The official website for Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II was updated by Compile Heart today and with this update came a number of new screenshots showing off the recently revealed mascot characters as well as a new skill system added into the game called a “Formation Skill.”
These Formation Skills are special skills that can be activated by co-operating with your fellow party members with up to four participating in the attack. Players will need to surround an enemy with their characters, connect each character with a line, and then trigger the skill while the EXE Drive gauge is filled to activate a devastating skill. More details on what type of Formation Skills will be available sometime in the future as the title itself is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 in Japan on April 23rd.
The first English trailer for Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion was released recently by Aniplex of America and at the end we see that Nagisa Momoe will be voiced by Xanthe Huynh in the English release.
The trailer can be found below while Aniplex of America is set to release Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion on April 7th in three different packages. There will be a Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD set that comes with a deluxe booklet, soundtrack CD, and a postcard collection, a standard Blu-ray release, and finally a standard DVD release of the film priced at $79.98, $49.98, and $39.98 respectively.
It has been announced that the K anime would be getting a second anime season that will premiere in the fall 2015 season. This announcement came in the form of a video that you can check out below. Currently it is unknown exactly where the storyline for K’s second season will pick up but GoHands will continue to handle the series’ animation.
The first season was previously released in 2012 and Viz released the series in English last year and later a movie called K: Missing Kings, the review of which can be found here, was released following the events that took place at the end of K.
As a huge fan of all things cyberpunk, it should be no surprise that I keep an eye out for all things high-tech and noir. The cyber word on the street is that a new cyberpunk-themed collectible card game is currently up on kickstarter by the name of Glitch Hunter. The game is being developed by Estonian developer, One More Rabbit, and aims to create an accessible and fast-paced collectible card game. In true cyberpunk form, the game will be based online.
There doesn’t appear to be too many details about gameplay which are known at this point (at least not on the kickstarter page) but there appears to be some interesting elements in play. One of these elements is the addition of a ‘Doomsday Switch’ timebomb in which (when activated by both players) a timer counts down until both players lose. The players have until the timer finishes to win the game and receive bonuses to resources to help with that. It’s certainly one method to keep the game moving at a fast pace…
Unfortunately I can’t add much more until further details come through, but it might be interesting to keep an eye on this one as things develop. Feel free to have a gander at the project here and determine for yourself whether the project is worth your support.
Overview Iconic figureheads from the past and major events from a country’s history are ripe for the picking when it comes to creating a new story. There have been many light novels, manga, video games, and anime that have reached into the past and put a unique spin on history in order to give their audience something different.
One of the most common ways to do this is to gender-bend historical figures into girls and that happens to be the case in The Ambition of Oda Nobuna. Despite how common this is, The Ambition of Oda Nobuna tweaks the formula in a way rarely seen by going in a completely different direction than past series have went.
Story Yoshiharu Sagara has always loved playing video games focused on the Sengoku Era of Japan, especially Nobunaga’s Ambition. In fact he has played these games so much that he has almost encyclopedic knowledge about the way events unfolded throughout history. That is a good thing for him considering somehow he has found himself transported to the past winding up in the middle of a battlefield.
At first Yoshiharu believes that he is dreaming before being attacked by two enemy soldiers and saved by an unknown samurai. While running this samurai is hit by a stray bullet and makes Yoshiharu promise that he will carry on his dream, but unfortunately for Yoshiharu this samurai happened to be Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man responsible for uniting Japan and ending the Sengoku Era. Not only does this mean that history has already undergone a drastic change, but it also solidifies Yoshiharu’s situation.
Shortly after Hideyoshi’s death, Yoshiharu stumbles upon a young woman about to be struck down by opposing forces and manages to stun them using a ringtone from his cell phone. Little does he realize that the woman he just saved happens to be the daimyo of Owari and this world’s Oda Nobunaga. Thing is, in this alternate world Nobunaga is now Nobuna, a hot headed female warrior and numerous other historical names including Katsuie and Nagahide are all now female warriors as gender plays no role in the leadership of a territory in this world.
Stuck in a past extremely similar to his own, Yoshiharu is rewarded for his efforts on the battlefield by Nobuna and hired on as a lowly sandal-bearer by Nobuna. Despite his positioning and the fact that Nobuna has decided to call him Monkey thanks to his middle name being Saru, Yoshiharu realizes that with this world’s Hideyoshi dead, he must now try and take his place and with all of the knowledge from the future, he is more than willing to prove his worth.
What makes The Ambition of Oda Nobuna interesting is the fact that Yoshiharu is not only willing to use his knowledge but also ready to throw himself in harm’s way to try and change things, making him far different than your standard male lead in series such as this. He is confident enough to stand directly in front of a blade in order to gain an ally using his knowledge and by doing so he makes himself an invaluable resource to Nobuna, though the constant promise of a “beautiful girl” as a reward does help motivate him. That being said, there are a number of historical events that appear in the story but for those unfamiliar with history, either the series’ narrator or Yoshiharu often give context to the events to keep the viewer informed.
This especially helps with the number of characters that are introduced throughout the series as The Ambition of Oda Nobuna not only introduces most of the gender-bent prominent warriors of the time but also explains their relation to various members of the group as well as history. This establishes the cast as more than simple girls centering around the male lead which is a far cry from series such as this one as each character has their own role to play in the story.
Despite the amount of girls in the cast, the actual feeling of a harem is rather low since many members of Nobuna’s inner-circle clearly acknowledge the fact that the two develop feelings for one another over the course of the series. Initially Nobuna only see Yoshiharu as a pet monkey with a few tricks but as he continues to prove his worth to her and promise that he will always be there for her, we see that her feelings begin to change as she constantly believes in his ability to come through for her and sees him as her best support even if the actual romance doesn’t progress much farther than a number of tsundere moments.
What makes the story interesting is the fact that since Yoshiharu is willing to use his knowledge; he also ends up changing events from what he knew in the past and puts his life at risk to do so. Because of his interference, various prominent names that should have been slain remain alive and a number of times his knowledge is proven wrong thanks to alterations with history having long-reaching affects. These moments generally play out as comedic as one of Nobuna’s other retainers steps in to correct his mistakes.
There is a decent balance between comedy and serious events in the series as the tone will generally shift often within an episode. Thanks to Nobuna being at war, numerous territories are obtained through combat using various strategies and knowledge of the future and various schemes by her enemies are implemented throughout the course of the series. This is especially in the latter half which sets itself up for a series of life or death battles centered on defeating Nobuna’s forces for good, culminating in a great finale for the series that leaves viewers hoping for a continuation.
Visuals Animated by Madhouse and Studio Gokumi, The Ambition of Oda Nobuna is a gorgeous looking series. Every character, including basic named side-characters, has unique looking and memorable designs all the way from the way their faces are designed to the details of their armor and all of it feature vibrant colors that look amazing on Blu-ray. Each character is impressively detailed and this detail carries over impressively well into the action scenes without any drop in quality.
These action sequences vary from simple cavalry charges to infantry combat and even the use of rotating arquebus lines ahead of their time and even though these battles scenes tend to be fairly short, they are a real highlight. As far as the fan-service goes, this series is surprisingly light on that front as the only source of that fan-service comes from either Yoshiharu’s brief fantasies or some minor breast bouncing from Katsui that more for humor than anything else as it causes her chest armor to bounce separately from the rest of her armor.
Audio Now with Sentai Filmworks’ release of The Ambition of Oda Nobuna they have included their own original English dub and released it alongside the standard Japanese dub. Unfortunately the English dub cast tends to sound like they are simply going through the motions with many of the serious or intense scenes, detracting from the experience. As such those the Japanese dub would be recommended this time around as the original cast handled their roles incredibly well and fit their characters perfectly.
The background music used throughout The Ambition of Oda Nobuna is fitting for the time period that the series is set in which is a nice touch as it works well with the theme. It is worth noting that the Atsumori sung by Nobuna during the earlier half of the series is voiced over in English in the dub, which isn’t quite fitting considering the tone of the song. As for the opening and ending themes, the opening theme “Link” by Aimi is an enjoyable rock-based song set to an impressive action packed opening sequence while the ending theme “Hiarki” by Makino Mizuta is a slow simple song that works well in context and also provides a bit of fan-service.
Extras The only extras included in this release of The Ambition of Oda Nobuna are a clean version of the opening and ending theme as well as some trailers for other Sentai Filmworks series.
Overall The Ambition of Oda Nobuna may not feature the best English dub as it is serviceable at best but thankfully the Japanese dub is remains intact and presents viewers with a unique take on Sengoku Era history. By keeping Yoshiharu as a confident lead using his knowledge of the era to help Nobuna and her vassals overcome the odds through combat and diplomacy while building a believable relationship between the two and keeping him on his toes as history changes around him, The Ambition of Oda Nobuna provides a refreshingly entertaining experience and perhaps the best take on the gender-bent history theme you will find.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Do you own a PlayStation 4? Wanna play games online this weekend? Well Sony has got you covered! Sony will be sharing the online-play benefits of PlayStation Plus to ALL of the current PlayStation 4 owners. That means you can get your beloved into Grand Theft Auto Online, or if you’re by yourself this weekend, maybe join a clan and take down the latest Destiny raids.
So the little free online weekend runs from 1700 AESTon Friday 13th February to 1700 AEST on Monday 16th February. After that if you want to keep playing, you will need to subscribe to a PS+ account, but don’t fret – doing so will net you a few downloadable games per month to keep you entertained.
Tecmo Koei are releasing custom Samurai Warriors themes for current generation handheld owners. Playstation Vita owners with a Japanese PSN account can now purchase a new Samurai Warriors custom theme as the popular series marks its 10th anniversary. Nintendo 3DS owners will also be treated to two custom themes (the 10th anniversary plus an extra Chronicles theme) that will be released on the 18th February through the Nintendo eShop.
The Playstation Vita anniversary theme will alter the home and start screens as well as including Samurai Warriors themed background music. The theme will cost 400 yen plus tax.
The anniversary theme for the 3DS will include a moving wallpaper, Samurai Warriors background music and available to purchase at a cheaper price of 186 yen plus tax. The Chronicles theme is the same price but all changes are related to the Chronicles game.
Fans of Samurai Warriors 4 (reviewed here) should take note of Samurai Warriors 4-II which releases today (11th February) in the Japanese markets for Playstation 3, 4 and Vita owners. This is a revised remake of the original ‘4’ game with an added character to the roster. A treasurebox edition is also available for purchase with a few notable extras, including a soundtrack CD and a photo frame with a clock.
VIZ Media has announced the acquisition of two new shojo manga series for their already impressive catalog. The new series are Idol Dreams by Arina Tanemura and QQ Sweeper by Kyousuke Motomi. VIZ plans on releasing the titles in their Shojo Beat magazine, in print, and digitally on the VIZManga online site. Picking up two new titles is common for VIZ to do for Shojo Beat.
Idol Dreams will release in November 2015. The title follows an office worker named Chikage Deguchi who seeks to relive her youth. She takes an experimental drug which makes her appear to be 15 years old again, and she becomes determined to do everything she didn’t accomplish in her youth.
QQ Sweeper is to debut in October 2015 and follows a ‘cleaning expert’ of a highschool, Kyutaro Horikita. This protagonist partners with a new transfer student, Fumi Nishioka, in order to clean the school of spirits.
Both titles will release for $9.99 (USD) / $12.99 (CAN) per volume, as well as in Shojo Beat and online.
VIZ Media has announced that the upcoming sequel to Boys Over Flowers will release simultaneously in English as the Japanese release. Shueisha is releasing Boys Over Flowers 2 on the Jump+ digital manga platform as a bi-weekly digital serialization starting on February 15th. VIZ will be releasing the English translated version on February 14th on the VIZManga platform free for a limited time.
The titles will also be available via Comixology and from Amazon for the Kindle platform. While this isn’t the first release of digital manga by VIZ this represents is an unprecedented change in the manga industry, and I’m excited for it. One of the major things holding the industry back has been the ‘scanlation’ groups, who are able to get English versions of manga up near simultaneously with Japan. This shows a move to try to build up more business via a legal platform and more importantly, growth in the industry to where they can afford to do so.
Japanese light-novels are frequently adapted into anime series. Such animated adaptations are typically produced just to serve as an advertisement for the original work. These adaptations sometimes end up running for multiple seasons, usually with a multiple-year break in the middle, but most of them only run for a single season. Some of them do not even get a full 12 or 13 episode season, however, such as Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They?, which only received a 10-episode adaptation and a single OVA episode. Many adaptations waste the potential they had, but despite its short run-time, is this one worth watching?
Story
Izayoi Sakamaki, Asuka Kudou and You Kasukabe are from three different locations on Earth in space and time. These children possess incredible psychic powers and are quite bored with their individual lives. When they are transported to Little Garden, a place where supernatural powers are more common, they find themselves developing an interest in exploring this new world and contributing to the betterment of its society.
Black Rabbit is the person that summoned the three ‘problem children’ to Little Garden, and she explains to them how Gift Games work. Along with Jin Russel, she gets the group to help the community of No Name out. In order to play a Gift Game, a person must offer a Gift in return. These games can be extremely high-stakes, and a game issued by a Demon Lord resulted in No Name losing its name, flag and much of its land. Izayoi takes it upon himself to defeat many powerful enemies, including the Demon Lords. Despite their large egos and tendencies to mess with Black Rabbit, especially Izayoi, who constantly makes inappropriate sexual comments aimed at Black Rabbit, the three ‘problem children’ are impressively strong and capable of effectively strategizing against even the most devious enemies.
The use of real legends, mythology and historical details adds to the depth of the series, even if it does not make much sense for the inhabitants of Little Garden to know so much about Earth’s history and tales. Those familiar with Greek mythology will recognise the Helm of Invisibility worn by Perseus in real-life and by the character Perseus in this series, who happens to be the leader of a community of the same name. Many people will be familiar with the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, whether that is because of other anime or not, and it is fundamentally important to the plot. Instead of simply telling the original story, or recreating it in some way, the writers adapt it for their own purposes. The end result is an emotional story that helps end the season on a high note. It is also at this point where the supernatural elements of the series feel more believable than at any point prior in the series.
Clearly, the original creator of the series was not afraid to borrow details from all types of fiction. There seem to be parodies of other Japanese series, for example. You’s male calico cat is one such example, as it is apparently quite rare to come across a male calico cat in real life, as mentioned in a certain fan-favourite series. Another apparent reference to anime is with Dean, the mecha that Asuka controls. All it can do is say its own name, which may remind viewers of a certain long-running franchise. There are lots of little references throughout the series, so observant viewers may notice a reference to something they are familiar with.
Visuals
The series looks great. Of particular note is the detail that went into the visual representation of Little Garden, a rather beautiful world that has been ravaged in certain areas. The character designs are not particularly unique, but it is easy to tell the characters apart. Fan-service in the main season is surprisingly tame, visually speaking, as the Thousand Eyes Floor Master Shiroyasha has placed a spell on Black Rabbit that makes it physically impossible to see her undergarments. She also forces her to wear somewhat revealing clothing, much to the enjoyment of Izayoi, but this is never taken too far in comparison to other anime series, at least.
Audio
Music can be fairly hit-and-miss with straight-up adaptations of light-novels or manga series. Fortunately, this series features background music composed by the talented Shiro Hamaguchi, a composer many anime fans will be familiar with. The expectations on his music for this series are high, and he certainly meets those expectations. He is as skilled as ever at creating music for all kinds of situations, and his music always adds to the atmosphere of the show instead of feeling like it is there simply because it can be. One thing to note is that background music is used abundantly throughout the series; periods of musical silence rarely last for even 30-seconds, an unusual practice for a Japanese production.
The theme songs are typical anime fare: decent pop songs with lyrics that are mostly relevant to the series. The song lyrics are subtitled, however one of the insert songs remains un-subtitled, likely due to a rights issue. One issue is present with the romaji transcription of the opening song’s lyrics, but this can be easily ignored by those with no knowledge of the Japanese language.
The dubbing work by Sentai Filmworks is excellent this time; the entire voice cast is perfectly suited to their roles. The script is not as faithful to the original as Sentai’s dub scripts usually are, though, so it comes as no surprise that the ADR script was written by Josh Grelle, a person who has worked with FUNimation on many of their less-faithful dubs. Plot details are not altered, but plenty of colloquialisms make their way into the script, making it feel more westernised than it should. The OVA episode is also dubbed into English.
Extras
There are several on-disc extras included with this release. The textless opening and ending animation sequences are included on the first disc. Episode 10 has a special ending sequence, however the textless version of it is not included. The bumpers, Blu-ray spots, TV spots, promotional video and OVA episode are included on the second disc. This OVA episode does not further the plot much, as is typical of OVAs like this one, but it is entertaining nonetheless and a good incentive to purchase the home video release. Potential buyers should note before buying this series that the OVA features girls being covered in milk and dirt in an inappropriate sexual manner, girls being molested by tentacle monsters, girls hypnotised into wearing extremely revealing loincloths, acid rain that eats away at the clothing of everyone present, including Izayoi, and more. Given the tendency of the series to go overboard with the perverted sexual references, this shameless female sexualisation is not particularly surprising, but a disturbing disappointment nonetheless considering that the OVA could have been spent exploring the world of Little Garden and its inhabitants more deeply without treating the female characters as nothing more than sexual objects.
Overall
Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They? is an enjoyable series for the most part. Despite its short length, it is able to explore its characters and its world just enough to keep things interesting. Though it may take the sexual references and the female sexualisation in the OVA to a disturbing degree, the music and the clever plot make this one of the better anime adaptations in recent years. More importantly, the focus on actual historical events, myths and legends makes this series even more interesting and even educational to a certain extent. Fans of fantasy and supernatural series will likely find something to enjoy in this series, but people who respect women will need to skip several of its scenes.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
