Nook News – 3/7/21

Visual Novel News:

MangaGamer seems to make it into our news posts often these days! This time they’ve opened their annual licensing survey. You can let them know here where you find information about visual novels and what you’d like to see from them in the future. My top choice? Green Green.

TAISHO x ALICE episode 3 has just released this week! It describes itself as a fairytale visual novel in which YOU must save your Prince Charming! I’ve heard good things from the Otome side of the visual novel community around this series before. There is more than one content warning on this, so do read the store page carefully if this is something relevant to you. The first two episodes are currently on sale on the Steam Store.

Oh Mai Tiara ~ The Road For Love ~, a visual novel that has successfully been funded on Kickstarter. It follows Nobu who sneaks into an all-girls summer camp while pretending to be a girl – all to reveal his feelings to his childhood friend. While the Kickstarter has ended, the demo can still be found here.

Gaming News:

The New Game+ Expo recently took place this past week, and it contained a ton of announcements! Suda 51 are bringing their debut title The Silver Case and its sequel to the Nintendo Switch in one package called The Silver Case 2425. The Super Nintendo classic Pocky and Rocky is getting a brand new title from Natsume called Pocky & Rocky Reshrined. Also from Natsume, a mech-themed puzzle game with 4-player support called ConnecTank was also announced.

Idea Factory also announced two titles coming to the west: Mary Skelter Finale, the third and final entry in the Mary Skelter dungeon crawler series, and Neptunia ReVerse, a remaster of Neptunia Re;Birth 1 exclusively for the PS5. They also announced a re-release of Death end Re;Quest for the Nintendo Switch.

A new trailer was shown for World’s End Club from NIS America and developed by Too Kyo Games, a studio led by the writers of Danganronpa and the Zero Escape series. NIS America also unveiled a classic collection containing Phantom Brave and Soul Nomad in a collection called NIS Classics Volume 1 for the Nintendo Switch.

Disgaea 6 confirmed that four characters from prior entries, Adell, Rozalin, Girl Laharl, and Asagi will be included for free at launch. Finally, IntiCreates provided an update on Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 and announced in collaboration with SunSoft the final entry in the Blaster Master Zero series with Blaster Master Zero 3.

Some of the most popular reviews on our website are our controller reviews. The Gioteck JC-20 review had a particularly good reception, but we know that a lot of our readers are primarily PC gamers, so may be interested to hear that the Nacon Pro Compact Controller Designed for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows 10 PC will be released on the 15th of March. We’re hoping to review this controller, as it sounds like customizability is a big focus. You can remap buttons, reverse the stick positions, choose between a D-pad with 4 or 8 directions, and disable the vibration motors.

You can find more details about this controller in this video.

Anime News:

After eight long years, the fan-favorite isekai The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is finally getting a second season! It’s celebrating the light novel’s 10th anniversary and a key visual and trailer were also unveiled. While WHITE FOX animated the first season, we currently don’t know who’s behind the production of this new season, nor do we know when it will premiere.

Watch the trailer for The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Season 2

Keeping with the theme of isekais, the surprise hit The Rising of the Shield Hero is getting a second season! While a good portion of the staff are returning, directing duties have gone to Masato Jinbo for this second season. What’s more, we’ve received a new key visual for the season, as well as its premiere window: October 2021!

Watch The Rising of a Shield Hero Season 2 trailer

Here’s something I’m sure no one expected: Hello Kitty is getting a live-action/animation hybrid film from Hollywood… yes, really. In a recent report, it was announced that Leo Matsuda and Jennifer Coyle will be directing the film together. The former directed the Disney short film Inner Workings and served as a story artist for films like Zootopia, both Wreck-It-Ralph films and Big Hero 6. While the latter is a producer and directed multiple episodes of DC Super Hero Girls for Warner Bros. Animation. The film is being produced by New Line Cinema and FlynnPictorCo. and no release window was given for the film.

After last week’s announcement of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S, it was a surprise to get another update on the original creators’ other project, Peach Boy Riverside. While we got a key visual a few weeks back, a full trailer has now been released. Also, in what could be called either an insane coincidence or a happy accident, Peach Boy Riverside will premiere in July, just like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S. This means that two series from the same creators will be getting anime adaptations in the same season; that’s unheard of, but a welcome one for any anime fan!

Watch the trailer for Peach Boy Riverside

Those of you who watched anime in the early 2000s, you’ll have undoubtedly watched or at least heard of Shaman King. Based on the popular Shonen Jump manga series, the original anime will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As a means to introduce a new audience to this classic shonen series, animation studio Bridge is rebooting the series! The premiere is fast approaching, so a new key visual and trailer were recently released to promote the series.

The Shaman King 2021 reboot will air on April 1st.

Watch the Shaman King 2021 reboot trailer

But what if you’re looking for a comedy series to watch during the Spring anime season? Netflix has got you covered with an anime adaptation of The Way of the Househusband! Based on the popular manga of the same name, it follows a former legendary yakuza member who now aims to be a househusband and the antics that unfold. To give us a better idea regarding the tone of the series, a new trailer was released for the series.

The Way of the Househusband premieres on April 8th.

Watch The Way of the Househusband trailer

They may not be animating Attack on Titan‘s final season, but WIT Studio is still busy with other projects. Case in point, they recently announced they’ll be adapting the manga series The Girl from the Other Side into a feature-length original animation DVD, or OAD for short. To announce the project, a key visual and trailer were released. In a surprise move, they’ll also be hosting a Kickstarter campaign that begins on March 10th and runs until May 9th with a goal of just under $28,000.

The Girl from the Other Side will release on OAD on March 10th, 2022.

Watch the teaser for The Girl from the Other Side