It's the end of another week, which means the Bam Smack Pow team is here to recap the biggest anime news you may have missed. This week, we've got film festivals, concerts, and a work from one of the most iconic anime and manga creators of all time getting a chance to reach a whole new audience.
So, let's take a look for some of the biggest anime news from the end of April and the start of May.
Annecy International Animation Film Festival announces anime screenings
As reported by Anime News Network, the 2025 iteration of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (scheduled June 8-14) will screen several anime in showings that will serve as their Western premieres. The anime screenings announced include Mononoke the Movie Trilogy: Chapter 2: The Ashes of Rage; the anime adaptation of the light novel All You Need is Kill, written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and illustrated by yoshitoshi ABe (who uses a stylized version of his legal name as his pen name) and Nighmare Bugs, a recut of two of writer and director Saku Sakamoto's previous films.
The first movie in the announced Mononoke trilogy, Phantom in the Rain was released in Japan in July 2024, after a lengthy delay after the main role of the Medicine Seller was recast. The Japanese version of Ashes of Rage debuted in March of this year. Phantom in the Rain is now streaming internationally on Netflix, with the other two movies in the trilogy destined for the platform in the near future.
Fans may recognized All You Need is Kill as the basis for the 2014 live-action Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. The upcoming anime will tell a different story from both the original light novel and Edge of Tomorrow. The English translation of the original All You Need is Kill light novel has been available since 2009 through publisher Viz Media.
Evangelion concert coming to North America
Crunchy has announced that the live concert series known as "Evangelion Wind Symphony" will be coming to North America for three shows. The concert series is a collaboration between Sony Music, Studio Khara (successor to Gainax, the original production studio behind Neon Genesis Evangelion) Kashamara Productions and 54 Entertainment.
Notably, the concert will include a performance by Yoko Takahashi returning to sing the anime series' beloved theme song "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" (posted above). The concert series is taking place as part of the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion. After a pre-sale period, tickets are now available to the general public.
The three announced North American dates are as follows:
• Meridian Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada — August 26
• The Pavilion, Irving, Texas — August 28
• Dolby Theater, Los Angeles — August 30
The original Neon Genesis Evangelion series; the recap movie Evangelion Death (TRUE)² and The End of Evangelion, which serves as an alternate ending to the anime series are all streaming internationally on Netflix with a new English cast. The Rebuild of Evangelion movie series, which tells a new version of the story of the original anime series, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, with the original English cast returning.
Akira Toriyama's Sand Land debuts on TV
Crunchyroll reports that the anime adaptation of Sand Land, the 2000 manga from Akira Toriyama (best known as the creator of Dragon Ball) will debut on Japanese TV on June 28 via Japan's public broadcaster NHK. Although this marks the first time Sand Land has aired on TV, it has previously been available on other platforms. Sand Land was first released as a movie in 2023 and then began streaming internationally on Disney Plus in 2024.
Although Akira Toriyama's best-known work is easily the Dragon Ball series, he has a prolific manga writer and artist who also created numerous original, standalone series separate from Dragon Ball, including Dr. Slump and Sand Land. His immediately recognizable art style also became a key part of iconic video games like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest, for which he provide character designs. Toriyama died in March 2024.
The original Sand Land manga series is published in English by Viz Media, which provides the following summary:
"In the far future, war has destroyed the entire Earth, leaving only a barren wasteland where the supply of water is controlled by the greedy king. In search of a long-lost lake, Sheriff Rao asked the king of the demons for help...and got the king's son, Beelzebub, and his assistant, Thief. Together the unlikely trio sets off across the desert, facing dragons, bandits and the deadliest foe of all... the King's army itself! It's travel adventure and tank action in this new story from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z!"
As always, come back next week for more anime news from the Bam Smack Pow team, and in the meantime, keep following us for all the latest from the world's of Marvel and DC — especially the newly released Thunderbolts.