April Fools' Day 2024 hasn't spared the anime community, who wholeheartedly decided to mark the event with a series of prank announcements, troll posts, and overall fun. We've compiled a list of standouts – be it for their entertainment factor or the sheer chaos they cause.
Table of contents
Oshi No Ko
We're starting this list again with two jokes for the Oshi no Ko series, as Kana Arima is now the official brand ambassador for the Sushi No Ko brand in Japan, as depicted in the promo excerpt above this newspaper. Unfortunately, it's not a repeat of the baking soda joke (which was made into an actual product last year).
Oshi no Ko – April Fools' Day 2023 joke about her being a “Sushi no Ko” brand ambassador
Meanwhile, the manga's official X (Twitter) account also “announced” that there will be a special spin-off manga adaptation revolving around Pieyon himself, with Aqua Hoshino also appearing. We can't help but think of this extravaganza as a glorified Pieyon dance manual.
Oshi no Ko – Side story Pieyon x Aqua Hoshino gag
Sound! Euphonium
The official YouTube channel of Kyoto Animation has released a short skit for the anime series titled “Chikai Da Capo”, depicting the main character Kumiko Oumae having to repeat her second year. In case you didn’t understand the pun, “da capo” is a musical term that means “from the beginning.” Sadly, the video has been deleted.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Who would have thought that this romance series would finally get a “live adaptation”? You heard it everyone, and Manaka Iwami, who voices Mahiru Shiina in the anime series, will take on the lead role! We got a nice look at it:
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten – “Live Action” adaptation
Uma Musume Pretty Derby
The pony girls are taking their popularity to a higher level (literally), as they announced the debut of “Uma Stars,” a space idol group! In addition to the visual released through the franchise's official X (Twitter) account, they also released a music video titled “Cosmopuella: Galactic Adventure.”
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Giji Harem
The previously announced Giji Harem anime adaptation released a trailer in which the characters Eiji Kitahama and Rin Nanakura have changed voice actors, with Saori Hayami voicing Eiji and Nobuhiko Okamoto voicing Rin .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBNdA3Konso[nội dung được nhúng]
Date a Live
It seems that Date a Live has been busy dishing out a lot of the April Fools' jokes out there, as they announced that there will be two new movie adaptations of the series: Date a Idol focuses on the characters idol and Date a Magical will focus on magical girl characters.
Dating an idol – VisualMagical Dating – Intuitive
Additionally, the fake side project Date A Live Girls Side also returned after three years. This project focuses on female characters portrayed as male.
Defeat Frame: I become the strongest and destroy everything with low-level magic
Defeat Frame: I Become the Strongest and Have Everything Destroyed by Kaoru Shinozaki Anime Low Level Light Novel has announced the exact date: April 21, 2124. We hope you have enough patience to wait for this! Just kidding, the anime will air this year.
Gushing Over Magical Girls
In a tweet through the title's official X (Twitter) page, they announced that the hotel where Utena Hiiragi and Kiwi Araga stayed is currently under construction. As part of the “opening promotion”, the hotel will give you a 1000 Yen discount if you say “I saw Mahoako at the front desk.”
Blue Archive
Shiba Seki Ramen, the ramen shop in the series run by Master Shiba, is finally in operation as the anime announced that they will create a real-life product corresponding to the same recipe.
Paradox Live
The music-centric media hybrid project, which was recently adapted into an anime, has announced that it will release a cat farming game. Brand X (Twitter) officially said that if the post reaches 5,000 retweets, a free wallpaper about this project will be released.
????‥∵‥
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ねこ育成ゲーム
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #パラねこ
~ちるでどーぷな気まぐれライフ!~
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀2024.4.1 Released
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀∵‥‥∵‥????リリース記念サイトOPEN????https://t.co/Gy3CfJK7QB
この投稿へのRP数5000件達成で壁紙????
????個性豊かな彼等に会いに行こう????#パラライ
— Paradox Live(パラライ)公式 (@paradoxlive_PR) March 31, 2024
In addition to Anime titles, anime cataloging sites also join in on the fun. As for MyAnimeList, they released a visual update to their rating system, where titles with a score of 8.0 or higher are classified as “PEAK”, titles with a score of 6.0 to 7.99 is graded as “Okay” and 5.99 below is graded as “Uhhh.”
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End list with “PEAK” scoreOusama game list: Animation with “Uhhh” score
Meanwhile, Anilist did its best. The platform has changed some of the cover photos for its listings, from Uma Musume Pretty Derby being replaced with images of real jockeys, Kimetsu no Yaiba being replaced with images of Michael Jackson, to Shangri- la Frontier is replaced by Sword Art Online images, Himmel now looks like Ryan Gosling, the list goes on. But if there's a common theme to most of its listings, it's that its editors seem to have a soft spot for Shrek. There's even a listing for it now and who knows if next year's Cory in the House will be listed?
Anilist also changed the descriptions for some of its tags. The LGBT tag has been changed to Open to Interpretation – a reference to the controversy surrounding the main character of the film Gundam: Witch From Mercury and Bandai Namco.
And there we have it: The April Fools' Day gimmick was made by some people in the anime community. You can also check out 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 (© Saekisan, SB Creative/The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Project); Sound! Euphonium (© Ayano Takeda/Takarajimasha/“Sound! Production Committee)