While the Shin Megami Tensei franchise has been very popular and many people are fans of Atlus’ games, you might not realize that when Shin Megami Tensei 1 was released on the Super Nintendo back in 1992 in Japan, it never made the journey West.
Now today Atlus USA has announced that they will be bringing the game to the iOS with an English translation with a price tag of $7.99. This is the port of the 2003 GBA version that was released in Japan and to go along with this announcement the company released a story synopsis, a few screenshots, and a gameplay trailer, both of which can be found below.
Step away from clear notions of good and evil, right and wrong. There are demons in the world, but whether they are ally or enemy depends on player actions. In Tokyo 199X, a mysterious murder leads to the emergence of demons and an escalating global conflict thanks to the rise of a charismatic rebel leader in possession of a demon army, and external forces that wish to crush such threats with extreme measures. As the protagonist, players have an unusual ability (via computer program) to communicate with and recruit demons to fight for them. As they collect demons, the program will allow you to store, summon, and fuse them to create the right team to negotiate the ever-changing balance of powers, and fight for the kind of world you ultimately wish to live in.
“Shangri-La” started out as a light novel back in 2004, written by Eiichi Ikegami and illustrated by Ken’ichi Yoshida. In the January of 2009 the light novel series was adapted into a Manga series by the same name, this time illustrated by Tasuku Karasuma. By April of the same year, “Shangri-La” was then turned into an anime series directed by Makoto Bessho and written by Hiroshi Onogi. Despite its popularity as both a light novel and a manga series, the anime met with mixed reviews and an all around average response.
The story, revolving around a young girl in a science-fiction world, would usually be met with open arms by audiences but it seems as though, this time, that wasn’t exactly the case. This all happened over six years ago and now, in 2014, Madman Entertainment has decided to release it down here in Australia hopefully with a better reception than when it first aired. Follow me on this adventure through a mixed up class system, a destructive AI, a young girl who just wants the best for her people and a world that wont give it to her easy. Follow me as we head towards “Shangri-La”.
Story
Living in a world ravaged by the effects of global warming, world citizens have been forced into the most severe kinds of class systems; most live in poverty but some of the lucky ones get to live somewhere safe from earthquakes and hail storms, a place called “Atlas” which stands on the destroyed foundation of Japan. Kuniko, a young girl with a huge imagination and a stubborn mentality, lives in the slums of “Duomo” with most of the other unfortunate Japanese people who have been forced into a pauper’s life. “Duomo” is a small town surrounded by forest land that continues to grow week after week, eventually it will take over the town and that, mixed with the earthquakes and the hail storms, is just going to make life all the more harder to live.
She and her comrades in the rebellious group called “Metal Age” are in constant conflict, not only with the forces behind the relocation of citizens to “Atlas” but also the Japanese military. They’re done with living life in fear and have begun suspecting that the people behind the “Atlas” project aren’t exactly doing their best to help the lower classes reach some sort of economical stability. Kuniko and friends fight for their people with the hopes that, one day, they can all lead a great and comfortable life in “Atlas”, their very own “Shangri-La”.
The problem with this series is not that the story is bad because it has all the fundamental qualities of a fantastic sci-fi adventure series, its problem is that it tries far too hard to be an intelligent anime but falls flat because of its simple lack of discipline. Despite following Kuniko’s uprising, the series also follows a great deal of other characters and small storylines that interconnect, fact is, most of those stories are full of holes and seem incomplete which makes one think; how is this story supposed to make sense in conjunction with other stories when it barely makes sense within itself?
“Shangri-La” tried its best to do many things but failed at pretty much every single one of those things which is actually extremely unfortunate because it had promise, it could have been something great if the writers just took a small step back and didn’t try so hard to be “the next best thing”. The series dealt with real-life issues like global warming and carbon tax but mixed it with supernatural themes which made absolutely no sense. Had this been an anthology-type series where each of these events took place within the same world but focused around different characters and issues, that would have been fantastic! Instead they chose to cram everything they could into a 24 episode series which didn’t end up making that much sense considering barely anything was explained or fleshed out. It was a case of simply not finishing what they started.
Unfortunately for the series, the characters didn’t exactly help the story, they actually made it worse. The addition of a sexually-charged transsexual character in “Shangri-La” was clearly not a decision that had much though behind it. I’m not saying the character was bad simply because she is transsexual but when a character like that is written this terribly it not only brings down an anime but also the community that the particular character belongs to, that’s due to an over-used anime trope that – at this point in time – should be long dead.
This character, alongside pretty much all the other characters, was written in a devastatingly poor manner; constant sexual innuendo even in times of great distress (most notably in the very final episode where everything is “coming to fruition”) is NOT good character writing. Constant use of outdated clichés is down right offensive and I think that maybe this lead to the mediocre response that this anime got when it was first released. Unfortunately it was not only Momoko (the transvestite character) that was written terribly…it was basically every character but it just so happened to be Momoko that got the brunt of the bad writing.
Visuals
Visually I’d say that “Shangri-La” was pretty good at best. It had some fantastic scenes where shots of the forest or of the city could be seen in full and they were beautiful but they were few and far between. The first episode had some brilliant animation especially when it come to the climactic action scene but its dip in the animation quality that was present in episodes after the first let me to believe they blew a lot of their budget almost instantly. While that may not be entirely true there was obviously a small drop in quality that was fairly noticeable…well, at least, it was noticeable enough for me to bring it up so I assume it will be the same for everyone else watching.
Characters weren’t designed too bad but you could definitely see who the important characters were seeing as the main character had bright pink hair while most of the normal citizens were…normal. That may be good for some anime watchers but for me I think it shows a lack of care, the series tries to be somewhat real but makes characters look outlandish and it just doesn’t quite match. The animation quality did occasionally get good during the action and climactic scenes but unfortunately they didn’t come around that often so you were waiting a while to see something great.
Audio
I will give “Shangri-La” a great deal of credit for having a fairly good soundtrack but takes points away for having an average English voice cast. The score for the series is mostly orchestral and it doesn’t often stray from that genre though in some cases the series does surprise by throwing a gritty RnB or rock style song at the audience that works well to disarm and surprise. The orchestral score suits the series well, usually I’m not too big of a fan of this kind of music style but when it fits this well I just have no choice but to give in and appreciate the music choice. It worked perfectly well with most of the scenes and did what it was supposed to do which is to add a heightened sense of feeling to audience members and I can’t give it any crap because it did exactly that, the voice acting on the other hand…it was not great.
Fact is, much like everything else in this anime, it was incredibly average; some characters were voice acted well at times but bad at other times and other characters were just down right terrible, there was no consistent quality of voice acting and it could have been the element that would have saved this series. Not all the blame can be placed on the voice actors though because, as I mentioned, at times they were brilliant – I think maybe it was just the lack of good writing that brought them down. It was a real shame to see because there were some scenes where characters actually spoke in quite a real manner, they swore, they used modern terms and they seemed to be having fluid conversations but these scenes were scarce and quite rare to come across which left me yearning for them as the series came to a close.
Extras
“Shangri-La The Complete Collection” didn’t have a great deal of extras and really only offered us the bare bones, much like most standard anime releases. The nice thing about the extras is that it came with episode commentary, something that is common yet at the same time somewhat uncommon. It’s nice just listening to a podcast-style conversation between some of the cast and crew and it does kind of make you appreciate the series a little more. There’s also a nice little piece of artwork on the flip-side of the front cover of the disc case which, while having no practical use, is brilliantly illustrated. Once again I’m not exactly going to take points away for not having any great extras because this seems to be the norm for anime.
Overall
At the end of the day, “Shangri-La” is a powerfully average series. Nothing about it is overly good yet it has elements that make you think it really isn’t that bad. I think if this story idea was put into the hands of a more “capable” team of developers it would have come out so much better than it did. The addition of unnecessarily unrealistic characters and silly plot points that get lost along the way are just two examples of series aspects that “Shangri-La” could have gone without. It still gets points for trying its hand at making an incredible story but it looses a lot of them by not having enough follow through to actually make sense with it.
I’d say that fans of both the light novel and the manga would also be fans of the anime, I’m not sure how much the story differs from its previous iterations but one would assume it wouldn’t stray far enough away from the original story to have fans not follow it over onto the next medium. It’s just a series that lost its way somewhere in the middle but these are my opinions so maybe it is worth a look for all of you out there who have read this and are still somewhat interested. I’ll leave you all with this: A little attention to detail goes a long way.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
As someone who walked into their local store to pick up a pre-ordered copy of the Record of Agarest War’s Really Naughty Limited Edition, the one with a steamy box covered in girls that contained a boob mouse pad and a pillow cover, I wouldn’t have had any issue picking up a physical version of Senran Kagura Burst if it was released like that in North America.
However not everyone has embraced themselves as much as I have and Marvelous AQL has released two promo videos for the soon to be released European physical version of Senran Kagura Burst highlighting those that might be too concerned to pick up a physical copy of the 3DS game. You can check those videos out below and if you are curious to see if the game is worth your time you can find our review of the North American release here.
Since NIS America is bringing Kadokawa Games’ Demon Gaze over to North America they are adding a bit of a spin to the game by offering some of their signature characters as extra party members. Today the company has announced that they will be offering free downloadable content for the first month after Demon Gaze is released which will allow players to bring some of Disgaea’s most iconic characters along with them.
The characters that will be offered are Etna, Flonne, Sicily, Asagi, and a Prinny. Currently Demon Gaze is set to be released in North America on April 22nd and Europe on April 25th.
Overview An anime about making a manga that will go on to become an anime based upon a manga about making manga, that is Bakuman in a nut-shell, but it is so much more than just that. Bakuman is a story about passion, dreams, hopes and love, it just happens to also be about making manga. What we have here is something incredibly unique, but simultaneously niche, the series details the ins an outs of the manga industry with a splash of romantic comedy on the side, if you aren’t all that interested in the behind the scenes workings of the manga world than you’re likely going to have a hard time with Bakuman. It is a pretty even 50/50 split of manga industry exploration and story of following your dreams and loves. However on top of all that Bakuman is 100% fun.
Story From the creator’s of Death Note, this is hardly the kind of series you’d expect. This is a romantic-comedy slice-of-manga-making-life anime that really is the furthest thing from Death Note. It follows Moritaka Mashiro the nephew of a once famed mangaka who died not long before the events of the series. Moritaka has a knack for drawing and is recruited by fellow student Takagi Akito to make a manga, the pretense being that Takagi would write the story and Moritaka would draw it. Things roll from there.
While the centerpiece of Bakuman is undoubtedly its journey through the manga industry of Moritaka and Takagi, the love story that accompanies it is given its fair share of spotlight as well. Moritaka has always had a crush on classmate Azuki and one discovering her goal of becoming a voice actress, vows that his manga will become an anime and that she will voice the lead in it. To top that off he then essentially proposes to her which she agrees to under the condition that they don’t see one another until their dreams come true.
The love story here is a bit tried and true and not unlike something that these two budding mangaka would have read before. There are times when this aspect of the story feels a little hollow and the love between the two seems to be misplaced. It is hard to believe in this kind of love and because of that it does end up being one of Bakuman’s weaker elements.
Bakuman’s strong suit is its rich exploration of the manga industry and the challenges of being a mangaka. The sleepless nights, the tireless toil that could likely be for naught and the chance that your hopes and dreams could be crushed in an instant. The life of a mangaka is truly rough and it makes for some compelling drama.
The cast here is quite well defined, in particular our two male leads. There is an interesting bit of characterization that tends to be pounded into audiences here though. That being that women and men are utterly unable to understand one another solely because they are a different gender. I personally found this to be very questionable and the consistent treatment of women as a different creature all together verged on offensive at times. Women are frequently portrayed as nagging, lacking any level of understanding and only valued on whether they are cute or not. It is a hard part of Bakuman to overlook but it is only a minor part of a rather solid character effort.
All in all Bakuman season 1 is quite an interesting look into the world of manga, it details the ins and outs of daily life for a mangaka and the challenges that they must face. The romance elements of Bakuman unfortunately fall flat for the most part due to weak characterization of the female cast. If you are intrigued by the idea of the behind the scenes look at manga making then Bakuman is more than worth your time as there has never been a series that details this topic in such length and realism.
Visuals and Audio J.C. Staff have done a decent job animated this manga about making manga, bringing it to life in vibrant colour. It isn’t the most consistent animation effort with drops in quality noticeable here and there. However when Bakuman is at its visual best it proves to be some of J.C. Staff’s greatest aesthetic work to date. The character designs are each distinct and memorable. The quality of the animation overall is above average but sadly it does have some down times although they are very minor.
Bakuman’s soundtrack is a great composition through and through with plenty of standout tracks. The music elevates the scenes to great heights and turns what would otherwise be a flat moment into a truly moving one. The theme song ‘Blue Bird’ is also worth noting, it opens every episode on a hopeful uplifting note and perfectly captures the series tone. This release from Madman Entertainment unfortunately doesn’t feature an English dub, so it is Japanese audio only with subtitles and it is very good though in its own right.
Extras As for special features, Madman Entertainment’s release of Bakuman season 1 is pretty bare-bones. The release doesn’t feature an English dub and instead simply features subtitles only. On top of that there are the usual clean opening and ending themes as well as trailers. It is a simple no-frills kind of release but it collects the entire first season in one release which is a plus.
Overall Bakuman is an anime for manga fans. It homes in a specific audience and gives them all they could ask for and more when it comes to exploring the manga industry. As for a story in and of itself, Bakuman is a passionate journey of identity and dreams. These two young mangaka dream big and in the quest to accomplish those dreams they find themselves. It is a classic tale if there ever was one and Bakuman does a solid job at it. While there is some issues with this series that can be hard to overlook, if you are interested in manga and the industry for it, this will prove to be well worth the watch. Bakuman is a solid anime series, but an even better manga industry exploration.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Earlier this month it was hinted that the next episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead would be arriving sometime soon and it turns out that soon just so happened to be a month away. Today Telltale Games has announced that they will be releasing The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 ‘A House Divided’ onto the PlayStation Network and on the PC in North America on March 4th for $4.99.
Currently the company has not set a release date for Xbox 360 version of the episode, nor the PlayStation 3 release in Europe, or the iOS version but they do expect to have dates confirmed shortly. Until then, you can check out the first official trailer for the episode below.
As we know, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends will feature five new characters that will be added to the already bursting roster of 78 playable characters. Today Tecmo Koei has released screenshots, gameplay footage, and information about all five of these new characters so players will be familiar with them when the game is released on March 25th in North America and April 4th in PAL regions.
Lu Lingqi
A brave warrior princess, and daughter of Lu Bu, who possesses great fighting ability much like her father, she uses her courage to stand in the front lines of any battle.
Yu Jin
An invincible general promoted by Wei leader Cao Cao. He places a strong emphasis on military discipline, and his unyielding personality causes him to be feared by friend and foe alike.
Zhu Ran
A fledgling warrior who has since been promoted within the Wu ranks. Although young, he distinguished himself in the suppression of a group of mountain bandits and during the Battle of Ruxukou.
Chen Gong
An ambitious and humorous strategist for Lu Bu, he is willing to make any sacrifice to see himself rise to the top. He once served under Cao Cao, but switched sides when he realized his ambitions would not be satisfied.
Fa Zheng
A strategist without morals and a key figure in Liu Bei’s efforts to take over the land of Shu. He is a brilliant tactician who has pacified Yi Province with his strategies, and participated in the invasion of Hanzhong. He strongly believes in repaying his debts, whether it be for good or ill.
Warner Bros, WB Games Montreal and The LEGO Group have announced announced the launch of LEGO Legends of Chima Online for iOS. Already out of it’s beta and available for PC and Mac, the game focuses on extending the Chima Universe and providing players with an immersive experience.
Louis Lamarche (Creative Director for Chima Online at WB Games Montréal) said:
“We are very excited to bring the expansive world of Chima Online to iOS players. Now players can seamlessly pick up and play right where they left off in the game from their PC or Mac to any of their iOS devices.”
In Chima Online, players take on the role of an animal warrior in the Lion, Eagle, Gorilla or Bear tribe, and set forth on missions to help protect a vast and magical world. After customising their character, players they may explore the various landscapes that compose the land of Chima, such as the Forest of Falling Leaves. Within these environments, players will team up with friends and unleash the power of Chi, granting them great strength that will aid them in battle. As well as creative missions, side challenges and puzzles. It’s a rich world.
LEGO LEgends of Chima Online is available now on the App Store. To see what all the fuss is about, check out the trailer below and take a glimpse into a new land. The battle for Chi builds on in the world of Chima!
The Pokémon Company and Netflix have announced that, beginning Saturday March 1st, Netflix members can now instantly stream some more of their favourite Pokémon episodes. Watch as Ash, Pikachu and the rest of the gang travel across the land, searching far and wide for adventure and Pokemon.
Pokemon: Black and White chronicles Ash’s adventure through the Unova region and his quest to defeat every Gym Leader along the way. You know, standard Trainer MO. Also to be added to the Pokemon cache are Pokemon the Movie: Black – Victini and Reshiram along with Pokémon the Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom. Though these films follow the same plot, the roles of the legendary dragons are reversed in their respective titles. So choose whichever one you want and enjoy. Or just watch both. If you’re in the mood to get a little nostalgic, Netflix also announced that (within the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK) Pokemon: Indigo League will also be available for streaming. See Ash’s adventure from day one and learn how his friendship with Pikachu has evolved over the years.
To get you in the Poke-mood, check out the screenshots below. If that isn’t enough to sate you, bust out the 3DS and just play Pokemon until March 1st arrives and Pokemon takes to the Netflix stage. It’s a whole new way to see.
Nintendo has just announced that they will be terminating all online services for Pokemon titles that were released for their previous generation gaming consoles; the DS and the Wii. Starting on May 20th no Pokemon games brought out specifically for those consoles will be able to access any online features despite what console they’re played on, this means that even playing an old DS game on a new 3DS console will still have you unable to reach those online services.
Luckily for everyone, including myself, a list of Pokemon games that will seice to have online capabilities have been provided so we don’t have to figure it out ourselves and they are as follows: Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon HeartGold, Pokémon SoulSilver, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2, Pokémon White 2, My Pokémon Ranch, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia & Pokémon Conquest.
I’m going to go ahead and say that this may be a good move for Nintendo and Game Freak who develop the game, it seems as though they’re leaving the past behind and are ready to focus more of their time and funds on the future of Pokemon games and I can’t be more excited for that, I’m sure most of you will agree. Now that the news is out I suggest you do everything you have to or need to regarding online features for the older games before the services are finally cut, whatever they may be.
