The staff for the television anime of Ezogingitune and illustrator DeeCHA‘s I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand (Koko wa Ore ni Makasete Saki ni Ike to Ittekara 10-nen ga Tattara Densetsu ni Natteita.) light novel series confirmed on Tuesday that the anime has cast Chō as Gerberga, a chicken worshipped as divine by Luccira’s family. The character debuted in the anime’s third episode on Monday.

Square Enix and Comikey are releasing the novel series’ manga adaptation in English, and they describe the story:

With no other options, Luck makes the choice to hold the line against the unending demonic hordes alone, to make sure his comrades can escape with their lives. However, through a combination of fortune, skill, and ingenuity, he holds that line for ten straight years, eventually coming out on top single handedly. Now he has to tackle the dilemma of how to occupy himself in a world where he holds a myriad of roles: that of a legend, that of a veteran, and that of a brand new face.

The anime stars:

Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kōsuke Toriumi, Takehito Koyasu, Shinya Takahashi, and Satoshi Hino will voice the vampires who hold the key to the story.

Hiroyuki Kanbe (Viper’s Creed) is directing the anime at Gekkō. Mitsutaka Hirota (Edens Zero) is handling the series scripts. Majiro (Macross Delta) is designing the characters. sajou no hana performs the anime’s opening theme song “Soredemo Donten o Koeteyuku” (Even So, We Go Past the Cloudy Skies). Rock-idol girl group MEISHOHIKOKAI will perform the ending theme song “Ari Kitari na Nichijō to Kōun na Hibi e” (Lucky in the Ordinary, or literally, Onwards to Ordinary and Fortunate Days).

Additional staff members include:

The anime premiered first on Amazon Prime Video on July 3, before debuting on the ABEMA and d Anime Store streaming services on July 6, as well as making its television debut on Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, TV Aichi, and BS11 on July 6. The anime debuted on AT-X on July 9. The anime’s premiere was delayed to July “to present an even more enjoyable work for everyone.” The anime was initially announced to premiere in April.

Crunchyroll is streaming the anime as it airs in Japan.

The web novel began in June 2018 on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. The light novel series’ first volume debuted in February 2019, and the eighth volume will ship on July 15. Chaco Abeno launched a manga adaptation with composition by Kitsune Tennōji on Square Enix‘s Manga UP! service in August 2019. Square Enix published the manga’s 19th compiled book volume on April 7. The novel and manga series combined has over 4.45 million copies in circulation.

Sources: I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand anime’s X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie

TOHO Movies revealed on Tuesday the first full trailer, the accompanying teaser trailer, the cast, and character visuals for Kaiji: Jinsei Revenge Game (Kaiji: Life Revenge Game), the new live-action film adaptation of Nobuyuki Fukumoto‘s Kaiji manga.

Tatsuya Fujiwara reprises his role as the titular character Kaiji.

Kazuya Kamenashi (The Drops of God, live-action Kindaichi Case Files) plays Kazuya Hyōdō.

Mahiro Takasugi (I want to eat your pancreas, live-action Tokyo Revengers 2) plays Teiai Corporation employee Keita Mashimo.

Sara Minami (Grotesqqque, live-action Kimi ni Todoke) plays Keita’s girlfriend Taeko Yūki.

Susumu Terajima (When Marnie Was There, live-action Lovely Complex) plays golf course employee Kōzō Nonomura.

Denpa licensed the manga, and it describes the story:

Ne’er-do-well Kaiji Itou’s shiftless existence is suddenly rattled by a visit from the yakuza. Burdened by debt and resentment, Kaiji is coerced into gambling for his worthless life. As the stakes grow higher and the rules become increasingly more bizarre, Kaiji must finally take the future into his own hands! Legendary mangaka Nobuyuki Fukumoto finally makes his English-language debut. The inspiration for the infamous anime by the same name and the Netflix live-action film Animal World takes readers into the dark side of Japan’s post-bubble economic society by thrusting them into a world of debt, debauchery, and delusion.

Tōya Satō is also returning to direct the new film. Yūgo Kanno is composing the music for the film. Masatoshi Yamaguchi penned the script with assistance from Fukumoto. 

The film will open in theaters on January 29.

Fukumoto serialized the original manga in Kodansha‘s Young Magazine from 1996 to 1999. The manga has inspired multiple sequels and spinoffs,  two television anime series, three previous Japanese live-action films, a Chinese live-action film, and a reality game show. Denpa shipped the third volume in December 2021.

Fukumoto announced in 2024 the Kaiji manga will end in the next arc.

The series is currently on hiatus. The manga first went on hiatus in June 2023 due to Fukumoto conducting research, and was slated to return in September of that year, but instead announced another hiatus in October, and was slated to return in November 2023, but the series has not resumed serialization since then. The manga last appeared in Kodansha‘s Weekly Young Magazine‘s 2023 27th issue in June.

Sources: live-action Kaiji film’s official website, Comic Natalie

The August issue of Shueisha‘s Ultra Jump magazine announced on Friday that Kensuke Nishida will launch a new series titled Yūsha Yukio (Hero Yukio) in the next issue on August 19.

The dark fantasy isekai story follows the hero Yukio, who has been the strongest hero from birth and the luckiest man in the world.

Kaneshiro and Nishida launched the Jagaan manga in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in February 2017, and ended the series in November 2021. The manga has 14 total compiled book volumes. Abrams ComicArts‘ Kana imprint will begin publishing the series in English in September. 

Kaneshiro is also known for the As the Gods Will (Kami-sama no Iu Toori) manga with artist Akeji Fujimura and the ongoing Blue Lock manga with Yūsuke Nomura. Kodansha Comics and K MANGA are both releasing Blue Lock in English, as well as the As the Gods Will: The Second Series manga. Yen Press is releasing Kaneshiro and Akira Hiramoto‘s Super Ball Girls manga in English.

Nishida previously wrote and drew the I am a Hero in Nagasaki spinoff manga of Kengo Hanazawa‘s I am a Hero manga.

Source: Ultra Jump August issue

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