Setsu Sawamura runs away from his small home village following the death of his grandfather, the legendary shamisen master Matsugorou Sawamura. On his deathbed, Matsugorou told Setsu to give up the shamisen if he was only going to imitate others instead of playing in his own way. Grieving, Setsu heads for Tokyo, hoping that the big city can inspire him to discover his own unique playing style. But Tokyo defies his expectations by drowning out all other sounds with the deafening noise of its city life. Concerned about her son, Setsu’s rich and successful mother, Umeko, waltzes back into his life and forces him to enroll in Umezono Academy. At the school, he meets Shuri Maeda, a girl who is fascinated by the Tsugaru shamisen and wishes to perform a song her grandmother once heard a long time ago. Shuri starts up a shamisen appreciation club and convinces Setsu to teach the members how to play the instrument. As he becomes more involved with the club, will Setsu be able to recover his love for the shamisen and discover the unique sound he lacks?
Hashtags : Mashiro no Oto, Those Snow White Notes, ましろのおと

For thousands of years after its development, mankind used the written word for communication between people and generations. As millenia passed and technology became more prevalent, writing – and thus, communication as a whole – diminished, until it could only be found on cell phones and computer screens. Seeing an opportunity, the sorcerer Sogan Kenzaki starts infecting words with the Nesta Virus, which brings them to life and turns them into monsters called MJBK (Menace of Japanese with Biological Kinetic energy). To counter this attack against humanity, an organization known as DEAVA (Division of EArth Verbalism Ability) assembles a group of youths with the ability of “Verbalism”. They have to pilot the vector machines, which are used to form the mechas dubbed “Aquarions”. The one wild card in the situation is the self-dubbed “savior”, a young man who is the direct relative of a famous calligrapher, named Akira Kaibuki.

On her first day of work at her father’s small production agency, Tsumugi Takanashi was not expecting to be made the manager of the agency’s new male idol group. Though shocked that her father is trusting her with such a major project so soon, Tsumugi vows to do everything she can to support the seven young boys. After seeing how well the boys work as a team, Tsumugi meets with her father and learns that her first job as manager will be to cut four boys from the group. This is because her father believes seven idols are too much to manage, and the current top group, TRIGGER, only has three members. After holding an impromptu audition, Tsumugi returns to her father and boldly declares that she refuses to cut anyone from the group, as each member has a unique allure which collectively enhances the group’s appeal. She returns to the boys and they are thrilled that none of them will get to miss out on their dreams. Together they become IDOLiSH7, and prepare to take on the fiercely competitive world of idols. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Idolish Seven

When Jackie Rhodes, a british girl living in Kenya with her family, finds an ill animal called a Bushbaby, she adopts him, calls him Murphy and nurses him back to health. Murphy, Jackie, her family and their friends go on many adventures involving wild animals, poachers and more. But when Jackie’s father is recalled to England, Jackie must leave her life in Africa behind. However, before she can go, Jackie, Murphy and Tembo, a friend of Jackie’s father, go on one last adventure: they must cross the dangerous savannah to escape the poachers and corrupt police officers chasing them. Along the way, Jackie teaches the now domesticated Murphy to survive in the wild, so that, before she leaves, she can release him in his natural habitat. (Source: ANN)

Short animation directed by Masanobu Hiraoka.

Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect… at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the year 2059, the earth has been plagued by aliens for several years. In an effort to learn more about these aliens, Dr. Noguchi and his assistants Maki Agata and Takuto Kaneshiro try to revive the professor’s experiment, a large Bio-Mechanical alien named Frank. During this process the alien comes to ‘life’ and the lab is subsequently destroyed leaving Takuto the only survivor and the alien disappearing into the wilderness. While Frank roams the wilderness he meets Hattie, an emotionally distressed young girl whose parents are killed in the first ‘close encounter’ war. Oddly enough she is able to communicate with Frank and soon after they are taken into custody by a secret agency known only as ‘Funeral’. Meanwhile, Takuto wakes up in a hospital bed with his life in shambles, and his face disfigured. Motivated by vengeance and heart break, Takuto accepts an offer from the mysterious ‘Mr. X’ and receives a new identity as a ranking Funeral officer named Ryu Soma. (Source: ANN)

During the turbulent end of the Tokugawa era, many children became war orphans. One of these orphans, a nameless son of a samurai, ends up meeting Ryouma Sakamoto, a man working against the Bakufu government. Impressed by the orphan’s skill with a blade, Ryouma gives him the name “Ryo” and lets him travel by his side. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Back from his journey across Japan, Yuuta Takemoto reminisces about his college life so far. He has matured significantly since his second year and is motivated to move forward. Feeling more confident than ever before, he finally confesses to Hagumi Hanamoto, the girl he has been in love with since their first encounter. However, Hagumi has been confused by her attempts to understand the mysterious Shinobu Morita. Hiding behind a playful demeanor, Morita may be the most burdened by his own potential. Meanwhile, Takumi Mayama has become a full-fledged working adult and has landed Ayumi Yamada several pottery orders through his company in an act of friendship. The five youths continue to face individual hardships in academics, work, love, and friendship as they push each other toward the paths that they are destined to walk. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A movie retelling of the first half of the Turn A Gundam series.

In the dark underground city of Lux, people live in fear and despair under the rule of various criminal factions. Almost secluded from the surface, the gangs’ only interaction with the outer world is their mining operation of “raffia,” which is the raison d’être of the city. Available only in Lux, this rare substance is the basis of “texhnolyze” transplants that permit humans to replace parts of their body with cybernetic prostheses. The latter have the particularity not to trigger an immune response in their hosts and the “Class” has the privilege to conduct research on them. This elusive organization, also in charge of the raffia production, delegates its executive authority to a group called Organo led by Keigo Oonishi—a self-righteous man with texhnolyzed legs who is rumored to hear the “voice of the city.” The fragile balance of powers in Lux is disturbed when a mysterious visitor named Kazuho Yoshii begins committing a series of crimes that puts the gangs at each other’s throats. In the midst of the chaos, new actors emerge: Ichise, an ex-boxer mutilated by Organo and recently texhnolyzed by Eriko “Doc” Kamata; and Ran, a young florist who can see the future. While Lux steadily plunges into insanity, both Ichise and Ran find themselves involved in the greatest crisis the city has ever faced. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The scary great king comes from the other side of the sea… The big incident “Genkou” that shook medieval Japan is being drawn in an original way in this historical anime, along with the beginning of the Samurai! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Hashtags: Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion, Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki , アンゴルモア 元寇合戦記

After suffering from a shoulder injury, shy first-year university student Haruki Bandou gladly takes the opportunity to give up judo, failing to find happiness in the sport regardless of his family owning a dojo. He did not expect, however, that his best friend Kazuma Hashimoto would also decide to leave their university’s judo club at the same time as him. Despite Haruki’s protests, Kazuma already has plans for a new and revolutionary activity: a cheerleading team made up of only men. Although heavily reluctant, Haruki ends up helping his friend set up the team. Through sheer determination, and with support from their newfound club members, Haruki and Kazuma persist in founding the Breakers, the first ever all-male cheerleading team of Meishiin University, slowly making history in spite of the feminine tag attached to the sport of cheerleading and the prejudices, physical challenges, and self-doubts that inevitably follow. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

The Tohoku Regional Development Association is developing an anime to raise earthquake awareness. The anime will illustrate lessons learned from the March 11, 2011 Tohoku (Northeastern Japan) earthquake and tsunami, and emphasize the importance of constant preparedness and disaster prevention and readiness. The anime will be 60 minutes long and will have two parts titled “Sonaeru” (Prepare) and “Manabu” (Learn), focusing on true stories from Iwate prefecture’s Fudai village and Kamaishi City. “Sonaeru” is set during the 1970s to 1980s, and focuses on the story of Kotoku Wamura, the mayor of the village Fudai at the time, as he attempts to persuade the village assembly that his proposed floodgate and seawall project is not useless. He remembers the 1896 and 1933 Sanriku earthquakes and tsunamis in proposing the project. The 15.5-meter (51-foot) floodgate — the highest in the Tohoku region — ends up sparing Fudai the damage that the 2011 tsunami subjected other coastal towns. “Manabu” centers on elementary school children in Kamaishi City during the 2011 disaster, illustrating their lessons learned in disaster readiness to head to higher ground. The story will show “Tsunami Tendenko,” a local custom telling people to individually seek higher ground on their own initiative, in a lesson that the children would teach their parents. (Source: ANN)

Kimihiko Kimizuka has found himself inadvertently entangled in various crimes more times than he can remember, referring to himself as a magnet for trouble. One day, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, a group of unknown men kidnaps him, forcing him to board a flight—where he also encounters a hijacking. Amid the resulting chaos, however, Kimizuka meets a stunning silver-haired beauty, going by the codename Siesta, who then saves the day. Claiming to be a legendary detective, Siesta enlists Kimizuka to be her sidekick. Though Kimizuka refuses at first, with Siesta’s insistence, he eventually joins her—marking the start of a grand adventure spanning the entire world, preventing multiple threats that could spell doom for humanity along the way. Unfortunately, after three years of their unpredictable yet enjoyable time together, Siesta abruptly passes away. Distraught, Kimizuka tries to leave all memories of her behind, but as he begins to meet more people, it seems that Siesta’s influence will never truly die. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hashtags : Tanmoshi , Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru. , The Detective Is Already Dead, 探偵はもう、死んでいる。

With five new kids and an exciting new mission in the Digital World, Digimon Frontier brings back all the great action and adventure of the last three seasons. Takuya, Kouji, Izumi, Junpei. and Tomoki meet each other in a train that takes them to the Digital World where a war against evil is being fought. The Angel digimon, Cherubimon, one of The three angels sent to save the World from the power-hungry Lucemon, has turned to the dark side and the entire Digital World is in peril. To fight this great battle, the five CHOSEN ONES must find the Densetsu no Spirit (Legendary Spirit).

The final movie of a four-part finale of Tamayura.

In the distant future, monsters and inhumans roam the land, and the ruling Evil King seeks a human woman to bear him powerful, force-adept heirs. Non offers herself to the Evil King in order to save her village from Ape Clan raiders, and gives him twin sons, Loof and Jin. She and her sons are exiled by the ungrateful villagers, however, and Non’s companion Nue (a Demon Clan member changed into a wolf for disobedience) takes Loof to be raised by his father, the Evil King. The Evil One’s Queen Parome despises humans, however, and her malevolence towards Loof deepens… (Source: AnimeNfo)