Entertainment

Crunchyroll: Sports anime to watch during the FIFA World Cup

Get pumped up even during World Cup downtime

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The FIFA World Cup has officially taken over the planet, causing chronic sleep deprivation, spontaneous living-room screaming matches, and an sudden urge to wear jerseys to formal events.

But what are you supposed to do during those agonizing hours between match kick-offs? Stare at a blank TV screen? Absolutely not.

While the world’s best footballers battle it out on the pitch, Crunchyroll has a bench full of elite sports anime ready to keep your adrenaline levels dangerously high.

From ego-driven strikers to lightning-fast running backs, grab your snacks and settle in for a marathon of victories, setbacks, and comebacks worthy of the world stage.

Who knows, it might inspire you to begin your sports journey too.

BLUE LOCK

Following a disappointing World Cup exit, the Japanese Football Association decides they’ve had enough of “teamwork” and launches a brutal, hyper-isolated training camp called Blue Lock.

The goal? Throw 300 of the country’s best high school forwards into a cutthroat battle royale to breed the ultimate, entirely selfish, world-class striker.

Only one will survive to lead Japan to glory.

Haikyu!!

Shoyo Hinata is pint-sized but possesses an insane vertical leap. After his middle school team gets absolutely demolished by the genius “King of the Court” Tobio Kageyama, Hinata vows revenge.

He enrolls at Karasuno High School to finally crush his rival, only to walk into the gym and find out Kageyama just enrolled there, too.

Now, the sworn enemies have to weaponize their freakish chemistry to bring a fallen powerhouse school back to the national stage.

Shoot! Goal to the Future

Kakegawa High School used to be a legendary name in high school soccer. But these days, the team is a shell of its former self.

Enter Atsushi Kamiya, a former Kakegawa captain turned international soccer star, who returns to coach the struggling squad.

His biggest hurdle? Hideto Tsuji, a profoundly talented player who has completely given up on the sport.

It’s a race against the clock to spark the team’s passion before the whistle blows on their season.

Kuroko’s Basketball

Seirin High just recruited Taiga Kagami, a powerhouse player fresh out of America, alongside Tetsuya Kuroko, a boy so aggressively ordinary he practically blends into the background.

Kagami is horrified to find out Kuroko is terrible at shooting and dribbling until he sees him play. Kuroko’s utter lack of presence allows him to act as an invisible passing ghost, revealing himself as the secret “Sixth Man” of the legendary Middle School Generation of Miracles.

Together, they aim to take down Kuroko’s former teammates one by one.

Eyeshield 21

Sena Kobayakawa is a timid kid who has spent his entire life running away from bullies. Decades of acting as an errand boy have accidentally gifted him with superhuman speed and an uncanny ability to navigate tight spaces.

When the terrifying, submachine-gun-toting captain of the school’s American football team spots Sena’s agility, he forcefully drafts him into the squad.

To hide his identity from rival schools, Sena is forced to don a tinted visor and take the gridiron under the legendary alias: “Eyeshield 21.”

Yuri!!! on ICE

After a crushing, rock-bottom defeat at the Grand Prix Final, Japan’s top figure skater, Yuri Katsuki, heads home with zero confidence and every intention of retiring.

His career seems entirely iced over until a video of him mimicking a routine goes viral, catching the eye of five-time reigning world champion Victor Nikiforov.

In a shocking move, Victor flies to Japan and offers to become Yuri’s coach, sparking a beautiful, high-stakes journey back to the world stage.

MF GHOST

It’s the 202X decade, and Japan has fully embraced self-driving electric vehicles. Traditional cars are all but extinct.

However, internal combustion gets a roaring second life thanks to MFG, a dangerous street-racing circuit held on public motorways.

Kanata Rivington, a brilliant 19-year-old trained by a legendary racer in the UK, arrives in Japan to compete in the MFG with a humble Toyota 86. In the process, he tracks down clues about his missing father.

Entertainment

UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony gets two more shows

Both shows will be held on the next day.

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The Philippines has an unquenchable love for game-based concerts (so *wink wink* please bring more of them). Though these concerts do generate a lot of hype, the drawback is that they often sell out way before most fans can grab tickets. If you’re an UNDERTALE fan, that experience might be rocking you right now, as both shows have already sold out. But fear not: UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony has just opened two more shows.

Late last month, Film Concerts PH, in partnership with SOHO Live, announced UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony happening on October 17. As expected, both shows, at 3pm and at 7pm, sold out very quickly after sales opened.

Today, the concert experience is opening two more shows on the next day, October 18. Like the original date, the two shows will happen at 3pm and at 7pm, allowing more fans to experience the concert.

The concert will be performed by the Filharmonika Orchestra and conducted by Thanapol Setabrahmana. Personally curated by creator Toby Fox and developed by Lambert Jackson with Materia Music, the concert experience showcases the game’s most recognizable tunes laid over gameplay footage playing simultaneously. Plus, for the world tour, the experience will have expanded scoring.

Tickets are available through Ticketmelon. Both dates will be held at The Proscenium Theater in Makati.

SEE ALSO: UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony hits Makati in October

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Here’s what you should watch before Avengers: Doomsday

The road to Doom begins here.

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As of today, the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will take around 650 hours to watch. So, if you wanted to catch up with everything before this December’s Avengers: Doomsday, you would need to allot around 5 hours per day to watch content from Marvel. For a lot of us, that sort of commitment is completely untenable. Thankfully, Marvel has released an official watchlist, paring the list down to something much more manageable.

Before the MCU got as big as it is today, it was fun to do a movie marathon heading into a major Marvel release. For example, when Avengers: Endgame came out, some theaters held continuous marathons lasting a few days. Take note that this was before Marvel officially included every TV show and legacy movie (like the X-Men universe).

Now, heading into Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel will not ask you to devote the rest of your year just for homework. Instead, here’s an official list you can use to catch up:

  • X-Men
  • X2
  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • The Avengers
  • Avengers: Infinity War
  • Avengers: Endgame
  • Loki
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Captain America: Brave New World
  • Deadpool & Wolverine
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
  • Thunderbolts
  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Compared to the extensive list of everything Marvel, this official list is much more manageable, especially since there’s only one show (Loki). It’s also a veritable who’s who of the MCU, so it’s hard to get bored.

The official list as seen on Disney+

There are, however, a few surprises and spoilers. For one, if you’ve been avoiding the teasers and trailers, the X-Men films might be a shock to you. Likewise, the inclusion of the critically panned Brave New World is interesting.

The exclusions are just as noteworthy, too. Though the two earliest X-Men films are included, the list doesn’t add Days of Future Past, one of the first Marvel films to use time travel. Thor: Love and Thunder isn’t on here, despite Love, Thor’s adopted daughter, appearing in the trailers. Brand New Day is also missing, but that’s likely because the movie isn’t on Disney+ yet.

Avengers: Doomsday premieres in cinemas on December 18. Four months should be enough time to catch up on these titles.

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Marvel Studios unveils new X-Men cast

Adam Driver, Inde Navarette, more join Sadie Sink for film set for May 2028

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Courtesy: Marvel

At the D23 Disney fan event, Marvel Studios has officially unveiled the cast of the new X-Men movie, which has been announced for a May 5, 2028 premiere.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and director Jake Schreier were joined onstage by Sadie Sink, who made her debut as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, for the showcase.

The trio then welcomed Sink’s new co-stars: Kit Connor as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm.

Finally, Adam Driver crashed the panel with one final video surprise, where he revealed that he will be playing a very sinister figure named Nathaniel Milbury, a.k.a. Mister Sinister.

Mister Sinister has been a recurring antagonist throughout various X-Men media, including in Season 2 of the 1992 animated series and in the first season of X-Men ’97.

Now, he will serve as the main villain in the new X-Men film that jumpstarts the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Mutant Saga.

Given the initial cast, this X-Men reboot will be set in the earlier stages of the team’s lifecycle, taking audiences back to how the school built its foundation for a faithful setup based in the comics. Although within the MCU chronology, it will be set in the present day.

The rebooted X-Men film is now the third confirmed feature film in the post-Multiverse Saga MCU, after Black Panther 3 and Ghost Rider.

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