Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the newest film in the worldwide anime blockbuster franchise, has arrived on Crunchyroll’s streaming service, both subbed and dubbed, and to celebrate we’re giving away FIVE one-month subscriptions to on Crunchyroll plus a commemorative postcard!

The film, with full commitment and deep involvement from Dragon Ball’s original creator Akira Toriyama, has the legendary manga creator behind the film’s original story, screenplay, and character design. Check out the official synopsis…

The Red Ribbon Army was once destroyed by Son Goku. Individuals, who carry on its spirit, have created the ultimate Androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2. These two Androids call themselves “Super Heroes”. They start attacking Piccolo and Gohan… What is the New Red Ribbon Army’s objective? In the face of approaching danger, it is time to awaken, Super Hero!

The film is directed by Tetsuro Kodama and the English voice cast includes Kyle Hebert (Gohan), Sean Schemmel (Goku), Robert McCollum (Goten),  Jeannie Tirado (Pan), Christopher. R Sabat, (Piccolo and Vegeta), Sonny Strait (Krillin), Monica Rial (Bulma), Eric Vale (Trunks), Meredith Mccoy (Android 18), Johnny Yong Bosch (Broly), Jason Douglas (Beerus), Ian Sinclair (Whis), Aleks Le (Gamma 1), Zeno Robinson (Gamma 2),  Zach Aguilar (Dr. Hedo), Charles Martinet (Magenta), and Jason Marnocha (Carmine).

Want to be in with a chance of winning a month’s subscription for Crunchyroll plus a commemorative postcard? Simply answer the question below…

This competition closes on 9 August. Find full terms and conditions here. Good luck!

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is available now on Crunchyroll

The post Win a month’s subscription to Crunchyroll with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

The Anime Expo 2023 has been taking place this week and with it a bunch of exciting anime news. The event also had an Industry Panel from Crunchyroll and boy did we learn a lot…

First, the Crunchyroll panel showed a new, never-before-seen trailer for exciting new series Solo Levelling, which will be heading to the streaming platform next winter.

Watch it here…

That wasn’t the only trailer revealed at the panel. The world premiere of the new trailer for A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special also debuted during the panel before its October 2023 launch.

Check it out here…

Crunchyroll also revealed they have acquired several new anime titles.

Find out more about them and check out their trailers here…

The Apothecary Diaries

Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!

Studio: OLM

Launch Timing: Coming Soon 2023

The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of Rust Mountain

Two years had passed since he left the City of the Dead, and Will was seventeen by count. As a lord, he developed “Torch Port, a river port of light”, and gradually the people’s activities and smiles returned to “Beast Woods”. However, out-of-season flowers bloom profusely, and an abnormality is discovered in the forest. Will and his friends head into the depths of the forest to solve this problem, and receive an ominous prophecy from the king of the forest. “In the Iron Rust Mountains, the ‘Fire of Black Calamity’ will occur. The fire will spread, or it will burn everything in this land.” What is the calamity that sleeps in the ruined dwarven city of Tetsusabi Sanmyaku…!?

Studio: OLM and Sunrise Beyond

Launch Timing:  October 2023

GOBLIN SLAYER Season 2

“I’m not saving the world. I just kill goblins.” Rumour has it that, in a certain guild in the middle of nowhere, there is an extraordinary man who has climbed all the way to the Silver rank just by killing goblins. At the same guild, a priestess who’s just become a new adventurer has formed her first party… and the man who ends up rescuing that party when they get into trouble is none other than the Goblin Slayer.

Studio: LIDENFILMS

Launch Timing: Coming Soon 2023

The Kingdoms of Ruin

Witches once blessed the human race with wisdom and peace. But the Redia Empire’s “Gear Expansion” brought about a culture of science that far surpassed magic, and witches were viewed as enemies impeding the progress of civilization. Thus began the witch hunts. One human named Adonis, who was raised by a witch named Chloe, swears revenge against the human race that took his beloved mentor from him. What salvation can be found at the end of a bloodbath fueled by utter despair?

Studio: Yokohama Animation Lab

Launch Timing: October 2023

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince So I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability

The qualities valued most in the study of magic are bloodline, aptitude, and effort. There was one sorcerer who, despite his deep love for magic, was born a commoner and thus lacked the bloodline and aptitude for it. As he died an unnatural death, he wished he had studied magic more while he had the chance. Then, he was reincarnated as Lloyd, the seventh prince of the Kingdom of Saloum and one blessed with a strong magical bloodline. Reborn with all his memories intact, along with the perfect bloodline and immense talent, he was determined to enjoy his new life, using his extraordinary magical abilities to master the study of magic that was beyond his reach in his previous life!

Studio: Tsumugi Akita Animation Lab

Launch Timing: April 2024

To Be Hero X

In this world, people’s beliefs create heroes. The hero that gains the most belief is named Hero X.

Studio: BeDream

Launch Timing: TBA

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 2nd Stage

With no written rules, the real world is hard for gamer Tomozaki Fumiya, but he’s about to get the experience he needs from a seasoned player.

Studio: Project No.9

Launch Timing: January 2024

Black Butler

A new season of Black Butler returns in 2024!

Studio: CloverWorks

Launch Timing: Coming 2024 from Aniplex and Crunchyroll

BUCCHIGIRI?!

When Arajin Tomoshibi reunites with his former best friend, Matakara Asamine, he finds himself involved in a battle among some of the strongest guys around. And then the shadow of a giant genie suddenly looms over them…

Studio: MAPPA

Launch Timing: January 2024

Find more anime news, reviews and articles at SciFiNow.

The post Everything we learned at the Crunchyroll Industry at Anime Expo 2023 appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

The biggest award of the night was Anime of the Year, and with monstrously popular nominees like Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 and Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc vying for the top spot, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was forgone conclusion. That the simply superb Cyberpunk: Edgerunners won, then, was cause for celebration – to quote Senator Palpatine: “A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”

Best Original Anime went to the action-packed Lycoris Recoil; it was a deserving win, with its biggest threats coming from Yurei Deco and, dare we say it, golfing anime Birdie Wing in that category.

Best Character Design had a fine selection of nominees, including Kazumasa Ishida for My Dress-Up Darling and Atsuko Nozaki for Ranking of Kings, but it was Akira Matushima and Demon Slayer that took home the award, and it was just one of many awards scooped up by the seemingly unstoppable Kimetsu no Yaiba that night.

Speaking of which, Demon Slayer’s Entertainment District Arc also took home the award for best animation, to the surprise of no one. Not even rival nominee Attack on Titan could come close to the sheer levels of eyeball-melting sakuga that Demon Slayer threw at us last year. Any other outcome would have been ridiculous.

Spy x Family was named Best New Series, and we have no complaints there. While we enjoyed other category nominees such as Call of the Night and Ya Boy Kongming! immensely, we thought that Spy x Family was the strongest show in this category and thoroughly deserved its win.

For Best Continuing Series, we could have seen perhaps Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan or Kaguya-sama taking home the win, but ultimately it went to the series that feels like it has been continuing forever, that being One Piece, and with 1053 episodes so far, it’s the epic that just keeps on giving.

Best Opening Sequence went to Attack on Titan’s ‘The Rumbling’, and while Spy x Family’s ‘Mixed Nuts’ was fun and Ya Boy Kongming! had the absolute bop that was ‘Chikichiki Banban’, AoT’s brutal OP shredded the competition here. The accompanying song “The Rumbling” by SiM also took home the award for Best Anime Song, and it’s simply too powerful to disagree with.

Spy x Family triumphed in the Best Ending Sequence category. While ‘Comedy’ was sweet, we can’t help but feel that Call of the Night was robbed here because ‘Yofukashino Uta’ is a certified banger that’s on our playlist, and we feel like it should have been the winner here.

Attack on Titan was back to trample the opposition in the Best Score category, with dream team Kohta Yamamoto and Hiroyuki Sawano taking home the award. But as epic as that soundtrack was, voters did Kevin Penkin dirty. We thought his score for Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun was beyond beautiful.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 was named best film, and to be fair, it didn’t have much in the way of competition, with perhaps only Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and One Piece Film Red being its biggest rivals, but we felt JK0 was a deserving winner here.

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc took home three more big awards for Best Director (Haruo Sotozaki), Best Action and Best Fantasy. The sheer intensity of its battles means it wholeheartedly deserved the former two, but when the Best Fantasy nominees included Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 1, 2nd Cour and Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun, we can’t help but feel those were much stronger picks.

Attack on Titan’s genocidal wunderkind, Eren Jaeger, was named Best Main Character. That feels like a bit yikes, but he didn’t have much competition from the likes of Spy x Family’s Loid Forger or even David Martinez from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

AoT also took home the award for Best Drama, and only perhaps 86 Eighty-Six Part 2 could challenge it in that category, but Attack on Titan was truly in a league of its own here.

Spy x Family’s adorable pink-haired esper Anya Forger was named Best Supporting Character and the ‘Must Protect At All Costs’ Character, and you’d have to be heartless to even consider letting anyone else win. Waku waku indeed.

Spy x Family also won the Best Comedy Award; it had some strong competition from the likes of Uncle From Another World and My Dress-Up Darling, it was the most consistently hilarious offering here.

The final Grand Winner was Kaguya-sama: Love Is War -Ultra Romantic-, which can proudly call itself 2022’s Best Romance. Its category rivals included the unconventional vampire romance Call of the Night, the unbearably cute Komi Can’t Communicate (2nd Series) and the superb My Dress-Up Darling. But with Kaguya-sama’s fierce and near-feral fans to deal with, this was a foregone conclusion, but one we’re on board with. And not just because we’re scared of them.

The 2023 Anime Awards took place on 4 March and you can watch the full ceremony here. Find out more anime news and articles with SciFiNow.

The post 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

We were all probably hoping that spring might be a little less stacked, purely so we could all take a little breather, but with 30 new anime and a total of 64 shows airing this season in total, there was little chance of that happening. If anything, it’s been even harder to try and pick just a handful of shows to focus our attention on and our viewing schedule seems even more intense than ever before.

Any new season is always a little intimidating and it’s often hard to know where to start but we’ve dived deep into the spring schedule and surfaced clutching five fantastic shows that we really think deserve your attention. With many spring 2021 shows only hitting their second or third episode, now is the perfect time to get stuck in without feeling like you’re being left behind and have to binge as if your life depends on it, so let’s get started!

To Your Eternity

Arguably the most hyped show of the entire season, this manga adaptation has been awaited with bated breath by anime fans the world over. Manga readers had already warned us anime-only peeps to brace ourselves for an emotional journey like no other, and when the trailer dropped and hit us in the feels so hard we thought truck-kun had come to isekai us away to our new life, we could barely contain our excitement.

Thankfully, To Your Eternity does not disappoint and, after watching just one beautiful and absolutely gut-wrenching episode, we are 1000% in. The story follows a sentient, immortal orb, able to take the form of anything it interacts with, which is cast upon the earth – landing in a bleak snowscape it starts out as a rock and then takes the form of a dying wolf. The story really begins when it meets the wolf’s master, a boy called Fushi, and what follows promises to be an epic voyage of discovery that will have you questioning life and what it means to exist. It’s beautiful, deeply emotional and absolutely compelling. We simply cannot wait to see what kind of journey To Your Eternity takes us on – though we know it probably won’t be a happy one…

Why we love it: Epic emotional fantasy will leave your feels in tatters

Where you can watch it: Crunchyroll

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Real talk: we almost skipped Vivy because the synopsis just made it sound kind of meh. However, when we saw the buzz online, and we found out it was co-written by Re:Zero creator Tappei Nagatsuki and produced by Wit Studio, (Attack On Titan and Great Pretender), we figured it was worth our attention and, wow, were we glad we gave it a go.

One hundred years in the future, there is a brutal and bloody AI uprising and, in a desperate attempt to prevent it from happening, an AI named Matsumoto is sent back in time to find autonomous humanoid AI singer Diva, and together they must alter key events throughout the next century to try and change the future.

If that isn’t quite getting your heart racing then let us say this: Vivy is simply awesome. The first five minutes of the first episode had us shook and from that point on this show has soared to heights that we didn’t think were achievable in such a short space of time. Everything about it is just sensational: the style, the animation, the soundtrack and the emotion in its story – it ticks every box you could want it to. There are dazzling action sequences, awesome fight scenes, moments that will have you blubbing and it will keep you hanging on and desperate for the next episode. We literally paused the show more than once to shout to no one but ourselves about how good it is and we’re not even ashamed to admit that. We’ll be very surprised if Vivy doesn’t end up being our joint season favourite and even one of our favourite shows of 2021 – it’s just that good.

Why we love it: Time travel, a talking bear and singing. Also much ass-kicking

Where you can watch it: Funimation

Mars Red

Japan. The year is 1923. Vampires have existed for some time but now their numbers are increasing and an artificial blood substitute called Ascra has appeared which is making them more dangerous and aggressive. The solution? Code Zero, an anti-vampire military squad, itself made up of vampires. Sounds like a slice of full-on, vamp-on-vamp shounen action that’s going to deliver non-stop slaying in a period setting, right? Well, it couldn’t be further removed from that.

Based on a play that was then adapted into a manga, Mars Red is actually an incredibly grown-up tale; a slow-paced, emotionally charged, mysterious and beautiful show that gets under your skin and refuses to leave you alone. It looks stunning, really quite unlike anything else, with a delicate colour palette and a style all of its own. It brings its world to life beautifully, further aided by its soul-stirring soundtrack.

This show is quite the slow burn. It’s dialogue-heavy, building up its story at a measured pace and, honestly, we love it for that – it feels like an intelligent anime and one that will be worth sticking with to see what secrets it reveals to those willing to give it their time. If that makes it sound dull, it’s really not because while the action scenes might be few and far between (so far at least), when they do happen they are intense, exciting and awesome.

Mars Red won’t be for everyone but we reckon it’s definitely worth a shot if you’re looking for something a bit different – plus the ED goes hard, so that’s a bonus too.

Why we love it: Slow-paced and thought-provoking vampire thriller

Where you can watch it: Funimation

86

War rages between the Republic of San Magnolia and the neighbouring Empire of Giad, whose unmanned war machines, the Legion, almost decimated the Republic’s forces until it too launched its own unmanned drone counter-attack. Except San Magnolia’s four-legged, gun-wielding walking weapons of war aren’t actually unmanned at all. They’re piloted by the 86ers: humans stripped of rights and citizenship because they look different to the silver-haired, silver-eyed ruling Alba race. They are forced to live outside the safety of the world within the Republic’s walled 85 districts, and forced to fight in a war by a nation that refuses to acknowledge their existence, their deaths going uncounted by the news reports that the Republic proudly blinds its citizens with.

Major Vladilena Mirizé is determined that the truth is known and, in her role as a handler (a remote commander for squadrons of 86ers), is determined to treat her assigned soldiers as humans, and not as cannon fodder.

It’s a strong premise and 86 follows up on that by delivering a seriously solid and very grown-up mech show with enough interesting twists on the genre to keep things feeling fresh and exciting. It serves up spectacular action sequences, with top-tier animation courtesy of A-1 Pictures ensuring our eyes get a treat every week, while the soundtrack is suitably full-on and helps to make the battles feel even more intense.

But this isn’t just an all-out action anime. 86 also delivers everything you’d want from a futuristic drama, with a cast of characters that feel very real, plenty of tension and probably more than a few dark twists and turns as the series progresses. With its seamless blend of top-tier action sequences and a solid story packed with plenty of emotion and heart, 86 is an excellent mech anime that looks and feels fresh and different. This show definitely has our attention.

Why we love it: Bleak and gritty mech drama with heart

Where you can watch it: Crunchyroll

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level

After your feels have taken a beating, your brain has been frazzled and your eyes feel like they’re about to melt from all the other shows on our list, you need a break. You need something that’s going to wrap you up in a cosy blanket, give you a big hug and stroke your hair while it whispers daijoubu in your ear – I’ve Been Killing Slimes is exactly that show.

It’s not going to win anime of the year or even anime of the season and it might possibly run out of steam before its 12-episode run is up but, right now, this lighter-than-light light novel adaptation is giving us exactly what we need on a Saturday afternoon: a big fat hit of sweet serotonin.

After dying at her desk from overwork aged just 27, corporate slave Azusa Aizawa meets god – who turns out to be a slightly sapphic lady – and is promised a new existence where she can live happily ever after. Thus, she finds herself reincarnated in a fantasy land as a cute, ageless, immortal witch and proceeds to spend the next 300 years living a life of leisure, only killing enough slimes every day to earn her keep. However, over 300 years all those little slimes add up to an awful lot of experience points and when word gets out that Azusa has hit level 99 and is now the strongest being in the land, everyone from adventurers to dragons wants to come and have a go to see if they’re hard enough. Spoiler alert: they’re not.

With her once peaceful life ruined, things suddenly start getting a lot more interesting and exciting for Aizawa and, you know what? We reckon she might just like it that way. I’ve Been Killing Slimes is so saccharine you’re going to need fillings after every episode but we wouldn’t have it any other way because this hilarious and heart-warming isekai slice-of-life is a sheer joy to watch. You know exactly what you’re getting with a show like this – a heaped helping of dumb fun that makes you giggle like an idiot, and sometimes that’s just what you need.

Why we love it: Slice-of-life isekai delivers lols by the truck-kun-load

Where you can watch it: Crunchyroll

The post Spring 2021 Anime: Five Shows Worth Your Time appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

Crunchyroll has announced 25 series as part of the spring anime season, including the highly-anticipated My Hero Academia Season Five, Fruits Basket: The Final Season, Tokyo Revengers, and Zombie Land Saga Revenge Season Two.

It has also announced brand new series coming to the streaming service like To Your Eternity and Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro.

Find out more on what you can look forward to in the Crunchyroll spring slate here…

My Hero Academia Season Five

Deku and Class 1-A continue their hero training and unleash new powers in the latest season of My Hero Academia.

Tokyo Revengers

When the pathetic Takemichi is given a do-over from life, he learns to stop apologising, and start fighting to save the people he cares for most—no matter the odds.

To Your Eternity

From the author of A Silent Voice, a pair sets off on an adventure to learn what it truly means to be human…

Zombie Land Saga Revenge Season Two

This second season of the cutting-edge zombie idol anime follows the undead idol group Franchouchou as they embark on their latest adventures towards legendary fame.

The Slime Diaries

Enjoy all of Rimuru and his friends’ daily adventures in The Slime Diaries…

Joran The Princess Of Snow And Blood 

In an alternate 1931, the Tokugawa family still rules Japan, and one young woman is on a quest for revenge…

Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro

Nagatoro loves teasing and getting a reaction out of her older male classmate, but to what end!?

Fruits Basket The Final Season

Prepare for one last outing with Tohru and the Soma family as the series concludes.

Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won’t Lose

After a set of rejections, a rivalry begins between one high schooler’s childhood friend and his first crush…

Farewell, My Dear Cramer

From the creator of Your Lie in April comes a story of girls who aim to become soccer stars.

ODDTAXI

One odd taxi driver will take you wherever you want to go, as well as listen to your troubles along the way.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level

This comedic series follows a powerful witch who would rather not work too hard, but somehow finds herself in various curious adventures…

Those Snow White Notes

After the death of his grandfather, one young shamisen players look to find the sound that resonates his soul.

Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress

Get ready for more card battles with Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress, with character designs by CLAMP!

Fairy Ranmaru

If you need your heart healed, call up Bar F and the magical boys who turn into fairies to soothe the souls of their customers!

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved And Took in a High School Runaway

One night, a man named Yoshida meets a high school runaway named Sayu. With nowhere else to go, Yoshida lets Sayu stay…

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Ω

Sakamoto Takuma, Shera, Rem, and the whole party return for more battles and tales.

Koikimo

Based on the manga series of the same name by Mogusu, which has been serialised in Ichijinsha’s Comic POOL since 2015.

The post Anime: Crunchyroll announces spring slate appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.