Visual Novel News:
Japan has recently been celebrating Golden Week and while we in the west may not be joining the festivities, we can celebrate in another way – with discounts on some great visual novels!
JASTUSA is celebrating by having daily flash sales. Today is Sadistic Blood at 15% off, but this changes each day until May 5th. MangaGamer’s entire Steam catalog of games is on sale via Steam and their own store. We highly recommended Bokuten. Otome fans can celebrate too, as many physical copies of the Aksys titles are on sale in their store.
In new releases, NekoNyan released Sugar * Style. By the same team as the highly thought of title Making Lovers, this is another one of those rare visual novels that focus on heroines who have graduated high school. Check back soon for a review of this title.
Gaming News:
As well as visual novel sales already mentioned, Steam is hosting a Golden Week sale with a ton of discounts on some of the best Japanese-developed games on the platform! The sale ends on May 6 at 10am (Pacific Time.) Here are some suggestions:
Gal Gun 2: 30% off
Persona 4 Golden: 30% off
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition: 70% off
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 30% off
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA: 40% off
It’s likely some of you forgot, but a stylish and gorgeous action RPG called Lost Soul Aside is currently in development from the Chinese studio Ultizero Games. No surprise, since we’ve heard barely a peep about it since 2018, though that recently was rectified! We recently got a massive 18-minute showcase of gameplay and it looks just as jaw-dropping as it did all those years ago! Still no word on a release window or if it’ll be coming to other platforms other than PS4, but things are looking promising so far!
Watch the new gameplay showcase from Lost Soul Aside
Bang Dream! Girls Band Party has been rocking the iOS and Android platforms since 2017, serving as a great rhythm game to play on the go. Thanks to its success, the game is making its way to another platform with a Switch port being announced!
Bang Dream! Girls Band Party‘s Switch port launches in Japan on September 16th, with no western release announced at this time.
Launched back in 2018, Bandai Namco has decided to keep supporting Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. It will be receiving a 4th season of DLC and a free-to-play version called Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker Lite Version. Those of you eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that this is the exact same strategy the company has done with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, with it continuing to receive DLC and has a free version as well.
Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker Lite Version launches this Spring.
Watch the Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker Season 4 announcement
Rune Factory 5 is right around the corner for Japanese players! As such, a new trailer showing off the town of Rigberth with Chief Livia serving as our guide was released.
Rune Factory 5‘s western release launches on Nintendo Switch in 2021.
Watch the Rigberth Tour trailer for Rune Factory 5
Hiro Mashima has certainly been busy as of late! An adaptation of his recent manga series, Eden Zero recently premiered and a brand new mobile game in collaboration with Square-Enix was announced: Gate of Nightmares! With Mashima serving as character designer, other heavy hitters include writer Jin Fujisawa, who wrote for Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, and Yasuharu Takanashi, who worked on the music for the Fairy Tail anime adaptation.
Gate of Nightmares will release on iOS and Android with only a Japanese release confirmed. A Japanese Beta has been announced, but no dates were announced at this time.
Watch the Gate of Nightmares announcement trailer
Anime News:
Japan’s most iconic magical girl is making her return! Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie, which was released in two parts, has been confirmed for an international release thanks to Netflix! These films are adaptations of the Dream Arc from the original manga series and are a continuation of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie begins streaming on Netflix on June 3rd.
Watch the Netflix announcement of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie
Kyoto Animation’s Free! film, which was delayed due to the arson attack in 2019, has been given a new release date. Free!–the Final Stroke– will be released in Japan in two parts, with the first part releasing on September 17, with part 2 releasing on April 22nd, 2022.
Watch the Free!–the Final Stroke– teaser trailer
Need a bit of a break from some of the serious anime releases as of late and are also up to something “steamy?” Megami-Ryou no Ryoubo-Kun has got you covered! As an adaptation of Ikumi Hino’s original manga, it tells the story of an orphaned boy finding shelter in a women’s college dorm and… well, you can guess what kinds of hijinks ensue.
Megami-Ryou no Ryoubo-Kun‘s anime adaptation airs this July.
Watch the trailer for Megami-Ryou no Ryoubo-Kun (WARNING: NSFW)
One of anime’s most renowned composers, Shunsuke Kikuchi, recently passed away at the age of 89 during treatment for aspiration pneumonia. He was known for his work on the original Kamen Rider, writing the theme song for Doraemon that was used for 26 years, and as the composer for the anime adaptations of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and the anime exclusive Dragon Ball GT. His lasting legacy in the industry will be missed and we offer our condolences to the friends and family affected by his death.
Upcoming Releases:
After two remakes of beloved Playstation classics, the Resident Evil series is finally continuing the story set up in 2017’s highly acclaimed Resident Evil VII: Biohazard! Resident Evil Village is the eighth mainline entry in the series and is set three years after the events of REVII. The plot sees Ethan Winters trying to save his daughter in a mysterious European village and after the positive reception from the recent demos, expectations couldn’t be higher!
Resident Evil Village launches for Playstation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 7th.
An anime/gaming aficionado, experienced content creator and lovable goofball. Name a game genre and Seamus has likely played it… yes, even that one. Follow him @TrueStorySeamus