Say what you like about Macross 7, it sticks to its guns from beginning to end with a consistency of tone and intention that’s admirable. ― Compared to watching modern anime's shorter single-season lengths, completing a watch-through of Macross 7's fifty-two episodes feels like a real achievement. Forty-nine of those were broadcast on TV weekly, without a break, from October 2004 until September 2005...

news

4 comments

Toaru Anbu no Item Spinoff Novels Get TV Anime

Feb 16, 11:40

4 comments

anime

Ami Koshimizu, Aya Suzaki, Maaya Uchida, Chinatsu Akasaki star in series ― The YouTube channel for the franchise based on Kazuma Kamachi's A Certain Magical Index light novel series announced in a teaser video on Sunday Toaru Anbu no ITEM (A Certain ITEM of the Dark Side; "ITEM" formed from "Shōjo Kyōsei" or coexisting girls), the latest novel series in the franchise, will get an anime adaptation. Th...

news

22 comments

A Certain Scientific Railgun Anime Gets 4th Season

Feb 16, 11:01

22 comments

anime

Tatsuyuki Nagai returns to direct at J.C. Staff ― The YouTube channel for the franchise based on Kazuma Kamachi's A Certain Magical Index light novel series announced in a teaser video on Sunday that A Certain Scientific Railgun anime will get a fourth season "soon." Returning cast members include: Rina Satō as Mikoto Misaka Satomi Arai as Kuroko Shirai Aki Toyosaki as Kazari Uiharu Kanae Itō as Ruik...

review

6 comments

Your Forma Volumes 1-3 Novel Review

Feb 15, 12:00

6 comments

novels

Your Forma’s first three volumes are, on the whole, excellent. A perfect blend of science fiction and mystery, the stories deal with strong plots and characters that are constantly growing. ― Mystery as a genre doesn't always intersect well with speculative areas of fiction like fantasy or sci-fi. Most people will tell you that's because mystery is rooted in logic and fact-finding, things that can be...

news

6 comments

Land of the Lustrous Manga Wins Japanese Science-Fiction Writers' Grand Prize

Feb 15, 08:52

6 comments

manga

Nihon SF Taishō also honor manga creator Kazuo Umezu, translator Haruya Sumiya, novelist Hiroshi Yamamoto, Kenrei Miyanishi's short stories ― The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ) announced on Saturday that Haruko Ichikawa's Land of the Lustrous manga has won the grand prize in the group's 45th Nihon SF Taishō Awards. In addition, Kenrei Miyanishi won the special prize for the short s...

news

27 comments

Bocchi the Rock! Anime Gets 2nd Season With New Director

Feb 15, 07:38

27 comments

anime

Yūsuke Yamamoto helms season at Cloverworks with returning writer Erika Yoshida ― The "Kessoku Band Tour 'We will B'" announced with a teaser video on Saturday that production on the second Bocchi the Rock! anime season has been green-lit. The video reveals the new season's main staff. Yūsuke Yamamoto (Bocchi the Rock! assistant director, episode director) replaces Keiichirō Saitō as the director of ...

review

Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms Manga Review

Feb 14, 13:00 manga

Everything in Mecha-Ude Volume 1 is so close to the anime that, at times, it almost feels like reading through storyboards. ― During Fall 2024, here on ANN, I reviewed studio TriF's debut anime series Mecha-Ude as it aired weekly. Overall it was a great 12-episode show, densely packed with enough plot to fuel a series twice its length, elevated by wonderfully kinetic action animation heavily influenc...

review

8 comments

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live Stage Performance Review

Feb 14, 12:00

8 comments

live-action

Coming to North America next month, reporter Asha Bardon calls the Sailor Moon The Super Live performance a "brilliant" mix of light show, dialogue, interpretive dance, and circus skills. ― How do you condense the first arc of a best-selling, beloved magical girl manga into ninety minutes with less than twenty performers and time left for a musical encore? Surprisingly well, actually. English Sailor ...

column

32 comments

This Week in Games - Himmel The Hero Would Have Liked the Sony State of Play...

Feb 14, 10:00

32 comments

games

Get the lowdown on Sony's State of Play and its major gaff after an outage left its consoles mostly useless. Plus an unexpected Frieren collab! ― Welcome back, folks! We hope you enjoyed last week's segment on American games getting censored in Japan; the segment was brainstormed by our colleague Jacki Jing, who will make a short video about the matter on Anime News Network's socials. Keep an eye out...

interview

5 comments

Studio Mir Director Kang Hei Chu on The Little Mermaid Twist in The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

Feb 14, 09:00

5 comments

anime

Kang Hei Chu discusses the oceanic world-building, A Little Mermaid, veteran voice actor Cockle of The Witcher video games, and whether it's right to call the movie an “anime.” ― The Witcher has sown a bountiful crop of a franchise since Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski published the first Witcher short story in 1986. Sapkowski's The Witcher books acquired adaptations in the form of the CD Projekt Re...

game review

3 comments

SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada Game Review

Feb 13, 12:00

3 comments

games

This model of repeated actions on similar environments can work if the quality is there – I’ve certainly enjoyed such games in my time – but usually for some combination of meaningful extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. ― SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada is a game which makes a strong first impression before almost immediately nose-diving into humdrum monotony. The bones of the setup are strong enough to support ...

column

29 comments

This Week in Anime - A Parade of Pink Anime Girls

Feb 13, 10:00

29 comments

anime

Steve and Lucas look at pink-haired anime girls (and boys) and its codified character archetypes (cute! spunky! murderer!) ― Steve and Lucas look at pink-haired anime girls (and boys) and its codified character archetypes (cute! spunky! murderer!). Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion o...

news

8 comments

Digimon Story Time Stranger Game Announced for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam

Feb 12, 18:58

8 comments

games

Game features turn-based combat, exploration ― Bandai Namco Entertainment announced during Sony's "State of Play" livestream on Wednesday it will release the Digimon Story Time Stranger game for the PlayStation 5 in 2025. The game will also be available on Xbox Series X|S and Steam. The company describes the game: In this JRPG, players will embark on an adventure that spans across worlds and even tim...