It's Not My Fault The OASG Podcast is Not Popular! Archives - TheOASG

0:00: Justin and Helen are back to talk about a bunch of things that occurred with anime/manga/Japanese pop culture in the past couple weeks! The episode however starts with an explanation of why there was no new episode last week.

2:53: The two then get right into the main topic…Summer anime season! Yes, the two get straight into what’s caught their attention so far…with plenty more anime on their to watch cue!

News

39:50: The hosts then get into one massive censorship storm that has all of a sudden exploded for works — right now video games — being unable to be sold on certain platforms because of their content. Needless to say, this has changed a bunch of times and even keeping up with all the information is a task. But Justin and Helen do their best to try and condense some of its main points while also wondering what’s gonna be next.

48:39: Alphapolis, probably not satisfied with the quality of their works being turned into anime, has decided to acquire WHITE FOX to help them produce better anime. What does this mean for Re:ZERO? Well…

52:04: So last episode the two hosts saw publishers Overlap and Dengeki Bunko distancing themselves from Gaou — now KADOKAWA has joined as well, announcing suspension of Guild Receptionist volumes until they can find a new illustrator for the light novel. And yes, as Helen ends up explaining, it’s not just over on the Japanese side.

55:43: Yongseok Jo’s Wind Breaker webtoon ended due to obvious plagiarism — Helen and Justin break down what happened and how Naver WEBTOON has handled things.

57:43: As expected, Junji Ito is now in the Eisner’s Hall of Fame; Taiyo Matsumoto and Yuna Hirasaka took home awards as well during the Eisner Awards.

Licenses

58:31: Kodansha once again took some time to go to a convention (SDCC this time) and announce a bunch of stuff:

1:01:53: Seven Seas and their Wonderful Wednesdays means more announcements that will interest some people at least once a week:

1:04:50: Dark Horse, Gou Tanabe, and H.P. Lovecraft continues to be a thing; OLDBOY will also return from Dark Horse, this time as a Deluxe Edition.

1:05:35: Kodama Tales will not just be publishing Baki — they’ll also be publishing Smile!; Manga Mavericks Books continues making announcements of works coming out in the next year; and some more BL titles from Futekiya will be released in print.

1:06:52: Crunchyroll announced they have the streaming rights to a bunch of anime that will air this year and in 2026; Conan Cinema Saturdays has a new schedule, which does allow Justin to make the one joke about TMS Anime’s subs of The Raven Chaser.

1:12:30: Criterion will have their own anime section on their service this month, which suggests they’ll be adding more than just Ghost in the Shell and Redline in the near future; Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz will see theatrical screenings this Fall, starting with a special screening at the Japan Society in NY before airing in select theaters.

1:14:29: In the history of weird news, Helen and Justin have covered a lot…but there was so much weird news that truly turned out to be spectacularly weird. The first one they decide to cover is the VSHOJO fallout following Ironmouse’s departure, which somehow managed to escalate in maybe under or close to 24 hours.

1:20:58: They then discuss Tai Chi Chasers, which started out well enough with this anime being added to Tubi…and then it was discovered S3 was AI dubbed. SOMEHOW it evolved from there, which even includes the guy who handled it trying to explain himself in the ANN forums. Justin and Helen do what they can to break this down without crying laughing.

1:25:44: You get an AI here, you get an AI here, you also get an AI there! More AI news, starting with Studio Gaina changing their name to Benten Film following them being acquired by an AI animation company; Aya Hirakawa’s Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze was added to VIZ Manga’s site, and normally this would be in the licenses section, except that they are hosting the emaqi version on their service. emaqi is being run by AI Localization company Orange. Both hosts get real about the entire AI situation, and Justin in particular wonders if the lack of independence for VIZ (They have a partnership with Shogakukan, Shogakukan is part of the round of investment for Orange) caught up to them here.

1:35:07: Nukitashi really is airing a show that can’t be broadcasted on TV. Well, ok, it can, but let’s just say you can only hear instead of see all the sex happening in that anime; Kazuya Minekura’s Wild Adapter is resuming after 9 years, which does lead both hosts to wonder why it’s returning…and then Helen drops a bombshell that absolutely befuddles Justin.

1:39:52: Would you want to rely on the Time Wizard as your alarm clock? Well, now you too can find out if you can get as lucky as Joey now that you can have the Time Wizard in your home; And yes, The Summer Hikaru Died has premiered and in episode 2, real marinated chicken was used for the scene. Justin is looking forward to finding out the context of that picture when he gets to watching the anime this week, while Helen can only smile and look forward to him discovering the true reason why it’s there! And it won’t be as appetizing!

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 224: How Can News Get Any Weirder Right Now?!? appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen finally get to record an episode of TheOASG Podcast following Justin’s brazen attempt to go on a trip during 4th of July weekend, necessitating the podcast getting pushed back a week, and the two hosts get right into the news that’s happened during the past three weeks (despite some tech hiccups) — starting with anime subtitles so bad because AI/ChatGPT was used for one summer anime this season and one summer show getting its whole season leaked!

News

10:30: Gaou has been removed as the artist for Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant and I May Be a Guild Receptionist following possible admission during a livestream in late June to engaging in sexual acts with a minor — needless to say, yikes!

12:20: A new way for indie creators around the world to get their works out there has emerged — Curation Entertainment Partners, Inc. announced on Sunday during Anime Expo a new partnership with Japanese indie manga publisher DouDouDoujin; K MANGA has finally expanded to more countries — listen to Helen actually announce them all in record time!

15:24: For possibly the fourth time (maybe fifth), TMS is making another attempt to make Detective Conan big in the West again. They announced a huge US campaign that will not only see select official releases of Conan episodes that have never been released before (and dubbed as well!), but weeks of Conan theatrical films will be made available on YouTube this year. Hear Justin go wild over the news, speculate what could be the next couple selections, and more, just over Helen’s stated 5-minute time limit!

20:58: The two hosts then discuss the sad news of manga creator Ukyou Takao and voice actor/script adaptor James Carter Cathcart passing away. Known for adapting the manga versions of To Heart, Ukyou passed away due an heart attack; James unfortunately lost his battle with throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with a couple years ago. This forced him to step down from his work on the Pokémon series, which he was a part of from the first episode and was the voice of many memorable characters — James, Meowth, Professor Oak, and Gary.

Licenses

25:03: Let’s just say all the Yoru Sumino fans had a great time last Wednesday, as Seven Seas returned with the following licenses for them:

They will also release an audiobook version of I Will Forget This Feeling Someday (Narrated by Kurt Kanazawa). They did also announce an audiobook for Touya’s A Tale of the Secret Saint (Narrated by Katy Vaughn).

26:30: Helen and Justin get into the wild news of a new publisher emerging in the least expected way — a mahjong company publishing mahjong manga (and apparently starting off with a wild one!); Glacier Bay Books announced they will release Konomi Oumi’s Universe From the Balcony at some point this year; And all of Oblivion Battery dropped on MANGA Plus, so if you’re in need of a new baseball manga to read, MANGA Plus has you covered.

Anime Expo Licenses

29:27: Once again, another year of Anime Expo, another year of many companies announcing so many things. Here’s what got licensed during that convention weekend a few weeks ago:

Kodansha

Yen Press (32:35)

J-Novel Club (35:26)

Square Enix Manga & Books (38:39)

TOKYOPOP (40:07)

Manga Mavericks (41:06)

42:03: A few other announcements were made during Anime Expo, starting with Titan Manga being announced during the Newtype panel to publish Mamoru Nagano’s The Five Star Stories; Hayato Aoki’s Macross Frontier (Macross F) manga was announced during the Big West panel to be published by UDON (Helen is not impressed by the art of it); Koumori’s Our Aimless Nights, published by Azuki, will see a hardcover and paperback release by Ink Pop next summer; And Cyberpunk: Edgerunners finally has a home media release date, which delights Justin but also makes him concerned about Aniplex of America’s pricing for it.

46:51: As you all know, we got summer anime airing right now and what will take up much of our time for some will be convenience. Helen and Justin go over the inconvenience of Netflix delaying Fragrant Flower to September 7 for most regions and then releasing an episode once a week despite it airing now.

48:03: Your Forma has finally been made available on a normal platform — both hosts discuss this and the launch of the It’s Anime channel on Samsung TV Plus…for US and Canada!

50:45: Retrocrush announced they will stream Rinkai! in the fall, while also mentioning that Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is on their platform now, and Terror in Resonance being added later; DAN DA DAN’s gonna premiere on TV July 26 (Toonami!); And yes, a Chihayafuru live-action version is getting added to Netflix.

52:16: Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is being streamed thanks to Toei on their YouTube channel; Aniplex of America announced during their AX panel that they will release director Yasuomi Umetsu and studio SHAFT’s Clockwork Girl episode of Virgin Punk at some point in theaters.

53:33: The Fantasia International Film Festival will screen All You Need is Kill during its run starting tomorrow to August 3rd; there will be select episodes of Tokyo Ghoul premiering in US theaters July 21; and at some point Crunchyroll will add the Idolish7 compilation films to their service. Also during this period with tech issues on the pod occurring, Helen took some time to look into Toei’s YouTube channel and…it’s weird.

55:50: Justin and Helen take time to cover what ultimately turned out to be a quiet season in terms of standout anime shows — but of course the two had their favorites (Cinderella Gray, GQuuuuuuuX) and had to discuss a bit about Season 2 of The Apothecary Diaries.

1:59:41: Both hosts are baffled, but yes, there will be an AI content awards category for Webtoons in Korea. That’s…concerning!

2:00:30 It finally happened. We got a YouTuber producing an anime. Was only a matter of time; Konami took some time to make a Yu-Gi-Oh! card of Shohei Ohtani’s dog, Decoy; and somehow, someway, Netflix’s BET is getting a Season 2. How this version of Kakegurui is getting another season is only making Justin’s brain explode.

2:03:36: Both hosts can’t believe the latest Sugar Sugar Rune manga news came from a Japan Expo panel in France — how did UDON let this happen; And Justin is just incredulous as we got another Guinness World Record happening and why this amount of punches was accepted, who knows!

2:05:03 Finally, Helen goes over the very troubled Dirty Pair Kickstarter, where news was conveyed, just the issue is it only seems like changes have been made — for the worse, somehow!

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 223: The Spring Anime Calm Before The Summer Anime Storm appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: The hosts of TheOASG Podcast battle the heat in their respective areas before talking about what they’ve been up to over the past few weeks, which includes one person checking out a yuri manga on MANGA Plus to one person making sure to read the side stories of Dahlia before jumping into the latest volume of Dahlia!

News

9:31: The two hosts discuss SAG-AFTRA finally reaching an agreement with video game companies, which means the strike is now suspended — and the ramifications for voice acting moving forward.

13:46: US publisher DSTLRY will be launching a brand new comic book service in Neon Ichiban next month; Pocket Comics, however, will not be lasting long in most countries, as it’ll be shutting down at the end of October.

17:09: Black Lagoon will be returning after a 7 month hiatus; The Case Study of Vanitas, after over a year, will have a new chapter published in July.

17:59: Yellow Tanabe will be going back on hiatus until the fall season so no more Kai-Hen Wizards for a while; Umamusume: Cinderella Gray will also be on hiatus but it’s preparing for its final arc, so it’ll be back in the middle of July; and Justin and Helen hope everything’s ok with VA Yui Oguri, who suffered a slight concussion a day before an event.

Licenses

19:17: Seven Seas had one more Wonderful Wednesdays announcement round for June before taking a break for the rest of the month:

20:26: Glacier Bay Books announced a major josei title that looks like a pretty interesting pickup; meanwhile Sentai Filmworks grabbed a Leiji Matsumoto anime in Queen Millennia, which got both hosts once again wondering why Sentai just doesn’t send proper press releases regarding new licenses.

21:23: Crunchyroll has acquired the rights to the latest Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid movie, so it’ll be in theaters at some point in the near future; GKIDS has acquired the rights to All You Need is Kill, which yes, it is based off the novel that was spun as a live-action film called Edge of Tomorrow, just this time it is animated.

22:57: Tougen Anki will stream on a bunch of services worldwide, but apparently it will be the first anime to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Prime simultaneously, which more or less shows how anime streaming continues to change season by season. So a good kind of weird, probably.

25:13: Netflix will stream the second Mononoke film on their service in August; Rascal Does Not Dream of Dreaming Girl is now streaming on Crunchyroll; and we finally got an answer on why Crunchyroll did not handle US rights for the compilation Jujutsu Kaisen films — because they’ll be handling the International side.

26:16: CITY the Animation is still one of Justin’s most anticipated summer shows, but it being exclusive to Prime video will have him make some tough decisions…maybe.

27:48: If you thought we were done talking about AI, of course you’d be wrong! We got a feature piece on how AI has essentially carved a role in films for various reasons (cost is one reason), with even the Lionsgate VP making a comment along the lines of how you can use it to make an anime film in three hours. Yes, the state of creativity has been in question for a while, and it will only remain at this rate.

30:35: Megumi Hayashibara made an attempt to make a point regarding tourism in Japan, but it was not a great attempt, which sparked heated discussion in Japan — and eventually a retraction regarding one point she made which caused the most problems. The two hosts get into what she wrote.

34:05: Of course Maomao and Apothecary Diaries would continue to explode in popularity, but for this drink that’s been advertised and with Maomao looking like she really wants to drink it, Helen has…concerns about its taste!

36:04: Finally, the newest Gundam series, GQuuuuuuX, had someone raise concerns about it depicting teen gambling, which…yeah some people were not convinced.

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 222: We Gotta Deal With The Heat Now appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen battle technology while discussing everything they’ve been up over the past few weeks, which includes more Spring Season anime catchup for Helen and finding time to get a new fan into Apothecary Diaries (that fan being someone very important to her!) and Justin being one of the few people who apparently will try and spend 7 years watching KochiKame.

News

12:18: The two hosts discuss something in theory that’s simple: emaqi now having manga series on their newly launched app from companies like VIZ, Yen Press, and Kodansha. What’s complicated is we know Orange inc. is using AI tools — with human assistance since they have an in-house team — so what does it mean to have these company-backed publishers on the service? And why are independent ones (Seven Seas for example) not on it?

16:20: We have a new publishing house that’s voted to unionize, and this one involves a new manga publisher; Haigakura will restart from episode 1 July 3, which means it’ll still be a bit of time before it gets to any new episodes.

Licenses

19:04: VIZ once again shows up out of nowhere (or as expected before convention season gets going) to make the following licensing announcements:

25:03: Seven Seas once again has its battle against Wonderful Wednesdays (how long can they keep it going), with more than a few announcements:

29:03: Titan Manga once again had a number of announcements exclusive to ANN…and one other outlet this time:

32:14: MANGA Plus added a new exorcist series to their service; during an interview with ANN, manga creator Shinobu Seguchi revealed a few titles will be seeing digital releases in English — Akita Shoten confirmed this will happen over the summer in North America, just a question of how.

35:45: Crunchyroll went out of their way to add a few more anime to their streaming catalog (including one to make Justin think back to the Anime Unleashed days), but their most notable announcement over the two week span was them doing a one night only double feature of two given films — one of which, To the Sea, will be added to the service the week after the screening in theaters.

36:52: VIZ will have the rights to Season 3 of One-Punch Man; Tom & Jerry will be getting its shorts shown on YouTube…sorry, Tom & Jerry Gokko will be on YouTube sometime soon. This reveals something in Helen that may scar everyone who grew up loving Tom & Jerry as a kid; Vampire Hunter D is now on HIDIVE and Shudder to watch.

39:32: Once again, if Pokémon trading cards are involved, some wild and sad stories are involved, and thieves with hammers stealing cards from shops is one of them; And on the subject of trading cards, Solo Leveling trading cards was noted as one of Korea’s top exports on eBay. Yes this then somehow got into a quality discussion about Solo Leveling and manhwa in general.

47:03: Megan Thee Stallion, noted anime fan, made waves by showing up to Dreamcon as Yoruichi from Bleach; We had One Piece looking games be added to the Nintendo Store that does not look like it was authorized by the actual One Piece franchise — and geez, the company doesn’t appear to have tried to hide their stealing either!

50:20: And finally, Bkub Okawa had a tough announcement a few weeks ago — he would stop doing daily chapters of Pop Team Epic this month. The next update would be June 15. He didn’t have an explanation, he just had a drawing. Why does it look Switch 2 related…?!?!

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 221: They Had That Same Dream About Anime Again appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: The two hosts of TheOASG Podcast once again get together to chat about a bunch of things they’ve been up to over the past few weeks…on Memorial Day! (There is an explanation for that!)

They both discuss some of the spring anime they are continuing to watch, with one host deciding between mono or Food for the Soul…

11:13: More AI discussion is had as Japan continues to figure out how to handle generative AI, as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry warns against unauthorized use since it may violate their Unfair Competition Prevention Act. This gets Helen and Justin talking about everything about its usage in general and the effects of it.

17:34: Meanwhile, Penguin Random House has notified their clients that they would no longer offer books through Diamond as a sub-distributor, which will affect a few companies, but not too many manga publishers at the moment.

21:16: The KADOKAWA catalog continues to grow, this time them grabbing an Italian publisher; meanwhile a brand new publisher has emerged in BluPetal — both hosts are intrigued about what this new company plans to do moving forward.

25:24: The One-Punch Man manga will be on a two-month break due to various circumstances; manga creator Kunichika Harada passed away due to a heart attack, announced publisher Bungeishunjū.

26:59: Keisuke Itagaki’s Baki the Grappler will be published in English print worldwide by Kodama Tales, which needless to say caught Justin off guard — so did Titan Manga of all companies announcing they’ve nabbed Yūgo Kobayashi’s Aoashi. They did also announce exclusively on ANN another manga license.

33:05: Yen Press went overseas to make these announcements:

41:09: Seven Seas and their Wonderful Wednesdays means more manga and light novels to be read:

42:55: MANGA Plus has added Toshio Sako’s Genikasuri to its service; and TOKYOPOP has added more BL titles to their continuously evolving BL line.

43:22: If you didn’t know that new streaming service Oceanveil would stream more than just 18+ works, you got your answer!

45:14: The Toku Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru ~Setsugetsuka~ anime film trilogy is now all on Crunchyroll; My Little Monster and High School Kimengumi are being added to REMOW’s Its’ Anime YouTube channel; the 4K remaster of Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano’s 1985 anime Angel’s Egg was screened at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival, and Helen is very much looking forward to when it’ll be streaming in the US.

47:18: The two hosts get into a discussion about Grave of the Fireflies being the first Ghibli feature to be available for streaming in Japan, which unintentionally leads to Justin remembering one thing he forgot to add to the script; Ya Boy Kongming! will have its live-action version added to Netflix at the end of the week.

49:22: There’s going to be a Hello Kitty theme park but with zombies happening in Japan this summer…yet the children are not allowed? Helen is a bit weirded out about that and this combination of horror.

50:34: And Justin and Helen had to laugh — with one host being overdramatic — about Max, which used to be called HBO Max, now returning to be called HBO Max starting in the summer. It appears someone finally realized the ramifications of dropping HBO…

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 220: Growth in Bad Places, Growth in Good Places appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen once again manage to discuss things over the internet despite Helen being in a different location. Listen to the hosts explain what they’ve been up to over the past few weeks, ranging from still watching more Spring anime season shows to tackling the manga backlog. Crest of the Stars somehow pops up in this section!

News

27:55: The two hosts discuss the investment Sony and Bandai Namco is making into Web3 AI company Gaudiy, which just purchased MyAnimeList not too long ago, and what this suggests about the future of the anime industry overall.

31:29: They then continue to go over the amount of trouble Fuji TV continues to be in as a result of the sexual assault scandal, which now adds more resignations this month.

33:27: Everyone was pretty sure the Alliance-Diamond sale was all closed and done, but little did anyone realize that there was way more that needed to happen for this deal to go through — and thus, the sale of Diamond to Alliance isn’t happening anymore.

36:35: The hosts discuss MAPPA’s sister BL animation studio GRIZZLY being dissolved earlier in the year; Negi Haruba’s going back on hiatus again; Kenjiro Hata’s Fly Me to the Moon is also going on hiatus, this for an undetermined time; and following vocal cord surgery, Rie Takahashi is back, and as she stated last month, she would return in May.

Licenses

39:42: Seven Seas once again shares what they’ve licensed during their Wonderful Wednesday events:

41:48: More direct releases from Japan! Takeshobo announced they’ve licensed the following 6 titles:

42:28: Hanashi Media had a few announcements to share with everyone as well, including one Justin thought sounded real familiar; Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist can now be read as a WEBTOON, which caught Helen off guard when she saw it.

46:39: While it is the compilation film, the hosts are a little surprised GKIDS will be handling the Jujutsu Kaisen film and not Crunchyroll; Grave of the Fireflies, unsurprisingly, will see a home media release with GKIDS.

49:57: Anime Limited will be putting out in home media a number of titles from a couple years ago, and yet Justin can only remark about how Ex-Arm will be available physically before Umamusume; and AnimEigo found the rest of the English dub for Looking for the Full Moon, after it was lost to time — the hosts can only admire the efforts Sevakis and the crew go through to locate these things.

55:10: Some big time streaming news: KochiKame, which has never seen an English release in any form, will have all 373 anime episodes available to watch for free thanks to REMOW. But both Helen and Justin discuss whether it’s best to drip this series out for roughly 7 years by only releasing one episode a week.

59:09: Pluto TV has launched a few new channels on its service, including one that serves lots of Inuyasha; Umayuru Pretty Gray aired on YouTube a few weeks ago, which means Justin needs to find time to watch it.

1:01:18: That time anime and politics collide — in this case, the tariffs have caused many, many issues over the past few months, and just when you thought it couldn’t get more mysterious, President Trump mentioned having 100% tariffs on movies coming to the US that are produced on foreign lands. And everyone is just confused. The good news is 24 hours after this post, the White House walked this back and stated no decisions have been made. The bad news is whether or not this is going to happen down the line, and if this will affect anime in any way.

1:12:51: The Met Gala has many eclectic fashion statements being made during the event, and we got one actor making one with his JoJo’s inspired creation; Yeah, that Kana Arima and bell paper April Fools joke? It’s real, though this does lead to the hosts wondering how bell peppers taste in Japan with people expressing their dislike of it all the time; and once again, Shohei Ohtani is involved in something pretty neat, this time in the name of the moon!

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 219: There’s Normal Weird News? appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen dive right into the news that’s occurred in the past few weeks, starting with the Fuji TV corporate sponsorship situation, which doesn’t show signs of ending anytime soon.

News

3:25: The Pumpkin Night manga will go on hiatus due to artist Seima Taniguchi’s health; Jaku Amano’s A-DO will go on a break before returning to start the final series.

4:47: Justin talks about My Happy Marriage’s final two episodes finally being made available on Netflix after production delays caused issues with the schedule; Nihonbungeisha’s Manga Goraku Special magazine will cease publication in May.

Licenses

7:30: Yen Press had some good stuff to announce while at their Sakuracon panel a few weeks ago:

9:52: Seven Seas’ Wonderful Wednesdays returned when everyone least expected it! Here’s what they had to share with everybody:

11:54: A new manga publisher has emerged, and they’ll be bringing a few indie manga to fans starting this summer; Star Fruit Books has announced they’ve licensed Chikae Ide’s The Final Strike.

16:06: J-Novel Club had an announcement stream that was so sudden, Helen had no idea it was happening — Justin did though:

20:45: Cross Infinite World had some light novel announcements during this time period too:

21:43: Strawberry Prince: The Movie will be added to Crunchyroll in the summer, while My Hero Academia: You’re Next is now on the service; Now you have the opportunity to watch Demon Slayer: Mugen Train in 4k!…This somehow leads to Helen lamenting her missed opportunity to see Princess Mononoke in 4K.

23:00: Justin and Helen gather around to discuss a spring season that’s shockingly tame compared to some years past — at least in terms of interesting anime for the hosts! This once again gets into the across the board fragmentation when it comes to official anime streaming and the type of anime being animated too (26:21), but the hosts do get into anime they’re liking or at least attempting to like — Umamusume: Cinderella Gray, Witch Watch, Kowloon Generic Romance, and Gundam GQuuuuuuX seem to be the standouts so far.

1:14:27: Not too much weird news to discuss, but the hosts do have some weird news — starting with Cygames and the Kentucky Derby announcing a partnership, which means Umamusume will be somewhere on national TV.

1:17:08: Yep, AI continues to be a presence when you least want it, expect it, etc…and then we get the use of it in a manner where some people got arrested for it. Obscenity laws exist boys and girls…

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 218: Spring Anime, Streaming…Everywhere and Not at All? appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: After Helen explains why TheOASG Podcast took a small break (possibly involved hopping on an April Fools podcast episode to talk about many Trials and Tribulations), the hosts jump right into the news they’ve missed over the past month, which is MyAnimeList getting sold to a Web3/AI company.

2:16: After they still held on to having their books be handled by Diamond, Udon has moved on to Simon & Schuster, which means very few manga pubs are under Diamond distribution.

4:16: Haigakura is back! Reminder that it had to stop following clear quality issues throughout its run in the Fall anime season, and it’ll now return in the summer.

5:17: Rie Takahashi will need to have surgery for vocal cord nodules so she’ll be out for a month; talent agency Kawadon Entertainment announced on Monday that voice actor Shiki Aoki has gone on hiatus due to health reasons; and Ai Fairouz has returned from her partial hiatus from PTSD, but she will be working with a new agency.

7:26: William Bassett, who is more known for his voice in the Whataburger ads but has had roles in a number of video games and anime, passed away at 89; and voice actress Yoko Kawanami passed away at 67 of peritoneal metastasis.

9:42: Yen Press announced some more works at the end of March:

And we even got some KADOKAWA announcements for some of their chapter part releases, including them releasing the light novel To Sir, Without Love: I’m Divorcing You in parts.

12:15: Seven Seas somehow had just one Wonderful Wednesdays while this podcast was on break, the hosts can’t believe they’ve stopped:

13:29: Kana of all publishers will be releasing Tsukasa Hojo’s City Hunter and Cat’s Eye in print — that’s right, this series will finally get a print release from a somewhat shocking publisher; A few more Titan manga are coming in 2025, some announced exclusively on ANN, some not.

15:33: Kodansha is continuing to double down on re-releases, as they’ll be putting forth a new deluxe edition of the Gundam: The Origin manga and a black & white edition of Parasyte. Helen is certain the new Deluxe books of Gundam can kill a man!

17:09: Captain Tsubasa is now on MANGA Plus, which has Justin go deep into the well of eBookOne, which he totally forgot about.

18:10: The Lycoris Recoil shorts will stream on the Aniplex USA YouTube channel!…(and yesterday it was announced it’ll also stream on Crunchyroll too!);

19:00: Netflix will stream the Rose of Versailles film April 30; a few anime have been added to Crunchyroll, which includes a 2000-2001 Bones anime; and RetroCrush will be streaming Future Boy Conan, which is a very good get for them.

20:19: Justin has to talk about how somewhat painful it is that Umamusume: Cinderella Gray, a new anime for the spring season, is streaming officially (in the US at least) on the It’s anime YouTube channel and Amazon Prime.

22:15: Though as painful as it is Umamusume is streaming on YouTube, at least it can be watched conveniently; for Your Forma, it is the very opposite of convenient. Helen and Justin discuss one of the bigger streaming faux pas in recent memory, as for those in the US and Canada, you can watch this anime…on Samsung Plus. (Also ignore Justin mentioning it took a year for Girls Band Cry to be added on Crunchyroll, not even close to true.)

28:45: Justin and Helen finally share what they thought about a generally quiet anime season for the two this winter. More shows that continued from the Fall dominated Justin’s watchlist this season, including Blue Box and Orb to name a few, while Helen spent some time watching Dad’s Been Reincarnated and Season 2 of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun. Justin also addresses the one anime that essentially (?) had a Zom 100 situation happen in terms of having to air on TV every other week (just not as bad) in My Happy Marriage Season 2, which as of this post still does not have its last two episodes on Netflix.

1:22:03: As said many times, the AI movement is not going away anytime soon, and it really reached levels of annoyance when Ghibli works got picked up for the OpenAI program. Not great!

1:25:26: As always, April Fools Day means anime and manga companies making as many jokes as they possibly can…and possibly inspiring them to become real, like what happened when Kaleido Star’s April Fools post got popular to the point that they also hope a new anime can come out for the work.

1:26:57: Kodocha has returned after 10 years…10 years! Helen and Justin wonders why it’s back; the Gundam Hollywood Live-Action might just be real; and one leaker found out that Japanese ego-searching is very real.

1:29:06: And finally, yes, if you thought Demon Slayer and MLB was the only anime project that was in mind, no, as it turns out, anime and MLB will be a thing this season!

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 217: Streaming In Many Places is Good, Until It’s Not appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen find some time to discuss what they’ve been up to over the past few weeks, which is catching up to anime and manga and then trying out the Green Yuri manga for one of the hosts.

14:35: Anime producer Kouichirou Itou has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for obscene acts against minors. You dig into the details and the what he’s going to jail for, you wonder why it’s only 4 years.

19:18: Justin and Helen break down the news that ownership of the BOOK☆WALKER Global service will be transferred from BOOK WALKER Co., Ltd. to its group company, M12 Media LLC (formerly J-Novel Club LLC) essentially at the end of March, since this has impacted one company already.

27:57: A new digital manga distribution service has arrived, and it looks real familiar in some way; Daruma Matsuura’s Steel of the Celestial Shadows will enter a hiatus, with no timetable on its return.

30:25: The Seven Seas Wonderful Wednesdays announcements continue (no signs of slowing down soon either):

33:44: Titan Manga made a few announcements over the past few weeks, from Gran Familia, to Isekai Metaller, and to a Saint Seiya spinoff; One Peace Books will be publishing B-Rank Adventurer with a Scary Face Becomes a Father for the Hero and His Friends.

37:07: VIZ is simulpubbing a couple things — one new (Tsubasa Fukuchi’s Parashoppers) to one they’ve had in their catalog (Trillion Game). Justin however, after first sharing the news of YAIBA getting added to the VIZ Manga app, is incredulous that every chapter of Case Closed can be read officially. Not something that seemed believable at all, but he can’t help but be happy yet still shocked.

42:32: Justin and Helen discuss a brand new anime streaming service emerging in 2025; YAIBA will be streaming on Netflix and Hulu; and Sword of the Demon Hunter and Rock is a Lady’s Majesty will be on HIDIVE (Justin will wonder how Sword of the Demon Hunter will do).

47:33: Helen was very sad to report that Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX…will stream worldwide on Amazon Prime Video; A Kaiju No. 8 compilation film will be in North American theaters this April; and that Wit Studio x Tom Ubukata project is finally happening on Netflix!

49:59: In isolation, Black Torch getting a TV anime does not sound like it should be in this section. Well, when the manga was supposedly cancelled in August 2018, MAYBE there’s something weird about that!

55:26: david productions will finally work on their first original anime; the price of popularity for Apothecary Diaries shows here, where something given out for free had scalpers looking to make money out of it.

57:52: Justin’s not sure where they shot this beer ad, but there was a Chibi Maruko-chan reunion somewhere in NY, and Helen actually thought it was animated. Nope, it had the actual actors!

59:12: Shohei Ohtani and Demon Slayer? Makes sense since the Dodgers are in Japan right now to play the Cubs. Ohtani and Fortnite though? Well…

1:03:57: One live-action film adaptation of a manga has been cancelled (with Helen’s theory about why it likely happened); meanwhile, a Claymore live-action TV adaptation has been greenlit! Justin’s not very confident about this turning out too well.

1:07:16: There’s just some things in this world that are too crazy to really believe, and seeing how much a flamin’ hot cheeto that looks like Charizard sold has the hosts dismayed. (Well, especially Justin!)

1:09:31: And finally, Helen answers the question that I’m sure popped up once this collaboration was announced: where does Miku stand in the Gundam lore?

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 216: More Weird News Than Other News This Week! appeared first on TheOASG.

0:00: Justin and Helen once again discuss all the things they’ve been up to over the past few weeks, which involves Justin talking about a Tiny Witch experiencing some Trials and Tribulations every Wednesday (J-Novel Club, how could you have set it up this way…!!!) Helen saying GQuuuuuuX in multiple ways after watching the Gundam GQuuuuuuX showing in theaters.

11:30: The two hosts then get into the news of the past few weeks, starting with KADOKAWA acquiring another studio; Voice actress Himari Hazuki will retire from the entertainment industry at the end of March.

14:36: A few hiatus and returns are discussed — Negi Haruba’s Go! Go! Loser Ranger, Maiko Uchino’s Slow Loop, Makoto Akui’s Blue Orchestra and George Asakura’s Dance Dance Danseur — before Justin and Helen talk about Shigeru Mizuki being inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame.

18:40: Travel writer and Tetsuko no Tabi manga writer Hirohiko Yokomi passed away at 63; Science fiction writer Hiroe Suga reported that designer and illustrator Jun Tamatani, one of the first employees at General Products — which was important for the creation of Gainax — has died; and it was announced that publisher Hakusensha’s founding member and manga magazine editor Nobumasa Konagai died at 94 of old age on February 2.

22:26: Yen Press made sure that with the month almost over, they had to go and announce new things:

24:40: Meanwhile Seven Seas’ Wonderful Wednesdays rolls on with a couple announcements:

27:15: Kodansha had one megaton announcement amongst their three-day license event and also did something possibly for the first time since they started their digital-first initiative:

34:31: TOKYOPOP by comparison had some smaller announcements but as Justin noted with them acquiring Kodansha manga again, that might be some major news for down the road:

37:58: SuBLime had a couple BL announcements during February to share; Titan Manga announced exclusively on ANN that they’ve licensed licensed Susano Hara & Shino Sakamoto’s 3 Minute Bodyguard Yoko-chan; and Dark Horse also had an exclusive announcement on ANN, and also essentially confirmed a license to a sequel series.

39:45: The two hosts end their licensing section talking about two series that are licensed, but in Japan they won’t be published in the same magazine anymore. Kadokawa’s Aokishi announced a renewal of the magazine, which will see some works continuing while other works going in a different direction. Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story and Aki Irie’s Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest are the works announced to be impacted, which makes both Justin and Helen wonder about their current English releases.

41:43: Vampire Hunter D’s getting the theater treatment run thanks to HIDIVE, Shutter and Fathom Events, so look out for them appearing on big screens in April; Crunchyroll is now streaming trapezium; and a Season 3 English dub for Tokyo Revengers has been announced, and Justin was a bit surprised considering how long it took for this to happen.

44:46: Yes, it might be possible to ride on a Pokémon — that’s just how crazy this franchise has become! Thank you Honda Motor Company!

46:35: Yep, Luffy really did don the Lakers’ purple and gold for One Piece Night, and there was also a neat animation that was provided as well; the Japan Anniversary Association declared February 26 City Hunter Day because the series first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magaine on February 26, 1985 — yes this was announced in a joking way but it’s still kind of cool; and yes, Cowboy Bebop and Fortnite is now a thing, which is something no one back in the 90’s thought could’ve happened to their anime project.

51:24: And finally, Helen pointed out to Justin that this probably doesn’t fit the weird news section, but it’s here anyways: Microsoft will be shutting down Skype in May, which means the hosts saying goodbye to one of their first ways of recording TheOASG Podcast or using it for other projects (Like the Translator Tea Time podcast!)

The post TheOASG Podcast Episode 215: Licenses All Over The Place appeared first on TheOASG.