After an emotional episode of Assassination Classroom, we are left with only one left as fans await the newest acquisition to join the lineup. And while the news of that will probably break at a time we least suspect it, Toonami Faithful has a few fun fluff stories to tide you over while you wait. From a cool new logo getting revealed and details of a new video game, we have all you’ll want to know about Toonami-related series on the latest installment of This Week From Toonami!
Not much has been revealed about what fans of Yu Yu Hakusho should expect for its 30th anniversary. This week the anime’s official Twitter account released a new memorable logo and mentioned that a new illustration for the property will be revealed on June 10. Considering what happened during Yu Yu Hakusho’s 25th anniversary, a lot of speculation is up in the air on what could happen. It could be similar to what Sword Art Online or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure are doing or something completely different. All fans can do at the moment is wait, and Toonami Faithful will keep our eyes on any news involving everyone’s favorite spirit detective.
Made in Abyss is in the news again as Kadokawa published their latest PV of the anticipated second season. The video revealed that the new season will premiere on July 6 as fans continue their descent down the abyss. So far, Sentai Filmworks has licensed the following season (as they did with the first), and it should only be a matter of time before we learn if it will find its way to Toonami when an English dub is ready. And if you need more Made in Abyss content, you’re in luck, as the new RPG game is set to be playable Sep. 2 on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. Spike Chunsoft (the studio) also announced a cast of original characters with their Japanese and English voices revealing that the game will be available in each language. The game will have an original story supervised by Akihito Tsukushi (the author) and will feature a story mode that follows the main plot of the anime adaptation. It will be interesting to see how this game plays, and many fans will have to look into grabbing it when they can!
Fans now have a tentative date for when the latest Dragon Ball Super film, Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO, will screen in the U.S. A picture of a poster has spread around like wildfire with it, stating the movie will premiere on Aug. 19. Anime News Network reached out to Crunchyroll to confirm this, but the company said they could not say anything at the time. And to get fans more excited, a new trailer debuted in Japan, highlighting Piccolo! Our hero is deep undercover within the Red Ribbon Army and should have fans in Japan excited for the release in just six days!
Dr. Stone fans have a new reason to get excited. The cast was revealed for the new stage play adaptation of the manga accompanied by a new visual. It happens frequently enough if a property is popular enough, and Dr. Stone continues to get more and more fans even after it finished its manga run! According to Anime News Network, the play will run in Tokyo from July 9-18 and then in Kobe from July 21-24. The stage play is described as being “enjoyable for both kids and parents” and will include actual science experiments as part of the play. And while this is happening, artist Boichi is working on a new webtoon on the LINE Manga app in mid-2023. Described by Anime News Network:
The new work is titled SuperString, and is tied into Korean company YLAB’s Super String IP, which features characters from different YLAB works in one universe. The IP focuses on manhwa but also includes films, musicals, live-action works, and games. The new webtoon will center on one young man’s story of protecting his family and fighting alone. In the story, heroes from various dimensions come to Earth and fight a war.
It should be interesting to see and hear how this latest project works out for Boichi, considering how well-known his artwork has been thanks to Dr. Stone’s popularity since it debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump.
Were you interested in some My Hero Academia OVA? The official My Hero Academia website revealed details on a second OVA that was hinted about back in May. The episode will feature Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki during their internship at Endeavor’s agency, where they encounter the villain “Smiley.” This animated short, alongside the previous OVA (involving My Hero Academia characters playing baseball), will be available in Japan from June 16-19.
The mobile game Bloodline: The Last Royal Vampire will be having a promotional event involving Attack on Titan during its pre-registration period and for a limited time when it goes live. Characters Eren, Mikasa, and Levi, will be available to unlock as playable during this event. And it doesn’t stop there, as the property will inspire cosmetics and dungeons for the game. It will be published by Crunchyroll games and is slated to be playable this summer if you are into mobile games!
This week Crunchyroll published a featured article about Shenmue the Animation and if the anime is a perfect introduction to the franchise. Author Jared Clemons dives into the history of the games and how they felt at the time, how split the gaming sphere thinks about the property, and how the anime makes the prospect of playing the games a lot less intimidating. Clemons also mentions how awesome the fights were back then and that the anime does a fantastic job of making each battle feel impactful. It’s worth the read if you are interested in more written Shenmue content, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
After a bit of a delay, Toonami Faithful finally published the final episode review of Shenmue the Animation. Staff writer Bryan “Laser Kid” Johnson puts into perspective how wonderful the anime adaptation was and how stoked he is that his favorite game franchise received an anime. He does hope that the third game will get the same treatment down the line if enough people ask and believes this original might be the best one Toonami has put out yet (although he is a tad biased on that). Shenmue the Animation found a perfect home on the block and gave fans what they come to see in fantastic characters and knock-down battles. It was a fun series, and we hope you can take some time to see how our reviewer felt about what he saw in the final moments!
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C.J Maffris is the Editor-in-Chief at Toonamifaithful.com. He also produced and directed the Toonami documentary, What Toonami Means To Me. Feel free to follow CJ on Twitter @SeaJayMaffris