USJ (Universal Studios Japan) will offer those with a Capcom ID the chance to gain early access to its Resident Evil attraction, Night of Heroes. You have until August 7, 2024 to put your name into the lottery if you’re interested.

As mentioned earlier, in order to participate in the lottery, you’ll need to have a Capcom ID. Those who are Resident Evil ambassadors will have double the chances of being chosen. As for the event itself, it’ll take place on September 4, 2024 at USJ in Osaka. More information on the exact time will appear later.

The USJ Resident Evil experience, Night of Heroes, will only take place at night. Based on the description, it’ll be an action ride that lets you feel like you’re walking around one of the exterior stages in the games. You’ll also be able to watch the various protagonists of the Resident Evil games fight off zombies and bioweapons like Lickers. The promotional art features a much smaller Chris Redfield (for RE1), Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, and Claire Redfield. Claire, Jill, and Leon all use their designs from the remake versions.

The Resident Evil attraction at USJ will be available from September 6 until November 4, 2024. However, those who get early access will be able to check it out on September 4, 2024.

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The official Digimon Partners YouTube channel has posted a special “Butter-Fly” music video to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Digimon Adventure. As well, it announced that a music album featuring Yamato “Matt” Ishida and Teen-Age Wolves.

Toei Animation first announced production on this video in May 2024. You can watch the “Butter-Fly” Digimon Adventure 25th anniversary video here:

“Butter-Fly” is the opening song the original Japanese version of Digimon Adventure, with Koji Wada providing the vocals. Wada passed away in 2016 at the age of 42. The video features brand new animation that follows the show’s events, from the kids waking up in Digital World and meeting their partners to them saying their final farewells at the end of the show.

Many people in the comments have stated that they started to cry while watching the video. One person noted that the Chosen Children of this generation have all gathered in the comment section. As of the time of writing, the video has accumulated over 245,000 views within 10 hours.

There is no information as of the time of writing in regards to the Yamato and Teen-Age Wolves album. Teen-Age Wolves is the name of Yamato’s band in Digimon Adventure 02 but it’s unknown if the album will feature new songs with his voice actor Yuto Kazama as vocals. It could also be a Digimon Adventure 02 soundtrack but with a more gimmicky packaging.

The original 1999 release of Digimon Adventure is available on Hulu.

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OK, let me clarify before I even begin. I bought the World of Warcraft mount that outsold StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, in-game, entirely for free. Now let's back this up a little bit. In September 2023, former Blizzard developer Jason Thor Hall revealed that a paid mount in World of Warcraft netted Blizzard Entertainment more money than sales for StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. The mount, at the time, cost $15 and could only be purchased with real money. However, as of August 1, 2024 the infamous mount is now available to obtain entirely for free, in-game, for 900 Traders Tender (a free currency) for the entire month of August.

I should also clarify that Hall did not explicitly reveal which mount outsold StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, but internet users have done their sleuthing and have more or less come to the conclusion that the mount in question could possibly be the Celestial Steed. It's a horse made up of constellations, and in my opinion, not the best looking thing out there. But I guess given that the T&W Trading Post probably didn't exist in 2010, and mounts were more of a challenge to obtain, I can see the appeal of buying one right out of the shop and having one (especially since it seems to have flying) ready to go. Granted, you would still need to level up to unlock the ability to ride it, but I guess I get the appeal.

I suppose, above all else this mount is a time capsule of sort. It was probably incredible looking for the time it came out, with it's semi-transparent body and unique effects that sprinkling out stars around the horse and it's rider. At the same time, this mount more or less reaffirmed that corporations could make a hefty chunk of change for microtransactions. I, myself, am guilty for purchasing things through in-game stories. I've bought several Fantasias in Final Fantasy XIV, and a couple of cosmetic items. I've even purchase an outfit in World of Warcraft, or sometimes I buy characters in games like The First Descendant to get access to who I want to play immediately. I fully acknowledge I'm part of the problem.

It's just incredible to see a mount, that potentially set a trend, available for free in the long-running MMORPG. And I guess even more-so that I could just grab it and go without dipping into my wallet. A part of me wonders what long-time players feel about things that were originally only available for real-money now being available for free. And another part of me wonders what other mounts potentially made more profit in World of Warcraft than the Celestial Steed. I suppose we may never know that, and it's probably for the best. Because there's a part of me that feels a physical sort of pain when I know that this horse potentially contributed to the death of one of my favorite RTS franchises.

World of Warcraft is available for PC.

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Shogakukan will release an app in North America called Novelous (the actual release version may have a different translated name) that uses AI to translate light novels from Japanese to English. This will, according to Shogakukan, allow it to ramp up production while cutting costs by half. [Thanks, Nikkei!]

Currently, it plans on featuring popular titles like the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End spinoff. However, it aims to increase its library to 400 works within two years. Like some ebook services, readers will be able to leave comments and impressions on works. As well, like how some manga artists may include a little picture of a speaking character either for clarity or comedic effect, the app will feature word balloons with character icons in them. In the Nikkei article, Shogakukan explained this is due to feedback from those who had trouble keeping track of and remembering Japanese names.

The app will utilize Mantra, which is the same AI translation system as what Bushiroad used for The Ancient Magus’ Bride back in December 2023. At the time, many readers and professional translators were against the usage of AI. JAT (Japan Association of Translators) is also against the usage of AI translation since it cannot translate “high-context, story-centric” writing. The example picture of the app shows several mistakes and errors in a single, short sentence. So normal sentences also prove difficult for the machine.

In the press release, Shogakukan states that it wants to have a million users by the end of the fiscal year in 2027. Its sales goals are also in the billions of yen in that same amount of time. As a note, scanlation or fan translation groups usually post their translations for free. It is also possible for someone to use services like Google Translate or DeepL to translate works without paying corporations a single cent.

Novelous, the Shogakukan AI-translated light novel reading service, will come out in North America some time in 2024. More information on it, such as its library at launch and its pricing, will appear later.

The post Shogakukan to Release AI Translated Light Novel Reading App appeared first on Siliconera.

With the final chapter of the My Hero Academia manga series set to release on August 5, 2024, various merchandise projects like and art book, fan book, and board game are reportedly being planned. Additionally, a new large-scale project will reportedly be announced the same day the manga series concludes. [Thanks, ryokutya2089!]

There is no information yet as to what this large-scale project will be. Other projects include the release of the final volume 42 of the My Hero Academia manga series, which is set to appear on December 2024 in Japan, as reported by leaker ryokutya2089. A digital manuscript print will seemingly be available for applicants that purchase the final issue of the manga.

Additionally, a final My Hero Academia fan book will appear on January 2025, with the first ever art book for the manga series coming out on April 2025. An original image exhibition of the series will reportedly be held around Summer 2025. Other minor projects include a possible board game, as well as Line stickers.

The My Hero Academia manga will end on August 5, 2024, and various projects to celebrate the end of the series are being planned. Viz Media handles the release of the manga in North America, and the anime is available on Crunchyroll.

The post My Hero Academia Art Book, Board Games, More Planned appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Spirits revealed a new set of alternate option parts for the Metal Structure action figure of Amuro Ray's RX-93 Nu Gundam. It will release the new parts in Japan in January 2025. The set will also be available for purchase in the U.S. and the rest of Asia Pacific. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

One of the highlights of this package will be the new backpack set housing a pair of large beam sabers and multiple red Incoms. The latter are wire-guided remote weapons that let ordinary pilots shoot from multiple directions, as the more famous Funnels and Bits are only compatible with Newtype pilots who possess psychic abilities. The package will also include scaled human figures of characters closely related to the Mobile Suit, such as Amuro Ray and Chan Agi.

Here are some of the sample images of the new parts:

This set will cost 46,200 yen (~$308), but it will only contain the above bonus parts. The actual Nu Gundam Metal Structure has been available for purchase since 2019. Bandai Spirits re-released the action figure with its iconic Fin Funnels in March 2024 at a whopping 140,800 yen (~$938.60).

The Nu Gundam, which Amuro Ray piloted in the 1988 movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, has been receiving more alternate armaments outside the show. Another example of this is the Long-Range Fin Funnel that appears on its life-sized statue in Fukuoka, as the original Fin Funnels would be unwieldy for the statue's weight balance. Bandai Namco has since brought the armament to Gundam games like Battle Operation 2 and Gundam Breaker 4.

The new set of alternate option parts for the RX-93 Nu Gundam Metal Structure action figure will be available in January 2025.

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Capcom revealed some of the new Baki the Grappler items and emotes inspired by Doppo Orochi that will be available in Street Fighter 6 as part of the latest collaboration with the anime and manga series. The new collaboration will run between August 16 and September 25, 2024.

The first item inspired by Doppo Orochi that will appear on Street Fighter 6 will be a costume inspired by Doppo’s martial arts uniform. This costume will be available for the player avatar in SF6. Additionally, two emotes inspired by the Baki the Grappler series will be available. Finally, 12 in-game stickers featuring Baki the Grappler manga panels will be available.

You can take a better look at the Doppo Orochi costume, emotes, and stickers from Baki the Grappler that will appear on Street Fighter 6 here:

The previous SF6 collaboration with the Baki the Grappler manga and anime series appeared in September 2023 and as part of it Capcom released character creator recipes for Baki Hanma and Kaoru Hanayama.

Street Fighter 6 is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. The new Baki the Grappler collaboration features costumes, emotes, and in-game stickers, and it will run from August 16 to September 25, 2024.

The post Street Fighter 6 Baki the Grappler Doppo Items, Emotes Shown appeared first on Siliconera.

The twin Vtubers Fuwawa and Mococo Abyssgard, known as Fuwamoco, released an original song called “Born to Be Bau”dol.” While the two released covers since the Hololive English Advent debut in July 2023, this is their first original track.

“Born to be Bau”dol” is by PandaBoY, who worked on other Hololive Vtuber original songs like “Blue Clapper” and “Twinkle 4 You.” The composer also worked on songs for The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, D4DJ, FREE, and The Quintessential Quintuplets. There’s no single available to buy just yet. However, the music video for the new song is live on the Fuwamoco YouTube channel for the Vtubers Fuwawa and Mococo.

Here’s the full track. Sawtowne worked on the animation for it. Also, in addition to singing the song, Fuwawa and Mococo helped with the translation. (Turning on closed captions offers an English subtitle option.)

Prior to this track, the last Fuwamoco song was a cover of the Round Table and Nino song used for the anime Chobits, “Let Me Be with You.” 

Also, for some covers, we see both Fuwawa and Mococo versions. This happened with “Cute na Kanojo.”

As part of the Hololive Advent first anniversary celebration, the twins and other members Shiori Novella, Nerissa Ravencroft, and Koseki Bijou released an original song named “Sirens.”

The post Twin Vtubers Fuwamoco Release First Original Song appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix is bringing back 4 of the Kingdom Hearts metallic keyblade keychains. Pre-orders for the keychains are now open from the Square Enix online eStore, and they are expected to release in Japan on September 28, 2024.

Each keychain costs 2,090 yen (or approximately $13.97.) The 4 keyblades that are being restocked are Sora’s signature Kingdom Key, Oathkeeper, Fenrir from KH2, and Flame Liberator, also known as Bond of the Blaze, which is Axel/Lea’s keyblade as it appeared in KH3D and KH3.

You can check out the Kingdom Hearts metal keyblade keychains in more detail here:

As a reminder, back in May 2023 Square Enix released a similar line of keychains inspired by keyblades from the KH series which included Two Become One, the χ-blade, and Bond of Flame, the alternate version of Axel’s keyblade that Sora can obtain in KH2.

The Kingdom Hearts metallic keyblade keychains cost 2,090 yen each (~$13.97,) they will release in Japan on September 28, 2024, and are now available for pre-order from the Square Enix eStore. The Kingdom Hearts series is readily available for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch via cloud streaming, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post Metal Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Keychains Returning appeared first on Siliconera.

Nijisanji Vtuber Derem Kado, who was originally a part of Nijisanji ID before Anycolor folded it into the Japanese branch, announced on her social media account that she now on hiatus “indefinitely until my heart is healed.” This comes after a major music video project she worked on was canceled. 

The project in question was called LASTRENADE. It would have been a music video for all three members of the 53Renade unit, which consisted of Derem Kado, Nagisa Arcinia, and Reza Avanluna, featuring fan art from people who appreciated their work. The deadline for the project’s submissions was August 24, 2023. However, Reza graduated in September 2023. Derem noted that health issues alsoforced her to pause work on it initially. She then noted “Reza has graduated for too long so it couldn’t be released.” 

In the Derem Kado statement about the LASTRENADE project for the three Nijisanji Vtubers, she directed people to “please ask Anycolor” and noted “I am tired of explaining something ambiguously, and forcing myself to take all by myself.” 

Here is the full statement:

Derem’s last stream was on July 30, 2024. She played Townscraper.

There is no end date for the Nijisanji Vtuber Derem Kado hiatus.

The post Nijisanji Vtuber Derem Kado Goes on Indefinite Hiatus  appeared first on Siliconera.

Neos revealed that it will release Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town for Nintendo Switch and PC in the West on October 24, 2024. The latter will be available on Steam, and the company has also set up a webpage for the game on the platform.

Shiro and the Coal Town is an adventure game where the player will control Shinnosuke "Shin-chan" Nohara as he goes back and forth between a real-world rural village and a mysterious steampunk-themed Coal Town. The game will also have many mini-games ranging from fishing in the village to trolley races in the Coal Town.

The Switch version of the game will support subtitles in Japanese, English, Spanish, and German with Japanese voiceovers. The PC release will add more subtitle and voiceover language options in Chinese, Cantonese, and Korean.

Neos first revealed the game at the Japanese version of the September 2023 Nintendo Direct with the Japanese title Crayon Shin-chan: Sumi no Machi to Shiro. The new English title is an almost direct translation of the original Japanese title.

The company released Shiro and the Coal Town first in Japan on the Switch on February 22, 2024. It later released the game in East Asia on May 2, 2024. Neos also discovered that the game's sales performance stayed in first place in South Korean rankings and second place in Taiwan in the first two weeks after release.

Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town will be available digitally for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on October 24, 2024.

The post Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town Will Appear in October appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company opened pre-orders for its upcoming Nendoroid of Griffith from Kentaro Miura's Berserk. The new chibi action figure will be formally available worldwide in 2025. People in the US and Canada head to the company's US web store, where the figure is priced at $43.99. Those living elsewhere worldwide can instead place an order on the Japanese international web store at ￥7,500.

As with most other Nendoroids, this chibi action figure of Griffith will stand at around 10cm (3.94in) tall. The set will have two facial expression parts, although the second one will only feature a slight variation in the direction of Griffith's eyes. It will also come with Griffith's saber, which the owner can also unsheath from its scabbard.

Here are the sample images showing some of the poses Griffith's Nendoroid can take:

Griffith's Nendoroid will help complement Guts, whose figure was revealed and produced earlier. Good Smile Company held the pre-order session for Guts' Nendoroid in May 2023. It later released the series protagonist's chibi action figure in December 2023.

The pre-order window for the Berserk Griffith Nendoroid will close on September 11, 2024. Good Smile Company will ship the finished figures from Japan in March 2025 and North America in Q3 2025.

The post Berserk Griffith Nendoroid Will Appear Worldwide in 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake August 2024 calendar images are live and mark a shift in how they are presented, given that FFVII Rebirth versions of Aerith and Barret are the stars this time around. It features the duo in optional costumes they can wear in the game and features their Synergy Ability pose.

In FFVII Rebirth, characters can team up for special moves called Synergy Abilities, and one for Aerith and Barret is called Sweet-and-Sour Salvo. When the two perform it, they first put on matching sunglasses and pose before attacking. The two also appear to be in the Costa del Sol region of the game, based on their attire and the scenery.

Here are the two options for the FFVII Remake Aerith and Barret calendar, which feature a landscape one for PCs and vertical one for mobile devices.

Previously, these calendars tended to focus on single characters. Some of the past ones in 2024 featured Zack Fair, Sephiroth, and Vincent.

While there isn’t a physical FFVII Remake calendar for 2025 yet, there is one coming up for FFXIV. Square Enix already started taking orders for it. It features art from Dawntrail, the latest expansion.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and FFVII Rebirth is out on the PS5.

The post FFVII Remake August 2024 Calendar Pairs Up Aerith and Barret appeared first on Siliconera.

The official Twitter account for the upcoming The Rose of Versailles movie has shown off the first key visual for the film’s collaboration with Sanrio mascots. Goods of these Sanrio characters will appear some time in the future.

All of the Sanrio mascots look like they’re cosplaying the The Rose of Versailles characters. They even have the hair and extra sparkly eyes. The pair-ups are:

• Dear Daniel: Andre
• Hello Kitty: Oscar
• My Melody: Marie Antoinette
• Pochacco: Fersen

Another key visual shows the mascots looking like plush dolls, complete with motifs and symbols that often appear in the The Rose of Versailles series. As mentioned earlier, goods of these mascots will appear in the future. More details will come soon.

News of an anime movie adaptation of The Rose of Versailles came out in September 2022.  MAPPA of Yuri!!! On Ice and Jujutsu Kaisen fame is the studio handling it. The manga is a highly influential work, achieving great financial and social success since it started serialization in 1972. As for the story, it is a historical drama focusing on the years preceding and during the French Revolution. Aside from the upcoming anime movie, there have been multiple adaptations over the years. This includes anime series and multiple stage musicals.

The The Rose of Versailles anime movie will air in Japan in early Spring 2025.

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Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (The Eternity You Desire), the visual novel Age released before the Muv Luv series, will be released on PCs worldwide in Japanese and English. This Enhanced Edition will debut on Steam on October 17, 2024. 

The Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Enhanced Edition will be an all-ages release with voice acting from the 2008 Latest Edition released in Japan. It also has a “retelling of Chapter 1” and three additional after stories. It begins with a young man named Takayuki meeting Haruka, via Mitsuki, and developing an initial relationship with her. While there is the love triangle element with the three of them, there are also other heroines to romance as well. 

It’s possible someone might know the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien story without playing the game, due to the anime based on it appearing outside of Japan. It was originally handled by Funimation outside of Japan, and it is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. It also appeared physically worldwide, though that release is now out of print.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Enhanced Edition will appear in Japanese and English worldwide on PCs on October 17, 2024. The game is available in Japan on the Dreamcast and PS2 as well. 

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