Shigeru Mizuki has inspired countless mangaka with his works, and as he passed away late last year at the age of 93, a lavish funeral service was given to him from some of the biggest names in the Japanese anime, manga, and entertainment industries.

Now, approximately six months since his passing, the legendary mangaka has finally been laid to rest, and his tomb is something fitting of a mangaka such as Shigeru Mizuki himself. A tweet announced his burial in a custom tomb, together with a picture taken 30 years ago, when Mizuki became impressed with a custom tomb which featured two of his characters, Kitaro and Nezumi-otoko.

30年前、お墓ができた時の得意げな水木しげる。左右に鬼太郎とねずみ男、側面と後ろには水木が下絵を描いた妖怪達のレリーフ。水木が「調布のミケランジェロ」と絶賛する墓石屋さんの手彫りです

— 水木プロダクション (@mizukipro) May 30, 2016

Mizuki was so impressed with the carver, that he dubbed him as “the Michaelangelo of Choufu”. The mangaka also said that he wants to design his own tomb himself so that he would be “sure he would be comfortable with it when it was his time to enter it.” This is why his own tomb has been designed by the legendary mangaka himself.

A veteran of World War II, Shigeru Mizuki became a manga legend with only one arm, as he lost his left arm while serving Imperial Japan in Rabaul, New Guinea, one of the bloodiest areas ever affected by the great war. He was being treated for Malaria when his hospital got bombed and then lost his arm, however, that did not stop him from being a mangaka. You can check out his …

The cover for the upcoming July 2016 issue of Monthly Hero has now been revealed by Japanese shopping website 7net, and that very cover has announced that Tetsuro Kasahara’s Astro Boy prequel spin-off manga, Atom the Beginning, will also be getting adapted into an anime.

The manga is considered an “episode zero” story for Osamu Tezuka’s timeless manga classic, the manga will tell the story of the events leading up to the birth of Astro Boy.

Not much has been announced about this new anime adaptation so far, but expect it to be a must-watch for any Astro Boy fan, both young and old.

The manga itself is in collaboration with Tezuka Productions, and the legendary mangaka’s son, Makoto Tezuka, is supervising it himself. Patlabor the Mobile Police, Birdy the Mighty creator, Masami Yuuki, is credited with the manga’s “concept works,” while its mangaka, Tetsuro Kasahara, is the mangaka behind Rideback, which received an anime adaptation back in 2009.…

Thanks to a certain sports anime from Kyoto Animation titled Free!, the small town of Iwami in Tottori Prefecture has been swarmed by anime fans on a “pilgrimage” and visiting some of the areas featured in the anime. Now, Iwami High School is seeking the help of 40 volunteers to clean their pool, and cosplayers can take part in it!

Taking a page from the anime’s first episode, where Free!’s main characters are forced to clean the pool they will be swimming in. Iwami High School, one of the holiest sites for Free! fans, is looking for a total of 40 volunteers, who will be split into two groups of 20. The first group will be scheduled to clean the pool on 4 June, while the second group will be cleaning on 12 June. A lottery will be selecting the volunteers.

The organizers of this pool clean up has specified that the volunteers are allowed to cosplay, and even do photo shoots around the pool area. Previously, this same pool, which was also featured in the anime, was the setting used in a Free! photo shoot.

The town has been quite known for its own Free! connections, as merchandise from the anime have been in the town, not to mention all those sites featured in the anime, which the fans absolutely love to visit.…

A decade after the premiere if the first anime adaptation of Katsura Hoshino’s hit Jump manga, D.Gray-man, the anime series is receiving a reboot with D.Gray-man Hallow. Just recently, a new visual was revealed, and it features some of the anime’s characters. It also announces the exact premiere date for the upcoming new anime.

According to an early look at the new visual, which features beloved characters such as Allen Walker, Ayuu Kanda, The Millennium Earl, Lanalee Lee, Lavi, and many more, the anime will be making its premiere on the 4th of July.

Unlike the original anime adaptation released 10 years ago, D.Gray-man Hallow will be featuring a brand new voice cast. Allen Walker will now be voiced by Ayumu Murase, who takes over the voice acting duties for Sanae Kobayashi. Meanwhile, Yuu Kanda’s new seiyuu is now Takuya Sato, replacing Takahiro Sakurai, and Lavi is now voiced by Natsuki Hanae, replacing Kenichi Suzumura. Lanalee Lee , who was previously voiced by Shizuka Itou, will now be voiced by Ai Kakuma. The other cast members are:

• Howard Link: Shinnosuke Tachibana
• The Earl of Millenium: Yutaka Aoyama
• Tyki Mikk: Masakazu Nishida
• Road Kamelot: Yui Kondo
• Arystar Krory: Noriaki Sugiyama
• Miranda Lotto: Ami Koshimizu
• Wisely: Soichiro Hoshi
• Bookman: Hochu Otsuka
• Alma Karma: Ryota Asari
• Komui Lee: Gou Inoue
• Reever Wenhamm: Tomokazu Sugita
• Johnny Grill: Mitsuhiro Ichiki
• Malcom=C=Lvellie: Toru Okawa
• Tewaku: Rie Suegara
• Madarao: Takuya Eguchi
• Tokusa: Soma Saito

Legendary and Academy Award-winning animation director, Hayao Miyazaki is not exactly retired, and it is evident as he is still planning to make a few animated shorts. This good news was revealed by his close friend and Studio Ghibli producer, Yoshiaki Nishimura, who recently sat down with UK news website, Den of Geek, for an interview.

According to Nishimura, the man behind such classics like My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, is planning more animated shorts for the Ghibli Museum.

“Ah! Yes. Miyazaki’s plan is to produce 12 short films to be shown at the museum. If there are 12 of them, we can rotate them once a month. At the moment, they have nine, so there are three more to go. So Miyazaki’s working on that. Apart from that, there are talks of 15 to 30 second TV commercials, or TV series, but nothing is concrete.”

However, Nishimura did not state whether Miyazaki himself will be directing these three shorts, but as Nishimura revealed, it is Hayao Miyazaki himself who is doing the planning. Of the nine existing animated shorts for the Ghibli Museum, only seven are directed by Miyazaki himself.

Miyazaki retired back in 2013, with his final film, The Wind Rises, getting nominated for an Oscar. However, he clarified that he is only retiring from directing feature films, and would only be directing animated shorts for the Ghibli Museum every now and then.

In the interview with Den of Geek, …

The stylish cafe known as the Q-Pot Cafe is running a collaboration with Naoko Takeuchi’s legendary magical girl manga, Sailor Moon. It is something that Moonies (Sailor Moon fans) would really want to try out, as the cafe not only features Sailor Moon treats, but merchandise as well.

For a limited time from 30 June until 17 August, Moonies can order the following items from Q-Pot Cafe’s special Sailor Moon menu:…

An illustration from Chuuya Koyama’s space manga, Space Brothers, will be launching into space… literally! When an H-IIA rocket will launch later this year to put the Himawari 9 meteorological satellite into orbit, it will decorated with artwork done by the Space Brothers mangaka himself.

Called the “Dream Art Rocket Project”, it will launch TWO of Chuuya Koyama’s artworks into space with the H-IIA rocket and the Himawari 9 satellite. The first artwork is the one pictured above, with the manga’s characters as kids, and the second one would be featuring a rocket blasting off.

These artworks will actually be made from a mosaic of artworks collected by kids all over Japan. The rocket will then take the children’s “dreams” into space as part of the project by Young Astronauts’ Club – Japan. The artwork must be about “Dreams.”

Young Astronauts’ Club – Japan is actually headed by the legendary Leiji Matsumoto, creator of Galaxy Express 999, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and of course, his most famous work, Space Battleship Yamato. He said that “the dreams of the children will become one,” and he added that they wish that this will lead to their dreams coming true. Fans can submit their artworks until 12 June through this link: https://dream-art-rocket.pitcom.jp/form/?page=input…

While admirals are finally getting a reprieve after a long battle in the quest to get Iowa, Kantai Collection finally enters their Rainy Season period. This offers a new opportunity for admirals to lick their woulds and get rid of all that salt. That being said, the ship girls have finally gotten their early summer CGs, and yes, it’s perfect for Japan’s rainy season.

And of course, the seasonal CGs won’t be complete without these three getting some for the season, right?

The new update also brings about some rain-themed furniture for the Admiral’s Office, as well as rainy day voice lines for several ship girls. Here is what my own Admiral’s Office looks like with Bono in her seasonal gear.

New quests have also been added, along with a new equipment. Additionally, the Accuracy stats for the 35.6 Twin and Triple Mounts are increased when they are equipped for the Kongou-Class Battleships.…

Remember that Catbus papercraft kit from My Neoghbor Totoro, which we featured a while back? The exact same company behind that beautiful papercraft is following it up with another Ghibli classic, this time from another one of Hayao Miyazaki’s greatest masterpieces, Spirited Away.

This new Ghibli papercraft is called “Fushigi no Machi” and it recreates the mysterious town which the Academy-Award-Winning film was set on. It features some of the town’s most well known aspects, like the bathhouse where Chihiro finds some work.

Made with Laser-cut pieces on a thick paper board, the kit features some amazing detail, from the roof and walls, to Chihiro’s parents turning themselves into pigs as they gorge on the food.

This gorgeous kit is now available via Amazon Japan for 4,800 yen, and overseas shipping is available, however, they are only available while supplies last.…

With its premiere date set for 3 July, The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance is looking to be one of summer 2016’s hottest anime, and the face-off between Prince Arslan and Silver Mask is being previewed in a brand new CM:

The video features the upcoming conflict for the Kingdom of Pars that is inspired by the ancient Persian Empire. In addition, it also features the anime’s OP song “Tsubasa,” which is performed by the one and only Eir Aoi. A new key visual has also been revealed:

This new anime will only have a total of eight episodes, which is a huge contrast to the first anime, which is more than three times as long, as it had 25 episodes. This new anime will pick up where the first one left off, and will finally answer a few lingering questions left about by the first season.

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