Yes, you read the title correctly. It’s finally happening!
After more than 4 years of silence from the Hetalia anime, with the most recent update being the TWT Halloween special in early 2016, Hetalia’s 7th season has finally been announced.
World Stars is getting an anime adaptation, which is planned to start airing in April 2021. The adaptation is - just like its previous seasons - being made by Studio Deen and the original voice actors are returning.
For more information, check out their official website or follow them on Twitter.
I was overjoyed when I logged in to DL today and found out that the new character is indeed Axel. I’ve been waiting for him (and Adrian) to appear for SO long. Now he’s finally here.
After a few months of waiting, the newest DLC for Project Diva Future Tone is almost here.
The song pack will consist of the 10 new songs from Project Diva Mega39/Megamix:
39 Music! (Miku)
Alien Alien (Miku)
Catch the Wave (Miku)
Dreamin Chuchu (Luka)
Hibana (Miku)
Jigsaw Puzzle (Len)
Jitter Bug (Miku & Meiko)
Ohedo Julia Night (Miku & Kaito)
Roki (Rin & Len)
Teo (Miku)
The pack will also include Miku’s Catch the Wave module.
Release date has been set for July 2 (2020).
Additionally, there has also been new updates about five upcoming DLC packs for Project Diva Mega39/Megamix, which will be released starting from July 16. The packs include returning Project Diva songs like “Rosary Pale” (Kaito), “After Burner” (Meiko), “Like the Wind” (Rin), “Love is War” (Miku) and more. Future DLC will also include the awaited release of Rin & Len’s 10th anniversary song “Bring It On”.
For more new updates from Project Diva Future Tone and Project Diva Mega39/Megamix, be sure to check out their official Twitter page or their official website.
Hiyori: You can barely stand. I know how important swimming is to you, but I don’t think you should do this to your health. What if you pass out in the water again? Maybe you should rest and continue with your training tomorrow. You can lean against me. I’ll help you to your apartment.
Ikuya: No. I can keep swimming. I have to train. Don’t you get it? If I want to reach my goal, I have to push myself to my limits.
Haru: *Comes over* Ikuya, are you okay? If you’re not feeling well, then don’t torture yourself. You should go home and get some rest. We can race when you’re feeling better.
Ikuya: *Gets emotional* Haru...Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe I am pushing myself too hard. Thanks for caring so much about me, Haru. It means a lot.
~ “Ohedo Julia Night” confirmed for Project Diva Mega39 ~
In a recent tweet by Mitchie M, they expressed how excited they are about “Ohedo Julia Night” (performed by Kaito and Miku) being one of the songs for the upcoming Project Diva game, which is planned to be released in February 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.
The song was also played at the Magical Mirai 2019 concerts in Osaka and Tokyo. This is the only song Kaito got, which means he’s the only Vocaloid without a solo song. Thanks.
The following songs have also been listed to be in Project Diva Mega39;
“Catch the Wave” (Miku)
“Alien Alien” (Miku)
“39 Music!” (Miku)
“Dreamin Chuchu” (Luka)
“Hibana” (Miku)
“Just be friends” (Luka)
“Hello, Planet” (Miku)
“Rolling Girl” (Miku)
“Remote Controller” (Len, Rin)
“Freely Tomorrow” (Miku)
“Nostalogic” (Meiko)
“Unhappy Refrain” (Miku)
“ODDS&ENDS” (Miku)
“Sweet Devil” (Miku)
“Sweet Magic” (Rin)
“Terekakushi Shishunki” (Len)
“Snowman” (Kaito)
“Skeleton Orchestra and Lilia” (Miku)
“Kakakuri Pierrot” (Miku)
“Envy Cat Walk” (Miku)
“Decorator” (Miku)
“Nice To Meet You, Mr. Earthling” (Miku)
“Hibikase” (MIku)
More songs will be confirmed soon. For more information and updates, you can follow the Project Diva games’ Twitter page.
Other News: Those of you who live in Europe might be interested in Miku Expo’s second European tour, which is planned for January 2020. So be sure to keep an eye on their website so you don’t miss the tickets’ release date.
Are you referring to the anime or the light novel?
I guess I can answer for both.
If you can’t find Baka to Test on “regular” websites such as Crunchyroll or Youtube, you can find both seasons of Baka to Test, the OVA, the DVD specials and the Christmas special on KissAnime, which has the anime both dubbed and subbed.
Even after their fight, Armin still trusted Eren and defended him when the others - including Mikasa - were doubting Eren and accused him of being a traitor. He insisted that Eren must’ve lied earlier and would never agree with Zeke’s ideology, because he refused to believe that this is who Eren has become.
And he was right.
You cannot convince me that Eren has a stronger bond with anyone other than Armin. Not a chance. The recent chapters make it apparent that nobody trusts and believes in Eren more than Armin does.
Just like how nobody trusts and believes in Armin more than Eren does.
The trust and dedication they’ve shown for each other throughout the manga is beautiful and I absolutely love the strong bond they have.
The story follows a group of guys on their way to stardom with help from their new director - an ex-actress whose goal is to restore the theater company to its former glory.
The first season - Spring & Summer - will start airing in January 2020 while its sequel - Autumn & Winter - will start airing in July the same year.
For more updates from A3!, you can follow them on Twitter or check out their website.
Several hours ago, it was announced that a new Project Diva game will be released for the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
The game is stated to have about 100 songs with 10 of them being new to the Project Diva games while the rest are returning songs from previous games. So far, SEGA has revealed that two of the new songs are “Alien Alien” and “39 Music!”. Fortunately, the new songs will also become DLC for Project Diva Future Tone as well.
Some of the returning songs include “Rolling Girl”, “Decorator”, “Freely Tomorrow”, “ODDS & ENDS” and “Skeleton Orchestra and Lilia”.
The game will also have a different mode that is similar to Project Mirai DX and updated graphics along with 300 modules to choose from.
A demo will be available at Magical Mirai 2019 in Tokyo at the end of August for those who happen to be in the area at the time.
Game Freak is coming out with a new Pokémon game for your phone!
Taking place on the Pasio Island, main characters, rivals, gym leaders, champions and evil teams from the previous Pokémon games will all take part in Pokémon Masters League.
Each trainer is accompanied with a pokémon partner throughout the game.
The 3 vs 3 feature will be in the game, meaning you will be able to fight alongside two other trainers on your journey to become number one.
Game Freak is aiming to release the game this summer, so be sure not to miss it!
To keep up with the latest updates from Pokémon Masters, you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
I haven’t done a review in a long time. Since I recently finished watching the third season of Free!, I decided to write a review for it. So here it is.
Name: Free! Dive to the Future
Episodes: 12
Genre(s): Sport (Swimming), Drama, Slice of Life
~ Spoiler warning ~
For a more spoiler-free version of this review, you can read it on MAL or anime-planet.
Story (8/10)
Our protagonist has now started studying at the university. We get to follow him and several other characters with their respective problems. I’d say the main focus is identity - who you are as a person and what you want to be.
We get to see characters like Makoto trying to find his own path in life and Sousuke, who is concerned about a surgery that may or may not be the end of his career as a swimmer. Rei, Nagisa and Gou are studying their final year at Iwatobi. We get to see them with new recruits for the swim team.
These are only some of the sub-plots in this season.
“If these are the sub-plots, then what’s the main plot?” you ask?
To be frank, they should’ve just named it “Free! Two Lovers’ Promise” because about 65% of this season focuses on Haru and Ikuya’s romance friendship.
Although I’m overjoyed to see so much of Ikuya and seeing him (and Haru) develop as a character, it doesn’t give much time for the other characters and events. In the end, episode 11 and 12 feel a bit rushed, which is why I’m giving the story 8/10. The way the guys are trying to find their own identities and lifetime goals is not only inspiring but also touching.
Characters (7/10)
I’m very proud of Haru this season. Everyone who has watched the previous seasons or at least Starting Days are well aware of Haru only swimming free and nothing else.
In episode 7 and 8, we get to see Haru practice for- and participate in the individual medley just to keep his promise to Ikuya. Although Haru goes back to his ‘I only swim free’ way shortly afterwards, the fact that he stopped swimming only free for a moment shows how far Haru is willing to go for the people he cares about. And in episode 12, we find out that ever since Haru first got into the water, he has always swum free, which makes him participating in the individual medley even more special.
Makoto and Rei share a similar dilemma. Neither of them knows what they want to do with their lives. With some help from Nao, Makoto realizes that he wants to become a coach where he can help swimmers reach the top and encourage children to swim as well.
Rei on the other hands never got this realization. He does think about his future, but never mentions his options.
As for Nagisa, we don’t get to hear much from him at all, which is a bit disappointing. His ‘major’ development was in the first season and his character has been a bit flat since then. Yes, he has become a better swimmer and has a charming personality, but he hasn’t changed much, has he? Does he still want to become an astronaut or an adventurer?
Rin is doing fine. He’s still aiming to become the number one swimmer in the world and has gotten a coach.
Sousuke has an interesting scenario. His doctor suggests a surgery if he wants to continue swimming. The problem is that this surgery may or may not end his career. The problem is that we don’t get to see much about this.
Natsuya also gets some development. In the beginning of this season, he swims and participates in races just to get money. He uses the money to travel to another country in the world, races, wins money and then the cycle just repeats. As the story goes on, he eventually stops swimming just for the money and starts taking swimming seriously again.
Even Nitori - the only character who I couldn’t stand in the first two seasons - was okay in Dive to the Future. He didn’t do anything outstanding, but he didn’t annoy me either.
I’m also happy to see how much Ikuya has grown since childhood. Especially his swimming. I’m still surprised (in a good way) that he managed to beat both Haru and Nastuya in the individual medley.
Now for the newer characters. First we have Ikuya’s “best friend” - Hiyori (Seems a bit one-sided from Hiyori’s part). He and Nitori are the only two characters in Free! that I dislike. Like I said earlier, Nitori was much more bearable in this season. Hiyori wasn’t. In my opinion, Hiyori is a selfish, illogical, rude and manipulative control freak. In fact, he’s one of the characters to appear on my list of characters whose reasoning and ideas lack logic. He’s far too judgmental towards Haru and the others despite never meeting them, he makes decisions for Ikuya without Ikuya’s consent and goes out of his way to prevent Haru from talking to Ikuya. “Maybe he just doesn’t want Ikuya to get hurt again” Nope. After winning a race against Makoto, Hiyori clearly states that the reason why he won’t let Haru and the others approach Ikuya is because they’re too weak, not because he wants to protect Ikuya from getting hurt again. He also seems to be rather delusional as he considers himself as the little mermaid who saves the prince (Ikuya) from “sinking” (depression). Where did he get that idea from? According to Ikuya, he has been feeling like this for years. Hell, Hiyori (unintentionally) made Ikuya’s depression even worse. After Haru manages to make it past Hiyori and swims with Ikuya (which actually saves Ikuya from his depression), he does acknowledge that swimming with Haru was different than what he thought, but he never apologizes to neither Haru nor Ikuya for his behavior. His entire purpose in this season is to be a pain in the ass. That’s literally it.
Then we have Haru’s new “challengers” - the world record holder in freestyle Albert Wåhlander and the mysterious swimming prodigy Kaede Kinjou. Albert specifically enters the show with a bang as he completely crushed Haru in a race. Then he disappears until the very last scene of the season. The anime makes such a big deal about them (Especially Albert), but we never get to find out much about these two except that Albert has a coach named Ralph (Or is it Ralf?) and is a world record holder from Sweden. But Kaede? Nothing. Then only time we see him in action is in the very last episode where he easily beat Asahi and Hiyori in a race.
This category gets only 7/10. Hiyori single-handedly removed one point, one point off from the lack of development for Rei, Nagisa and Gou and lastly, one point off for showing close to nothing about Albert and Kaede.
Designs and animation (10/10)
As expected from Free!, it has beautiful animation. And somehow, the anime managed to make the guys even better looking.
Am I the only one who thought Nagisa looked a bit more…mature this season? He used to look younger and rather child-like compared to the other guys. Now he’s starting to look like a man. They grow up so fast…
I didn’t see any (major) flaws with the animation and the character designs look good. Even the clothes the characters wear for the ending look good. The hat Nagisa is wearing gets a bonus point.
Therefore, I’m giving this category a solid 10/10.
Voice acting and music (10/10)
The ‘older’ voice actors were good, as always while the ‘new’ actors also did pretty well. Kudos to the voice actors of Ikuya, Albert and Hiyori.
Despite despising Hiyori, I think Ryouhei did a good job with portraying the character and making him sound like a real piece of shit. Especially the first five episodes.
After hearing Rin’s broken english despite living in Australia for years, I’m surprised Albert spoke perfect english. No stereotypical Nordic accent, no awkwardness. And if he has always lived in Sweden, I’ll be even more surprised.
The opening theme Heading to Over and ending theme Gold Evolution were both catchy and suited the anime. Though, I wish they could’ve “tossed the rock a bit further” with the opening theme as it resembles the opening themes of the previous seasons - Rage On and Dried Up Youthful Fame - a bit too much. Still, I must admit that I never skipped the opening or the ending of Dive to the Future. Actually, I listen to their full versions often.
Once again, I’m giving out a full score. 10/10 for the voice actors’ performances and the kick-ass music.
Ending (7/10)
As I’ve already stated, this season focuses a lot on the bond between Haru and Ikuya for the first 8 episodes. After episode 8, they’re rarely seen together, let alone talk to each other.
Why would the staff put so much time and effort into their relationship and then just be like “Their drama is over now, so let’s completely move on and make them interact as little as possible because Ikuya is completely irrelevant now”. Of course, I didn’t want Ikuya to get all of Haru’s interactions, as characters like Makoto and Rin are also important. However, I think it was rather disappointing and lame how they almost completely ignored Ikuya for the remaining episodes when they made a such big deal about him (and Haru) earlier. Most of his appearances in episodes 9-12 are just cameos with the only exception being his race against Natsuya. He doesn’t say much. He’s just standing there to show that he still exists.
I’m also a bit disappointed that the only characters who succeeded with their races were Rin and the Kirishima brothers. The others failed and the final race (100m freestyle) was left on a cliffhanger.
To be frank, if it hadn’t been for the character development of Haru, the Kirishima brothers and Makoto, I would’ve given this category a lower score. Most of the other characters’ developments stand still during the season. The only (other) characters who came close to a good development but slipped right before the finish line were Hiyori and Sousuke.
Either a new movie or season was confirmed at the end of episode 12. Hopefully, the newer characters (Hiyori, Iwatobi rookie-trio, Albert and Kaede) will get their proper developments.
Episode 11 and 12 felt a bit rushed. It was almost as if the staff was trying to test themselves regarding how many things they can make happen in just one episode. Because of this, it made episode 12 lack charm. Yes, there were meaningful moments. However, those moments were a bit less effective than intended, which is the result of what happens when you try to make too many things happen in a 20-minute episode.
For that, Dive to the Future gets only a 7 for its ending.
Summary (42/50 - Great)
Although a few things about this season left me a bit disappointed, it was overall a good season and I’m glad I watched it.
I don’t know whether their next project is a fourth season or a movie. Regardless, the bar has been set pretty high since I’m expecting the next movie/season to provide with everything Dive to the Future didn’t:
Goals in life for Rei, Nagisa and Gou
A continuation of Hiyori’s character development
Character developments for Albert and Kaede
Haru interacting with his parents
And most importantly; more Steve.
And that’s my review of the third season of Free!.
