9anime City

Since the airing of Horimiya's first episode on Saturday, a total of 69,088 users on the anime listing site MyAnimeList have logged themselves as "watching" the anime on their accounts, seemingly breaking the record for the most-watched premiere for a debut romantic comedy among users of the site. The record was previously held by Rent-A-Girlfriend with 55,228 logged viewers within seven days of its debut. This is perhaps less surprising when you consider that HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara's Horimiya manga is currently ranked 13th in popularity on MyAnimeList, with 121,623 users logged as reading the manga as of this writing. The final numbers for Horimiya's debut will be counted after five more days, so the series still has time to compete for the biggest debut for all romantic comedy anime (including sequels). That record is currently held by Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2, which had 82,808 “Watching” users after seven days. The Horimiya anime, which adapts HERO ...

Anime studio BONES has started a weekly blog column for the Sk8 the Infinity original anime series. The column highlights key frames from each episode that made an impression on director Hiroko Utsumi. The next blog entry will be posted on January 17, after the second episode has aired. For those interested in the production side of anime, the BONES blog regularly shares snippets from animation production materials books. Other anime titles recently covered on the blog include Bungo Stray Dogs, A.I.C.O. -Incarnation-, and My Hero Academia. 9anime.city is the best new version of 9anime website. This is the place to watch anime online for free, can be downloaded for free with the highest quality, every video is updated daily, all videos are English subbed + dubbed. + Website: https://9anime.city/ + Address: 48 Logan Irvine, CA, United State + Email: 9animecityus@gmail.com + Phone: +1 (213) 628-3447 + Social:  - https://twitter.com/animecityus - https://about.me/animecityus - https://...

The music video for BEASTARS and YOASOBI'S song "Kaibutsu" premiered on YouTube on Wednesday morning. The song is the opener for the second season of Studio Orange's animated adaptation of Paru Itagaki's manga series. Orange noted that Itagaki along with Hyperbole's Toshiyuki Yamashita and Rinna Miwa worked on the music video. YOASOBI is a musical duo that includes vocalist Ikura and Vocaloid music producer Ayase. Ayase previously topped iTunes charts in 2019 with the release of their EP Yūrei Tōkyō. The duo's previous single "Yoru ni Kakeru" released in 2019 rose in popularity on TikTok and Spotify. They held their first live performance during last year's New Year's Eve program Kōhaku Uta Gassen. The first episode of BEASTARS premiered exclusively on Netflix in Japan on January 5 followed by its Fuji TV premiere on January 6 in the +Ultra timeslot. Netflix will stream the series outside of Japan in July. Itagaki launched her BEASTARS ma...

Dexerto reported on the top five most-viewed female streamers of 2020, citing data analytics by Stream Hatchet. Although Valkyrae was the top-viewed streamer, racking in 23.6 million views across her videos throughout last year, the data also revealed the surprising success of a Japanese Virtual YouTuber: hololive's Usada Pekora's channel accumulated 14.6 million views, putting her fourth on the list. Usada Pekora is a 3rd generation hololive VTuber talent who debuted in July 2019. In December 2020, she reached the 1 million subscriber milestone and commemorated the occasion by coming out to her mother as a Virtual YouTuber. Over 50 Virtual YouTubers currently belong to hololive; according to the agency's English website, it has around 4.4 million fans on YouTube and 4 million on bilibili. The talents perform using intricate 2D and 3D avatars provided by the company. hololive English debuted in September. According to YouTube's Culture & Trends Report for 2020, VTub...

The official YouTube channel for the Pokémon franchise began streaming on Wednesday a video commemorating the series' 25th anniversary. The video reveals the franchise will collaborate with Katy Perry. The series' official website revealed that the Pokémon franchise is teaming up with Universal Music Group and musical artists to create P25 Music, a global music project. Katy Perry will be part of the project. The Pokémon Company will also release 25th anniversary-themed collections of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, including cards based on the original Base Set, later in 2021. The company is also teasing that new commemorative products will go on sale at the Pokémon Center, starting with a 25th anniversary-themed skateboard by Bear Walker. The Pokémon Company is also working with other brands, including General Mills, Levi's, McDonald's, Jazwares, Scholastic, Mattel, Funko, and The Wand Company. Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the franchise's latest anime series, prem...

To commemorate the recent premieres of WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! and Heaven's Design Team, Asahi Productions, who produced both anime series, have released a collaboration illustration of the two. The illustration depicts Masaki Hinaoka and Shou Akitsuki from WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! playing with various animals on the beach alongside Shimoda and Kimura from Heaven's Design Team. In addition, the official Twitter accounts of both series are currently running a giveaway campaign until January 19, 11:59 pm JST. During the campaign period, those who follow any of the two accounts and retweet the corresponding tweets (embedded below) will receive a desktop wallpaper of the illustration as well as smartphone standby images of each character featured in the illustration. The WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! TV anime is the "complete edition" series version of the anime film trilogy of the same name that opened in theaters in October 2020, and both are part of Love&Art's WAVE!! sur...

Shueisha issued a statement to the news outlet J-Cast after a recent controversy involving a One Piece editor's internet viewing history. The editor's smartphone screen was shown in a recent livestream; in the search history it was briefly shown that one of the links was to an adult manga pirate site. The livestream, which originally debuted last Friday to commemorate One Piece's 1000th chapter, is currently set to private on YouTube. Shueisha's statement is translated as follows: After confirming the facts, we have determined that the smartphone screen of the employee involved, which was shown in a video stream, showed a link that he had inadvertently touched while surfing the net, and that it accidentally became part of his access history. He was not searching for illegal sites, nor was he performing illegal downloads. Regarding the use of one's personal device on a livestream, as a company we cannot recommend this practice, and we have issued a firm warning. We d...

Crunchyroll announced the nominees and opened voting for its fifth annual Anime Awards on Friday. Several series are looking to dominate the program, including BEASTARS, Great Pretender, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! all pulled at least nine nominations each. The Great Pretender is represented in 12 categories, followed by Eizouken with 11, Jujutsu Kaisen with 10, and BEASTARS with nine. Overall, 35 different series are nominated across 18 categories. Voting is open until January 22 and participants can vote each day for their favorite choices. The nominees were chosen by Crunchyroll's panel of judges before voting opened on January 15. The Anime Awards 2020 will be announced on February 19. 9anime.city is the best new version of 9anime website. This is the place to watch anime online for free, can be downloaded for free with the highest quality, every video is updated daily, all videos are English subbed + dubbed. + Website: https://9anime.city/ + Address: 48 L...

The Redo of Healer official Twitter account issued a content warning for the anime shortly before its television debut on Wednesday. The message is translated as follows: This program is fiction and bears no relation to any existing person, place, or organization. Furthermore, the content is not made to endorse any specific way of thinking or belief. The work also includes extreme violence. Children and young people are advised against viewing it. Rui Tsukiyo's Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi: Sokushi Mahō to Skill Copy no Chōetsu Heal (Redo of Healer) original "revenge fantasy" light novel series centers on Kayal, a healer who is used and tossed around by his fellow adventurers on the assumption that healers cannot fight on their own. However, when he achieves the ultimate healing magic, and "heals" the world itself, he goes back four years to redo his life. The novels inspired a television anime adaptation which premiered on Wednesday. Sentai Filmworks licensed...

A digital collection of artworks from the Hellsing Ultimate OAV is on sale until January 25 through digital artwork vendor Anique. 12 pieces of high-definition artwork drawn by series creator Kouta Hirano and anime character designer Ryoji Nakamori are available. Anique utilizes blockchain technology to issue certifications of ownership to purchasers of the artwork. The certificates are authenticated by the creators, and the names of the buyers will also displayed with the artwork they own on the online Anique Gallery. Purchasing the digital artwork will also give you the privilege to purchase framed artwork, measuring 510x430x30 mm. They can be shipped worldwide and are expected to be delivered in April. It costs 1,500 yen (approximately US$14) to purchase a digital artwork, and 80,000 yen (approximately US$769) to purchase a framed artwork. More information can be found on Anique's website. The Hellsing Ultimate OVA series aired in Japan on an irregular schedule from 2006 to 2012...

 Channel Great Sage With This Soft and Squishy Rimuru Replica Both the slime and human forms of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime's Rimuru Tempest have inspired numerous merchandise ranging from figures to cushions and wind chimes, with even Rimuru's Unique Skill "Predator" conceptualized as ponchos, belly-wraps and neck pillows. However, none of his real-world physical incarnations has so far sought to incorporate "Great Sage" – Rimuru's second, almost-sentient Unique Skill. Until now, that is. A new replica of Rimuru's Slime form by PROPLICA comes with more than 100 recorded lines between two interchangeable modes: "Rimuru mode" and "Great Sage mode". Users can listen to the lines by pressing on the main body of the slime; in "Rimuru mode", lines such as "Hi, it's nice to meet you... I'm Rimuru, the town's owner..." will be produced, whereas in "Great Sage mode", conversations betw...

Union Creative has unveiled a new figure which sees Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Sohryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion huddling close together on the seat of an Eva's Entry Plug. The figure, which is named "Neon Genesis Evangelion Rei & Asuka~twinmore Object", is based on Evangelion's character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's cover illustration of the premium limited edition version of Volume 13 of the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga. It measures approximately 23 cm in height and 30 cm in length, with the details of the Entry Plug's interior carefully sculpted. Union Creative has also released a preview video on their YouTube channel which gives a more comprehensive look of the figure: The figure costs 41,800 yen including tax (approximately US$402) and is currently open for pre-orders at Union Creative's online store until March 12. It will be released in July this year. 9anime.city is the best new version of 9anime website. This is the place to watch anim...

The tired and trite “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” debate has plagued social media for years. Archival research suggests that the meme has been active since at least 2007, when platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were still in their infancy. Of course, Die Hard as a dark horse pick for best holiday film was by no means exclusive to internet chatter. But to the dismay of many, the discourse has ascended to national prominence after years of listicles and shallow op-ed pieces. However, it seems that audiences are now beginning to bristle at the notion that Die Hard is in fact a Christmas movie, at least in the traditional sense. According to a recent YouGov poll, 44% of adults believe that the '80s action flick doesn't deserve to be included alongside other genre staples, compared with just 34% who do. And while genre definitions are inherently loose and subjective, these results are telling. Surprisingly, little academic attention has been paid to contemporary cultural tren...

Shamans are human mediums between the living world and the dead, or more succinctly, people who can communicate with ghosts. It was a theme popularized in manga by Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King in 1998. 4Kids released a dubbed version of the anime in 2003, and as a seven-year-old kid, the series immediately became a can't miss for me every Saturday morning. It was the first anime I fell in love with, and the cancelation of the series right as Shaman King started to enter its climax broke my heart. There have been rumors for the last three years, but it's official: nearly two decades after being canceled, Shaman King will return to television with a full reboot in April 2021. So why Shaman King? What made this series so memorable? Why should I care about a canceled series almost 20 years later? First off, the series was removed from TV only. The manga originally finished in 2004, but Takei returned and created a new manga to wrap up the Shaman King story. So why should people...

If you have a friend who plays Final Fantasy XIV, give them a (social-distance) hug. For Warriors of Light around the world, myself included, the year since the Shadowbringers expansion has been an emotional rollercoaster. From the outside, this can be difficult to understand. When it first started, Final Fantasy XIV was considered one of the worst numbered Final Fantasy entries. After it was critically panned, the development team regrouped to address fans' many complaints, brought on director Naoki Yoshida, and in 2012, summoned Bahamut to burn everything. A year later, we returned to Eorzea to find the realm reborn into an MMORPG that had fixed its bugs, improved its combat, expanded its world, and revamped its UI. A review from GameTrailers acclaimed, “From top-to-bottom, A Realm Reborn addresses nearly every single major issue that plagued 1.0.” But the merits of A Realm Reborn alone aren't the reason why Final Fantasy XIV is the best Final Fantasy game. Each subsequent ex...

What defines a legend? Well, if we pop open the nearest thesaurus or dictionary, we're certain to get a slew of similar answers. It most commonly refers to a hodgepodge of cultural myths, or extravagant stories of select events, time periods, or people. Though ultimately, a legend is something elusory. While it may be birthed from some stray fact, the subject becomes so fantastic through each reiteration that, after a few rounds of tall tale telephone, something pedestrian may become extraordinary. But, when this organic evolution is supercharged by direct manipulation and mass hysteria, a legend becomes more than just a story – it becomes a weapon. It goes on to perpetuate the agendas of those who use it; shifting each re-telling away from the truth by varying degrees. And for us, this seems to be an ever more present danger, as our contemporary era is becoming increasingly more defined by the idea that “objectivity is a myth”. And while we, as a global civilization, have created ...

2020 was... a tumultuous year, to put it mildly. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic reached every single person on this planet. In this year of big upheavals, as various industries scramble to adapt to lifestyles that have fundamentally changed, how has the light novel industry fared? Broadly speaking, the coronavirus has had a mixed effect on the publishing industry. According to research on the Japanese reading market by Cross Marketing, almost 20% of people say they have been reading more this year. E-book sales are up, especially among young people. On the other hand, physical book sales are in a shakier position. Bookstores in city centers say they're struggling, while stores in suburbs and rural areas tended to do better this year. Light novels are in a more precarious spot than traditional book publishing, though, because light novels are more than just books. The publishers invest in mixed media projects such as anime, and this was not a good year for the anime industr...

Disclaimer: This is an "interview" with a fictional character in order to get readers acquainted with the series So I'm a Spider, So What? ahead of its anime premiere. Theron is safe and has not encountered any further isekai monsters. In the depths of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, a lone spider scuttles about, eyeing its environment warily with her eight eyes. She is giant by the standards of normal spiders but not large at all by the standards of monster spiders, which she is one. Suddenly, a curious device – or certainly curious by the standards of the fantasy world she now lives in – appears in the spider's path. She rolls some of her eyes and thinks, “Ugh! Not again!” as a voice speaks out from the phone. Greetings, spider. The spider thinks, “Hey, you're not that bastard D. What gives?” The voice emanating from the phone seems to be able to hear her anyway. Bastard? That seems rather harsh. “D claims to be the world's most evil god. Bastard fits.” Point tak...

Over the past week, I've spent easily 20 hours plowing through the smartphone game Princess Connect! Re:Dive. And despite giving it my all, I am nowhere near the current endgame—as you might expect from any mobile game with a “stamina” system that regulates how much you can play the game per day (without paying extra). That said, if the worst thing I can say about the game is that I'm annoyed I can't play more of it, that should give you a hint as to how much I have enjoyed it so far. Now, Princess Connect! Re:Dive is not the first plot-heavy smartphone RPG I have played. I still log on to Fate/Grand Order daily—and have ever since the time of its Japanese launch. Over the years, I've dipped my toe into any number of other similar games and it's clear that Princess Connect! Re:Dive learned from the mistakes of many of them to make a much more user-friendly experience at launch. The basic gameplay loop is simple: you play the main quests until you can't win anymo...

 Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Smartphone Game Ends Service on February 18 The official website for the Kōtetsujō no Kabaneri -Ran- Hajimaru Michiato (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress -Revolt- Beginning Tracks) smartphone game announced on Monday that the game will end service on February 18 at 5:00 p.m. JST. The game has halted sales of in-game currency as of Monday. The game will start accepting refunds for unused currency on February 18, and it will issue the refunds on May 20. The game debuted in December 2018. The iOS and Android game was previously slated for summer and then fall of that year. The game is a turn-based RPG that takes place after the end of the anime, and it includes familiar characters such as Ikoma and Mumei. The game added original characters designed at Wit Studio, the animation studio behind the original anime. Junpei Kasaoka, who handled the overall setting of the anime and wrote the Kōtetsujō no Kabaneri: Akatsuki (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Daybreak) n...

Hiroko Utsumi's back with a new anime in the boys-sports showcase stylings of Free!, as opposed to everything that was going on in Banana Fish, with dudes freestyling it up on skateboards this time instead of in the pool. The first episode of Sk8 the Infinity seemed to be an introduction to everything that the series might encompass, showing off all the characters and seeing how skateboarding, the boards themselves, the culture, and the competitions would be integral to the show. And I'll be honest, that first episode didn't really click for me! For a series that seemed to be shooting for downhill jam excitement between its opening scene and climax, the downtime between that wherein we followed main boys Reki and Langa felt far too languid in comparison. There were flashes of attitude and style just in the backgrounds and designs and the way the colors of everything popped, but that stretch of pacing seemed at odds with the supposed appeal of the show. With the second episo...

Sony removed the release date windows for Square Enix's Project Athia game, CAPCOM's Pragmata game, and the GhostWire: Tokyo game from the end card of its CES 2021 video. When the video debuted last Tuesday, it stated that Project Athia will debut in January 2022 and that Pragmata has been delayed from 2022 to 2023. It also narrowed down the release window of the GhostWire: Tokyo game to October 2021. Project Athia will launch for PlayStation 5 and PC. Square Enix describes Project Athia as a story-led, action/adventure game. Square Enix subsidiary studio Luminous Productions is developing the game. Square Enix established the Luminous Productions studio, headed by Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata, in 2018. Tabata resigned from both Square Enix and Luminous Productions in October 2018. Pragmata will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Pragmata is "set in a dystopian near-future on Earth's Moon." CAPCOM added the game will make "full use of new next-...

I often volunteer to do the more divisive titles, partly because I find it a challenge to try to give reasonable reviews for content that can come across as unreasonable, and partly because such titles also tend to be more interesting to write about than higher-quality but more staid titles. That's what I was fully expecting for this title when I made it my #3 pick for reviewing this season. (So I'm a Spider, So What? and Black Clover come first, of course.) I was even prepared to make a “How Obnoxious is Rudy” ranking for each episode, as some readers requested in the Preview Guide thread. Then episode 2 hit, and now I'm not sure what to think anymore. This isn't just a qualified good episode, like a “good for isekai titles” or a “good for series with obnoxious protagonists” kind of thing. No, this is a great episode by any reasonable metric, to the point that it could win over even some who were dubious about the series after the first episode. People had been saying ...

Session 11 – Mangamo A-Go-Go Calling all manga fans! Join Anime News Network manga expert Rebecca Silverman for an all-out manga discussion with Mangamo executive editor and co-founder Dallas Middaugh, whose career in manga publishing spans two decades with stops at Crunchyroll and Penguin Random House. You'll get the scoop on titles like Mangamo's December Featured Titles, latest releases and more with Rebecca's thoughts, and why Dallas curated these titles just for you in Mangamo's library, plus exciting new announcements! Mangamo is the manga subscription app that gives you access to 300+ titles from multiple publishers without limits and without ads, all while supporting manga creators. Mangamo is now available globally for iOS and Android and is offering a 30-day free trial for all new users. Session 10 – Case Closed Producer Keiichi Ishiyama ANN's Kim Morissy sits down with longtime Case Closed producer Keiichi Ishiyama for a special interview to celebrate the...

Welcome to Anime News Network Connect! A collaboration between ANN and Anime NYC, ANN Connect is a new way to bring anime fans, anime creators, and the anime industry together during a time when we're all physically remote. Across this summer and fall, ANN Connect will present anime premieres, in-depth interviews with voice actors and creative talent, industry panels, and much more. Join us together online for a super streaming anime club! Session 14 – Jujutsu Kaien A follow up to our interview with Jujutsu Kaien voice actor Robbie Daymond (Megumi Fushiguro), ANN's Jacki Jing speaks with cast members Adam McArthur (Yuji Itadori), Kaiji Tang (Satoru Gojo), Ray Chase (Ryoumen Sukuna), and Anne Yatco (Nobara Kugisaki)! Learn all about anime's cursed sensation in this mega interview! Session 13 – Robbie Daymond Join us for a special interview voice acting superstar Robbie Daymond about lending his voice to one of 2020 and 2021's biggest shows - Jujutsu Kaisen! Hear from the...

The official Japanese website for the Hollywood live-action film of CAPCOM's Monster Hunter game franchise revealed the film's Japanese dub cast on Thursday. The dub will star Tori Matsuzaka (live-action Gatchaman, Library Wars) as "The Hunter." The film is slated to open in Japan on March 26. The film was tentatively slated to open in the United States on December 30, but was moved up to December 25, and then moved up again to December 18. The film earned US$2.2 million to rank at #1 in its opening three days in the United States box office. Sony Pictures Entertainment and TOHO had planned to open the film in North America and Japan, respectively, on September 4. The companies then delayed the film until tentatively next year due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Sony Pictures Entertainment had been targeting April 23, 2021 for the North American opening date, but a teaser video in October revealed a December debut. 9anime.city is the best new version of 9an...

Takara Tomy announced on Tuesday that its Shinkalion toy line will have a new television anime titled Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion Z that will premiere on TV Tokyo and its affiliates this spring. The anime's website is streaming a teaser trailer and also revealed a visual. The visual above shows two new characters, as well as the E5 series Hayabusa shinkansen, and the E235 series Yamanote Line train. In the first television anime's story, Hayato Hayasugi (his last name is a pun on the words for "too fast") and other children serve as conductors to pilot the Shinkalion. The children must work together with the adults of the "Shinkansen Ultra Evolution Institute" (SUEI) to defeat a monster that looks like a jet black bullet train. The Shinkalion robots are various models of real-life Japanese bullet trains (shinkansen) that transform into robots to fight an unknown evil to protect the safety and peace of Japan. The anime premiered in January 2018, and end...

The official website for Sakugan (Sacks&Guns!!), Satelight's anime of Nekotarō Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker (Drilling Labyrinth Marker) novel, began streaming an English-subtitled promotional video for the anime on Tuesday. The video previews the film's opening theme song "Kо̄kotsu Labyrinth" ("Enchanted Labyrinth") by Masaaki Endoh, and also reveals the anime's fall premiere date. The anime was delayed to 2021 from its originally slated 2020 broadcast. The novel's description on the Everystar website reads: The distant future, long after the Western calendar is no longer used. Humans live shoulder-to-shoulder, cramped in the "Labyrinth," an underground world deep below the surface. There are many colonies where people live in the underground Labyrinth. The place is known for extreme high temperatures, but also for lodes of gold, silver, and other riches. In one of the colonies named Pin-in, a curious nine-year-old girl named Mem...

When God created the land, sea, and sky, He decided to create something to inhabit it: animals. But designing them all himself seemed like too much work, so he created the design team instead. It's up to this motley group of heavenly beings to fulfill the divine requests with animals that not only meet the often-vague requirements, but are capable of surviving Earth's harsh environment and the threat of other animals. The angel Shimoda is just starting a new job as the liaison between God and the team, and he may have his work cut out for him. As a kid, I was completely obsessed with those books about weird animal trivia and, based on the proliferation of that particular genre, I can't have been the only one. It turns out, nature is really weird, and there's no end to the strange alleys, side streets, and dead ends that evolution has taken the animal kingdom through, even in the cute, “popular” animals. If you were or still are one of those kids, actually or in spirit, ...

 Cardfight!! Vanguard Gets New TV Anime With CLAMP Designs Bushiroad announced on Tuesday that its Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game franchise is inspiring a new television anime series titled Vanguard overDress, with new character designs by manga creator group CLAMP, and animation production by Kinema Citrus. Yu-yu is a boy living in Kanazawa, Kaga Province. He is 15 years old and in his third year of junior high school. He has the ability to sense the feeling of others, but he is troubled by the fact that he cannot say no when asked. One day, Yu-yu could no longer stand going along with his sister's hobby, so he ran away from home. The one who saves him is Megumi Okura. Megumi invites Yu-yu to a nighttime amusement park called "Wonder Hill" where her friends hang out. At the amusement park, Yu-yu meets Megumi, Zakusa Ishikame, and Tomari Seto, members of "Team Blackout," a group that meets to play Vanguard every night. Tonight, a serious fight for the te...

You may recall that last week there were a King of Fighters XV reveal slated for the evening of the 6th that wound up not happening. However, before SNK hastily postponed the reveal, it turns out a few screenshots had leaked out onto the internet. It didn't take long for the powers that be at SNK to shrug and say “screw it, let's post the trailer tomorrow.” And that's what they did. Behold, the long-in-development King of Fighters XV! While there isn't much gameplay shown, we do get a good taste of what SNK's going for this time around. Visually, the game bears some similarities to Samurai Shodown – probably due to both games running on Unreal Engine and SNK carrying their experience from the last game over. We've got several old favorites confirmed for the roster: Kyo, Benimaru, Leona, K’, Mai, and new-ish protagonist Shunei. In the coming weeks, I'm sure more details about the engine and the roster will drop, so look forward to getting hype over your obscu...

Figure skater Kensei Maeshima stopped his career when he met rival Reo Shinozaki. Some years after, Maeshima, now a high schooler, uses his physical talent to help other clubs with various activities, while never committing to any one thing. One day, he sees a press conference where Shinozaki announced that he was shifting from single skating to "skate-leading." After that, he met a boy named Hayato Sasugai, who knew of Maeshima's single skating career. Sasugai invites Maeshima to the world of skate-leading, or competitive team-based skating. Hey, kids, here's an interesting thought! If you make an ill-advised bargain with someone, along the lines of, oh, I don't know, swearing that you'll quit the sport you love and that your recently deceased parents performed if you lose a competition against a highly-skilled competitor, you don't have to stick with it. Especially if you're a grieving ten-year-old who still did pretty darn well and placed second. Bu...

This year's seventh issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine revealed on Monday that it will launch four new manga in the next four issues. The first new manga to launch will be Yusei Matsui's Nige Jōzu no Wakagimi (The Young Lord Who is Skilled at Escaping), which will launch in the next issue on January 25. The manga will have 52 pages in its first chapter including an opening color page, and the manga will also feature on the cover of the eighth issue. The "escaping historical fact story" centers on a hero who has been lost to history and is now unknown. Kazusa Inaoka will launch a manga titled Aiterushi (spelling not confirmed) in the magazine's ninth issue on February 1. Kenta Shinohara will launch a new manga titled Witch Watch in the 10th issue on February 8. Writer Yūki Kamata and artist Ashibi Fukui will launch a manga titled Clones Ball Parade in the 11th issue on February 15. Matsui worked as an assistant to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo manga creator Yo...

There's been a lot of discussion lately regarding conditions for localization workers within anime and manga. Despite them being essential to the popularity of anime in the west, they are often paid unlivable rates and go uncredited. Crunchyroll is just one of the companies where both of these issues persist. The panel appears to somewhat lampshade these issues, opening with a clip of the Dark Souls bonfire while a voice-over states, “If you're looking for internet drama or trouble, sorry friend. You won't find it here. If that upsets you, then I suggest you just move on to the next panel.” If this is the panel's attempt at dismissing labor issues, that's disappointing, but it's kept vague enough to ensure plausible deniability for this Crunchyroll industry panel. The panel itself is hosted by Bryan Ingram, the senior director of production at Crunchyroll. Ingram's been with MX Media (now owned by Crunchyroll) since the start and served as “right-hand man” t...