MAPPA's June 19 anniversary stream is over. A Chainsaw Man mobile game, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 4, an October date for Ranma 1/2, and two new Netflix anime. We check last week's betting card to see how the predictions held up.
The most-used referee whistle at the World Cup comes from Molten in Hiroshima. The story of how the Valkeen was built to cut through 100,000 fans and vuvuzelas, and the surprising company behind it.
Sunrise (Gundam) and Shaft (Madoka Magica) are co-producing their first-ever anime together. With only a cryptic color script and a five-day countdown to a June 23 reveal, Japanese fans are already buzzing with theories.
A Tohoku University team grew rice to the heading stage in soil mimicking the Moon's surface, using fertilizer made from nothing but air and electricity via plasma. The unlikely inspiration? Gundam's beam saber. As NASA pushes toward a lunar base, it could become foundational tech for growing food in space.
BBS supplied wheels to every F1 car for four seasons, all forged in Takaoka, Japan. Inside the Meister system and a different answer to the craftsman-versus-robot question.
Kagurabachi, the meme-born manga that became a global hit, is going on its longest break yet, pausing from the June 29 issue until around August. Creator Takeru Hokazono's health is the reason, the third disruption this year. He wanted to keep drawing, but editors decided otherwise, and overseas fans are channeling their reaction into a wider argument about Weekly Shonen Jump's punishing schedule.
Tokyo's life-size Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba is being redressed with new decals by original designer Hajime Katoki before its end-of-August removal. Here is what the Ver. TWC FINAL makeover involves, the final nightly light-up lineup, the free headband campaign, and how to see it before it's gone.
Studio Ghibli specialty chain Donguri Republic opens its first U.S. store as a pop-up near Los Angeles. Dates, hours, perks, and why the chain isn't actually new to overseas markets.
Kenzo Tange's 1964 'Ship Gymnasium' in Kagawa is being torn down despite a citizens' buy-and-reuse plan, with demolition starting mid-lawsuit and an 847-million-yen cost drawing scrutiny.
Before MAPPA's June 19 anniversary stream, Japanese fans have turned the lineup into a betting card. From near-locks like Chainsaw Man and the Jujutsu Kaisen Culling Game to long-shot dreams, here is what is confirmed and what fans only wish for.
Japan's all-time anime box office ranking, in one table: Demon Slayer holds the top two spots, followed by Ghibli, Makoto Shinkai, and Conan. The latest Detective Conan film has hit 13 billion yen to become the 16th-biggest anime ever, while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie crosses $1 billion worldwide. Plus an admissions comparison that accounts for rising ticket prices.