I'm a freelance videographer and entertainment journalist (Absolute Underground Magazine, Two Hungry Blokes, and Otaku no Culture) with a wide range of interests. From archaeology to popular culture to paranormal studies, there's no stone unturned. Digging for the past and embracing "The Future" is my mantra.
Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes dives into the legacy of the cult Canadian animated film through Verne Andrusiek’s firsthand insights, exploring its production struggles, analog artistry, and why a true restoration may never happen.
View the Kickstarter here
Verne Andrusiek is just one of the amazing talents who helped breathe visual life into a seminal Canadian animated classic, Rock and Rule. For the later part of his entertainment career, he went by the shorter version of his last name, and not everyone made the connection. With this Nelvana Entertainment film recognized as a cult work in the Canadiana hall of fame, anyone asking for a release will be in for a disappointment. A remaster is not likely to happen. What Verne preserved at home, though, will become part of the backbone of Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, a video documentary that includes interviews with the directors and writers of this project. He announced this project to folks visiting his booth during Fan Expo Vancouver 2026!
With a crowdfunding campaign launching April 6, 2026, he also hopes to put some long-running fan debates to rest. He put it this way: “I became a bit of a jack-of-all-trades over my career going from music to electronics, art, film and computers in large part due to times, the 1950s through to 1980 were a period of dramatic change when not much of anything we take for granted today existed. Basically, if you wanted something you had to figure out how to do it yourself because there were no off-the-shelf solutions.”
From supernatural action to mythic fantasy and sci-fi wildcards, the Spring 2026 animation season is filled with a bit of everything for fans to enjoy, and we got our picks on what to tune into!
This year, the streaming world has no shortage of animated works to dig into, which makes narrowing things down to what must be seen tough. What I chose to check out for the Spring 2026 animation season are based on what I will definitely check out because of the trailers made available. They do not include works which I’ve covered previously as they are standouts. As for the rest, these are somewhat seasonally filled to make the Easter long weekend just right.
A quick note: this list doesn’t include Witch Hat Atelier, which deserves its own spotlight rather than a slot in a seasonal roundup.
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring
March 28, Crunchyroll
This one earns the “most literally Spring-themed release” award, and honestly, it wears that title well. Produced by WIT Studio, the series follows the Agents responsible for bringing the natural cycle back to the land, with the central focus on the return of the Agent of Spring after a decade-long disappearance.
WIT has a track record of making visually lush, emotionally grounded work, and a premise built around seasonal renewal feels like a natural fit for them. Whether the story lives up to that pedigree remains to be seen, but the setup alone has enough quiet intrigue to make this one worth checking in on early.
Ghost Concert: Missing Songs
April 5, Crunchyroll
Every season needs at least one wildcard, and without something paranormal in the mix, this list wouldn’t feel right. Ghost Concert: Missing Songs is that pick. A music-driven sci-fi project built around “song battles,” it feels like a spiritual cousin to Symphogear, but with a more experimental edge. It blends performance, narrative, and spectacle in a way that could either become a cult favourite or something far stranger, and that unpredictability is its own selling point.
There’s something genuinely refreshing about anime that doesn’t fit a clean genre box. The risk is that “experimental” can sometimes mean “incoherent,” but if the execution holds, this could be the sleeper pick of the season.
My Brother the Minotaur
Apple TV+, April 24
Cartoon Saloon can do no wrong, and this one is already fascinating on premise alone. The series draws from Greek legend, following a boy with obvious lineage as he tries to rediscover where he comes from.
Whether there’s any direct connection to Persephone and the return of warmer days is pure guesswork on my part, but knowing this studio’s instinct for finding the emotional core of mythology, a fresh retelling of Greek legend wouldn’t surprise me at all. The Minoan undertones feel seasonally appropriate regardless, and the cast alone, Brian Cox, Andy Serkis, and Michael Sheen, should say plenty about the kind of production this is shaping up to be.
Nippon Sangoku
April 5, Amazon Prime Video
This one takes the “Three Kingdoms” framework and transplants it into a fractured future Japan, reimagining the classic era as post-apocalyptic sci-fi. It’s a high-concept swing, one of history’s most retold narratives filtered through worldbuilding that sounds closer to the ragged wastelands of Trigun or Dorohedoro than anything traditionally historical.
The Amazon exclusivity puts it outside the Crunchyroll stack, but it’s worth flagging as a dark horse. Political intrigue and survival storytelling have long shelf lives, and grounding that in a recognizable historical structure gives it a narrative foundation that pure originals sometimes struggle to find.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm
April 4, Crunchyroll
BONES Studio is back with a supernatural action series, and this company’s track record earns immediate attention. The series centres on a pair of twins pulled into a conflict involving powerful supernatural entities, a premise that could go in a dozen different directions depending on execution.
This art house knows how to deliver in this space; Fullmetal Alchemist and Noragami are proof enough, and a twin-centred story opens up room for the kind of dynamic character work that makes the action land beyond just its fight choreography. Given the pedigree, this feels like one of the higher-profile bets of the season, and that seems earned.
A look at smaller pop culture events across the Pacific Northwest and beyond, highlighting community-driven events worth checking out if the bigger spring conventions are out of reach.
Between big events like Sakuracon taking place this weekend and Calgary Fan Expo across the regional divide, these are the big two spring conventions in the Pacific Northwest, or close by, that define April. They are both great shows, but for locals, staying closer to home is sometimes the better option. Smaller conventions tend to focus on community support, a specific genre, or cosplay culture rather than acting as large-scale marketplaces. Although their special guests are not always A-listers, they are still worth noting. No matter their level of fame, they remain a draw.
Here’s a quick list of events happening soon, especially if the big Seattle event is not in the budget.
Squatchcon
(Port Angeles, WA | April 9–12)
This show leans a bit into folklore and more into what AnimeKat offers, as they are most likely one of the best hangout spots to give locals what they love, a place to geek out with a more traditional “science-fiction convention” experience, complete with a dance and regional support.
Crypticon Seattle
(SeaTac, WA | May 1–3)
The Pacific Northwest’s dedicated horror convention, drawing genre fans with an emphasis on film, dark art, and guests that mainstream cons rarely book.
Northern FanCon (Prince George, BC | May 1–3)
This convention is the one that started it all for the Langford sister show, and it’s one of the few that offers to fans living in the boonies a chance to experience a full pop culture event without travelling far south.
Season three of Ninjago Dragons Rising left behind a maze of fractured alliances, missing memories, dragons, and multiverse-level consequences. This recap breaks down the major turns involving Ras, Arin, Thunderfang, Sensei Wu, and the growing mystery behind the Administration before season four arrives.
Now Streaming on Netflix
If you’ve been keeping up with Ninjago Dragons Rising, there was a lot to take in during season three. That’s because there were many story arcs going on. With twenty episodes, two big narrative arcs, a dragon apocalypse, and several reveals, an evidence board is required to make sense of how it all relates. I even got lost on occasion and had to rewatch and look up episode summaries just to remind myself where the ninjas have gone, who is back, and why Ras matters.
And with the help of online forums and other applications, I offer this guide before the next season debuts. It’s required reading. But for those looking for the quick two-sentence version of what matters most: Ras has the soul of Sensei Wu, and the Source Dragons say that things are much more fractured than they already are. With one of their kind gone, and their agreement with the First Ninjago Master broken, even they are at a slight loss.
Spring 2026 is shaping up to be a surprisingly packed season for fans of mysteries, conspiracies, and the unexplained. There’s no shortage of strangeness to tune into for the Spring 2026 Mystery Block on Friday nights!
If you’ve spent any time following the unknown and unsolved with all those series on History Channel or Discovery, the good news is that there’s always something new on the horizon. I personally believe we are finally out of the paranormal reality television craze as interest has, ironically enough, faded away. The few programs that remain for Spring 2026 Mystery Block are money makers for one reason or another, but as for new content and promoting those shows, it’s about bloody time!
What started as a niche revival has exploded into a full-blown spring premiere block. And it’s no joke, April is a busy month! Whether you’re here for the cryptids, the conspiracies, or just to see genre icons staring intensely at dusty artifacts, here is how the lineup is shaping up.
With Expedition X having finished its run not too long ago, there’s an empty chair in the entertainment that needs filling. And there is good news as the next season is being filmed. On the series fan page on Facebook, Heather confirmed they are filming. All fans can do is wait while The Secret of Oak Island is nothing but dead air. As for Expedition Files, the successor to the Unknown brand, that’s coming April 1st if the info on their social media is correct.
Takashi Miike brings flashes of his trademark energy to Blazing Fists, but this sports drama works better once its gangland edge takes over. While uneven in pacing and emotional payoff, the film still lands a solid message about friendship and brotherhood.
Although Takashi Miike is best known for his gonzo work in films like Full Metal Yakuza, and his lighter fantasy fare like The Great Yokai War, I was curious to see how he would handle extreme sports in Blue Fight: The Breaking Down of Young Blue Warriors. In North America, this movie is retitled Blazing Fists and it could have easily become a vanity project for mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura, but instead it centres on Ikuto (Danhi Kinoshita), a young man with very little to hold onto and even more to lose.
After defending Ryoma (Kaname Yoshizawa) in a street fight, Ikuto quickly forms a bond with him. The two become fast friends and begin chasing a shared dream of appearing on the televised competition Breaking Down. A cameo from Asakura helps fuel that ambition, and soon both young men are fighting for a chance to be seen.
View the Kickstarter here
This year, the streaming world has no shortage of animated works to dig into, which makes narrowing things down to what must be seen tough. What I chose to check out for the Spring 2026 animation season are based on what I will definitely check out because of the trailers made available. They do not include works which I’ve covered previously as they are standouts. As for the rest, these are somewhat seasonally filled to make the Easter long weekend just right.
Between big events like Sakuracon taking place this weekend and 
Now Streaming on Netflix
If you’ve spent any time following the unknown and unsolved with all those series on 