, only about 50% hits. That seems to be a pretty bad track record. The thing about Ekoda being identified as 3 years older than what she really is is also relatable, since I don’t think I’ve grown much past a certain age.

Note there’s a Japanese store called JUSCO. There was one in Hong Kong, which was full of cool stationery.

Wait…that’s it? So why’s it 26 minutes??? Documentary…okay, I’m getting the heck out of here.

Meiji Tokyo Renka 1

I heard Ume was here…? More bishies and more Ume for me!

What’s up with the Haikara-san ga Tooru outfit, anyway?

Who dis boy? He kinda looks like Mikoshiba from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun…Update: That’s Ougai.

At least the jazz music is cool. Also, the episode title should be “Suddenly, under a Strawberry Moon…” or something, since it went totsuzen ni.

*Mei checks her phone* - This is why you don’t text and walk across the road, kids!

Ougai…y’mean, Mori Ougai? The loli dude from Bungou Stray Dogs is this redhead?! EHHHHHHHHHHHH?

Oh great. Amnesia plotline…

Hishida Shunso…a painter.

Okay…that’s a really obvious point where you’d be able to insert your own name if you were a gal (or if you wante to play as a gal).

The age of the Rokumeikan seems to pin the timeline down to “after 1883”. For some reason, it sounded familiar, but I wasn’t familiar with why - so maybe I’ll learn about it someday.

“Little Squirrel”?(!) (lowkey laughs for all the wrong reasons) And here I thought “Little Flower” (from Magic-kyun’s Louis and Dame x Pri’s Vino) was awkward-sounding but still endearing.

Okay, second redhead. When I saw him in the OP, I swore he was Ancient Magus’ Bride’s Chise…

So the germophobe redhead is Izumi Kyoka…but I’m not sure who this Kawakami is…

I don’t know how anyone could make a germophobe endearing, much less make him romanceable…

Otojiro Kawakami. Comedian and actor.

Lafcadio…wuh? Update: (Patrick) Lafcadio Hearn, Greek dude with a Japanese penname. He seems to have written stuff on Japan as well as other places.

“…that collection of ghost stories…”

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the roast beef but the animators…LOL…oh, spoke too soon. Kawakami just walked it back to the table.

Wowwwwwwwwwwww, Mei is so easily distracted by roast beef and pretty boys who, to be honest, aren’t that pretty…I’m just waiting for the long-haired dude and/or Ume and I’ll kick my butt out of here.

I thought Fujita was voiced by a familiar voice and turns out I was right – it’s Fukuyama Jun.

Well, that was mildly unsatisfying. I think I spent more time watching Mei getting blushy at dudes and not feeling an attraction myself. Fujita was the only one I wanted and he didn’t even do much but swing a sword. Seriously, though, what the heck was Charlie doing turning off the lights all of a sudden?

My Roommate is a Cat 1

Well, it’s either that title or Dokyounin wa Hiza, Tokidoki Atame no Ue. …which is a lot to write in one shot.

Why’s the cat on Subaru’s…junk?

The cat appears to be typing out the Dancing Men from Sherlock Holmes…except they’re cats. The Dancing Men are basically what made me think I had a career in computer security in the first place, come to think of it…but I’ve abandoned that kind of thinking now. Modulos are way too hard for me.

Them spoilers! I know that feel.

Koguma = small bear, in a story about a small cat. LOL.

Hiroto…I thought about this during the funeral scene, but…why does he look like Suzaku from Code Geass???

Hmm, yeah. I can see why Hiroto isn’t all that convinced – I’m a similar kind of person, with only a small pool of pursuits that keep me going for a long, long time. *looks at rabbit outside and remembers when I saw it in the darkness about 3 years ago*

Oh, so Subaru was so absorbed in his manuscript he forgot to eat, huh?

Kitty show too cute! Ehehehee… <- (ecstatic about having a new weekly dose of cuteness)

Promised Neverland 1

I’ve read the first volume of this. I’m not 100% in love with it, but if I can have bragging rights over finding the next big hit, why not?

Noitamina…now that’s a name I haven’t seen in a few years…*grumbles at Amazon*

For some reason Norman (white-haired boy) has this “betrayer” vibe written all over him. It’s because I know in BnHA and Ao no Exorcist, there are betrayals by certain people.

The aesthetic of this thing is like a fairytale and not like a typical anime. That’s probably one thing that convinced people to give it a shot.

LOL, there’s a Detective Conan door..well, it kind of looks like one.

The word for “tag” in Japanese is onigokko and “It” is an oni. That gives a whole new meaning to “playing tag with monsters”, doesn’t it?

Update: I can sort of feel my “this is popular, so I won’t like it” radar going off...so I’ll put it on hold until I get over that feeling.

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Seiyuu Challenge (#1+2): Favourite and Least Favourite Male Seiyuu

Least Favourite?

I’ll start by saying that I don’t have a least favourite. I just have a lot of seiyuu that I don’t like as much as the rest of you like. Those ones will be revealed in question [blank].

Favourite?

We’re going to be doing this in the form of a top fifteen list.

I’m going to try to put a “keep reading” line because this is SUPER DUPER LONG. This took me quite a while to complete, and I’m too lazy to proofread, so whatever happens happens.

Honourable Mentions:

Takehito Koyasu 

(the hate for him transcends animation; no gif of Takehito Koyasu on Tumblr)

Here’s to the guy who almost always gets cast as the villain. Seriously, his voice suits it too well. He even looks like an action-movie villain in real life. Some people are just born with a resting villain face I guess. But he’s not just that, he has played a nun, Deadpool (for Japanese dubs), and Excalibur from Soul Eater. All his other roles are mostly villainous stuff though in things like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Gintama, Re:Zero, and others. I still need to watch a lot more of his stuff. He is the voice behind the infamous Dio. I think that’s enough to get him onto this list.

Roles | Singing

Kenichi Suzumura

(Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura would make a god-tier kid)

I know him best for playing Okita from Gintama. Okita is a great character though who I know will get a lot of development moving forward in Gintama. He also surprised me in Osomatsu-san since he was responsible for the “SHEEEEEEH”. He won an award for that too. Hikaru from Ouran Host Club was a role that surprised me a little because he wasn’t expected to be a love interest from my perspective. Speaking of love interest, I may be a bit bias towards him because he has a really cute relationship with one of my favourite seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto. They also acted in the Kara no Kyoukai franchise together where they took on the two main characters. If it wasn’t for that movie’s timeline (eight movies, all out of order), I might’ve finished it. I love his work in Honeyworks. He’s good at singing, and I plan on watching more of his stuff in the future (especially D. Grayman)!

Roles | Singing | The Full 1080p “SHEEEH” Experience

Toshiyuki Toyonaga

(The news that he had a child surfaced a while ago. Congrats to him!)

He just won the best lead actor award at the Seiyuu Awards a few months ago for his performance in Yuri On Ice, and he fully deserves it. He’s a talented musician, and he has such a soft-toned voice at times that can go to really deep in a matter of seconds. I haven’t seen him in shows like Free, SAO, Tokyo Ghoul Root A, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Karneval, or Code: Breaker, but I have seen him in Yuri on Ice where he exceeded my expectations and definitely deserved that award (his speech was great too). He played Mikado who was a fun unexpectedly interesting character  in Durarara, he shocked me in Zetsuen no Tempest where he Mahiro Fuwa who I didn’t like, he had an appearance in Bungou Stray Dogs as Tanizaki, he was Takeru in Kamigami no Asobi, and I really liked his role in Kimi to Boku as Shun Matsuoka (I really liked that anime in general).

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Seiyuu Award Speech, “Day You Laugh” Durarara OP, Zetsuen no Tempest Duet (ft. Kouki Uchiyama)

Daisuke Ono

(He looks like he forgot the rest of his lines)

He either gets those roles like Sebastian from Black Butler where he’s smooth and charismatic, or he gets those roles like Shizuo from Durarara where he’s the rugged thug. He is the fifth sextuplet in the notorious Osomatsu-san. Jyushimatsu is the loudest of the six, but he has the best episode in the entire show. If I remember correctly, I think it’s the second half of episode nine (I watched this a year ago). He has his own little episode where he falls in love, and it was nice to watch. My favourite roles from him personally are Sinbad from Magi, Shizuo from Durarara, and Handa from Barakamon. All of those anime were really enjoyable, and my favourites wouldn’t be the same without his voice.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Kokkuri, “When you’re left with everyone’s bill” (Seiyuu Event Subbed), Barakamon (Highlights), Magi (Sinbad Highlights)

Ryouhei Kimura

After watching Silver Spoon and Kids on the Slope, I just had to include him here. I first knew Ryouhei Kimura for playing Judar from Magi, and even though he did well playing the heavy eyeshadow magi, when he takes the spotlight as a really well-developed character, it makes it that much better. After watching him in shows like Gekkan Shoujo, Akame Ga Kill, Tokyo Ravens, Kimi to Boku, Grand Blue, that BNHA OVA with the zombies, I can say that he earned the spot on his list.

Roles | Singing | Silver Spoon clip (WARNING: CONTAINS COW BIRTH)

Miyu Irino

(This whole thing is quite extra and overdramatic, isn’t it?)

His role in A Silent Voice left me shocked. Saori Hayami and his performance blew my expectations. They are both really talented individuals, and that movie was packed with feels. Even though I like Saori better, I think he deserves a place here. Sugawara from Haikyuu reminds me of a mom, and I think that’s kind of common. He gives the character a kindhearted voice (with a few exceptional moments). Todomatsu is another sextuplet in Osomatsu. I mention this show often because it’s really crazy. I can’t say I would recommend it to everyone, but the seiyuu definitely make the show funny at times. Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100 is a character that is one of my favourite in the show because he is such a relatable person who just gets a little lost at times. And I’ve got to say that Miyu portrayed him well. I enjoyed that show a lot. Jintan from Anohana continues to be a show that I remember because it gave me the feels. I won’t get deeper into that because of spoilers and digging up old wounds and feels. But to end on a lighter note, if you like Osomatsu, I recommend checking out Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou because it has a hilarious cast in a bunch of sketches that can be quite funny.

Roles | Singing | Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou “RPG Quest”, Koe no Katachi SPOILERS

Jun Fukuyama 

(You can see the moment the failure seeps his soul)

Koro-sensei and Lelouch would not be the same without him. He has given these two characters life. He was Souta Takanashi in Working!!, Ichimatsu from Osomatsu, Shinra from Durarara, Yukio from Blue Exorcist, and King from The Seven Deadly Sins. I recently watched him as the Dark Flame Master-- I mean Yuuta Togashi. The way his voice went from Dark Flame Master to Yuuta was funny even if it wasn’t realistic for a first-year high schooler. Same goes for Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan (which I haven’t finished). Bundo from Deadman Wonderland was fun to watch since he was a twist that I probably should’ve seen coming. Kassim from Magi is one character that I will never forget from him though because that backstory was sad, but his character along with Yuki Kaji’s performance really laid out one of the most exciting parts of season one of Magi.

Roles | Singing Compilation | Ichimatsu Compilation (Season One), Koro Sensei’s Weak Points

Satoshi Hino

I first saw him as Sai in Naruto, but since then, he has been in so many anime that I’ve seen as all types of characters. He’s Kineshi Hairo in Saiki, Ash Landers in Black Butler, Momonga in Overlord, Emil in Yuri On Ice, Akito Takagi in Bakuman, Daichi in Haikyuu, Shinku from Yowamushi Pedal, and the renowned Tomoda from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (the real MVP and hero we do not deserve). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m looking forward to watching him as Kamui in Gintama.

Roles | Singing

Top Fifteen

15. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Despite being one of the most sought-after harem seiyuu, I can say that I don’t watch any of those. I haven’t watched The Pet Girl of Sakurasou or Food Wars or that Dungeon anime. I watched him as Sora in No Game No Life, but I didn’t like that anime. I put him on this list because of his smaller roles that I see him on. Titus from Magi is a perfect example. He may not get the most screen time, but when he’s on, he does a wonderful job playing his characters. His range is outstanding from playing the infamous Kirito to a crazy monster to an alleyway cat that got stuck (if you’re curious, watch Saiki). He also made me laugh quite a bit as Lubbock from Akame Ga Kill. Ah, that anime is just a tragedy. But speaking of tragedy, he apparently has a tough time talking to the people he works with which I relate to. Especially when he does harems (which have a lot of girls), you really can’t blame him. Plus, they make fun of him too. 

Roles (This one is a little longer, but it includes extras and everything) | Singing  

14. Toshiyuki Morikawa

I first saw him as Minato in Naruto, but I didn’t realize how prolific he was until I watched him play a wide range of characters from the villain Boro in One Punch Man to the crazy priest Azuma in Deadman Wonderland. He has such a calm and soothing voice too. This is especially apparent in Magi where he plays Ugo. He has so many miscellaneous characters in so many anime, and I just like his voice in general. 

Roles | Singing

13. Akira Ishida

(This is almost the only gif??)

He has said that he turns down a lot of roles now, but he has still done so many. He is Katsura in Gintama. That in itself is enough to land him on this list. Katsura is one of my favourite characters in Gintama. Name a more iconic duo than him and Elizabeth. Exactly, it’s impossible. He’s also Gaara from Naruto which is where I first saw him. Yunan from Magi is a polar opposite. He’s such a mysterious kind soul. He has been in Danganronpa, the Fate series, Mirai Nikki, Fairy Tail, Kekkai Sensen, Parasyte, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Evangelion, and so many other shows. He’s been around since the 80s, so it’s really no surprise that he is in so many shows. His voice is so versatile that it’s almost scary. He inspired Aoi Shouta to become a seiyuu too because he was a “beautiful woman with a beautiful voice”.

Roles | Bonus: One Man, Seven Voices, Katsura Raps, Trivia

12. Sakurai Takahiro

He plays too many characters to count, and like Akira Ishida and Satoshi Hino, he has been around for a long time. He has characters that I’ve hated, loved, and wanted to “accidentally” push onto the road for them to get hit by a truck. I’ve watched him as the leader of Osomatsu-san who is just too insane for works, Fitzgerald from Bungou Stray Dogs who probably doesn’t know how it feels to be broke, Suzaku from Code Geass who I liked and hated at the same time, Yukiatsu from Anohana who you can’t help but pity, Jafar in Magi ho made me laugh lots, Arataka from Mob Psycho 100 who made me laugh so much with his antics, and Sakurai from (one of my more recently finished anime) Net-juu no Susume. He’s also kind of funny to watch in Ad-Live, but there aren’t any clips of that.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Cringy Pick-up Lines, Anohana Festival, Osomatsu

11. Kensho Ono

I first saw him as Hakuryuu from Magi where he gave a great performance. He’s a talented singer as well as a stage actor. But besides Magi, I’ve liked his role in A Silent Voice where he plays Tomohiro (who is just such a precious character). His role as Akutagawa in Bungou Stray Dogs eventually did grow on me as I got used to him being the edgy, scarcely eyebrowed Port Mafia member. But one of the most standout characters I’ve watched from him (besides Hakuryuu and Akutagawa) is Arata Kaizaki from ReLife. He seems like a useless NEET that couldn’t stand the world at first, but then we find out that he’s a useless NEET who couldn’t handle the really tough world. But in all seriousness, he’s a character that seems really bland at first, and now that I’ve finished it, I can say that he gets some development that makes you realize that he might be that same average guy, but the plot and the people surrounding him make things really interesting. Kensho Ono is also a part of Ad-Live.

Roles | Singing | ReLife Clip, Magi Clip 

10. Kaito Ishikawa

(I just read a fake article about how he was attacked with shuriken during a home invasion. Fake articles are wild.)

I know Kaito Ishikawa for playing characters in a lot of new shows. A lot of the roles are the ones that I haven’t watched, and some roles were a miss because the anime was a miss (Tokyo Ravens wasn’t excruciatingly bad, but even with the good cast, they couldn’t save a lot of its flaws.) Some people didn’t like Zankyou no Terror, but I still enjoy it. The performances were quite strong even with the cringy “Engrish”, and the music was phenomenal. His portrayal of the colder part of the duo “Sphinx” was one of the highlights of the show. Kouto from Noragami didn’t get too much of a chance to show what he’s truly capable of (since they ended it when his role was becoming more apparent). And even though his time on Bungou Stray Dogs was short, I certainly enjoyed the time that we got to see his character Rokuzou. Kageyama from Haikyuu is a great main character from him. He’s such good friends with Hinata’s seiyuu Ayumu Murase, and he��s so involved in the My Hero Academia cast as Iida Tenya (as we’ve seen from many of the highlights of the cast). His role as Iida was really good especially during the Hero Killer arc. His role as Genos had me laughing a lot of the time even though it’s ironic because he was a very stiff serious character. I hope to see him a lot more in the future.

Roles | Singing

9. Junichi Suwabe

(I relate to this too much because I don’t know where I am unless I’m inside my house)

His role as Aizawa-sensei made him too relatable. I’ve seen several pictures of him cosplaying as his characters which I have massive respect for. His role as Viktor in Yuri On Ice has probably wooed a lot of fangirls, but what stands out the most for me (besides Aizawa) is his role as Odasaku in Bungou Stray Dogs. That performance left me shaken up (especially from the storyline), and I’m sure a lot of Bungou Stray Dogs fans feel the same way. That scream near the end of the arc sent chills. He is also in a bunch of other things that I haven’t watched from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kuroko no Basket, Black Butler, Fate, Food Wars, Nana, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Space Dandy, and a few others. I have watched him in some supporting roles like Jamil from Magi (that was a great three episodes where he appeared as a spoiled rich guy), Jae-ha from Akatsuki no Yona, Freed from Fairy Tail, Juuzou from Danganronpa, and Junichi (yes, Junichi) from Sakamichi no Apollon. That was rollercoaster of a role, but his singing was so good.

Roles | Singing

8. Tomakazu Sugita

You would think that with a voice like that he would be voicing a lot more serious characters. I guess that’s because I first watched him as Karasuma in Assassination Classroom. In reality, he’s a real jokester (especially when around Yuuichi Nakamura). His role in Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou was funny. It was thirteen episodes of craziness, and it features many of the regulars from Gintama. Speaking of Gintama, the reason why he’s on this part of the list is quite simple. Gintoki. If you’ve watched Gintama, you’d know that Gintoki is such a vibrant character with so much dick jokes and screaming that you really can’t imagine anyone else playing him. I say this as a compliment when I say that he yells just as much as Nobuhiko Okamoto. Just watching Gintama mentally strains your vocal cords. 

Roles | Singing | Bonus: “Voice Acting Meme”, Gintoki Exclusive, Yukana helping out Sugita, Sugita x Nakamura (Seiyuu’s Little Forest)

7. Mamoru Miyano

I know everyone knows him for voicing Light from Death Note, but I haven’t watched that anime (don’t judge me, please). His evil laugh was good though. Speaking of other characters I haven’t watched from him, there’s also Rin Matsuoka from Free, Kiba from Wolf’s Rain, Lucifer from Hunter x Hunter, or Konoha from Mekakucity Actors. There’s probably a bunch more too, but let’s get to the stuff that I have seen. He has been around for so long, and his best characters are the types that appear goofy on the surface but have inner anguish and more depth to their personality. Dazai Osamu from Bungou Stray Dogs is such a character, and he’s the main reason why he’s high on this list. Dazai is such a funny weirdo. Kida Masaomi from Durarara is kind of like Dazai in an odd way too, and I don’t just mean his voice. He has humour that seems to hide something... or maybe that’s just me. Okabe from Steins;Gate (even though I haven’t watched that anime in its entirety) and Ling Yao also seems to keep up this trend. Shuu Tsukiyama from Tokyo Ghoul is just crazy though. It was fun to watch though. He brings so much fun to the characters, yet when they finally show a more vulnerable side to themselves, he still portrays them well. Not to mention, he has a great sense of humour and an awesome singing voice.

Roles | Singing  

6. Hiroshi Kamiya

He’s way too easy to identify. Honestly, the first role I remember him for is probably Otonashi from Angel Beats. That gave me a bit of feels too, so I had to mention that. Besides that, he has had too many other notable roles, but I’ll try to mention a few supporting roles: Takeda from Haikyuu, Mephisto from Blue Exorcist, Araragi from Monogatari, and Ranpo Edogawa from Bungou Stray Dogs. Some roles I want to expand on are Natsume from Natsume’s Book of Friends. His chemistry with Kazuhiko Inoue is great, and they make for such an entertaining show. Izaya from Durarara is insane and neurotic, but he seems like a character with so many underlying insecurities. I haven’t watched the full series (only the first two seasons), but I still remember them (whether it’s because I hate him or not). Levi is a badass that I’m sure a lot of people know from Attack on Titan. He’s proof that short guys like me have a chance. Choromatsu is just crazy. He’s the most productive out of his siblings, but that’s like saying he’s the tallest among dwarves (shout-out to Veronica Sawyer for that quote). With that being said, my best role from him is easily Yato from Noragami. The cast of Noragami is strong, and he is the protagonist. He has so many funny moments and maybe serious ones as well. I could go on all day how he does a good job voicing Yato, but I’ll just leave it at that.

Roles | Singing

5. Yuuki Kaji

He truly does have the voice of a main character. Sometimes his voice is a bit too recognizable for me, and sometimes I think that he does get some roles that don’t fit him as well as I’d like, but I think that’s more up to the casting director than Yuki Kaji. I didn’t like his portrayal in Ao Haru Ride and found it really cringy. A lot of the other anime I don’t like him in is because I don’t like the anime in general. Diabolik Lovers, Guilty Crown, and High School DxD are a few examples of that. Besides that, he has had many outstanding performances. His roles as Takami from Deadman Wonderland and Ayato Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul were okay. Eren from Attack on Titan which just from the clips I watched were epic and emotional. The amount of strain you can feel for his vocal cords (especially considering that he takes hours for a single episode). Yukine from Noragami was not liked by many at the beginning, but I actually really liked this character, and he portrayed his hardship really well. Todoroki from My Hero Academia sounds like a complete badass. And even though he’s really stoic, he had made me laugh as the “Hand-crusher”. Sonic from One Punch Man made me laugh a few times (RIP his nuts). Shion was great, and his chemistry with Nezumi (Hosoya Yoshimasa) is almost touching. When he got bitten by the wasp, I felt bad for him. This anime does not get the credit it deserves as a nice post-apocalyptic anime). But above all, my favourite role is Alibaba from Magi. I read the manga (slowly but still), and I still hear him doing Alibaba’s voice. He nails the character’s strength, goofiness, positivity, and his overall personality. I’m looking forward to watching Kouichi from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Soramaru from Donten ni Warau.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Kaji100 Staff, An Interesting Conversation with Hiro Shimono, Slippers

4. Yuuichi Nakamura

Okay, so maybe he has had a few questionable roles that I won’t bring up, but we’re going to ignore those for now. I first saw him playing Gray from Fairy Tail, but I later saw him portraying Nozaki from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun which made me laugh more than it should have. I haven’t watched Clannad yet (partially because I still want my soul intact), but from the funny clips I’ve seen, he certainly does a good job playing Tomoya. Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Sanada from Kimi ni Todoke (who I relate to on a personal level because names just don’t stick in my mind), Ren Kouen, and that dude on a bike from One Punch Man are his other notable roles I’ve seen in the past. But for the most recent ones I’ve seen, Sweetness and Lightning and Poco Udon’s World are two anime that I just finished. They are both very similar, and they bring out his fatherly side which he even said himself cleanses his soul a little. Sure, he has a lot of not-so-family-friendly-or-morally-right-roles, but he also has a lot of good ones too. A lot of these recently watched shows have given me a lot more respect for him too. I actually watched his full Ad-Live performance (only one of them since he has been a part of a bunch), and the fact that he was able to put up with the costumes, ridiculous lines, and everything else also brought him into a new light. Seriously, he was stuck acting as a moving truck guy who’s a robot.

Roles | Singing | Ad-Live: Download link (Subbed by Anokoe)

3. Kouki Uchiyama

Let’s just skip Raku from Nisekoi. I didn’t like it. But onto the good roles. Hiroshi from Barakamon is a supporting character who doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but when he does, he certainly provides a lot of laughs. Tsukishima from Haikyuu is a character to rival the king of the court himself. Yuri(o) from Yuri on Ice is so edgy and butthurt all the time. He’s a salty ballerina, and his fans are supposedly very motherly which is fitting since he’s going through teenage angst. Takumi from Anthem of the Heart is a role I wasn’t expecting to like, but he actually kind of pulled it off. Shout-out to Hosoya for telling him about the movie! Gin from Hotarubi no Mori e is a role that brought me feels. If you haven’t watched it, you really should. Akira from Devilman: Crybaby is a role that was too intense for me to get through. It was an extremely demanding role which is kind of funny because he thought he was going to end up as Ryo. Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia (I call him “The Man Who Needs a Hand”) is another one of my favourite roles from him because he has such a creepy aura thanks to character design and his voice. Soul from Soul Eater (who I like despite not being original). I really want to see more roles from him (preferably edgy).

Roles | Singing: Honeyworks (Vocaloid cover ft. Nobunaga Shimazaki), Zetsuen no Tempest Insert Song (ft. Toshiyuki Toyonaga) | Bonus: Yurio “HAAAA” Compilation, Horror Movies (ft. Ryouhei Kimura and Nobuhiko Okamoto)

2. Yoshimasa Hosoya

Some people are just not like the people they portray on-screen. Number two and one are just like that. Here, we have a guy who usually plays brash characters actually being a timid softy whose backbone seems to be made of silly putty. I’m going to try to name a few of his roles that I’ve liked without drowning this whole post. Tokoyami from My Hero Academia whose quiet darkness I really respect especially with these new episodes. We need to see more of him! Asahi from Haikyuu who is the closest to him personality-wise that we will ever see. Daiki from Anthem of the Heart whose ending shocked me. Masmur from Magi who’s an underrated character. Braun from Attack on Titan who I know is a titan, and that shouldn’t count as a spoiler because everyone knows that by now. Saiki from WWW.Working whose his English wasn’t as bad as some shows. Seriously, Hosoya took an exam for English proficiency. He’s not that bad. In terms of outstanding roles, Nezumi from No.6 who is one of my favourite openly gay characters. He’s a badass, and along with Shion, they are an iconic duo in an anime that I found really enjoyable. Kunikida Doppo from Bungou Stray Dogs is the Armed Detective Agency’s soccer mom. He is responsible, keeps his ideals in check, and deserves happiness and a nap. 

Roles | Singing Compilation | Bonus: “Ghost Story” (First 5 minutes), Guess the Profile (ft. Yoko Hikasa), Inu x Boku Radio

1. Nobuhiko Okamoto

This is a bit of an odd choice comparing to the usual popularity polls, but hear me out. This dude has range. He shares my love for sweets and chocolate. He does all kinds of crazy characters. He can voice the angry Katsuki Bakugou from My Hero Academia whose screams a lot. Let’s be real, he is not what we expected when we heard “Hero”. Some of his scenes can send chills down spines. The charismatic Karma from Assassination Classroom is another kind of crazy. He is quite popular in the series, and he has this personality that makes people scared and allured by him. Even in an anime I didn’t like, Juuni Taisen, he did an amazing job portraying the flamboyant crazy Usagi who only kills in fabulous stilettos, suspenders, and bunny ears. He voiced the best version of Obi in Akagami no Shirayuki with his laid-back attitude and confidence. I guess that’s why he’s cast for Otome games? Anyway, Obi was probably my favourite character from that anime, and he was just such a likeable dork who’s going to lose out in the end. Poor secondary love interest. Speaking of likeable, Rin from Blue Exorcist was fun to watch. Not for the story or anything (since that was lacking at times), Nobu provided a performance that was really enjoyable. He nails Nishinoya’s energetic personality in Haikyuu (”ROLLING THUNDAAAAA”), and he does a good job with Mikorin’s bashfulness and awkwardness in Gekkan Shoujo. Honestly, Mikoshiba is my favourite character in Gekkan Shoujo along with Seo who’s a legend. I haven’t watched Taoru Kagaku no Railgun, but Accelerator looks like such a fun character who I would like. Too bad I couldn’t get myself to like that anime.

Roles | Singing Compilation | Bonus Runniart Compilation Video 

[animeloveworld]

A Review on Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Note: This review is not mine.I have posted this review here because I feel it summarizes the anime Code Geass very well.

However I will be posting my reviews in the future once I get more experience.

This review is taken myanimelist from the reviewer kiriska.

Overall Rating 9

I was incredibly skeptical about Code Geass at first, but I'm very pleased to say that I was greatly surprised.

STORY - Before I saw this series, it was described to me on multiple occasions as "Death Note with mechas." After seeing it, however, I am inclined to disagree. The similarities between the two series are superficial at best, and though I can see why people would draw the comparison, I don't really think that dis/liking one means that you'll dis/like the other. But anyway, unlike Death Note, I wouldn't say that the story in Code Geass is particularly notable or unique. It's actually rather straightforward and even a little cliche, but that's exactly why this is such a well done series -- the barebones storyline is handled in a refreshing and new way that grabs the viewer's attention. There are enough twists and turns involved to keep you on the edge of your seat. The pacing is excellent and nothing feels rushed or drawn out. Indeed, the progression up to the conclusion is especially brilliant. (It's a cliffhanger "ending," but oh, it's just a fantastic cliffhanger.)

The series is also appealing in its uncanny ability to mix genres. Yes, this is a mecha series, but it really doesn't have to be. Yes, CLAMP did the character designs and there are some very shoujo elements (read: homolust), but there are very shounen rivalries and some pretty epic battle scenes too. Everybody wins! Additionally, because of the number of characters, the story allows for a number of small subplots. I was very happy with how this was handled in particular because all of the subplots relate and affect the main plot directly, whether by revealing some bit of information to both the characters and the viewer or by pushing forward interesting character development. Everything is well thought out and wonderfully executed, so despite the fact that "strong-willed person with plans to change the world receives mysterious power that helps facilitate his goals" isn't a very unique storyline... Code Geass makes it work.

Also. Code Geass utilizes the "best friends trying to kill each other" plotline, and I'm a sucker for that plotline.

CHARACTER - The characters in this series are rather varied. Some are very plain and one-dimensional, while others have an amazing complexity to them that makes them very life-like. I'll be honest. I've become somewhat infatuated with Lelouch as a character (and am rather biased as a result). To me, he is very much a human character -- he has emotions, opinions, a unique point of view, and some very serious flaws, all of which make him incredibly easy to relate to and to sympathize with. He is easily the most complex character in the series, and he feels real to me, even with his supernatural powers and his genius-level intellect. This ability to make the audience relate to him is also probably the series' greatest strength and the main reason why the story is able to remain relevant and interesting despite the fact that there aren't too many new ideas plotwise.

Suzaku would probably be second in line for complexity after Lelouch, though his sense of justice might be called cliche at first (along with Nunnally's and Euphemia's), and his hax-level physical prowess is somehow harder to accept than Lelouch's genius-level intelligence. It's harder to appreciate Suzaku's depth at first, partially because he is presented as Lelouch's main obstacle and the audience's sympathies are with Lelouch, but a great deal is revealed about his character throughout the course of the series, and he becomes an amazing foil to his rival. Their conflicting ideologies and philosophies are fascinating if you really look into it, and gay as it sounds, they really do compliment each other very well.

Much of the rest of the cast seems to fall into typical archetypes -- there's your adorable little sister, your mad scientist and his assistant, your cheerful schoolgirls, your best friend, your most loyal soldier, your second-in-command, your village idiot, your... really creepy lesbian girl? Despite the generic-sounding descriptions, most of the characters are actually pretty fun, or at the very least, interesting. C.C. provides snarky commentary. Shirley spreads innocent schoolgirl love. Nunnally is so moe you'll die. Jeremiah is a good butt of all jokes. Little bits of backstory are tossed in here and there to separate them from the crowd, but it's never enough to actually intrude, and the wide range of characters lets you settle into the world pretty well too; after all, what universe is complete without an animal mascot that shows up now and again?

ARTWORK & ANIMATION - I wasn't too impressed with CLAMP's character designs at first (noodleboys!), but as always seems to be the case, they gradually grew on me, and I remembered just how pretty X was. CLAMP just knows how to make everyone look amazingly sexy, male or female. I really loved how they did all of the facial expressions in the series though, especially for Lelouch. Seriously, that guy had some of the most awesome crazy expressions, some of the most amazingly touching sadface expressions, and of course, some of the most amusing WTF expressions. The mecha designs for the Knightmare Frames were also pretty awesome. I dig the whole rollar blade thing, and some of the technologies they come up with are neat, if a little over-the-top. The animation is fluid and smooth for the most part and very few things stood out as being bad.

MUSIC - Initially, I wasn't particularly fond of any of the OP/EDs for Code Geass except the first ending by ALI PROJECT because 1) they're awesome, and 2) Yuki Kajiura's style seemed to suit the series very well. The screaming violins both convey the high status of Britannia and the intensity of the emotions in the series. The rest of the themes seemed lackluster in comparison, but though I was never a huge fan of FLOW, "COLORS" kind of grew on me after a while. The final insert song, "Innocent Days" by Hitomi is pretty nice as well. Very thoughtful, very poignant, very fitting. The background music during the series was negligible for the most part; there is some pretty generic battle build-up type music and other appropriate, but rather typical, themes. Still, there's some neat classical/opera stuff, and the "All hail Brittania!" theme is definitely awesome.

VOICE ACTING - I've seen all of Code Geass subbed and most of it dubbed. Although I was incredibly turned off by Johnny Yong Bosch's role as Lelouch initially, it kind of grew on me, and now I think it fits well enough, though I do wish he'd change his voice a little more when Lelouch is Zero (make it a little deeper?). Suzaku's dub voice surprised me with how appropriate it was too. One of the things I really wish we could replicate in English though, is the subtle differences in manners between characters, between Lelouch and Suzaku at various stages of their lives, and between Lelouch and Zero. In Japanese, when Lelouch and Suzaku are children, they refer to themselves with "boku" and "ore" respectively. As teenagers, the pronouns are swapped, with Lelouch using "ore" (Zero uses "watashi") and Suzaku using "boku." Euphemia uses "watakushi." I'll skip the grammar lesson (go wiki "Japanese pronouns"), but suffice to say that these differences provide a lot of very interesting insight into each of the characters. It's really too bad English isn't nearly as interesting.

The rest of the voices in the dub are pretty average, perhaps the low end of average, with a stereotypically high-pitched girly voice for Nunnally that is amazingly annoying, and very forgettable voices for virtually all the female characters (Milly, Shirley, and Kallen all kind of sound the same). I was very impressed with Lloyd's dub voice though, even if nothing will ever amount to his amazing original voice, which is uh, amazing! Seriously. One of the most amusing voices I've ever heard. Jun Fukuyama's voice for Lelouch I found to be a bit too deep/old sounding initially, but that grew on me as well, and I really love the badassity of his voice for Zero. Suzaku's original voice sounds a little generic at first, but it grows with his character. There's a good bit of Engrish in the Japanese version as well, which is always fun. I don't think you can ever get tired of their "Yes, my lord(o)!" or their "All hail Britannia!"

Overall, I'd say the original is damn awesome, and the dub is pretty watchable -- always a plus, right?

OVERALL - I really love this series, and I definitely did not see that happening. Honestly, I found the first episode incredibly underwhelming: the opening sequence made it look like a series I wouldn't be interested in watching at all, and all of the expository really turned me off...but the second episode? That was so much more epic than I could have ever predicted, and I was pretty much won over after that. I'm just a sucker for chess analogies, I guess! Seriously though, good story, good characters, good animation, and good music! Mechas, politics, rivalry and comradery, strained friendships, love and hate, complex ideologies, and blowing shit up! What more could you want? :D

[tsuminiochiiru]

New Stella Quintet song 「forever forever」

New Stella Quintet song 「forever forever」

Stella Quintet — Kiiyan, Itou Kentarou, Morita Masakazu, Kishio Daisuke and Fukuyama Jun —  will be providing the OP for the Corda 2 ff port to PS Vita, the group’s first song in a long time. Prior to the game’s release, the song will be made available on an event-only CD on sale at the Seiso 6 event September 9-10, 2017 at the Yokohama Pacifico. The price will be 3000 yen including tax.…

[dubstepkazoo]

So I recently finished watching Durarara!!x2.

Yes, I really didn’t get to it until just now.

The original Durarara!! was a fresh, unique anime that improved considerably on the source material by adjusting the pacing, adding entirely new scenes, changing the order in which scenes were presented, and doing a whole slew of other things to produce an exciting story about gang violence and twisted love in a city that’s only a hop, skip, and a jump away from my university. Now, these improvements were CRUCIAL. Durarara has a TON of characters, and it was important to give the viewer time to get to know them, as well as give them time to establish a meaning for themselves and be relevant.

Durarara!!x2 tries to achieve the same result without using the same methods.

But before I talk about that, I want to talk about something I haven’t seen anyone else talk about regarding this series. Ever wonder why the three seasons of DRRR2 are called “Shou,” “Ten,” and “Ketsu?” Well, the standard essay-writing structure taught in Japanese schools is called “ki-shou-ten-ketsu,” just like how American schools teach “intro, body, body, body, conclusion.” The “ki” (presumably represented by the first season of DRRR) is the intro as we know it. The “shou” is a development of the thesis, building upon and substantiating it at the same time. The “ten” is the twist, coming at the topic from a completely different angle and putting your own personal spin on it - for example, proof by contrapositive could happen here. Finally, the “ketsu” is the wrap-up, tying the rest of the essay up into a neat little bow and making the threads of logic all come together. So as part of my discussion of this anime, I think it might be interesting to look at it from this perspective.

Technical details first. The animation isn’t bad, and the few serious fight scenes look good enough. The character models, though, could use some work. They often suffer from Tim Burton Syndrome, especially Egor and Rokujou. As for the music, the only track that really stood out was Ketsu’s OP, which kicks three and a half different kinds of ass (compared to the five kinds of ass kicked by the first season’s OPs and Trust Me). And the voice acting, naturally, was great. What can you expect from a cast that contains both Daisuke Ono and Jun Fukuyama?

If you thought the original DRRR had a lot of characters, you ain’t seen nothing yet. DRRR2 introduces tons of new characters, brings back ones that were retired in the first season (Haruna and Takashi), and even shows us some that were only alluded to before (Izumii). Easily more than the first season’s entire cast. Who, by the way, still stick around. 36 episodes is just not enough to develop all of them adequately and make them all satisfying. And on top of that, some of them are given focus they don’t need. Akabayashi is given an entire flashback episode in Ten, but he’s completely inconsequential throughout the entirety of Ketsu - despite the fact that he’s in its OP. Heck, Ruri Hijiribe remains an important figure throughout Shou, but doesn’t matter at all from then on. She doesn’t even get any screentime in Ketsu except for one short scene. Rather than see the characters for who they are, you start to see them only for what faction they’re in. Where’s this guy from, who’s he working for? What he wants or what he’s like tend not to be explained.

As for the story, Izaya’s plot to throw Ikebukuro into chaos continues. Shou actually opens with a four-episode adaptation of the fourth novel in the series, which actually serves as a very nice reintroduction. It’s been years and years since the first season, and the viewer needs time to readjust to Durarara’s peculiar storytelling. It depicts a (relatively) inconsequential sequence of events told completely out of order. Our old friends get some decent action in, and a few new characters are given some time to shine. It was very welcome.

Anyway, throughout Shou and Ten, various factions gain considerable power. We meet the Toramaru gang, Mikado goes completely off his rocker, the Blue Squares come back, and even the yakuza enter the fray. These two cours create a very distinct feeling that Ikebukuro is reaching its boiling point. Shou provides a steady influx of new info and new gangs to add to the first season’s introductions, and Ten shows us how human traffickers and yakuza throw their wrenches into the youth-dominated underbelly of the city. How, then, does Ketsu tie everything together?

Poorly.

With so many complicated factions and motivations already, it tries to introduce even more characters at the latest hour, seeming to forget that it already has dozens of pre-established characters to keep track of. Remember Sloan? Yeah, me neither. He got one scene in the first episode of Ketsu. So much for his character arc. Mikage? Why should I care about her now when she’s never mattered before? Why should I get attached to Kujiragi if I’ve never seen her before? Ketsu seems to waste too much time on more setup and forget that it has a Byzantine story to bring a satisfying conclusion to. In fact, the big climax to the series starts with a minor character deciding to begin preparing for his endgame. That’s how bad it is. It’ll ignore groups of characters for entire episodes at a time. Something important happens for Celty halfway through Ketsu, but she remains ignored until the very last episode, where she acts as a shameless deus ex machina because Narita couldn’t figure out how to write himself out of the clusterfuck he had created. Remember her scene at the Dollars meeting in the first season? That was awesome. But her big scene here in Ketsu is completely disappointing. To add insult to injury, the series concludes with a perfect return to the status quo, resetting the game board completely. Everyone’s progress toward their goals (except maybe the high schoolers) goes back to zero. Really makes you wonder what you sat through 61 episodes for.

Finally, there’s the theme of twisted love. This comes across loud and clear in the first season and the LNs, but it’s hard to find in DRRR2. Shinra and Celty get a little development on this front, and Seiji and Mika reiterate some of the same points they made in the first season, but other than that, examples of this theme are few and far between. I guess there’s Kasuka and Ruri in Shou, but they only matter for a few episodes, and the assertions made by their relationship end up not mattering in the bigger scheme of the series. In this aspect, the series lost quite a bit of scheme. I foresaw Shinra’s climactic scene from halfway through Ketsu. Come on, guys.

Okay, so I’ve been ripping on this quite a bit. I love ripping on things. But I also found a great deal of enjoyment in DRRR2. Justice porn is abundant, and there’s plenty of DRRR’s special brand of humor to be found. Even the fight scenes are exciting.

My final score for Durarara!!x2 is a five out of ten.

Shou supplemented the first season decently. Ten gave a cute new perspective on Ikebukuro. But Ketsu dropped the ball. It was too focused on being more Durarara, forgetting to be a good conclusion to a long and complicated series.

That said, there’s plenty to enjoy. Shizuo and Varona had a good dynamic going on. Rokujou was a joy to watch. Walker and Erika were hilarious as usual, despite their god-awful taste in LNs.

I believe this anime would have been better if it had been longer. It needed time to develop its army of characters satisfactorily. Some were scrutinized and then thrown away, others were kinda there the whole time without mattering until their big scene in which you were supposed to care about them, and still others were tossed in at the eleventh hour. In order to make this series better without making it smaller-scale, it needed more time. But hey, this is what you get when you try to adapt eight LNs in three cours.

[bamfas]

Lelouch VA Jun Fukuyama Releases His New Music Video "dis-communicate"

Lelouch VA Jun Fukuyama Releases His New Music Video “dis-communicate”

The official website for 40-year-old anime voice actor Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass) has posted a 100-second music video for his third single song “dis-communicate” to be released on April 24. The song will be featured as the OP theme for the forthcoming TV anime adaptation of Yohko Tamotsu’s modern fantasy manga Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin/Midnight Occult Civil Servants, in…

[deathbygruvia]

via MANGA.TOKYO