And now for something quite a bit different… A popular and award-winning anime series takes on a classic of European fantasy with Aggretsuko: Down The Rabbit Hole. “When Retsuko attempts to go on vacation with Gori and Washimi, she’s pulled into a terrible world where she’s forced to work for her freedom. Featuring all of the fan favorite characters from the office in twisted versions of themselves, Aggretsuko must navigate the twists and turns of a world gone mad!” Written and illustrated by Patabot, this new hardcover graphic novel from the folks at Oni Press hits the shelves this October.
Anime
You Were Watching It For Them Anyway, Right?
When Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were all the rage in TV animation circles, furry fans of course zeroed in on all of the interesting and strange wildlife to be found in that fantasy universe. Well soon Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a new compendium of creatures called Beasts of the Four Nations. “Part of what everyone loves about the Four Nations is all the strange and wonderful (and sometimes scary!) creatures that inhabit them! From the Air Nomads’ flying bison, to Kyoshi Island’s elephant koi, to the Earth Kingdom’s singing groundhogs and the little purple pentapus, look to this hardcover collection for images and information on Avatar and Korra’s creatures large and small, including many from the spirit world!” Different sources give different release dates for it, from this coming December to next February.
Work Out Your Aggression
Renegade Games and Oni Press present Aggretsuko: Work/Rage Balance, a new card game based on the popular and award-winning anime series. “Aggretsuko is a fast-playing card game for 3-6 players, where each player takes the role of a mild-mannered office worker trying to get through their work each day. If a worker becomes frustrated, they can RAGE to let out their inner heavy-metal rock star. RAGING will provide some much-needed relief from the daily grind, but it may have consequences later on.” Interestingly, the game is illustrated by Brenda Hickey, well-known for her work on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic series. Board Game Geek have a review of the new game.
Snugglers of Many Species
One of the more celebrated (if difficult to find) anime series in recent years as been Interspecies Reviewers — a high fantasy intended for a decidedly adult audience! Well now we’ve discovered that Yen Press has released an artistic tribute manga for the series, Interspecies Reviewers Comic Anthology: Darkness. “Haven’t had enough succu-girls? In this collection of art and short comics, talented Japanese artists such as Okayado (Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls), Ganmarei (Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls), and coolkyousinnja (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) come together for a loving tribute to the monster brothel adventurers of Interspecies Reviewers! Whether it’s new species or old favorites, this anthology has enough hot and steamy action to satisfy any fan!” Well there you go. If you’re old enough to order it you can find all this and more over at Amazon.
The Ones Who DON’T Rock Out… as much
One of the things that makes the award-winning anime series Aggretsuko quite fascinating is all the interesting side characters our red-panda hero finds herself surrounded by. Wouldn’t you like to know more about them, too? Well, Oni Press agrees! Aggretsuko — Meet Her Friends is a new full-color comic miniseries written by Cat Farris, with art by Lisa DuBois and Leonardo Ito. “Dive further into the world of Aggretsuko, the hit Netflix show, with these character-focused stories! Up first, meet the enigmatic YOGA TEACHER… Over drinks, Retsuko and her coworkers ponder his mysterious past.” Available now from Oni Press.
Rage on the Page
Likely you’ve heard of the Ursa Major Award-winning anime called Aggretsuko, yes? Did you know that Oni Press recently started a full-color comic book version? Neither did we! “Sanrio and Oni Press join forces to bring Aggretsuko to comics for the first time! Aggretsuko, the hit Netflix show in production for season three, stars Retsuko the Red Panda, a young office worker stuck in a thankless job, whose only stress release is singing heavy metal at the local karaoke joint. With the help of her friends, can she ever find the job satisfaction she craves – – not to mention adventure, the approval of her mother, and even… love?!” It’s written by Daniel Barnes, and illustrated by DJ Kirkland and Sarah Stern. Take a look at Oni’s page — and some creepy alternate covers!
He’s So Fluff-y
Hey look at that — some locals! At this year’s Anime L.A. convention we came across Fantastic Fam, headquartered right here in Orange County CA. Here’s what they say about themselves: “We are designers, illustrators, retailers, and manufacturers of fun and unique fashion and accessories.” Simple enough. Right now they’re specializing in comfortable designer cloth face-masks (funny that), but the reason we noticed them was for their line of clothing that features Fluff the Corgi! Not just clothing but stickers, art prints, and other cool stuff. Take a look at their web site and see what we mean. Woof.
A Fat Cat You Can Get Behind
Younger fur fans might not remember What’s Michael? the manga or the successful anime series that followed it — but over the years we’ve talked a LOT about Makoto Kobayashi’s creation: A somewhat lazy pet cat with a very active imagination. Well now the original manga return in a new black & white collection from Dark Horse Press. “True-to-life daily cat scenarios and off-the-wall crazy feline fantasies combine in this epic manga collection! Makoto Kobayashi’s hilarious series returns in a set of oversized collections, starting with our first Fatcat Collection!” Volume 1 is available now — and at more than 500 pages, even the book is fat!
Chibi and Tasty
Interesting things we found at this year’s Anime L.A. convention. The artist Ryan Zanfei has gathered together a small crew to sell her creations through a collective known as Tasty Peach Studios. And what are her creations? Cute! “Tasty Peach Studios… is a sweet, unique boutique that sells cute merchandise inspired by Japan! We started out selling small hand made clay charms and commissioned artwork through our little Etsy shop in 2007. Since then we have grown exponentially! We now attend upwards of 70+ anime conventions a year & ship high quality acrylic items, professionally made products and more world wide every day!” Those high quality items now include t-shirts, plushies, enamel pins, and even wigs — and more. Visit the Tasty Peach web site to see what we mean.