Developed by CyberConnect 2, the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle fighting game adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's cult manga is coming to the west in spring 2014 on PlayStation 3. Namco Bandai's European branch has kicked off the international promotion with a trailer, featuring the characters from the first three phases of the multi-generation, multi-reality spanning epic.
This gameplay trailer presents various battle scenes taken from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd chapter of the story, including:
Chapter 1: Phantom Blood JONATHAN JOESTAR & WILL ANTHONIO ZEPPELI
Chapter 2: Battle Tendency JOSEPH JOESTAR, CAESAR ZEPPELLI, WAMUU, ESIDISI & KARS
Chapter 3: Stardust Crusaders DIO BRANDO, KUJO JOTARO, MUHAMMAD AVDOL & JOSEPH JOESTAR with their respective "STANDS" THE WORLD, STAR PLATINUM, MAGICIAN'S RED & HERMIT PURPLE
Other parts will be previewed in the coming weeks.
SiliconEra recently spoke to Namco Bandai and reported that because many of the characters and their super powered alter-egos are inspired by music, names will be changed in the localized version. Namco Bandai are working with JoJo publisher Shueisha to make sure that the localized names for the characters fit with Hirohiko Araki’s intentions “while not offending any party”.
SiliconEra also says "additionally, the localized names will be matched to the U.S. and European versions of the recent anime to ensure consistency."
------ Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.
TMS Entertainment began offering episodes of 1981 mecha anime Six God Combination God Mars on the Hulu streaming service, starting with the first six. The early super robot show is based on a concept by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, creator of the seminal giant robot series Tetsujin 28/Gigantor.
If you're looking for somehting more recent, Sentai Filmworks has also just added comedy Detroit Metal City.
Many figure prototypes and upcoming merchadise came out of the Animate Girls Festival in Japan over the weekend and I have to say this one must be one of the most stunning figure prototypes unveiled. The Mega House Kagami Taiga figure from Kuroko's Basketball perfectly captures Seirin's ace player and Kuroko's current light in mid-air.
Can't wait to see the final painted version! Release date has not been announced yet.
They also have pictures of the Kuroko's basketball ones Kate.
Following the summer release of a Kuroko's Basketballline, Attack on Titan will be second series to inspire an assortment of paper mini-figures sold through Bandai's jumbo carddass vending machine. For 200yen, you get a 65mm Graphig kit that makes one of eight palm sized figures (Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, Hanji, Colossal, Eren Cleaning version and Levi Cleaning Version).
The earlier KuroBas
------ Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.
animate girls festival 2013 takes place this weekend at Ikebukuro Sunshine City's World Import Mart 4th Floor A Hall, and, given the event's name, what's ironically getting the most attention is the guys ofFree! While the anticipated figmas weren't ready yet, there were great looks at the prototypes for Alter's figures.
2PMWORKS, online store specialized in collaboration apparel goods with popular anime series operated by Animate, has started accepting pre-orders for two new booties inspired by Utena Tenjo and Anthy Himemiya, the two main characters from the Revolutionary Girl Utena anime series. Both the 1997 TV anime and 1999 film (titled Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence Apocalypse) were directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Mawaru Penguindrum) and acquired a cult following.
The booties are collaboration models with Kobe-based shoes brand TyakeTyoke which also produced the Madoka Magica pumps. The price for both the Utena and Anthy model is 17,640 yen (about US$178.88). The scheduled delivery day is in late February of 2014.
Following "Fire Fist Ace Memorial Bracelet" of its One Piece Premium Collection in July, Japanese mail order retailer Imperial Enterprise will start accepting pre-orders for an officially licensed wristwatch named "Roronoa Zoro: The Memory of Master Swordsman" on Zoro's official birthday, November 11. Zoro is, of course, the swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. It has the images of Zoro's pirate flag and the handguards of his three swords on the clock face. The second hand is designed after one of his swords, Wado Ichimonji. There are two types of belts available; leather and metal. The price for the 9,999-limited watch is 29,300 yen (about US$299). The scheduled delivery day is in late January 2014.
At Tamashii Nations today, Bandai made a tremendously exciting announcement, namely that The King of Braves GaoGaigar will be the next robot to join the ultra high-end Soul of Chogokin line.
Though no actual figures were ready to be shown off yet, Bandai did bring along a carved resin prototype to show scale and dimensions (alongside Super Robot Chogokin Genesic GaoGaiGar), both of which appear to be generous. The design sketch in the header, along with the range's long history, strongly suggest that GaoGaiGar will feature a show accurate transformation ability, which would be quite a sight to behold if they pull it off. No hints yet on arrival date or price, but I'm going with the resonably safe bets of 'a long way off and a lot'. Regardless, with this announcement and the recent SRC releases, it's a fantastic time to be a GaoGaiGar fan.
Orson Scott Card will not be seeing any profits from the Ender's Game movie. According to The Wrap, his deal was a straight payment for the movie rights, and that's it. So seeing or boycotting Ender's Game doesn't affect him or his money at all. Just FYI.
I enthused pretty madly about it last month and now the moment is upon us - it's time to get in your pre-orders for the ultimate King of Braves, Super Robot Chogokin Genesic GaiGaiGar.
Sadly my dream of a scale Goldion Crusher was not to be, but we do get some pretty decent add-ons, including versions of the Bolting Driver and Will Knife, parts for Protect Shade and Broken Phantom and an array of replacement hands, including ones to recreate the gripped hands of Hell and Heaven. First-run orders will also get special bonus parts in the form of coloured arm pieces to replicate the Hell and Heaven powerup.
There's also a brand new gallery to show off the figure, including confirmation that those glorious wings will fold and unfold fully. The price remains an intimidating ¥9,500 but I'm sure COURAGE AND GUTS can overcome any objections you have. Join me in eagerly anticipating the March release by clicking below.
There is already a fantastic sense of movement in Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comics. But animator Adam Brown wanted to see what the pair looked like in motion, and his video of them dancing is pure delight.
It's a battle of blonds as Saber from Fate/stay night meets Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War in a Takashi Takeuchi illustrated poster, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Lodoss War light novels and the 30th anniversary of computer gaming/manga magazine Comptiq.
While a copy of the poster is being offered with Comptiq, along with an audio drama between knight Parn and elf Deedlit, larger promo versions will also be unveiled in Akihabara.
Other Lodoss goodies include:
A New Gray Witch edition, with about 50 pages of revised material, special binding and 16 page Izubuchi Hiroshi gallery
New editions of the Sneaker Bunko record of Lodoss War light novels, with updated covers
The Ohio State University Marching Band has DONE IT AGAIN! Last year they turned into a giant DeLorean; this year, they performed a medley of Hollywood blockbusters including Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, LOTR,Pirates of the Caribbean and Superman!
Do you control or *are* you your video game avatar? Avatars have increased in complexity over the years, from paddles and Pacman to highly rendered and human...
Ramen burgers have been a sensation in New York and as a treat the city's Japan Society has posted an instructional video with Moto Creative Services guiding you through how to make your own. And, along those lines, they've followed up recipe with one for a rice burger.
The ramen burger has become an instant sensation in New York, bringing together the delicious flavors and texture of ramen noodles with the quintessential delicious burger. Achieved by replacing the normal bun with a ramen noodle bun and flavoring the beef patty with the ramen noodle soup base, this is the essence of ramen in burger form!
Ingredients:
Ramen noodles (Preferably uncooked packs. They are available at refrigerated sections of Japanese grocery stores) Liquid ramen soup base (included with the noodles) Eggs Ground beef Ground pork Pepper Sesame oil Water Shiso leaves Scallion
Buns:
Boil noodles for about 2 minutes (this will vary depending on the type of noodle you purchase. Remember, you will be frying later, so don't cook for the full length on the package (example, if it says to cook for 2:30 cook for 2:00 instead). Meanwhile, stir an egg. It will be used as a binder to set noodles into bun shapes. Add 1 tablespoon of liquid soup base to the noodles and egg mixture for flavoring. Mix them well.
Line some restaurant takeaway containers (or anything suitable you can find) with seran wrap. Put the mixture into the containers. Use your hand to spread it evenly. We find that one package of ramen tends to make around 3 containers full, but if you don't mind thicker buns, then simply split in half. Fold the seran wrap up, and push the mixture down a bit with another container. Finally, refrigerate everything for at least 15 minutes.
Patties:
In this episode we are using half and half ground beef and pork to make the patties, but you can replace with whatever meat you prefer. The fattier the meat, the better as it will produce juicier burgers that won't dry out when cooking. Mix the meat together with one egg yolk and a little pepper. Don't add salt yet! We'll add the salty component later with the ramen soup base. Mix together. Form into patty shape and make each slightly bigger than the bun to account for shrinkage when you cook the patty.
Cooking:
Heat up pan and add sesame oil. On medium heat, put the ramen buns in the pan. It should take around 3 minutes on each side, look for a golden color to tell when it is done. You're looking for a crispy outside, but noodle like texture on the inside.
In the same pan, add more sesame oil and fry the patties you have made. While cooking the patties, create a mixture to glaze them with. In our case, we're using the ramen soup liquid base and 1/2 cup of water (slightly less than the package says). It should taste salty, so adjust accordingly. Mix together and pour over the patties that are cooking. Let the glaze cook down a bit and be absorbed into the patty. Cook to your desired rareness.
Plating:
On a ramen noodle bun, place shiso leaves (you can use other forms of leaves like arugula if desired). Next place the burger patty and top with scallions and the top of the ramen noodle bun. Enjoy your ramen in burger form!
Tips:
- If your ramen noodles are sticking together after boiling, just rinse them off quickly in cold water and it should settle the problem. - A fattier meat is ideal for the patties. While we're using a pork and beef mix, you can substitute with whatever you desire. Form into fairly thin patties that are slightly bigger than the buns you have created.
Along the same lines as the ramen burger, envision taking one of your favorite dishes, chicken teriyaki and rice and putting it in a burger form.
Patty: Start with a pound of ground chicken in a bowl then mix in chopped onions, an egg and chopped shiso leaves (about ten leaves). Shiso leaves will add a subtle basil flavor. Now add the seasoning which consists of salt, pepper (we used white pepper, but black pepper can be used as well), a tsp of soy sauce, tsp of sugar, and a tbsp of starch (corn or potato starch). Mix the seasoning thoroughly with the ingredients until it becomes very sticky, that's when you'll know the mixture is ready.
Rice bun: Next we make the rice buns. Start with a cup of cooked rice in a bowl. It is important to do this process quickly. Sprinkle about a tbsp of starch, this will act as the binder. Next you want to add a pinch of salt for taste and sprinkle in sesame as well. Mix thoroughly so the starch can act as a glue for the rice, but do avoid mashing the rice. Now we will make the bun shape. Using saran wrap, place a desired portion of the rice mixture down. With another piece of saran wrap over top, begin molding the rice into the familiar bun shape. You're looking for the rice to be packed fairly tightly to ensure it will stay together. Peel the saran wrap away and now you have your first bun. Repeat the process with the saran wrap to make the other half of your bun.
2. Cooking
Now we will cook the patty. Start by heating the pan then add a little bit of oil. Scoop out the chicken mixture from the bowl (we used a ice cream scoop so it forms an even shape) and place it on the pan. Using the spatula, push down the meat into the pan so it will cook evenly. Cook each side for about five minutes (this may vary depending on the size of your patty). After both sides are fully cooked, we will add in the teriyaki sauce mixture, which consists of two tbsp of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. Glaze both sides of the chicken patties with the sauce, making sure they thoroughly absorb the mixture.
3. Plating
Create your burger! You may use any burger ingredients you have such as lettuce or tomato. In this video, shiso leaves are added instead of lettuce, but feel free to adapt to your own tastes. Enjoy your rice burger!
Tips: - Japanese short-grain rice is generally stickier than common long-grain rice and sushi rice. So definitely use it to make rice burger buns if it is available to you. - Similar to sake, mirin is also a kind of Japanese rice wine. However, it is lower in alcohol and sweeter than regular sake. It will add a nice aroma and hint of sweetness to your dish.
All Franky wants is to become the ultimate cyborg/robot. I mean, he sure is a great shipwright and he's one of the best out there. However, let's be honest: his robotic improvements show that he wants to become one with the metal. On that road to the true metal heart, you cannot walk the robo path until you have a Soul of Chogokin. Well, Franky can check that off his list, as he's finally joined the storied of line of die-cast figures as part of the General Franky.
Besides the normal General Franky, you can reconfigure the pieces to put together his rhino bike and form a tank. It even comes with a tiny Chopper to act as the commander! All this together costs ¥25,000, which is about as much as your usual Soul of Chogokin. It's definitely pricey, but you're getting a great product!
The nontroversy starts with a tweet or a quote ripped from an interview. It only needs a line or two because a paragraph might complicate things. The miscreant is then forced into representing an extreme position. A swarm of outraged tweets and thinkpieces descend on this caricatured version while the miscreant cannot defend or apologise for what was said because it wasn’t really said in that way, and any attempt to clarify what was meant appears craven and disingenuous. By the time the storm blows itself out, it has usually achieved 0.0001% of sod all.
A genuine gaffe is useful because it reveals an unpalatable truth. When Mitt Romney rubbished 47% of the American electorate or Godfrey Bloom used the phrase “bongo bongo land”, they displayed the tip of an iceberg of prejudice. The careless utterance may be unusually ugly but it doesn’t seem strange in context. But a nontroversy is bullishly obtuse regarding the bigger picture. During a recent example I saw someone tweet: “I’ve never heard of [redacted] before but they seem awful.” If only there were some kind of service on the internet that allowed you to search for people – a search engine, if you will – and learn more about them.
One problem is that the media landscape is structurally hostile to nuance, whether it’s the gladiatorial debate format favoured by the likes of the Today programme, the pressure to generate kneejerk opinions at short notice, or the sheer volume of websites recycling unsourced, out-of-context and even mistranslated quotes. Subtlety doesn’t sell. But bad habits aren’t imposed from the top down. Across blogs and social media you can see how the internet amplifies and facilitates the impulse to think the worst of people you have never met and to ignore any facts or context that might take the wind out of your indignation.
People in the public eye are no dummies. They’ve noticed how this works. Last week, I asked a musician about a sensitive subject. She refused to answer in any way and not, she said, because she objected to discussing it in our interview but because as soon as the words were out of her mouth she could see them winging their way across social media and clickbait news sites, mutating into something simplistic and inflammatory, and overshadowing anything else she might say. A few days later, another musician told me that whenever he was asked about politics he considered his options and went for the safest one, even if he felt it wasn’t honest or illuminating. Thus the nontroversy factory leads to self-censorship and calculated blandness.
You might argue that the world has bigger problems than a looming drought of celebrity opinion but politics has already demonstrated what happens when people become fearful of saying anything that might be misconstrued. It’s why you can watch an episode of Question Time and not hear a single memorable sentence or interesting opinion from an MP. It’s why safe phrases such as “hard-working families” proliferate like mould. Because there is no mileage in being interesting. Even as we complain about the milky timidity of political discourse, we are, en masse, quite prepared to pounce on anyone who says the wrong thing. We are gaffe-addicted, desperate for the smoking gun even if it’s more like a dribbling water-pistol. Now non-politicians are learning this lesson fast. A recent magazine cover story on Mumford & Sons revealed a group of men who didn’t appear to have a single opinion about anything in the world. It was like a Question Time panel consisting of four Grant Shapps, each holding a banjo.
When Riot Grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna was interviewed for Radio 4’s Weekend Woman’s Hour last week, I was reminded of something the late music critic Steven Wells wrote about Riot Grrrl in 1993. He was dismayed that the British band Huggy Bear had “had their ideology combed over, examined, misinterpreted, rewritten and kicked to death a hundred times. Talk about breaking a butterfly on a wheel.” How much worse things have become in the past 20 years, how much more intolerant of contradictions and mistakes, and how much less likely to produce artists as fearlessly outspoken as Hanna. The quicker we are to distort and condemn, and the slower to understand or forgive, the more things we purport to care about will simply go unsaid.
In news that should feel queasily familiar to fans of DC’s recent animated series, Cartoon Network has yanked the new Beware the Batman cartoon off the air after a mere 11 episodes.
Shining Office, the artist management agency in Uta No Prince Sama has announced the formation of the Shining Theatrical Troupe, 3 theatrical troupes made up of idols which will have new songs, drama CD releases and merchandise sales to come. As a part of the promotion, the current official character Twitter accounts will also be active from now until February 28th, blurring the line of reality and fiction in the minds of fangirls.
The current top page of the official theatrical troupe project currently shows 3 plays that will be released with the dates as you see above. The idols are divided into 3 groups to work on 3 different plays. Each play will be released as a CD that contains the official theme song performed by the group, the play itself and the behind-the-scenes story. The Special Limited Editions come with an official script book with notes by the idols. The Special Limited Editions are 3150 yen while the regular editions are 2300 yen each. Each project will also have official merchandise sales.
Masquerade Mirage will be released first this Christmas. Kotobuki Reiji, Mikaze Ai and Shinomiya Natsuki are masked to spend a magical night of dance with you. One night, Lazy (Reiji), a noble who is little too concerend about his little sister attends a masquerade with his noble friend, Sino (Natsuki). Then a mysterious Einsats (Ai) arrives at the party.
Track List:
1. Theme song Masquerade Mirage
2. Talk before the performance "Tall Child and Short Adult"
3. Theater: Masquerade Mirage
4. Theme song Masquerade Mirage (instrumental)
Tenka Muteki No Shinobi Michi (Invincible Way Of Ninja) will be out on January 29th. The team Ninja are Ittoki Otoya, Hijirikawa Masato, Kurusu Sho and Aijima Cecil. the play is set in war period Japan, where 2 ninjas, Masagake (Masato) and Shonosuke (Sho) are appointed to protect a princess who Otoyaemon (Otoya) and Cecilmaru (Cecil) were ordered to kill. On one night, all 4 ninja meet at a castle to decide their fate.
Track List:
1. Theme song Tenka Muteki No Shinobi Michi (Invincible Way Of Ninja)
2. Talk before the performance "Coming to the dressing team! Team Ninja"
3. Theater: Tenka Muteki No Shinobi Michi (Invincible Way Of Ninja)
4. Theme song Tenka Muteki No Shinobi Michi (Invincible Way Of Ninja) (instrumental)
The last release is JOKER TRAP on February 26th, 2014 with Kurosaki Ranmaru, Camus, Ichinose Tokiya and Jinguji Ren. 4 idols are spies in this play and their code names are Spikey Clubs (Ranmaru), Majestic Spades (Camus), Perfect Diamonds (Tokiya) and Tricky hearts (Ren). 4 spies try to get highly confidential information from a lady without teamwork because they don't do that. The most entertaining game of deception opens.
Track List:
1. Theme song JOKER TRAP
2. Talk before the performance "Tension And Orangette"
3. Theater: JOKER TRAP
4. Theme song JOKER TRAP (instrumental)
Here is the list of the current official character Twitter accounts (tweets are in Japanese, though Camus and Cecil sometimes tweet in Romaji). This means they are active on all the events and holidays coming up, including Halloween, Uta No Prince Sama 3rd Live Stage (live concert by the voice actors) in Japan, Christmas (which is a huge date night in Japan), New Year's Eve, New Year and Valentine's day, not to mention the releases of each CD that they can tweet about, making it too easy to believe the Princes do exist in reality.
Remember that throwaway line from Monsters Inc. where Mike tells Sulley he's been "jealous of his good looks since the 4th grade?" Pixar tried to address it in Monsters University. But here's what ended up happening. Plus another deleted opening scene!
At this year's NYCC, Argonaut Resins shared a table with The Jelly Empire. For the event, both companies created many exclusives. For Argonaut Resins, some of their exclusives they had were Brim Stone Pharaoh Hounds, Leopard and Snow Leopard Tuttz, and Confetti Glow in the Dark Tuttz, Pharaoh Hounds and Sucios.
There were also special customs done by various artists like Tuttz Mini Terminators by Leroy Wilke of Kilroy's Attic, Egyptian Gods by Clinton Yaws and Idolz by Megan Smithyman. The Jelly Empire had a lot of special exclusives for NYCC too. Taking on Adventure Time, The Justice League, and Godzilla, they had The Jelly Empire Time, The Jelly League, and Jellyzilla.
Also there were collaborative pieces between Argonaut Resins and The Jelly Empire like the Bat-Tuttz and Jelly Wonder figures and comics, Tiny Trifecta trio, and Pacific Rim Jellybots made with Small Angry Monster. At the end of the con, almost all of their exclusive figures were sold out. Any remaining items have been listed up for sale on their online stores.
You might remember back in July Harmony Gold field a lawsuit against Hasbro over their SDCC 2013 exclusive G.I. Joe and the Transformers: The Epic Conclusion figure set which, among other things, includes a repainted/remolded Joe Skystriker made to look like the jet mode of TF character Jetfire. Well good news, Generals Joes is reporting that the lawsuit has been dismissed outside of court! It's believed that a settlement was reached between the two companies, though exactly what has taken place is unknown and probably never will be.
One thing is for certain, Harmony Gold made several demands of the court including the surrendering of profits and unsold figure sets, and a fine large enough to punish and make an example out of Hasbro. However, the figure set is now up for sale at HasbroToyShop.com so it's unlikely the settlement had any effect on Hasbro. It also appears that each company will be paying their own legal fees so that certainly wasn't a factor either.
Who knows, maybe they decided it would be more beneficial to work together? I know I could go for a Jetfire reissue.
Horse_ebooks was a twitter spambot par excellence. It was algorithmic assembled poetry. It was the soul in the machine. But we recently learned that for the ...
