This Week in Anime [Week 22, 2021]

Date Published: Thurs, 3rd June, 2021

Ohayou all and a very happy month of June to all of you! The anime world has been brewing with excitement this week as several issues of note rose up and made international headlines to mark the start of this month! June starts with more emphasis on the real-world aspects of anime culture than on new releases. What do we mean by that? You're getting a double dose of "This Week in Japan" this week, that's what we mean! It's always exciting to see what Japan cooks up, and it's here in abundance this edition! As always, here's your Rapid Rundown:

1. Kaijuu 8-Gou crosses 1 million copies!

2. Sunny Boy Nears Release!

3. Mangamura Administrator Faces Heavy Fines!

4. Levi Comes To Life In A Vacuum Cleaner!



1. Kaijuu 8-Gou crosses 1 million copies!

Naoya Matsumoto's Kaiju 8-Gou, otherwise known as "Monster #8" made headlines this week for the distinguished honour of already surpassing 1 million copies in circulation! Serialized in Japan by Shonen Jump + and by Viz Media in English Territories, Kaijuu 8-Gou currently only has 2 volumes in print and first saw public release on the 3rd of July last year. With the 3rd volume set for release tomorrow (that's right: June the 4th!), you can catch up on the Monster #8 hype in just one afternoon's worth of reading! Here's the synopsis of the manga (from Wikipedia) for those keen on exploring the title:

"In Japan, monsters known as kaiju regularly attack the populace with the Japanese Defense Force tasked with killing them. After their town was destroyed by kaiju when they were children, childhood friends Kafka Hibino and Mina Ashiro both vowed to become members of the Defense Force. Mina has become famous as commander of the Defense Force's Third Unit, but Kafka has failed the examination numerous times and is a member of the clean up crew, Monster Sweeper Inc., whose job it is to dispose of the monsters' dead bodies after battle. After a small talking monster flies into his body via his mouth, Kafka gains the ability to turn into a monster himself, which gets dubbed "Kaiju No. 8" by the Defense Force. Kafka remains fully cognizant while in the form, but gains superhuman strength, and becomes the first monster to escape the Defense Force."


2. Sunny Boy Nears Release!

"Empty classrooms, boring days. It was supposed to be a normal summer vacation just like any other. Suddenly, the school begins to drift through another dimension, and 36 boys and girls are left there, awakening to their supernatural abilities. Amidst the whirlpool of questions that come to mind one after another, survival in a supernatural world begins."
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the plot of Madhouse's latest upcoming title in the world of anime! Licensed by Funimation and directed & written by Shingo Natsume, this retro-styled anime will premiere on July the 15th and has already built up a massive following online!

Studio Madhouse has long been famous for its notable titles, and joining to work on this one (in the capacity of Music Advisor) is another prominent name in the anime industry- Shinichiro Watanabe; fans of Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop will undoubtedly recognize the name. We're calling it now: Sunny Boy is the next big anime of 2021! This is an isekai anime like we've never seen before, and it's just over 5 weeks away from shooting its way to the top of charts everywhere!


3. Mangamura Administrator Faces Heavy Fines!

The conclusion of a major lawsuit in the anime industry marked one of the biggest highlights of this week: Romi Hoshino, a 29-year-old alleged Mangamura administrator was sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Fukuoka District Court. This was also accompanied by a 72 million yen fine. Mangamura was particularly notorious among anime piracy websites and saw some of the highest traffic among such websites prior to its takedown in April of 2018, following investigations by a few publishers, including Kodansha. Hoshino reportedly earned 62 million yen through ad revenue alone on the website, which he then deposited into offshore accounts. In July of 2019, he was finally arrested in the Philippines and extradited to Japan to face  trial.

According to AnimeCorner, "The defense tried to argue that the manga was already available on other websites, therefore not directly hosted on Mangamura. However, the court rejected this argument, citing the fact that Hoshino made the works available to the public, thus infringing the Copyright Act." The sum total of losses incurred by manga publishers through piracy has been estimated to be in excess of 300 million yen, and 3 more operators of Mangamura have been arrested in 2019 and currently await their own sentencing. This comes in light of new legislation in Japan (effective from 2020) which discourage illegal manga downloads and make doing so a crime punishable by up to two years in prison and up to 2 million yen in fines.

4. Levi Comes To Life In A Vacuum Cleaner!

We can't believe we typed that sentence either, but we're definitely not complaining. In an unexpected announcement made late in May on the Japanese entertainment news website "Natalie", a robotic vacuum cleaner designed by Roborock S6 Pure was unveiled to the world. In addition to boasting a great performance, the machine will have 104 lines recorded by Hiroshi Kamiya, voice actor for everyone's favorite Survery Corps Captain. These are some of the sarcasm-dripping comments this quicky vacuum cleaner will bark around:

•“Commencing cleaning. My mission is to wipe out every speck of dust from this shitty house. As long as I live”
• “The dust box has been removed. You can’t clean it like this”
•“Cleaning is complete. This is real cleaning. Do you understand?”
(From AnimeCorner)

No doubt modeled after the captain's penchant for cleanliness, this clever marketing scheme will go on sale from June the 9th and is currently on preorder (on Hikari TV) for a whopping 69,800 yen!



And that's a wrap for the first week of June, folks! It's always good to see anime making waves in the real world, be it through innovative products or the enforcement of justice. We'll catch you next week with more exciting developments and updates on everything anime!