Ultimate Otaku Teacher

When it comes to hardcore anime fans, some people prefer to hide their otaku “power level,” while others proudly wear their passion on their sleeves. Junichirou Kagami is definitely the latter in our new simulcast: Ultimate Otaku Teacher (Denpa Kyoushi)!

Ultimate Otaku Teacher is about an unusual young teacher who connects with his students, not unlike many other famous school anime like GTO, Gokusen, or our own Assassination Classroom, but this show is full of anime in-jokes and otaku culture that may be familiar to a lot of anime fans even in the West. If you like comedies like Genshiken, Oreimo, or The World God Only Knows, be sure to check this one out!

Ultimate Otaku Teacher will be simulcasting on FUNimation.com, with an eventual home video release.

The first episode of Ultimate Otaku Teacher will be available tonight at 10:30pm ET. The series will then stream regularly on Saturdays at 7am ET.

Here’s a little more about the show:

The studio behind Oreimo and Sword Art Online now brings you an ultimate otaku comedy!

Junichiro Kagami: scientific prodigy, groundbreaking physicist, published author…hopeless otaku. Once a promising young scientist, he’s since been rejected from the scientific community for his controversial research on anime-based teleportation. It’s like they always say: people fear the things they don’t understand. Now, a 24-year-old NEET with his science career behind him, Kagami finally has time to devote to the things that REALLY matter: updating his anime blog. But not everyone understands the dire importance of fandom. Even Kagami’s sister (his own blood and flesh!!) eventually gets fed up with his antics and forces him to take a job as a high school physics teacher. Dealing with “real-lifers” is a real drag, but soon Kagami finds himself strangely drawn to the conflicts of his pupils – and they to his…unorthodox teaching methods. In the world of high school drama, Kagami is armed with a potent knowledge of useless anime trivia, and an understanding of human problems derived from his on-screen friends. This otaku might just make the ultimate teacher!

Love:Redux

Our newest simulcast announcement is probably not one you could’ve guessed. We know that a lot of anime fans also have interest in other Japanese culture and entertainment. Any J-drama fans out there? (We’ve got several in the office!)

FUNimation will be simulcasting Love:Redux (Renai Jidai), a new romantic J-drama! Love:Redux comes to you from Kiyomi Fujii, the screenwriter of the L: Change the World (Death Note) live action movie and the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movies, so if you’ve loved his high-quality live-action anime adaptations, be sure to check this new series out. It also features actors from other J-dramas based on manga (Hana Kimi, GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Saijou no Meii), so if you’re into the J-entertainment scene, let us know if you recognize some of them from other shows you’ve watched!

We’re excited to be bringing more varied Japanese entertainment to Western fans— if you’d like to see more J-dramas, be sure to watch the simulcast and let us know what you think. What kinds of J-dramas would you like to see in the future? Tell us in the comments! And if you’re primarily a fan of anime, no worries. We’re definitely not shifting focus, just adding more content for fans of Japanese media!

Episode 1 of the series will be available tonight at 10:30pm ET. The series will them stream regularly on Thursdays at 1:30pm ET.

But enough talk— here’s a synopsis of Love:Redux!

A romantic J-drama starring Manami Higa (GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Code Blue) and Shinnosuke Mitsushima (Hana Kimi).

The meeting. The first date. The infatuation. The wedding. The formula for every great love story. But not for Haru and Riichiro. A fated encounter brought the two together, but after hitting it off and hitching up, their relationship takes a sharp deviation from the standard love recipe and the young couple must part ways. What would normally end in yearning and eventual acceptance becomes much more complicated, as the pair continues to indulge in their magnetic connection through karaoke hangs, anniversary dinner dates, and intimate moments. After an ex-lover’s spat, they decide enough is enough, and match each other with someone new. But with this much chemistry and history, is parting ways the right decision? Can a failed love be rekindled, or is there life— and love— after the end?