Tubi TV Adds the Jungle de Ikou Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The Fandom Post is reporting that Tubi TV has added the Jungle de Ikou anime to its service. The episodes are available with both the original Japanese audio and the English dub.

The 1997 OVA series was directed by Yuji Moriyama, and was based on scripts by Haruo Takayama and Yousuke Kuroda. It was animated by Chaos Production with Studio Fantasia.

The story of Jungle de Ikou is described as:

When her archeologist father excavates an ancient temple, beautiful Natsumi receives a powerful necklace and embarks on a series of fanservice-filled magical adventures with a little creature named Ongo and Nami, a shy girl with strange magical powers. Together, they set out to save the world from a 2,000 year old evil god of destruction.

Source: The Fandom Post

Sentai Filmworks Licenses the Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The Fandom Post is reporting that Sentai Filmworks has acquired the license for the Happy-Go-Lucky Days anime film. The license includes home video and streaming rights in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Greenland, Faroe and Aland Islands, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Central America and South America (including Latin America).

As part of the announcement, Sentai revealed that Happy-Go-Lucky Days will begin streaming on HIDIVE on December 10, 2020. A home video release and additional digital distribution will be coming at a later time.

The film was directed by Takuya Sato, based on the screenplay they co-wrote with Yoriko Tomita. Haruka Sagawa handled the character designs while LIDEN Films Kyoto Studio is handling the animation production.

Source: The Fandom Post

Anime OVA Review: Love Hina: Christmas Movie

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Love Hina: Christmas Movie is an OVA released for the Love Hina anime franchise in Japan.

Love Hina: Christmas Movie
English Publisher: Bandai Entertainment
Format: DVD
Release Date: December 3, 2002

As the title states, this OVA is set during the Christmas season. There’s a rumor going around that if you make a wish on Christmas Eve that it will come true, and this plays an important part in the story.

While snooping around for presents, Kaolla and Sara discover a letter as part of a present in Naru’s room. While quickly scanning the contents, they pick up on the word “love” and assume that the present is meant for Keitaro. They share this information with the other tenants at Hinata Apartments, and this affects Shinobu the most since she has had a crush on Keitaro for quite a while at this point in the franchise. At one point, she blurts out to Keitaro about the gift and that Naru is in love with him.

After Keitaro injures his leg, he blurts out to Naru that he’s in love with her. She quickly leaves to go home and stays away for a few days. When she comes back, it’s Christmas Eve, as well as the day of the practice test for the Tokyo University entrance exam. Keitaro, Naru, and Matsumi take the exam, and the others at the Hinata Apartments watch to see Naru give Keitaro the present… but things don’t go as planned, and hijinks ensue.

The climax of the OVA sees Keitaro and Naru only having five minutes remaining to share their true feelings and have their Christmas Eve wish come true.

It had been a while since I watched the Love Hina anime, so it was helpful that Love Hina: Christmas Movie worked at reminding the audience who the various characters are and their personalities. It didn’t feel quite so jarring that way.

Overall, this OVA fits into the feel of the overall Love Hina franchise, but it also utilizes some of the usual rom com tropes in its storytelling. But do they really have practice tests for school entrance exams for Japanese schools on Christmas Eve? That’s one thing that I’m not whether it rings true or not, or if it’s a contrivance.

I also liked the idea of Keitaro having a secret job during the holiday season in order to make some extra money. I especially liked seeing the reason why he was trying to make that money, because it becomes an important plot point later in the OVA.

When it comes to this DVD release, there are a couple of bonus features included. One is the textless ending for Love Hina: Christmas Movie. The other is Episode 25 of the Love Hina anime. Episode 25 was later included on FUNimation Entertainment’s box set release of the Love Hina anime. So if you have the FUNimation set, the inclusion of this bonus feature doesn’t gain you anything. Packaged in the DVD box is a Love Hina 2003 calendar.

It’s not a bad Christmas themed OVA, but it will definitely only really be of interest to viewers who have already watched the Love Hina anime series.

Additional posts about Love Hina:

Crunchyroll Adds the 2001 Boogiepop Phantom Anime to Its Catalog

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Crunchyroll has announced that it has added the 2001 Boogiepop Phantom anime to its catalog. The complete series is available now for users in the United States and Canada.

The story of Boogiepop Phantom is described as:

Five years ago, a string of grisly murders shook the city to its core. Now terror has returned, and this time it has a name: Boogiepop. Everyone knows about Boogiepop: death incarnate, she stalks the night in search of fresh victims. Meet her, and you simply… vanish. In the darkness, glass shatters and time stands still. There’s something out there, and it’s coming closer. Are you safe?

Source: Crunchyroll

Hulu Adds the Lupin the 3rd: Part Five Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The Fandom Post is reporting that Hulu is adding both the subtitled and dubbed versions of the Lupin the 3rd: Part Five anime to its service. Previously, the series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Yuuichirou Yano directed the anime based on the series composition by Ichiro Okouchi. Hisao Yokobori worked on the character designs and Telecom Animation Film handled the animation.

The Lupin III franchise is described as:

Arsène Lupin III is the grandson of world-famous thief Arsène Lupin, and he’s living up to his grandfather’s memory as a high-profile thief himself. Due to his infamy, Lupin III attracts the attention of the persistent Inspector Zenigata of the ICPO, as well as rival criminals. Lupin III’s criminal lifestyle even seeps into his love life. The main woman in Lupin III’s world is femme fatale Fujiko Mine, who Lupin III can never tell is working with or against him. Follow Lupin and his gunman partner Daisuke Jigen on their quest to own the world－or at least the valuable bits.

Source: The Fandom Post

FUNimation Entertainment to Debut the One Piece TV Series on Blu-ray Disc With Season 11

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

FUNimation Entertainment has announced that it will release Season 11 Voyage One (episodes 629-641) of the One Piece television anime series on Blu-ray Disc. This is the first Blu-ray Disc release for the main television series. The company previously released One Piece films and television specials on Blu-ray Disc. FUNimation has not announced a release date for the home video release.

The release will include English subtitles and the English dub, as well as the voice actor panel from FunimationCon 2020.

FUNimation most recently released Season 10 Voyage Three for the One Piece anime on DVD on November 10, 2020, and is scheduled to release Voyage Four on DVD on January 5, 2021.

Source: ANN

Manga Creator Shinji Mizushima Retires

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Mizushima Production, the talent agency of manga creator Shinji Mizushima, announced that Mizushima retired on December 1, 2020. Mizushima stated, “I have been working hard for 63 years up until today, but now I have decided to retire. I pray from the bottom of my heart for development in the worlds of manga and baseball.”

Mizushima’s Dokaben manga about a high school baseball club began in 1972 in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine.

The original manga inspired a 163-episode anime and a live-action film. Mizushima followed the manga with the sequel Dai Koshien, which also features characters from Mizushima’s other manga. The next sequels to debut were Dokaben Pro Yakyu-hen (Pro Baseball Arc) and Dokaben Superstars-hen. Dokaben: Dream Tournament-henDokaben: Dream Tournament-hen, the final arc, began in 2012. The Dokaben: Dream Tournament-hen manga ended in Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in June 2018.

Mizushima received the Japanese government’s Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette award for contributions to entertainment and culture in 2014.

Source: ANN

Manga Planet Licenses Eleven Josei Manga from Shodensha Publishing

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Manga Planet announces the license acquisition of the following josei manga titles* from Shodensha Publishing:

  • Teiji ni Agaretara by Ayu Inui
  • Madoka no Himitsu by Deme Kingyobachi
  • Hitogoto Desu Kara! By Yuni
  • Haguchi-san by Qurappe
  • Kimi ga Dokodemo Koi wa Koi by sajimakatana
  • Strawberry Canyon by Hiromi Sakuta
  • Tsuki to Suppin by Yu Akegata
  • How are you? by Yamamoto Miki
  • Karasu no Itoshi Kyoto Meshi by uota minami
  • 10sai Shita no Kare Dakedo by Nagi Sawara
  • Hiizurutokoro no Snack by Rena Yamamoto

*English titles and release dates to be announced later.

The first chapters of these Shodensha titles will be available for free in the Manga Planet Library. Subscribers to the Library get to read the succeeding chapters in addition to other manga titles from Thirdline, SOZO Comics, Tokuma Shoten, Home-sha, Inc., LEED Publishing Co., Ltd., San-Ei Corporation, WANIBOOKS Co., Ltd., SHONENGAHOSHA, Parsola Inc., and by mangaka Masaya Hokazono and Nakashima723.

futekiya Licenses the Pink Heart Jam Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Fantasista, Inc.’s futekiya boys-love manga subscription service has announced that it has licensed Shikke’s Pink Heart Jam manga from Home-sha as its first simulpub BL manga. The service will add the manga’s first two chapters on December 24, 2020, the same day that the second chapter debuts in Shueisha’s Mellow Kiss digital magazine in Japan. Subsequent chapters will launch simultaneously with the Japanese release.

futekiya describes the story of Pink Heart Jam as:

Country boy Haiga has many questions he wants to learn the answers to when he moves to the city for university. One of them happens to be, “do I like guys, too?” When his upperclassmen dare him to check out a box spa behind Shinjuku’s Nichoume District, Haiga uses this opportunity to find out the answer to his question – and runs into his senior Kanae, who has one simple solution for him – clothes, off!

The first chapter will be available for free on the service.

Source: ANN

Haikyu!! To The Top: Episode 22 – “Pitons”

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

This episode begins with Karasuno in the lead by two points. Early in the episode, we get to see Heisuke from Inarizaki get some focus. Earlier in this season, he was shown as simply being an average player, and we see here that he wants to do more than something average. He gets the chance to serve the ball, and he makes an impressive serve that excites not only his team, but the commentators as well. He gets one more good serve in before Karasuno cuts him off. But we get to see his excitement at doing something more than “just average.” I should mention that before Heisuke goes out on the court, we see Inarizaki’s coach give him some good words of advice. We really hadn’t seen that up to now with this coach, because he tended to come off with a more cold exterior, so it was nice to see this brief scene help “humanize” him somewhat.

I thought it was interesting to note that during a time out, Daichi comes to the realization that Inarizaki’s cheer squad acts a lot like the guy with sideburns who came to some of Karasuno’s earlier matches. He was the guy who would cheer when the team made great plays, and boo the team when plays didn’t go well. I hadn’t thought about the guy with sideburns when seeing Inarizaki’s reactions throughout this match, but when Daichi said this and I saw a flashback of the guy with sideburns, I thought, “Daichi’s right.”

As the episode continues, though, Inarizaki starts turning things around by making impressive plays. Karasuno seems like they’re starting to feel a little deflated, but then Hinata makes it onto the court. At a crucial moment, Hinata does something unexpected… he perfectly receives a ball that seemed like it was going to give Inarizaki a point. Not only that, but Hinata’s receive was perfect. I loved all the shocked reactions on the faces of his teammates, and it was even sweeter to see how this one unexpected receive helped to lift Karasuno’s spirits.

Unfortunately, this euphoria was short-lived. The next play becomes a major rally, with neither side wanting to give ground. I loved how intense this got, though. As a viewer, I could feel the tension and I was riveted and getting into what I was watching. I was audibly reacting to Karasuno’s plays. Everything about this final play of the episode was perfect: the writing, the action, even the animation. Let’s just say that even though the final result was disappointing, Hinata ended up being the cure that Karasuno needed.

It looks like this final set is going to end up being a nail biter. Karsuno started out in the lead, and now Inarizaki has turned it around. Can Karasuno turn things back around and win this final set? This is the third and final set, so everything hinges on the result of this. I expect the tension will be high in these final episodes of the season, and I’m looking forward to how this set continues to be played.

Additional posts about Haikyu!!: