Many cartoons of the day were an introduction to the world of anime, even if those series were not considered traditional anime. Wakfu, Martin Mystery, Code Lyoko & Totally Spies were all considered anime-influenced or anime-inspired cartoons, often produced in Italy or France. Some of us fondly remember these cartoons, even when we were unaware of what anime or cosplay was. Today we are focusing on one of these series, Totally Spies.
Totally Spies Season 2 Promo Image
Remembering Totally Spies
Totally Spies is a series that has gathered a large fan base throughout the year, since it first aired in 2001 on ABC Family. Often described as ‘Charlie’s Angels for kids”, the series revolved around three high school girls who would be literally sucked into a world of evil plots, goofy evil villains, and of course, boy problems. Popularity grew as the seasons passed due to the show’s witty humor and intriguing missions. In 2009, the series had its first motion picture which had a limited theatrical release in the U.S., followed by a 6th season in 2013.
Totally Spies The Movie U.S. Promo Banner
Totally Spies, Totally Today!
Totally Spies remains alive and well-loved thanks to its large fanbase, sharing fan art, AMVs (Anime Music Videos) and fan-made merchandise. In late 2022, Zodiak Kids and Family Distribution, the current series owners, announced a new 7th season titled Totally Spies! Woohp World. This brand new season will feature brand new character designs for its protagonist and brand new characters. After 20 years, this is literally childhoods in the making. The new season is set to be release sometime this year with no official date announced as of the release of this article.
Totally Spies Season 7 Keyart
While you wait, watch as Alex and Clover discuss their involvement in the series and their experiences being a WOOHP agent. We got the totally amazing opportunity to interview voice actors Katie Leigh (Alex) and Andrea Baker (Clover) about their roles and experiences behind the mic in the series:
Win an autograph from ANDREA BAKER, the voice of Clover! All you have to do is retweet our interview on TWITTER OR TUMBLR with #TKNTotallySpies, and you’ll automatically be entered to win! Make sure to tag us!
ACTUAL GIVEAWAY ITEM(S)
Two winners will be selected (1 from Twitter & 1 from Tumblr), DEADLINE 1/28/2023.
ABLAZE’s summer 2023 releases will include Manga, Manhwa & webtoons graphic novels. ABLAZE titles are distributed in print worldwide by Diamond Comic and Diamond Book Distributors. Digital versions of ABLAZE titles are available via most major digital platforms.
The adventures of the Brotherhood of the Tofu continue in a story that directly follows season 2 of the TV series! See the heroes of WAKFU ride again in the brand new manga series written by Tot, the creator of WAKFU & DOFUS, and illustrated by Said Sassine!
The TV series is based on the tactical turn-based MMORPG developed by Ankama Games of the same name. The game is a squeal to Ankama’s previous game, Dofus. The games series has attracted over 40 million+ players worldwide and is especially well-known in France.
As for the TV series, the first season of 26 episodes began airing on 30 October 2008, and new episodes would continue to air into January 2010. The third season of Waku premiered on Netflix worldwide on April 6, 2018, and featured an all-new English cast with Voice actors from Los Angeles. On May 7, 2020, Ankama announced that season 4, intended as the story’s final chapter, is currently in development. A Kickstarter campaign to fund its production was launched on June 8, 2020; the target was reached within an hour after the campaign was started.
Manga Synopsis
Yugo, Ruel, Percedal, Amalia, and Evangelyne are now living their lives, each on their own. The adventurers reunite at Alibert’s for Yugo and Adamai’s birthday, launching this latest saga when a party pooper comes to interrupt the celebrations and forces our friends to set off on the road once again for adventure! Available June 27th
Based on the hit Korean webtoon, this comic offers a complex, compelling story of an unlikely hero who is misunderstood and unappreciated for the good he does.
Written by Handong Woo and illustrated by Kojin Ho, this Manhwa series began serialization on the official Thai Webtoon on December 15, 2016. The series has two seasons, with a third season seemingly on hiatus. Currently, there is no official English release; however, ABLAZE will release a new manhwa series based on the hit Webtoon comic on June 27, 2023.
Manhwa Synopsis
Jungwoo Min has a special ability, one that lets him see when a path leads to a misfortune or disaster. He uses his “Eyes of Misfortune” to spot these unfortunate events and stop them. Disguising himself as a terrorist, he begins using his power to save people from certain danger. This leads him to become feared by the people he is looking to save. Soon he discovers that the more he saves others, the unhappier he becomes. Thus unfolds the story of a hero and his struggle between happiness and despair. And the unfortunate reality of saving the world, even while becoming a supposed terrorist…or TERROR MAN.
CENTAURS delivers a story of adventure and freedom inspired by Japanese mythology and features impressive art and character designs by Sumiyoshi, who created creatures for the bestselling Monster Hunter game series.
Manga Synopsis
Created by Ryo Sumiyoshi, best known for ASHIDAKA: The Iron Hero, this epic fantasy adventure is set in an alternate medieval Japan, where humans co-exist with the mythic half-man/half-horse beasts known as centaurs, or “jinba”. The centaur race was long revered as gods in ancient times; however, with the advent of the Sengoku (warring states) period, humans started to enslave and use them for military purposes due to their speed, stamina, and ability to communicate in human language. Centaurs living in the plains were rapidly subjugated; in contrast, large numbers of centaurs living deep in the mountains were still free due to their relative isolation.
A wild and proud samurai jinba from the mountains named Matsukaze, known as the redheaded rock tiger, is caught while protecting his son. He is traded to a feudal lord and taken to his land. There he meets another centaur named Kohibari, whose village was burned down as a child. He is a tame centaur who had his arms amputated when he was captured and has given up hope of escaping his human captors. If they can get over their differences and work together, they just might be able to return to the wilds as free centaurs. Available July 11th.
All these titles are available for preorder on Amazon.
About ABLAZE Publishing
ABLAZE is based in portland Organ, and according to their official website, The mantra of ABLAZE is quality first, with the goals of giving creators a platform, bringing new voices into the conversation, serving as diverse an audience as possible, and bringing some of the best content from all corners of the globe to readers. ABLAZE currently has published over 80 titles. For more information, visit their official website here.
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We began this year with Mamoru Hosoda’s latest anime film, BELLE, and our exclusive interview with Kylie McNeill, the English voice of Suzu/Belle. Hosoda gave us an exclusive interview during Animation is Film Festival 2021, in where he stated the follow about BELLE,
BELLE was first screened on July 15, 2021, at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a 15-minute standing ovation. The film was released in theaters across Japan, earning a total of ¥6.53 billion at the box office and $1.8 million in the U.S. Initially Belle premiered at the Animation is Film Festival 2021, serving as the centerpiece film. Belle quickly gained popularity due to the vocal performances of artists Kaho Nakamura and Kylie McNeill (English dub), both who had never done any voice-over work prior. Additionally, anticipation for the film grew due to Hosoda’s art direction and artistic elements from Disney’s 1991 animated film, Beauty and the Beast.
When creating the virtual world of U, Hosoda sought out different artists, until he found Eric Wong’s work online. Highly impressed by Wong’s work, Hosoda’s team contacted him for the opportunity to work as the designer of the world of U . From U”s background and buildings to the U”s clouds and sky, Eric spent the COVID lockdown meticulously working on designs and renders for U. Watch our exclusive interview with Eric Wong and find out how he created U and much more!
The Pokemon Company announced its next Pokemon anime series, and for the first time in 25 years, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu will not be the main characters.
Original Visual Key Art2022 Comparison – 25 Years Later
The announcement comes after Ash achieved his long dream of becoming a Pokemon Master in the 42nd episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys. Ash began his journey in 1997, and only in 2022 did he make his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master a reality by being crowned as the world champion.
A commemorative episode set to air on December 23rd in honor of their 25-year-old Journey. The final episode featuring Ash and Pikachu will air on January 13th, 2023, with a brand new Pokemon series set to air sometime in April 2023.
The new series will feature new main characters, Liko and Roy. Their journey is set to begin alongside their Paldea starter Pokémon, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. Sarah Natochenny, took to social media to express her love for the character and fans after voicing Ash for 15 years, from 2006 – 2022.
It’s been an extraordinary privilege to have been the English voice of Ash Ketchum for what will be 17 years. No matter what lies beyond his final chapter, he’ll live forever in the hearts of many generations to come. I’ll keep him present for all of us in every way I can. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UZxPO4xD6E
It is fan speculation that Ash and Pikachu will return in cameo roles in the upcoming series. Perhaps even serving as a trainer for Liko and Roy. What do you think of the new characters? Will you be watching the new series without Ash and Pikachu? Comment below! We’d like to hear from you!
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Anime Pasadena 2022 was held in mid-November 2022 at the Pasadena convention center. The event had over 40 guests, panels and various activities, including autographs sessions and an after party.
One of many highlights from Anime Pasadena 2022 was the reunion of the Death Note cast. Although Shannon Chan Kent who voiced Misa Amane was unable to attend as previously announced, the show continued with voice actors Brad Swaile (Light Yagami), Brian Drummond (Ryku) and Alessandro Juliani (L Lawliet). Despite having huge lines, all three voice actors stayed late into the night to signing fan items.
According to an interview granted to us by Alessandro Juliani, this is the first time they’ve all gathered together for anime convention. Juliani stated, This was the first time he had attended an all anime themed convention. Adding, he mostly attending conventions or events that deal with his on camera work.
Watch our interviews with Death Note cast members, Alessandro Juliani and Brian Drummond as they speak about their work in the anime series as L and shinigami, Ryku!
Interview with Alessandro Juliani (L)
Interview with Brian Drummond (Ryku)
Anime Pasadena 2023 has been announced, you find more information on this event here.
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The film stars Mackenyu as Seiya, Sean Bean as Alman Kido, Famke Janssen as Guraad, Madison Iseman as Sienna & Nick Stahl as Cassius. According to the film’s IMDB page, the film is set to be a live-action remake of the 1986 anime adaptation.
Knight of The Zodiac Live Action Teaser Trailer
Knight of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya Origins
The film is based on the Saint SeiyaAnime series, which is adapted from Masami Kurumada’s manga series of the same name. Saint Seiya was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1986 to 1990,and according to comipress.com, the manga series has sold well over 25 million copies in Japan as of 2007 and has over 50 million copies in circulation as of 2022, according to Animate Times.
The series was adapted into an anime series in 1986, three months before the first manga volume was published. The anime series was produced more quickly than the manga; therefore, Toei Animation created original stories to fill in the gaps between story arcs. These original stories were not featured in the original manga.
Kurumada’s Highly Influential Series
The Seiya series is considered to be one of the most highly influential anime of the 80s, inspiring other works such as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. According to Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy in their published work, The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Saint Seiya also inspired Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato, Ronin Warriors, and Wild Knights Gulkeeva, all released between the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The series was highly influential that, according to an article by Mark McHarry; Matthew Thorn, a cultural anthropologist and an Associate Professor at the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University, stated that at the peak of the Seiya popularity, the yaoi genre was also making its way to the top at the same time. The Seiya boom, alongside Captain Tsubasa, largely contributed to popularizing the term “Yaoi” in the late 1980s.
The Saint Seiya Media Franchise
The Saint Seiya manga is composed of three sagas Sanctuary, Poseidon, and Hades. All three sagas were then divided into different story arcs. As previously stated, the original 1986 anime series featured original stories that were not featured in the manga and were only made specifically for the anime series.
The Seiya manga series spawned several spin-offs, including Saint Seiya Episode G by Kurumada, The Lost Canvas by Shiori Teshirogi, Saintia Shō by Chimaki Kuori, and most recently, Dark Wing by Kenji Saito and Shinshu Ueda.
The 1986 anime also spawned a few spin-offs which included three original video animations released from 2002 to 2008. A fifth film, Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter – Overture was released in 2004, followed by Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary in 2014. Novels based on the series were also written between 1988 and 2002. Other media featured video games, musical productions and drama audio CDs. Netflix released an original net animation titled Knight of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya, which premiered in 2019.
The First Attempt at an American Adaptation
Sometime in the 1990s, an American adaptation/remake of the series was set to be produced by Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment and retitled as Guardians of the Cosmos; apparently Guardians of the Galaxy was already taken. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the show was never aired and was eventually lost to time until Youtuber Ray Mona discovered the pilot in early December 2022.
With all this rich history, the only question in the mind of long-time Seiya fans is, will Hollywood get it right this time? Only time will tell. Film Director Tomasz Baginski is known for his work on The Witcher series, having worked on both the game and the 2019 TV series serving as exclusive producer. Lead star Mackenyu rose to fame with the Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku trilogy and is known in the anime community for portraying Enishi Yukishiro in the Rurouni Kenshin live-action film. Baginski’s Knight of the Zodiac is set to be released in 2023.
Code Lyoko is a fantastic, french produced series that mixes CGI and 2D animation. Often described as French anime, the series remains popular in the U.S., with an active a cult following. Although the series came to an end in 2012, fans are still sharing and creating fan-made content. However,as the series came to a end, fans are searched for information on the show itself. Who created it, how was it made, and who worked on it? And who is sebastian Davin? No matter what department a staff member worked on, fans want to know.
Code Lyoko Season 1 – 3 Character Designs and outfits
Some have even contacted producers, animators, music composers, and voice actors, myself included, who worked on the show. During the pandemic, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing French-based actress Barbara Scaff, the voice of Ulrich Stern.
Code Lyoko Season 4
Code Lyoko Season 4 Character Designs and new character, William Dunbar (Bottom)
During the show’s 4th season, MoonScoop, the producers began to promote the show with an English version of the show’s music album. The original album had been released in France a year earlier. Although the album was not a U.S. sensation, it was an instant hit among CL fans once it was released. Using the album’s first track Planet Net, MoonScoop released an AMV that featured the show’s fictional band, The Subdigitals.
For a long time, fans wondered who the voice behind the music in the album was. Who made fans play the album non-stop? Lyoko warriors and dear readers, let me introduce you to musician Sebastian Davin.
Sebastian Davin Joins The Subdigitals
Sebastian Davin comparison image with his cartoon counterpart, Nico
Sebastian Davin is a Minnesota-based musician, guitarist, pianist, and the current vocalist in his band, The White Keys. He was one of the three founders of the modern rock/alternative metal band Dropping Daylight. As Dropping Daylight, Sebastian and his bandmates performed with The Pixies, Paramore, Papa Roach, Cypress Hill, Green Day, The Misfits, & Breaking Benjamin. So, how did Sebastian get involved in the making of the Code Lyoko album? I’ll let Sebastian explain, watch our exclusive interview below.
I want to thank Sebastian Davin for the interview opportunity and all Code Lyoko fans who are very excited about this interview. If you’re reading this and are barely getting into the Code Lyoko fandom, head over to CODE LYOKO’s official YouTube channel to watch ALL the Code Lyoko episodes, including its live action sequel Code Lyoko Evolution, all for free.
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The Simpsons’ annual Treehouse Of Horror halloween episode returns with a Death Note parody, DEATH TOME.
A Clip making it rounds on Twitter, featuring Lisa as Light giving fans a glimpse of well animated episode. The segment is animated by South Korean studio, DR Movie Animation Entertainment studio, who also assisted in animating the original series in 2006.
The first clip from ‘The Simpsons’ parody of ‘DEATH NOTE’ has been released.
Look closely and you might find your favorite Simpsons character in your favorite anime style animation. In fact, Simpson episode writer, Carolyn Omine promised to share more Easter Eggs from the Death Note segment.
This is not the first time The Simpsons have parodied Death Note. Back 2009, the series was parodied using Bart as the central character in The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #14, the segment was titled, Murder, He Wrote and penicled by Nina Matsumoto.
Artst: Nina Matsumoto
The episode will air this Sunday, October 30th. You watch on the Fox or on Hulu. The episode will also parody Westworld, and the 2014 psychological horror film, The Babadook.
One Piece Film Red served as the centerpiece film at this year’s Animation is Film Festival and for the first time fans had the opportunity to experience film in English dubbed, two weeks ahead of its official U.S. theater release.
The film is directed by Goro Taniguchi, who previously directed the 1998 OVA, One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak! OVA and was the very first time the One Piece manga had been animated, making Taniguchi the first person to animate Luffy. According to the Japanese website, Mantan-Web, Taniguchi stated that he wanted to express a One Piece that has never been seen before and that he will show it in One Piece Film: Red. According to Shinji Shimizu, a staff of Toei Animation and producer of One Piece anime, One Piece Film: Red is the only One Piece film that Eiichiro Oda has actively participated in the most.
Now for the first time ever, fans got to experience the film in English dubbed during this year’s Animation is Film Festival 2022, and we had the opportunity to catch with some of the cast and speak on this new anime film phenomenon:
As of 23 October 2022, the film has grossed ¥17.36 billion in Japan making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise and the highest-grossing film of 2022 in Japan. Worldwide the film has earned over US$144.7 million in eight countries making it the 13th highest-grossing Japanese film of all-time.
The film’s theme song “New Genesis” by Ado is currently number 48 in the Top 100 Global charts on Apple Music. The film is set to be released on the 4th of November 2022, if you haven’t purchased your tickets, now’s the time, you can purchase here.
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Popular illustrator, Loundraw had his debut film premiere during this year’s Anime Expo 2022, & recently during this year’s Animation Is Film festival, we had the opportunity to interview Loundrawabout his debut film, Summer Ghost
The film is produced by Loundraw’s company Flat Studio, with scripts written by Hirotaka Adachi, and music composed by Akira Kosemura, Itoko Toma, Guiano, and Hideya Kojima.
Summer Ghost was released in Japanese theaters on November 12, 2021, by its distributor Avex Pictures. GKIDS and Shout! Factory is set to release the film in North America on November 1, 2022, on Blu-ray and digital platforms. The film is available to preorder via Prime Video.
Loundraw is an Illustrator who made his professional debut in his teens with a cover illustration for Gara Nagata’s Hoshi no Nemuru Mizuumi e -Ai wo Sagashi ni-. He also worked on the covers of various novels, such as Keigo Higashino’s Koi no Gondola and Yoru Sumino’s Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai.
You can preorder Loundraw’s newest English-translated work Vivy Prototypea light novel by Tappei Nagatsuki & Eiji Umehara, HERE.
