Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast

Strap in. The anime world did not come to play this week. Let’s talk about it.
Bigtime updates on The Ribbon Hero, My Hero Academia's epilogue, Glasses with a Chance of Delinquent, Copycat, and Sydney Sweeney's live-action Gundam film (please god be good).
If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)
Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you
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Our amazing sponsors:
Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment
Iced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)
Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)

Welcome to Manhwa Monday!
This week we're diving into Unholy Blood by Lina Im, the number one supernatural webtoon on the platform and a vampire story that throws out every post-Twilight cliche in the book. Ten years ago, vampires infiltrated South Korea, and violent crime has skyrocketed ever since.
Hayan Park is a college student who just wants a normal, quiet life, but she's hiding a dangerous secret: she's a pureblood vampire, the rarest and most powerful kind. When the vampires she's been avoiding destroy her family and kill Father Michael, the priest who raised her and her adoptive siblings, Hayan stops hiding. She teams up with Euntae, a rising star on the police anti-vampire task force with secrets of his own, and sets out to dismantle the vampire empire one Angel of Death at a time. These aren't your typical vampires either, sunlight doesn't touch them, stakes don't work, and they only live five years unless they consume pureblood, which makes Hayan the most hunted person alive. The art is absolutely stunning, the action hits like a truck, and Hayan is exactly the kind of female lead you want, a cinnamon roll who transforms into an absolute force of nature when you threaten the people she loves. The romance is a slow burn that never overshadows the plot, and the twists genuinely catch you off guard.
This one earned every bit of its 7.6 million likes.
If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)
Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you
Follow our Spotify playlist

Our amazing sponsors:
Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment
Iced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)
Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)

Strap in. The anime world did not come to play this week. Let’s talk about it.
Bigtime updates on Witch and Mercenary, the Japanese government targeting massive growth via global anime domination, Ascendence of a Bookworm AI controversy, and MAPPA x Honkai: Star Rail.
If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)
Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you
Follow our Spotify playlist

Our amazing sponsors:
Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment
Iced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)
Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)

Welcome to Manga Monday!
This week we're diving into The Summer You Were There by Yuama, a yuri manga that ran in Comic Yuri Hime and will absolutely destroy you in the most beautiful way possible.
Shizuku Hoshikawa is a shy, isolated high schooler carrying deep guilt from her past as a bully. She writes stories as an escape but never plans to show anyone. Then Kaori Asaka, the bright, popular girl in her class, gets her hands on Shizuku's manuscript, praises it like it's the greatest thing she's ever read, and makes a wild request: she wants Shizuku to write a romance novel about the two of them. To get material, Kaori convinces Shizuku to pretend-date her over summer break. It sounds like a lighthearted setup until the layers start peeling back. Shizuku's guilt over who she used to be, Kaori's suspiciously urgent need to make every moment count, and the secret she's hiding behind that relentless smile. This is a story about two girls finding each other at exactly the right time and exactly the wrong time, about writing as a way to hold onto someone, and about what it means to turn a life into a story before it's too late. Nominated twice for the Next Manga Award and ranked eighth on AnimeJapan's most wanted anime adaptations.
Bring tissues. Bring the whole box.
If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)
Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you
Follow our Spotify playlist

Our amazing sponsors:
Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment
Iced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)
Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)

Your weekly anime news fix is HERE and it did not come to play…
Big updates on One Piece, ISHOWSPEED, Date A Live, Dandadan, and Yaebuki Kikan.
If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)
Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you
Follow our Spotify playlist

Our amazing sponsors:
Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment
Iced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)
Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)