Anime News 1st quarter 2022

[Ojisama]

So in this thread we will be posting titbits about anime and manga that we think may be of interest as we trawl the online news sites. It won't be regular, just whenever, and the thread will be locked and renewed every 3 months to keep the items fresh.

Good news for Youtube Anime reviewers - maybe

In December, Toei Animation demanded the removal of over 150 reviews and drawing tutorials from a reviewers Youtube channel on the grounds that they infringed Japanese Copyright Laws.

Toei Animation is the power behind the popular series Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Sailor Moon.

Initially compliant, Youtube has now reinstated the review clips in regions outside Japan, citing that they are covered under fair use exemptions

The jubilant Youtuber had this to say.

"My videos are delivered in English and are clearly targeted to those in the western world, so YouTube removed the videos in Japan, because, given their limited application of copyright exceptions, Toei might see this as infringing in Japan. However, YouTube felt the videos could reasonably qualify for a fair use exemption in most of the rest of the world, so the content will remain up everywhere else until, or unless, Toei can make an argument that it would not qualify for copyright exemption in other territories."

Source - CBR.com

  Spoiler:  

Dragon Ball, One Piece Copyright Controversy Inspires New YouTube Rules (cbr.com)

[Expendable]

Nice!

[Ojisama]

In the past, Youtube has always come down on the side of the corporations, and deleted content as soon as they have moaned about infringement, and this has resulted in some creators withdrawing from the platform completely.

This is a single case, but it looks like things may be starting to change.

[Ojisama]

Gundam Studio, Japanese Car Manufacturers Come Together for New Racing Anime

Sunrise, the animation studio behind the Mobile Suit Gundam multimedia franchise, and Bandai Namco are teaming up with several Japanese car manufacturers to create a brand new racing anime, Hi-Drivers.

A teaser trailer was released, giving viewers a glimpse of the show's many drivers and their specialty cars. It also confirms that Honda, Subaru, Toyota and Nissan are all contributing to Hi-Drivers and that more details about the format, story and creative team will be revealed at the AnimeJapan expo in late March.

  Spoiler:  

Voice actors from My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt have already been signed up.

Source - CBR.com

[Ojisama]

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Replaces Evangelion as the Highest Grossing Anime of 2021.

Although it was released on 24th December, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 has grossed over 10.4 Billion Yen (paradoxically, mostly in 2022) as opposed to the 10.2 Billion Yen earned by Evangelion 3.0 + 1.01: Thrice Upon A Time, which had been the previously highest grossing film of 2021.

Gege Akutami's ongoing Jujutsu Kaisen manga series was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in March 2018. It tells the story of high schooler Yuji Itadori who joins a group of Jujutsu Sorcerers to defeat Ryomen Sukuna, the undisputed King of Curses. With over 60 million copies sold globally, the series is one of the best-selling manga of all time.

Source - CBR.com

[Ojisama]

Bastard!! 1990's OVA series to get a Netflix reboot.

The original 6 series OVA was aired during 1992 and 1993, and involved the character Dark Schneider battling against the Four Lords of Havoc.

Retitled as Bastard!!-Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy it features voice actor Kishō Taniyama (Bungo Stray Dogs) as the MC, with support from Tomori Kusunoki (WONDER EGG PRIORITY), Hiroki Yasumoto (MEGALOBOX) and Yōko Hikasa (Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest). It is being produced by Warner Bros. Animation Japan and directed by Takaharu Ozaki (Goblin Slayer).

Slated for a 2022 release, final airing date is yet to be confirmed.

  Spoiler:  

Source - Comic Natalie via Funimation News

[Ojisama]

Bastard!! trailer released.

We are still waiting for the airing date, but it has been confirmed at 24 episodes in 2 halves.

[Ojisama]

Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 Claims #1 Spot on MyAnimeList

Sunday Feb 13th 2022.

Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 was rated as the #1 anime on MyAnimeList. This is the second time the series has received the top honours, as Final Season Part 1 was voted top anime for the Winter 20/21 season.

FMA Brotherhood, Gintama, Attack on Titan series 3 part 2, Steins Gate and Fruits Basket the Final round out the top 6.

[Ojisama]

JUJUTSU KAISEN Season 2 Officially Announced for 2023

Synopsis: Yuji Itadori is a boy with tremendous physical strength, though he lives a completely ordinary high school life. One day, to save a classmate who has been attacked by curses, he eats the finger of Ryomen Sukuna, taking the curse into his own soul. From then on, he shares one body with Ryomen Sukuna.

Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Satoru Gojo, Itadori is admitted to Tokyo Jujutsu High School, an organization that fights the curses… and thus begins the heroic tale of a boy who became a curse to exorcise a curse, a life from which he could never turn back.

[Ojisama]

"Idol Witches" expected to air in 2022.

In 2018, the staff of the Strike Witches anime series announced a new title set in the SW Universe. Provisionally titled "Idol Witches," the series was originally scheduled to air in 2021, but was put back to 2022 due to "various difficulties."

Now fully titled "Renmei Kūgun Kōkū Mahō Ongakutai Luminous Witches" (Allied Air Force Magical Idols Luminous Witches), the new cast member has been confirmed as Mikako Komatsu will play Grace Maitland Steward, a former Witch who is now a Liberion Army Squadron Leader and the Music Squadron's producer.

Unlike "Strike Witches" and "Brave Witches", the story centres around a group of witches that don't fight, but instead sing and perform music to protect the smiles of those people made homeless by the Neuroi.

The project has also resulted in the release of 3 singles in 2020 and a live performance on 20 Feb 2022.

A final airing date has yet to be confirmed.



Source - Anime News Network.

[Ojisama]

"Fruits Basket - Prelude" opens in Japan.

On Friday 18th Feb, 25 theatres in Japan premiered the new Fruits Basket film, Prelude. In it's first 2 days it is estimated to have taken $287,000 and sold over 20,000 tickets.

The film is in fact a compilation of stories. It centres around the story of Kyoko and Katsuya (Tohru's parents), which has not featured in the anime series at all. It also includes new material depicting events after the anime finishes. Filmgoers also received a 16 page epilogue manga, and there was a simultaneous Blu-ray disc release.

[Ojisama]

Hina Dolls See Popularity Spike After My Dress-Up Darling Anime

The Suzuki Dolls traditional doll maker has reported an spike in sales after the My Dress-Up Darling anime's fourth episode premiered on January 29. Suzuki Dolls third-generation doll maker Keisho Suzuki, who serves as the model for My Dress-Up Darling protagonist Wakana Gojō, told Yorozu News that all 300 sets of the company's "Bell's kiss" line of modern-style hina dolls sold out shortly after the episode aired.

Suzuki, who has been working as a professional craftsman since he was 26, creates roughly 40,000 dolls per year. His "modern-style" dolls imitate the hairstyles and kimono worn by young people. In order to make the dolls easier to display in today's smaller-sized houses, he also creates them with a compact size. Although he initially encountered skepticism for breaking tradition, the modern-style dolls have been selling well even within the shrinking market for traditional crafts. He hopes that people will come to Iwatsuki City in Saitama Prefecture, which is known as a production hub for hina dolls.

Source - Anime News Network

[Ojisama]

NieR:Automata TV Anime Project Officially Announced.

It’s NieR:Automata‘s fifth anniversary, and the game is celebrating in style by officially announcing an anime adaptation!

Created by Yoko Taro at PlatinumGames, award-winning action RPG NieR:Automata was released for the PlayStation 4 on February 23, 2017, and later on PC and Xbox One, selling over 5.5 million copies to date.

Aniplex is producing the adaptation. Additional details, such as staff and release date, are yet to be revealed.



Source - Funimation

[Ojisama]

Show by Rock!! Stars!! English Dub Announced.

All 12 episodes of the Show by Rock!! Stars!! English dub are available from Funimation right now. If you’re a fan of girl band anime, check out the full Show by Rock!! collection in sub or English dub, on Funimation!

Set in the glamorous metropolis Tokyo Midi City, where music—and the dream of musical superstardom—is everything. Here, “battle of the bands” is more than just a teen rivalry: Dozens of ensembles compete for the honour of playing atop the city’s highest tower.



Source - Funimation

[Ojisama]

U.S. Manga Sales More than Doubled in 2021

Media news website ICv2 reported on Monday that U.S. manga sales have more than doubled in retailers tracked by NPD BookScan in 2021. NPD-tracked accounts listed 24.4 million units of manga sold in 2021, which is about 15 million more units sold - a growth rate of 160% - over the previous year.

ICv2 previously reported that North American sales of print manga reached an all-time high in 2020, according to its print manga sales analysis based on information from NPD Bookscan, Diamond Comic Distributors, Comic Hub, and other sources. The North American manga market was just under US$250 million in 2020. The overall North American comic market reached a new high of US$1.28 billion in 2020.

Viz Media's vice president of publishing sales Kevin Hamric told ICv2 in an interview published on Monday that the company is experiencing more sales so far this year than it did in the same time frame in 2021. However, the growth rate is slower compared to last year. He added that manga accounted for 25% of the overall growth of the book industry in the U.S. last year. Retail bookstores such as Books a Million and Barnes and Noble are dedicating more space to manga. Hamric stated that he is expecting supply chain issues to continue for the company for the rest of this calendar year, at least. Hamric followed up with ICv2 regarding his comment from a previous interview that sales of first manga volumes and boxsets increased during the pandemic, saying that the company has sold out and had to reprint all of its box sets, particularly those manga that have anime adaptations. He cited Haikyu!! and Jujutsu Kaisen as notable examples, adding that the latter is seeing the same "trajectory" as the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga.

Source - Anime News Network