Anime
We Are Aliens Film Unveils More Cast – News
The official website for Kōhei Kadowaki and NOTHING NEW‘s We Are Aliens (Ware Ware wa Uchūjin) anime film announced more cast members for the film on Thursday.
The new cast members include Gaku Sano as Tsubasa’s friend Seiya Toda (both upper left in image above), Reika Ōzeki as young Seiya (both upper right), Arisa Sasaki as Toda’s friend Elmo Matsushita (both lower left), and Edo Harumi as a calligraphy teacher (both lower right).
©NOTHING NEW, MIYU PRODUCTIONS
We Are Aliens centers on Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, two boys who as elementary school students became close friends, but jealousy and misunderstandings eventually drove them apart. Years have passed and the two boys have gone in different directions in life. But when the memories from their past come back, they must face what happened between them years ago.
The film stars Ryōta Bandō (Fureru., live-action How to Train Your Dragon’s Japanese dub) as Tsubasa, and Amane Okayama (Blue Giant, live-action I”s, Hirayasumi) as Gyōtarō, when both characters are young adults. Child actors Yūto Maki and Tasuku Nakagome — who were both selected through auditions — voice Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, respectively, when they were younger. Other cast members include Sakurazaka46 idol group member Ten Yamasaki as Konatsu, and comedian Kemuri Matsui as Batahara.
Kadowaki, who created the second BEASTARS season’s ending sequence and music videos for YOASOBI, served as the film’s planner, scriptwriter, director, storyboard artist, and editor. Yaffle, who previously produced music for Fujii Kaze, Kenshi Yonezu, and others, composed the music. NOTHING NEW planned and produced the upcoming film, and French studio Miyu Productions (Ghost Cat Anzu, A New Dawn) collaborated on the production, after joining on the project in June 2025. adieu performs the film’s theme song “Sasakure” (Split).
The film will open in Japan on September 25. The film screened at the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, and screened in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which began ran from June 21 to 27. The Ottawa International Film Festival (OIAF), the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), and New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) will screen the film. OIAF takes place from September 23-27, MIFF takes place from August 6-23, and NZIFF takes place from July 29-August 9.
Sales company CHARADES licensed the film to the distributors Hooray Films in Taiwan, Shaw Organisation in Singapore, Intercontinental Film Distributors in Hong Kong, and Sahamongkol Film in Thailand. CHARADES is handling international sales of the film.
The staff launched a crowdfunding campaign in November on the Motion Gallery website. The campaign aimed to cover production and advertising costs, specifically to “improve the quality of the work” and to “distribute the film more widely.” The campaign ended on March 2 and exceeded its 8 million yen (about US$50,365) target and raised 9,604,510 (about US$60,467) yen.
NOTHING NEW is a small film company that was founded in 2022 with the aim “to create a world where talent is not crushed.”
Sources: PR Times, Comic Natalie
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Tokoro de Machi Chūka wa Date ni Irimasu ka? launches on September 18
The September issue of Shogakukan‘s Monthly Sunday Gene-X magazine announced on Wednesday that Crystal na Yōsuke will launch a new series titled Tokoro de Machi Chūka wa Date ni Irimasu ka? (By the Way, Is the Local Chinese Restaurant a Date Spot?) in the next issue on September 18.
© Shogakukan Inc. 2026, Crystal na Yōsuke
The series involves a love triangle between a girl who loves bing-eating, a food company salaryman, and a food blogging live-streamer.
Yōsuke ended the Bonnō☆Saiyūki manga in the 13th volume on January 19. Crystal na Yōsuke launched the manga in Shogakukan‘s Sunday GX magazine in February 2020.
Crystal na Yōsuke launched the Osake wa Fūfu ni Natte kara manga on Shogakukan‘s free manga website Yawaraka Spirits in 2015, and ended the series in its 12th volume, which shipped in September 2019.
The Osake wa Fūfu ni Natte kara manga inspired a 13-episode series of anime shorts that premiered in October 2017. Crunchyroll streamed the anime under the title Love is Like a Cocktail. A Blu-ray Disc for the series bundled an unaired 14th episode when it shipped in November 2018 in Japan.
Source: Sunday Gene-X‘s September issue
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Metallica: “Watching younger generations find their way to our music never gets old… it’s one of the best parts of doing this”
©Ado
American heavy metal band Metallica praised Japanese singer Ado on Wednesday for her “Summer Sonic 2026” concert performance of the band’s song “Enter Sandman.” Metallica said on social media, “Watching younger generations find their way to our music never gets old… it’s one of the best parts of doing this. But we’ve never seen it done quite like Ado just did it. Opening AND closing Summer Sonic with ‘Enter Sandman’?! We’re blown away. Thank you!”
Ado quote-reposted Metallica’s comments minutes after it was released: “This is huge! A message from Metallica?!?!?! I’m so happy!!!!”
Ado appeared at the annual Japanese summer music festival in Tokyo on August 15 and Osaka on August 16. Ado opened her Tokyo set with “Enter Sandman” and then closed her Osaka set with the song.
The festival started in 2000 at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Yamanashi Prefecture and the WTC Open Air Stadium in Osaka. That inaugural festival boasted James Brown, Dragon Ash, Green Day, Weezer, and 311, among many other musical acts. In 2001, the festival moved from Fuji-Q Highland to the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba Prefecture and expanded to two locations in Osaka. Since 2002, the Summer Sonic music festival has been held in the greater Tokyo Metropolitan area in Chiba and Osaka.
Sources: Metallica’s X/Twitter account, Ado‘s X/Twitter account (link 2), Summer Sonic’s website
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Joe Hisaishi, the world-renowned composer of many films from Studio Ghibli, reported on Tuesday that he has received three Guinness World Records. He received recognition for “most tickets sold by a classical composer at the Tokyo Dome (single run),” “highest-selling classical run in the Hollywood Bowl,” and “longest residency by a classical composer at Radio City Music Hall (single run)” in New York City.
Hisaishi has composed all the scores for Hayao Miyazaki‘s Studio Ghibli features from 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind onward. He also composed the score for Isao Takahata‘s 2013 film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and was the executive producer for the stage version of My Neighbor Totoro at London’s Barbican Centre in 2022.
The Japanese government honored Hisaishi with the Order of the Rising Sun Award, Gold Rays with Rosette for his significant contributions to Japan in November 2023.
Sources: Joe Hisaishi‘s official account
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