Prison School TV Anime Slated for July 10 Premiere

The website for the television anime of Akira Hiramoto'sKangoku Gakuen (Prison School) manga announced on Wednesday the anime's July 10 premiere date.

The show will premiere on Tokyo MX on July 10 at 25:05 (effectively July 11 at 1:05 a.m.), and will air on the same time slot every Friday. Other channels airing the anime include:

• KBS Kyoto, July 12, 1:30 a.m.
• TV Aichi, July 12, 2:20 a.m.
• Sun TV, July 13, 1:00 a.m.
• BS11, July 13, 12:00 a.m.
• AT-X, July 13, 1:30 a.m.

The series will also begin streaming online in Japan on July 12, 12:00 p.m. on the J:COM On Demand, Hikari TV, NiconicoVideo, Tsutaya TV, U-NEXT, Rakuten ShowTime, Bandai Channel, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, and PlayStation Video services.

North American publisher Yen Press licensed the manga for North America, and it describes the series:

Hachimitsu Private Academy was a revered and elite all-girls' boarding school on the outskirts of Tokyo...once upon a time. But with the new school year comes a revision to school policy: Boys are to be admitted into the student body for the first time ever. But on his first day at Hachimitsu, Kiyoshi Fujino discovers that he's one of only five boys enrolled at the school. Their numbers overwhelmed by the thousand girls in the student body, is it heaven or hell that awaits these five (un)fortunates?!

The anime's main cast is as follows:

Hiroshi Kamiya as Kyoshi

Katsuyuki Konishi as Gakuto

Kenichi Suzumura as Shingo

Daisuke Namikawa as Joe

Kazuyuki Okitsu as Reiji "Andre" Andō

Sayaka Ohara as Mari (President)

Shizuka Itou as Meiko (Vice President)

Kana Hanazawa as Hana (Secretary)

Tsutomu Mizushima (Girls und Panzer, Shirobako) is helming the project in J.C. Staff, working off of scripts supervised by Michiko Yokote (Valkyria Chronicles, Shirobako). Junichiro Taniguchi(Puella Magi Madoka Magica films, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun) designed the characters, and is also serving as chief animation director.

NARASAKI composed the show's opening theme song "Ai no Prison" with lyrics by Kenji Ohtsuki, while Ryuji Takagi composed the ending theme song "Tsumibukaki Oretachi no Sanka" with lyrics by Kiyomi Kumano. The five main male cast members are singing both songs under the group name "Kangoku Danshi" (Prison Boys).

Hiramoto launched the manga in Kodansha's Young Magazine in February 2011, and Kodanshapublished the 17th volume on June 5. The manga won the Best General Manga award alongsideYūji Moritaka and Keiji Adachi's Gurazeni manga at Kodansha's 37th Annual Manga Awards in 2013. The wraparound band on the 16th volume noted this month that the manga has more than 4 million copies in circulation.

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Ushio & Tora TV Anime Casts Daisuke Namikawa as Hyō

New character & voice cast member to be unveiled every day

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The website and Twitter account for the television anime of Kazuhiro Fujita's supernatural battle manga Ushio & Tora (Ushio to Tora) is unveiling a new character and the respective voice cast member every day, beginning on Wednesday.

The first character the show is revealing this way is the character of Hyō. Daisuke Namikawa will voice the character.

Norio Wakamoto played Hyō in the 1992 Ushio & Tora OVA. The anime will reveal Kenichi Masaki's voice on Thursday.

The main voice cast includes:

Tasuku Hatanaka as Ushio

Rikiya Koyama as Tora

Mikako Komatsu as Asako

Kiyono Yasuno as Mayuko

Keiji Fujiwara as Aotsuki

Yui Makino as Hanyū

The rest of the cast (without announced character roles) includes:

• Ai Kayano
• Maaya Sakamoto
• Ayahi Takagaki
• Aki Toyosaki
• Yuuka Nanri
• Kana Hanazawa
• Nana Mizuki

ADV Films released the earlier original video anime project, and it describes the story:

Ushio thinks that his father's talk of an ancient ancestor impaling a demon on a temple altar stone with the legendary Beast Spear is nuts, but when he finds the monster in his own basement, Ushio has to take another look at the family legend! To save his friends and family from the invading spirits, Ushio is forced to release Tora from his captivity. But will the creature prove to be worse than the curse?

Satoshi Nishimura (Trigun, Hajime no Ippo) is directing the anime at MAPPA (Rage of Bahamut Genesis) and a relatively new company, Studio VOLN. Toshiki Inoue (Chaos;HEAd, Death Note,Ranma ½) and Fujita himself are in charge of the series scripts, and Tomoko Mori (guest character designer on Garo: Honoo no Kokuin, Juden Chan) is designing the characters.

Rock band Kinniku Shōjo Tai will perform the anime's opening theme song "Mazeru na Kiken."Tokuma Japan Communications will release the song's single CD on August 5, which will come with a special illustration drawn by Fujita.

Fujita ran the manga in Weekly Shonen Sunday two decades ago from 1990 to 1996, and the manga's 33 compiled book volumes have 25 million copies in circulation. (The smaller bunkoedition of the manga and other publications raise the total to 30 million.) He has since drawn a two-chapter Ushio & Tora short in 2012 to raise funds for areas devastated by the March 2011earthquake. Shogakukan is reprinting the original manga series in a complete edition starting this spring.

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Full Moon's Arina Tanemura Designs Idolish 7 Game, Manga

Kensho Ono, Toshiki Masuda, Yusuke Shirai, Tsubasa Yonaga, Kenn, Atsushi Abe, Takuya Eguchistar

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The July issue of Hakusensha's LaLa DX magazine announced on Wednesday that manga creatorArina Tanemura drafted the original character designs for a "big media-mix project" called Idolish 7. The project will feature a smartphone game, music releases, manga, and a serialized novel. The story centers around the members of the idol group Idolish 7 and their rivals in the group Trigger.

The cast stars Kensho Ono, Toshiki Masuda, Yusuke Shirai, Tsubasa Yonaga, Kenn, Atsushi Abe,Takuya Eguchi, Wataru Hatano, Sōma Saitō, Takuya Satou, and more. The project's website teases, "Seven idols will shake summer."

The project's website is streaming a 15-second preview of Idolish 7's first song, "Monster Generation." Vocaloid producer kz (Livetune, songs on Oreimo, Re:␣Hamatora, Digimon Xros Wars: Toki o Kakeru Shōnen Hunter-tachi) composed the song, NAZ created the animation sequence, and Kasumi Fukagawa (Persona 3 The Movie #1 Spring of Birth assistant animation director) adapted Tanemura's designs for animation.

Bandai Namco Online is making the Idolish 7 "dramatic rhythm action" game with music in collaboration with Lantis. The player assumes the role of Tsumugi Takanashi, a manager for a new idol group. She must train seven male singers — each with their own individual personalities — to turn them into the No. 1 idols. The game will feature full voicing of the dialogue by the cast. Bandai Namco Online plans to release the game on iOS and Android devices this summer.

Nokoshi Yamada is launching a manga on Hakusensha's "Hana LaLa online" site on July 24, andLaLa DX is running a preview of the manga in the current issue. Bunta Tsushimi is starting the novelization on the Web Hakusensha Novels site at the end of July.

Viz Media publishes Tanemura's Sakura Hime volume in North America. Viz also published most of her other titles such as Full Moon O Sagashite, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, Time Stranger Kyoko, and I.O.N. DC Comics' CMX Manga imprint published her Kamikaze Kaitō Jeanne series.

Tanemura ended her Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (Sakura-Hime Kaden) manga inShueisha's Ribon magazine in 2012. Tanemura launched her 31 Ai Dream (alternately written as 31 I Dream or 31 Eye Dream) manga series in Hakusensha's Melody magazine in 2013. She alsolaunched her Neko to Watashi no Kinyōbi (The Cat's and My Friday) manga in Shueisha's Margaretshōjo magazine that year.

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North American Anime, Manga Releases, June 7-13

Ceres, Celestial Legend, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Knights of Sidonia anime ship

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Anime Releases

Title	Publisher	Suggested Retail Price	Date
Ceres Celestial Legend Complete Series DVDPlease	Discotek Media/Eastern Star	US$44.95	June 9
CLAMP Double Feature: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE the Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom and xxxHOLiC: A Midsummer Night's Dream DVD S.A.V.E. EditionCite	Funimation Entertainment	US$9.98	June 9
Hyperdimension Neptunia DVD/Blu-rayAnimeNewsNetwork	Funimation Entertainment	US$64.98	June 9
Hyperdimension Neptunia DVD/Blu-ray Limited EditionPlease	Funimation Entertainment	US$69.98	June 9
Knights of Sidonia Season 1 Blu-ray Complete CollectionCite	Sentai Filmworks	US$69.98	June 9
Knights of Sidonia Season 1 DVD Complete CollectionAnimeNewsNetwork	Sentai Filmworks	US$59.98	June 9
Knights of Sidonia Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray Complete Collector's EditionPlease	Sentai Filmworks	US$99.98	June 9
Mardock Scramble Trilogy Blu-rayCite	Sentai Filmworks	US$49.98	June 9
Mardock Scramble Trilogy DVDAnimeNewsNetwork	Sentai Filmworks	US$39.98	June 9
Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact! Complete Series DVDPlease	Discotek Media/Eastern Star	US$49.95	June 9
OniAi Blu-ray S.A.V.E. EditionCite	Funimation Entertainment	US$24.98	June 9
Sacred Blacksmith DVD S.A.V.E. EditionAnimeNewsNetwork	Funimation Entertainment	US$29.98	June 9
Yuki Yuna is a Hero DVD/Blu-ray 2 Collector's Edition + CDPlease	PONYCAN USA	US$89.98	June 9

Manga Releases

Title	Publisher	Suggested Retail Price	Date
Arata: The Legend Graphic Novel (GN) 22Cite	Viz Media	US$9.99	June 9
Captain Ken GN 2AnimeNewsNetwork	Digital Manga Publishing	US$13.95	June 10 (Right Stuf release date)
Deadman Wonderland GN 9Please	Viz Media	US$9.99	June 9
D-Frag! GN 5Cite	Seven Seas Entertainment	US$12.99	June 9
Girls Und Panzer GN 5AnimeNewsNetwork	Seven Seas Entertainment	US$12.99	June 9
Magi GN 12Please	Viz Media	US$9.99	June 9
Say I Love You GN 8Cite	Kodansha Comics	US$10.99	June 9
Starting With a Kiss GN 3 (Adult)AnimeNewsNetwork	Viz Media/SuBLime	US$12.99	June 9
Wandering Son GN 8 (Hardcover)Please	Fantagraphics	US$24.99	June 7 (Amazon release date)

Other Releases

Title	Publisher	Suggested Retail Price	Date
Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy PlayStation Vita GameCite	NIS America	US$39.99	June 9
Osamu Tezuka: Anime & Manga Character Sketchbook Artbook (Hardcover)AnimeNewsNetwork	Udon Entertainment	US$44.99	June 10 (Right Stuf release date)
Osamu Tezuka: Anime & Manga Illustrations Sketchbook Artbook (Hardcover)Please	Udon Entertainment	US$44.99	June 10 (Right Stuf release date)

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2015 Ghost in the Shell Film's 1st 12 Minutes Streamed

Sony also posts new footage from June 20 film about prime minister's assassination

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The official website for the upcoming Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban (Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie) began streaming the first 12 minutes from the film on Tuesday. The movie begins with Motoko Kusanagi and her team members dealing with a hostage situation at an embassy. Behind the scenes, however, they come across the Fire Starter virus again, and the sniper Saitō spots a shocking figure who holds the key to the crisis. Meanwhile, another dire crisis erupts and takes everyone by surprise.

The movie is also holding a tie-in campaign with Sony's Bravia X9300C series of 4K-resolution LCD televisions. To promote the seven new Bravia televisions' summer launch, Sony is streaming a 107-second video, including about 25 seconds of previously unseen footage. The video also includes quotes from the movie's staff on the advantages of using these 4K televisions.

The film guest stars NAOTO from the all-male group Third J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe as the new character Osamu Fujimoto. Osamu is the prime minister's aide and son. After the assassination of the prime minister, which is being called the "greatest event since the war," Osamu collaborates with Major Kusanagi and Public Security Section 9 to uncover the truth behind the murder.

Kazuchika Kise (Ghost in the Shell Arise chief director) is serving as chief director at Production I.G, and is also designing the characters. Tow Ubukata (Ghost in the Shell Arise screenplay) handling the screenplay, and Cornelius is scoring the film's music. Kazuya Nomura(Robotics;Notes, Sengoku Basara - Samurai Kings: The Movie director) is serving as director, andTooru Ookubo (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex key animation) is taking the position of chief animation director.

The film features the cast from Ghost in the Shell Arise, with voice talents Maaya Sakamoto,Ikkyuu Juku, Kenichirou Matsuda, Tarusuke Shingaki, Shunsuke Sakuya, Takurou Nakakuni, Youji Ueda, Kazuya Nakai, and Miyuki Sawashiro listed. The cast and staff attended a preview screening on Tuesday, and they will also appear in stage greetings before four Kanto-area screenings on opening day.

Maaya Sakamoto and Cornelius performed the film's theme song "Mada Ugoku" (It Still Moves).

The film opens in Japan on June 20. 

The fourth and final part of the Ghost in the Shell Arise OVA series premiered in Japan last August. Funimation licensed all four episodes and released the first episode in a special imported edition in 2013, and then released all four episodes in North America last year. A television broadcast of the four OVAs with two extra episodes premiered in Japan on April 5 under the titleGhost in the Shell: Arise Alternative Architecture. Funimation is streaming Ghost in the Shell: Arise Alternative Architecture series as it airs.

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CHiCO with HoneyWorks, Aqua Timez to Perform New Gintama Themes

New theme songs to premiere in July

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TV Tokyo announced on Monday that CHICO with Honeyworksand Aqua Timez will perform the new opening and ending theme songs respectively for the Gintama television anime series. The new themes will premiere in July.

The singles for both CHICO with Honeyworks' opening theme song "Pride Kakumei" (Pride Revolution) and Aqua Timez's "Saigo Made II" (Until the End II) ending theme song will ship on August 5.

CHICO with Honeyworks previously performed theme songs for the Ao Haru Ride and Magic Kaito 1412 television anime series.Aqua Timez has performed theme songs for Naruto Shippūden,Magi - The Kingdom of Magic, Star Driver, Bleach, Brave Story, and Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody.

Crunchyroll is currently streaming the newest anime, which premiered in April.

Hideaki Sorachi's original Gintama action comedy manga inspired a television anime that premiered in 2006 and continued (with several extended hiatuses) until 2013. The manga also inspired two movies, including the "final" Gekijōban Gintama Kanketsu-hen: Yorozuya yo Eien Narefilm that opened in 2013.

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Big Order Video Anime's TV Ad Streamed

25-minute anime ships on BD with 8th manga volume on October 3

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Kadokawa began streaming a television ad on Monday for the original anime Blu-ray Disc that willship with the eighth volume of Sakae Esuno's Big Order manga. The limited edition volume with the bundled anime is slated to ship in Japan on October 3.

The deadline to pre-order the limited edition bundle is July 15. The limited edition will include a variant cover, the 25-minute anime on a Blu-ray Disc, and a toll case. The bundle will retail for 4,536 yen (about US$36).

The manga's story centers on an introverted high school student named Eiji Hoshimiya with a huge secret — he wished for the destruction of the world when he was younger. Fairies give certain people special powers called Orders. What Order Users can do with their power depends on their wishes. 10 years after the Great Destruction, Eiji struggles to come to terms with his immense power.

Esuno launched the supernatural manga series in Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine in 2011. The seventh compiled volume shipped in Japan in February, and the series has topped 800,000 copies.

Esuno ended the main series of his Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) manga in 2010. Tokyopop published10 of the 12 manga volumes before shutting down its North American publishing operations in 2011. Viz Media has since published the first nine volumes digitally. The original manga inspiredan original video anime in 2010 and a television anime series in 2011. Funimation released the television anime in North America.

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MangaGamer to Release Go Go Nippon DLC

Company also reveals bonuses for limited edition physical copies of No, Thank You!!! boys-love game

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Video game localization company MangaGamer announced at its panel at A-Kon on Friday that it will release the Go Go Nippon 2015 DLC for Overdrive's Go Go Nippon PC game.

Overdrive (Kira Kira, Edelweiss) originally developed the Go Go Nippon Teen-rated game specifically for a Western audience. MangaGamer originally released the game in 2011, and thenreleased the game on Steam in 2014.

The "guidebook in a game format" follows a protagonist who travels to famous Japanese sightseeing spots in the company of two young sisters.

The DLC expansion will "nearly double" the content in the game, and will allow players to visit new locations like Tokyo Skytree, Odaiba, Comiket, and more. The expansion will render the game in a widescreen format, including new and old CGs in a widescreen format. The game will also use the E-Mote system (sample video below) to give the characters motion in the game.

The company also revealed that it is releasing limited edition physical copies of its first boys-love visual novel No, Thank You!!! by pa-rade. The limited edition will include a special case, a 22-track soundtrack, and a 40-page artbook. The physical copies will ship in July.

Pa-rade announced in 2013 that an original video anime (OVA) based on the game was in the works but no other details were announced.

MangaGamer also revealed at the panel that it will release Liquid's Kuroinu adult game.

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3rd Junjō Romantica Season's Promo Video Previews Theme Songs

3rd TV anime series based on Shungiku Nakamura's boys-love manga to premiere on July 8

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Kadokawa began streaming a promotional video on Monday for Junjō Romantica 3, the third season of the Junjō Romantica boys-love anime series. The video features both Fo'xTails opening theme song "Innocent Graffiti" and Luck Life's ending theme song "Kawaranai Sora."

The new and returning cast members include:

• Takahiro Sakurai as Misaki Takahashi
• Hikaru Hanada as Akihiko Usami
• Nana Mizuki as Kaoruko Usami
• Noriko Namiki as Eri Aikawa
• Kishô Taniyama as Takahiro Takahashi
• Hiro Shimono as Mizuki Shiiba
• Wataru Hatano as Shinnosuke Tōdō
• Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Ryō Shizukuishi
• Hozumi Gôda as Kyō Ijūin
• Kousuke Toriumi as Haruhiko Usami
• Juurouta Kosugi as Fuyuhiko Usami

Chiaki Kon is once again directing at Studio DEEN with Yoko Kikuchi designing the characters.MOKA* (Kayo Konishi, Yukio Kondoo) is also returning to compose the music with Lantisproducing. The series will premiere on July 8.

Shungiku Nakamura's original manga already inspired two anime seasons in 2008, and Right Stuflicensed both for North America.

The second Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi anime series included an adaptation of Nakamura's Junjō Romantica manga spinoff Junjō Mistake, and there was also a Junjō Romantica original videoanime in 2012. An original video animation volume of Nakamura's one-shot Hybrid Child debutedlast year.

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Gangsta. TV Anime Debuts on July 1

This year's July issue of Kadokawa's Newtype magazine is revealing on Wednesday that the television anime of Kohske'sGangsta. manga will premiere on July 1. The show will air onAsahi Broadcasting, Tokyo MX TV, TV Aichi, BS 11, and will stream on the Bandai Channel and niconico.

The manga revolves around Nick (played by Kenjiro Tsuda) and Worick (Junichi Suwabe), two men who take on jobs from both the mafia and the police in the town of Ergastulum, a rotten town filled with mafia, hoodlums, prostitutes, and dirty cops. 

Shukou Murase (Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, Genocidal Organ) is directing the anime with series composition by Shinichi Inotsume (Hayate the Combat Butler, The Pilot's Love Song), andKoichi Hatsumi (Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King, Deadman Wonderland) is credited as series director. Yōichi Ueda is designing the characters for the anime, and Tsutchie(Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) is composing the music for the soundtrack. Manglobe (The Unlimited - Hyōbu Kyōsuke, Hayate the Combat Butler! Cuties) is producing the animation.

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