03 / Pillar

ANIME.
Releases. Manga. Crossover.

Anime stopped being niche. Jujutsu Kaisen finales, One Piece movie runs, Demon Slayer arcs — they're cultural events with hip-hop, sneaker, and gaming overlap. We cover the releases that matter, the manga arcs producing the next wave, and the industry shifts that decide what gets dubbed and what gets buried.

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The Boondocks Was a Black Satire Animated in Japan
Anime

The Boondocks Was a Black Satire Animated in Japan

Adult Swim premiered The Boondocks on November 6, 2005 with animation from a Tokyo studio and a Black American design team. The show's form was the argument.

Samurai Champloo Made the Beat Tape a Score
Anime

Samurai Champloo Made the Beat Tape a Score

Shinichirō Watanabe hired Nujabes, Fat Jon, Tsutchie and Force of Nature in 2004. The result rewired how anime uses music and seeded an entire streaming genre.

RZA Turned Samurai Cinema Into a Rap Cosmology
Anime

RZA Turned Samurai Cinema Into a Rap Cosmology

From Shogun Assassin on Liquid Swords to the Ghost Dog score to Afro Samurai, Wu-Tang's producer spent three decades converting borrowed film into owned catalog.

Afro Samurai Was the Hip-Hop Anime. Nothing Replaced It.
Anime

Afro Samurai Was the Hip-Hop Anime. Nothing Replaced It.

Takashi Okazaki's self-published manga, Gonzo's animation, Samuel L. Jackson in two roles and an RZA score. Nineteen years later the model still has no successor.

Black Creators Are Building Anime, Not Just Watching It
Anime

Black Creators Are Building Anime, Not Just Watching It

LeSean Thomas made two series inside the Japanese industry. Michael B. Jordan financed a mecha show. Flying Lotus scored a samurai. The pattern is production, not fandom.

Anime

Psyren Anime on Crunchyroll: Dub, Schedule, Episode 3

Satelight's adaptation of Toshiaki Iwashiro's 2008 Jump manga runs Mondays, 13 episodes through December 28, with English subs and a dub.

Spirited Away Turns 25 With a Theater Run Starting Today
Anime

Spirited Away Turns 25 With a Theater Run Starting Today

GKIDS and Fathom bring the film back for a five-night Ghibli Fest run, after two filmed screenings of the stage production earlier this month.

Anime

Shangri-La Frontier Season 3: January 10, 2027 Premiere Date

Season 3 premieres Jan. 10, 2027 on Japanese TV and runs six months straight. The streaming partner outside Japan isn't confirmed.

Megan Thee Stallion Turned Otaku Into a Brand
Anime

Megan Thee Stallion Turned Otaku Into a Brand

Cosplay on the Crunchyroll Anime Awards stage in Tokyo, a song called Otaku Hot Girl, and a fandom she never treated as a marketing quarter.

Anime

Dark Machine the Animation: Esports Runs Japan's Economy

Episode 1 hit Crunchyroll October 13. A global game rebuilt Japan around 'Golden Valley,' and one kid plays his way toward the top of it.

Anime

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle Part 2: Premiere and Cast

The second cour premiered October 13 with a new trailer, two theme songs and a fresh cast member. Here's who's back and where to watch.

Anime

Edgerunners 2 Reveals Its English Dub Cast, Clancy Brown Included

New key visual and trailer ahead of the Oct. 20 Netflix premiere. Kai Ikarashi directs, TRIGGER animates.

Anime

Crunchyroll NYCC 2026: Sekiro Anime Lands in January

Sekiro: No Defeat debuts in January, Yuri!!! on ICE returns to theaters Oct. 19, and the games-to-anime pipeline keeps widening.

Toonami Built Hip-Hop's Anime Canon on Weekday Afternoons
Anime

Toonami Built Hip-Hop's Anime Canon on Weekday Afternoons

A Cartoon Network block that started in March 1997 decided which anime a generation of Black kids would carry into adulthood. The selection was made by two people in Atlanta.

Edgerunners 2 Is 10 Episodes, Drops Oct. 20
Anime

Edgerunners 2 Is 10 Episodes, Drops Oct. 20

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premieres Oct. 20, 2026, with all 10 episodes at once on Netflix. What's confirmed, what's not, and why the week changes.

Anime

Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising Gets a U.S. Date

Aniplex of America and Fathom Entertainment say Walpurgisnacht Rising hits U.S. theaters Jan. 16. What's confirmed.

Anime

Edgerunners 2 'Something Real' Sneak Peek Pulls 1.9M Views

Netflix's 'Something Real' sneak peek for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is at 1.9 million views on YouTube. The premiere is 11 days out.

Anime

Aoashi Season 2 Premieres on Crunchyroll: Starting Line

Ashito Aoi gets promoted to the A Team and immediately learns how far behind he is. Season 2 streams on Crunchyroll.

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