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Show Notes
0:00: Justin and Helen once again connect over the internet (somehow) to discuss what they’ve been up to over the past few weeks — which involves trips! Helen talks about her Otakon experience while Justin goes over how Vegas went!
News
28:14: The two hosts then discuss Shogakukan’s plans on launching a light novel translation app sometime this year, which will involve the use of Mantra’s AI-assisted translation system.
32:45: The cyberattack on Kadokawa’s systems will still likely take time to restore, but things are gradually getting better — if the re-launch of Niconico and gradual shipping of books is a sign.
33:31: Justin and Helen get into the end of Tentai Books, the issues that occurred to them, and what will happen to the remaining licenses they have in their catalog.
37:38: One of the biggest news stories that Justin saw while on vacation in Vegas was the leaks of multiple upcoming anime planned to stream on Netflix (and then Re:Zero Season 3 just to get Crunchyroll involved), which soon became full leaks on a few other animated properties (like Arcane Season 2). The two hosts get into why this is problematic, but with Netflix and Crunchyroll being one of the big anime streamers, it’s hard to see what type of major repercussions this will have moving forward.
42:36: The end of Cartoon Network seems to be here, as the main website has now shutdown and redirects to Max, with Boomerang to follow in September. Justin and Helen get into the very unceremonious end to CN and Boomerang thanks to Warner Bros.
44:02: We have a few anime award winners from the 28th annual Fantasia International Film Festival; A sting operation occurred while at SDCC, which got Helen thinking about how often human trafficking has been occurring at conventions; and My Hero Academia ended, which gets both hosts feeling quite happy for Horikoshi, who had potential but his first two works (especially Barrage) didn’t last in WSJ, but he put it together to create a global phenomenon in MHA, enough to where his fellow WSJ authors and those to Twitter praised him and the series.
Hiatuses, Injuries, and Obituaries
49:59: With there being a good amount of hiatuses, injuries, and deaths occurring in the anime/manga world, Helen decided to separate it from the main news line so it could have its own section. We start with the hiatuses, which begins with Nakaba Suzuki’s Seven Deadly Sins sequel Knights of the Apocalypse going on an indefinite hiatus due to his health; Dandadan going on hiatus for Yukinobu Tatsu to do some research; Hidari Yokoyama’s Tsuruko Returns the Favor is on hiatus due to Yokoyama’s health; Oohashi Hira’s The Days of Diamond will be on hiatus for a few weeks for personal reasons; and Aiko Koyama’s Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san (Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House) is taking August off, but will return in the September issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday.
53:59: But there are a few returning works! Shin Haruhara’s Making Magic manga resumes after going on hiatus December 2023; Soborou’s Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher!? is resuming four years after Soborou’s sudden illness back in 2020; Frieren resumed in Shonen Sunday after it went on its hiatus a few months ago.
54:59: Hideaki Anno had plans for a few events over the next month or so, but those are now cancelled after it was announced he suffered a compound fracture in his left leg; voice actor Kenichi Suzumura plans to gradually resume work, while still taking his health into consideration following his hiatus back in May due to poor health; the two hosts then discuss Bloody Roar 4 voice actress Erica Ash, who passed away at 46 after a long battle with cancer.
56:37: Justin and Helen discuss the official announcement of Keiko Yamamoto, the long-time voice of Shouta Yamada in Chibi Maruko-chan and Hanako Hanazawa to name a few, passing away at 83 due to sepsis. She had passed away back in April, but out of respect for the family and their wishes they announced it a few weeks ago. Many offered their condolences to the long-time VA and her importance to them growing up.
Licenses
58:54: Or really, we’re starting with a rare unlicense! Tomo Serizawa’s now working with Futabasha, which means Scarlet Secret’s rights are no longer with Shucream. This also means any publishers that have released it internationally will no longer be able to publish it unless they can renegotiate with Futabasha. So until then, TOKYOPOP will only be able to release this until early 2025.
1:02:56: Titan Manga announced a bunch of exclusives on ANN:
- Shinya Murata & Tokisada Hayami’s The Godless World of Onee-Chan
- Ryō Yoshigami & Yuhey Ogino’s Dopeman
- Chihiro Yoshioka’s Farewell, My Odin
- Nykken’s Toxic Super Beasts
- Ryuuichi Sadamatsu’s Cosmic Censorship
- Akira Kanou’s Outsiders
1:02:48: Udon had a few announcements at SDCC involving their newly launched Manga Biographies line, from Steve Jobs to Amelia Earhart, and will be bringing over a couple Mega Man manga to North America.
1:04:28: Yen Press must have a ton of announcements to make at ANYC, so here’s the slate they announced ahead of the convention:
- Asaura, Spider Lily, & imigimuru’s Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days novel
- Haruo Iwamune’s The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse
- TEA natsuno’s I’m Here, Beside You
- Arare Matsumushi’s Takahashi from the Bike Shop
- Kashiko Amane’s Everyone’s Darling Has a Secret
- Yoru Michio & Ruka Toudou’s Hell is Dark with No Flowers manga
- Nanigashi Shima & raemz’s Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky novels
- Will release Chugong (story) & DUBU (REDICE STUDIO)’s Solo Leveling novel as a collector’s omnibus edition
1:07:45: The Deadpool trolling has now reached the manga world. So to break it down:
- It was announced a few weeks ago that the original creators of Deadpool: Samurai they’d be doing a romance manga called Secret Steward for Shonen Jump+ (JP).
- On Wednesday it was made available on VIZ Manga.
- Soon enough it turned out it was not actually Secret Steward that was published on VIZ Manga — it was a new Deadpool: Samurai!
…Helen might still be a bit confused about what actually got published. Thanks Deadpool!
1:09:48: Star Fruit Books teased a very old 600+ shoujo manga that they licensed, and they finally was able to announce it — Sachiko Asuka’s The Phantom Thief Bat Baron; Manga UP! added Maybe’s Dusk Maiden of Amnesia to its service.
1:12:19: AnimeEigo made a couple of announcements at their Otakon panel (which Helen did not attend), which includes them licensing of Time of Eve; meanwhile Discotek had so many announcements that they had to share them all on Twitter and not at the panel (which Helen attended). Hear from Helen on which panels got a rise of the crowd (and for one series, someone was apparently gorging out)
Streaming News
1:22:05: Justin and Helen talk about a few Crunchyroll one-day theatrical screenings in The Concierge and trapezium; Netflix meanwhile will have Gundam Seed Freedom, The First Slam Dunk, and Blue Giant streaming on their service towards the end of this month.
1:24:53: The good news is Girls Band Cry, after skipping official North American streaming this past Spring, is finally available legally today. The bad news is it’s still not actually streaming — it’s available on digital storefronts. Like Fandango at Home. Justin won’t dismiss this being available officially, but is confused at how Toei has handled this series.
1:29:39: To commemorate its 60th anniversary, TMS Entertainment is going to stream various anime on its YouTube channel, such as Sonic X, Super Dimension Orguss, and a couple Lupin the 3rd works, this month.
Weird News
1:30:47: Shohei Ohtani and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? As turns out, it’s more possible than you think! Thanks Mamiko Tanaka (Ohtani’s wife).
1:32:06: Helen discusses yet another case of idol culture, in this case Japanese idol culture, being real toxic.
1:33:27: While this is in the weird news section, Junji Ito’s works being turned into films could work out a bit better than others? It might be because he’s involved in the process, and it’s horror.
1:34:56: Last episode of TheOASG Podcast, it was Lycoris Recoil bringing back NFTs. This episode, it’s now Toei Animation for a work called DenDekaDen that’s utilizing NFTs. What will be the Japanese company using NFTs next episode? The hosts hope they don’t find out!
1:35:45: And in this bit of weird news, Helen has a bone to pick with another company that’s all about NFTs named Azuki. No, a totally different Azuki!