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Fruits Basket Season 2 Reveals New Cast Additions

Fruits Basket's huge revival was one of the most surprising releases of 2019, and the series has been a major highlight of the Spring and Summer months as it has been a reboot that more closely adapts the events of Natsuki Takaya's original manga. 

One of the most exciting prospects of this will be fulfilled with the recently confirmed second season -- which is coming our way next year -- as there will be a few characters that have never made their proper anime debut with the original anime adaptation 18 years ago.

Fruits Basket was originally created by Natsuki Takaya for Hakusensha's Han to Yume magazine in 1998. The series follows a sweet, young, orphaned girl named Tohru Honda who ends up living with a few members of the mysterious Sohma clan when shenanigans ensue. 

Things get out of control when Tohru learns the family has been cursed to transform into zodiac animals whenever they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Sworn to secrecy, Tohru decides to help break the cyclical curse, and the girl falls in love with a special someone along the way. Fruits Basket even returned with three new manga chapters from original creator Natsuki Takaya as well.

As teased by the final episode of the first season, two huge fan favorites will be joining the Fruits Basket shenanigans as Kakeru Manabe and Machi Kuragi have been officially confirmed to be making a full appearance in Season 2. The official Twitter account for the series revealed the voices behind these additions as well.

Takuya Eguchi will be performing for Kakeru Manabe in the original Japanese release, and Aaron Dismuke has been announced as the voice for the character in Funimation's English dub release. As for Machi Kuragi, Ai Kakuma will be the voice of her in Japanese and Caitlin Glass (who also serves as the ADR director for the series) will be providing her voice in the dub release.

While not revealed in full, fans got to see these two characters very briefly in the season finale. Passing by Tohru and Yuki on a stairway, fans of the original manga know just how much of a wrench these two throw into things. But it's left up to mystery for now as we have to anxiously await the start of Season 2 sometime next year.

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My Hero Academia Showcases Aizawa Surprisingly Cute  Moment

My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. 

The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia is gearing up for an even bigger end of 2019 with both a fourth season of the anime and second big anime film too.

When it comes to cute and fuzzy moments, there is one hero in My Hero Academia you won't think of immediately. There is little reason to connect Aizawa with such scenes as the Pro Hero tends to keep to himself, but even Eraserhead has his soft spots. Apparently, there is something about his boss at UA Academy which Aizawa can't say no to, and fans got a clear look at that in a recent chapter.

As the meeting went on, things got more serious, and fans were left amused by the interchange of tense conversation and cute asides to Nezu. The principal was plenty serious as he shared all this new information with his teachers, but it was hard to focus on the mouse when he was sitting on top of Aizawa. Now, fans are curious to see who Nezu will snuggle up to next, and the major consensus is point to either Midnight or All Might. 

Recently, My Hero Academia brought in a new chapter, and it was there fans learned a lot of new information. With Class 1-A embarking on new work studies, fans were curious to learn why such a program was being repeated. As it turns out, the larger government demanded a new work study from UA Academy, and Principal Nezu had to break the news to fans.

And where did he do it from? Well, the tiny mouse decided it was time he shared the big announcement perched upon Aizawa's shoulder.

"There's a chair for you, you know," Aizawa is seen sharing at the meeting. And as you can expect, the genius principal cared little about the objection.

"But this is the warmest and coziest spot."

So, are you loving this adorable Pro Hero exchange...?

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Release Date Of Blade of the Immortal Anime Confirms

Blade of the Immortal was originally created by Hiroaki Samura for Kodansha's Afternoon magazine in 1993, and the series was later adapted into an anime in 2008 by Bee Train and Production I.G. The series has been licensed for an English language release by Dark Horse Comics, and even had a live-action film directed by Takashi Miike in 2017. Dark Horse officially describes the series as such, "Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal will keep you on edge! Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan, has been cursed with immortality. 

To rid himself of this curse and end his life of misery, he must slay one thousand evil men! His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents' killers...and his quest won't end until the blood of a thousand has spilled!"

Hiroaki Samura's fan-favorite Blade of the Immortal series is one of the many franchises making their grand return as part of the Fall 2019 anime season, but unlike the first anime adaptation released 11 years ago this one is gearing up to be a "complete" adaptation of Samura's manga.

 It's one of the many major anime series joining the slate of offerings on Amazon Prime Video, and a recent promo for the anime's premiere confirmed that the series will debut on October 10th with two episodes. As spotted by Moetron News on Twitter, we now know how many episodes it will run for as well.

The new Blade of the Immortal anime will be running for 24 episodes, and while this might not seem like it's a proper amount for a "complete" adaptation -- there's currently no word on whether or not this will be a first season order. But we'll start getting our answer this October.

The new anime series will be directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Steins;Gate) for LIDEN FILMS. Makoto Fukami (Psycho-Pass) will be handling the series scripts, Shingo Ogiso (The Heroic Legend of Arslan) will serve as the character designer, and Eiko Ishibashi will be composing the music. The opening theme for the series will be titled, "Song of Vision," and will be perfomed by Kiyohar.

The cast for the series includes Kenjiro Tsuda as Manji, Ayane Sakura as Rin Asano, Nozomu Sasaki as Kagehisa Anotsu, Eiji Hanawa as Sabato Kuroi, Houko Kuwashima as Makie Otono-Tachibana, Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Taito Magatsu, Shunsuke Sakuya as Eiku Shizuma, Shinya Fukumatsu as Sosuke Abayama, Yousuke Akimoto as Saburo Anotsu, Masato Obara as Araya Kawakami, Jouji Nakata as Kagimura Habaki, Marika Hayashi as Kyakurin, Hiroshi Shirokuma as Giichi, Tooru Nara as Shira, Chikahiro Kobayashi as Shinriji, Tomokazu Seki as Sori, and Ako Mayama as Yaobikuni.

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Radiant Season 2 Announces New Cast Members, Theme Songs

Originally created by Tony Valente, the groundbreaking French manfra Radiant has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language releasem and the series is officially described as such, “Seth is an aspiring sorcerer from the Pompo Hills area. Like all wizards, he is an 'infected,' one of the few living beings who survived the contact of the Nemesis—creatures fallen from the sky that contaminate and decimate all those they touch.

 Being immune to them, Seth wants to become a Hunter and fight the Nemesis. But more than that, Seth wants to engage in a quest that goes beyond the simple hunt for monsters. He wants to find the Radiant, their presumed cradle. Aided by a faction of fellow sorcerers, he travels the world in search of the Radiant, under the harsh scrutiny of the Inquisition."

 Radiant's first season might not have been the biggest release of 2018, but the series has definitely found a core following that are greatly anticipating the premiere of the second season as part of the Fall anime season. It's one of the major series making their comeback, and its magical world is about to expand even further with whole new batches of characters. 

The series has also revealed the new theme songs for the second season, too! The new opening theme for the series is titled "Naruku" as performed by Halo at Yojohan, and the new ending theme is titled "Chitto mo Shiranakatta" will be performed by Emi Nakamura.

New characters and cast members have been announced for the second season and include Yukana as Queen Boudica, Hiroshi Shirokuma as Brangoire, and Yutaka Aoyama as Lord Gyuris. They'll be joining previously announced new cast additions Haruki Ishiya as Mordred and Kentaro Kumagai as Sagramore.

Scheduled to premiere October 2nd in Japan, Crunchyroll and FunimationNOW have both confirmed that they will be streaming the second season for fans outside of Japan. The second season will be running for 21 episodes much like the first, and will feature returning staff and voice cast from the first season too.

Directed by Seiji Kishi for Studio Lerche, Radiant's second season also features the returning Daisei Fukuoka as series director, Makoto Uezu to oversee the series scripts, Nozomi Kawano as character designer, and Masato Koda as composer. The first season of the anime premiered last October, and you can currently find it streaming on Crunchyroll and FunimationNOW with an English dub.

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Impressive Tag Team Battle Of Boruto And Shinki

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017.

 The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations fans have been having mixed feelings about the anime lately as it has found itself in a long string of filler arcs. But the latest one has been more positively received than not as it followed up on some of the plot threads left hanging by the Chunin Exams arc. 

With Boruto and Shinki forced to work together in order to protect Shukaku from being taken by Urashiki Otsutsuki, the latest episode pushed this duo even further and featured a pretty impressive tag team battle against the Otsutsuki as they ran out of all other options.

Episode 125 of the series sees Boruto and Shinki combining their techniques together after successfully delivering Shukaku to the Hidden Leaf Village. Without anything to worry about, the two were able to completely throw themselves into the fight and surprisingly blended their different kinds of moves together.

After returning to Boruto's side, Shinki jumps in to save him from Urashiki's attacks. Boruto had been using a Shadow Clone to act as a decoy to buy Shinki time to make it to the Hidden Leaf Village, so Shinki went back in order to help out once his mission had officially been completed. It's here that they actually give Urashiki a run for his money.

Despite having the abilities of both the Byakugan and Rinne Sharingan, and the abilities granted by stealing chakra from Sasuke and the others, Shinki and Boruto managed to actually injure him. Boruto covered the spread by forming Shadow Clones of both he and Shinki, and Shinki would block Urashiki's vision with his iron sand techniques.

But whether it's due to cockiness or their actual skill, Boruto and Shinki manage to catch Urashiki off guard and hit him with their toughest techniques, the Black Iron Fist and Rasengan. Their powers combined, Urashiki's face is injured. But before he can counter, Sasuke makes his return to the series and Urashiki is chased off to threaten them another day. But despite how the fight came to an end, it's most certainly an impressive victory for Boruto and Shinki and their first real tag team effort.

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First TV Promo of Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia Debuts

Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia is one of the many anime series making their debut as part of the Fall anime season, and it's one of two major projects coming from the fan favorite mobile game. Gearing up for a premiere on October 5th, Aniplex has debuted the first TV promo for the new anime.

Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia is based on the "Order VII: The Absolute Frontline in the War Against the Demonic Beasts: Babylonia" storyline from the original mobile game and is one of two major anime projects releasing within the next two years. 

 While it's shorter than the debut trailer for the new anime series, there are a few moments of new content that see some familiar faces doing some familiar things. Although the canon of the franchise is notably all over the place, it'll help fans to see Gilgamesh up to his old tricks.

Aniplex of America has confirmed that they have licensed the series for an English language release outside of Japan, but although the full series will not debut October 5th, fans can currently check out a special prologue episode dubbed "Episode 0" on Crunchyroll and Funimation Now.

The cast of the series currently includes Nobunaga Shimazaki as Ritsuka Fujimaru, Rie Takahashi as Mashu Kyrielight, Ayako Kawasumi as Fou, Tomokazu Seki as Gilgamesh, Yu Kobayashi as Enkidu, Kana Ueda as Ishtar, Takahiro Sakurai as Merlin, Yuu Asakawa as Ana, Kenichi Suzumura as Romani Archaman, and Maaya Sakamoto as Leonardo Da Vinci.

The second major anime Fate/Grand Order project will adapt the "Order VI: The Sacred Round Table Realm: Camelot" storyline, as voted on by fans in Japan. 

With two feature films, the first is scheduled for a release in 2020, and Kei Suezawa (FLCL Alternative) will be directing Wandering: Agateram, and Kazuto Arai (FLCL Progressive) will be directing the second, Paladin: Agateram. Production I.G. will be producing the films, and animating the second, while Signal.MD will be animating the first film.

This newest promo for the series was released to the anime's official Twitter account introduces fans to a whole new region, but it's being ruled by Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is familiar for sure, but this new setting will certainly be interesting to see unfold as he quickly unleashes one of his most powerful attacks toward the end of the promo.

It has yet to be officially confirmed whether or not the full series will be available through those streaming services, and whether or not it will get an English dub release, but with the prologue episode now available it's probably a safe bet. Toshifumi Akai will be directing the series for CloverWorks with Miyuki Kuroki as assistant director, Tomoaki Takase as character designer, and Ryo Kawasaki serving as composer.

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One Piece Shows-Off Luffy's Powerful Sumo Skills

One Piece's Wano Country arc has been steadily moving along in the anime series, and things have been quite tumultuous as Luffy, Zoro, and Kiku have made their way into Bakura Town in order to save Tama.

 But in order to find her in the crowd full of Kaido's forces, they have to draw out the headliner in charge and a great opportunity presents itself in trying to overthrow the massive Yokozuna Urashima. After being reject by Kiku in the previous episode, he's now going against Luffy in a full Sumo match in Episode 903.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. 

The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.

The latest episode of the series sees Luffy hilariously throw himself into the spirit of things, and much like his playing at being a full fledged samurai in a previous episode, Luffy tries his best to be a Yokozuna himself to not so surprising results. Continuing to annoy Urashima all the while, Luffy manages to take down the massive wrestler with ease.

After saving Kiku with a powerful Sumo slap of his own, Luffy challenges Urashima to a match. Hilariously declaring that he's "good at Sumo," (with the episode itself revealing his undefeated record against Usopp) he even salts the ring before their match. Urashima and Luffy collide their slaps, and after both of them nearly fall out of bounds (and ridiculously catch themselves un the process) the match begins in full.

Luffy doesn't have much trouble beyond not quite being able to toss Urashima like he's supposed to due to their size difference, and this frustrates Urashima to no end. After being embarrassed by Kiku and losing his topknot, Luffy's antics see him dodging all of Urashima's slaps without breaking a sweat.

Urashima even tries to use a few illegal moves to beat Luffy, but these don't matter in the long run as Luffy is able to dodge or counter each one. When the fight goes on long enough and Luffy gets all of it out of his system, he kicks in his Haki and brings the fight to an end. After countering one of Urashima's strikes, Luffy winds his hand far back through Bakura Town.

After inflating, this massive Sumo slap collides with Urashima and sends him flying throughout the town. Luckily for him, Urashima not only wrecks many of the buildings in his path as he flies, but he eventually lands where Holden is holding Tama hostage. This frees Tama from having her cheek pulled, and now Luffy and the others have most certainly gotten the Headliner's attention. And now Luffy's an undefeated Yokozuna!

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The Legend of Zelda New Poster : Link's Awakening Gets Stylish Anime Makeover

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening certainly got a lot of attention when it was first announced as the game features a radically new look for Link. A sort of chibi, toy-like figure is a much different look than fans were expecting to see with the remake.

 But it wasn't too surprising considering that Link has been seen in many art styles in various releases over the years. This was just one of many, and now fans are hoping that the franchise would make an anime debut someday.

The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's longest running and most popular video game franchises ever, and the series has seen various incarnations over the course of the franchise's long tenure. Video game releases, cartoons, collectibles, and while there's been an official manga release based on the various stories of the games released thus far there's yet to be an official anime. 

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is now available on Nintendo Switch. You can check out our spoiler-free review of the game here, and here's an excerpt to get you started, "The vast majority of Link’s Awakening has an incredible foundation, and a new coat of paint helps the experience feel fresh and lively without heavily retooling anything. New and old players alike will find something to enjoy here, and the previous expectations from both.

That's why fans have often taken it upon themselves to share their own anime interpretations, and one particular bit of fan-art has gotten a huge reception online.

Breath of the Wild vs. the preconceived notion of what the game is and was -- will almost certainly be set aside to simply play and enjoy a sometimes unexpectedly charming, if not entirely new, Zelda game."

In celebration of the release of the latest The Legend of Zelda remake, Link's Awakening has shared a fantastic anime poster for the new release imagining a great anime take on the game's events as a mischievous Link is obviously up to no good. 

If not with the Link's Awakening adventures, perhaps something else? It's certainly a good fit for an anime considering its fantasy locales, powerful entities, and heroic storyline. But until it gets an official anime, fans will keep putting out fun anime takes on the franchise like this! 

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Director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Explains Why Goku or Iron Man Will not be Included in the Game

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator and director Masahiro Sakurai has stated that the series will continue to only feature video game characters, despite numerous requests from fans to add characters like Goku and Iron Man.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch only. For more news, media, and information on the best-selling and critically-acclaimed Nintendo fighting game, be sure to check out all of our previous and extensive coverage of the title by clicking right here, including why the next DLC character may be Waluigi.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Switch fans have an endless wishlist of DLC characters, and atop many of these wishlists are Goku from Dragon Ball Z and Marvel's Iron Man. That said, don't expect these characters to come to the game, and from the sounds of it, they won't be added via future installments either. Why? Well, creative director of the series Masahiro Sakurai has a simple reason for why he has no plans on putting them into the iconic platform fighter: they aren't video game characters.

The comments were made at Tokyo Game Show, where Sakurai took to the stage to accept an award for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. His words were published on Twitter by user naruki, translated by PushDustin, and verified by IGN Japan.

“I get all these kinds of requests from abroad like, ‘Where is my believed Iron Man?’ or ‘Where is my beloved Goku?’” Sakurai said. “However, basically [Smash] will only have content from video games in it.”

Since launch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has added a variety of new DLC characters, many of which hail from non-Nintendo games such as Banjo and Kazooie and the heroes from Dragon Quest. It was recently announced that Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard will also be added to the game.

Despite this, it seems like third-party Switch games is as far as Sakurai is willing to go, with games based on anime, comic books, or film being a step beyond his boundary.

Yes, both Goku and Iron Man have appeared in many video games over the years, but they aren't video game characters. They are characters who have appeared in video games. For example, Master Chief is a video game character. Harry Potter is a character who has appeared in video games. Basically, Sakurai will only put characters who are known as video game characters, aka characters that originate from video games. And thus, Iron Man and Goku are out of the running. Sakurai is aware that many players want to see the two characters, but for now, it doesn't sound like he's going to change his roster philosophy.

As you may know, Sakurai has more or less deconfirmed the two and other non-video game characters a few times now, suggesting that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a celebration of video game history, and thus anime, entertainment, and comic book characters don't really belong. Of course, things change all the time, but it doesn't sound like this particular sticking point is going to budge anytime in the near-future.

What characters do you want to see added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Should Goku and Iron Man be added?

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Japan's Menstrual Manga Star Is Getting Their Own Live-Action Movie

The movie will focus on International Rising Star recipient Fumi Nikaido, who plays a work-driven fashion editor constantly dreading each time Seiri raises her unnerving fluffy head. The cleaning lady for the fashion office, played by Sairi Ito, laments her father’s enthusiastic sex life with his new girlfriend and resorts to trolling people online to keep her demons at bay.

As the manga has been praised for its sensitive depiction of the difficulties that can come with menstruation, the movie is being billed as a sensitive way to understand reproductive health – while offering a serious helping of laughs along the way. As Nikaido herself mutters in the trailer, “the period’s bad enough, but what really sucks is how nobody understands how bad it is.”

It looks like things are about to get interesting in Japan. According to new reports, one of the nation's most intriguing manga mascots is about to get a live-action makeover, and you can expect it to be a bloody one. After all, plans have been approved to adapt Seiri-chan, a manga series about an anthropomorphic period, to life with every whacky ensuing detail you could imagine.

The movie will focus on International Rising Star recipient Fumi Nikaido, who plays a work-driven fashion editor constantly dreading each time Seiri raises her unnerving fluffy head. The cleaning lady for the fashion office, played by Sairi Ito, laments her father’s enthusiastic sex life with his new girlfriend and resorts to trolling people online to keep her demons at bay.

As the manga has been praised for its sensitive depiction of the difficulties that can come with menstruation, the movie is being billed as a sensitive way to understand reproductive health – while offering a serious helping of laughs along the way. As Nikaido herself mutters in the trailer, “the period’s bad enough, but what really sucks is how nobody understands how bad it is.”

It looks like things are about to get interesting in Japan. According to new reports, one of the nation's most intriguing manga mascots is about to get a live-action makeover, and you can expect it to be a bloody one. After all, plans have been approved to adapt Seiri-chan, a manga series about an anthropomorphic period, to life with every whacky ensuing detail you could imagine.

Some have  been scrunching our stomachs, angrily downing pints of chocolate ice cream and rolling around disconsolately on our bedspreads waiting for news on our favorite web manga mascot Seiri-chan. A star of the web manga circuit, Seiri differs from a lot of cutesy mascots meant to draw in tourists or showcase wares. How so?

Well, Seiri is getting her own movie.

All right, all right. There’s another key thing that sets Seiri-chan apart from the fluffy, dewy-eyed mascot crop – she represents the menstrual cycle. Her antics in her native web manga, written and illustrated by Ken Koyama, include draining women of blood with a big syringe and punching men in the stomach. Her name also means menstruation! The secondary characters in her manga are understandably dismayed whenever she arrives (unless in the midst of a pregnancy scare.)

Seiri’s jump from comic panel to big screen was announced in February and its staff kept tight-lipped about its details, refusing to confirm anything besides a live-action adaptation. A curious choice, considering Seiri’s sloppy heart shape, staring eyes and white cross nose, but Japanese directors would know how to translate that into a live-action movie better than most.

According to Sora News 24, Seiri-chan is the latest manga title to be optioned for a live-action film. The walking period will follow in the footsteps of Rurouni Kenshin, Attack on Titan, and even JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. As it turns out, Seiri-chan has been more than popular enough to warrant a live-action adaptation, and fans outside of Japan are having a wild time learning about the series.

As mentioned, Seiri-chan is a title which follows its titular character as they visit women around Japan. The walking, heart-shaped period visits girls monthly, and each update follows the characters as they go through a menstrual cycle together.

If you were hoping this series would be one which comforts girls on their cycle, then you better think again. Seiri-chan gets their blood from the women it visits through a massive syringe which leaves each girl in pain. Still, some women are plenty happy to see their period, and others are upset for a whole variety of reasons.

This adaptation might make more sense as a children's movie meant to teach young girls about their cycle, but Seiri-chan is not that. Its live-action film will feature real actress who interact with their period, but there is no word yet on whether Seiri-chan will be done via CG or costume. 

For now, the specific details of the film remain a mystery, but you can bet fans around the world are interested to see how this project shakes down. There is no planned release window attached to the project as of yet, but fans of Ken Koyama's Seiri-chan manga are eager to see how the monthly visitor does in the real world.

So, what do you make of this strange live-action adaptation?

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Spot The Comparison Between Apple's iPhone 11 and Retro Mecha Series

Which iPhone 11 comparison has been your favorite to date?

If you haven't heard, Apple has done it yet again. The tech company held a major presentation yesterday where it made the next generation of iPhones public. The iPhone 11 will be the next phone to join the series, but netizens did not know how to feel about one model's multiple cameras. And anime fans?

Well, they decided to make memes about it. What else did you expect them to do when the iPhone 11 looks so much like some retro tech presented by Armored Trooper Votoms.

Over on Twitter, the anime fandom made jokes about the iPhone 11 like many others did, but the most popular meme goes to the Votoms community. The group was quick to spot how similar the phone's three-camera system looked to the Scopedog robots which were featured prominently in the 1980s anime.

As you can see online, the memes have been aplenty, and they are not letting up. The comparison comes down to the fact Scopedog has three lenses on its head. The scopes give the mecha increased aim and precision. Of course, the iPhone has added its extra cameras to give fans more wide angle options, so you can see how the upgrades connect the two.

Some fans of Votoms admit the comparison is close, but there are better ones within the series. Votoms' Diving Beetle mecha has been a favorite comparison as well as the Snapping Turtle armor. Now, the fandom is warring with itself to one-up the last meme, and the rest of the Internet can laugh knowing an anime from the '80s predicated the iPhone 11 years ago.

For those wanting to grab the iPhone, you better start saving up money now. There are three tiers of the iPhone 11, and none of them will come cheap. The lowest tier will be $699 USD before the iPhone 11 Pro runs fans nearly $999. The highest tier will cost fans a whopping $1,099 and up once tax is included, so fans better choose wisely with these phones. Pre-orders for the phones will begin starting September 13, so tech lovers can start their savings fund now and start making a dent in their payments now.

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Star Wars Fan Art Gives Kylo Ren and Rey a Romantic Anime Makeover

Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker will be in theatres on December 20th.

The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is built around the conflict and attraction of Force users Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Though Rey and Kylo have never been shown romantic sparks, their connection has nonetheless led Star Wars fans to the fantasize that they could end up together.

Well, now the worlds of Star Wars and Anime are colliding, as one fan artist has taken the Kylo/Rey "Reylo" 'ship and given it a glorious anime makeover:

Translations of the tweet don't make too much sense (forgive any inaccuracies), with results like "A Space Onion Idea: A Kylo Ren Party, which prevents Ray from going to Saro! Kyle's too sweet to draw."

So, while the artist's intention may not be clear, the result of the artwork definitely is: This is a cute little piece of anime-inspired work, and we wish there were more examples of Star Wars looking like this.

Rey and Kylo Ren's story will reach its culminating chapter with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which hits theaters this holiday season. Naturally, the plot details of Episode IX are being kept under wraps, but the recent Rise of Skywalker trailer at D23 definitely teased an epic duel between these two light/dark side Force users - including a major Rey twist!

That twist was a final shot of Kylo Ren facing a much different version of Rey, as the girl was dressed in dark robes and wielding a red, double-bladed lightsaber. Fans have been buzzing like crazy about what "Dark Rey's" storyline in the film will be - but for "Reylo" shippers, the thought that Rey could became a dark bad girl for dark bad boy Kylo Ren is about as enticing as any possible big shocking reveal that Rise of Skywalker could throw at us.

...And there are quite a few potential surprises in store. That includes Jedi and Sith masters of the past possibly making a return as Force ghosts, to either train or outright possess this new generation of warriors. Whether that's true or not, we know that Emperor Palpatine will be making it out of the grave,which would leave little time or room for Rey and Kylo to get close.

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My Hero Academia Teases Major Class 1-A Work Study Trio

My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia is gearing up for an even bigger end of 2019 with both a fourth season of the anime and second big anime film too.

The Big 3 are the three greatest students at U.A: Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki and Nejire Hado. These three actually appeared earlier in the series, with Midoriya seeing Togata's face sticking out of the floor. However, Midoriya recalls seeing Togata even earlier at the Sports Festival (the same one where Midoriya fought Todoroki and Bakugo ranked first). As for the other two, Amajiki is a scary looking guy with awful stage fright. Hado, on the other hand, is a child-like, over-excited student who asks rapid-fire questions too quickly for anyone to ever respond.

The trio are there to discuss the Hero Work Studies -- a new internship alluded to in the prior episode. However, all of the Big 3 are so socially awkward and unusual that little of what they say actually communicates their points. So Togata decides to communicate in the language he knows best: battle. So he challenges all of Class 1-A to a fight.

With the conclusion of Season 3, the English release of My Hero Academia has caught up to the Japanese. That ending teases a lot of what will happen in Season 4, concluding on what is essentially an introduction to the conflicts that will take place when the series returns. While the prior two seasons of My Hero Academia ended with a climactic battle of some sort, this one ends with a demonstration of power. Class 1-A's final battle of the third season was a friendly match as part of a lesson, meaning there's no real ill-will regardless of the outcome. However, what's remarkable is that Class 1-A lost to a single person: Mirio Togata.

Following the unification of the League of Villains and the Meta Liberation Army into the biggest villain organization to date with the Paranormal Liberation Front, the heroes of UA Academy are being asked to step up to the new challenges arising across the globe. With Midoriya and the rest of the students looking to grow up fast, work studies have still managed to elude both Izuku and Bakugo, their "salvation" may have arrived in one of the most unlikely of places. Who will be the new mentor to this fiery pair of rivals?

Following the UA Academy being given some much needed down time with a Christmas celebration, the brief respite was short for both Midoriya and Bakugo who were still attempting to figure out what they were going to do for their work studies. With Nighteye and Gran Torino not being an option for Izuku and Best Jeanist out of the picture for Bakugo, Todoroki arrives to offer them a spot with the current number one hero, and his father, Endeavor.

As we've seen in the past, the relationship between Endeavor and his son Todoroki is a rocky one at best, with the training that the father underwent with his son was intense. The pain that Todoroki was met with, as well as the harsh criticisms of his father, caused the son to reject his flame based abilities for a time, instead relying entirely on the ice powers he inherited from his mother.

With the world more dangerous then ever, Endeavor's intense training may be the best work study around for the trio of Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki in order to prepare themselves for the nefarious plans of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Will the trio even manage to get along long enough for the training to take effect?

What do you think of the UA student trio falling under the tutelage of Endeavor? Will his training be enough to lead the heroes to ultimate victory? 

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One Piece Fans Have Big  Q&A About Luffy's Fight with Bat-Man

Luffy has come a long way since he began his journey sailing the seas of the Grand Line and assembling the legendary crew of pirates dubbed the Straw Hats. Along the way, and especially following the time skip, Monkey himself has gained a serious power boost, using the Devil Fruit he ingested and some hardcore training to gain the level of Gear Fourth.

The Bat-Man has landed in Wano Country! While not necessarily the Bat-Man of Gotham City, the Beast Pirate under Kaido has surprised some fans with his battle acumen. Managing to fare quite well against the likes of Luffy and Zoro, the most recent episode of One Piece has stunned fans with this new foe that is apparently able to handle both Straw Hat Pirates at the same time. Obviously, questions about the bat themed pirate and his fighting skills are swirling around fans' heads, with answers hopefully forthcoming!

The Bat-Man has landed in Wano Country! While not necessarily the Bat-Man of Gotham City, the Beast Pirate under Kaido has surprised some fans with his battle acumen. Managing to fare quite well against the likes of Luffy and Zoro, the most recent episode of One Piece has stunned people with this new foe that is apparently able to handle both Straw Hat Pirates at the same time.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.

Obviously, questions about the bat themed pirate and his fighting skills are swirling around people  heads, with answers hopefully forthcoming.

Luffy has come a long way since he start his journey sailing the seas of the Grand Line and assembling the legendary crew of pirates dubbed the Straw Hats. Along the way, and especially following the time skip, Monkey himself has gained a serious power boost, using the Devil Fruit he ingested and some hardcore training to gain the level of Gear Fourth.

Reddit Users SignificantMidnight7, JacksonrSlick, and BrianGoldenEyes were but a few fans of One Piece who were wondering how on earth the Bat-Man had managed to block a blow from Luffy and manage to stand toe to toe with the strongest protagonists of the franchise:

Perhaps what perplexes fans so much in this most recent episode of One Piece is the shrugging off by Bat-Man of Luffy's usually devastating haymaker, especially with the Beast Pirate floating in the air with no traction to speak of. Still, anime franchises will usually present villains that are able to laugh away the current strength levels of heroes to establish how big of a threat they are, which seems to be the case here. 

Though to be fair, shrugging off Luffy's most powerful blow does certainly warrant some questions for those following the series throughout the decades for sure.What did you think of the battle between Luffy, Zoro, and Bat-Man?

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Over 9000' Line Dragon Ball's Infamous Is Being Turned Into a Funko

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super's big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

It's Over 9000! is a particularly famous change made for the English localizations of the Dragon Ball Z episode "The Return of Goku" (and its unedited counterpart, "Goku's Arrival") that was spoken by Vegeta's original English voice actor, Brian Drummond in the Ocean dub of the series. It has since become a popular internet meme that spread across YouTube, with the original video clip getting over 13 million views and spoofs of the clip getting a large amount of views as well.

Originally posted on October 17, 2006, the meme was started by user Kajetokun. It shows Vegeta angrily crushing his scouter several times while repeating "It's Over 9000!!!" in response to Nappa's questioning of Goku's power level. The meme has spread across the world, with the video having received millions of views and is even referenced in certain games of the series, like Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

In most versions, Vegeta actually says "It's over 8000!" However, even in the Remastered Uncut Funimation dub, Vegeta still says "It's over 9000!", now performed by Christopher Sabat. This change was made due to inconsistencies with the dubbing process, where 9000 fit the mouth flaps of the animation better. However, fans complained about the Funimation version lacking the drama and energy in the original version. They also complained about Christopher Sabat's voice being too calm-sounding for the scene, unlike Brian Drummond's, which had a lot of anger in it.

It is possible for over 9,000 to be correct, since it is over 8,000. This has occurred several other times where power levels are given more as estimates than accurate figures. For instance, Gohan's retaliation against Nappa is given as over 2,800, and Frieza's power level is given as "over one million!". Later on, Frieza claims his power level is only 1% of his full power, when in actuality, it is 10% of his maximum power according to Daizenshuu 7. Despite such, however, Vegeta has a given power level of being 18,000 to which, Goku with Kaio-ken of at least 3x would be above, making Goku the superior in their fight. However, the opposite is shown making it near impossible for Goku to actually have a power level figure above 9,000.

It looks like one of anime's most famous script blunders is being turned into a collectible! Not long ago, Hot Topic went live with another stream dedicated to its upcoming Funko exclusives. It was there the company informed fans a new Vegeta vinyl is on its way, and the Funko recreates one of Dragon Ball Z's most famous scenes.

Can you guess what it is? Well, the clue about Vegeta should give it away. When you think of the Saiyan's most famous moment from the anime, it won't take long before a certain 'IT'S OVER 9000' line comes to mind, after all.

Yes, that's right. Hot Topic will be releasing a new Funko figure of Vegeta panicking over Goku's huge power levels. The figure will be called Vegeta (Over 9000!), and he is posed in a way that should look familiar to fans.

As you can see above, the Saiyan is dressed up in his classic armor, and his tail is wrapped around his midsection. In one hand, Vegeta is seen holding a scouter, and his tight grip has clearly crushed the device. Sadly, Vegeta doesn't look as angry as he does in the anime for this scene, but the Funko does its best. After all, the guy's eyebrows look rather terse, and his stance all but screams tension.

So far, there is no public release date for this Dragon Ball Z figure, but Hot Topic will be carrying the exclusive. Fans of the anime will no doubt want this figure if not just to complete their Vegeta collection. After all, the Saiyan has amassed quite the collection of vinyl figures over the years, and several of his exclusive Funko pieces are pretty hard to come by.

Do you plan on adding this Funko to your collection of anime figures? 

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My Hero Academia Season 4 Promo Reveals New Pro Heroes

My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has powers, even though he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015. My Hero Academia is gearing up for an even bigger end of 2019 with both a fourth season of the anime and second big anime film too.

My Hero Academia fans, the wait is almost over. In a matter of weeks, the anime will be back on the small screen dropping new episodes each week. Next month marks the start of My Hero Academia's fourth season, and new details about the release are dropping daily. Now, a new promo has surfaced for the show, and it is introducing audiences to a few all-new heroes they have never met before.

Over on Twitter, fans began buzzing when images surfaced of several new Pro Heroes. The character designs are meant to hype up season four, and the three heroes have earned the approval of fans.

Previously announced cast members include Shinichiro Miki as Sir Nighteye, Rie Murakawa as Bubble Girl, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Fat Gum, and Seiran Kobayashi as Eri.

Blue Encount (Banana Fish, Gintama 2015 and 2017) is performing the opening theme song "Polaris," and Sayuri (ERASED, Golden Kamuy) is performing the ending theme song "Kōkai no Uta" ("About a voyage").

The anime's first 13-episode season premiered in April 2016, and then the 25-episode second season premiered in April 2017. The 25-episode third season premiered in April 2018, and Funimation also streamed the English dub of the third season. Crunchyroll and Hulu streamed the series with English subtitles as it aired in Japan.

As you can see above, the promo's top-left corner shows off a heroine named Ryukyu. The character is described as the dragon hero, and they've got the looks to prove it. The blonde Pro Hero has wings sprouting from her head, and claws covering part of her face. The promo shows how Ryukyu can morph into a humanoid dragon, so her power is a pretty sweet one.

The hero to the bottom-left is called Rock Lock, and their power isn't so obvious from the outside. His costume does have a slew of locks and keys on them which fans should pay attention to. The hero has the Lock Down quirk which allows him to immobilize objects by locking them into their place, but his power is only good on inanimate objects.

Finally, the third Pro Hero introduced is to the bottom-right. The hero is know as the Centipeder. The character is pretty clear given his buggy looks; The insect hero has the powers of a giant centipede, and fans admit this crawly character would be a hard one to beat. So help the villain that decides to cross Centipeder if they're scared of bugs because this character will be their worst nightmare.

Additionally, a new key visual has also been revealed! For those who are eagerly waiting, the latest season will cover the Hero’s Intern arc from volume 14. The season will air in Japan on October 12, and will also show on YTV and NTV on Saturdays at 5:30pm. Lastly, Funimation and Hulu will stream the season as it airs in Japan, so you won’t miss out!

How excited are you for this new season of My Hero Academia? 

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Upcoming Event! Sword Art Online to Unveil Special Asuna Figure

Sword Art Online was originally created by Reki Kawahara with illustrations provided by abec for ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko line in 2009. The series follows a boy named Kirito after he and thousands of gamers get trapped in a virtual reality video game known as Sword Art Online. The gamers must band together to defeat the game’s final level to escape, but Kirito and his guild learn there is more behind their prison than they were originally told.

If you have yet to catch the new season of Sword Art Online's anime adaptation, the original Japanese release of Sword Art Online: Alicization can currently be found streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu. The English dub of the series is now airing Saturday nights on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series will be returning for the second half of its Alicization season with War of Underworld in October.

The world of Sword Art Online may exist within a life or death scenario involving massively multiplayer online role playing games, but that didn't stop love from blooming between Kirito and the love of his life Asuna. Not playing second fiddle to her beau, Asuna made a name for herself in the digital world and continues to fight alongside the male protagonist throughout the latest adventures of the third season. Now, to celebrate the character, Sword Art Online has debuted a special figure for Asuna in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the franchise.

The figure will depict the series' heroine wearing a kyoyuzen silk kimono. Aniplex+'s Takao explained that the idea originated from Sword Art Online itself.

"With Asuna's episode in Kyoto and Yuki and the other's travelling there, there were a lot of events taking place in the real world from autumn to winter, so we started thinking about 'Kyoto' as a keyword. Our thoughts naturally ended up with the trend of making figures wearing traditional Japanese clothing," Takao said.

Kyoyuzen is a fabric dyeing technique that originated in the late 1600s. Artisans directly paint the dyes onto the fabric to achieve vibrant, intense color. The figure project brought together kimono artisans that utilize the technique and modern technology to recreate it accurately for the figure.

"The figure brings together Kyoto's 2,000 years of history and SAO's ultra modern story. It's not just the complete figure that fans will be able to enjoy, but the production process too," Takao said.

Anime News Network shared the upcoming designs for the figure via their Official Twitter Account, showing off what is sure to be another worthy addition to any fan's collection when it comes to Sword Art Online:

With the tenth anniversary of the popular anime franchise and the second half of the third season debuting this fall, there couldn't be a better time to release new merchandise for Sword Art Online. Aside from simply the figure, the franchise is also releasing an interactive exhibit, a brand new sort story, and some new cover artwork to boot!

What do you think of this newest Asuna figurine shining a new spotlight on one of the main protagonists of Sword Art Online? Will you be adding this to your collection in celebration of the franchise's tenth anniversary?