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At first glance, comparing K-on! with The Colors Within may be strange considering how different both shows are in tone: K-on! is comedic, maximalist, and over-the-top, while The Colors Within is quiet, minimalist, and reserved. Yet despite their antithetical tones, these anime have more in common than one might expect. Some of those commonalities are obvious and surface-level. Both anime are about high schoolers who form a band because of their shared love of music and play their original songs at school events and festivals. They even have adult female teachers (Sawako from K-on! and Sister Hiyoshiko from The Colors Within ) who motivate the high school musicians to pursue their passion for music. Both were also once a part of a band themselves. Related: The Colors Within Director Naoko Yamada on Blending Sound and Color in Her Latest Movie However, the deeper and more interesting parallels stem from their shared thematic ideas,...

Your Lie in April isn’t about complicated, interwoven narratives. It can’t carry the same sort of gravitas that some other great anime can. It doesn’t need to do that, and it doesn’t attempt to be more than it is. It’s a simple story filled with complicated emotions between two characters whose worlds revolve around each other and the music they wish to play for the world.

Your Lie in April main poster | Credits: Credits: A1 Pictures

The story follows a young pianist named Kоosei Arima, who loses the ability to perform the piano after his mother’s death and the subsequent trauma makes him unable to hear the sound of a piano, and he never takes the stage thereafter. However, his monochrome life turns upside down the day he encounters the eccentric violinist Kaori Miyazono, who thrusts him back into the spotlight as her accompanist.

Mongolian Chop Squad (known as Beck in Japan), the 2004 TV anime adaptation based on the rock n' roll manga by Harold Sakuishi, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the event, a credit-free version of the opening animation sequence for the series has been published to YouTube. The video (below) features Beat Crusaders performing the song “Hit In The USA”. Related: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Anime Season 2 Confirmed Kodansha serialized the original manga from July 1999 – April 2008 in their Monthly Shonen Magazine publication. Comixology also publishes an English language version of the series. Osamu Kobayashi and Mitsuyuki Masuhara directed the 2004 TV anime at animation studio Madhouse. The series was previously released on home video in the United States by Funimation, who describe Mongolian Chop Squad as follows: Koyuki Tanaka was feeling the rut, though he's only a teenager. Between the sheltered and stifling grind of school and the...

If there's anything true about life in any town in the world, it's that there's always a local band or two that everyone knows about. Having such a band in a TV show is a great way to add reality and depth to both characters and settings, and there are many, many bands in the history of the TV medium, some of which make it from that local band start to headlines around the world. From anime to heavy dramas to sitcoms, the world of TV is full of musical acts, some of which have become not only beloved on their own show, but have even been hits in the world outside of TV.

With so very many TV bands in existence, naming the pantheon of TV musical acts is a tough job. Is it based on musical ability? Does popularity earn the distinction of "best"? Or is there an...

Female voice actors in anime dubs deserve more praise and recognition for their performances, as they can bring characters to life just as well as their male counterparts. Some female voice actors stand out for their ability to emulate the performances of the original Japanese voice actors, while others add originality and charm to their performances. The performances of female voice actors, such as K.T. Gray as Seras Victoria in Hellsing, Cherami Leigh as Asuna in Sword Art Online, and Erica Mendez as Ryuko Matoi in Kill la Kill, showcase their immense talent and are worthy of discussion.

While it’s common for the performances of male voice actors to get the most praise in an anime dub, English dub performances by women deserve plenty of praise, as well. Just like with Japanese voice actors, female dub actors can give performances that do an incredible job of bringing their characters to life,...

While the upcoming release of Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" has the comics crowd abuzz with its blend of sequential art, humor and rock and roll, fans may also be excited to hear that one of the series' influences will also get its cinematic due this year.

An adaptation of Harold Sakuishi's "Beck" manga and subsequent anime series "Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad," is currently in production for a fall release in Japan. The serialized story that ran from 2000-2008 follows a group of Japanese teenagers as they rock the path from obscurity to stardom.

As Anime News Network reports, a new 30-second trailer began streaming at the film's official Web site earlier this week, which gives fans a quick peek at the band's full lineup, including stars Hiro Mizushima and Takeru Sato making with the music.

One of the biggest changes fans can expect is...