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.

A special event for the anime series The Quintessential Quintuplets was held at Yurakucho Yomiuri Hall in Tokyo earlier this year on May 5, and that event is set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on October 23.

The disc features a kawaii-packed 111 minutes of live performances and character line readings from the cast, including Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Kana Hanazawa, Ayana Taketatsu, Miku Itō, Ayane Sakura, Inori Minase, and Aya Uchida. Check out the trailer for the DVD and Blu-ray below.

A second season of the anime series has been announced but as of yet there is no confirmed date.

©Negi Haruba・Kodansha / “The Quintessential Quintuplets” Production Committee

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!”

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!

Presales of the upcoming The Quintessential Quintuplets album Gotoubun no Hanayome ~Kawaisa Max Re-mix~ will take place at Comiket 96 before the record’s official release. The album will include the opening theme Gotoubun no Kimochi, a coupling track Gobun no Ichi, and character songs for each of the five sisters which will play as a nonstop medley.

The album remixers include PandaBoY who has created tracks spanning anime, J-pop and commercials, and up-and-coming remixer colate. The two of them have included plenty of lines spokeb by the quintuplets in the anime series.

Taster Video

Hearing each of the sisters’ lines to the beat of the melodies is making us want to watch the anime series all over again. Like the songs themselves the album’s summery cover art is kawaii to the max too!

©Negi Haruba・Kodansha / “The Quintessential Quintuplets” Production Committee

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

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

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!

Toei Animation has announced its “100-Year Anime Project” contest for people to pitch their ideas for original anime. As the name of the project suggests, Toei are seeking out anime series that will continue for the next 100 years. This marks the first time the company, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, have set out such a project.

The project encompasses four different courses (ranging from A-D) for people to sign up to. Course A is for those who have no experience working in the anime industry while Course B is for those who do. Course C is seeking out proposals for a remake of the Ikkyū-san anime series while Course D is for professionals including animators, background artists, producers and so on.

Each course offers a grand prize, runner-up and honourable mention with the following respective cash prizes: 1 million yen, 500,000 yen and 300,000 yen.

If you’ve got an idea for an original anime series then get applying!

An exhibition centred on the hugely popular Weekly Shonen Magazine manga series The Quintessential Quintuplets by Negi Haruba is set to take place on the 4th floor of the Ikebukuro Sunshine City World Important Mart building from August 17 to September 1 this year.

Its theme is “an exhibition that both guys and girls can enjoy.” Though the series is serialised in a magazine aimed at males, it enjoys huge support from female readers. The anime’s first season ran from January to March this year which bolstered the fan base on both sides. It has become the most read romance series serialised in a male magazine by women.

Girls have taken to social media to express their love for the series, with some saying how the worries the quintuplets experience and their growth overlaps with their own. Others have described how cute the heroines are even from a female perspective.

The exhibition will house a plethora of illustrations, including hand drawn pictures by Negi Haruba, unfinished and completed illustrations, as well as outfit displays and more. Original merchandise will also be sold.

If you’re a fan of the quintuplets and are in Tokyo in August then be sure to drop by the exhibition.