One Piece is widely recognized throughout Japan as the most popular manga currently available, which can easily be understood due to its compelling story line and well-written characters. The series has never stopped building momentum since its early days in 1997, and has now become a worldwide sensation selling more than 345 million volumes. And of course, with any popular franchise, the demand for licensed merchandise is never far behind.
Just released on January 29th was the 20th Anniversary Memorial Tribute Album of the much-anticipated anime and manga series Sailor Moon which features music tracks of the Sailor Moon shows, seasons 1 to 5. It even has a bonus track which is the French version of “Moonlight Densetsu” and is sung by Clementine. Another version of “Moonlight Densetsu” is performed by idol group Momoiro Clover Z at the start of the album. Momoiro Clover Z also contributes another track called “Tuxedo Mirage”.
進撃の巨人 (Shingeki no Kyojin) or Attack on Titan is one of the most popular anime series this summer, and for a good reason! Its story revolves around mankind’s struggle against Titans, mindless giants who have an unsettling resemblance to humans and have caused so much death and destruction that survivors were forced to retreat behind walled cities to continue living.
Attack on Titan
The series itself is tightly plotted and beautifully animated, but what sets it apart from the rest is its complex, incredibly sympathetic cast. Eren Yeager, the main character, is probably the angriest, most bloodthirsty protagonist to ever be given the role of a ‘good guy.’ His defining characteristic is his intense hatred of Titans, and his desire to kill them all—but he’s so interesting because he’s so different from what people normally expect a protagonist to be. When he joins the Scouting Legion, a military branch who have been tasked to explore the world outside the walls while battling Titans, we get introduced to a huge array of interesting, believable characters—and since this is a series with an enormous body count, the fans watch each episode worried that their favorite might not make it to the next. (This is a legitimate worry—they really don’t, sometimes!)