Dragon Ball is back… again! Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is very interesting, as it is basically a reanimated cut of the original Dragon Ball Super series, but this time it is recut with better animation. Despite the fact that the franchise is retreading very similar ground, that did not stop the premiere of the first episode at the New York Comic Con panel from being packed to capacity. The panel was hosted by Monica Rial, the current English voice of Bulma, with special guests Jason Douglas, the voice of Beerus, and Ian Sinclair, the voice of Whis. It was nice listening to the three of them talk about just how excited they were to return to the franchise that they have such a strong affection for. Probably the highlight of the panel outside of the episode premiere was Ian talking about how Sean Shimmel himself called everybody super excited when Dragon Ball Super: Beerus was first announced, even though it was apparently super late at night for Ian while he was sleeping.

The panel also featured some special videos featuring Masako Nozawa and Kōichi Yamadera, the Japanese voices of Goku and Beerus, respectively. Not only did they wish a lot of luck to the English dub cast, but they hoped that everybody at Comic-Con was ready to enjoy the excitement of the series. The cherry on top was Ian acting especially giddy over the fact that Nozawa referred to everybody on the stage by name. One big group Kamehameha sent off later, and it was time to enjoy the first episode of Dragon Ball Super: Beerus.

Even though it has been over ten years since Dragon Ball Super aired, I am still very aware of a lot of scenes and production issues that plagued the early arcs of the series. This led to a lot of random filler episodes and very off-looking animation. Right off the bat, I can say with absolute certainty that based on this first episode, both of those issues are drastically corrected, as the first couple of episodes from the original Dragon Ball Super‘s airing are completely condensed here. This episode starts with Beerus awakening and him immediately going on a destruction spree for the sake of trying to jog his memories about the dream he had of the Super Saiyan God. What’s interesting about the way that this episode is framed is that the series seems to be properly mirroring Beerus’s awakening with Goku’s resolve to get stronger.

On Goku’s end, the episode started with him already on his farm, taking a quick break to train while Goten took over his tractor. He did image training, imagining his past fights with Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu, with Goku pointing out that he wouldn’t have been able to defeat the latter on his own without everybody’s help. The entire side story from the original Dragon Ball Super series regarding Goku trying to earn money to appease his wife, Chi-Chi, was immediately resolved here as Mr. Satan showed up to give him the money as a thank you for saving the world, as long as he kept quiet about Satan taking the credit.

While I miss a lot of the charming humor in the filler moments from the original series, I do love the shift in tone and tighter focus of this retelling. This episode immediately establishes one of the main prevailing themes of this arc, with Goku being unsatisfied that he wasn’t able to defeat Majin Buu and wanting to be strong enough to handle the next threat on his own, which will tie directly into the awakening of Super Saiyan God. While a lot of the scenes with Beerus were handled a little too quickly, Beerus does have more of a menacing presence. It’s incredible what a few tweaks to the style can do for establishing a stronger sense of tone.

Most of the scenes in this episode are from the original series, but they have all been heavily tweaked, redrawn, or drawn over for a stronger sense of stylistic consistency. Instead of all of the characters having this glossy shine like flat action figures, Dragon Ball Super: Beerus instead gives everybody intense-looking shadows. The animation is a lot more fluid, and there are even a couple of new scenes added to better bridge the leftover scenes. While this first episode is definitely here to establish that tone and setup, I could definitely feel the animators trying to flex that this is probably how they wanted the series to look when it was first conceived versus what we got. Overall, it is a very solid start, and if they can keep this level of consistency moving forward, then this might end up becoming one of the best ways for new fans to enjoy this story.

Toei announced on Tuesday that it and Thai production company 13 Studio are producing a feature-length, Thai-language film adaptation of Junji Itō’s “Kubitsuri Kikyū” (“The Hanging Balloons”) horror short story. Thai director Taweewat Wantha (Death Whisperer 2, Tha Rae: The Exorcist, upcoming film Dawn of Soengsang) is directing the film.

Viz Media published the story in the Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories book under the title “Hanging Blimp” in 2017. Viz describes the story:

After an idol hangs herself, balloons bearing the faces of their destined victims appear in the sky…

The film project will shift the story’s setting to Thailand, offering a new interpretation to the story, but respecting the original work’s eerie worldview.

The short story debuted in Asahi Sonorama‘s Monthly Halloween magazine in 1994. It inspired a Japanese live-action film adaptation in 2000, and the story was also part of the Netflix anime series Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, which premiered worldwide in January 2023.

Toei, Thai film studio M Studio, and South Korean production company Showbox announced in May that they are jointly producing a live-action film of another short story by Ito, “The Long Hair in the Attic” (“Yaneura no Nagai Kami“). Sitisiri Mongkolsiri (The Red Line, Hunger, Inhuman Kiss) is directing the project which will begin filming next year.

Pan-Asian film and entertainment studio Through the Lens Entertainment and horror brand Fangoria Studios are collaborating to produce films based on Ito’s “The Mystery of the Haunted House” Parts 1 and 2, and “Bloodsucking Darkness.”

Strange -Itō Junji no Yoru mo Nemurenu Kimyō na Hanashi- (Strange –Junji Ito‘s Strange Stories for Sleepless Nights), a live-action omnibus series based on 13 manga stories by Ito, premiered on July 3 in the TV Tokyo channel’s “Drama 24” programming block.

Ito’s Uzumaki manga also inspired a four-episode anime mini-series that premiered on Toonami in September 2024.

Junji Ito “Collection”, a previous television anime of manga by Ito, adapted stories from the Itō Junji Kessaku-shū collection, as well as the Fragments of Horror book. The anime premiered in January 2018 and had 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles as it aired in Japan, and Funimation streamed an English dub. The anime included an adaptation of Ito’s Tomie story on its second and third DVD sets.

Ito’s Uzumaki and Tomie manga have inspired live-action adaptations, and his Gyo manga inspired an original video anime project.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards inducted Ito into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame in July 2025. Ito previously won Eisner Awards for Lovesickness, Remina, Venus In The Blind Spot, and “Frankenstein.” Comic-Con International in San Diego awarded its Inkpot Award to Ito in 2023. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominated Ito’s Black Paradox manga for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia in 2023.

Sources: Toei, Comic Natalie

The staff for the television anime of Keigo Shinzō‘s Hirayasumi manga (a co-production with Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd and Production +h.) announced five more cast members on Tuesday. 

The newly announced cast members are (image above from left to right):

• Daisuke Namikawa as Hideki Noguchi, Hiroto’s high school friend who now works in a trendy furniture store 
• Yōko Hikasa as Yomogi Tachibana, a career woman who feels empty after doing nothing but work
• Yume Miyamoto as Akari Yokoyama, Natsumi’s first-ever friend
• Yūichirō Umehara as Ryō Ishikawa, a novelist who is in a minor slump since his books don’t sell like they did in his debut
• Japanese television announcer Yūko Naitō as Narrator

Viz describes the human drama story:

At 29 years old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier. Hiroto’s breezy attitude isn’t easy for everyone to understand, though. In a world filled with anxiety, confusion, and grief, Hiroto and the people around him are all just doing their best to figure out this thing called life.

The anime stars Yūma Uchida as Hiroto Ikuta, Mayu Takahashi as Natsumi Kobayashi and Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada.

Kei Suezawa (Fate/Grand Order The Movie Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot – Wandering: Agateram, FLCL Progressive) is directing the anime at Production +h. Naoyuki Asano (Urusei Yatsura, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Mr. Osomatsu) is designing the characters. Mika Nishimura (Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Typhoon Noruda) is the art director. Kaori Sawada (What Did You Eat Yesterday?, When Spring Comes) is composing the music.

The anime will premiere in January 2027 in Japan on the NHK General channel. Viz Media also announced an English release in 2027.

Viz Media and Japan Society hosted the world premiere screening of the first episode at Japan Society’s location in New York City on October 7.

Shinzō launched the manga in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in April 2021. Shogakukan published the manga’s 10th compiled book volume on April 30, and the series has over 1.1 million copies in circulation worldwide. The manga was nominated for the 15th Manga Taisho awards in January 2022, ranked #18 in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha‘s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook in December 2022, nominated for the 27th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in February 2023, and nominated for Best Continuing Manga Series in the 2nd American Manga Awards.

The series also inspired a live-action series, which premiered on NHK in November 2025.

Denpa has licensed Shinzō’s Holiday Junction collection of short manga. The book contains seven one-shot manga. Shogakukan shipped the book in Japan in July 2016.

Sources: Hirayasumi anime’s X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie