Streaming: Summer 2014 anime final impressions

What a chaotic season! Having more streaming services vying for my attention combined with their collective inability to release new episodes on a reliable schedule made it very stressful to try to keep up. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that I was watching more simulcasts this season than ever before due to the wealth of interesting titles on offer.

It was very disappointing that with so many streaming services available, not one of them licensed Sengoku Basara: Judge End or Barakamon for the UK. Crunchyroll picked up most of what I wanted and - with one exception - delivered everything when promised with the usual professional service. Wakanim was plagued by severe delays almost every single week, Daisuki was doing well until it introduced a perplexing change to its schedule partway through the season, Viewster made a decent debut with some frustrating drawbacks and Animax still doesn't appear to grasp the idea of simulcasts. Nico Nico's single stream went online like clockwork without any technical problems. It's difficult to take the European services seriously when they continue to be so amateurish season after season.

Setting aside Sengoku Basara: Judge End, the only anime I've ever bothered reviewing episode-by-episode right the way through on this blog, the star of this anime season was probably Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. It feels weird picking a 4-koma comedy show as my favourite, but for some reason I was looking forward to Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun more than anything else each week. Although it's finished now, I've ordered the original manga to help ease the transition back to life without Nozaki and his friends.

Here's my final ranking now the season is winding up:

1. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
2. Nobunaga Concerto
3. Sengoku Basara: Judge End (Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement-)

Any of those three shows could easily have taken the first place spot in the list depending on my mood at the time. Both Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and Nobunaga Concerto were more consistent and satisfying than Judge End, but the feelings of excitement I have for Sengoku Basara are no secret; I feel blessed that it was given another chance at an anime adaptation in spite of its flaws. Several titles which didn't quite make the top three were still very enjoyable and I'm certain to be picking up the Blu-ray sets for a number of shows in future.

Compiling a list of disappointments would have been much easier than ranking my favourites after this bumper season.

Animated Tsuruhime! I still can't believe it happened

Today's acquisitions (28th September 2014)

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted pictures of new goodies that weren't magazines. Some nice things arrived this weekend so it seemed like a good opportunity to take a few pictures.

To start off, here's the first Japanese Blu-ray set for Sengoku Basara Judge End.

I purchased through Amazon Japan so the set included an exclusive oversized Yukimura badge. I'm never sure what to do with things like this; at least it looks cool.

The wraparound paper obi keeps everything together until you open it up. First of all, I looked inside the Blu-ray slipcase. It contains a full-colour booklet with character designs and basic information about the series.

The slipcase also contains the colourful Digipak which holds the Blu-ray disc. It's certainly eye-catching!

The other side of the Digipak is dedicated to Masamune. Since there will be four volumes in total, I guess each will be themed around one of the four leads.

Pressed up against the Blu-ray slipcase is a thin cardboard box which contains the first press bonus items: a Masamune/Kojuurou keychain and two bonus audio CDs for the radio show. I'll listen to the exclusive episode on the way to work this week.

As for the Blu-ray disc itself, it's wonderful to be able to watch these episodes properly instead of in the poor quality that my online stream provided. The Blu-ray version looks so much better. I hope FUNimation use the same video materials when they create the US edition instead of messing with things.

The on-disc extras are limited to textless opening/ending sequences and an audio commentary for the first episode.

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My shipment also included a few CDs, starting with the Sengoku Basara Judge End Original Soundtrack. I've become rather fond of Tokuda Masahiro's score. It's different to Sawano's sweeping masterpiece used in the old anime, and it's less action-packed than the game soundtracks. In spite of this, it's very pleasant to listen to.

Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai by Ooishi Masayoshi was the chipper opening to Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, and Namae No Nai Kaibutsu by EGOIST served as the first ending to PSYCHO-PASS. The latter isn't exactly new, but I watched the show for the first time recently and fell in love with the song.

Kalafina's heavenly blue and Sawano Hiroyuki's A/Z | aLIEz CDs covered the opening and closing songs from last season's Aldnoah Zero anime. I'd like to pick up the full soundtrack as well when I get the chance since the insert song BRE@TH//LESS is gorgeous.

The heavenly blue single included a pamphlet with storyboards for the opening, which was an interesting bonus. A/Z | aLIEz featured a bonus DVD with the textless end credit sequences from the anime.

The last items on the list are a pair of drama CDs. Diabolik Lovers do-S Kyuuketsu CD: VERSUS II Vol. 5 came with Animate's special bromide as a bonus while the first Dark Fate CD's extras were a bromide and short story pamphlet from Stellaworth.

I've been trying to save money recently but I ordered all of this quite some time ago. It was difficult waiting for the new CDs after hearing the themes playing each week as part of their anime broadcasts.

Anime review: Sengoku Basara Judge End episode 12 (Final)

It feels as though this season has flown by and we've somehow reached the final episode of Sengoku Basara Judge End in the blink of an eye. After a slight delay due to real-life commitments, I rushed to check it out.

How to watch

Now that the official simulcasts are beginning it's been confirmed that the alternate title Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement- is being used outside Japan. I'll keep using Judge End for consistency but they're the exact same show.

These are the official ways to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End at the moment:

Television (Japan only)
This week's initial television broadcast on NTV is at 02:55 on Sunday morning (Japan time). The YTV and BS Nittere broadcasts are shown over a week late.

NTV On Demand (Japan only)
This is a premium service. Fans can pay ¥900 to watch the whole series or ¥300 to see an individual episode. The first episode is free and the previous week's episode is shown for free on Fridays and Saturdays. The series airs slightly earlier than the television broadcast at 24:00 local time.

Hulu (Japan only)
Fans who pay Hulu's ¥933 monthly fee can watch the episodes slightly ahead of the broadcast time.

The following Japanese streaming services will also be streaming Judge End; if you can't wait then it might be worth checking them to see whether any work in your region. I imagine they'll make the episodes available shortly after the television broadcast and some will be showing it for free.

AcTVila, Bandai Channel, Best Hit Anime Douga, d Anime Store, DMM.com, Google Play, GyaO Store, Happy Douga Anime, Hikari TV, JCOM On Demand, Movie Full+, Nico Nico Official Channel, Rakuten Showtime, Tsutaya TV, TV Dogatch, U-NEXT, Video Market

FUNimation (US only)
The episodes are streamed weekly on Saturdays at 14:20 Eastern Time with English subtitles, even when the Japanese television broadcast is delayed. Subscribers can watch the latest episode on the same day it's available in Japan while free users have to wait a week. FUNimation also have the home video rights, so if the stream is popular the series should eventually be dubbed into English. Even though the videos are region-locked, fans outside the US can still visit the site and rate the videos to show that there's demand!

Anime Digital Network (France only)
ADN are offering the series online with French subtitles. So far, the first nine episodes are available. They charge a monthly fee for the service.

J-ONE (France only)
A French-subtitled broadcast is taking place on J-ONE - Canalsat (50) and Numericable (38). The schedule can be viewed at the link.

Viewster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway only)
The show's broadcast was announced as being 'day and date with Japan' but it took a while for them to catch up. They seem to have settled into a rhythm now and the first eleven episodes are already online with English subtitles. Viewster is a free ad-supported service.

Like many fans around the world I live in a country which has been excluded from the licensed simulcasts. In spite of this I feel very strongly about supporting the official translated version when it's available rather than resorting to piracy. The Japanese distributors will use the official viewing figures to see how successful the show has been while the US anime distributors like FUNimation use them to decide whether to give new titles home video releases, whether to dub them and whether to go the extra mile and produce a high quality premium release. If we want Sengoku Basara Judge End to receive a decent western release and raise awareness of the series, we need to make sure people are watching the official streams if possible. Please get your friends to watch it too if you can so that the industry can see that there's an audience out there. It might help to visit the official streaming sites and leave supportive comments there too, even if you live in a country where the video itself is blocked and you had to watch it some other way.

I'd rather not say how I'm watching the Japanese streams but it's not that difficult to find a method with some searching.

Important reminder

Sengoku Basara: Judge End is not a continuation of the previous anime adaptation. It's a brand new story and none of the events in Production I.G.'s version of Sengoku Basara have taken place in its timeline. Please don't get confused trying to match the old story to the new one; this anime is a complete reboot of the entire Sengoku Basara scenario. The story takes place after the fall of Oda Nobunaga.

Summary

The rest of this post contains spoilers for the whole of Sengoku Basara: Judge End and some low quality screenshots. Please note that I'm watching the show in untranslated Japanese and using my preferred spellings for character names; they won't necessary match the localised spellings if you're watching one of the subtitled versions!

News roundup: More difficult-to-obtain Sengoku Basara merchandise is on the way

Preorders for the next Sengoku Basara plushies will open tomorrow

If you've been waiting to preorder the new Motochika and Motonari plushies from Gift x Algernon, they'll be available tomorrow from a variety of shops. These plushies often sell out quickly so it's advisable to place your order quickly once the listings appear online.

An art book will be released for Sengoku Basara Judge End

The Television Anime Sengoku Basara Judge End: Official Illustration & Genga Collection book will be released by ASCII Media Works on 28th November 2014, according to a MangaOh listing. No other details have yet been revealed.

Exclusive new merchandise is unveiled for fan club members

The first two scheduled Basara Club Fan Meeting 2014 Autumn events will be held this weekend for a very select audience of people who won tickets in the preorder lottery (as well as a few who queue up early for the handful of last-minute tickets on offer at the door). These fan meetings are mini-events which each feature two seiyuu guests, two stage play actors and KobaP. There's a much more intimate atmosphere than a full Basara Matsuri so only a small number of people are able to participate, however anyone with a membership card for the club can show up at the venue to purchase exclusive goods if they happen to live nearby.

Here's a quick rundown of the special items which will be released for attendees.

A selection of 25 'favourite warrior' badges (¥800 each):

The character selection is eccentric, but these pictures are really cute.

The second exclusive item is an original vinyl shopping bag (¥300):

Fans who can't make the event can purchase new regular fan club merchandise instead. The following three items will soon be available through the fan club shop.

The third set of collectible IC card stickers (¥500 each):

An 'eco' tote bag (¥1,000):

A selection of eight cushion keychains (¥800 each):

Anime review: Sengoku Basara Judge End episode 11

More scores are settled as the series heads towards its grand finale. We're gradually getting closer to the decisive battle!

How to watch

Now that the official simulcasts are beginning it's been confirmed that the alternate title Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement- is being used outside Japan. I'll keep using Judge End for consistency but they're the exact same show.

These are the official ways to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End at the moment:

Television (Japan only)
This week's initial television broadcast on NTV is at 01:55 on Sunday morning (Japan time). The YTV and BS Nittere broadcasts are shown over a week late.

NTV On Demand (Japan only)
This is a premium service. Fans can pay ¥900 to watch the whole series or ¥300 to see an individual episode. The first episode is free and the previous week's episode is shown for free on Fridays and Saturdays. The series airs slightly earlier than the television broadcast at 24:00 local time.

Hulu (Japan only)
Fans who pay Hulu's ¥933 monthly fee can watch the episodes slightly ahead of the broadcast time.

The following Japanese streaming services will also be streaming Judge End; if you can't wait then it might be worth checking them to see whether any work in your region. I imagine they'll make the episodes available shortly after the television broadcast and some will be showing it for free.

AcTVila, Bandai Channel, Best Hit Anime Douga, d Anime Store, DMM.com, Google Play, GyaO Store, Happy Douga Anime, Hikari TV, JCOM On Demand, Movie Full+, Nico Nico Official Channel, Rakuten Showtime, Tsutaya TV, TV Dogatch, U-NEXT, Video Market

FUNimation (US only)
The episodes are streamed weekly on Saturdays at 14:20 Eastern Time with English subtitles, even when the Japanese television broadcast is delayed. Subscribers can watch the latest episode on the same day it's available in Japan while free users have to wait a week. FUNimation also have the home video rights, so if the stream is popular the series should eventually be dubbed into English. Even though the videos are region-locked, fans outside the US can still visit the site and rate the videos to show that there's demand!

Anime Digital Network (France only)
ADN are offering the series online with French subtitles. So far, the first nine episodes are available. They charge a monthly fee for the service.

J-ONE (France only)
A French-subtitled broadcast is taking place on J-ONE - Canalsat (50) and Numericable (38). The schedule can be viewed at the link.

Viewster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway only)
The show's broadcast was announced as being 'day and date with Japan' but it took a while for them to catch up. They seem to have settled into a rhythm now and the first ten episodes are already online with English subtitles. Viewster is a free ad-supported service.

Like many fans around the world I live in a country which has been excluded from the licensed simulcasts. In spite of this I feel very strongly about supporting the official translated version when it's available rather than resorting to piracy. The Japanese distributors will use the official viewing figures to see how successful the show has been while the US anime distributors like FUNimation use them to decide whether to give new titles home video releases, whether to dub them and whether to go the extra mile and produce a high quality premium release. If we want Sengoku Basara Judge End to receive a decent western release and raise awareness of the series, we need to make sure people are watching the official streams if possible. Please get your friends to watch it too if you can so that the industry can see that there's an audience out there. It might help to visit the official streaming sites and leave supportive comments there too, even if you live in a country where the video itself is blocked and you had to watch it some other way.

I'd rather not say how I'm watching the Japanese streams but it's not that difficult to find a method with some searching.

Important reminder

Sengoku Basara: Judge End is not a continuation of the previous anime adaptation. It's a brand new story and none of the events in Production I.G.'s version of Sengoku Basara have taken place in its timeline. Please don't get confused trying to match the old story to the new one; this anime is a complete reboot of the entire Sengoku Basara scenario. The story takes place after the fall of Oda Nobunaga.

Summary

The rest of this post contains spoilers for the first eleven episodes of Sengoku Basara: Judge End and some low quality screenshots. Please note that I'm watching the show in untranslated Japanese and using my preferred spellings for character names; they won't necessary match the localised spellings if you're watching one of the subtitled versions!

News: Basara Matsuri 2015 is announced at the Sengoku Basara panel at Tokyo Game Show 2014

There was a Sengoku Basara panel today at 15:00 today at the Tokyo Game Show 2014 (TGS). The 40-minute panel was hosted by series producer Kobayashi 'KobaP' Hiroyuki and series director Yamamoto 'YamamotoD' Makoto.

Thankfully, a worldwide broadcast was arranged through Capcom TV for people who couldn't attend the event. There wasn't much interesting news, but it was still a fun watch.

Usami 'Usamisu' Yuki was the celebrity MC. In case it's not obvious, that's her on the left, with KobaP in the centre and YamamotoD on the right.

The camera also occasionally cut to the Masamune-kun mascot character for his reactions, which generally involved adorable wiggling (that's all he's able to do).

KobaP explained that Masamune-kun had recently made his debut along with his buddy, Yukimura-kun.

The bulk of the presentation was composed of three gameplay challenges. Fans from the audience volunteered to face off against YamamotoD on a stage of his choosing. The first challenger was an angelic-looking girl who picked Yoshitsugu and Sakon (YamamotoD chose Katsuie and Masamune).

They fought on Battle of Sekigahara: Western Shadow and while YamamotoD took his time at first, the challenger charged ahead and started to rack up an impressive kill count. She seemed to be a big Gyoubu fan.

The challenger won and was presented with a goodie bag full of rare merchandise. The next audience member who decided to play was a young man who chose Mitsunari and Masamune. YamamotoD selected Matabee and Tadakatsu on Battle of Sekigahara: Eastern Sun.

Poor YamamotoD lost again, though he did spend most of the match showing off Tadakatsu's moves and messing around.

The third and final challenger was another young man with an infectious smile. He chose Masamune and Katsuie.

YamamotoD went with Naotora and Magoichi on the Kaga: Maeda Kabuki-Matsuri stage. This time, YamamotoD managed to win the match, though both of them played well and easily maxed out the festival gauge very quickly.

The panel ended with a news round-up from KobaP, which recapped previous announcements right up to the end. They showed off the special postcards fans can win at this week's More's City event.

It was impressive seeing all of the recent game merchandise arranged in one picture.

There was only one brand new announcement and it was saved right until the end of the presentation. There's going to be another fan event in Japan: Basara Matsuri 2015 ~Fuyu No Jin~.

The guest list so far includes seiyuu Ikeda Shuuichi (Ashikaga Yoshiteru), Nakamura Yuuichi (Shima Sakon), Miki Shinichirou (Gotou Matabee), Seki Tomokazu (Ishida Mitsunari), Hoshi Souichirou (Sanada Yukimura), Morita Masakazu (Maeda Keiji), Morikawa Toshiyuki (Katakura Kojuurou), Okiayu Ryoutarou (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) and Ishino Ryuuzou (Chousokabe Motochika). KobaP will also be attending.

The event will be held on Sunday 1st February 2015 at the enormous Nippon Budoukan, just over a year after the release of Sengoku Basara 4. There will be two performances, one in the afternoon at 14:30 and one in the evening at 18:30. Members of the BASARA CLUB fan club will be able to apply for the first of the ¥7,000 tickets via lottery next week.

As it looks like this will be a big event, I'd expect the guest list to become longer over the next couple of months. It's very likely that there will be some musical guests as well.

After the show was over, KobaP and YamamotoD sat down with Capcom TV hosts Hirai Yoshiyuki (of America Zarigani) and his assistant Ikeda Chocolat to answer some questions submitted by fans.

So all in all, it wasn't the most exciting TGS presentation but a major new Basara Matsuri event means that the tenth anniversary celebrations are starting to kick off at last. I can't wait to hear more!

(Update: Capcom posted the video here for anyone who missed the show!)

DVD review: Sengoku Basara 4 Basara Matsuri 2014 ~Shinshun No Utage~

This review will be relatively short since most of the content of the DVD was already covered back in January in this event report.

Sengoku Basara 4 Basara Matsuri 2014 ~Shinshun No Utage~ (hereafter Basara Matsuri) was a major event held back on Sunday 19th January 2014 at the Nippon Seinenkan Great Hall in Shinjuku, Tokyo. There were two different performances held on the same day: an afternoon show at 13:30 and an evening show at 18:30. Both were very similar aside from one change in the guest list.

With a much smaller venue than other recent Basara Matsuri shows, tickets were extremely difficult to obtain this time around. Fans had to participate in a number of lottery drawings to stand a chance of earning the right to buy them, and even being in the official fan club was no guarantee of success. This DVD release was consequently the first chance to see the event for those unable to attend in person. I hope that future Basara Matsuri events will be able to accommodate more fans again as they did in previous years.

The DVD was given a limited release on 9th July 2014 at select retailers, namely e-Capcom, Otomart and the Basara Club. The standard retail release followed on 20th August 2014 and the set is now available from online stores such as Amazon Japan. It's priced at ¥5,000 before tax and includes a single DVD disc in a clear case along with a colour booklet. The booklet is quite nice, containing photographs of all of the guests (including a few studio pictures of KobaP).

The guest list was as follows:

Preparing for the Tokyo Game Show 2014

As a reminder, the Sengoku Basara panel with creators Kobayashi 'KobaP' Hiroyuki and Yamamoto 'YamamotoD' Makoto will take place tomorrow (Saturday 20th September 2014) at 15:00 Japan time. It's expected to last for 40 minutes and while there have been no promises of any game-related announcements, that doesn't mean it won't be interesting. I'm hoping that KobaP will have some surprises for us.

The panel should be streamed as part of Capcom TV's event coverage on both Nico Nico and YouTube with hosts Hirai Yoshiyuki of America Zarigani and his assistant Ikeda Chocolat. The full schedule is available here.

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Note: Confusingly tomorrow is also the date of this year's Kyomaf (Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair) festival so there's a small chance we might get some Judge End news there as well, though nothing has been announced aside from merchandise sales.

News roundup: Another round of Sengoku Basara festival collaborations

As tomorrow is the first day of the Tokyo Game Show 2014, I'm posting this news roundup earlier than planned to ensure I have a clean slate in case anything exciting is reported.

Whether there is news of any new game or not, there will probably be a media presentation at the show to announce upcoming tie-ins and merchandise (and hopefully, dates for the next Basara Matsuri). I also think it's likely we'll see the two new mascot characters from last week's Inazuma Rock Fes appearing at the show to greet visitors.

So for now, here's a wrap-up of the Sengoku Basara news from the last couple of days.

It's festival season for the Sengoku Basara series

Two more traditional festival tie-ins have been announced today to join the Yukimura exhibition in Osaka and last weekend's Masamune-kou Matsuri, which has posted its official poster artwork since my previous update.

The first of the new announcements is that Sengoku Basara's Katakura Kojuurou will support this year's Oni Kojuurou Matsuri once again. The seventh annual festival will take place on 4th October 2014 in its usual home of Shiroishi City, Miyagi Prefecture. It celebrates the second generation Katakura Kojuurou (Katakura Shigenaga) and features historical reenactments at the local castle.

Even though the character from the game is based on the first Katakura Kojuurou (Katakura Kagetsuna), the series blends his feats with those of his son and the festival honours them both. Kojuurou's voice actor Morikawa Toshiyuki often takes time out from his busy schedule to visit Shiroishi for the festival each year. I wonder whether he'll be mingling with the crowds of fans again this time?

In addition, fans who visit Motochika's birthplace of Nankoku City in Kouchi Prefecture between 11th October 2014 and 12th January 2015 can participate in the 'Chousokabe Motochika Rally 4'. It's a special tourism event designed to let visitors follow in Motochika's footsteps via a 'real rally game', and this time the posters for the game will use artwork from Sengoku Basara 4.

Since it's a game, it's less straightforward than a plain old festival. Participants have to visit the locations specified on the pamphlet's 'treasure map', take pictures of themselves at the various sites and then email them to Nankoku's tourist board for a chance to win prizes. It sounds pretty fun!

The final special guest is announced for the Sengoku Basara Judge End radio show

As regular readers know, the bonus Hoshi Souichirou and Seki Tomokazu's 'Sengoku Basara: Judge End' Radio CDs which come with the DVD/BD releases of Sengoku Basara Judge End each feature a special episode with a seiyuu guest presenter. The staff have now revealed the guest who will appear on the fourth volume and it's to be Nakahara Shigeru (Mouri Motonari).

NTV announce a wider selection of Sengoku Basara Judge End merchandise

These announcements never end! The first new goodies from the official anime website is a selection of four natural stone bracelets and pins. The designs are based on Masamune (sodalite), Yukimura (coral), Ieyasu (tiger's eye) and Mitsunari (amethyst). Each piece of jewellery comes with an illustrated backing card of the character it's based upon.

The bracelets will cost ¥3,800 each while the pins are ¥1,500. They're planned for release at the beginning of October 2014.

There will also be a pair of stainless steel tumblers priced at ¥1,500 each. They're suitable for hot and cold beverages and each comes with a lid. The release date is expected to be between late November and early December 2014.

The Sengoku Basara Judge End bath towels are available online

There was some interest in these towels when they were first announced so here's an update: fans who have access to a proxy buying service can now reserve the towels through OOPARTS Online.

Anime review: Sengoku Basara Judge End episode 10

A rather crazy episode even by the series' usual standards. The staff weren't kidding when they said there would be some new content.

How to watch

Now that the official simulcasts are beginning it's been confirmed that the alternate title Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement- is being used outside Japan. I'll keep using Judge End for consistency but they're the exact same show.

These are the official ways to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End at the moment:

Television (Japan only)
This week's initial television broadcast on NTV is at 01:55 on Sunday morning (Japan time). The YTV and BS Nittere broadcasts are shown over a week late.

NTV On Demand (Japan only)
This is a premium service. Fans can pay ¥900 to watch the whole series or ¥300 to see an individual episode. The first episode is free and the previous week's episode is shown for free on Fridays and Saturdays. The series airs slightly earlier than the television broadcast at 24:00 local time.

Hulu (Japan only)
Fans who pay Hulu's ¥933 monthly fee can watch the episodes slightly ahead of the broadcast time.

The following Japanese streaming services will also be streaming Judge End; if you can't wait then it might be worth checking them to see whether any work in your region. I imagine they'll make the episodes available shortly after the television broadcast and some will be showing it for free.

AcTVila, Bandai Channel, Best Hit Anime Douga, d Anime Store, DMM.com, Google Play, GyaO Store, Happy Douga Anime, Hikari TV, JCOM On Demand, Movie Full+, Nico Nico Official Channel, Rakuten Showtime, Tsutaya TV, TV Dogatch, U-NEXT, Video Market

FUNimation (US only)
The episodes are streamed weekly on Saturdays at 14:20 Eastern Time with English subtitles, even when the Japanese television broadcast is delayed. Subscribers can watch the latest episode on the same day it's available in Japan while free users have to wait a week. FUNimation also have the home video rights, so if the stream is popular the series should eventually be dubbed into English. Even though the videos are region-locked, fans outside the US can still visit the site and rate the videos to show that there's demand!

Anime Digital Network (France only)
ADN are offering the series online with French subtitles. So far, the first eight episodes are available. They charge a monthly fee for the service.

J-ONE (France only)
A French-subtitled broadcast will take place on J-ONE - Canalsat (50) and Numericable (38). It seems to have begun, so the schedule can be viewed at the link.

Viewster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway only)
The show's broadcast was announced as being 'day and date with Japan' but it took a while for them to catch up. They seem to have settled into a rhythm now and the first nine episodes are already online with English subtitles. Viewster is a free ad-supported service.

Like many fans around the world I live in a country which has been excluded from the licensed simulcasts. In spite of this I feel very strongly about supporting the official translated version when it's available rather than resorting to piracy. The Japanese distributors will use the official viewing figures to see how successful the show has been while the US anime distributors like FUNimation use them to decide whether to give new titles home video releases, whether to dub them and whether to go the extra mile and produce a high quality premium release. If we want Sengoku Basara Judge End to receive a decent western release and raise awareness of the series, we need to make sure people are watching the official streams if possible. Please get your friends to watch it too if you can so that the industry can see that there's an audience out there. It might help to visit the official streaming sites and leave supportive comments there too, even if you live in a country where the video itself is blocked and you had to watch it some other way.

I'd rather not say how I'm watching the Japanese streams but it's not that difficult to find a method with some searching.

Important reminder

Sengoku Basara: Judge End is not a continuation of the previous anime adaptation. It's a brand new story and none of the events in Production I.G.'s version of Sengoku Basara have taken place in its timeline. Please don't get confused trying to match the old story to the new one; this anime is a complete reboot of the entire Sengoku Basara scenario. The story takes place after the fall of Oda Nobunaga.

Summary

The rest of this post contains spoilers for the first ten episodes of Sengoku Basara: Judge End and some low quality screenshots. Please note that I'm watching the show in untranslated Japanese and using my preferred spellings for character names; they won't necessary match the localised spellings if you're watching one of the subtitled versions!

News roundup: September's Sengoku Basara Judge End magazine coverage

I picked up a few anime magazines this month, so it's time for the last (?) regular monthly review of Sengoku Basara Judge End coverage. There will be some extremely mild spoilers until the next headline lower down in this post.

It was Animage which contained the best Sengoku Basara Judge End information for September. Firstly, it confirmed the two last episode titles for Sengoku Basara Judge End. They're so vague that I don't think it's necessary to hide them under a spoiler warning; episode 11 will be called Shinpan ('Judgement') while the final episode will be Shirube ('Guide').

The magazine also contained a pull-out poster with all four main characters (sample picture above), and a short interview with anime director Sano Takashi covering the story up until episode nine.

• Sano explained that both Masamune and Yukimura lost something extremely precious earlier in the series; for Masamune it was his pride, and for Yukimura it was Oyakata-sama. In realising what they had lost for the first time, they took a step forwards.
• They've now each experienced some growth, not just in body and mind but also by reaffirming their individual beliefs and purpose.
• In Sano's opinion, Yukimura has become someone that Mitsunari can believe in during in the lead-up to Sekigahara, while Masamune is someone that Ieyasu could always have admired.
• Even though it had all been planned out in advance, Sano made a lot of refinements during the storyboarding for the climactic scene in episode eight where both leaders gave their speeches. The staff paid a lot of attention to the way they divided up the cuts to ensure that the scene flowed well.
• Sano's impression of Tenkai is that he's devoted to his own selfish desires and willing to do appalling things in order to achieve his goals. At the same time, he provides Kobayakawa Hideaki with emotional support and appears to be a kind person when he's around him.
• The line of dialogue which has left the strongest impression on Sano so far was Masamune's "It's the beginning of the PARTY to seize the country!" from the start of the very first episode. When he heard it during the recording session it made him think that the anime was really getting started.
• On the climax of the series, although it looks like a free-for-all fight he thinks people will want to see the way that the battle concludes with their own eyes.
• As for match-ups to look out for during the Battle of Sekigahara, Sano recommends the fight between the pair who started the war: Ieyasu versus Mitsunari.
• Since the cast and sound director had all been working on Sengoku Basara for a while now, it's no exaggeration to say that the recording sessions went very smoothly right from the first episode. Sano didn't always understand the spontaneous ad-libs that the actors made when they were testing the sound, but since they were able to bring most of the cast members together the recording sessions had a wonderful team-like atmosphere.
• If Sano had to pick a side to join for the battle, he'd want to be in the Eastern Army - and he'd want Ootomo Sourin to try to pursuade him to join the Xavists!

Lastly, the subject of Judge End was briefly revisited in an interview with singer Ishikawa Chiaki in the music pages.

Interviewer: The second song on your new CD is Hokkyokusei ~Polaris~, the ending theme for the Sengoku Basara Judge End anime series. The 'North Star' in the title also features in the lyrics, right?

Ishikawa: There are samurai who are willing to throw their lives away and fight for the sake of the lord they serve. I thought that this relationship resembled that of the North Star and the stars which revolve around it in the night sky. Even when you're on a battlefield in the middle of the mountains and you've lost sight of where you are, by looking at the North Star you'll find your direction, won't you? With that in mind, I wondered whether they would look up at the North Star on the night of a battle, rather than looking up at the moon.

Interviewer: The third song on the CD is called Tír na nÓg. Its sound and lyrics also evoke the image of a battlefield.

Ishikawa: Since I didn't incorporate Japanese 'flavour' into the sound of Hokkyokusei ~Polaris~, I thought about trying to express my own Japanese-style world - which sprung from the flow of 'Basara' - in a different song.

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The series will apparently feature in next month's autumn edition of Prince Animage. Monthly Animedia was a waste of time this time, as was its sister publication Otomedia. The latter did at least mention both Masamune and Motochika in a column about attractive eyepatch-wearing guys.

I originally forgot to buy Monthly PASH! so it isn't shown in the first picture. It contained another interview with Sano Takeshi.

• Although Ieyasu seems like a nice guy who champions his ideals at first, deep down he's very conflicted. The staff paid careful attention to the way that he's always smiling and speaking positively in order to highlight his inner struggle.
• In depicting Masamune falling to rock bottom and then clawing his way back up, they used the story from the original Sengoku Basara 3 game as a framework and tried to expand it a little. With his 'revival' he becomes stronger than he was before.
• Yukimura's theme in this series is 'becoming independent'. With Oyakata-sama having fallen the hot-blooded guy has nobody to show him the path he should take, and he struggles with worries which stop him in his tracks. It's as though he started out being simple-minded then developed into a true leader.
• As for things to look out for over the course of the last few episodes, Sano hopes people will keep watching until the very end; both to see what happens in the Battle of Sekigahara, and what happens afterwards.
• He can't single out any individual character to look out for when all of them have some cool moments. There's Ieyasu and Mitsunari being hit by their true feelings before the conclusion, there's the story behind Tenkai using Sekigahara as part of his scheme, and there's the battle between Masamune and Yukimura.

Someone drew a picture of Kanbee for Monthly PASH!'s reader submissions gallery, congratulating him on finally being animated. The editor joked that Kanbee's presence seemed to raise the average age of the characters shown on that page - most of the other submissions were the hot teenagers from series such as Free! and Haikyuu!! so he looked very out of place.

Tasty new Judge End cakes are coming to Japan

Castella manjuu cakes are to be the newest addition to the Sengoku Basara Judge End merchandise range, according to the official website. They'll be available from anime specialists, tourist shops and the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair 2014 (Kyomaf) event from 20th September 2014. It costs ¥700 for a pack of eight cakes and the fillings are to be custard (Masamune) and chocolate (Yukimura).

Cover artwork for Mame Sengoku Basara 4 volume 1

e-Capcom has unveiled the cover artwork for the first volume of the new Mame Sengoku Basara 4 manga, which is due for release later this month. It looks completely different to the clean artwork used for the original Mame Sengoku Basara series, but when it's this cute I don't mind that at all! Having more than one character on the cover means more of them will get to appear in future, too.

More Mame Sengoku Basara merchandise is on the way

Speaking of Mame Sengoku Basara, the folks at Gift are releasing another round of cute merchandise for fans of the series.

The first items are new mouse pads, available in a choice of nine designs for ¥500 each. They'll be on sale from November 2014.

There will also be two new sets of clear bookmarks priced at ¥500 apiece. These will be released in December 2014.

Sengoku Basara collaborates with another historically-themed event

There will be a special event next month to commemorate the 400 years since the Winter Siege of Osaka, in which the real-life Sanada Yukimura played an important role. It's only natural, then, that Sengoku Basara 4's version of Sanada Yukimura will be participating in the event by appearing on posters. As well as some kind of special campaign for those who purchase their tickets online, there will be illustrations and videos on display for Sengoku Basara 4 and Sengoku Basara Judge End, an exhibition of the costumes used in the Butai Sengoku Basara stage plays and merchandise to buy.

The Yukimura and the Sanada Ten Braves Exhibition will take place at the main branch of the Hanshin Department Store in Umeda, Osaka between 8th October and 14th October 2014. General admission will cost ¥500 with discounted pricing available for students.

To celebrate the event, there will be a pair of 'Giga-Basara' t-shirts available exclusively for visitors to the event available in sizes S through to XL. Naturally, one features Yukimura...

...while the other has a Sasuke design.

Members of the series' official fan club will be sent an invitation for the event with the next issue of the newsletter, which is due for release on 22nd September 2014.

There will be talk show events at the Butai Sengoku Basara 4 stage play

It's been announced that a selection of the Butai Sengoku Basara 4 performances will also feature 15-minute 'talk show' events with the actors on stage. The planned schedule is as follows.

3rd November 2014 18:00 (Tokyo)
Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari)
Hirose Yuusuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Yoshida Tomokazu (Katakura Kojuurou)
Murata Youjirou (Sarutobi Sasuke)

7th November 2014 13:00 (Tokyo)
Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari)
Hirose Yuusuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Yamaguchi Daichi (Date Masamune)
Matsumura Ryuunosuke (Sanada Yukimura)

22nd November 2014 18:00 (Fukuoka)
Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari)
Hirose Yuusuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Katou Keisuke (Shima Sakon)
Fujita Ray (Shibata Katsuie)
Amano Kousei (Ashikaga Yoshiteru)

28th November 2014 18:30 (Osaka)
Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari)
Hirose Yuusuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Yoshida Tomokazu (Katakura Kojuurou)
Murata Youjirou (Sarutobi Sasuke)
Kubodera Akira (Oda Nobunaga)
Taniguchi Masashi (Akechi Mitsuhide)

5th December 2014 18:00 (Nagoya)
Nakamura Seijirou (Ishida Mitsunari)
Hirose Yuusuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu)
Katou Keisuke (Shima Sakon)
Fujita Ray (Shibata Katsuie)
Amano Kousei (Ashikaga Yoshiteru)

Animate TV posts its weekly Sengoku Basara Judge End preview

Last but not least, Animate TV has posted the usual preview gallery for tomorrow's new anime episode.

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As well as the usual weekly dose of Judge End, tomorrow promises some additional entertainment as the Masamune-kun and Yukimura-kun mascots are going to be unveiled at Inazuma Rock Fes as promised last week. I'm looking forward to seeing how weird they look!

News roundup: The final Sengoku Basara Judge End episode descriptions are now available

It really feels as though the anime is coming to an end now that NTV have released the very last batch of previews. I've put them at the end of this (short) post.

The next piece of Sengoku Basara Judge End merchandise is a mini towel

A Sengoku Basara Judge End mini towel (20cm x 20cm) is due for release in mid-September priced at ¥500. It will feature cute versions of all four lead characters.

Ieyasu's face is probably my favourite part of this tiny preview picture. Aww!

Details and jacket artwork for the second Judge End DVD/BD

The details of the second volume of the anime's Japanese home video release have now been confirmed thanks to Dengeki Online.

Sengoku Basara Judge End: II
Release date: 22nd October 2014
Catalogue number: VPXY-71337 (Blu-ray) / VPBY-14330 (DVD)
Price: ¥5,800 (Blu-ray) / ¥4,800 (DVD)
Blu-ray specification: Colour, Stereo, Linear PCM 2.0, 16:9 1080p HD
DVD specification: Colour, Stereo, 16:9 LB, Dolby Digital 2.0ch
Run time: 70 minutes (plus extras)
Contents: Sengoku Basara Judge End episodes 4-6

The special audio CD from the first press edition will include episodes of the Hoshi Souichirou and Seki Tomokazu's 'Sengoku Basara: Judge End' Radio show with a special guest appearance from seiyuu Ookawa Tooru (Tokugawa Ieyasu).

Here's the newly-unveiled Sengoku Basara Judge End: II DVD/Blu-ray cover artwork.

The set will come in an illustrated digipak with a 20-page booklet. It doesn't seem as though Amazon, Tsutaya and Yodobashi Camera are going to have exclusive items for the second volume of the anime. The second exclusive keychain depicts Yukimura and Sasuke as promised.

The official website has also shuffled the roster page around, to add the new characters and reflect the changes in allegiance which have occurred over the last few episodes. A few things still look strange to me.

Previews of the last few episodes of Judge End

The rest of this post contains potential spoilers for Sengoku Basara Judge End.

Anime review: Sengoku Basara Judge End episode 9

Today's episode was probably the most exciting yet! If the rest of the series continues like this, I'll be a very happy person...

How to watch

Now that the official simulcasts are beginning it's been confirmed that the alternate title Sengoku Basara -End of Judgement- is being used outside Japan. I'll keep using Judge End for consistency but they're the exact same show.

These are the official ways to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End at the moment:

Television (Japan only)
This week's initial television broadcast on NTV is at 01:55 on Sunday morning (Japan time). The YTV and BS Nittere broadcasts are shown over a week late.

NTV On Demand (Japan only)
This is a premium service. Fans can pay ¥900 to watch the whole series or ¥300 to see an individual episode. The first episode is free and the previous week's episode is shown for free on Fridays and Saturdays. The series airs slightly earlier than the television broadcast at 24:00 local time.

Hulu (Japan only)
Fans who pay Hulu's ¥933 monthly fee can watch the episodes slightly ahead of the broadcast time.

The following Japanese streaming services will also be streaming Judge End; if you can't wait then it might be worth checking them to see whether any work in your region. I imagine they'll make the episodes available shortly after the television broadcast and some will be showing it for free.

AcTVila, Bandai Channel, Best Hit Anime Douga, d Anime Store, DMM.com, Google Play, GyaO Store, Happy Douga Anime, Hikari TV, JCOM On Demand, Movie Full+, Nico Nico Official Channel, Rakuten Showtime, Tsutaya TV, TV Dogatch, U-NEXT, Video Market

FUNimation (US only)
The episodes are streamed weekly on Saturdays at 14:20 Eastern Time with English subtitles, even when the Japanese television broadcast is delayed. Subscribers can watch the latest episode on the same day it's available in Japan while free users have to wait a week. FUNimation also have the home video rights, so if the stream is popular the series should eventually be dubbed into English. Even though the videos are region-locked, fans outside the US can still visit the site and rate the videos to show that there's demand!

Anime Digital Network (France only)
ADN are offering the series online with French subtitles. So far, the first eight episodes are available. They charge a monthly fee for the service.

J-ONE (France only)
A French-subtitled broadcast will take place on J-ONE - Canalsat (50) and Numericable (38). It seems to have begun, so the schedule can be viewed at the link.

Viewster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway only)
The show's broadcast was announced as being 'day and date with Japan' but it took a while for them to catch up. They seem to have settled into a rhythm now and the first eight episodes are already online with English subtitles. Viewster is a free ad-supported service.

Like many fans around the world I live in a country which has been excluded from the licensed simulcasts. In spite of this I feel very strongly about supporting the official translated version when it's available rather than resorting to piracy. The Japanese distributors will use the official viewing figures to see how successful the show has been while the US anime distributors like FUNimation use them to decide whether to give new titles home video releases, whether to dub them and whether to go the extra mile and produce a high quality premium release. If we want Sengoku Basara Judge End to receive a decent western release and raise awareness of the series, we need to make sure people are watching the official streams if possible. Please get your friends to watch it too if you can so that the industry can see that there's an audience out there. It might help to visit the official streaming sites and leave supportive comments there too, even if you live in a country where the video itself is blocked and you had to watch it some other way.

I'd rather not say how I'm watching the Japanese streams but it's not that difficult to find a method with some searching.

Important reminder

Sengoku Basara: Judge End is not a continuation of the previous anime adaptation. It's a brand new story and none of the events in Production I.G.'s version of Sengoku Basara have taken place in its timeline. Please don't get confused trying to match the old story to the new one; this anime is a complete reboot of the entire Sengoku Basara scenario. The story takes place after the fall of Oda Nobunaga.

Summary

The rest of this post contains spoilers for the first nine episodes of Sengoku Basara: Judge End and some low quality screenshots. Please note that I'm watching the show in untranslated Japanese and using my preferred spellings for character names; they won't necessary match the localised spellings if you're watching one of the subtitled versions!

News roundup: Sengoku Basara Judge End is back on the air tomorrow

The Judge End news is at the end of this post so that I can hide the (very minor) spoilers from the main page of the blog.

There'll be some Sengoku Basara activity at this month's Tokyo Game Show

Capcom have announced that they'll be holding a 40-minute Sengoku Basara panel with creators Kobayashi 'KobaP' Hiroyuki and Yamamoto 'YamamotoD' Makoto at Tokyo Game Show on Saturday 20th September 2014 at 15:00 Japan time. They're asking fans to submit questions on Twitter and their website until the 16th of the month. Some of the fans who participate in the social media activity throughout September will be selected to win Capcom-related prizes as shown on the website - please note that the prizes will usually only be shipped to Japanese addresses even though anyone can go ahead and submit a question.

Personally, I think that the staff are likely to give a separate presentation for the media on the 18th or 19th September with details of upcoming merchandise and events. While this is just my speculation, we're long overdue for a proper Basara Matsuri event announcement and they don't usually circulate the details of their press events to the general public in advance. Whether they're going to announce a new game of some kind is anyone's guess given how unpredictable these things have been historically, but it seems likely we'll get some kind of news about the series on top of the public Q&A session. I'm looking forward to it.

Capcom teams up with the Inazuma Rock Festival

T.M.Revolution's Nishikawa Takanori regularly participates in a music event called the Inazuma Rock Fes in Shiga Prefecture and this year, for the first time he'll be getting some extra support from 'Masamune-kun' and 'Yukimura-kun', a pair of mascot characters based on the Sengoku Basara series. The Sengoku Basara songs are often performed at the event so the collaboration makes a little sense.

The press release explains that the mascots will be appearing as dancers alongside the event's mascot character Tabo-kun (a caricature of Nishikawa himself) and his band formed of fellow mascots Inappii (the mascot of Inazawa City in Aichi) and Wataru (representing the bridge between Honshuu and Shikoku). Their performance will be on the Ryuujin stage on 13th September 2014 between 15:50 and 16:10. KobaP tweeted to say he was going to show up too.

Sadly there are no pictures showing what the Sengoku Basara mascots will look like, yet. I'm hoping they'll be similar to Jumbo Xavi-kun!

Even more Sengoku Basara Judge End merchandise is on the way

The official Judge End website has recently added details of some more upcoming goodies.

Lollipops printed with pictures of the series' four leads, priced at ¥400 and due for release in September 2014.

A ¥350 clear file, released in September. There's also a magnet with the same illustration, priced at ¥400 and due in late October 2014.

The magnet and clear file are limited to Miyagi Prefecture and they're decorated with a brand new illustration. The picture shows Masamune and Kojuurou in front of the scenery of Matsushima, one of the parts of Japan most celebrated for its natural beauty. Matsushima has very strong links to the real Date Masamune so this is an appropriate tie-in; I'm glad that the series' tradition of creating promotional illustrations for local areas has continued after the switch in animation studios.

Amazon posts a preview picture of its exclusive Judge End badge

Amazon Japan has an exclusive oversized Yukimura badge on offer for customers who purchase Sengoku Basara Judge End on DVD or Blu-ray, and it recently added a preview picture to the listings.

Now I'm even more certain that the three remaining volumes will come with additional exclusive badges.

Animate TV posts a preview of tomorrow's episode of Sengoku Basara Judge End

Just in case last week's break in the schedule was enough to make people forget about Sengoku Basara Judge End, Animate TV have posted their usual preview gallery for tomorrow's episode. I don't believe we ever had a summary for episode nine before so here's the vague description promised by the article: