Anime News: Crunchyroll Dubs, Sing A Bit Of Harmony, Demon Slayer, Kill La Kill and More
Crunchyroll, the world's biggest anime streaming site once used to cater only to the part of the audience with a preference to experience in their anime in its original language with subtitles. But as the site has grown, and anime itself has become more popular internationally, they have also begun to add more and more shows with dubs. Not to replace the originals, of course, but merely adding the option for those who want it. And with a massive international audience (more than 100 million registered users) it's not only English dubs they're producing.
The site has announced that new summer season shows Battle Game In 5 Seconds and I'm Standing On A Million Lives Season 2 will be launching with dubs in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. My Next Life As A Villainess: All Roads Lead To Doom! X will be launching with an English dub.
Ongoing dubs will continue for Tokyo Revengers, To Your Eternity and Welcome To Demon School Iruma-Kun! Season 2. The first two are available in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese, the third in English only.
Crunchyroll will also add dubs in Spanish, Portuguese, French and German for The Slime Diaries and Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S.
Funimation has released a new trailer and key art for their upcoming first foray into feature film coproductions, Sing A Bit Of Harmony. The highschool romance with a sci-fi twist is head for Japanese cinemas on October 29, with a cinema release planned for the US and Canada sometime 'soon'. The film is written and directed by Patema Inverted and Time of Eve's Yasuhiro Yoshiura and animated at JC Staff.
They have also released this official synopsis:
Sing a Bit of Harmony tells the story of the beautiful and mysterious Shion (Tao Tsuchiya) who transfers to Keibu High School where she quickly becomes popular for her open-hearted personality and exceptional athletic talent... but she turns out to be an AI (artificial intelligence) in the testing phase! Shion's goal is to bring chronic loner Satomi (Haruka Fukuhara) “happiness.” But her strategy is something no human would expect: she serenades Satomi in the middle of the classroom. After finding out that Shion is an AI, Satomi and her childhood friend, engineering geek Toma (Asuka Kudo), steadily warm up to the new student. Along with the popular and attractive Gotchan (Kazuyuki Okitsu), the strong-willed Aya (Mikako Komatsu), and judo club member "Thunder" (Satoshi Hino), they become more and more moved by Shion's singing voice and earnestness even as her antics bewilder them. But what Shion does for Satomi's sake ends up involving them all in some serious pandemonium… Get ready for the heartwarming story of a not quite market-ready AI and her classmates!
Meanwhile, Funimation's UK office (ie the former Manga Entertainment) has announced the debut of Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train on digital storefronts. The record-smashing spin-off will be available from the usual digital outlets including Amazon, Apple, Google, Sky, Microsoft and PlayStation stores in the UK and Ireland from July 26.
UK-based anime distributor Anime Limited will release Josee, The Tiger and The Fish in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from August 11. The film is adapted from a 1984 short story by award-winning author Seiko Tanabe and is directed by first-timer Kotaru Tomara. The animation is produced by the studio best known for producing My Hero Academia, Bones. The film was selected for this year's Annecy International Animation Festival and Busan International Film Festival. Anime Limited have released a synopsis:
With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.
To find a screening click here. The film is now playing in select cinemas in the US via Funimation Films.
Funimation will stream the English dub of Zombie Land Saga Revenge from July 15. The cast includes: Bryn Apprill as Ai, Ama Lee, as Junko, Ricco Fajardo as Kotaro, Sarah Wiedenheft as Lily Caitlin Glass as Saki Brina Palencia as Sakura, Dawn M. Bennett as Tae and Stephanie Young as Yugiri.
Funimation has also announced that they will be adding fan favourite series Card Captor Sakura, Kill La Kill and Space Dandy to their streaming site for UK subscribers from July 16.
