Singer-songwriter inspired by original manga, Ed & Al's bond to pen song The official website for the live-action film of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga revealed on Tuesday that Misia (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, King of Thorn) will perform the film's theme song "Kimi no Soba ni Iru yo" (I'm By Your Side). A fan of the original manga, the singer-songwriter created the song specifically for the film after being inspired by the story's world and the bond between the brothers Ed and Al. The song's CD single will go on sale on November 29. The film will open the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 25 for its world premiere. The film will then have its wide opening in Japan on December 1. Fumihiko Sori (live-action Ping Pong) is directing the film. The film stars Ryōsuke Yamada (Hey! Say! JUMP member and live-action Assassination Classroom's Nagisa) as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda (live-action Blue Spring Ride's Futaba) as Winry Rockbe

Notes that discussions are ongoing in Kadokawa, Dwango Nobuo Kawakami, the president of Kadokawa Dwango – the parent company of the Japanese media company Kadokawa and the telecommunications company Dwango – posted a response on Tuesday to journalist Yō Kawakami about Kemono Friends director TATSUKI's removal from the anime project on Monday. Kawakami said that he was "worried" about the entire incident, and saying that he recognized the personal effort that TATSUKI poured into the anime. Kawakami further stated that discussions are ongoing in both Kadokawa and Dwango, but that he cannot yet say how the discussions will turn out, as he himself does not have a full grasp on the situation. In addition to heading the Kadokawa Dwango parent company, Kawakami is the chairperson of Dwango. Dwango is itself the parent company of Niwango, which runs the Niconico streaming service where Kemono Friends gained much of its popularity and viewers. TATSUKI mentioned in his messa

Prequel follows 5 chiefs in early days This year's October issue of Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan magazine announced on Monday that the final chapter of Natsume Ono's ACCA 13-Ku Kansatsu-Ka P.S. spinoff manga will run in the next issue on October 25. Ono launched the series as a prequel of her ACCA 13-Ku Kansatsu-Ka (ACCA: 13th Ward Observation Department) manga on December 24. Square Enix released the series' first compiled book volume on May 25. The story focuses on the early days of the five ACCA chiefs. Ono launched the original manga series in Monthly Big Gangan magazine in June 2013 and ended it last October. Yen Press licensed the manga for release in North America. The manga inspired a television anime that premiered in January. The manga is set in a world separated into 13 wards, with each ward having an observation division controlled by the organization known as "ACCA." The story centers on Jean, known as the craftiest member of ACCA. Since she made he

It’s certainly a tough job trying to please the always expanding and picky fans. It is especially difficult to try to accurately bring a comic book costume to the big screen in a live action setting, because sometimes things just don’t translate all that well. The problem lies in the fact that some comic book costumes are really ridiculous and could never look good on any actor. That doesn’t stop fans from complaining when they feel that a comic book costume isn’t accurate enough in the movies. Sometimes, they even complain because the costume is too accurate. Like we said, there’s just no pleasing some fans. RELATED: 15 Actors Who Completely Transformed Their Bodies To Become Super As a film director, costume designer and makeup artist, you can never win because you will always have a portion of the fandom that is working against you, spreading their dislike for the final product all over the world. It is a miracle when the fans are all able to agree that a particular cos

The official Twitter account for the anime of the honeybee black label's DYNAMIC CHORD otome project revealed a new visual for its in-universe group apple-polisher on Monday. The rock band centers on the guitarist UK and has been performing not just in Japan, but globally. The members mix dance numbers and rock, and are currently popular among middle and high schoolers. The project follows the musical careers and personal lives of several bands under the "Dynamic Chord" agency and music label. The staff have already revealed visuals for the other three groups: Kyosho, Liar-S, Shigenori Kageyama (Himawari!, Hi-Speed Jecy) is directing the anime at Pierrot, and is also in charge of series composition and penning the scripts alongside Kyōko Katsuya. Yasuomi Umetsu (Kite, Galilei Donna, Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil) is designing the characters. Akemi Nagao (Star Driver the Movie, Gundam Build Fighters) is in charge of color design, and Hiromi Sasaki (Samurai Bride, Soul

Manga began in 2010; adapts TV anime, OVA, manga, novels This year's November issue of Kadokawa's Gundam Ace magazine, which shipped on Tuesday, teased the next chapter of Tomofumi Ogasawara's Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers manga as the "plunge into the final battle just before the climax." The word "climax" written in the phonetic katakana alphabet often refers to the final chapter of a manga. Gundam Wing: The Glory of Losers launched in Kadokawa's Gundam Ace magazine in September 2010 as an adaptation of the 1995 Gundam Wing television anime. It incorporates elements from the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVA, Gundam Wing: Episode Zero manga, and Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop novel series. Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop began serialization in Gundam Ace one month before Gundam Wing: The Glory of Losers. Ogasawara draws the manga and Gundam Wing writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa is credited with the scenario. Kadokawa will publish the 13th compiled volume

Crunchyroll to host N. American premiere on Friday Crunchyroll began streaming an English-subtitled version of the second promotional video for the television anime adaptation of Light's Dies irae adult visual novel on Monday. The series will premiere in Japan at night on Friday, October 6 at 1:05 a.m. (effectively Saturday morning) on Tokyo MX. It will also air on BS11 on Monday nights and stream simultaneously on Abema TV and other Japanese streaming services. The series will have 18 episodes: 12 that will air on TV and six that will stream online. Crunchyroll will stream the series worldwide outside of Asia, and Funimation will stream an English dub. Crunchyroll will host the North American premiere of the first episode at Anime Weekend Atlanta on Friday. The anime will feature the following mostly returning cast: Kousuke Toriumi as Ren Fujii Yui Sakakibara as Marie Ayaka Fukuhara as Kasumi Ayase Hitomi Nabatame as Rea Himuro Takeshi Maeda as Shirou Yu

When talking about DC Comics, it’s impossible to do so without mentioning their two biggest characters: Batman and Superman. Also being two of their oldest superheroes, we are familiar with their stories and comics and have been for several decades now. Their trials, struggles, and powers (or lack thereof) make them interesting, and they’ll probably never go out of style. Now that DC is pushing the DCEU and incorporating these two titans, we get to see different interpretations of them once again. While so far, the reception for the universe has been mixed, there is a strong light at the end of the tunnel with the upcoming Justice League and The Batman movies (however far down the line the latter may be). RELATED: Earth’s Dankiest Heroes: 17 Hilarious MCU Memes You Need To See Because of how big these two characters are though, there’s another art form that has taken them in with open arms: memes. These little snippets are an easy way to instil humor, as they’re extreme

Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Blu-Ray - Part 3 Synopsis: With Majin Buu's latent evil now in full control, turning him into a “Super” Buu, humanity's population has dwindled to a select few. It's up to Gotenks and Piccolo to fight him off from within the Hyperbolic Time Chamber just long enough for Gohan, Goku, and others to return to the world of the living and offer their support. But even in the best case scenario, their enemy continues to grow stronger. The Final Chapters rage on toward the conclusion of the epic Buu saga. Review: Synopsis: With Majin Buu's latent evil now in full control, turning him into a “Super” Buu, humanity's population has dwindled to a select few. It's up to Gotenks and Piccolo to fight him off from within the Hyperbolic Time Chamber just long enough for Gohan, Goku, and others to return to the world of the

What's the best way to organize society? How much power should be vested in the general population versus an elite leadership? And how should people be educated as to their best interests and true capabilities? Political philosophers have been mulling over these questions for millennia, but they've only recently found expression in humankind's most intellectually refined medium – anime. Seriously though, there's a longstanding (if fairly limited) tradition of anime turning their eyes toward issues of social organization. This list includes classics like Legend of the Galactic Heroes (the saga of a war between two decaying states and the individuals trying to rejuvenate them) as well as modern fare like Psycho-Pass (an examination of what society could look like under the sway of predictive analytics) and even the infamously irreverent Danganronpa franchise (which contains a surprisingly extensive critique of what elitism does to people). It's uncommon, but there is precedent fo

A long-time employee at Bandai Namco Entertainment, Yosuke Tomizawa is best known as the producer for the God Eater franchise. The God Eater games feature co-op multiplayer monster hunting within a story-focused experience. He is currently working on a new game, Code:Vein, which applies a similar aesthetic to a different genre, a Dark Souls-style coupling of environmental exploration and challenging real-time combat. Tomizawa recently sat down with us to discuss his work on God Eater and Code Vein. Compared to jobs such as director and writer, most people don't have a concrete idea of what a producer's job entails. In light of this, could you tell us a little bit about your role on God Eater? TOMIZAWA: God Eater turns seven this year, and I've been producer for all that time, but now I am the general producer. For the next God Eater project, I'm working overview for the game overall, and my team is responsible for putting it together, as a producer. However, I'm not only doin

.answerman-question { font-family: Courier, Courier New, monospace; padding-right: 7%; padding-left: 7%; line-height: 16px; } Bunny asked: Sailor Moon's new musical cast were guests at a state anime convention, but I don't see it getting much further than that. We only have fansubs as a source, but I'd like to support it legally. I was wondering what would it take to also have stage musicals licensed for home release? I would really be happy to see if some of these productions available to overseas fans like myself. It's true that the various anime stage musicals have Western fans. What nobody seems to be able to answer is, how many? And beyond that, how passionate about these musicals are they... in terms of willingness to spend money? It's really hard to answer those questions. From what I can tell, the Western fanbase for these musicals seems to be very small, based on the number of people I see talking about them, the amount they pop up in conversation on Twitter and on

body.mobile-mode-1 #anncast, body.mobile-mode-1 #anncast>tbody, body.mobile-mode-1 #anncast>tbody>tr, body.mobile-mode-1 #anncast>tbody>tr>td { display:block; } body.mobile-mode-1 #anncast .logo { width:220px; height:220px; } body.mobile-mode-0 #anncast .logo { width:350px; height:350px; margin:0px 5px; } ANNCast Episode 306 - Nap Squad Zac and Jacob tackle Kenji Kamiyama's Napping Princess, plus the end of summer anime, new movies, and plenty of your questions! You can listen to the show on our player here, direct-download the MP3 version here, check out the show on Stitcher here, and we're also on Google Play Music right here, or you can just use these handy links: Click here to subscribe to our show in iTunes! RSS feed(for other software) Also: if you like the show (or don't like the show, I guess) be sure to write us up a review over on iTunes! It'd be a big help! NSFW Language Warning: A little! Unhelpful, Inadequate ANNCast Epi

Synopsis: "Neo Yokio... is the greatest city in the world. It is the most populous, urban agglomeration in North America, but its prestige does not merely stem from its size. From Bronx Prefecture to the aquatic elements of Battery Park, Neo Yokio is a diverse labyrinth of cultural and architectural innovation. No wonder we play host to many of the planet's most prestigious events. Of course, whenever a city becomes the envy of the world, problems are bound to arise..." So says Charles, state of the art mecha and high-tech butler to Kaz Kaan, Neo Yokio's foremost exorcist and top-ranked eligible bachelor. Kaz is a “magistocrat,” a well-heeled wizard who specializes in exorcisms, but he's constantly distracted from his demon-hunting by his obsessions with fashion, field hockey, and romance. Will he live up to his title and be the best-looking, most desirable, and most skilled demon hunte

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime GN 1 Synopsis: 37-year-old Satoru Mikami has never had luck with the ladies, but he's otherwise led a decent life. When he gets fatally stabbed while trying to protect a coworker couple from a knife-wielding assailant, he finds himself in a new form where he can neither see nor hear nor smell; only a voice in his mind supposedly belonging to the Unique Skill Great Sage (which allows him to analyze anything he encounters) gives him any perspective. He soon concludes that he has been reincarnated in a fantasy world as a slime, a reality confirmed by an encounter with a dragon. By cutting a deal with the dragon to gain skills from other creatures he encounters, he's soon able to become formidable enough to start increasing his status in the world. He also learns that his “fated one” is a well-known hero who, based on her name, may also originally be from J

The transition from manga to anime isn't always a seamless process. Projects hire character designers to reinterpret static artwork into something that can be animated in a manageable way. This can mean losing detail or streamlining a unique art style, like Shinobu Shinotsuki's art for Saga of Tanya the Evil's anime adaptation. In a perfect world, these changes lead to a better-looking production overall, but that doesn't mean fans always appreciate the shift in style. Pokémon Sun & Moon You can read Callum May's detailed editorial about design changes to the long-running Pokémon anime over the years, but none of the slight aesthetic changes from each season garnered the amount of backlash as the currently airing Sun & Moon. The simpler, rounder approach was immediately rejected as too goofy and unattractive by a vocal portion of the fanbase. Many of these points were reiterated when Misty & Brock returned for a short episode arc and were also redesigned to match th

Platinum End GN 2 Synopsis: Having come to terms with possessing his own angel, Mirai is now finally getting closer to his crush Saki—as her loyal servant. Apparently Saki is also a candidate for godhood, and before Mirai can fight back, he's been caught under her spell by her angel's red arrow. But even if Mirai can somehow overcome this betrayal, there's still the threat of a god candidate who seems to be styling himself as some kind of superhero. When the angelically blessed Metropoliman calls all the candidates to face him, will Mirai be able to survive the fallout? Review: Synopsis: Having come to terms with possessing his own angel, Mirai is now finally getting closer to his crush Saki—as her loyal servant. Apparently Saki is also a candidate for godhood, and before Mirai can fight back, he's been caught under her spell by her angel's red arr

Chihayafuru BD+DVD - Season 1 Premium Edition Synopsis: Chihaya Ayase has one goal in life—to become the Queen of karuta, the title given to the best female karuta player in Japan. So when she enters high school, she's determined to start a karuta club to share her love of the fast-paced card-matching game, which requires memorizing 100 classical Japanese poems. After some cajoling, she manages to get four other students to join, including her childhood friend Taichi. Together, the five challenge themselves to become better players, squaring off against seasoned opponents and even national champions. Meanwhile, Chihaya's friend Arata, who originally sparked her interest in karuta, struggles to push aside personal issues to embrace the game once again and work toward his own dream of being a karuta master. Review: Synopsis: Chihaya Ayase has one goal

We've got a pretty wide variety of new releases this week, which means we also have a whole lot of options to explore. Let's jump right into it! Welcome to Shelf Life. Jump to this week's review: Fruits Basket On Shelves This Week Crusher Joe - OVA Collection DVD Discotek - 120 min - Hyb - MSRP $19.95Currently cheapest at: $12.97 Right Stuf Synopsis: Joe and his Crusher team tackle a variety of dangerous missions, including rescuing prisoners from an asteroid and battling armed insurrectionists. Extra: While we don't have any review coverage of this pair of OVA episodes, you can read my thoughts on the related movie here. Dance with Devils - Complete Collection BD+DVD Funimation - 300 min - Hyb - MSRP $64.98Currently cheapest at: $47.28 Amazon Synopsis: High school student Ritsuka Tachibana's ordinary life is changed forever when she discovers that several of her classmates are actually demons. Extra: You'll find episode reviews for this series here, and it's a

Manga adapts this year's anime film This year's November issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine announced on Tuesday that Kōtarō Sekine's BLAME! Denki Ryōshi Kiki Kaisō Dasshutsu Sakusen manga will reach its "last battle" in the next issue on October 26. Sekine launched the manga in April. It adapts the Blame! anime film, which is itself an adaptation of Tsutomu Nihei's Blame! manga. The film opened on May 20 for a limited two-week engagement in Japan, and it also begin streaming exclusively on Netflix worldwide on the same day. Nihei supervised the manga adaptation. The film's official site describes the all-new story: In the distant technological future, civilization has reached its ultimate Net-based form. An "infection" in the past caused the automated systems to spiral out of order, resulting in a multi-leveled city structure that replicates itself infinitely in all directions. Now humanity has lost access to the city's controls, and is hunted down