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Top Picks from Discotek Deep Dive July Schedule

Discotek’s July lineup brings classic anime fans plenty to celebrate, from Go Nagai’s Devilman to Osamu Tezuka’s daring Animerama work and the ever-charming Sherlock Hound.

Discotek Deep Dive May When looking at Discotek’s deep dive July schedule, I can’t help but smile. For those following Go Nagai’s Devilman saga, the next series release is coming, and there’s more Osamu Tezuka’s works being offered! The late 60s was a prime time for fans of this artist’s works. It is also worth noting his cinematic output didn’t get a wide release.

Honourable mentions go to Astro Boy: The Complete 1980 Series, along with City Hunter and its 1991 continuation, which together do a solid job of capturing what made 90s anime so memorable.

Devilman: The Complete TV Series (1972)

devilman_tv-800x1017 Before Go Nagai went full dark with the manga, the original TV series told a more family-friendly version of the story. Teenager Akira Fudo merges with the demon Amon, inheriting his power while holding onto his human soul, and uses that strength to defend Earth from demonic invasions. It’s campy and colourful in all the best 70s ways, and it’s essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand why later adaptations like Devilman Crybaby landed so hard.

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The Ties That Bind. Haunted Discoveries Family Spirits, The Interview (Part 2)

In what makes Haunted Discoveries Family Spirits different is a shared DNA between episodes and it’s freely available to watch on YouTube!

Shared DNA and haunts definies what Haunted Discoveries Family Spirits is all about. Now into its third season, what’s presented in this series run suggests that sometimes, what brings troubled souls together conerns more than the humanity lost for those brought to Waverly Hills Sanatorium. And viewers who love a bit of spooky drama can find it available to view online.

For the two creators of these series, Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gadillari, helping the folks affected by this past get closure is important. And with additional talents like Dr. Harry Kloor to work with and Craig Owens as part of the team, they have a tight focus. The former is an innovator holding a degree in Physics and Chemistry (think Tony Stark), which is important to field studies, and the latter is the author of Haunted by History Vol. 1: Separating the Facts and Legends of Eight Historic Hotels and Inns in Southern California (Amazon link), which brings credibility to what the team does.

To encompass the emotion behind those supernatural experiences, Alvis revealed that reenactments are a really good way to show the audience what that feeling was like for Harvey Althaus. In the second episode of the third season, “Haunted by Faith,” this individual had a problematic childhood with his mother. Not only was it haunting, but the reveals are just as good as following a tale written by Shirley Jackson. It’s an episode worth watching.

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Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gadillari Has More Haunted Discoveries and Family Secrets To Dig Up, An Interview (Part One)

Haunted Discoveries stands out as a series which focuses on history moreso than others in this genre, and it’s a welcome change than the the usual ghost-hunting spectacle offered in broadcasting these days.

Haunted Discoveries Main — **Also available to view on YouTube via SnootaTV**

When travelling the byways and highways of Kentucky and Illinois to the northeastern seaboard, there are plenty of places to check out in Haunted Discoveries. Interest in the paranormal developed differently for Brandon Alvis and Mustafa Gadillari. For the latter, it wasn’t until he was 18 that he started looking for answers.

“I started delving into the history of our family home, and I learned some things about the previous resident; it all confirmed what we were experiencing,” said Gadillari, “Ever since then, I was hooked. I joined a local team, did some investigations, and eventually went hardcore. I later became part of Ghost Hunters, where I met Brandon.”

Alvis’ route was different. While the two share a similar ethos in why they investigate, they chose to focus on what matters most to them rather than becoming just another paranormal reality show. He didn’t go into detail about the incident that started it all, but he did say he’s been studying the field for over 20 years. His ongoing work as the founder of the American Paranormal Research Association speaks for itself. With experience as a filmmaker, director, and editor, what they’ve built shows control and intent rather than chaos. As he explained, “It’s been a lot of fun to look at history through the paranormal angle and understand that what happened before us still echoes into our time.”

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TokyoPOP’s Disney Manga Calender is Hot This Spring

Disney manga fans have a few collected editions to consider, which are mostly reprints, but for those who haven’t read them yet, these new editions are hardcover editions.

Disney Stitch! The Manga Collection — Available to order on Amazon USA

New hardcover and translated editions of TokyoPOP‘s Disney Manga are coming to bookstores, featuring some of this studio’s beloved characters in manga-style format. Whether it’s a certain Jack Sparrow or a certain blue fuzzy wuzzy, these editions are worth considering if those softcover copies are looking worn from repeated reading. Two of the three are available now, with the third coming soon.

While my money is on the upgrade path for Stitch! The Manga Collection, that’s because the two volumes that make up this set are now in one package. Even though Best Friends Forever! is not part of the collection, maybe it’ll be added in due time. Stitch and the Samurai has its own compiled collection (Amazon link), so that’s what fans need to know when comparing this upcoming release to past editions.

As for the other titles, they include:

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Gou Tanabe’s Next Manga, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is on Trial!

Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has begun in Japan, but English-language readers may have a long wait ahead. Thankfully, several Lovecraft-inspired graphic novels are arriving soon to keep cosmic horror fans busy.

The news is real. Gou Tanabe is adapting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and the first chapter is out in print! Although a translated release is likely years away, fans can either seek out the original or wait. The current release is seeing print through Kadokawa’s Comic Beam magazine. Fan translations may exist, but for now, that’s all readers are going to get. And considering this is one of Lovecraft’s longer works, don’t expect the story to wrap up for at least two years.

Tanabe tends to expand source material with sweeping vistas and densely detailed art. Like other artists invested in world-building, such as Mamoru Nagano and Gothicmade, formerly Five Star Stories, readers living abroad are at a disadvantage. By the time this adaptation reaches tankobon format, there may be two volumes.

While fans wait, the following are due out soon:

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When Hotori Doesn’t Have To Sing Along to Billy Joel’s “Pressure”

Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope is a short anime about a girl losing herself to an unknown condition and the android built to inherit a dead child’s memories, and their unlikely bond asks the most essential questions about what makes us human.

Hotori Wishing for Hope The quest for memories is the focus in Hotori: Simply Wishing for Hope, a short film about a girl who can’t have a tomorrow. She’s struggling with an unknown condition that’s steadily erasing who she is. She’ll become a shell of what she was, and in contrast, she meets an android built to inherit the memories of a deceased child. His parents know Suzu is no replacement, but when a life is cut too short, is it a fair trade to gain what another has lost? That’s the existential crisis at the heart of this heartbreaking (or is that warming?) story about why life is precious, and why we shouldn’t take every day for granted.

Hotori originally aired as a Japanese television special and was directed by Takashi Anno (Maison Ikkoku, Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma). It won third place at the 2004 Animax Grand Prix awards and although this release comes very late, the themes feel timely when you consider what defines an AI, its personality, and what exactly constitutes a soul. Memories aren’t the only piece of the puzzle. There’s “Personality,” which can apparently be extracted and put into code. We’re not meant to unpack how all of that works, and what’s genuinely poignant is the relationship these two tweens share.

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