Toshiya Miyata, a member of the seven-member Japanese boy band Kis-My-Ft2, appeared in a new commercial for &CAST!!! on Wedneday. The video application is catered towards fans of anime and voice actors/actresses.

Miyata is the self-proclaimed (and proclaimed by others) number one Japanese anime fan. In the commercial, Miyata showcases the fun you can have with the app. This is his first commercial to appear by himself, and features a song written by Miyata for the commercial entitled Boku Dake no Princess with lyrics by MEGUMI.

The commercial begins with Miyata with a serious expression, explaining the hearts of anime fans in detail with difficult words, but in the second half his expression changes when he takes the phone in his hand and starts using the app.

&CAST!!! lets you message and use items on various “cast” members and they will reply to you.

In line with the new commercial, a log-in bonus campaign is being held right now until October 15 where you can receive the above-pictured clothing item when you log in.

The TOKYO GAME SHOW is in a league of its own. It is a mecca for gamers who cannot get enough of Japanese games and entertainment. This is where Japan’s major game publishers from all kinds of platforms unite to put on an enormous exhibition. 

This includes the opportunity to explore games that are yet to be released as well as hear new announcements about the direction developers are steering the future of gaming. There’s no lagging behind. This is a major event for the gaming industry, raking in leagues of heroes every year. 

On August 28, a total of 2,417 game booths were announced, which is the largest number the event has ever seen in its history. This event is home to games on a range of platforms including for console, smartphone and PC. The enormous variety of genres includes the most cutting-edge and latest trends including Esports, VR and much more.

For those of you who love cosplay, this event is your chance to finally meet your fantasy. The outside area of Hall 9 will have a Cosplaying Area Stage where two events will take place: a cosplay fashion show and a gathering. 

On Saturday 14th, Hall 1 event stage will hold the Cosplay Collection Night@2019 event where participants and event staff will take over the stage in game character cosplay. Spectating is free, so feel free to watch as each cosplayer dominates the entire stage, showing off their excellent craftsmanship and skills as they walk the runway and strike a pose definitely worth saving in your highlights! 

On Sunday 15th at 2:30 pm, cosplayers will take to the stage in units of two or more to put on a dance or combat show that you just cannot critically miss out on. 

Schedule:

September 14 (Sat)  From 12:00 ー Cosplay Runway  From 15:30 ー Cosplay Runway

September 15 (Sun) From 13:30 ー Cosplay Runway From 14:30 ー Cosplay Dance and Combat Shows From 15:30 ー Cosplay Runway

The Gathering is where cosplayers can interact with one another and have photos taken ー the perfect opportunity to send those friend requests. On September 14, a gathering dedicated to the Final Fantasy Tales Series will take place on the Cosplay Area Stage. On September 15, there will be gatherings for the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series.

Schedule:

September 14  13:00-13:30 Final Fantasy Series Gathering  14:00-15:00 Final Fantasy Tales Series Gathering 

September 15 12:30-13:00 Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors Series Gathering

More information on the exhibitions, booths and events will be announced on the morning of September 12 so please check it out. 

There is no better way to multi kill your time than to spend the entire day at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2019 ー get your tickets and GLHF!

GEMSTONE is an audition project created by TOHO CO., LTD. and ALPHABOAT which seeks to find the best creators. The 4th GEMSTONE project was announced last month and is seeking submissions of short animations themed on Shinjuku.

The judges for the contest have been unveiled. The line-up will include anime film and television director Kobun Shizuno, who worked on the Detective Conan film series from 2011-17 as well as the Godzilla CG kaiju film series from 2017-18. It will also include animator Yasuhiro Kimura who worked on Three Leaves, Three Colors and the Golden Wind arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

“GEMSTONE” refers to the talent selected by TOHO and ALPHABOAT for the audition project, which ranges from animators to illustrators, composers, singers, actors, and so on. The two companies will help open doors to winners’ career paths.

TOHO are known for putting our a plethora of internationally-beloved anime films and series, including Your Name, My Hero Academia, Yowamushi Pedal, and Haikyu!!. They are also joined by MARUI GROUP Co., Ltd. for the project who manage three shopping facilities in Shinjuku, including Godzilla Store Tokyo, where they promote their anime franchises.

The conditions for submitting a video are that the video must be a short animation about Shinjuku no more than 5-minutes long. It is up to the creator to decide what aspect of Shinjuku they wish to talk about, whether it be the locals, culture, sights and so on. The first wave of chosen animations will be posted onto the official GEMSTONE YouTube channel after which they will be judges by veterans of Japan’s anime industry.

Speaking about his involvement with the audition project, Kobun Shizuno commented: “I was born and raised in Shinjuku, and live here to this day. That’s why this is a theme I can take something from and wish to judge.”

Yasuhiro Kimura also commented: “I am very honoured to be judging for this important chance to find talented individuals. I’m really looking forward to seeing how each of you interpret a topic as broad as Shinjuku. I’ll be waiting for your submissions!”

As part of the ongoing Attack on Titan Exhibition FINAL event that is taking place at MORI Arts Center Gallery until September 8, a new addition has been added to the event that will take place from August 6 to September 8.

Titled “Sky Deck ~The Colossal Titan’s Invasion~,” the event will take place on the open-top roof of Roppongi Hills MORI Tower that will make use of the surrounding environment and utilise AR technology to project the Colossal Titan before your very eyes, up 270 meters high.

What happens when the Colossal Titan himself appears before you in real life? This virtual experience will give you a peek into the cruel and terrifying world of Attack on Titan.

UNIQLO’s graphic t-shirt brand UT are celebrating the 60th anniversary of manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump with a new t-shirt collection via their sub brand MANGA UT. The t-shirts will go on sale from August 12.

The collection covers six anime series serialised in the popular magazine including Hajime no Ippo, Fairy Tail, The Seven Deadly Sins, Attack on Titan, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, and Shōta no Sushi. Each t-shirt pays homage to its respective series, featuring iconic scenes that have stayed with fans, sound effects, and original designs that capture their worlds.

Hajime no Ippo

Hajime no Ippo is a boxing manga written and illustrated by George Morikawa. It follows Ippo Makunouchi, a shy high school student who suffers at the hands of bullies. He begins a career in boxing in search of the answer to the question “What is strength?” and battles his rivals and those around him to grow as an individual. The t-shirt design captures the lively energy seen in the characters and is surrounded by eye-catching SFX.

©George Morikawa/Kodansha

Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is a fantasy adventure manga written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It follows the dragon slaying wizard Natsu and his tale of growth as part of the Fairy Tail guild. One of the t-shirts features four characters from the guild and the other is a large illustration of Acnologia, the main characters’ strongest enemy.

©Hiro Mashima/Kodansha

The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins is a fantasy battle adventure series written and illustrated by Nakaba Suzuki. It follows the titular characters each of whom represent the seven deadly sins. There are several t-shirt designs including one featuring Meliodas looking up to the sky and another of him and his comrades out on a peaceful trip. There is even a hand drawn illustration of Hawk, a talking pig and Meliodas’s pet, which was illustrated by Suzuki himself and UT’s editors.

©Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is an dark fantasy adventure series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. The story is set in a world where humanity lives within giant walls which help protect them from towering man-eating Titans. The terrifying t-shirt design features one of the Titans that live inside the walls.

©Hajime Isayama/Kodansha

Negima! Magister Negi Magi

Negima! Magister Negi Magi is an fantasy adventure and harem series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It follows the story of Negi, a wizard who becomes an English teacher at Mahora Academy, where he helps his class of students overcome their problems. He is also in search of his father who is known as a hero in the world of wizardry. There are two t-shirts, one featuring the main heroine Asuna Kagurazaka, and another of some of the other students in the class.

©Ken Akamatsu/Kodansha

Shōta no Sushi

Shōta no Sushi is a food manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Terasawa which follows the story of Sekiguchi Shota who works as an apprentice and aims to become a sushi chef. There are two t-shirt designs, one which features the manga’s logo and a slice of sushi and the other with the logo and a whole sushi platter.

©Daisuke Terasawa/Kodansha

Show your support for your favourite Weekly Shonen Jump series by picking up one of these awesome t-shirts!

No Guns Life is a manga series created by Tasuku Karasuma which has been serialized in Shueisha’s Seinen magazine Ultra Jump. An anime version of this manga has been created and will premiere in October 2019. We have now discovered that the opening theme song for the anime is MOTOR CITY and was written by Kenichi Asai.

The second anime trailer for No Guns Life, in which you can hear a snippet of MOTO CITY, has also been released. The anime adaptation of No Guns Life was created by Madhouse, who are popular for their anime adaptations of Overlord and BLACK LAGOON. 

© Tasuku Karasuma／Shueisha, ＮＧＬ ＰＲＯＪＥＣＴ

If you’ve ever wanted to feel what it’s like to get up high off the ground like a Survey Corps member, you’ll want to hit up the amusement park Lake Sagami Pleasure Forest this summer as it has announced a collaboration between its athletic course Muscle Monster and Attack on Titan. The event, entitled Attack on Colosseum: Muscle Monster will take place between July 20 and August 30.

The collaboration is taking place as part of the Attack on Titan Exhibition FINAL event which is currently being held at the MORI Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi until September 8. Fans of series can look forward to taking photos together with each character in the series at the Muscle Monster climbing attraction―which will be decorated in all things Shingeki―as well as get their hands on original merchandise, tuck into themed food and more.

Muscle Survey Corps! ~Join Forces and Exterminate the Titans~
A photo system will be in place as you ascend the Muscle Monster climbing course which will take your photos which can be printed out in original photos and feature members of the Survey Corps like Eren and Levi as well as the various Titans. There will also be life-sized character boards you can take photos with and more.

Location: Muscle Monster entrance
Price: 1 Physical Photo – ¥1,000 / 1 Digital Photo (1 Type) – ¥1,000 / Physical Photo + Digital Photo (5 Types) – ¥2,000

Original Merchandise
No fan of the series is going to want to miss out on the batch of exclusive merchandise being sold with illustrations unique to the event.

Location: Pleasure Station at the amusement park entrance (*Limited supplies available)

Original Pin Badge (5 Designs): ¥380 Each (Tax Included)

Pin one of these exclusive character badges to your bag to represent your Survey Corps team. The designs are chosen randomly.

Original Acrylic Key Ring (4 Designs): ¥490 Each (Tax Included)

Original A4 Folder: ¥380 (Tax Included)

Colossal Titan Attack from the distant Mountains at the top of Muscle Monster
Warn your fellow Survey Corps members of a Colossal Titan attack using AR technology by holding up your smartphone up to the distant mountains at the top of Muscle Monster. You can get a panoramic view of Lake Sagami and Mount Takao from the climbing course’s apex.

Attack on Gourmet – Collaborative menu with free gift

Eren’s Colossal Titan Extermination Hamburger: ¥1,800 (Tax Included) *Hamburger and side food is 2x the normal amount!

Levi’s Clean Cut Meat Curry: ¥1,900 (Tax Included)

Devote Your Heart! Erwin’s Power Drink: ¥850 (Tax Included)

Eat lots of food and get one of the special novelty items below!

Ordering from the food menu will get you this original lunch mat.

Getting a dessert will get you one of these four coasters.

There are lots of other things planned for the event too. So gear up, Survey Corps, and head on over to Lake Sagami Pleasure Forest!

Manga Dororo by Osamu Tezuka was made into an anime 50 years ago. This continual sensation is getting an official soundtrack which will be released on August 14. The CD will be titled TV Anime Dororo Music Collection Tamashi no Kodou. Hiroyuki Asada, who creates the original character design drafts, designed the illustration for the CD jacket, which has just been unveiled to the public. 

First-Press Limited Edition Version

The whimsical illustration shows Dororo and Hyakkimaru snuggling together, alone in a vast barren desert. The first-press limited edition soundtrack version comes in a luxurious tall-size DigiPak sleeve and consists of three CDs. The regular edition contains a two-disk dual case. 

Regular Version

The booklet will contain statements by illustrator Hiroyuki Asada and Yoshihiro Ike, who was in charge of the music. As a bonus, the CD jacket illustration has been adopted for use on an A2 poster, which will be sold at Animate stores countrywide. The design will also feature on clear files which will be sold on Amazon. Please check them out.

You can also view this illustration in advance at the TV Anime Dororo Original Art Exhibition Tamashi no Kodou, which is currently taking place. Please stop by to admire the illustration with your very own eyes. 

Dororo © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.／TWIN ENGINE Inc.

On June 30, NHK General TV finished broadcasting season 3 of popular anime Attack on Titan. Following the end of the broadcast, a 15-second trailer was released where we hear Mikasa pleading for Eren to come back. The short video also advertised the release of “The Final Season” which will be broadcasted in the autumn of 2020.

15-second trailer video

Fans are eagerly waiting to snatch up more information to fuel their excitement for the new season. 

©Hajime Isayama, Kodansha Ltd.／Attack on Titan Production Committee

It has been announced that Attack on Titan Exhibition FINAL will be on exhibit at Hirakata Park in Osaka from September 21 to December 1.

It was announced earlier this month that the exhibition is also to take place at the MORI Arts Center Gallery on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills MORI Tower from July 5 to September 8. The exhibition serves to plunge fans into the world of Attack on Titan in a number of different ways, from art displays to diorama reconstructions of the world and more.

Advance tickets for the Hirakata Park event will be released on July 1.

Details on what fans can expect at the upcoming Attack On Titan Exhibition FINAL event have been unveiled. The event, which is centred on the entirety of the manga series Attack On Titan, will run from July 5 to September 8 at the MORI Arts Center Gallery on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills MORI Tower.

A second key visual for the exhibition was released alongside the announcements featuring the various Titans we have seen in the series to date.

The centrepiece for this exhibition is the first unveiling of “the sounds of the final chapter.” This special exhibit will create the scene of the last chapter of the series using only sounds.

Humanity’s Choice Exhibition

At the entrance to the exhibition, visitors will choose the path they wish to take. Were you born inside the Wall, or beyond it? Depending on which life you choose, you will follow a different route from the outset. Experience what it’s like to be born and live in the world of Attack On Titan.

Attack On Titan’s World Reconstructed at the Diorama Theatre

An entire room in the exhibition has been turned into the world of the series thanks to life-size dioramas and a 20 meter screen. Hear the screams of people who have fought the titans as you step into the room and see the course of the battle with your own eyes.

Debuting the Last Chapter’s Final Sound

Hear the sound of the series’ final chapter which the manga’s author Hajime Isayama is currently conceiving.

Over 180 Art Pieces From Entire Series

See over 180 pieces of artwork by Hajime Isayama spanning 10 years including new ones not yet featured in the manga series as well as unpublished pieces and more.

Character Voice Guides

Audio pieces of 13 characters recorded by the voice actors and actresses themselves will guide you through the exhibition including Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Erwin, Hange and Levi

Official merchandise will also be sold at the event including exclusive items created for the exhibition. The first batch of items will be revealed on the exhibition shop’s official website in early July.

Be sure to check the website for more details and photos, and enter the world of Attack On Titan!

©Hajime Isayama・Kodansha/Attack on Titan Exhibition FINAL Production Committee
©HK/AOTFE

For the second round, Toho and Alphaboat are collaborating with Japanese pop culture news website Tokyo Otaku Mode to bring the contest to international creators. The new theme is “With Japan!” and participants are asked to create an original character based on this.

Participants must create a 3-minute explanation video of their character. There are no boundaries to how videos can be created―it can be in the form of a presentation by the creators themselves, a short animation, and so on. All submissions that successfully pass the first round will be posted onto the official GEMSTONE YouTube channel. Finalists will have the opportunity to participate in the official ceremony held at Anime NYC. They will receive a cash prize of 1 million yen and get to develop a project alongside Toho, AlphaBoat and Tokyo Otaku Mode.

Applications open on July 1 and will run until September 2 on the official website.

A third and fourth round are in the works for the near future. Get involved!