Omonomono Newsletter, August 23 Update

One letter a month is too infrequent for my liking but I’m not putting in the time so I’m not sure I can get any better. What’s a good frequency?

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Omonomono Newsletter, 2022-08-23

See you at Anisama? I’m going to Japan again, after this blank of 2.5 years or so. Although I will only be there for about 4-5 days, it would be great to meet up with anyone who I’ve not seen for some time.

Otherwise, yeah, the usual dog days of summer, work, churning into this season of anime, churning into baseball (grats to Tohoku’s first Koshien winner), and accumulating quality family time.

These Past Months

Speaking of baseball, more MIX.

Oshibudo Live Action cast photos

I watched Masaaki Yuasa’s Inu-Oh the other day. It’s a fun music-themed film! It did modestly in the US box offices. Here’s an interview for him to promo the film.

Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO had massive US box office last weekend. US red carpet.

One Piece Film Red also gangbusters.

Quints film did well too.

Cathy Yan to direct a Paprika adaptation?

A Space Channel 5 film?

Library of Congress has Saban Moon pilot episode?

Dialogue+ has a list of event that will be running without Yurinya.

Covid Rollcall (as always, incomplete): Kaori Maeda, Hiromi Hirata, Tomokazu Seki, Hiroshi Kamiya, Rei Matsuzaki (got it from her kid), Yuuki Takada, Nao Touyama, Arthur Loundsbery, Aguri Onishi, Sayuri Date, JUUNA, Chiaki Takahashi, Masayoshi Oshi, Erii Yamazaki, Aya Yamane (rip TIF), Shiki Aoki, Shiori Izawa, Rikako Yamaguchi, Saori Hayami, Lynn, Aina Aiba, HIKARU, Daiki Yamashita, Kouhei Amasaki, Akari Kito, Ayako Kawasumi, Aoi Yuki, Minato Aqua, Mai Kano, Seena Hoshiki, Yoasobi’s Ikura, fhana’s Kevin and towana, Yukina Shuto, Ryoko Maekawa, TMR, 4 Luminous Witches, Gen Hoshino, Rie Takahashi, miwa, Asaka, Shun Horie, Sayaka Kitahara, Yuri Komagata, KEIGO & IWASAKI (FLOW), and others… ANN has a more complete list in case you want to look up more COVID victims.

RIP Kenji Utsumi (2013) but this doc is just so good.

RIP Motomu Kiyokawa. Definitely someone who I’ve heard a lot of over the years.

RIP Hitofumi Ujima. A legendary anisong guy.

RIP Hiroshi Otake.

RIP DUBU.

RIP Jang Sung-rak.

Ichiro “Aniki” Mizuki announces his fight with lung cancer. Shokotan drew something for him.

Mariya Ise to divorce, raises kid as single mom.

Grats new parents Suzuko Mimori (and your kid is not a cabbage); Mikako Komatsu; Rica Tachibana

Grats Miho Arakawa on marriage and pregnancy.

Crazy Japanese Idol Collab – ZINGS (Kamikuzu Idol), Mario (Pripara), Franchouchou (ZLS), Yamaarashi (Polar Bear Cafe).

Delicious in Dungeon to be animated by TRIGGER wowow.

Super Cub anime crowdfunding hits goal, to the surprise of no one.

Soma Saito to write a book.

Yui Ogura switches label from King to Nippon Columbia.

Luna Haruna leaves Spacecraft. (No she is not an ali-)

Sarah Birdcutt Emi to go freelance.

French dub actress let go from Classroom of the Elite due to fandub work.

Anime Matsuri dub studio…trainwreck? Not even that status.

The Vic drama goes on, despite the appellate court decision.

"Every day I prayed to the picture of Makima that hung in my house until the day I passed the audition." https://t.co/mEqe4uxAqr

— mana (@manarock69) August 5, 2022

Reina Kondo quits SNS, mostly.

What’s Project SYN anyways

A new FictionJunction album in 9 years.

IBERIs& (pronounced “iberis and”) is the 81 Produce and Universal collab unit. They have a cheesy music video now plus the audition one from before.

Is the WIT STUDIO kickstarter necessary.

You can buy some Lycoris Recoil underpants.

At some point, Bandai Namco decided to “unban” IDOLM@STER music from streaming, so the publishers can now strike streaming deals. This ignores the Aniuta service which had some streaming IDOLM@STER music in the past (mostly just game-size versions), and what’s left from the IDOLM@STER.KR project. The first song is…

More IM@S house-cleaning, there’s the end of the original CG mobile game, to close on 2023-03-30. About time, otsu to the OG mobamas crew.

IDOLM@STER 5-brand concert confirmed for February 2023, Tokyo Dome desuyo, Doomuu.

????????????????????????????????#???????#???? pic.twitter.com/8LPHtoffgH

— ?? (@smew69260487) July 15, 2022

Aniplex Online Fest is now a thing–also in person.

Anime Awards (ugh) is also a thing in person. Or rather, Crunchyroll Awards. Good riddance.

Walkure Final tour next year…so that makes it and RGR, which ends 3/31 next year. Also see this story from someone I know…

CUE and AiRBLUE, on the other hand, ends this year.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix 9/13.

Umamusume stage play featuring its own seiyuu as main cast, next year.

Just a note, did you know ClariS has a normal tour this year? No masks (of the ClariS kind) or anything.

Comiket 100 came and went.

NFL star Jamaal William PSA on anime?

Kaiju No. 8 anime.

New Sumipe Photobook

If Sumipe isn’t for you, there’s always Kikuko Inoue. :eyes:

Manga UP! Censorship is a feature for some.

Discotek launches Tokusatsu label.

If I read this correctly, 1 episode of Modern Love, a Japanese remake of an American romcom, will be an anime?

Long-deserved wins for Junji Ito for Eisner, and Moto Hagio inducted into Eisner Hall of Fame.

Hidetaka Tenjin wins SDCC’s Inkpot.

Jujutsu Kaisen Universal Studios Osaka ride.

Kanon Shizaki leaves her Rei Togetsu role from D4DJ. Not sure why.

Emitsun to ship her first mini album.

I saw the live action FMA film show up on my Netflix home page and ugh.

Crunchyroll price changes.

Halca acts in her latest PV.

One Punch Man S3.

Goodbye, Don Glees! to screen in the US in September.

Youtube Content ID oops featuring Chiyomaru Shikura and VTuber Minase Rio.

ASMR is big business. (Blue Archive)

Personal Note

So yeah I am pounding out this letter on the eve of my flight going to Anisama. Going a day earlier just to get back into the groove after so many years. I feel both woefully prepared and overprepared. At least this won’t be my first rodeo and without calls the show probably is less straining on my weakened self than it would have had. Just hoping the trip goes smoothly!

Summer season is in full swing. I am watching the usual swatch of shows. I find Prima Dolls being pretty striking on an intellectual level, while the exact same brain muscles cramp when I try to watch Extreme Hearts or the new Strike Witches idols show. For an anime original, Lycoris Recoil definitely hits the spot and hearing that “Nanto” voice as the lead just gives me a different vibe if I weren’t so familiar with this version of Chika Anzai.

I think in terms of plot-driven soul, Engage Kiss probably hits the spot. The Isekai Pharmacy show is a bit of that kind of shadow. If we consider the power-fantasy version of Isekai stories just as a narrative cheat: if the characters selects the most optimal decisions in their trials, would the trials be still worth watching? It is no longer about the powers to dominate others, but of self. It’s a different power fantasy all together.

Or do we prefer the hapless demon-bonded detective in Engage Kiss more because being robbed his agency without even knowing is just that much more compelling of a story? I’m not sure honestly. Isekai anime is fundamentally about the loss of agency, ultimately that Truck or Disease or, in this case, Overwork, justifies the outrageous treatment in the other world (as a matter of common tropes). It’s like social media in a way–the power of engagement can be used for good or ill, just like how the power-trip in certain Isekai stories draw readers/viewers in to see the human suffering inside the protagonist’s rebirthed godhood.

Which is also to say I don’t put Isekai Pharmacy on any pedestal this season, I just enjoy its healing vibes, Akichan’s voice acting, and Reina playing the kanban musume. It’s slightly more enjoyable than Isekai Ojisan to me, which in of itself is exactly what I just described. Which also to note, it made me realize how much I miss Haruka Tomatsu’s voice…

Mai Kano playing Sara from the Yakuza Babysitter show was surprising. I thought she was Ai Nonaka for a moment. I enjoyed it a lot.

I said it on Twitter, but Shine Post is my favorite anime this season, at least half-way in. The treatment of idols in idol anime has never been more purposeful since, arguably, Dereani, so many years ago. This is how you sell an idol via a visual medium. I’m just thinking about it. If Idoly Pride combined with this show it would have been the best idol anime ever.

Kamikuzu Idol is a lot of fun, even if it’s not really my cup of tea normally. My sibling watched some episodes and said the ZINGS outfit looks like those neck pillows people use when they travel by air. Naobou really adds a layer of energy to the show that makes it easy to watch. I was told to watch the show for the ZINGS nerds. I think they do deliver, but they’re kind of weak sauce all said and done. It’s a bit odd to see how they have the wotas go to Toriki, or the Pig version of it…because it was definitely a thing I have done before.

Thanks to Tiktok, I started watching the slime isekai anime, er, Tensei Kenja to be specific. The slime seiyuu unit is full of upcoming cuties and the social media strategy works! The show itself is pretty standard fare but it isn’t particularly offensive.

Not offensive is also Mamahama, after the initial hijinks I think. There is some kind of “dere” here but I am at a loss what would be the prefix. There’s a certain level of relationship meta going on that makes this show a more interesting watch than you’d expect.

There are other shows noteworthy, maybe I can talk about them the next newsletter. I will just say that I marathoned Made in Abyss up to the last film. It’s quite a fun ride. The “child abuse” is bad but not that bad. Like, did you ever watch Graves of the Fireflies? This is maybe half that at best. It’s not a trip I’m chomping to repeat though. I think I will need a big, big break before continuing on with the new season currently airing.

Upcoming Events

Not updating regularly makes this part a tough thing to add? I guess I can start with some archives.

Arts Vision jinroh game (mafia)

More Nanami Yamashita koko doko.

Heaven Burns Red 0.5 year party

This coming week:

@JAM Expo 2022 starting Friday 8/26…3 days worth?

Yoppi & Maeda Kaori’s show?

Spy x Family special.

Next week: 8/29-9/4

The IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls OOTD show on 3rd and 4th.

Magical Mirai 10th 8/31.

Week of 9/5-9/11

Niji 5th. 9/10-11th.

Denonbu Area Meeting Shibuya 9/10-11.

Yui Ninomiya birthday event on 9/10. She will be able to drink in the USA?

Week of 9/12-9/18

Tokyo Game Show is this week. The two public days will have some stages to be announced for sure.

Magia Day is 9/17.

Choucho Acoustic Live Naked Garden vo. 13 9/17.

Inazuma Rock Fes should have a stream too? I don’t know. It’s 17-19th.

Week of 9/19-9/25

Shokotan monster live? 9/19.

Milet 3rd anniversary live 9/24.

Maaya Uchida Hello 1st contact restream 9/24.

Gochiusa Petit Rabbits Vark 9/25.

Rock in Japan fes stream 9/25

Further out…

There’s a Bushiroad fes, there’s a Sacra fes, there’s Animax Musix, and also AFA. All in November… There’s the final CUE tour… and Dialgoue+ (will they be back to full strength?) Also in November…

Long Reads

THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE again. Also still not sure where else to put them?

There are translation for most of the game events from Million Live. The one from last month…

A&G’s wedding show Ai no Naka de is a youtube show I have been watching on and off and I’m perpetually catching up on this. Here’s where I am now.

Two of my favorite horses (Rice Shower and Mihono Bourbon) in this franchise has an interview! Another. And another!

Kenji Tokushima-san is a hardcore TO for Miyu Takagi, and he’s organizing a birthday message thing for Myuchan.

Not anime related, but a basic concept so few people do not grasp early on. It’s the trinity of Quality. Really works in entertainment (as products and services). Not so much in art but still has a role there.

Yousei Teitoku had this up and I didn’t even know.

Podcast of ProZD with Shu Uchida (again)

fhana’s 4th Album Cipher making of

Team Y and Haruka Yamazaki go camping

Overlord 10th anniversary (LN) delayed stream has English subs! They showed a glimpse from the upcoming movie.

Marinka Hubba Hubba

What’s this Gochiusa record player (and record)?

Jujutsu Kaisen interview with staff.

Shingo Adachi interview on Lycoris Recoil

What a Sauce.

Yuki Waga, my fhana oshi perhaps, drops a rec.

Brandon @ Anime Expo.

Ei Aoki interview.

Masashi Endo interview.

A good recap of copyright the past 20 years for America.