Over the weekend Aksys Games released a very familiar, but new trailer for Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late. There may be a reason why this trailer is familiar to those who have been following the fighting game, as the trailer is actually the opening movie for Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late.
Anyways, you can check out this video, which does focus on introducing the sixteen playable characters that will be available in the game once it is released in North America on February 24th for the PlayStation 3. NIS America will be releasing the Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late in Europe, though at the moment no solid release date has been revealed.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s a little belated I know, but they say it is better late than never. I hope 2015 is treating you all well so far, but more than that I hope that you are ready for the hottest Microsoft news because Xbox Newsbeat is back! We thought we’d start slow and ease you all back into the swing of things with two headlines this week, so get settled in for some Newsbeat!
While Halo 5: Guardians is admittedly still a fair ways away, eager Halo fans now have the opportunity to pre-order the next installment in Master Chief’s epic saga so that they will have it available. Not only that, but Microsoft and 343 Industries have announced three different editions of the game that you can order:
Standard Editionfor $99.95 AUD – Halo 5: Guardians
Limited Editionfor $149.95 AUD – Available from EB Games, JB Hi Fi and MS Store, the Limited Edition* of Halo 5: Guardians delivers new digital content to enhance Spartan combat plus exclusive** items all wrapped in a uniquely designed steel book
Limited Collector’s Editionfor $329.95 AUD – Exclusive to EB Games in Australia, the Limited Collector’s Edition is a premium edition of Halo 5: Guardians for collectors and Halo fans alike. The Limited Collector’s Edition*** contains the Limited Edition as well as additional content including a commemorative, numbered statue designed by 343 Industries
In other Halo news, as many of you are probably aware the current Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta is in its final week, so if you have a copy of The Master Chief Collection and aren’t playing, then you should be!
Who would have guessed that the first Newsbeat of the year would have featured some Forza news? To be honest, everyone should have seen this coming and you should be ashamed if you didn’t! The latest Car Pack, the G-Shock Car Pack brings 6 new cars including the 2015 Nissan IDx NISMO.
All you rev-heads can grab the G-Shock Car Pack for AU$6.65 as well as a free 2010 Mazda Mazdaspeed 3.
So there’s the first installment to Newsbeat for the year. What did you think? Did you like the change in format (just kidding, we didn’t change the format, please don’t strain yourselves looking for differences). As always, let us know in the comments below which of this week’s headlines jumped out at you the most and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Microsoft news as it becomes available.
Overview In the past it used to be when an anime ended, the story for most fans would end at the same time as the Western manga market tended to neglect all but the most popular series. Nowadays that is no longer the case and while Deadman Wonderland will never see a second anime season due to leaving out important characters that come into play here in Deadman Wonderland Volume 6, the story will continue in print form. So now that Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 has been released, does the story continue in a decent direction?
Story Considering this is a review for volume 6 of the series, anyone who has not caught up with the Deadman Wonderland manga up to this point should expect spoilers. Along those same lines, anime viewers may find that volume 6 is the easiest entry point to the extended story but, as mentioned earlier, various characters that begin to play prominent roles in this volume were left out of the anime and this may leave many in the dark.
That being said, a week has passed since Korako Koshi and the rest of the surviving members of Scar Chain managed to escape from Deadman Wonderland after defeating the Undertakers. In this time frame they have managed to pass along the horrible information about the Carnival Corpse to the press and the public has become aware of what the Deadmen are capable of.
Unfortunately since Ganta chose to remain in the prison with Shiro, he is surrounded by fellow inmates that fear him and his powers and to make matters worse, the unopposed chief of Deadman Wonderland Tamaki isn’t about to let the uncovered information about the twisted prison damage his plans. Instead, in a public display of power he unveils a Ninben, an artificially created Deadman that sadistically slaughters an unknown standard Deadman on live television. With the public now in mortal fear of what the Deadmen are capable of and the remaining Deadmen left with no choice but to do what they can to stay alive against Tamaki’s creations even while Ganta struggles with how to act when one of his first acquaintances is someone he must now face off against.
After the long running escape arc featuring the fight between Scar Chain and the Undertakers, Deadman Wonderland slows things down a little bit as there are moments of downtime in volume 6 that allow for humorous antics from Shiro as she tries to figure out how to cook something for Ganta who is dealing with the casualties of the Undertaker battle as well as a number of other humorous moments while some additional time for other less prominent characters to step back into the spotlight and interact with the rest of the survivors.
This is a nice return to form for the series that was known for providing moments of humor and highlighting the actual characters between all of the violence but that quickly ends once the Ninben appear. In fact, the appearance of the Ninben and the way that Tamaki chooses to taunt the surviving Deadmen by using psychological scars to draw out their murderous intent not only reveals more about each of these characters, such as the little known Chaplin and Idaki, and shows what twisted lengths Tamaki will go to to prove the power of his new creations.
Unfortunately the way that Ganta reacts throughout the latter half of volume 6 is an unfortunate return to the inept whining character that many might have hoped would disappear after the events with the Undertakers. Not only does he handle things so poorly with the Ninben that he ends up turning everyone except Shiro against him but when Shiro does reveal a little something she figured out, and is genuinely proud of, he shoves her away, shutting away the last piece of light that was still shining on him by the end of the volume.
Artwork After the bloodbath that made up past volumes, Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 can be found tame by comparison. There is still bloodshed of course, but the amount of gore is limited mostly to grotesque growth followed by exploding bodies that are mostly obscured by blood due to the one-note powers of the Ninben. The various Branch of Sin powers wielded by the surviving Deadmen remain very impressive looking while the character designs still remain quite memorable, especially since we see less prominent characters step into focus this time.
The change in scenery, as the Deadmen are let back out to mingle with other prisoners, adds to the variety of backgrounds that readers will see throughout the volume though it is unfortunate that a large number of panels feature completely blank or extremely simple backgrounds. Viz’s translation and editing of the series remains very impressive as their translations do not mar any of the artwork which is a must for the few action sequences contained in this volume.
Extra Content The first page of this volume is presented entirely in color which is then followed by a colored two page spread featuring a, presumably naked, Shiro submerged in a bathtub full of jelly beans and surrounded by other sweets. Other than that, the only other noteworthy extra is the interesting way that the credits page for the original staff is handled, as it features various panels from the volume as if the characters were presenting the staff.
Overall
Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 takes some downtime to focus on the characters after the last major arc before heading into the next one. These moments of peace give us a fresh look at some characters that have been overlooked for volumes and also set up a horrific revelation that Ganta has to deal with alongside his fellow Deadmen. Unfortunately the way that he does end up dealing with it remains one of the consistent issues that Ganta’s character has, for every step forward he takes two steps back. That being said, thanks to a cliffhanger ending, the various hints that have been dropped throughout this volume as to what to expect and the hopelessness that is permeating the rest of the cast, readers should be eager to see where the story will continue in volume 7.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Yen Press has just made several new announcements to kick of the new year. Below is a list of manga and light-novel acquisitions that will be coming to North America with an English translation.
Durarara!! (light novel) by Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda
Rust Blast (manga) by Yana Toboso
Puella Magi Homura Tamura (manga) by Magica Quartet
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura’s Revenge (manga) by Magica Quartet
Black Bullet (light novel and manga) by Shiden Kanzaki and Saki Ukai
Strike the Blood (light novel and manga) by Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako
Exact release details have not been revealed yet, but the first Durarara!! novel will be released in July 2015.
DotEmu has announced that they’re bring the classic arcade beat ’em up Double Dragon to the PC. What gamers will be able to purchase is Double Dragon Trilogy, which contains all three of the popular Double Dragon games: Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2: The Revenge, and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone.
While this title was already released on iOS and Android under the same name, DotEmu has promised that this release will have a few additional features than the mobile versions. Most importantly is the inclusion of online multiplayer. It doesn’t seem as there is too much more than the iOS version, but the ability to play with arcade sticks or controllers is much more appealing than touch controls. The announced feature list is as follows:
• Two game modes: “Arcade” (play the game from beginning to end and go for the high score) and “Story” (unlock new stages and achievements while playing through the game)
• Customizable controls (keyboard & controller)
• Three difficulty levels: “easy” (easier than the original), “original” (similar to the arcade version) and “expert” (a real challenge!)
• Choose between the original 8-bit soundtrack and a brand-new remastered one!
• Choose between the original graphics or video filter
• Local or online multiplayer
The port will be released on Steam, Amazon, and GOG on January 15th. DotEmu has not yet announced the price.
Overview Managing to grace the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump is an amazing feat for a mangaka and Yusei Matsui has managed to write a series that is still holding strong two and a half years in. This series happens to be Assassination Classroom and now that it has been released in North America by Viz, does this first volume warrant a purchase?
Story Kunugigaoka Junior High’s Class 3-E is shunned by the rest of the school and used as a tool to threaten students from falling behind in class or failing tests. You see, Class 3-E is where the “losers and rejects” of the school have been placed. These students are the ones that either didn’t fit the mold of the school or simply couldn’t keep up and as such they are placed in a dilapidated school building atop a hill with no access to the main building and only scorn from the teachers.
This isolation and contempt might be a good thing for the students of Class 3-E as they are now the only ones who can hope to save the world. Shortly before the story begins, the people of Earth realize that 70% of the moon has been obliterated, turning it into a permanent crescent moon. A strange tentacled creature steps forward and claims responsibility for this damage to the moon and states that he will do the same to the Earth at the same time next year unless he is killed before then.
Koro-sensei as he is called by the students had one request to make and that is until that time he would teach these students at this exact school and not harm them in any way. Seeing a chance, the Japanese government has promised a 100 million dollar reward to anyone capable of slaying the teacher and has provided these students with rubber knives and BB pellets crafted from special material capable of causing extreme harm to the target but none to humans.
However with a target capable of moving at Mach 20 this is a task far more difficult than the hardest pop quizzes could ever be and here is where we find the start of Assassination Classroom. Now thanks to the series’ name, it may lead some people to believe that this is a series all about violence but in fact the various assassination attempts are almost always played off as jokes and rarely feature actual danger or violence. In fact, most of the comedy comes from the actual assassination attempts as they reveal just how strange Koro-sensei is and the students reacting to his strangeness.
This is due to the way that Koro-sensei reacts and, as mentioned before, the way that these weapons can do no real damage to a normal human. Instead what we find in this first volume is mostly classroom oriented stories as, despite being an alien-like creature claiming to be from Earth, Koro-sensei appears to genuinely care for the students of Class 3-E and is doing his best to teach them. This creates stark contrasts in the subject and the visual of course as Koro-sensei provides extra lessons to a female student in his class while she talks about how great she’ll do on the next test while at the same time trying to stab him with a knife.
Throughout the course of the first volume only four students of Class 3-E are really given much focus and unfortunately, two of them appear to already have been given the background treatment and nothing more. While it appears that the two other students will play a larger role in the future, spending these early chapters introducing us to students only for them to fade back into the crowd is a bit disappointing, especially since these character centric chapters do show how much Koro-sensei is trying to help them out, as each student has his or her own strength that he is trying to help blossom.
Artwork Yusei Matsui’s artwork in Assassination Classroom is very clean and makes the series a very easy read thanks to his character designs that are just detailed enough to stand out but at the same time quite simple. The design of Koro-sensei is, of course, rather simplistic looking but that is on purpose and throughout this first volume we are shown how his face changes color depending on his mood.
It is interesting to note that there are a couple of panels that are a bit more graphic than others and a few of the assassination attempts feature a lot of extra detail put into the character and their motions. Viz’s handling of the artwork and the various sound effects is as clean and simple as one would expect from the company as they have not damaged any of the artwork.
Extra Content In-between chapters in Assassination Classroom Volume 1 there are three small character profiles about a few of the introduced characters so far, some small mini-sketches about events that happened outside events in that chapter, and a list of rules that Kunugigaoka Junior High has assigned exclusively to members of Class 3-E. The volume closes out with a two page extra called Recess that involves Koro-sensei using his extreme speed to draw an image on the Earth.
Overall Assassination Classroom has so far turned out to be a unique and refreshing read through Volume 1. While there is always a certain sense of seriousness, due in part to flashbacks of Koro-sensei’s possible origins and the lingering threat of the end of the world, this first volume works as a great introduction to what Koro-sensei is capable of as well as his memorable personality while also giving readers plenty to laugh about.
While there are issues with the way that the student development has so far been handled, the series is only just getting started and it appears that things are only going to get more complicated and likely far sillier as the series progresses.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Sentai Filmworks announcedtoday that they have acquired the license to Gourmet Girl Graffiti, previously called Koufuku Graffiti, for digital and home video release in the future. After debuting in Japan yesterday, the series is set to stream on Crunchyroll but at the moment no stream times have been announced.
Originally a food centric slice of life comedy manga from Makoto Kawai, Gourmet Girl Graffiti’s anime adaptation is being handled by Shaft and Sentai Filmworks has included a story description below:
Take one part laughter, mix in a heaping portion of scrumptious cuisine cooked to perfection, add a dash of cute girls doing cute things, and you have the recipe of this season’s most tantalizing anime! In the kitchen: that’s where you’ll mostly likely find second-year junior high school student Ryo Machiko, cooking delicious food for her friends to eat. It has been said that there’s no sincerer love than the love of food, and she loves eating it just as much as she loves making it.
When she’s not doing the typical things a pre-teen does, Ryo is honing her skills in the culinary arts for her friends, Kirin and Shiina. If the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, Ryo will certainly win the heart of anyone she feeds. So, sit down with a healthy appetite because you’ll want to sink your teeth into and come back for seconds when watching Gourmet Girl Graffiti!
It has been announced that NIS America will be releasing “The Arland Atelier Trilogy” in Europe this March. As you can see in the box art below, this collection will contain the original versions of Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland, Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, and Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland.
It is worth noting that this trilogy set does not feature any of the enhanced “Plus” versions of the games, meaning all three of these PS3 titles are the original games released by NIS America in 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively. Currently there has been no announcement concerning the Arland Atelier Trilogy in North America and no release date has been announced for the title in Europe but current listings show the title selling for £39.99.
XSEED Games has announced that they will be releasing the PSP title Brandish: The Dark Revenant in North America next week on January 13th. The title will be sold through the PlayStation Store for $19.99 and will be compatible with the PlayStation Vita and PS TV immediately on launch.
Brandish: The Dark Revenant is developed by Nihon Falcom and is a remake of the 1995 game. Players will be taking on the role of a swordsman named Ares Toraernos who must travel through forty floors filled with monsters, deadly traps, and various puzzles as he searches for a way to escape a long forgotten underground labyrinth.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the first Friday Special of 2015 today. Indie Gala Friday Special #9 contains ten indie games for only $1.99 during the first 24 hours of the sale.
Runes of Brennos– A RPG to challenge your memory and strategic thinking. Players will need to memorize the runes like a real mage to unleash spells against their opponents in a magical game similar to rock, paper, scissors.
Cloning Clyde– A side-scrolling adventure featuring Clyde and his many clones.
Five Nights at Freddy’s– The internet hit that spawned hundreds of terrified YouTube videos puts players on the night watch at the very freaky Fazbear’s Pizza.
The Desolate Hope– A platformer developed by the mind behind Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Desolate Hope mixes JRPGs, dungeon crawlers, and platforms in a retro 80s package.
Theatre of the Absurd– A point and click adventure game set in a haunted theatre in the Italian Alps.
9th Company: Roots of Terror – An RTS recounting the failed military campaign in Afghanistan by Soviet forces in the late 1980’s.
Lunnye Devitsy– A casual puzzle platformer about an alien trying to find his way home that was created without any in-game text.
Hunters of the Dead– A rogue-like tower defense title with an eye catching story-book style art style.
Mythos: The Beginning– A survival-horror adventure RPG set in the 1930s. Players will explore the haunted Harborough Asylum, filled with Lovecraftian horrors.
Wake– You have went down with the ship. Now, you must survive as the waters slowly climbing hopes of escaping to the surface with your life.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all ten games cost only $1.99. The price rises after that, so grab your copy at Indie Gala.
