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The years leading up to the French Revolution offer a cinematic canvas of unparalleled drama, a world of gilded palaces and public discontent. The Rose of Versailles dives headfirst into this turmoil, but through a unique lens. It centers not on one, but two remarkable women whose lives intersect as history unravels.

We meet the young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette, destined to become the infamous queen of France. But her shadow and sworn protector is the film’s fictional heart: Commander Oscar François de Jarjayes.

Raised from birth as a man to secure her family’s military legacy, Oscar serves in the Royal Guard, her identity a known secret in the court. The film sets the stage for a grand story of duty, love, and identity, played out against the backdrop of a society about to tear itself apart.

Artistry in the Age of Excess

Before a single line of dialogue about revolution is uttered,...

The time for more Solo Leveling is upon us! Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- makes its hotly-anticipated debut today on Crunchyroll, and we have a handy little guide to prepare you for all the action to come. Read on for an overview of the anime's cast, staff, trailer, visuals and everything else that's been leveling up steadily since the new season was revealed! Solo Leveling Season 2 Release Release Date and Exact Time Where to Watch Official Trailers Characters and Voice Actors Anime Staff Anime Key Visuals Plot When is Solo Leveling Season 2 Coming Out? Solo Leveling Season 2 Release Date and Time English Sub Release Date: - Solo Leveling Season 2 premieres on January 4, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. Pt Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, Cis and India Related: Crunchyroll Winter 2025 Anime Season Lineup Announced! Where Can I Watch Solo Leveling Season 2? You...

This review contains spoilers for Solo Leveling's anime and manhwa. Proceed with caution.

In Solo Leveling, Hunters awaken to their powers all at once, and never grow stronger, no matter how much they train. However, some Hunters undergo a rare Second Awakening, suddenly receiving an additional power boost that substantially increases their rank in Hunter society. Director Shunsuke Nakashige's new film, Solo Leveling -ReAwawkening-, feels like the moment of the animes own Second Awakening, as it once again unlocks a new level of power that itll carry into its highly anticipated Solo Leveling Season 2.

Based on the light novel written by Chugong, Solo Leveling was always meant to be a resounding success. Much like its main character, Sung Jinwoo (aka The Worlds Weakest Hunter), Solo Leveling rose from relative obscurity to becoming an anime powerhouse that cant be stopped seemingly overnight. The light novel slowly leveled up from...

The upcoming anime film adaptation of The Rose of Versailles has added three new voice actors to its already impressive cast list. Like the cast so far, this new crop of characters includes some names that will be very familiar to anime fans. Joining the cast are: Louis XVI: Fukushi Ochiai (Sanou in Beastars ) General Jarjayes: Banjo Ginga (Gihren Zabi in Mobile Suit Gundam ) Maron Glacé Mont Blanc : Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy in One Piece ) Related: The Rose of Versailles Anime Movie Introduces Three New Cast Members Ai Yoshimura ( Case File nº221: Kabukicho ) is attached to direct with a screenplay by Tomoko Konparu ( Tonari no Yokai-san ). Mariko Oka ( Hell Girl ) serves as character designer, and Hiroyuki Sawano ( Attack on Titan ), who also serves as music producer, composes soundtrack music along with Kohta Yamamoto. Mappa works on the anime production. The main voice cast members include: Oscar François de Jarjayes...

In a significant move to combat the rising threat of unauthorized AI voice cloning, a coalition of popular Japanese voice actors has launched the “Nomore Unauthorized AI Generation” campaign on Oct 15, 2024.

This initiative aims to raise awareness about the exploitation of their voices, which are often replicated for commercial purposes without their knowledge or consent.

The campaign’s official X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok accounts went live on Oct 15.

A video posted across the platforms expresses the group’s concerns, stating, “Readings, songs, and even our voices, which we did not record, have been published online and are sometimes being sold. Our voices are our business tools, our lives, and an important part of ourselves that we have grown up with. Even if it was done by a fan who wanted to hear more of our voices, it is not pleasant to use it without permission.“

The video features 26 well-known voice actors,...

Within the anime industry, artificial intelligence has been utilized in the media creation process in various -- and occasionally controversial -- ways. Masako Nozawa, who voices Goku in the Japanese-language dub of Dragon Ball, is teaming up with a major A.I. company for a novel new initiative: to create non-Japanese language dubs for products and services outside the acting field.

As detailed on Oricon, Nozawa's management agency Aoni Production has officially partnered with CoeFont Co Ltd, a company that specializes in A.I. voice technology. Consequently, 10 of Aoni's voice actors, including Nozawa and Food Wars anime star Banjo Ginga, will permit CoeFont to use their original voice data to be converted via A.I. tech into several different languages, including English and Chinese. CoeFont plans to utilize this A.I. language tech for voice assistant products such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant, as well as for other...

Japanese voice acting agency Aoni Production has partnered with AI voice platform CoeFont Corporation to create AI-generated versions of the voices of Masako Nozawa and Banjou Ginga.

While the initial phase of the partnership features 10 Aoni Production voice actors, only the names of Nozawa, and Ginga have been revealed.

The collaboration aims to convert the recording of their voices into AI in multiple languages, including English and Chinese, for global applications.

Their voices will be offered primarily for voice assistant platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, as well as products like robots and medical devices with voice navigation features.

The goal is to promote voice recognition technology in the global market and contribute to social welfare, allowing more users to enjoy services using the familiar voices of their favorite voice actors.

Both companies have, however, emphasized that this AI voice technology will not be used in acting-related fields,...

The popular anime “Spy x Family” is set to release its very first feature film, “Spy x Family Code: White,” expanding the series’ universe while providing fans with an original plot that stands on its own outside of the show.

“Spy x Family Code: White” serves as director and storyboard artist Takashi Katagiri’s (“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”) directorial debut, and it was produced by Wit Studio. The screenplay was written by Ichiro Okouchi (“Sing a Bit of Harmony”).

The film will be available to stream in select territories around the world in both Japanese with subtitles and dubbed in English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian and Castilian Spanish.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch.

When does “Spy x Family Code: White” come out?

“Spy x Family Code: White” will be available to stream on Crunchyroll Thursday, Sept.

The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Episode 12, "Arise," now streaming on Crunchyroll.

When Solo Leveling began, not even Jin-woo Sung could have imagined where his life would lead him. From bleeding out alone in the cold, dark floors of the Cartenon Temple to getting thrown around by armored knights in a throne room, little has changed when it comes to the danger dungeons present – but Jin-woo is no longer the World's Weakest Hunter. As Solo Leveling reaches its Season 1 finale, the anime tests whether Jin-woo is really as strong in mind and body as he thinks. If not, all his solo efforts will have been for nothing. Aptly named "Arise," Episode 12 pushes Jin-woo to the end of his wits until he can't take anymore beatings, making an already fired-up finale especially emotional.

Shunsuke Nakashige and Noboru Kimura, who directed and scripted the debut episode while serving as the showrunners,...

The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Episode 11, "The Knight Who Defends an Empty Throne," now streaming on Crunchyroll.

Solo Leveling is slowly carving out its place in the RPG anime fandom, offering a breath of fresh air to the old Mmo formula as dungeon crawling and modern society overlap. It's hard to believe there was ever a time when Jin-woo Sung's worst fear was facing a goblin while out on a raid. Now, he can put up a fight with even the strongest hunters – a testament to how far he's come in his search for power. Jin-woo finally meets his match, and the System makes sure he does not escape unscathed as a shattering encounter follows suit.

Titled "The Knight Who Defends an Empty Throne", Solo Leveling Episode 11 seems to be the final test for Jin-woo Sung before the season wraps up. Directed and storyboarded by Takayuki Kikuchi from...

The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Episode 6, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

The famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, "If no one heeds your call, then walk alone." This quote could also be applied to Solo Leveling and Jin-woo Sung's journey from the weakest hunter to the hero who fears no dungeon boss. Since rising through the ranks is both surprising and unpredecented within the Solo Leveling universe, Jin-woo has to hide his growing abilities. But when a rogue party threatens his life, he has to decide how far he'll go to protect himself and his secret.

Solo Leveling Episode 6 heats up pretty quickly under the careful supervision of showrunners Shunsuke Nakashige and Noboru Kimura. The episode is directed by Takashi Sakuma with a script from Norimitsu Kaiho and music composition from Hiroyuki Sawano. Taito Ban leads the Solo Leveling voice cast as reawakened hunter Jin-woo Sung. He's joined...

Solo Leveling Review Is Out! (Picture Credit: IMDb)

Solo Leveling Review: Star Rating:

Cast: Taito Ban, Genta Nakamura, Haruna Mikawa, Reina Ueda, and Banjo Ginga.

Creator: Chugong

Director: Shunsuke Nakashige

Streaming On: Crunchyroll

Language: Japanese (with subtitles)

Runtime: 12 Episodes, Around 25 minutes each.

Solo Leveling Review Is Out! (Picture Credit: IMDb) Solo Leveling Review: What’s It About:

The world of anime has been influential outside of Japan to such a degree that many other cultures have begun to use the tropes defined by the medium to tell their own stories, which is great as it shows that the medium is flexible enough to adapt to other mediums and still retain its main characteristics, which takes us to Solo Leveling, an anime adaptation from a South Korean novel that eventually became a webtoon. It has finally come full circle, becoming an anime series where we follow our protagonist on his search to become the strongest.

Although board games are as old as human society, the rise of fantasy RPG tabletops as a valid form of entertainment came about when Dungeons & Dragons took over the world. Even video games use the system built by D&d to create their own universe of heroes and guilds fighting heavy odds against evil monsters and dark lords. While Eastern Asian cultures also have their own traditional board games, there is something far more fascinating brewing with manga, manhwa, and anime giving their unique spin to the spirit of D&d through heroic tales rooted in a European setting. More often than not, they fall in the Isekai subgenre, where the protagonist gets a new lease on life. On the rare occasion, this otherworldly adventure comes for them, and not in a fun way.

Solo Leveling builds on that exact premise, adding layers of gaming mechanics into the protagonist's story,...

Streaming giant Crunchyroll, in collaboration with Aniplex, announced the global release date for the highly anticipated Solo Leveling anime. It is set to premiere on the platform on Jan 6, 2024, and will be available for streaming in over 200 territories worldwide, including India.

Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer at Crunchyroll, expressed excitement on the collaboration, stating, “At Crunchyroll, we are always looking for innovative ways to connect our audience with captivating stories from around the world. Solo Leveling is a groundbreaking series that has captured the imagination of fans globally, and we are thrilled to be part of the journey to bring this extraordinary manhwa to life as an anime. Our collaboration with Aniplex symbolizes our commitment to delivering high-quality, diverse content that resonates with our viewers.“

Shunsuke Nakashige is directing the anime, with Noboru Kimura serving as the script writer. Tomoko Sudo is in charge of character designing, and Hiroyuki Sawano will compose the music.

Solo Leveling is a name that resonates with every webtoon reader because it not only paved the way for RPG and dungeon comics in Korea but has also been consistently at the top for years. While the artwork in the webtoon is exceptional and noteworthy, even when compared to the likes of Tower of God, The God of High School, and Eleceed, Solo Leveling has a unique approach to captivating the reader: elevations.

When the Solo Leveling anime was announced in early 2023, many fans were ecstatic that their favorite webtoon had finally received a well-deserved adaptation. Many anime enthusiasts, however, are still a bit reluctant to accept any animation studio other than Ufotable, which animated masterpieces such as Demon Slayer, Fate, and God Eater.

While whether the current animation studio, A-1 Pictures, does the webtoon justice is up for another debate, here's everything we know so far about the upcoming anime Solo Leveling.

Masamoto Ueda likes to read. Thanks to that circumstance, he started not only fishing and farming but also his profession as a ramen chef. Together with his wife Kazuko he runs a Tokyo-based ramen restaurant called “Bizentei” for more than forty years and has established a social hub for the neighborhood. American filmmaker John Daschbach’s second feature follows the trails of the charismatic cook and has recently won the Audience Award at Japannual Film Festival 2022.

“Come Back Anytime” is screening on Japannual Film Festival in Vienna

First things first. The editing and music score are on point. Daschbach’s postproduction skills and experience as a cinematographer truly shape the chilled atmosphere of the documentary. Different from other ramen films, the craftsmanship behind the cooking is not glorified to the highest heights, and refrains from singing the same old song about the mystic old ramen chef that is...