April Fools’ Day of 2024 didn’t skip the anime community, which wholeheartedly decided to mark the occasion with a series of joke announcements, troll posts, and overall fun. We compiled a list of those that stood out – be it by entertainment factor or sheer chaos they caused.
Table of contents
Oshi No Ko
We’re starting this list with two gags for the Oshi no Ko franchise, as Kana Arima is now the official brand ambassador for the Sushi No Ko brand in Japan, as depicted in this newspaper ad excerpt. Too bad it wasn’t a reiteration of the baking soda gag (which was made into an actual product last year).
Meanwhile, the official X (Twitter) account of the manga series has also “announced” that there will be a special spin-off manga adaptation centered around Pieyon himself, with Aqua Hoshino also making an appearance. We can’t help but think that this spin-off is much like a glorified manual for Pieyon’s dance tutorial.
Sound! Euphonium
The official YouTube channel for Kyoto Animation released a short skit for the anime series titled “Chikai Da Capo,” depicting the main character Kumiko Oumae having to repeat her sophomore year. In case you haven’t caught up on the pun, “da capo” is a musical term meaning “from the beginning.” Sadly, the video has been removed.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Who would have thought that this romance series is finally getting a “live adaptation”? You heard that right folks, and Manaka Iwami, who voices Mahiru Shiina in the anime series, will be in the main role! We did get a nice visual out of it:
Uma Musume Pretty Derby
The horse girls are taking their popularity to greater heights (quite literally), as they have announced the debut of “Uma Stars,” a space idol group! Aside from a visual released via the franchise’s official X (Twitter) account, they have also released a music video titled “Cosmopuella: Galactic Adventure.”
Giji Harem
The previously announced Giji Harem anime adaptation has released a trailer where its characters Eiji Kitahama and Rin Nanakura have switched voice actors, with Saori Hayami voicing Eiji and Nobuhiko Okamoto voicing Rin.
Date a Live
Looks like Date a Live has been busy putting out a lot of April Fools gags out there, as they have announced that there will be two new movie adaptations from the series: Date a Idol which will focus on the characters as idols and Date a Magical which will focus on the characters as magical girls.
In addition, spoof side project Date A Live Girls Side also made a comeback after three years. This project focuses on the fe,a;e characters being depicted as male.
Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells
The Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells light novel by Kaoru Shinozaki anime announced an exact date: April 21, 2124. We hope you have the patience to wait for this! Just kidding, the anime will air this year.
Gushing Over Magical Girls
In a tweet via the title’s official X (Twitter) page, it has announced that the hotel Utena Hiiragi and Kiwi Araga stayed in is now under construction. As part of its “opening promotion,” the hotel is offering a ¥1000 discount if you say “I saw Mahoako in reception.”
Blue Archive
Shiba Seki Ramen, the ramen shop in the series being operated by Master Shiba, is finally coming to life as the anime has announced that they will be making a real-life product counterpart for the very recipe.
Paradox Live
The music-centric media mix project, which had an anime adaptation recently, announced that they will release a cat-raising game. The official X (Twitter) franchise said that if the post reaches 5,000 retweets, a free wallpaper about this project will be released.
Aside from anime titles, anime cataloging websites are also joining in the fun. For MyAnimeList, they released a visual update for its rating system where titles having an 8.0 score and above are categorized as “P E A K,” those with 6.0 to 7.99 score are scored “Okay”, and 5.99 below are categorized under “Uhhh.”
Meanwhile, Anilist went all out. The platform changed some of the cover images for its listing, ranging from Uma Musume Pretty Derby replaced with actual horse racers, Kimetsu no Yaiba replaced with an image of Michael Jackson, to Shangri-la Frontier replaced with a Sword Art Online visual, Himmel now looks like Ryan Gosling, the list goes on. But if there’s one common theme for most of its listings, it’s that its editors seem to have an affinity for Shrek. There’s now even a listing for it, and who knows if next year Cory in the House will be listed?
Anilist also changed descriptions for some of its tags. The LGBT tag was changed to Open to Interpretation – a reference to a controversy surrounding Gundam: Witch From Mercury’s protagonist and Bandai Namco.
And there we have it: April Fool’s Day gimmicks done by some in the anime community. You can also check the hashtag “エイプリルフール” on Twitter for more.
Featured Image: Oshi no Ko (© Akasaka Aka x Mengo Yokoyari / Shueisha / Oshi no Ko Production Committee); The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (© Saekisan, SB Creative / The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Project); Sound! Euphonium (© Ayano Takeda / Takarajimasha / “Sound! Production committee)
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