Omonomono Newsletter, 2023-03-26
I’m writing this across 2 days while chugging away with Anime Japan in the background. I am also tackling 3 months worth of backlog links and stuff. A lot of it is made harder because I went on a few trips the last 3 months as well. But here we are. And because breaking news are breaking during AJ I am probably going to miss a bunch! LOL.
I am doing fine. How are you?
These Past Months
While I was in Japan in February I got to watch the FIRST SLAM DUNK film and it was great. This is exactly what I want from this type of work. It also looks great. It’s no doubt to me that it is doing well. And in other countries.
Still a long ways from One Piece Red in Japan.
Shinkai’s Suzume is making the rounds internationally. He’s in the States this coming week. Look at it go.
Suzume and Golden Kamui wins cultural awards. I agree.
Shin Ultraman Film does OK? in the USA.
Tsurune the compilation movie in April in USA.
What’s Draws a Dream? Seiyuu idol incubator I guess.
Wow this movie, made by one person? Really?
Whisper of the Heart live action films to hit VOD for US.
Live action Drops of God to stream on Apple TV+
More Lycoris Recoil anime revealed.
Grats Bandori on shipping so many CDs.
Tensura movie screened in the USA.
Kaguya-sama film screened in the USA, except I couldn’t go.
Monster anime on Netflix in the USA.
Rica Matsumoto went to NYC for something. Free show even.
What is this? Some kind of promo for a brand new anime project? Madness with mountain climbers.
Shiny Color anime announced for Spring 2024, but theatrical preview starting in late Oct. Polygon Pictures. Hopefully more to be announced as the year continues, but so far just the base units, not seeing Straylight, Noctchill, SHHiis or Luca anywhere. Or the Producer for that matter. Short dance video here.
For Million Live anime slated for October, more info was also released: theatrical preview of the full series begins in August, Producer character was introduced, and check it out.
A small note: Animate International was taking preorders at list price of ML 10th goods? They shipped to 4 countries but still.
Spy x Family 1st ED gets 100M streams. Over 20 on YT. Is this the real power of anisong? Or Gen Hoshino?
Umapyoi Densetsu is Certified Gold in Japan.
Masanori Takumi wins a Grammy for “Sakura” but he wrote some anime music too.
Grats to all the seiyuu who won awards at the usual Seiyuu Awards. Top line goes to Chikappe, Acchan, and Eguchi! Shion Wakayama also won (Thanks Lycorico), and also Acchan (both lead and support! For the first time ever).
Million Live also celebrated its 10th anniversary in Feb. Stuff to watch.
Idolish7 is also getting a 3DCG anime movie…?
Jujitsu Kaisen next season in July.
New Oshi no Ko teaser is great music.
Evangelion stage play with new characters and song?
Did you know they’re making a new Aquarion anime, Aquarion MOE? (Myth of Emotion)
Netflix to make One Piece live action show.
Ueshama is also in Overtake? Nice.
Blue Archive anime in the works.
A proper Arc Systems game for Granblue Fantasy fightan.
Congratulations PKK on marriage!
Huge grats to Ayaka Suwa and Kotoba Inoya on their marriage, the seiyuu met the mangaka while making Smile Down the Runway anime. Given that I follow Suwa somewhat, this is a huge news.
Grats Nobunaga Shimazaki on marriage!
Grats to Chisato Mori on hers!
Grats to Hikaru Akao on the marriage!
Grats on the marriage, Pyon! Grats SHiN!
Grats to Yuiko Tatsumi, and Ari Ozawa, for giving birth respectively.
Grats to Mikako Komatsu! She’s already back to work too.
Grats to Nojo, who is with child.
A big otsukaresama to GamiP after 18 years. The head producer for the IDOLM@STER series has stopped appearing at events for a couple years now. Seeing his much skinner body and his advancing age does raise a flag to me but either way, thanks for all the fish.
The same can be said of Bushiroad honcho Kidani, who is also retiring.
Following seiyuu who are having kids, you get some insight. Azumi Asakura had a rough time with her child.
Rest in peace, Love Live SIF OG. Oh, new LLSIF2ML game.
Rest in peace, Re:Zero Lost in Memories.
Rest in peace, Code Geass Genesic Re:Code.
Rest in peace, Yukihiro Takahashi.
Rest in peace, Takahiro Kimura.
Rest in peace, Leiji Matsumoto.
Rest in peace…Maon Kurosaki. This one shook me and it’s one reason why I’m only updated this newsletter now.
Rest in peace, Shunnosuke Kuroda (Guitarist for sumika). He was 34.
Agency changes. Just some. Yuma went to Intention.
Yumiri Hanamori actually started a new agency.
Yoko Hikasa to become freelance.
Noriko Shibasaki to go to Mausu.
Sachika Misawa leaves Stardust.
Yuuma Uchida goes from I’m Enterprise to Intention
Rikako Yamaguchi goes from Sun Music to Kenyu
Aoi Eir to go on hiatus again.
Yuka Otsubo to limit work for health reasons.
Shokotan to go on hiatus for medical procedure.
Rookiez comes back from hiatus.
Sayumi Suzushiro took a break for health reasons but is back.
CHiCO with HoneyWorks pauses in April.
Anisong band fhana loses guitaris yuxuki waga and goes with 3.
Hikaru the anisong singer is uh…well…
One of my favorite animator/illustrator is basically retiring because of work-related injury.
Peter Tatara changes jobs. As someone who’s local and likes AnimeNYC and the way Peter has done the con as its face, it’s a bit of a shock and puts things in uncertainty. Is this an event he arranged for the Japan Society?
I went to see a performance of Umamusume the Stage play. Lucky me, because like 10 shows got cancelled, just not mine.
King is late to the wagon but it’s their 24/7 anisong stream.
All of Masami Okui’s music is now streaming, with her new compilation album.
On that front, most of the music from IDOLM@STER Million Live, SideM, and Shiny Colors are on streaming, and globally. Most of 765Pro AllStars also. Most of Cinderella Girls are also streaming, but game-size only outside of the anime songs. Almost all of Puchimas, too. Things have improved since last year and Shiny Colors have most of its discography now.
Plex is streaming HiDive anime in a linear schedule.
Idoly Pride mobile game global gets a new publisher?
Japan Music Industry sees consecutive growth years.
Mainichi Broadcasting and Sentai Filmworks
Hidekazu Tanaka pleads guilty.
Luffy criminal gang story is wild.
Genshin Impact dub recasting drama. Just so we have it on record.
Jun Maeda deletes twitter again.
Bocchi the Rock main CD hits the charts hard. Rocking.
Crunchyroll skips CRX this year.
Hellshake Yano racehorse wins a race.
This shovelware, I’m curious. RPG based on Mushoku Tensei. More shovelware to go I guess.
Hideki Anno cameo in live action TV show.
See Vofan art, check out Pixiv publishing Korean and Taiwanese art.
I’m all for Chainsaw Man x The Alley.
I am also all for Nichijou Cafe! Damn I can’t make this.
Kumamoto Castle collabs with three Cinderella Girls (Naho, Ranko, Miho). Can’t make this either orz.
Fitness Boxing x Fist of the North Star.
Ritsuko collab with … the jumping fish from Nagoya, in confection form.
OK this Yurucamp collab, sign me up. Maybe I can even go?
The new Konosuba song is more for a magical girl show right?
HoloEN 1st gens to be Tokyo Tourism Ambassador.
Kadokawa opens manga and voice acting academy in collab with Vantan.
Million Live x Disaster prevention event. But also this lol.
Personal Note
But Bocchi the Rock was the big neta at last Ket.
Did you know this manga was repped by Rio Tsuchiya and Aya Yamane?
Anyways. The usual nonsense is going on. I’ve mostly recovered from my trip to MOIW and that was a blast, other than having to tow my folks around Kanto and do touristy things. I also went to Japan in January but you probably knew that.
Next up is Hawaii for Kawaiikon, then the US con circuit kicks into gear in April and May with AB/Sakuracon (really want to go to Sakuracon now).
As I was writing this newsletter, the stuff from the last 3 months just hit me. Like, in my thoughts before I started was the WBC and the seasonal anime in the winter. Now I’m just reliving both the highs of the concerts I attended and the lows of all the dead people news of these past 3 months. WTF Kurosaki Maon! This one I really have a hard time wrapping my mind around. Yes it’s easy to pair this sad, sad news with her ALICes mate, but damn that is too much. I don’t want to feel this way, if I can help it. At least there’s a lot of healing anime to go to, in a pinch.
But yes, grats to the WBC champ Samurai Japan. Watching the Mexico and USA games with the rest of Japan on twitter was quite fun.
Anime-wise I’ve watched almost all the isekai show this current/past season. That’s rare, even if there were no baseball to compete with. For a season that doesn’t have a smash hit I liked many of the offerings; they don’t quite suck. Tenten probably takes the chart for the yuri goodness but I find this story a lot more resonant because it plays well with the vibe of the LGBTQ struggle in real life. Or online. Not sure. In as such the system of the oppression is the root problem, the people in the middle don’t make it easier, even as the same people are trying to fight it.
The big winner for me is Onimai though. Discourse or not it’s a great, chill otaku product, with catchy music, fun story, and quality visuals. It also is pretty much a great breakdown of things through an unusual (or maybe not so unusual, given there are plenty of genderbender anime out there) framing.
Shoutouts to other fun works like Ningen Fushin, Tenshisama, By the Grace of the Gods, Misfit S2, Camp Cooking, Tomochan, Eiyuuoh, Saito-san, Exorcist isekai anime, and Mou Ippon. The farming anime had a great seiyuu OP.
This post-covid era, lacking a better term because COVID is surely not over, is rough. A lot of changes and matching adjustments aside, there’s just a lot of, lack of a better word, trauma, to deal with. It could be people who are suffering, but it’s also in the systems that broke under the strain of various COVID-related things, or the fluctuating economy, or the whole unforeseen nature of what COVID brought to society at large and in specific instances.
Upcoming Events
Some upcoming events this year and next. Given how untimely this newsletter is, I’ll just do the immediate stuff for now. And project some.
Bocchi anime event in April. At least there’s a stream.
Radwimps touring USA. I am going to their NYC show at least.
One OK Rock around the world.
Anime Boston gets some hololivers. But these hiphop bros are in a lot of anime?
Man With a Mission is doing a US tour too.
Kawaiikon this year features these lovely folks. Hey will I get to see Trash Taste in person at all? LOL probably not at this rate. Just hoping the sun comes out enough so I can chillax at the beach some.
Sakuracon has a strong list objectively speaking this year. Just nothing that hits me on target. Queen Bee and Junya Enoki? Normally that’s worth traveling even for me. Flow puts it over so to speak. But I probably am passing because this year I’m going to travel a lot more…
Acen is bringing 4 voice actresses and they have some J-music guest lined up. Ichinose Kana! Lot of stuff I am doing for this con too, ugh.
I don’t have a Memorial Day Weekend con lined up yet. Maybe I can go to MWAM in NYC, and just chill at home. I guess by default there’s Animazement?
Long Reads
Again, quite a bunch.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale cast makes candy.
Not much 2022 recap in this post but the sakuga one is worth.
They’re still making Eromanga Sensei seiyuu content.
History of NieR with Yoko Taro.
Official remix of Hikki stuff.
Interview with Queen Bee. They’re going to be at Sakura Con!
I went to ML9th in January. It feels both like yesterday and a year ago. Here’s a review. Here’s mine.
Stereo Dive Foundation interview from last year.
Interview with Kitakyushu City ambassadors: Kaneko Yuki, Maeda Kaori, and Takada Yuuki.
Jordan Peele talk about the never-materliazed Akira movie.
Reddit Anime Awards for 2022.
My Dress Up Darling anime writer interview.
Kaguya-sama team interview from their time at ANYC.
I still rep marble in this Newsletter. Micco birthday!
Konomi Suzuki interview on her 10th anniv and 5th album.
This stream is to promote the issue of Seigura that has the seiyuu directory. I guess it’s a “free” service and they put the info on their site.
Sphere anniversary stream from Feb.
Worship music lead youtuber goes over Bocchi the Rock cup trick.
After watching this, I preordered this bluray right away. So maybe don’t click.
I only found out about JPU earlier this year and got some Lonesome_blue stuff from them. They import music and localize it in English from Japan, but they’re based in the UK? It’s interesting.
That’s it, despite this nagging feeling I am missing something, and I am sure I am.
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