Anime – a niche medium, a global phenomenon, and a personal passion for many. Anime connects people, and from our studio room to the convention floor, our crew engages with industry pros and fellow fans alike to keep you informed and entertained. Everyone is invited to kick back and relax with us every week at Otaku Hourly, your backdoor anime hangout.
The Fourth of July weekend was jam packed with several anime events and pop ups and your backdoor anime hangout decided to explore what LA had to offer both in and outside of the titular AX in order to explore the breadth and expansion of anime culture, industry, and community. This includes:
Anime Expo 2026
White Box Entertainment’s Anime Business Seminar at the Hotel Indigo
How to Draw Manga with Ace Attorney mangaka, Kazuo Maekawa of Manga Dojo at Japan House LA
Kodansha House LA
LA Anime Artist Alley
Ghost In The Shell Premiere at Brain Dead Studios Fairfax
8 Jun 2026
Jinsei - Movie Review
Anime can get pretty campy with its tropes. How many more isekais will we need to get the point across that this life can be more? How many more rom-coms will continue to dangle the “relationship” in a form of sideways glances or hand holding? How many more shounens must be made using the same stock of characters to end with the power of friendship? Not all of it is bad, yet it begs the question: is that all that there is to it now…or ever?
There is a movie that simply stands on its own, unconcerned with the cliches of anime and operates more so an indie film. In this case, its truest sense where most of it - directing, editing, composing, animating, writing to name a few, save for voice acting - is all done by ONE. PERSON. This is Jinsei.
Jinsei premieres in theaters 12 June 2026.
Many thanks to Maddux Brown and Zarahi Alcantar of 42West for the screener.
25 Feb 2026
Hypnosis Mic Division Rap Battle Interactive Movie Revview: Your Vote Drives the Plot
The Hypnosis Mic franchise has seen its fair share of media diversification - anime, manga, even a live theater stage production - yet nothing like this: an interactive movie theater experience where audience members vote in real time to determine the outcome and narrative. Having watched the series proper, I can comfortably say that this is both the best entry point for those new to Hypnosis Mic and the film that can bring potential in revitalizing the movie experience. In this review, we go into:
a briefer of the Hypnosis Mic franchise
how gimmick wins over plot (for this kind of film)
what a limited release that earned 2.5 billion yen ($16.5 million) (https://variety.com/2025/film/news/hypnosis-mic-japanese-box-office-history-1236553540/) can indicate for interactive movies in the future
the proper procedure in preparation for this film.
Hypnosis Mic Rap Division Battle Movie releases on 27 February 2026.
More information at GKIDS (https://gkids.com/films/hypnosismic-division-rap-battle-interactive-movie/)
Many thanks to GKIDS for the press invite:
Alexandra B’Llamas-Reynoso
Rae D’Agnillo
Juan Zavala
Who has been a guest on Otaku Hourly
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Sumako Kari
Masaaki Ninomiya
Erik Jansen
David Bove
Alex Kon
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
2,734
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
17
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
32
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