My Hero Academia: Two Heroes Film's Young All Might, Party Dress Designs Unveiled

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes Film's Young All Might, Party Dress Designs Unveiled

The official website for the My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: Futari no Hero) film revealed the character designs for the film for a young All Might, as well as the cast's party dress on Monday.

Funimation and TOHO will host a world premiere of the film with English subtitles at Anime Expo on July 5. The film will open in Japan on August 3. Funimation plans to release the film in the U.S. and Canada this fall. New characters for the film include David Shield (voiced by Katsuhisa Namase), Melissa Shield (voiced by Mirai Shida), and Wolfram (voiced by Rikiya Koyama). Melissa is a quirkless girl whom Deku meets on I-Island, and her father David was a friend of All Might in his younger days. David is a scientist who makes hero support items, and Melissa works hard to follow in his footsteps. Wolfram is a leader of a mysterious villain team that aims to overthrow the Hero Society. Original manga creator Kōhei Horikoshi is credited with the original work, character designs, and as chief supervisor. Returning staff members include director Kenji Nagasaki at BONES, scriptwriter Yousuke Kuroda, character designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and composer Yuki Hayashi. TOHO is distributing the film. Masaki Suda is performing the film's theme song "Long Hope Philia." amazarashi's Hiromu Akitawrote and composed the piece. Source: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes film's official website, MoCa News

Aniplus Asia to Stream 1st Episode of 'Planet With' Anime Before Japanese Airing

Aniplus Asia to Stream 1st Episode of 'Planet With' Anime Before Japanese Airing

he official Twitter account for Aniplus-Asia announced last Friday that it will stream the first episode of of J.C. Staff and manga creator Satoshi Mizukami's original mecha anime Planet With in Singapore beginning on Tuesday, July 3 at 10:30 p.m., until Wednesday, July 4 at 9:59 p.m. While Aniplus-Asia's stream will debut before the Japanese television airing, Bandai Channeldebuted an advance stream of the first episode for the first 2,000 members in Japan on Sunday. Aniplus-Asia will premiere the anime on on July 8 at 11:00 p.m. GMT +8. The show will premiere in Japan on July 8 on Tokyo MX at 10:30 p.m. The series will also air on MBS and BS11. Youhei Suzuki (Aki no Kanade, Urara Meirochō, Sword Oratoria) is directing the anime at J.C. Staff, and Mizukami is credited for series composition for the anime, as well as 1,074 pages of storyboards and the original script draft. Kazunori Iwakura(Rune Soldier, Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Alice & Zoroku) is designing the characters for animation. Yoshitsune Izuna (Gad Guard, Diebuster) and Yasuyoshi Uetsu (Lagrange - The Flower of Rin-ne, Triage X) are the mechanical designers. Tsuyoshi Isomoto is the prop designer. Yoshikazu Iwanami is the sound director, and Kōhei Tanaka is composing the music. Minami will perform the opening theme song "One Unit." Mai Fuchigami will performthe show's ending theme song. Mizukami is drawing a manga for the franchise, which launched with the first two chapters in the June issue of Shonengahosha's Young King Ours magazine on April 28. Source: Aniplus-Asia's official Twitter account, website

More Maquia Cinema Screenings in July

More Maquia Cinema Screenings in July

Anime Limited has announced on its Twitter feed that will be more screenings of P.A. Works, Showgate, and Mari Okada's Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana o Kazarōfilm through July. Some of them will be on Wednesday July 4, including screenings at Ashley and Crawley (which experienced technical problems last week). Among the other venues screening the film in July will be Leeds, Nottingham, Bristol, Southampton and Birmingham.

Venue details and tickets are available at the film's website. The film opened in Japan on February 24. Anime Limited describes the story: The people of Iolph have a lifespan of hundreds of years and maintain their teenage appearances for life, but when the peace of this town is shattered by those who want the secret to their longevity for themselves, a young girl named Maquia is forced to escape. Wandering the land alone, upon finding an orphaned baby she chooses to raise him, but as this boy grows up so the difference in their lifespans is thrown into ever-sharper relief. The film is the directorial debut of anime screenwriter Okada (The Anthem of the Heart, anohana). She also wrote the film's scripts at P.A. Works.

Sekai Project lanza Sekai Games Console Game Initiative

Sekai Project lanza Sekai Games Console Game Initiative

Sekai Project announced a new initiative on June 7 titled Sekai Games that will publish its titles to console platforms. The initiative will launch with five games.

The first game is a Switch release of illuCallab's A Magical High School Girl game, which launched on June 7. The second game is a Switch and PlayStation 4 release of Alice in Dissonance's fault game in November. The third game is a Switch and PC release of Vermillion Digital's M.A.S.S. Builder in summer 2019. The fourth game is an English release of Korean visual novel My Girlfriend is a Mermaid?! for the Switch and PC in February 2019. The fifth game is Samurai Cop: The Game, developed by Sekai Games for the Switch, PS4, and PC. illuCallab released its A Magical High School Girl game for PC and iOS in Japan in 2016, and Sekai Project released the game on PC via Steam in November 2016. Sekai Project released the fault - milestone one game for the PC in 2013, followed by fault - milestone two side: above in 2015, and the Mhakna Gramura and Fairy Bellspinoff on February 20. Sekai Project will release the upcoming fault SILENCE THE PEDANT prequel and fault - milestone two side: below games this year and next year, respectively. A Kickstarter campaign in 2014 raised funds for Android and PlayStation Vita ports of fault milestone one. My Girlfriend is a Mermaid?! is developed by tales#, and debuted for the iOS and Android in 2014 with the title Bang-guseog-e In-eoagassi. The game debuted in Japanese for the same platforms in 2016 with the title Boku no Kanojo wa Ningyo Hime!?. Source: Sekai Games press release, Twitter account via Gematsu

Code Vein Game's Character Video Previews Mia Karnstein

The game will also get a "Bloodthirst Edition" limited edition release. 

Bandai Namco Entertainment began streaming a character video for the for the Code Vein post-apocalyptic role-playing game on Monday. The video previews the character Mia Karnstein. The game will launch in Japan for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 27, and for PC via Steam on September 28. The game will launch outside Japan for PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on September 28. People who pre-order the game in Japan will get a PS4 menu theme with a Code Veinand God Eater illustration by Kurumi Kobayashi (seen below), as well as three weapons based on Bandai Namco Entertainment's God Eater game. First-print copies of the game will also include a download code for the "Venous Claw" weapon.

The game will also get a "Bloodthirst Edition" limited edition release. The release will include a figure of game character Mia Karstein, a Code Vein World Report art book, a soundtrack CD, and a download code for a "Bloodthirster" costume set.

Bandai Namco Entertainment describes the game:

In the not too distant future, a mysterious disaster has brought collapse to the world as we know it. Towering skyscrapers, once symbols of prosperity, are now lifeless graves of humanity's past pierced by the Thorns of Judgment. At the center of the destruction lies a hidden society of Revenants called Vein. This final stronghold is where the remaining few fight to survive, blessed with Gifts of power in exchange for their memories and a thirst for blood. Give into the bloodlust fully and risk becoming one of the Lost, fiendish ghouls devoid of any remaining humanity. The anime studio ufotable is animating the opening cinematic, and VAMPS is performing the opening song "Underworld." Kotoni Shiroishi launched the CODE VEIN ‐Memory echoes- manga adaptation of the game in Kadokawa's Dengeki PlayStation magazine on Thursday. Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment's YouTube channel

Nintendo President Furukawa Comments on Smartphone Game Business

Company is "considering various possibilities" regarding 3DS successor

Nintendo's new representative director and president Shuntaro Furukawa said after a stockholder meeting on Thursday that the company would need to earn 100 billion yen (about US$902 million) from smartphone games in order for them to be a primary source of revenue for the company.

Nintendo entered the smartphone game market with the Miitomo app in March 2016. Including character usage fees, the company has earned 39.3 billion yen (about US$350 million) from smartphone games as of March 2018. The number represents 4% of on Nintendo's total earnings, and Furukawa said, "[Smartphone games] will be an important business from now on. [Earning 100 billion yen] will be difficult, but it's a challenge worth pursuing." Furukawa noted in the interview that the Nintendo Switch has been selling well, and the company's ambition is to spread the system on the scale of one unit per person. In addition, Furukawa mentioned the seven-year history of the Nintendo 3DS and said that the company is "considering various possibilities" about a successor to the handheld system. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported in December that Nintendo was seeking to establish more tie-ups with smartphone game developers, in light of its mobile game schedule falling behind. The report claimed that GungHo Online Entertainment(Puzzle & Dragons) had been in discussions with Nintendo, but GungHo has denied that discussions took place. In 2015, Nintendo partnered with DeNA to lend its intellectual property for the creation and launch of "approximately" five smartphone titles by March 2017. Through that partnership, Nintendo and DeNA have released the Super Mario Run, Miitomo, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp games. Miitomo reached more than 10 million users worldwide, but it ended service on May 9. Super Mario Run launched for iOS devices in December 2016 and for Android devices in March 2017, and it topped Apple's list of free iPhone games in 2017. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp launched worldwide on November 22, and is Nintendo's second-largest mobile game launch next to Super Mario Run. Fire Emblem Heroeslaunched in February 2017.

Pop Team Epic's Hellshake Yano Announced as Guest at Animelo Summer Live 2018

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still thinking about Hellshake Yano.

"Hellshake Yano" is a segment from the comedy anime series Pop Team Epic. If you missed it, in the anime's seventh episode, Popuko talks to Pipimi, but Pipimi zones out. Pipimi daydreams about a band member named Yano whose bandmates suddenly can't make it to an imminent concert because the trains stopped. Yano's manager wants to cancel the concert, but Yano decides to go on stage and wow the crowd with his guitar skills alone. Unfortunately, Yano breaks a guitar string during his solo. Yano doesn't want to give up, so he decides to use the five remaining strings and then tunes his guitar to make it work. Yano's manager remarks that Yano's performance is "rocking the heart of hell." Yano acquires the name Hellshake Yano, and the crowd continues to go wild at his performance. Suddenly, Pipimi snaps out of it as Popuko asks her if she's listening. Pipimi apologizes and says "I was thinking about Hellshake Yano." The phrase "I was thinking about Hellshake Yano" became the hashtag for the meme on Twitter. Capitalizing on the Twitter trend, many posters began using "I was thinking about Hellshake Yano" to describe their moods and daily lives. Eventually, the memefaded with the ending of the anime series. But some of us ARE still thinking of the rockstar Hellshake Yano, and those fans need to look no further Animelo Summer Live 2018. Animelo Summer Live is a huge, multi-day concert held each year. It brings together some of the biggest talent in the Anisong scene. For instance, last year included a surprise appearance by Haruhi's SOS Brigade, the trio's first in over a decade. If we assume the official Twitter account for the event isn't pulling our legs, this year's concert will include an appearance by none other than Hellshake Yano. The concert's official Twitter account announced Hellshake Yano's addition to the line-up on June 29. According to the tweet, he'll appear at the event on August 26. Animelo Summer Live 2018 will be held at the Saitama Super Arena from August 24-26. Guests include Aqours, OLDCODEX, GARNiDELiA, MYTH&ROID, Kanako Itou, Asaka, Miku Itō, Aya Uchida, Maon Kurosaki, Zwei, DearDream, Do as Infinity, Megumi Nakajima, Luna Haruna, Poppin'Party, Suzuko Mimori, Erii Yamazaki, and Tomori Kusunoki.