There are a myriad of ways to get superpowers in manga and anime. You can be born with them like in My Hero Academia or you can eat a magical fruit like in One Piece. In some stories, though, all you need to do is take a deep breath … and that’s it, you’re now powerful enough to beat up a volcano. Hit the jump button to see how breathing superpowers are used in anime.
The 2001 Shaman King series was a worldwide hit that made many people fall in love with anime for the first time. The 2021 reboot retells the same story with many of the same voice actors, yet improving it in ways other reboots could learn from. Hit the jump button to find out more.
MAPPA studio’s Yasuke was the first anime about a real-life Black samurai who served under the warlord Oda Nobunaga. The series takes place in an alternate reality full of magic and sci-fi technology — but all those fantastical elements are built upon a solid foundation of historical facts that show a lot of research went into this story. Hit the jump button to find out more.
Power Rangers is coming up on nearly 30 years on television and about as many installments of the franchise. Which were most instrumental to the success of these color-coded Japanese superhero imports here in the West? Hit the jump button to find out the answer.
Golgo 13, the story of an international assassin for hire, is currently the Guinness World Record holder for the largest number of volumes published. How exactly did this comic remain popular for half a century? Hit the jump button to find out the answer.
Yo-kai Watch centered around mischievous spirits based on Japanese folklore, which influence our everyday lives in strange, often humorous ways. Which is why it’s so weird that possibly the best Yo-kai Watch show was a spin-off series bearing zero resemblance to the original games and anime. Hit the jump for more.
The eighth instalment of the Kamen Rider franchise, Kamen Rider Black, spawned the first direct sequel in the history of the series, Kamen Rider Black RX, and now, it’s also getting rebooted as Kamen Rider Black Sun. But why? Why out of more than three dozen shows has this one remained so popular for nearly 35 years? Hit the jump button to find out the answer.
One Piece is so full of callbacks and connections to things that happened years ago, it sometimes feels like Eiichiro Oda is constantly in danger of being crushed by the mountain of notebooks he must have used to map out the entire story of his over 100-volume manga. It’s precisely this kind of intricate planning that makes us think we can predict who the next Straw Hat crew member is going to be using clues that go as far back as Chapter 1 of the manga. Hit the jump button to find out more.
Is it a bird, is it a plane? Is it … a robot of some kind? No to all three, actually, but it does share a few similarities with Superman. We’re talking about the popular Japanese superhero Ultraman, who will soon appear in Hideaki Anno’s new film commemorating 55 years of this sci-fi franchise. If you’re new to it and would like to learn more about the Ultra Series before the movie comes out, simply hit the jump button.
From the moment Tsuneo meets Kumiko in Kotaro Tamura’s Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020), you can guess exactly how the movie is going to end, but that never stops you from enjoying yourself along the way. Hit the jump button to find out why.
Yuichiro Hirakawa’s The Promised Neverland does not deliver on the promise of a perfect adaptation of the hit manga and anime, but it's an overall enjoyable film that works hard to capture the moral of the story. Hit the jump to find out more.
Most live-action adaptations have to change some things because what might work in manga or anime will often not work with real actors. But the new Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken movie doesn’t seem to understand what actually worked in its source material. Hit the jump for more details.
It’s pretty well-known that Power Rangers is a Frankenstein production, mixing footage of American actors with all the crazy monster fight scenes from an original Japanese TV show. What’s less-known is that that show, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (Dinosaur Squad Zyuranger) is the greatest show ever made. Hit the jump button to find out why.
For nearly 50 years, Kamen Rider has been a mainstay of Japanese TV. But despite its domestic success, it never developed a huge following in the West. And with so much history behind it, getting into the show now might feel like too much work for newcomers. We’re going to change that. Hit the jump to find out how.
My Hero Academia takes full advantage of its genre by dressing its superpowered characters up in elaborate, crazy, colorful, and all-around great costumes. But which of them are the best? Hit the jump button to find out!
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