<![CDATA[A-to-J Connections - Anime / Manga / Film]]>

<![CDATA[A-to-J Connections - Anime / Manga / Film]]>Tue, 22 Jul 2025 17:33:14 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Sanda Anime Premiere Review (Anime Expo 2025)]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/sanda-anime-premiere-review-anime-expo-2025By Manuel

While Dandadan season 2 started airing in this Summer 2025 season, anime studio Science Saru had another series premiere at Anime Expo: their adaptation of Paru Itagaki’s (Beastars) manga Sanda. They showed off the first episode along with a short Q&A afterwards, and a live drawing of the main characters from Itagaki-sensei. As someone who hasn’t cared all that much for some of Science Saru’s more recent works, by the end of this event, I was more than ready to watch the entirety of this series when it comes out in October

Manga licensor Titan Comics describes the plot of the manga as:
“In a near-future Japan, Christmas has faded into myth, and the birth rate has dropped so dramatically that children are now the most precious commodity. Society has artificially extended adolescence to preserve their youth, and traditional holidays, like Christmas, are a mere legend of the past. …Sanda introduces Sanda Kazushige, a middle-school student who unexpectedly becomes entangled in a strange and dangerous mystery. When his classmate, Fuyumura Shiori, accuses him of carrying a curse that could help find her missing friend, Ono Ichie, Sanda’s life takes a dramatic turn. Together, they embark on an incredible adventure to unravel the truth behind Ichie’s disappearance and uncover the hidden magic of Christmas itself.”

That’s a lot to take in but the first episode does a great job of introducing all of this. It starts off with Sanda being attacked by Fuyumura after she announced her intent to kill him. It’s a scene that would be tense and dramatic if it weren’t delivered with the same kind of over-the-top comedy that might be expected from some of Science Saru’s works. Especially because it’s then followed up by Sanda trying to justify it and then spin it in a way where he thinks it’s because she has a crush on him. It’s off in that very pleasing way that can be hard to pull off, but here it’s done in a way that if you’re anything like me, will have you laughing out loud harder than anything you’ve seen in a while.

The art and animation for these scenes were both first class. I may not care for all of their works but I can’t deny that Science Saru always seems to deliver something very striking and here they use a style with thick lines and very distinct shading (? I think that’s the term. I’m not really an art person.) to give the anime and all of its characters a distinct look that you’re not really getting anywhere else.

All of this is supported by great vocal performances from the main characters. Ayumu Murase as Sanda plays the role of a guy who wants to be normal but gets roped into these fantastic situations. It’s a classic archetype that he plays to a T with assistance from Umeka Shoji playing Fuyumura as the one who wants to drag him into all the absurdity to help her find her friend. I think both of them and Hiroki Tochi as another character whose identity I won’t reveal here all understand the absurdity of these situations and are able to sell the lines of logic in a way that makes this all somewhat believable.

After the episode was done, there was a short Q&A with Paru Itagaki, director Tomohisa Shimoyama, and producer Kohei Sakita. There was also a speed drawing of Sanda by Itagaki-sensei. Sadly, something about the location made it so that her ink couldn’t dry fast enough for her to do a full sketch but she at least threw in a little sketch of Fuyumura as well. It was cute.

Afterwards, members of the press including me got to meet up with the three of them in a side room where we got to talk to them for a bit, take their picture and even got to make a short video of them that you can find on our YouTube channel.

In short, I think this might be a big hit for Science Saru in the making. A lot can happen between now and October when the series is set to start but right now, I’m confident that this is going to be a WATCH IT NOW series.

Sanda is set to air in the Fall season. As of time of writing, it has not been revealed if/where it will be streaming in North America.

Thank you again to everyone for having us at the premiere.

Check Out The Sanda Manga:
https://titan-comics.com/c/2292-sanda

]]><![CDATA[New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Premiere Review (Anime Expo 2025)]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 06:36:31 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/new-panty-stocking-with-garterbelt-premiere-review-anime-expo-2025By J.D.

It has been nearly 15 years since the original Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt wrapped up and left people with a WTF ending that after a few years of nothing, seemed like it would never be resolved. Fret not, True Believers, the series is back with a not quite sequel (That’s the director’s own words. That article will be up later) New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and it’s like the old series never left.

[Spoiler Alert: I will be talking about the ending of the original Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt when talking about the plot of the new series. If you haven’t watched it yet, go and watch it before reading this if you don’t want to be spoiled.]

The new series picks up where the old one left off after Stocking revealed she was a demon and cut Panty into 666 pieces. It then promptly lampshades the nearly decade and a half wait before revealing it’s only been about 5 minutes in universe. Briefs, Chuck, Garterbelt, Scanty and Kneesocks all jump into a car to follow Stocking (stalking Stocking?) and vacuum up the pieces of Panty in hopes of putting her back together.

The plot is also just as over the top and sometimes random as the original as well. No opportunity for spectacle or a joke seems wasted. I watched it in a packed room at Anime Expo and there was hardly a period of more than a minute where we weren’t all laughing or cheering at whatever was going on onscreen. If you had ever forgotten that some of the creative team had worked on masterpieces like Evangelion and Gurren Lagann, you will be reminded as soon especially when the big fight of the episode starts.

All this feels just like this was made as a finale of the original series that was thrown in a vault for all these years before being released for the anniversary. It is just as rude, crude and lewd in all the best and most hilarious ways that I remember watching all those years ago. All it was really missing was a “See you next season” at the end to convince me of that but instead, it’s “see you next week” so I’m very happy that the wait for more of this won’t be as long at least until this season’s over.

It helps that the art and animation of the new series has also been designed in a way that looks just like you remember the original but with small touches of modern advancements. It also continues the series tradition of mixing in different art styles and media of animation and both of those are present in the first episode. On the music side, both TeddyLoid and Taku Takahashi are back working on the music along with a host of new artists and judging by the first episode, it seems to follow the other aspects in being what you liked about the original but cranked up to 11 and with some more modern touches. I really liked the music of the first season so I’m definitely excited to see where the new series goes.

At AX, there were showing of both the uncensored version and the censored version. I was unable to catch the uncensored version because it overlapped with the premiere of The Summer Hikaru Died (You can read my review for that HERE.) so I caught the censored version the day after. Since that time to now, I have watched the uncensored version on Prime Video, and in some ways I gotta say the censored version is funnier. Maybe it was just that I had already seen the jokes before and the more difficult to read subtitles on Prime Video, but I think there is also an added element of comedy in filling in the blanks the censorship leaves. I’m still probably going to watch the series uncensored, but I wanted to put that out there.

Fans of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt have been waiting for nearly 15 years for a continuation and it has finally arrived and it was worth the wait. Whether this show only gets these two seasons, six seasons, and a movie, or continues until the heat death of the universe, I’m ready to watch as much of it as I can.

Conclusion: As a sequel, I feel like this is another series where you already know if you’re going to watch the series. Whether you’ve been waiting 15 years or 15 seconds for more of the adventures of Panty and Stocking, this series will deliver what you’re looking for. WATCH IT

For those that haven’t watched the original series, if you’re looking for a series that might best be described as rude, crude and lewd in all the best and most hilarious ways, this series is a WATCH IT. Just make sure to watch the original first. If the first season wasn’t for you, the first episode of New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt will probably not change your mind.

New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is streaming now on Prime Video.
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/New-PANTY-STOCKING-with-GARTERBELT/0SMLN9RBRDL719Y0K5J00JHJ3G

]]><![CDATA[Seven Seas Announces New Manga, Light Novel, & Audiobook Acquisitions (July 2025) #2]]>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 22:53:02 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/seven-seas-announces-new-manga-light-novel-audiobook-acquisitions-july-2025-2

The Wonderful Wednesday keep on coming, and that means that it's time for our friends at Seven Seas to reveal their latest license acquisitions! This time around they have three manga titles, a light novel series, and an audiobook series for everyone to look forward to! Details, covers, and more for each of these releases can be found below!

Workin’ the Night Shift at Akumart

Seven Seas Entertainment is pleased to announce the license acquisition of the manga series Workin’ the Night Shift at Akumart by NAJIMI. Night shift always brings out the weirdos, and that’s especially true for the convenience store in Osaka, where the late-night customers aren’t always human! A cute, slice-of-life story about a demon girl working the late shift and the customers she encounters each night.

About Workin’ the Night Shift at Akumart:
In Minami, Osaka, there’s a convenience store that has some seriously strange customers coming through the late shift. But the customers aren’t the only ones out of place here—the late-night shift is full of weirdos! And for the arrogant demon Aruru, she’s responsible for keeping up with every oddity that walks through the door. It may be a pain, but she’s determined to do her best!

Workin’ the Night Shift at Akumart Vol. 1 will be printed for the first time in the English language in June 2026 for $14.99 USA / $19.99 CAN, with the series available in single large-trim editions. Ebook editions will also be available on digital platforms.

The Scum Laugh

Seven Seas Entertainment is pleased to announce the license acquisition of the manga series The Scum Laugh by Atatakairo. A full-color manga about the lives of beastmen suffering from madness.

About The Scum Laugh:
What does it mean to be a Beastman? Are you expected to be strong and tough, vicious and cunning, or can you spare a single moment to be soft and vulnerable? Take a look at the lives of beastmen who have been labeled as mad and those around them.

The Scum Laugh Vol. 1 will be printed for the first time in the English language in May 2026 for $16.99 USA / $22.99 CAN, with the series available in single large-trim editions. Ebook editions will also be available on digital platforms.

Gladiator Battle Life

Seven Seas Entertainment is pleased to announce the license acquisition of the manga series Gladiator Battle Life by RARUTORI and Atsushi Sugiyama. A story about a man who became a villain to make his own path. Prepare to face the Colosseum in this action-packed manga about gladiators and their epic battles in the ring!

About Gladiator Battle Life:
In the Colosseum, warriors find desire, despair, and hope as they fight to the death! Baron Ruckel Fautash is a well-known gladiator who has been touted as a hated villain in the ring. But despite the vitriol spewed his way, this nobleman of the Taurus Empire has no plans of backing down and won’t say no to any fight.

Ruckel may be tarnishing his noble name with every fight he takes on, but he’s determined to carve out his own path, with just his sword and strength to guide him.

Gladiator Battle Life (Manga) Vol. 1 will be printed for the first time in the English language in June 2026 for $14.99 USA / $19.99 CAN, with the series available in single large-trim editions. Ebook editions will also be available on digital platforms.

Venus Mission: From Former Assassin and Mercenary Middle-Aged Man, Reincarnated into Another World to Assassinate the Hero!

Seven Seas Entertainment is pleased to announce the license acquisition of the light novel series Venus Mission: From Former Assassin and Mercenary Middle-Aged Man, Reincarnated into Another World to Assassinate the Hero! by MIYABI and Eito Nishikawa. A former mercenary is reincarnated into a magical world where his skills will make him a threat to the so-called heroes of this new world.

About Venus Mission: From Former Assassin and Mercenary Middle-Aged Man, Reincarnated into Another World to Assassinate the Hero!:
Former mercenary Suzuki Takashi was one of the best in his field and was only stopped when he died from cancer. But his job as a sharpshooter isn’t over. The next time he opens his eyes, Takashi finds himself in a totally different world! Brought over because of his skills, he must also master the ancient martial art Shingu-ryu and newly acquired magic to face off with powerful foes—who happen to be other heroes!

Venus Mission: From Former Assassin and Mercenary Middle-Aged Man, Reincarnated into Another World to Assassinate the Hero! (Light Novel) Vol. 1 will be printed for the first time in the English language in May 2026 for $15.99 USA / $20.99 CAN in single volume editions as part of Seven Seas’ Airship imprint. Ebook editions will also be available on digital platforms.

Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss!

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce, through its Siren imprint for audiobooks, the launch of the audiobook for Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! by Nekoko and Yoh Hihara, with narration by Mark Sanderlin. An isekai adventure about an ordinary boy taken under the wing of a mysterious undead girl!

About Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss!:
When Kanbara Kanata is whisked away from his mundane life to a world of adventure, he inadvertently offends the all-powerful being who brought him there. As punishment, he is sent to the bottom of the most dangerous dungeon without a single special power or ability! He is sure that he’s a goner until he meets a lich girl named Lunaère—an undead powerhouse who hates humans, but grudgingly decides to assist him all the same. With Lunaère’s help, Kanata may just grow into someone truly incredible!

Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! (Audiobook) will be released for the first time in the English language on July 24, 2025. Pre-orders available now at sevenseasaudiobooks.com.

About Seven Seas Entertainment
Established in 2004, Seven Seas Entertainment is an award-winning publisher that specializes in bringing the best of Japanese manga and light novels to English-language audiences alongside the hottest danmei, webtoons, and other books from around the globe, as well as producing audiobooks, original comics, and youth literature. All of Seven Seas’ print book imprints are distributed throughout the world by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. For more information, visit sevenseasentertainment.com

]]><![CDATA[Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine North American Premiere Review (Anime Expo 2025)]]>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/detective-conan-black-iron-submarine-north-american-premiere-review-anime-expo-2025By J.D.

If you know me, you might know that Detective Conan/Case Closed is my favorite anime and one of the ones that got me into actively watching anime. With this in mind, it makes sense that when I heard that the franchise’s 26th film Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine would have its North American premiere at Anime Expo 2025, I added it to my schedule, and made sure my butt was in the seat when the showing started.

For those that are new to the franchise, here’s a quick rundown: Shinichi Kudo, the teenage great detective, solves a murder while at an amusement park with his friend/love interest Ran Mouri. He spots some suspicious men in black outfit and decides to follow them. He sees them making a shady deal and before he can report it to the proper authorities, he is knocked out by one of them and inject with the experimental poison APTX-4869 (Not so nice!). Instead of killing him, the poison causes his body to de-age about 10 years. With the body of a child but still possessing his great mind, he disguises himself as Conan Edogawa, taken from books by Arthur Conan Doyle and Rampo Edogawa in his family collection he spotted when asked for his name, he solves crimes generally by knocking out Ran’s father Kogoro and using a voice change to reveal the perpetrator’s identity. He does all this in hopes of one day bring down the organization the men in black belong to and returning himself to his original body. Like most long-running franchise movies, this is also covered much more clearly in the first few minutes of the movie.

That can be a lot to take in and then, add on to that the wide cast of characters this franchise has created over more than 30 years, I don’t know how much people are going to get out of this as their first exposure to the franchise. Luckily, they did provide us with a relationship chart on the back of the promotional material provided to all the attendees which covered most of the major players.

So, as for the actual movie, it starts in Germany where a Europol agent is chased through the streets of Frankfurt by members of the Black Organization and eventually killed by Gin, one of the members Shinichi was tracking at the amusement park. I should also note here that the members of the Black Organization all use codenames based on alcohol. Male members tend to be named after distilled drinks like Gin, Vodka, and Bourbon, while female members are usually named after wines like Sherry, Vermouth, and Chianti. This might seem unimportant but give it a second.

Okay, now to our main characters, one of Ran’s friends Sonoko arranges for Conan and his friends including Ran, her dad and Dr. Agasa, think the Doc Brown to Shinichi/Conan’s Marty, one of the few people who knows the truth about Shinichi’s situation, to go whale watching at a resort owned by her family on Hachijo-jima. After learning from one of his contacts about the Europol agent’s death including the appearance of another member of the Black Organization Pinga, named after a Brazilian spirit made of distilled sugar cane, and spotting a few inspectors he knows on another boat, Conan sneaks on and is taken to the Pacific Buoy, a surveillance operation hoping to connect all the security cameras across Interpol nations. The Black Organization apparently has its sights set on sabotaging this technology to keep its agents from being discovered but it also wants to acquire the “All-Age Recognition System” created by one of the software engineers at the Buoy to help find missing persons. Realizing how much trouble this could be for him and his friend Ai, actually Shiho Miyano, a former member of the Black Organization and the developer of APTX-4869 that took it in hopes of killing herself but ended up shrinking just like Shinichi, Conan now has to rush to stop the Black Organization from reaching its goals while making sure he and Ai can keep their identities a secret.

Is this what it sounds like to my aunt when my sister and I try to explain anything that goes on in a Marvel movie nowadays?

The Detective Conan movies are usually more action-packed than the series and this film does not disappoint in that regard. My favorite of the sequences was the kidnapping scene which provides us with both a fight between Pinga and Ran where she gets to show off her karate skills as she manages to hold her own against a secret agent and a car chase with Conan and Agasa pursuing Black Organization members in another. An addition element is thrown in when Conan decides to give chase on his motorized skateboard, one of Agasa’s many inventions. The chase eventually ends with both the Black Organization’s car and Conan plunging into the ocean. All of this got some of the loudest cheers and other reactions from the audience that might only have been matched by some of the ending sequence. While some of the greater arc of events might be predictable, the action sequences make this a very enjoyable time.

Everything else is about what you would expect from a Detective Conan animated story whether as an episode or a film. The voice actors for most of the main cast have been doing this for decades and have their interpretations of the characters down pat and the voices of the new characters play the roles of the characters of the week (or year in the film’s case) without standing out. The music uses a lot of the cues from anime some a bit more energetic and action-packed for the film and bigger budget. That might also be because I’m currently more than a decade behind in the anime but I do love the usual tunes.

I mentioned it on one of our streams that it would be hard for me to rate something like that as a big fan of the series. Even if it’s just serviceable, I would be likely to rate this highly just out of my love for the franchise. Despite that, if you’re not already a fan of the series but are willing to accept that you might not understand some of the characters and relationships between them, I think there’s enough action here to keep you entertained.

Overall Review: For someone like me, this an A-. For someone with no interest in the series, this is probably closer to a B-/C+.

Pros:
+ All of the elements you would expect of a Detective Conan entry
+ Great action scenes

Cons:
- If you’re not already into the franchise, you might be confused by everything going on

As for the rest of the premiere, there were announcements about the franchise. A few days before the event, the franchise had dropped a batch of episodes including a new dub on Netflix and Crunchyroll detailing Conan’s run-ins with the Black Organization. Hopefully, we’ll get even more in the new future. In addition, the films are being released on the TMS Entertainment YouTube starting with The Darkest Nightmare the Saturday before I wrote this. Two other movies were announced for release this way on following Saturdays. There was also a giveaway to the person who had been following the series for the longest, I thought I had a decent chance having followed for roughly 20 years at this point but someone must have been reading Shonen Sunday in Japan when it came out because the winner claimed to be following the series for 30 years.

Overall, this event was a good time and left me excited for the future of the series in North America. The trailer for Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine can be found below.

]]><![CDATA[The Summer Hikaru Died: Anime Expo 2025 Premiere Review]]>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/the-summer-hikaru-died-anime-expo-2025-premiere-reviewBy Manuel

Six months ago, Hikaru Indoh disappeared into the mountains. A week later, he returned home and everything seemed fine. That is, until the day when Hikaru’s best friend Yoshiki asks one simple question: “You’re not the real Hikaru, are you?” For some series, this might be the climax of a season-long buildup of suspicion but here, it’s the end of scene two. What follows afterwards is an exploration in friendship, the supernatural, the joys of everyday life and what it means to be human.

We were lucky enough to get invited to the premiere of The Summer Hikaru Died at Anime Expo. If you’ve listened to the latest episode of our podcast Reading the Wrong Way [Which you can find HERE] in which we covered the first volume of the original manga by Mokumokuren along with first volumes of Gachiakuta and The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses, you’d know that after reading volume 1, this became my most anticipated series of the summer season. Thanks, Bea.

Fittingly, the anime adaptation of the manga by Cygames Pictures is being released in the current Summer 2025 season. The premiere was just the first episode of the series but even from just that, I feel like the series has met my expectations and I can only hope it continues to do so.

The first episode mostly draws from the first two chapters of the manga but it also adds in extra scenes and changes some things around which Mokumokuren noted at the premiere was done with their approval. For example, the opening of the anime gives us a glimpse of Hikaru’s final moments in the woods before whatever is inhabiting his body now took over. There are also several smaller moments where things or characters that are going to be important in upcoming episodes, like “Hikaru” and Yoshiki’s classmates, are introduced earlier than they were in the manga.

The biggest change seems to be the side plot where a man named Tanaka, a paranormal investigator of some sort, deals with a problem in one scene while apparently tracking down some evil spirit that is causing trouble in the kids’ town and may be connected to “Hikaru.” An addition at the end of the episode as well makes it seem like there is much more going on in this town than we may have initially led to believe and I look forward to seeing how this plot unravels.

If there was on change from that manga that I think lessened the effect, I think it’s more towards the end of the episode when we’re shown something that was kept more ambiguous in the manga. I think it lessened the terror and the mystery of the scene. However, I do concede that it’s probably only going to be for people who have already read the manga and it may just be the effect of having only read the first volume.

The art of the anime is excellent as well. I think it really captures the essence of Mokumokuren’s art and puts it into motion. There’s only one scene where “Hikaru” is cloaked half in shadow and half in light that I wasn’t entirely sure of but that’s one small blemish on an otherwise great episode.

I also appreciate that the sound design was able to recreate the overwhelming feeling of certain sounds that Mokumokuren creates with panels just covered in an ungodly amount of sound effects and onomatopoeias. It all creates the perfect summer in the countryside atmosphere and makes the scenes that are supposed to be unsettling even more so.

On the voice acting front, this episode rests almost entirely on the backs of Chiaki Kobayashi, who was at the premiere, and Shūichirō Umeda playing Yoshiki and Hikaru / “Hikaru” respectively and I think they both do a great job playing the characters. Kobayashi is able to convey Yoshiki’s attempt to stay cool while dealing with all the supernatural goings on and dealing with his loss of Hikaru and his relationship with “Hikaru.” On the flip side, Umeda does an excellent job of playing the easily excited “Hikaru” as someone who is truly experiencing the joys of life for the first time. We don’t get to see much of him as the original Hikaru in the episode beyond the opening but I’m excited to see how he works with the dual roles.

In conclusion, the anime adaptation of The Summer Hikaru Died is off to a great start and if it can keep this, we’ll probably be talking about this for the rest of the year especially when it comes time for picking out our favorite shows of the year. Fans of supernatural mysteries, stories of friendship (that I feel may eventually bloom into more) or just generally coming of age stories should check this out.

Verdict: WATCH IT

The Summer Hikaru Died is streaming now on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81948057

]]><![CDATA[Seven Seas Announces New Manga, Light Novel, & Audiobook Acquisitions (July 2025) #1]]>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:28:31 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/seven-seas-announces-new-manga-light-novel-audiobook-acquisitions-july-2025

It's been a while since our friends at Seven Seas gave us a Wonderful Wednesday, but that drought ends today! This week they revealed the license acquisitions of a manga title, two light novels, and two audiobook series for everyone to look forward to! Details, covers, and more for each of these releases can be found below!

I Have a Secret: The Complete Manga Collection

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce the license acquisition of the manga series I Have a Secret by Yoru Sumino and Zui Nieki. The manga adaptation of the hit coming-of-age story with supernatural overtones from the bestselling, acclaimed author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas!

About I Have a Secret: The Complete Manga Collection:
Five high school classmates hold secrets close to their hearts—hidden talents, unspoken feelings, and buried pain. As they collide with each other on the path to growing up, they might jostle some of those secrets free. From Yoru Sumino, acclaimed author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas and I Had That Same Dream Again comes a gentle, intriguing tale about love, life, and the things we leave unsaid.

I Have a Secret: The Complete Manga Collection 1 will be printed for the first time in the English language in May 2026 for $24.99 USA / $32.99 CAN, with the series available in single volume editions. Ebook editions will also be available on digital platforms.

Distorted I Love You

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce the license acquisition of the light novel Distorted I Love You by Yoru Sumino and ITSUKA. A brand-new, supernatural light novel from the brilliant mind behind I Want to Eat Your Pancreas and At Night, I Become a Monster, Yoru Sumino!

About Distorted I Love You:
It happened quietly. A livestream announcement from a low-tier prophecy channel. The end of the world was officially coming.

Some believe it, others don't. But soon, people begin claiming to see things that others cannot and a sort of madness seems to spread. Are people losing their minds or is it simply a matter of making the most of the time they have left? Moves are made, chances are taken, and nothing is certain. Dive into this supernatural rollercoaster of emotions from acclaimed author, Yoru Sumino.

Distorted I Love You (Light Novel) will be printed for the first time in the English language in July 2026 for $15.99 USA / $20.99 CAN in a large-trim edition as part of Seven Seas’ Airship imprint.

Confession Strategy

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce the license acquisition of the light novel Confession Strategy by Yoru Sumino. One woman comes up with a plan to make her best friend confess his feelings for her—so she can get him to move on. A new novel from the acclaimed author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas and At Night, I Become a Monster.

About Confession Strategy:
Chizuru and her best friend Hibiki have always been close, though Chizuru is very aware of how close Hibiki wishes they were. Now recently engaged, Chizuru wants Hibiki to move on and be happy with his life but knows the only way he can do that is to finally admit his feelings out loud.

But while Chizuru has only the best intentions for Hibiki, could her confession plan wind up backfiring or will this completely ruin their friendship?

Confession Strategy (Light Novel) will be printed for the first time in the English language in June 2026 for $15.99 USA / $20.99 CAN in a large-trim edition as part of Seven Seas’ Airship imprint. An ebook edition will also be available on digital platforms.

I Will Forget This Feeling Someday

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce, through its Siren imprint for audiobooks, the launch of the audiobook for I Will Forget This Feeling Someday by Yoru Sumino, with narration by Kurt Kanazawa. Two parallel dimensions and brief meetings in the dead of night give rise to a passionate love story from the bestselling author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.

About I Will Forget This Feeling Someday:
Suzuki Kaya lives an everyday, ordinary, boring life. That is, until a dazzling light appears before him at a defunct bus stop, showing him a vision of a girl from another world. From that moment, Kaya's life changes as they strive to find ways to meet one another from across dimensions, and maybe... even fall in love.

I Will Forget This Feeling Someday (Audiobook) will be released for the first time in the English language on July 17, 2025. Pre-orders available now at sevenseasaudiobooks.com.

A Tale of the Secret Saint

Seven Seas Entertainment is excited to announce, through its Siren imprint for audiobooks, the launch of the audiobook for A Tale of the Secret Saint by Touya and chibi, with narration by Katy Vaughn, known for her role as Yukari Yukino in the English dub of Your Name. The story of a young woman’s quest to become a knight while hiding her saintly power—which inspired the anime! And don’t miss the manga adaptation or the prequel series, both also available from Seven Seas.

About A Tale of the Secret Saint:
Born into a long line of knights, Fia is determined to become a knight herself, just like all her siblings. But a brush with death awakens memories of her past life as a Saint—a woman who wields rare, powerful healing and protection magic—along with the ability to use that magic herself! The downside is that Fia also remembers her past life's untimely death, and the danger she will be in if anyone finds out what she really is. She vows to stay on her knighthood path and keep her powers a secret forever! But how can she resist using her newfound powers when they're just so useful?

A Tale of the Secret Saint (Audiobook) Vol. 1 will be released for the first time in the English language on July 17, 2025. Pre-orders available now at sevenseasaudiobooks.com.

]]><![CDATA[Gachiakuta Anime Premiere Review (Anime Expo 2025)]]>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/gachiakuta-anime-premiere-review-anime-expo-2025By Manuel

As part of our coverage for Anime Expo this year, I attended the world premiere of the anime adaptation of the manga Gachiakuta by Kei Urana with graffiti design by Ando Hideyoshi. If you’ve listened to the latest episode of our podcast Reading the Wrong Way [Which you can find HERE] in which we covered the first volume of the series, along with first volumes of The Summer Hikaru Died and The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses, you’d know that this was my pick for the season. After reading the first volume, I was super excited to see what Bones could do with the anime and after watching the first two episodes at AX, I am not left wanting.

The first episode covers roughly the first chapter of the manga adding a few new scenes to make it better fit into a standard 22-minute episode. In the episode, we are introduced to the world in which our main character Rudo lives. His hometown is divided into two halves: One looks super clean and seems to be inhabited by people who look down their noses at the residents of the other half, the poor and dirty slums called the Tribespeople. We learn a bit later in the episode that the slums apparently started as a prison for the other side of town and the current residents are the descendants of those prisoners.

From what I’ve read and seen, I feel like this spells out a lot of what the series is trying to say initially. The Tribespeople are trying to regain their standing but will probably never get it back from the residents other side no matter how well they behave. To them, the Tribespeople are just as much trash as the plushies they throw away as soon as it rips and never thought about again with anything other than disgust. Though, as we learn by the end of the episode, maybe the Tribespeople aren’t any better in that regard.

We are introduced to Rudo when he is digging through the trash of the rich side of town and recovers a discarded plushie that he wants to fix. He’s quickly caught by an Apostle, basically just a fancy name for a cop in this world, and makes a quick escape as a swarm of them tries to catch the infamous Trash Raider. This first action sequence of Rudo escape did an excellent job of bringing life to the scene that could only be conveyed with lines in the manga. I hope the series can keep it up for the entirety of its half-year run.

The next day, Rudo’s life is changed forever when he is framed for a crime and tossed into the Pit, the garbage pile where the people too bad for even the slums are sent. Before he’s cast out, Rudo’s spirit is broken and he swears to come back and take his revenge on every last one of the people in the city. It feels very much like Eren Jaeger announcing his intention to kill all the Titans but in some ways more intense because this is immediately directed at a group of people rather than a seemingly mindless set of monsters.

Episode two covers the second and third chapters of the manga. It picks up with Rudo surviving his fall into the Pit and learning just what kind of danger lurks down there. He is quickly attacked by a Trash Beast which is just like it sounds, a beast made out of trash that has somehow come to life. Through his interactions with the people of the Pit he learns more about the nature of the world, the powers people have down here and their exact relationship with the people of the Sphere. If you listened to the podcast episode, you’ll know that I really liked a scene in chapter three and while I think this episode didn’t go as far probably so it could air on TV uncensored, it still very much conveys the anger and brutality of the scene.

That said, as we discussed on the podcast as well, these chapters are also a bit heavy on exposition as we learn about the Pit, its people and how the power system works. Be ready to be hit with a lot of new proper nouns you’ll be expected to remember. I wasn’t too bothered by it but I can see where it’s a bit too much for some people.

I realize I’ve talked about the plot, themes and animation but I haven’t really talked about the art itself. I was kind of worried that the punk/graffiti (I think the term Bea found for the aesthetic after recording the podcast was “Grind Fiction” or “Shibuya Punk”) style that Urana created wouldn’t carry over to the anime but Bones continues the excellence in adaptation they’ve shown in other series like Mob Psycho 100 here. There honestly might have been no matter choice to match this material.

For voice acting, Rudo’s voice actor, Aoi Ichikawa, is the only real constant between episodes and I think the does a good enough job at showing Rudo’s emotions from his frustration with the way this world treats objects to his more caring side and then, really brings it when Rudo’s finally reached his breaking point before he is finally cast into the Pit. Toshiyuki Morikawa also does an excellent job as Regto especially in his rapport with Rudo showing how he can be a caring adoptive father who still likes to tease his son. Finally, Katsuyaki Konishi plays the role of Enjin, Rudo’s first ally in the Pit plays that part of having to put up with the guy who want stop asking questions well.

Honestly, I think there’s a lot to love here and not a whole lot to hate. If you’re not a fan of action-adventure shonen anime, this might not change your mind but there’s still a possibility that the themes it seems to be exploring could pull you in. I’d say, if it didn’t already sound appealing to you, maybe you should GIVE IT THREE EPISODES.

Gachiakuta is streaming now on Crunchyroll.
https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GP5HJ84P7/gachiakuta

]]><![CDATA[Manga Mavericks Books Announces Four New Titles for Fall 2025 Release]]>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/animemangafilm/manga-mavericks-books-announces-four-new-titles-for-fall-2025-release

Anime Expo 2025 saw plenty of big announcements, and new North American publisher Manga Mavericks Books announced three licensed titles during its panel at Anime Expo that will be added to its print and digital catalog this Fall. These titles will also be made available early to paid subscribers of the Manga Mavericks Substack newsletter, which will add a manga-reading feature for select titles from Manga Mavericks Books starting on July 16th. Manga Mavericks Books also announced a two-volume series which will be sold in partnership with the Japan-based localization company, Red String. Details on all the releases, and links to purchase them, can be found below!

First Time In Taiwan: A Delicious Adventure! by Muta Yuki
Print SRP: $7.99 / Digital SRP: $3.99 · 44 pages · For Readers 13+ · Available October 2025

Told through the visage of cute animal avatars, this delicious manga travelogue follows the journey of a mangaka and friends’ as they explore Taiwan via both illustrations and photography. Readers can pull up a chair and enjoy the deliciousness in this release without the need to worry about calories!

Print Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/first-time-in-taiwan-a-delicious-adventure

Digital Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/first-time-in-taiwan-a-delicious-adventure-digital

Great Metal God by Iwakuni Kogyo
Print SRP: $8.99 / Digital SRP: $4.99 · 64 pages · For Readers 13+ · Available November 2025

Jump into the cockpit of a sci-fi-like fairy tale of colossal proportions! In Great Metal God, an unknown steel visitor descends from the heavens, leaving destruction in its wake. Mankind’s struggles are in vain before the metal marauder, however, salvation comes from an unlikely source –an ancient ritual and a young girl’s resolve. Told almost completely without text, instead utilizing page after page of incredible artwork, readers will fall to their knees before the Great Metal God’s advent.

Print Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/great-metal-god

Digital Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/great-metal-god-digital

Princess Da Huang & Other Tales by Ohtori
Print SRP: $9.99 / Digital SRP: $4.99 · 68 pages · For Readers 13+ · Available December 2025

In the whimsical, beautiful, and very dangerous world of Princess Da Huang, humans live alongside bizarre creatures. This anthology spins several fairy tale-like stories where ordinary people and the supernatural intersect. From puppets with minds of their own to bizarre dragons with human faces, each page of this beautifully illustrated anthology will surprise and delight readers.

Print Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/princess-da-huang-other-tales

Digital Pre- order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/princess-da-huang-other-tales-digital

I'll See You At Ebisu Studios Vol. 1, by Nishu
Print SRP: $14.99 / Digital SRP: $9.99 · 72 pages · For Readers 13+ · Available October 2025

At Ebisu Studios, run-of-the-mill animator Inojima is troubled. His favorite soda is missing from the company vending machine, and the young production assistant Kano won't stop confessing his love every chance he gets. Is it a one-sided workplace romance? Or will their relationship move forward, frame by frame?

Print Pre-order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/ill-see-you-at-ebisu-studios

Digital Pre- order:
https://store.mangamavericks.com/products/ill-see-you-at-ebisu-studios-digital

About Red String
Red String (Translations) is a Japan-based localization service that specializes in manga translation. Since founding in 2020, Red String has delivered high-quality translation and lettering to mangaka, publishers and fans alike. Red String has a track record of finding rising stars, having worked collaboratively with manga artists such as Daichi Kawada, MMK, and Aneido. Having raised over 50 million yen in crowdfunding towards independent manga distribution since 2022, Red String continues to share the very best that Japanese manga artists have to offer.

https://x.com/rs_honyaku
https://bsky.app/profile/redstringtl.bsky.social
https://lit.link/en/honyaku

About Manga Mavericks LLC
Originally launched as a manga news podcast in 2016, Manga Mavericks has grown into a multimedia company anchored by a successful podcast network and a team of journalists and reviewers dedicated to exploring manga as both a medium and as an industry across the world. With the launch of Manga Mavericks Books, the company seeks to expand further into the manga industry, highlighting the eclectic storytelling, artistry, and creativity of Japanese creators and comics.

https://store.mangamavericks.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mangamavericks_official
https://bsky.app/profile/mangamavericks.bsky.social
https://x.com/mangamavericks
https://mangamavericks.substack.com

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