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Show Notes
0:00: Justin and Helen gather around and start talking about what they’ve been up over the past few weeks, which means more backlog clearing for Justin (Watching My Dress-up Darling on Blu-Ray, reading Raven of the Inner Palace) or more spring season anime to watch for Helen (Sound Euphonium S3, Tonari no Yokai-san).
Pandemic News
8:56: That’s right — we have a new COVID-19 story! The creator of Uzaki-chan, Take, got it and needs to take some time to get better, so Uzaki-chan is now on hiatus.
News
10:11: Justin and Helen give their condolences to the first VA for Fujiko Mine in the Lupin the 3rd franchise and Honey Kitsuragi in Honey Cutie, Eiko Matsuyama, who passed away May 20 due to pneumonia.
11:28: Both My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen will go on a two-week break, and for Akutumi, it’s definitely health related. For Horikoshi, likely the same (as he’s taken issue breaks before), but no reason was stated; Trillion Game will go on hiatus until at least August due to Ikegami’s poor health; My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 was already on hiatus, but now it’s been extended indefinitely due to Mashiro’s health.
14:20: Justin and Helen discuss the recent cyberattack on KADOKAWA, which continues to affect them and their various properties (Niconico for example) now and will continue to do so moving forward.
16:29: Sony Pictures bought Alamo Drafthouse, which as Helen points out, is another new addition to Sony’s monopoly.
19:34: The two hosts then break down the 1st American Manga Awards, which will take place during the week of Anime NYC in August. Somehow, Naoki Urasawa and a brick is involved in someway in this discussion.
24:25: The fallout from Toru Furuya’s affair admission continues, as he’s been recast in an upcoming Atlus game.
Main Topic (Lite): Well That Escalated (Bad Industry Times Again)
26:05: We have delays…and major production woes in the anime industry that Justin and Helen have to talk about. But the two start with a pretty minor production relayed delay compared to everything else in this section: Train to the End of the World’s 12th episode has been delayed a week due to production reasons.
27:18: Meanwhile, Delico’s Nursery, which was planned for a July release, got pushed to August 7.
27:49: The last three episodes of The Misfit of Demon Academy Season 2 Part 2 have been delayed, with no confirmed air date for the last episode announced yet. Justin goes over the bad production scheduling for this anime, which, if you remember, had a big delay of its first part last Winter.
30:02: Some time ago the two hosts talked about The Dahlia in Bloom anime having possible involvement with animators in North Korea, and the main production did an internal investigation. The ANN article breaks it down, but to note what happened:
- Typhoon Graphics (the main studio alongside Imagica for this anime) outsourced some work to a Japanese production company.
- That Japanese production company outsourced that work to a Chinese production company.
- That Chinese production company outsourced that work to another Chinese production company.
- The main investigation team asked for a list of everyone involved in this anime. One company did not comply.
This meant that the Dahlia team had to redo any scenes suspected of North Korean involvement, and Justin and Helen have to break down just how wild this all is.
36:02: You know, it can’t be good when Justin talks about a show from last year (from Episode 173 and how he thinks it could wind up in weird news) and it mysteriously pops up again because of a delay of another show. Sword of the Demon Hunter is now delayed from this summer season to 2025, and with Yokohama Animation Lab not only having trouble with The New Gate and Whisper Me a Love Song, but also having trouble saying what the heck’s going on with Tsuyokute New Saga, there’s some major production issues going on over there for sure.
43:00: And to conclude this section full of mild to absolutely awful production woes, Studio Gainax has filed for bankruptcy. Helen and Justin reflect on what Gainax was before getting into who they are now and how ultimately, the anime industry just continues to not be in a healthy state.
Licenses
49:07: Yen Press decided they had to announce some stuff before convention season really gets rolling:
- [Oshi No Ko] 1st Illustration Collection: Glare x Sparkle
- Candy: Shou Harusono Art Collection
- mono
- Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring manga
- Dracula’s on the Night Shift
- I Picked Up This World’s Strategy Guide
- The War of Greedy Witches
- Brunhild the Dragonslayer manga
- Praise Me When I’m a Good Boy
- April Showers Bring May Flowers
- In a World of Lies, I Fell into an Unforgettable Love (Yen On)
- Festival of Heresies (Yen On)
- The Teen Exorcist
- My Happy Marriage audiobook (Yen Audio)
51:03: Seven Seas’ Wonderful Wednesdays of course brought more announcements for the two hosts to talk about:
- Wild Roses and Pretenders
- Todai Revengers (Tokyo Renvengers spinoff)
- Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It) light novel and manga
- I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons manga (which is licensed by J-Novel Club but was not acknowledged by Seven Seas for some reason)
- The Yakuza and His Omega: Raw Desire (Steamship)
- Sweet Room Escape
- The Cursed Sword Master’s Harem Life: By the Sword, For the Sword (Ghost Ship)
- Imaizumi Brings All the Gals to His House (Ghost Ship)
- HIKARI-MAN
- That Time I Got Stuck to the Guy I Hate
- Hoteri Hotette First Kiss (Anthology)
- Beautiful Things: The Complete Manga Collection
53:42: The two hosts discuss GKIDS making a surprising licensing acquisition: DAN DA DAN, which they grabbed home media and theatrical rights for.
Streaming News
57:13: The Suicide Squad Isekai will have its first three episodes drop June 27 before settling into airing weekly, and you’ll be able to stream it on Hulu and Max.
57:51: Netflix will stream the Sailor Moon Cosmos films August 22; they’re also now streaming Hajime no Ippo.
Weird News
58:22: Girls Band Cry is finally streaming with English subtitles…but in Indonesia! Now everyone knows who Catchplay+ is thanks to Toei!
1:01:13: Meanwhile, the Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again reminds you to be very aware of phone scams in this ad.
1:02:12: The two hosts get well into fair use laws in Japan after a woman was charged for allegedly taking six copyrighted images of Ensemble Stars!! character Kohaku Oukawa, inserting cockroaches and other insects, and posting them to her social media accounts.
1:05:05 When The First Slam Dunk meets Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, things like the LDP putting their faces on a Slam Dunk visual apparently happen during political season!
1:06:43: Let’s just say hololive showing up at a Dodgers game (with possible Ohtani involvement) is not something one could’ve imagined years ago, but for it to happen during Anime Expo weekend? Talk about everything aligning.