When he saw the movie Kokuhou, Kio managed to eat ramen and not have to pee for the entirety of the 175-minute movie, so he decided he’ll do the same for the Demon Slayer movie, which is 155 minutes long.
Kio thought a picture of two tortoise toys from the Ichiban Kuji line looked shockingly realistic, only to realize one of them was an actual tortoise. It reminds him a lot of his own pet.
I am not a hardcore fan of The iDOLM@STER, but I understood what a big deal it was to have Nakamura Eriko and Imai Asami as guests, aka the respective voices of first-gen “765 Pro” members Amami Haruka and Kisaragi Chihaya. I was able to attend one of the panels for Eriko, but sadly couldn’t make it for any of Imai Asami’s.
Because I’m not an iM@S Producer or anything, there are things I probably got wrong. Nevertheless, I still want to post my notes from this panel. In this day and age, simply having information out there on the internet to find can be difficult. Also, The iDOLM@STER just celebrated its 20th anniversary, so I figured it would be a good time to post this.
Eriko was in Chicago for the first time, and the panel was a Q&A. She turned out to be quite the jokey type, or at least that’s how she presented herself. She mentioned getting lost trying to get to the Opening Ceremony, and that her dream was to be “more biggest,” i.e. taller, so she can see further back.
When asked how she decided to become a voice actor, Eriko said she thought it was the field where she thought she could stand out most as a performer. She described her path there as being haran banjou, a Japanese term that means a life of many ups and downs, but can also mean life is something where surprising things can happen. Someone followed up by asking what it was like to audition for Haruka, to which she first pretended she couldn’t remember, then elaborated that it actually didn’t involve any singing. She received a script and a storyboard, and played Haruka looking out from the train. She said that this was the first and only time she had such a free-feeling audition.
Later, Eriko elaborated on being a part of that first generation. They recorded their parts individually: just her, the script, and the sound engineer. Back when it was just that original game, she had to imagine what it was like for everyone to be together, and the first time she heard it all together, it was like 765 Pro had come to life.
When she got the chance to perform songs from a different branch many years later, and for others to perform songs from hers, she responded that seeing others build on the foundation they laid was a valuable experience.
The audience of fans got her to say the line, “Producer-san, Dome desuyo! Dome!” in reference to Haruka being an idol and the importance of the Tokyo Dome as a major landmark for idol performers. Eriko said the last time she was able to say that was in fact two years ago at the Tokyo Dome.
When asked what advice she would give a voice actor, Eriko revealed that there’s a concert in August, and her answer is in that pamphlet.
As for what has changed, Eriko mentioned that she chats a lot more with people after recordings because she’s been doing it for 20 years with all the staff and everyone else supporting them. Eriko is also always sending messages on LINE, especially stickers, to the point that the others tell her to stop. The members of Million Stars tell her that they need to sleep.
One person asked Eriko what she thinks about when she’s out there as a major representative of The iDOLM@STER. Her response: “I don’t think about that at all. Haruka is just a 15-year-old girl, she can’t have the wait of the franchise on her shoulders.”
VTubing has been an unpredictable space for the past year, to say the least. Talents have been debuting, leaving, and even re-emerging in different forms to such a degree that it feels like a decade has passed. Among those making big waves have been indie creators Dooby3D and Nimi Nightmare, who quickly grew into top names due to implied prior experiences.
So when the two announced a few months ago that they would be doing a concert in July, I knew I had to try for a ticket, especially as a big fan of Dooby. The creativity they both possess and the positive energy they exude are things I’ve experienced before in a live setting, and I wanted to support this venture of theirs.
Virtual Vacation 2025 was held on July 5 at the United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles. Joining Dooby and Nimi were a couple other indie VTubers, Ashton Marten and Hyuni. While the latter two aren’t as well known, they each added their own unique flair. Ashton is a self-described retro roller rodent race queen, and she literally performed a song while on skates; that’s something I feel you need a lot of confidence to pull off as well as she did. Hyuni I felt had the most inherently “idol” energy and the best singing, but those more orthodox elements stood out against the other oddballs.
While neither Dooby nor Nimi are powerhouses on the stage, they still made a great impression. Seeing Dooby come out to “God knows…”wearing an outfit reminiscent of Suzumiya Haruhi’s bunny girl costume was magical. Watching her skanking on stage also brought back good memories. Nimi debuted her own idol outfit and sang one of her karaoke mainstays, “Lovefool” by the Cardigans, and her cover of “Ride on Time” keeps replaying in my head because of her dance that was somehow both cutely awkward and gracefully cool. Ever since ex-hololive member Gawr Gura sang the famous Yamashita Tatsuro song during her debut, it’s been a kind of anthem for VTubing, and hearing it from Nimi was really special in an indie event taking place after some real tumultuous months.
That wasn’t the only oblique reference towards hololive as a precedent either. While Ashton was teaching Nimi to roller skate, the latter likened herself to a newborn giraffe (kirin in Japanese). Later, Dooby sang “Magic Ways,” another Yamashita Tatsuro number. Right before the song began, Dooby encouraged everyone to turn their penlights blue “like the ocean,” and minutes into the performance came a familiar voice in the backing vocals that I suspected was the recently debuted yet familiar-sounding Sameko Saba. My hunch was later confirmed by Dooby and Saba themselves, the latter of whom was also the announcer at the start of the concert.
To top it all off, the encore was “Ochame Kinou,” an unofficial anthem that’s kind of a rite of passage for hololive talent. The choice felt to me like a deliberate connection between past, present, and future, and the reminder that this is something of a new age. It’s also interesting to compare with last year’s Fantôme Thief’s Revenge concert, where the callbacks included “Last Cup of Coffee,” and the encore was “Thanks for the Sex.” Truly, it was a contrast.
Speaking of Dokibird and Mint, the two appeared for a single song at Virtual Vacation not as full 3D models but as models made to look like stuffed dolls. Dooby showed up at Fantôme Thief’s Revenge, so this came across as a nice bit of reciprocation and fanservice. Speaking of fanservice, the antics among all the ladies had the crowd eating out of their hands. Perhaps most noteworthy was a moment where Nimi pantomimed giving Dooby CPR.
The overall presentation was quite professional, and I have no major complaints about OshiSpark and their approach. The United Theater itself has an art nouveau feel similar to the King’s Theater in Brooklyn, giving a sense of class to all us sweaty nerds. The viewing was typical of live VTuber fare, with a flat screen on stage, CG backgrounds that help to create the illusion of depth, and a couple other vertical screens for close-ups. The graphics used during the songs, especially the times when the main lyrics of a song displayed on the screen, had a nice summery feel that I enjoyed. One issue that did arise is that there was some conflicting information about when the concert was supposed to start, and it ended up kicking off at 845pm.
So I indeed went to a concert headlined by two VTubers not particularly known for their singing or dancing. That’s missing the point, though. What’s wonderful about stuff like this is that the fans can meet the talents where they are and bask in a shared moment. Having Ashton and Hyuni on board also gave those smaller fanbases an opportunity to gather in one spot and perhaps even add to their numbers. One of the things I really enjoy about the big hololive concerts is that exposure to talents you might not be familiar with, and this is the same idea on a smaller scale.
But I would be remiss to deny the progress that Dooby and Nimi have made as performers. Their improvement is noticeable and lovely to see, and I enjoy seeing them grow regardless of any specific adherence to the “idol journey.” I find that there’s happiness in seeing them just enjoy themselves more and more through song and dance, and it kind of makes me want to embrace a more theatrical side as well.
I prefer to review shows after they’ve finished, so my plan has always been to wait until the end of the TV series to give my more complete thoughts. However, the way Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX fueled speculation every week with every reveal means that it’s hard to separate it from the hype train surrounding its broadcast. One question I have to ask myself is simply, to what extent do I judge the show removed from the moment when that energy was so important to its release?
Complicating all this is the fact that I can’t pretend that all the nudges and winks at the fandom weren’t up my alley. To that end, this ends up being less of a review and more the ramblings of a long-time Gundam fan who tries not to care too much about the nitty gritty of lore but still gets excited about it nevertheless, especially when GQuuuuuuX is built heavily around that world building.
The Beginning (Literally)
My introduction to GQuuuuuuX was through the movie from earlier in the year. I went in knowing nothing beyond a few promotional images and one curious spoiler that had me more confused than anything, and I figured Gundam GQuuuuuuX: The Beginning was some new franchise entry. Then an all-too-familiar narration began accompanied by an iconic colony drop deliberately made to evoke a simplistic cel animation, and by the time Char Aznable stole the Gundam, it was clear that we were not working with an alternate universe so much as an alternate timeline.
Coming out of the theater, my #1 thought was “The world’s biggest Challia Bull fan must have waited decades to pull this off.” The Beginning actually takes a one-off character from the original TV series and turns him into one of the biggest badasses around, a decision that could only come from some incredibly hardcore fans at the helm. To then also make it a show that establishes an alternate history where a Zeon victory during the One-Year-War creates a whole host of different consequences in the lives of characters both new and old, both famous and obscure? That’s some kind of fever dream only a complete nerd could create, and I mean that in a good way.
With GQuuuuuuX, you have a work that clearly anticipated the whole spectrum of Gundam fandom as an audience. Its what-if nature is catnip for old-school Gundam fans, the female protagonist and other setting elements resemble the wildly popular Witch from Mercury in some ways, and it would only be natural to assume at least some new viewers curious about this Gundam thing or who are perhaps drawn in by the characters and aesthetics. My own love for the franchise runs nearly the full gamut, and this bringing together of generations only made things better in my eyes, especially because that clash of eras is also reflected in the characters themselves.
A Gathering of Generations
When I say the characters are of different generations, it’s not just about some being older than others, or a reference to the fact that the character designs suddenly take on the classic Yoshikazu Yashuko aesthetic when the story jumps from the year UC 0085 back to 0079 and the One Year War. The younger characters feel reflective of our current times in the year 2025, and they behave differently from not just the older vets surrounding them but also the teenage characters of past Gundam series. The main heroine Amate “Machu” Yuzuriha looks for meaning and self worth through illegal mobile suit matches (“Clan Battles”), starts a close yet adversarial friendship with the other major heroine Nyaan (a refugee on the run from the law for illegal entry), navigates a complex love triangle she wants desperately to believe her supernatural psychic connection to the boy Shuji is unique to her, and desperately hopes other characters she meets won’t be trapped by her circumstances. I can’t fully describe why, but the way she takes to the unfamiliar world of mobile suits and Newtypes, excelling in some areas and being frustrated by others, just reminds me of modern-day teenagers and the challenges they face.
The alternate history helped propel a lot of the speculation that accompanied GQuuuuuuX. Every week, more and more characters from Gundam history would make appearances and get people abuzz. Some are fairly well known side characters, like the Black Tri-Stars (fighting in Clan Battles), Basque Ohm (still formidable but with less power and influence), and Sayla Mass (who seems to have become the ace of the Federation in the absence of Amuro). But then you have extremely minor faces show up, like Cameron Bloom (Mirai Yashima’s fiancee) and Gates Capa (a Zeta Newtype), and even figures who are original to GQuuuuuuX but have threads connecting to other figures, like ace pilot (and popular mom character) Shiiko Sugai and Cyber Newtype Deux Murasame. Additionally, undergirding all this is the persistent presence of the distinct refrain of “La…la…” heard whenever Newtype characters experience a psychedelic vision. This sound is all too familiar to old Gundam fans, and the very possibility that this is a series connected to Lalah Sune, the tragic Newtype girl who loses her life trying to protect both Amuro and Char from each other, is uniquely appealing. GQuuuuuuX is brimming with fanservice, and it’s the kind where the fans they’re servicing are often those Gundam otaku running the entire ship.
Overflow
So here we have an anime packed so tightly with storylines and character threads that it can be difficult to see how all this can all fit into 12 episodes. The answer is that it kind of doesn’t, and that there are potentially many untold or unfinished stories that could spring out of GQuuuuuuX. Also, the shifting emphasis between new and old characters could make it difficult to figure out who the audience should concentrate on the most. Amate, Shuji, and Nyaan are clearly the main trio, but their story gets partly subsumed in the end by the focus on the “Rose of Sharon” and the older characters. The result is that Amate and the others feel as much observers of a greater world as they do individuals with their own agency.
I do feel that the increasing emphasis on old Gundam lore is less surprising to me because I first watched the movie, since it front loads all the flashbacks to the One Year War. I suspect that starting with the TV series might have made this more jarring. Nevertheless, the speculation was fun and allowed imaginations to run wild. And I don’t mind that the anime ended differently from everyone’s expectations, including my own.
Conclusion
I struggled a lot writing this review (if you can even call it that), but I have come to think of this as a good thing. GQuuuuuuX is a messy work: a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle where the manufacturer made a few pieces too big, a few too small, and threw in a handful from another box entirely. It doesn’t quite fit together to create a picture-perfect image, but that incongruity is beautiful in its own way. If they ever decide to make more, that’s fine, but I’d be quite happy if they just left it alone and allowed us fans to keep speculating.
Stay tuned for a future follow-up to this review, where I get into all the spoilers and nerd out over all my GQuuuuuuX theories.
A couple of episodes of the magical girl anime You and Idol Precure has an enemy henchman named Cutty forcibly transformed into a giant robot called Cuttinda. As a fan of both giant robots and magical girls, I felt the need to write about Cuttinda, particularly its appearance and the way it draws from three different works from the mecha genre.
The first robot referenced is Mazinger Z, based on the red plate on its chest. Normally, those shades are part of the Monster of the Week’s face, but here, they’ve specifically been placed in a way similar to the Mazinger line.
The second is Gaiking. The limbs, particularly the design of the wrists and the red sections of the legs, are really reminiscent of the monster-chested robot.
The third is Giant Robo. Cuttinda’s head, like Giant Robo’s, resembles that of a pharaoh or the Sphinx.
I think Cuttinda being the way it is comes from the fact that Precure is a Toei franchise, as all three of these mecha are also by Toei. Mazinger Z and Dino Mech Gaiking are both anime, while Giant Robo is a tokusatsu series.
WIll we ever see Cuttinda merch? Probably not, but I wouldn’t mind getting a silly robot.
Nakayama Yoshiko is the producer of the anime Anne Shirley, based on the Anne of Green Gables novels, and Inoue Honoka is the voice of the titular heroine. This interview was also conducted after I had already attended the Anne Shirley panel at Anime Central 2025.
Hello, thank you for coming to this interview. I really enjoy Anne Shirley; I’m a fan of Anne of Green Gables as well, so I was happy to see this new anime being created, as well as Ms. Inoue’s portrayal of Anne.
Inoue: Thank you!
Between the beloved 1979 anime and the general popularity of Anne of Green Gables in Japan, as well as the numerous adaptations around the world, was it intimidating to create a new Anne anime? How did you overcome this pressure?
Nakayama: I was a fan of the original novel, and I think this applies to everyone who loves Anne of Green Gables, but I think Anne exists in all of us. As for me, I saw the story a little differently, and that’s exactly why I wanted to make this anime.
So that’s why I wanted to start this project. I’m aware of Director Takahata’s anime from 1979 but I haven’t seen it myself. When the project was greenlit, I was excited. However, the rest of the production staff was probably a little nervous.
For Nakayama: I believe female anime directors are relatively rare, and female producers even moreso. Do you have any advice for other women who might aspire to do the same thing?
This is my first time as the main producer for the project. As for advice, you need a lot of stamina, a lot of love for the project, and have a strong heart, and to not give up.
My next question is directed towards Inoue-san. I actually interviewed your mother, Inoue Kikuko, back in 2019. Getting to interview you now is amazing, just because I’ve gotten to talk to both mother and daughter over the years. Back then, she told me that she practiced with you at home. Is there any advice that you really took to heart from your mother?
Inoue: I’m honored to meet you as well—thank you very much! My mother always tells me to give it your all. It’s been a while since I debuted, so we haven’t practiced for a while, but with Anne Shirley, it’s different. My mother is a very big fan of Muraoka Hanako-sensei’s translation of Anne of Green Gables, so every episode, she asks if she can watch it with me. I think the Anne Shirley–esque qualities in my mother might be an influence on my performance.
Inoue-san, Anne is such an expressive, talkative character, that playing her must be a real feat. Is there anything you try to keep in mind as you voice Anne Shirley?
Inoue: I don’t particularly keep anything in mind, and I don’t really have a specific way I go about a role, but I do think a lot about how I want to express Anne’s lines when I perform her role.
This next question is to both: What messages do you think Anne Shirley the show carries for a new generation discovering Anne of Green Gables for the first time?
Inoue: I think the message is to not lose things like your imagination and your hope, and to continue living as yourself. Also, within our daily lives, there’s just beauty everywhere and it all has meaning, and I think that’s what Anne is trying to tell us.
Nakayama: I have a similar answer, but I think if you approach things with imagination and courage, you can make it through even when times get tough or you feel trapped, and you might even change life for the better. That’s what I want to convey through this work.
One pleasant surprise from Anime Central 2025 was the presence of the new Anne of Green Gablesadaptation, Anne Shirley. The convention had two staff members as guests of honor: Producer Nakayama Yoshiko, as well as the voice of Anne, Inoue Honoka. Inoue is actually the daughter of veteran voice actor Inoue Kikuko (Belldandy, Aina Sahalin, various mom characters throughout the years).
Both guests did commentary over a screening of the first episode, providing a lot of insight into the production process. These are my notes from their Anne Shirley panel, but I will also be posting my interview with Nakayama and Inoue in the next few days as well!
They actually had the full animation done for the recording, a rarity. Inoue couldn’t stop being absorbed by the beauty of the animation.
She did the fish-eye lens scenes over and over.
Marilla’s voice actor has pretty much no anime experience before this, and is actually primarily a stage actor. Inoue once worked on dubbing a film with her and felt at ease.
Nakayama wanted to convey just how talkative Anne is to both people who are familiar and unfamiliar with her character.
They went to a great big lake the day before just like in the show. Specifically, Lake Michigan.
When Anne first spots the Cuthberts’ house, the yellow color of it is meant to show how Anne sees the house in her head.
For Nakayama, Anne walking into the house while crying is a really funny contrast. For Inoue, Anne going from crying to not crying all of a sudden left an impression.
Nakayama feels bad that Honoka has to keep up with a character like Anne who flips moods all the time.
Nakayama: Marilla is kind of tsundere. Matthew is strong and silent but has to go along with what Marilla says.
Honoka was told she could do Anne’s gestures while she was recording (like covering her face), which is unusual.
Nakayama: Anne’s personality and maturity for her age means she doesn’t try to make fun of anyone even if they are being hard on her.
Honoka: “I couldn’t do that.”
Nakayama: “Same.”
The screening was followed by a Q&A, which continued the look into their process.
The biggest challenge was finding a studio to actually do the show; the trends right now are isekai, action, and otaku-oriented works. The 1979 version also looms large and studios thought it would be difficult.
Inoue watched the old anime as a kid, and in middle school she learned about Lucy Maud Montgomery. That made her really want to land the role. She thought it was as unlikely as winning the lottery.
While Nakayama and the staff had to cut a few scenes due to time and money, the basic story remains unchanged. There is one thing she technically changed: adding a stoat.
Inoue prepared for the role by rewatching the 1979 anime. She also read the Japanese translation of the original books by Muraoka Hanako (apparently a very famous and beloved translation), and even reread it again after landing the role.
For Anne, Matthew, and Marilla (but not Gilbert), Nakayama had a clear idea of how she wanted them to sound, and Inoue was in top 3 for Anne.
At the audition, Nakayama pushed for Inoue. There was someone else who was in the top running but she can’t remember who it was, and another who would have been too busy.
A lot of the cast members are similar in age, and they go out for food after recordings, to get Korean food and such.
In June 2023, they all went to Prince Edward Island (where Anne takes place). The art director’s suitcase got a large crack, but nothing was stolen.
As a kid, Honoka didn’t name everything like Anne does, but she could feel the life force from nature, and thinks Anne is similar.
Some Japanese fans took issue with the color of Anne’s clothing and such, but they have experts who look at this stuff, and they hope the fans understand that not everything can be as they want.
One of the hardest things for Inoue was having to match the lip flaps, but it was fun actually getting to see Anne’s expressions. It’s like she really is in Green Gables.
Afterwards, everyone attending the panel got a piece of promotional art autographed by both Nakayama and Inoue. I noticed how above and beyond Inoue seemed to go to appeal to her fans, and I think she’s going to be a very beloved performer in the years to come.
The last time we saw a figure skating anime hit big, it was the sensation known as Yuri!!! On Ice. Medalist takes a different approach, telling a story of both an older coach and a younger skater trying to make up for lost time.
Medalist follows Akeuraji Tsukasa, a former competitive ice dancer who retired after failing to podium in his final event. As a high schooler, he dreamed of competing, but went into ice dancing after being told he was too old to start in traditional figure skating. When he meets a meek yet oddly daring 10-year-old girl named Iori, he discovers in her a girl who so desperately wants to be a skater that the local rink’s security guard shows pity on her by letting Iori sneak in in exchange for worms. Witnessing Iori’s passion for the sport, Tsukasa volunteers to become her coach, but 10 is already considered a late start in a field where beginning at five years old is typical, and Iori’s own mother is dead-set against it because another daughter of hers was injured competing.
Medalist is originally a manga by Tsurumaikada, and it currently still runs in the magazine Monthly Afternoon: a seinen magazine with more of an otaku appeal aimed more at an older male audience, though it tends to be fairly experimental as well. I imagine this is why Medalist has the structure it does, with a grown man and a young girl sharing the spotlight. As the competitor, Iori has more of the classic sports manga thrust of improving and aiming to overcome rivals, but it’s told more often from Tsukasa’s perspective as a guiding hand. These dual threads are interesting in that sports series tend to place the vast majority of the emphasis on one side or the other. With Tsukasa and Iori, however, you get to see things two ways most of the time: from the point of view of an older person who knows what it’s like to fall short of a dream, and that of a younger person anxious to compete but who dwells on the here-and-now. They’re also both passionate and timid in different ways, creating a fun and frantic dynamic between coach and player.
One of the basic questions of the series is “Where do you find your inner strength?” Is it built up as you stack blocks of experience bit by bit? Does it come from desperation to do all you can with what you have? Is it about “believing in me who believes in you?” One of Tsukasa’s greatest strengths is his ability to recognize what others do well and give them the encouragement to keep at it, such as when he lights a fire under Iori. At the same time, Tsukasa has no confidence in himself, which seems to consign him to a fate of being a great coach and a mediocre act were he to ever compete again.
Yet, when another ex-skater sees Tsukasa, he points out that it’s a flaw for one to assume they’re the underdog even when they’re not. As the series progresses, we get to see conundrums not just Tsukasa and Iori but also an ever-expanding cast of friends and rivals have their own takes on such challenges. They show the complex feelings that come with competition, and knowing that the people you’re facing bring their own strong convictions and desires to make it to the top.
Medalist is a great work, and it’s worth checking out in anime or manga form. As for which is preferable, it really depends on what you’re looking for. The anime has the advantage of being able to portray figure skating in full motion with sound, replicating the feeling of watching and experiencing competitions. The manga is further along in its story, and the intensity of the art makes it feel as if the characters are radiating energy when they compete. Certain characters can give a very different impression as a result of the stylistic differences: Kamisaki Hikaru, the #1 skate in Iori’s age group, looks aloof in the anime but sometimes seems to border on sociopath in the manga. But no matter the medium, Tsukasa and Iori are a wonderful and endearing duo who work together to tell a story about striving for a dream while also trying to give hope to the next generation.
I can’t believe the summer anime season has arrived! I’m already behind on the spring shows, so I may be stuck in a perpetual state of being behind on everything.
I’m looking forward to the return of Panty & Stocking, as well as a chance to finally see what Hell Teacher Nube is all about.
If you want to see Kio’s rough manuscripts, this is a good month.
Closing
We got a new fish in town! I feel like we might see big moves from her soon—including with many other big names, like Dooby3D, Nimi Nightmare, Mint Fantôme, and Dokibird.
Kio watched the movie Eiyuuden, and was impressed by the fight scenes. The movie consulted with an actual martial artist for them. The organization that provided the consultation thanked Kio.
Kio feels that he should be starting to think up a new idea for serialization (that is not porn). This is easier said than done, because he often starts having ideas for new ero manga instead. When one fan asks if he’ll do fantasy, Kio responds that all he can say is that he won’t say anything.
Kio knows what he’d like to work on, which is more Sister Wars. Last time he was working on a proper draft, he stopped one page short of introducing Anakin. However, he also feels that instead of doing a full draft, he should be working on the rough manuscript for Episode II.
Chapter 2 and on of Sister Wars: Episode I. The first few pages are fully drawn and inked, while everything that follows comes from the rough manuscript. Note: This is around 150 pages of work.
OGIUE MANIAX 