The Island of Giant Insects English Dub Kickstarter Casts Michaela Laws

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The Kickstarter crowdfunding page for the English dub of the The Island of Giant Insects anime film has announced that the project has cast Michaela Laws as Emiko Miyazono.

The project attempted a previous Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, but fell short of its 8,500,000-yen (about US$80,000) goal. The project launched a “Round 2” campaign in July 2020 that has a lower 4,000,000-yen (about US$38,000) goal that will end on September 1, 2020. As of this writing, the campaign has raised 3,500,443 yen (about US$33,000).

Some of the extras promoted in the first attempt are now stretch goals in the Round 2 campaign. The campaign also includes new merchandise such as character goods available as backer rewards.

Backing tiers have been reorganized, with a new tier that allows a backer to potentially voice the female character Nozawa, and another tier for a mixed-gender group of backers to voice extras. Additionally, an existing tier allows a backer to voice the male character Akira. The Nozawa and Akira voice-acting tiers are filled, and only one backer slot is still available to voice extras.

Source: ANN

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Joins Genius Brands’ Kartoon Channel

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Following the June 15, 2020 launch of its new free digital Kartoon Channel! across multiple AVOD and OTT platforms, and the subsequent debut of its first COPPA-compliant Apple iOS app to 5-star ratings, Genius Brands International continues to build its premium offering of entertaining and enriching family-friendly content on Kartoon Channel! with the acquisition of approximately 230 new episodes of programming, including the #1 rated anime phenomenon, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, based on the trading card game from Konami.

“Led by Yu-Gi-Oh!, these new program acquisitions truly showcase the quality and diversity of content we are striving to bring to young audiences discovering the Kartoon Channel! and offer opportunities for a wide range of ad partners to drive revenue for the channel,” said Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward. “We are extremely proud of the rapid expansion of Kartoon Channel! and the positive responses we are receiving from kids and especially parents, who feel we are providing a safe destination for their kids’ entertainment. Our reach now extends to over 100M U.S. television households and over 200M mobile devices; we have our first iOS app which has thousands of positive reviews and 5-star ratings, and we have new apps launching on Android, Roku and Amazon Fire, with the same interface as on iOS. And, we are continually looking for unique ways to fill our offering with the best children’s programming in the marketplace, with titles such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, Babar, Angry Birds, Roblox, and our upcoming Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten. This is just the beginning of our mission to build what I like to call the FREE ‘Netflix for Kids’.”

In addition to the 148×22′ episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V now being offered on Kartoon Channel!, Genius Brands has also licensed the English language rights to 25×4′ episodes and Spanish language rights to 5×30′ episodes of YouTube sensation My Dog Chocolo, from Productora Atiempo Ltda., which has over four million subscribers and more than three million daily views and a total of over two billion views. The Company has also acquired 52×11′ episodes of the 3-D comedy series Invention Story from Mondo TV, which follows a quirky fox inventor who tries to fit into Carrot Town, a place full of rabbits—hopefully winning them over with his big heart and his amazing gadgets; and 26×22′ episodes of Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog from Muse Entertainment, a series which encourages science exploration and teamwork—by thinking, linking and deducing, kids can be entertained and learn while solving the puzzles and problems of Alfred’s mysterious world.

The Kartoon Channel! and the new complementary iOS app offer access to a wide variety of Genius Brands original and acquired family-friendly content, with more added daily, including Babar, Angry Birds, Stan Lee’s Mighty7, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Baby Einstein, Baby Genius, Llama Llama shorts, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, and more. Additionally, Genius Brands is adding more family-friendly gaming content, including Minecraft’s Journey to the End and Fairy Horse Quest, Octodad, PixArk, and Big B Roblox Challenge, from Tankee. Genius Brands will also premiere on Kartoon Channel! the upcoming comedy-adventure series, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, currently in pre-production and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon Channel! in Q1 2021.

In addition to the iOS mobile app, Kartoon Channel! can be accessed via Apple TV Devices, Android (mobile devices), Android TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku Devices, Xumo, Comcast, Cox, Dish, and Sling. The iOS app will be the model for the other platforms and will be rolled out across them. For more information on where to watch Kartoon Channel!, please visit https://www.kartoonchannel.com/where-to-watch

Tubi TV Is Now Streaming the Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Tubi TV is now streaming the Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up anime.

The series is based on the 1973 manga by Go Nagai, and this 2011 anime has twelve episodes. NIS America picked up and released the series in 2012.

About Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up:

Meet the Demon Patrol: a hotheaded demon prince; a sultry, half-naked ice princess; a lusty frog-demon spy; a talking wizard hat… plus a little girl shows up. This rag-tag group has been charged with the protection of Earth from a multitude of demons who would love nothing more than to bring their world crashing down around them. They’ll face off against a vengeful squid, a somnambulant kittycat, a pot full of snakes, a night-stalking deciduous, a hater of crotches, and even a literal butthead. Descend into an unreality filled with pratfalls, lewd behavior, and enough obscure cultural jetsam to drown us all.

Source: The Fandom Post

HIDIVE to Stream the Demon City Shinjuku OVA and the English Dub of The Demon Girl Next Door Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

HIDIVE has announced that it will begin streaming the Demon City Shinjuku anime in Japanese with English subtitles and an English dub on August 17, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. EDT in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company also announced that it will begin streaming the English dub of The Demon Girl Next Door anime on August 27, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

Sentai Filmworks acquired the digital rights to the Demon City Shinjuku anime.

The Demon Girl Next Door anime aired from July to September 2019. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime and simulcast it on HIDIVE as it aired in Japan.

Source: ANN

Kyoto Animation to Produce the Second Season for the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Anime for 2021 Debut

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The official website for the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid anime has announced that the second season will premiere in 2021 with Kyoto Animation returning on production. The season is titled Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S, with “S” standing for “Super Supreme Second life Starts.”

The Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga announced the second season of the anime in February 2019 in its eighth volume.

The first season of the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid anime premiered in Japan in January 2017. Crunchyroll simulcast the series as it aired in Japan, and FUNimation Entertainment streamed an English dub.

Source: ANN

Star-Crossed!! Manga to End in September 2020

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The official website for Kodansha’s Bessatsu Friend magazine has announced that Junko’s Star-Crossed!! (Wota Doru: Oshi ga Watashi de Watashi ga Oshi de) manga will end in the magazine’s October 2020 issue on September 12, 2020.

Junko launched the manga in June 2019.

Kodansha Comics began publishing the manga digitally on March 24, 2020, and will publish the manga in print starting in February 2021.

Source: ANN

Mitama Security: Spirit Busters Manga Ends

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

This year’s combined 36th and 37th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has published the final chapter of Tsurun Hatomune’s Mitama Security: Spirit Busters (Mitama SecuREIty) manga. The manga will have a bonus spin-off chapter on the Shonen Jump+ website and app on August 31, 2020.

Hatomune launched the manga in September 2019.

VIZ Media as well as Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service are both publishing the manga in English.

Source: ANN

Tite Kubo’s Four Chapter Burn the Witch Manga to Debut on August 24, 2020

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

This year’s combined 36th and 37th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has announced that Tite Kubo’s new Burn the Witch manga will have four total chapters, and will debut in the magazine in its 38th issue on August 24, 2020. VIZ Media will publish the manga in English.

The manga is a short serialization based on the one-shot manga of the same name that first debuted in July 2018. VIZ Media published the chapter in English digitally on the same day in its digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, then added the original one-shot manga to its English Shonen Jump service in March 2020.

The one-shot takes place in the same world as Kubo’s Bleach manga.

Source: ANN

Marlon Stodghill, Kawaii Kon Co-Founder, Passes Away

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

Voice actor Christopher Sabat and anime convention Anime Weekend Atlanta both reported on Twitter on August 8, 2020 that Marlon Stodghill, a founder and Chairman for many anime conventions in the United States, passed away.

A GoFundMe campaign for Stodghill that opened on July 18, 2020 stated that he was fighting cancer and was in the ICU. The GoFundMe campaign stated that he had insurance, and the campaign was accepting donations for the Cancer Research Institute.

According to Stodghill’s LinkedIn page, he was the owner of Gamers Evolution Expo, LLC from 2004 to 2013. The corporation founded the Kawaii Kon event in Hawaii. Kawaii Kon held its first event in 2005. He was also the Chairman of the Anime Crossroads event in Indianapolis from 2008-2013.

Stodghill is also listed as a founder of the Izumicon convention. The event was held yearly in Oklahoma between 2007 and 2017.

Stodghill is listed as becoming the Chairman of AWA LLC, which runs the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention, in May 2013. He is also listed as the former marketing director and as a PR admin for the convention.

Source: ANN

Shueisha Cancels the Publication of the act-age Manga

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

The official Twitter account for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine has announced on Twitter that storywriter Tatsuya Matsuki and artist Shiro Usazaki’s act-age manga is canceled. The chapter that will appear in the magazine’s combined 36th and 37th issue, which will ship on August 11, 2020, will be the final chapter.

Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service has announced that it will not publish the final chapter on its platform. The service also provided a full English statement, which is a translation of the Japanese statement from the Shonen Jump Editorial Department:

Matsuki Tatsuya, the writer of act-age was arrested on August 8, 2020.

The editorial department takes this situation very seriously, and after confirming the matter and discussing it with Shiro Usazaki Sensei, the artist for the series, we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to continue with its serialization. The chapter that is in combined issue 36/37 of Weekly Shonen Jump will be the final chapter.

It is extremely unfortunate to have to end a series that has received so much support from so many readers in this way. However, this decision was made because of the nature of the incident, and because Weekly Shonen Jump recognizes the weight of its social responsibility.

We offer our deepest regrets and apologies to our readers. This is a difficult time for Usazaki Sensei, but the editorial department offers Usazaki Sensei our support and encouragement for future works.

Information about graphic novel volumes and related publications and events will be announced as they are decided.

Matsuki and Usazaki launched the act-age manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in January 2018.

NHK reported on August 8, 2020 that Matsuki was arrested on suspicion of committing an indecent act with a female middle school student.

Source: ANN