TMS Entertainment announces 60th Anniversary YouTube campaign, including timed uploads of Japanese Sonic X and Orguss episodes

TMS Entertainment, a beloved Japanese animation studio currently owned by Sega Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of SegaSammy holdings, has just announced that for their 60th anniversary, they’ll begin uploading special animated features of significant importance to the company to their official YouTube page. Most noteworthy to Sega/Sonic fans, this includes the first six episodes of Sonic X in its original Japanese dub. The entire campaign begins on August 5th, 2024. This is a good chance to get a taste of what Sonic X was originally like, free of both English voices and the cacophony of censorship edits imposed on it in its original English dub by 4Kids Entertainment.

EDIT: It’s come to my attention that one of the other anime part of this celebration: Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983), also has a Sega connection, as Sega made an SG-1000 game based on it. I’m adding details about that show below the break too.

Gotta go fast as you rush past the break for the skinny on this special event. GO! GO! GO! GO! LET’S GO!

EDIT: The 60th Anniversary event has ended and all these videos have, unfortunately, been removed from the TMS Entertainment YouTube Page. Fortunately, Discotek Media has released both Japanese Sonic X and Super Dimension Century Orguss on Blu-Ray. You can buy them from Amazon or Crunchyroll’s store. I removed the dead YouTube embeds from the article

Discotek Media reveals Sonic X Japanese Language Collection release date and packaging

As part of their A Very Discotek New Years livestream, Discotek Media laid out their plans for 2023 as well as some new announcements. Last year the company revealed that at long last the Japanese language version of the Sonic X anime would receive a release in 2023. Now we have a release date window as well as work in progress cover and disc art! The two disc set, which collects the entire series in standard definition on blu-ray disc (which they call “SD on BD”) will release in April of this year with packaging that will sit nicely alongside their already released English collection. The release will also feature bonus content including openings, endings, storyboards and the original pilots.

Once the series goes up for pre-order, we’ll be sure to let you know!

Yu Suzuki says there are ‘no concrete plans’ for Shenmue 4 yet

Shenmue creator and SEGA legend Yu Suzuki recently attended a event to celebrate Shenmue in Yokosuka, right during the finale of the Shenmue the Animation. At this event there where several gaming outlets including IGN Japan and Famitsu, where he discussed the anime and talked about the future of the series.

One of the interesting points he touched on was the fact that Shenmue 3 was created to please long time fans from the start since they’re the ones crowdfunding it. Yu Suzuki says he received positive feedback from those old time fans but felt that newcomers “felt like they had been left behind”. This made it a bad entry point for newcomers.

Ren Finally Gets Sweaty | Shenmue The Animation EP 10 After Show

Shenmue the Animation After Show is on episode 10! We finally get a whole episode with series fan favorite Ren, we also cover the new content in the anime that wasn’t in the game and Yuan’s bird makes a appearance!

If you enjoy our Shenmue The Animation After Show review segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is

Four Wude Completed, Yuan Introduced | Shenmue the Anime EP 9 Review/Discussion

On this episode of Shenmue the Animation After Show we discuss Episode 9: Distinct. On this episode our young hero finishes his quest to discover the Four Wude, we are finally introduced to controversial Shenmue thug Yuan, and more!

If you enjoy our Shenmue The Animation After Show review segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is

Shenmue the Anime Episode 2: Daybreak – After Show Discussion

On our Shenmue The Animation After Show, we discuss the second episode of the anime which includes some major changes, expanded storylines to some key characters and even a change in Ryo’s motivation?

If you enjoy our Shenmue The Animation After Show review segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is

Shenmue the Anime Episode 1: Thunderclap – After Show Discussion

Today we have a look at the first episode of Shenmue The Animation, this one is titled “Thunderclap”. We discuss some of the new high school karate tournament scenes added, look at Nazomi’s character change and gush over the way the anime handled some of the story set pieces!

If you enjoy our Shenmue The Animation After Show review segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is

Adult Swim releases Shenmue the Animation First Look Trailer

Shenmue the Animation has finally gotten a first look trailer by Adult Swim, the anime is set to adapt the events of the first game and most of the second. The First Look Trailer posted above starts off with the iconic Shenmue game opening speech by Shenhua but has some different scenes within like Ryo fighting in a Karate tournament which fans are speculating is where Ryo received his iconic bandaged cut on his face.

According to some interviews, Shenmue the Animation will also use unused script ideas Yu Suzuki had that never made it into the Dreamcast originals. This will give older fans a reason to tune into the show when it finally airs sometime in 2022. Stay tune for more info.

Crunchyroll and Adult Swim announce Shenmue: The Animation, 13 episode anime series

It looks like the Shenmue: The Animation is a real thing thanks to Crunchyroll and Adult Swim, as they have announced that they are teaming up to distribute the production outside of Japan and mainland China on the Crunchyroll and Adult Swim platforms.

The series is set to have 13 episodes and chronicles the adventures of Ryo Hazuki as he finds his father’s murderer. According to the press release you will visit Yokosuka and Hong Kong metropolis. So it looks like the first season is going to cover all of the first game and probably some of the sequel.

Hit the jump for the press release:

SEGA Talk Podcast #48: Sonic The Hedgehog OVA Anime Movie (1996)

In 1996, SEGA released a two part direct-to-video Sonic The Hedgehog animated movie. Later, in 1999, westerners saw a theatrical length video release of Sonic The Hedgehog The Movie and boy were we confused! On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry discuss how they first reacted to seeing the OVA (original video animation) as it released, the new and returning characters and the legacy it left on the franchise.

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Sakura Wars the Animation joins Funimation’s Spring 2020 Line Up

Next month, the animated sequel to Sakura Wars (2019), Sakura Wars the Animation, will be joining Funimation’s Spring 2020 Line Up for viewers to watch the anime though subtitles while airing simultaneous in Japan on April 3rd.

Taking place after the events of Sakura Wars (2019), New Flower Division team is transferred to Europe by Seijuro Kamiyama, and Sakura Amamiya was appointed Deputy Commander. Kamiyama returns home temporarily to the Flower Division who all struggle every day, but there is an unknown girl beside named Clara, who is the only survivor of the Moscow group that was destroyed after a major accident . Sakura welcomes Clara, who was commissioned by Kamiyama and transferred to the Flower Division. Meanwhile, a group that claims to be “Moscow Assault Force” suddenly appears in the Imperial City.

Based on the video game franchise, Sakura Wars the Animation arrives this spring from studio SANZIGEN and director Manabu Ono (Sword Art Online: Alicization). The series stars Ayane Sakura (My Hero Academia) as Sakura, Ayaka Fukuhara (Captain Tsubasa) as Anastasia, Maaya Uchida (GOBLIN SLAYER) as Hatsuho and Youhei Azakami (The Seven Deadly Sins) as Seijuro.

Sonic X to be rebroadcast in Japan to commemorate the release of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog Movie

Sonic the Hedgehog’s TV Anime debut produced by TMS Entertainment, Sonic X, will rebroadcast in Japan on Kids Station in the beginning of next year around January 2020 to commemorate the release of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog Movie coming out the next following month.

This will also be the first time that season 3 of Sonic X, The Metarex Saga, will debut on TV broadcast in Japan which was only available through online streaming services.

TGS 2019: Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation coming to Japanese TV in 2020

During SEGA’s Tokyo Game Show Live Stream, SEGA has made an announcement that Shin Sakura Taisen will receive an TV anime adaptation in 2020. The anime will be CGI and directed by Manabu Ono, known for directing several popular anime series such as “The Irregular At Magic High School” and “Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere”. We’ve also added screenshots of the anime in the article below for everyone to see and trailer over on Twitter (Credit towards HDKirin for capturing the stream).

It’s been almost 20 years since we had an TV anime adaptation of Sakura Taisen. With the game releasing to the west later next year, I have fingers crossed for Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation to be picked up in the US and localized. Have you ever watched the Sakura Taisen anime adaptations back in the day of ADV Films/Funimation and what are your thoughts on this announcement? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Phantasy Star Online 2 anime returns with Episode Oracle in October 2019

We already knew that Phantasy Star Online 2 was getting a brand new anime being titled Episode Oracle that is suppose to cover the Phantasy Star Online 2 in-game story from Episode 1 through 3, plus some original story bits. We now know that the anime will launch this October.

While Phantasy Star Online 2 had a anime that was a 100% original story, this one is more tied to the game which makes me a bit more interested in giving it a try. The series’s first season will run 25 episodes.

As you know we will be getting Phantasy Star Online 2 will finally hit North America for Xbox One and PC in 2020. Are you going to give the anime a chance or wait for the game to come out?

Sonic X complete series on SDBD arriving in late May!

Discotek Media announced today on their Facebook that they’ll be bringing the complete Sonic X series to SD Blu-ray on May 28th 2019. All 78 episodes will be available in standard definition on 2 Region A Blu Ray discs with English language dub and optional closed captioning in English. Sonic X’s was SEGA’s second attempt in bringing Sonic to the world of animation and it was highly successful for the publisher’s animated subsidery TMS Entertainment who said by 2007 it became their best selling anime abroad. Fans of the series can pre-order the title from Rightstuf for the discounted pre-order price of $45.47 (From the usual $69.95)

Sonic X aired over 3 seasons and started off with original storylines before adapting several of Sonic’s game adventures.

[Source: Discotek Media Facebook]