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Anime and Japanese IP appear to be on a hot streak with Netflix's offerings over the past several weeks. The most recent example of this is a new stop-motion anime series by Wit Studio, of Spy x Family and Attack on Titan fame.

Sanrio's My Melody & Kuromi, a new stop-motion animated series that premiered on Netflix on July 24, performed extremely well in its first weekend and continues to hover near the top of the streaming charts. Per FlixPatrol, My Melody & Kuromi is the number 2 TV show on Netflix at the time of writing, behind murder mystery thriller Untamed. My Melody & Kuromi is produced by Toruku Studio, a division of Wit Studio that was established in 2020 to focus on stop-motion animation. The series focuses on the titular Sanrio characters as they open competing sweet shops in Mariland and prepare for a sweets-making contest that is to be judged...

Celia Imrie and Jason Isaacs Receive Raindance Icon Award

Celia Imrie and Jason Isaacs are the latest stars to receive the Raindance Icon Award. Both will attend the world premiere of Christopher Anthony feature Heavyweight at the Raindance Film Festival opening night in London gala to receive their awards. Isaac stars in the boxing film alongside Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy) and Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders). Imrie was a Raindance jury member in 2017. “As part of the 33rd Raindance, it’s an honour for us to celebrate this year’s Raindance Icon Award recipients,” said Raindance founder Elliot Grove. “Both are the epitome of our industry with careers that include iconic film and television roles – and both remain champions of independent cinema here in the UK and internationally.” Imrie will next be seen in Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club film adaptation and in the BBC’s celebrity version of The Traitors...

My Melody & Kuromi , an upcoming stop-motion animation series featuring two popular characters from Sanrio's My Melody , has released a main trailer today. The series will start streaming on Netflix worldwide on July 24. The clip features the series' theme song "Kawaii (Prod. Gen Hoshino)" performed by the five-member Korean girl group Le Sserafim . As its title suggests, Japanese singer-songwriter Gen Hoshino serves as the lyric writer, composer, arranger, and producer for the song. My Melody & Kuromi Main Trailer Key Visual Le Sserafim is a five-member girl group consisting of Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae, who debuted in May 2022 and are currently on their first world tour "2025 Le Sserafim Tour ' Easy Crazy Hot." About the theme song, leader Kim Chaewon says, "We love My Melody and Kuromi, so we were really, really happy when we heard that we were going to sing the theme song!

Experimental hip-hop group Dos Monos is calling on greats from the world of anime and manga to help promote their upcoming EP, "Dos Moons." Animator Naoyuki Asano and manga artist Junji Ito are both on deck for the release, creating an animated teaser video and cover art, respectively. Asano has worked on titles including Mr. Osomatsu , Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! and the 2022 Urusei Yatsura . His past music video work includes the retro-flavored Mv for Gen Hoshino's "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" Director Nobutaka Yoda (commercial production for My Hero Academia and Seraph of the End ) also participated on the project. ( Note: This video contains extreme flashing light effects.) "Dos Moons" Teaser Movie Related: Singer-Songwriter miwa Shares Momentary Lily Anime Ending Song Music Video Junji Ito drew the strangely beautiful art for the EP, but it's more than just a cover. Dos Monos, who have long been fans of Ito's work,...

Dua Lipa is celebrating the 5th anniversary of her sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, with a special 3xLP set. The expanded edition is currently available for pre-order ahead of its release on March 28th.

Get Dua Lipa Tickets Here

Featuring one yellow splatter vinyl and two traditional black discs, the special edition includes the original 11 tracks from Future Nostalgia along with the deluxe Moonlight Edition and remix album Club Future Nostalgia.

After dropping in March 2020, Future Nostalgia served as a pandemic soundtrack thanks to hits like “Don’t Start Now,” “Physical,” and “Break My Heart.” It was also a massive commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 while topping other album charts around the world.

Dua released her most recent album, Radical Optimism, in 2024. She’s set to resume her world tour in Australia and New Zealand in March, followed by a Europe/UK run in May and June. After that,...

With less than a month and a half remaining until the next annual New Year's Eve broadcast, the official website for Nhk's Kohaku Uta Gassen today unveiled the 41 artists who will form the long-running music show's 75th lineup. The accompanying number below indicates each artist's total selections for the program. Ten artists, three on Red Team (consisting of female artists) and seven on White Team (consisting of male artists), will be making their first appearance this year. Red Team aiko (15) Aimyon (6) Illit (Debut) Sayuri Ishikawa (47) Iruka (2) Hy (3) Fuyumi Sakamoto (36) Sakurazaka46 (4) Ringo Sheena (9) Superfly (8) Mariko Takahashi (6) tuki. (Debut) Yoshimi Tendo (28) Twice (5) Nogizaka46 (10) Me:i (Debut) Misia (9) Kaori Mizumori (22) Ryokuoushoku Shakai (3) Le Sserafim (3) White Team Omoinotake (Debut) Creepy Nuts (Debut) Glay (4) Hiromi Go (37) Kocchi no Kento (Debut) The Alfee (2) JO1 (3) Junretsu (7) Da-iCE (Debut) Tomorrow X Together (Debut) Number_i (Debut) Leon Niihama (Debut) Vaundy (2) Be:first (3) Masaharu Fukuyama (17) Fujii Kaze (3) Gen Hoshino (10) Mrs. Green Apple...

One week from now, on November 9, the Doraemon anime series will change its theme song for the first time in five years. The change commemorates 45 years of Doraemon anime films. Since October 2019, the theme song has been "Dorameon" by Gen Hoshino. Today's episode will mark the final appearance of the song as the show's opening theme. Starting November 9, the opening will once again be 2007's "Yume wo Kanaete Doraemon". There will be multiple versions of the opening over the course of its run, featuring famous scenes from the franchise's many films. Related: 44th Doraemon Anime Feature Film Slated for Release in March 2025 The franchise's 44th film, Nobita's Picture World Story , is scheduled to premiere in Japan on March 7, 2025. Yukiyo Teramoto, who has directed the Doraemon TV anime series and became the first female director of the film series in 2007 with Doraemon: Nobita's New Great Adventure into the Underworld , serves as director.

To mark the upcoming 45th anniversary of Doraemons film series in 2025, TV Asahi has announced a special new opening sequence for the anime beginning November 9, 2024. This tribute will feature memorable scenes from across Doraemons iconic film history, showcasing the adventures that have charmed audiences for decades. The new opening will be set to Maos Yume wo Kanaete Doraemon, a fan-favorite track and the third opening song in the current series. Regular viewers can look forward to several versions of this opening sequence, offering a fresh take on Doraemon's beloved nostalgia with each episode.

Doraemon follows the story of a blue robotic cat from the 22nd century who travels back in time to help a young boy, Nobita Nobi, overcome lifes challenges and become a better person. Designed with an endless supply of gadgets stored in his four-dimensional pocket, Doraemon uses these futuristic tools to solve everyday problems, from school troubles to personal dilemmas.

The official X (formerly Twitter) account for Japanese singer-songwriter and actor Gen Hoshino announced that the music video for his sixth digital single song "Comedy" has surpassed 30 million views in two years and six months since its release. The song was newly written by Hoshino as the ending theme for the first season of the Spy X Family TV anime. "Comedy" was released digitally on April 8, 2022, ranking No.1 on Billboards Japan's download song charts "Download Songs" and Oricon's weekly digital single charts in its first week. As reported in January 2023 , the song reached a milestone of 100 million streams of the song itself in 39 weeks. Gen Hoshino "Comedy" Music Video Spy x Family Season 1 Creditless Ending Movie Featuring "Comedy" "When I received the offer, I had just finished reading the original manga, so it felt like fate," Hoshino said of the song on the anime's official website . "I enjoyed reading it very much,...

The official YouTube channel for Japanese pop rock duo Ikimonogakari has started streaming a music video for their 36th CD single song, "Harebare!" The refreshing pop tune is now featured as the opening theme for the summer 2024 TV anime Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin . The clip was directed by young filmmaker group Groupn, known for their Mv works for Gen Hoshino, People 1, and go!go!vanillas, and its theme is "wa." The word originally means "harmony" or "balance" and indicates a culture based on the ancient Japanese mentality of valuing harmony with nature. The members and other instrument performers are dressed in Japanese clothing, and rice field and rice bales also appear in the clip. Ikimonogakari "Harebare!" Music Video Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Anime Creditless Opening Movie Their 36th CD single include both "Harebare!" and "Ao no Naka de" as a double A-side single and is scheduled to...

Demon Slayer Artist LiSA Hopes to Perform a Spy x Family Song in the Future - Main Image

LiSA is already one of the most well-known singers in the world of anime, as she has performed lots of iconic opening themes for big franchises. In the future though, LiSA revealed that she hopes to perform a Spy x Family song.

In our recent interview with LiSA, we got to talk with her about her new track for The Irregular at Magic High School season 3.

There, she also mentioned her wish to perform the next Spy x Family song. Plus, she also talked about her surprising musical inspirations, which can give us a clue as to what a potential Spy x Family track would sound like.

LiSA Reveals Her Surprising International Inspirations

When it comes to anime singers, LiSA is no doubt one of the most popular as most anime fans...

Spy x Family Code: White anime film made its way to the Japanese theatres on Dec 22, 2023. To commemorate the release, Toho animation started streaming a new trailer previewing the film’s ending theme song.

Gen Hoshino, who sang the ending theme of season 1 of Spy x Family, performed the ending theme song, “Why,” for the film.

“Why” will serve as a sequel for the previous ending theme song by Hoshino, which is called “comedy”.

Spy x Family Code: White anime film released in Japan on Dec 22, 2023.

The movie is an anime original, with Ichiro Okouchi working on the script.

Takashi Katagiri will serve as the director of the movie, with Kazuhiro Furuhashi supervising the animation.

Crunchyroll had previously announced that they will be releasing the upcoming Spy x Family Code: White anime film worldwide in collaboration with Sony Pictures in 2024.

The film will be released in select theatres in North America,...

The Japanese entertainment industry has always put out really unique and culturally significant content over the years. From having their own styles of comedy to setting trends in media and entertainment, there’s something very original about Japanese shows that later get adapted by other countries. Lighthouse is a unique sit-down between two very popular Japanese artists who discuss their day-to-day struggles with each other once a month over the course of six months. The show runs six episodes of about 30-38 minutes and is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s two people talking to each other in the most humane way possible. As someone who isn’t well-versed at all in Japanese culture or the language, I found it very hard to connect with Lighthouse initially. But, interestingly, each episode has a specific monologue or conversation that seems relatable to anyone in real life. While I...

Netflix is betting big on reality TV as it seeks to expand its reach in Japan, a key international growth market amid plateauing subscriber gains for streaming services in much of the West. The company unveiled a slate of five reality series Wednesday at its offices in Seoul, South Korea, during an event showcasing unscripted content across Asia. The slate reveals Netflix leaning heavily into dating and variety show formats in Japan, two of the country’s most popular TV categories.

The lineup includes quirky dating shows Is She the Wolf? and Love Like a K-Drama, and an intimate spin on Japan’s well-worn comedy-variety category, Lighthouse, featuring musician-actor Gen Hoshino and comedian Masayasu Wakabayashi. Two renewals round out the slate: Second season orders for the comedy competition show Last One Standing and the middle-aged dating show Love Village.

“We’re excited to move into a new phase of our content strategy,...

Netflix has announced a slate of Japanese dating, comedy and reality shows, part of a wider push into Asian unscripted content, which also takes in South Korea and India.

Speaking at a showcase in Seoul, Netflix Japan content manager Dai Ota highlighted the importance of unscripted content in the wider Japan market, accounting for 70% of linear programming in 2022, with sketch comedy, dating and other reality formats among the most popular.

Heading Netflix’s Japan slate are romance-themed reality shows including Is She The Wolf?, a co-production with Japanese broadcaster Abema; a second season of Love Village; and a new hybrid format, Love Like A K-Drama. The latter show, which starts streaming from November 28, pairs up four Japanese actresses and four Korean actors to see if real-life romance can be sparked by a Korean drama-inspired kissing scene.

Streaming from September 3, Is She The Wolf? sees five men and five women attempting to pair up,...

Japan’s anime industry gathered in Tokyo over the weekend for the seventh annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards, which select leading achievements in Japanese animation across a broad range of categories and pick the winners via a global popular vote.

Netflix’s standalone series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners took the event’s top anime of the year award, while Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc, which made its international debut on Crunchyroll, cleaned up across many of the other main categories, including best action, best animation, best director (Haruo Sotozaki) and best fantasy. Other big winners included blockbuster Jujutsu Kaisen 0, produced by Japan’s Mappa, which won best film, and Crunchyroll’s Spy X Family with best comedy and best new series. (The full list of winners is below).

Crunchyroll says 18 million votes were cast for this year’s winners by fans from 200 countries, with high levels of participation spanning Asia,...

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners won Anime of the Year at the seventh annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards, which were handed out Saturday in Tokyo. Three other titles scored a leading six awards each: Spy X Family, Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Entertainment District Arc.

See the list winners list below.

Celebrating the best and brightest in anime, the 2023 Anime Awards drew 18 million votes from fans in 200 countries and territories, Crunchyroll said.

Here are the winners of the 2023 Anime Awards:

Anime of the Year

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Best Action

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Entertainment District Arc

Best Animation

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Entertainment District Arc

Best Anime Song

“The Rumbling,” Sim, Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2

Best Character Design

Akira Matsushima, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Entertainment District Arc

Best Comedy

Spy X Family

Best Continuing Series

One Piece

Best Director

Haruo Sotozaki, Demon...

Spy x Family leads the field with 19 nominations for Crunchyroll’s seventh annual Anime Awards, which be handed out in March. Ranking of Kings is next with 16, spread across two seasons, followed by Cyberpunk: Edgerunners with 13 noms, which were revealed today. See the full list below.

All three series will vie for the marquee Anime of the Year prize against Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc and Lycoris Recoil. All of those except Lycoris Recoil also are up for Best Animation, joined by Akebi’s Sailor Uniform.

A pair of 2022 box office hits — the No. 1-debuting Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and No. 2-bowing One Piece Film Red — will battle for Best Film against Bubble, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, The Deer King and Inu-Oh, which is up for Best Indie Feature at the Annie Awards.

The awards, which honor anime creators, musicians...

Japan Society is pleased to announce the launch of Monthly Anime

The rarely-screened Matrixanthology film The Animatrix—featuring works by Cowboy Bebop’s Shinichiro Watanabe, Vampire Hunter D’s Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Akira animator Koji Morimoto—screens in 35mm on May 27, 2022. Masaaki Yuasa’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, a Japan Cuts 2018 selection and Tomihiko Morimi adaptation, screens on June 17, 2022. Finally, to commemorate 25 years since its 1997 release, Hayao Miyazaki’s mystical epic Princess Mononoke screens in 35mm on July 22, 2022.

Tickets: 15/12 students and seniors /5 Japan Society members. Lineup and other details are subject to change.For complete information visit japansociety.org.

Screening Schedule

The Animatrix – Friday, May 27, 2022 at 7:00 Pm

Dir. Peter Chung, Andy Jones, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Takeshi Koike, Mahiro Maeda, Koji Morimoto, Shinichiro Watanabe; 2003, 102 min., 35mm, color, in English. With Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Clayton Watson.

A straight-to-dvd classic, the anime companion to The Matrix series received a...

Japan Society is pleased to announce the launch of Monthly Anime on April 15, 2022, which will kick-off with a screening of Mamoru Oshii’s seminal cyberpunk classic, Ghost in the Shell. Offering an eclectic range of classic, underseen, and contemporary visions from Japanese animation, Monthly Anime explores the widely influential legacy of anime. Tracing the lineage of anime from modern-day digital animation back to the days of hand-drawn cel animation, this program aims to uncover the multifaceted and remarkable variety of stylistic, technological, and generic possibilities that have kept the medium at the forefront of popularity not just in Japan, but worldwide.

Following Ghost in the Shell in April, the rarely-screened Matrix anthology film The Animatrix – featuring works by Cowboy Bebop’s Shinichiro Watanabe, Vampire Hunter D’s Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Akira animator Koji Morimoto – screens in 35mm on May 27, 2022. Masaaki Yuasa’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, a...

In Edo times, around the 17th century, it was common for Samurais to move households to another location on the command of the Shogun. That caused whole villages to move and leave behind many of their belongings. So is the fate of the Matsudaira Clan, who is forced to relocate 400km. Since the procession is a logistical challenge associated with a lot of costs, the daimyo assigns bookworm Katagiri to undertake this ungrateful task.

“Samurai Shifters” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Based on a script by Akihiro Dobashi, who wrote the recent Samurai dramas “Samurai Hustle” (2014) and “Samurai Marathon” (2019), the period piece is a mix of comedy and historical insight. Precedent by the shallow “Floating Castle” (2012) director Isshin Inudo takes another try on the genre and breaks away from his endless women-with-animal flicks. Indo started his career in 1999 with the very promising “Across a gold Prairie” and won...

Dua Lipa and the Blessed Madonna have announced the official tracklist for the remix album Club Future Nostalgia, out August 28th.

Club Future Nostalgia features a stacked list of DJs and producers who worked on a combination of Future Nostalgia and previously unreleased songs by Lipa. Mr. Fingers, Jacques Lu Cont, Horse Meat Disco and Jada G are among the collaborators on the album. Previously announced featured artists are Madonna, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani and Mark Ronson. Along with the official tracklist, all of the samples used on the remixes are listed,...

"She's your sister. You have to protect her." GKids has unveiled a new official trailer for the animated film Mirai, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Directors' Fortnight earlier this year. The latest film by master Japanese animation filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda, the film is a delightful adventure following a young Japanese boy living with his parents. His life is disrupted by the arrival of a newborn baby girl, named Mirai, which his parents bring home one day. He soon after discovers a magical garden in his home which enables him to travel through time and meet his relatives from different eras. He's guided by his younger sister from the future. The voice cast includes Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino, Kôji Yakusho, Kumiko Asô, and Yoshiko Miyazaki. It's an adorable, whimsical, fun little animated film. Give it a whirl. Here's the official Us trailer ...

"You can't trust people you meet at night." GKids has released an official Us trailer for a wacky, super fun Japanese anime titled The Night is Short, Walk On Girl, which premiered at film festivals last year and is getting a Us release this August. The film is the latest from Japanese filmmaker Masaaki Yuasa, who also made the musical Lu Over the Wall opening this year as well. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl is set over the course of one weird, "insanely long" night in Kyoto, following a teen girl only known as "The Girl with Black Hair" (or "Otome") as she experiences the nightlife. She's also pursued by a boy named Senpai, who comes up with awkward ways to bump into her. The Japanese voice cast features Gen Hoshino, Kana Hanazawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Ryuji Akiyama, Kazuya Nakai, Yuko Kaida, and Hiroyuki Yoshino. I'm not the biggest fan of this animation style,...

"Thus begins the little big brother's fantasy-filled adventure." An official trailer has arrived for animated film Mirai from Japan, the latest work from filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda. Mirai is a sort of fairy tale about a young boy who encounters a magical garden which enables him to travel through time and meet his relatives from different eras. He is guided by his younger sister, Mirai, from the future. The film's voice cast includes Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino, Kôji Yakusho, Kumiko Asô, and Yoshiko Miyazaki. This is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival next month, and I'm looking forward to seeing it there. The footage in this trailer looks quite lovely, could be something special. Enjoy the first look. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai, direct from YouTube: Kun, a spoiled 4-year-old boy, comes across a magical garden where he ...

This weird and sometimes wonderful Japanese anime is about a student on a kaleidoscopic all-night quest to find a treasured children’s book

Here is a weird, very bemusing and sometimes wonderful anime from Japan: a kind of miniaturist epic or odyssey from animator and director Masaaki Yuasa, adapted from a campus novel by Tomihiko Morimi – and evidently an extension or development of ideas from his earlier book The Tatami Galaxy. It is romantic and hallucinogenic, with an edge of softcore erotic sleaze.

A female student with dark hair (voiced by Kana Hanazawa) goes down the rabbit hole for an all-night dreamlike adventure of drinking and partying. She is on a quest to discover a children’s book she once loved. She is also being pursued by an older student, Senpai (Gen Hoshino), who is in love with her, or at any rate sexually obsessed with her, and not only...

This weekend is shaping up to mirror early fall, when specialty distributors packed theaters with new titles. Many of those disappeared quickly, and this weekend could be similar as companies usher in about a dozen limited-release theatrical newcomers. Focus Features’ The Theory Of Everything, however, has amassed a good amount of attention. Directed by Oscar winner James Marsh (Man On Wire), the Stephen Hawking biopic is opening two months after its Toronto debut. Two notable nonfiction titles also join the fray this weekend: Cinema Guild’s Actress, from director Robert Greene, and Zipporah Films’ National Gallery by nonfiction maverick Frederick Wiseman. Both deserve attention as the awards-race heats up. Two years after the theatrical bow of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President is the focus of Amplify’s The Better Angels — though it focuses a very different phase of his life. Distrib Films is opening Italian political...

Well, that's a pretty valid question, no? There has to be some fun to be had in the inferno! On tap for you lovers of foreign horror is the first teaser trailer for Sono Sion's next flick, Why Don't You Play in Hell? It's here and is just as nuts as it sounds.

With Why Don't You Play in Hell? (or Jigoku de naze warui? for you purists out there), Sono (Love Exposure, Suicide Club) has returned to and improved an over ten-year-old screenplay he wrote; its underlying theme is "the love for 35mm film."

Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Hiroki Hasegawa, Gen Hoshino, Fumi Nikaido, and Tomochika all star. The film opens in Japan on September 28th.

Check out the lunacy below.

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