June is Pride Month, and in the past, we’ve spent our June weekends travelling to anime conventions across the country, with the exception of this year… (Thanks COVID!) That means our staff members can’t pick up their usual Pride buttons, stickers and other merch from the independent artists and creators of Artists Alley — but that doesn’t mean we can’t get some absolutely stunning Pride merch online!
Rather than write about our favorite LGBTQ+ anime characters or shows this year, we’ve written a blog about some gorgeous Pride merch you can buy from the comfort (and safety!) of your own home. And better yet, the entries on this list either benefit LGBTQ+ charities or are helmed by LGBTQ+ staff and artists.*
Awesome Pride merch that also benefits members of the LGBTQ+ community? Now that’s a win-win in our book!
*Sentai is not affiliated with any of the above parties or organizations. We just think they’re really cool!
When Mana Shikimiya joins her new school’s struggling Lyrical Tradition Dance club, she finds herself swept up in a dream shared by thousands of other middle school girls across Japan: To someday compete at the Prism Stage, where teams of young women battle in song and dance for the chance to become the next generation of top idol singers! First, though, she’ll have to help save the club from being shut down, and then she and her new friends Sayu, Mizuhua, Kae, Kasumi and Minori will have to up their musical game in order to make it to the first level of competition. Because no matter how badly they want to win, there are hundreds of other girls who want it just as much… and those girls all have a head start in RE: STAGE! DREAM DAYS! Rating: TV-14
Hikari Tsutsui has never been popular, his one real friend is an even worse otaku than he is, and the only girls he’s known are the two-dimensional women from his manga and video games. Until, that is, he’s sent to help clean the pool as punishment and is partnered with the school’s resident “bad girl”, the very real, very three-dimensional Iroha Igarashi. Brash, beautiful, and known for her promiscuous behavior, Iroha is loathed by other girls but loved by the guys. And yet, inexplicably, she not only seems to be interested in Hikari, but proposes that they enter into a relationship! Unable to resist, Hikari agrees, but there’s one big catch - Iroha’s moving away in six months, so no matter what happens between them, in half a year Hikari’s guaranteed to lose his REAL GIRL! Rating: TV-14 (D)
Akira Tachibana’s life has taken a wrong turn. Sidelined from her high school track team by an injury, she’s found herself increasingly distanced from her friends and unsure of what to do next with her life. That’s not her biggest worry though. The real problem is that she’s found someone that she’s interested in, someone who makes her feel like she’s never felt before… even though she knows that, by society’s standards, it’s completely wrong. Because the person at the center of the emotional storm overwhelming her is nearly three times her age and the manager of the restaurant where she’s just begun to work. So, what now? Does this runner take the next step and tell him how she feels? Or will she stumble, turn, and flee from the one thing she truly wants in AFTER THE RAIN? Rating: TV-14 (D)
Kakeru Kurahara was a track star in high school, but after losing his money gambling, the only running he’s doing is fleeing after shoplifting food. Then Kakeru’s escape route crosses paths with Haiji Kiyose, and he gets a chance to change his life’s direction. A fourth-year college student, Haiji has dreamed of entering the famous Hakone Ekidan relay marathon, but he’s been one runner short of a potential team… until he sees Kakeru blow past him like the wind and knows he’s found his critical tenth man. Of course, it won’t be easy convincing Kakeru to join, and the rest of the team includes such questionable choices as a chronic smoker and an underweight otaku, but they’ve all got legs and Haiji will make sure they learn how to use them to RUN WITH THE WIND! Rating: TV-14
He’s a pest. A menace. And worst of all, he sits next to her in class. All Yokoi wants is to be able to pay attention to her teacher’s lessons, but somehow her focus is always pulled away to what Seki is up to. Because he’s always up to something, whether it’s playing a game or building some mind-boggling creation on his desk. While their teacher is speaking! While Seki should be taking notes! And yet Yokoi is the only one who ever notices. She’s the only one who sees disaster looming as Seki’s nefarious plans slowly build to their evil fruition. And worst of all, while Seki always seems to get away with it, the constant distractions and paranoia that he’s inducing in Yokoi keep getting HER into trouble! It’s just not fair! But despite the consequences, Yokoi finds herself unable to look away. To ignore him. So with every class, the tension and torture begin again in TONARI NO SEKI-KUN! Rating: TV-14 (D)
What’s better than a concert by one of your favorite singing groups? A concert by three of your favorite singing groups, of course! That’s what lucky fans get when three of the most popular vocal groups from the UTANO★PRINCESAMA franchise all come together for a single epic motion picture performance. Have you got your tickets yet? If you have, come join ST★RISH, QUARTET NIGHT, and HE★VENS as they all take to the stage! It’s an epic battle of the bands where there’s no battle and everyone wins in Utano★Princesama Maji Love Kingdom! Rating: TV-14
If there’s one thing that the long-running Fate/stay night franchise has always been noted for, it’s the creative freedom that allows every new installment to develop its own unique take on the overall concept and base set of continuing characters. However, no matter how diverse many of the previous installments have been, you’re almost certainly not going to be prepared for the non-stop surreal silliness and fever dream alternative concepts unleashed in this demented new OVA installment. From a surreal talk show where a berserker hostess puts her hapless assassin brother co-host through an increasingly grueling wringer, to spicy ramen endurance tests, magical girls gone wild and wholesale gender-swapping for no apparent reason, you’ve never seen anything like FATE/KALEID LINER PRISMA ILLYA: PRISMA★PHANTASM! Rating: TV-14 (D)
Despite his adoptive father’s warnings that the girl found in the remnants of a destroyed city is too dangerous to be considered anything other than a tool or weapon, Shiro Emiya comes to treat Miyu as a younger sister. But when Shiro relaxes his guard and Miyu starts normal school, the Ainsworth family and their agents swoop in, kidnapping the girl with the goal of sacrificing her! Faced with the realization that Miyu’s ability to do good will always be equaled by her capacity for destruction, Shiro must attempt to both rescue his adopted sister, and decide how to confront the threat that her powers will always pose. The lines between noble deeds and monstrous acts, and between hero and fanatic, will be the breaking points in the epic feature film FATE/KALEID LINER PRISMA ILLYA: VOW IN THE SNOW! Rating: TV-MA (V)
Is it possible for a girl to be TOO smart for her own good? Ueno is a genius when it comes to understanding chemical reactions and building cutting edge technology, but whenever she tries to use her brilliance to dazzle the cute guy in her science club, the results are inevitably disastrous. But yet, no matter how wrong things go when Ueno tries to impress Tanaka with her ability to convert her own urine into drinking water or use anti-gravity to replace umbrellas, our heroine is determined to keep putting round pegs into square holes until she finds the one that opens the lock to his heart. The results are unpredictable, but usually catastrophic, as Ueno discovers that blinding him with science isn’t anywhere near as simple as she’d hoped in HOW CLUMSY YOU ARE, MISS UENO! Rating: TV-14 (D)
Building the city of the future is a tough job, but the development of Labors… giant robots specifically designed for construction and other heavy duty tasks… is transforming the world. Unfortunately, when someone puts that much power in a machine, the one thing that’s certain is that someone somewhere will find a way to use it to commit crimes. That’s why Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has its massive Ingram Patrol Labors and the brave men and women of Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2… including the teams most recent recruit, the mecha obsessed Noa Azumi. Get ready for some of the wildest, most incredible adventures ever as Noa and her new comrades in arms hit the street in the ultimate collection of one of anime’s most legendary creations - MOBILE POLICE PATLABOR! Rating: TV-14 (V)
It started when the Literature Club’s president, Rika, began reading some especially lurid prose out loud to the other girls, but the major turning point was when the term “bucket list” was discussed and Niina stated that having sex was at the top of hers. From there… well, they were a group of young women swimming in the sea of hormones of a modern high school. How could they NOT find their brains preoccupied with sex? Especially with Kazusa dealing with her feelings for a childhood friend, Hitoha secretly writing adult novels without any experience, and Momoko experiencing revelations about her own orientation. A whole new chapter is about to begin in the lives of five young women as they venture past the printed page and into the real world in O MAIDENS IN YOUR SAVAGE SEASON! Rating: TV-14
As the 99th graduating class of the Seisho Music Academy prepares for their annual review, “Starlight”, aspiring actress Karen Aijo is happy just to have the chance to be in the cast. But when Karen’s childhood friend Hikari mysteriously arrives after years abroad, Karen quickly learns that there is more going on at Seisho than the normal drama classes. Following Hikari late one night, Karen discovers an elevator that takes her deep below the Earth, where the secret auditions for the leads in Starlight is underway… a competition that is fought with real weapons as well as song and dance! Goaded by the giraffe in charge of the trials, Karen throws caution to the wind and takes the stage herself… but will she be ready to survive the ultimate contest of drama and skills that is REVUE STARLIGHT? Rating: TV-14 (D)
Miss seeing us on the convention circuit? We’re thrilled to announce that on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, we’ll be bringing the anime home to you as we host Sentai at Home — Sentai’s first-ever digital industry panel hosted by voice actor Natalie Rial!
Join us for a digital scavenger hunt, special announcements, and giveaways of all kinds of anime goodies you can’t get anywhere else. We’ll even be hearing from some very special guests, including Japanese seiyuus, series creators and more.
And that’s not all. With Sentai at Home, you can look forward to special project previews, trailers and even interviews with our ADR directors.
If you’re interested in joining Sentai at Home (and let’s face it — why wouldn’t you be?), click here to join our mailing list so you can get the inside scoop on what to expect and how to join the fun.
And when it’s all over? You’ll have so much fun, you might just want us to throw a digital panel again next year.
For information about Sentai at Home, please visit athome.sentai.com.
If it were a month later, I’d be more excited about it, as we might get some new licensing announcements. The most we can expect out of this is some Steelbook titles, the Shirobako dub cast, and maybe some old title licensing announcements. ( I’d laugh myself silly if they got both Date A Live: Mayuri Judgement, and Date A Bullet)
Or maybe the acquisition of a certain set of OVA’S for a certain series, or maybe the announcement of dub production of the second season of the same certain series…
