Sentai Filmworks is continuing their license spree for the Winter 2014 anime season and they have just added another anime license in the form of Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil. Currently the anime is streaming on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks is planning on releasing the series digitally as well as provide it with a home video release sometime in the future.
The story of Wizard Barristers takes place in the year 2018 where normal humans and people who can use magic live together. Because of this new way of life, there are laws against using types of magic and anyone who uses magic can possibly go to jail. To avoid this there are “Benmashi” to help defend the users of magic in court and this anime follows Cecil, the youngest Benmashi in history, as well as her fellow associates, as she defends her clients in court.
Just when you thought you would have to wait even longer to withdraw those old teams, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. Today, Nintendo relaunched Pokemon Bank on the 3DS eShop for Japan, after pulling the service due to heavy traffic in late December.
As many of you know, Bank allows you to store and withdraw Pokemon between older Nintendo DS releases, eventually carrying them over to Pokemon X & Y. I still have yet to fill up by boxes in the aforementioned, but for the low $5.00 subscription fee, it will definitely be a day one purchase here. North America and Europe, be ready – as this relaunch signals that we are in fact next in line to get this handy Poketool on our eShop!
Sentai Filmworks has announced that they have acquired the license for the anime focused on Nitroplus’ mascot character Super Sonico. The anime is called SoniAni: Super Sonico the Animation and debuted in Japan on January 6th. The company has said that they will giving the series a home video release sometime soon and for now will release the anime digitally.
The series follows the life of Super Sonic, an eighteen year old college student who not only works at her grandmother’s bar, but also works as a part-time photoshoot model and plays in a band keeping her busy at all times of the day but she doesn’t let it get her down as she has some great friends to rely on and a very upbeat and dedicated spirit. I picked up this series at the start of the season and so far have found it to be fairly enjoyable as Sonico’s personality is quite charming.
Ready to go swimming? Well, you’re in luck as Scream Factory are releasing Beneath on Blu-ray and DVD on March 25th. Brought to you by director Larry Fessenden, this creature feature is the story of survival, with some high school grads trying to simply stay alive against a massive, watery foe. Think of it as a modern day Jaws, if you will.
Here are some of the first details:
After their high school graduation, six teens celebrate with a trip to the remote and mysterious Black Lake. Only Johnny seems to suspect there’s something in the water stalking the revelers as they set out in their small wooden rowboat stocked with beer and fireworks. But why would Johnny let them go swimming if he knew what lurked beneath? A sudden attack from the depths followed by a lethal chain of events leave the teens stranded on the leaking vessel in the middle of the lake with no oars, no way back to shore, held hostage by a menace that circles them persistently. And so the teens turn on each other, and the petty high school grievances they almost left behind prove more deadly than the monster that waits to devour them.
Chiller Films presents a Glass Eye Pix production in association with OffHollywood Pictures. BENEATH is written by Tony Daniel and Brian D. Smith, and directed by horror icon Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Habit). Produced by Fessenden and Peter Phok for Glass Eye Pix (Stake Land, The Innkeepers, I Sell The Dead).
BENEATH Blu-ray and DVD Special Features:
· Commentary with director Larry Fessenden and sound designer Graham Reznick
· Theatrical Trailer
· Behind BENEATH
· Outtakes
· Poster/Premiere
· Webisodes:
What the Zeke?
What’s in Black Lake?
· Fessenden on JAWS
You can place your pre-order for Beneath now at Shout Factory‘s official website, or do the same at Amazon by clicking here. I for one am for a new creature feature, and Beneath has the cast and talent behind it to be something truly special.
Earlier this week we learned that Monster Monpiece, a game previously thought to have no chance of a Western release, was going to be released in the West by Idea Factory’s own international branch. However when they announced that the game would be released, they also happened to mention that the game would be censored in a few ways and some card images would be removed from the game.
This has caused quite an uproar in the gaming community amongst fans of Compile Heart and Idea Factory’s titles as, while the story, gameplay, including the Vita rubbing mini-game, still remains intact, many people are upset that the game’s lewd images have been censored. We heard a little bit about what the company censored yesterday and now they have released a full statement explaining to their fans why they felt they had to censor certain parts of the game. Before that, a member on Idea Factory International’s forums compiled some of the censored cards in an image seen below:
Click for high-res version.
As for the full statement from Idea Factory International, it can be found below:
Idea Factory International is fully aware of the concerns expressed by fans, so we would like to inform everyone about the censored images in greater detail.
Monster Monpiece is a card battle game, in which players summon various “Monster Girls” onto the game’s battlefields and then fight their opponents. These cards—meaning the “Monster Girls”—are able to be powered up by exposing themselves (taking off their clothes) via the level-up features called First Crush Rub and Extreme Love. We kept the same number of cards in the game as the original Japanese version, but replaced some of the higher level Monster Girl images with the “less exposed” lower level versions of the corresponding Monster Girls due to some intense sexual imagery. The number of censored cards is about 40 out of the approximately 350 card images available in the game. This means that over 300 cards are left untouched from the original images. That said, each card that has had its image removed will still have the same number of levels for the player to increase, but the higher level card images will be the same as the lower level, even though they have leveled up and have become more powerful. We would like to emphasize that the game’s playtime, the game’s system, and the game’s features are all the same as the original Japanese release, and players can level up their Monster Girls to the highest levels as well, again, matching the Japanese release.
This was a very difficult decision since we work very hard to satisfy our fans and want to bring the same content being offered in Japan. However, Western society is not as lenient as that of Japan when sexual images are involved—especially images of humanoids that appear to be younger than a socially acceptable age. The borderline of what is “acceptable” will always be extremely gray and vary from person to person, but as a responsible company working in the U.S., we had to make the difficult decision that we did. We sincerely apologize for those who do not agree with any level of censorship, but we greatly appreciate your understanding with the decision we have made.
Personally while I don’t agree with censorship such as this, I do believe that this was a wise choice for Idea Factory International to make as not only is this the company’s first release in the West, but it also gives gamers a chance to actually play the title while understanding what is happening with only a few drawbacks as opposed to not receiving an English version at all.
Sakura Trick Episode 2-A: More Sakura Coloured Beginnings
I’ve been looking over my winter season anime picks and I’m starting to see the exact opposite of what I predicted. Pupa hasn’t been as terrifying as I expected, each Tonari no Seki sketch focuses on one particular way to waste time and Sakura Trick combines two stories into one full episode. With more yuri and more laughs (just by a bit) than the first episode, there are two interesting stories to be told so let’s not waste any time and dive straight into it.
Much like episode ones structure, this first half does more character establishing than the second, only this time it’s Shizuku and Kotone’s turn to share a special moment. The whole story revolves around a misunderstanding that occurred when Kotone was staying over at Shizuku’s house; at first she states to the other girls her plans to draw all over Shizuku’s face, offering a small attempt of humour before going into the real problem.
While Shizuku was sleeping Kotone expressed how much she loved staying over at her house and gave her a kiss on the cheek, leading to all four girls over reacting (although one appears to be a bit too happy). Kotone now thinks Shizuku is avoiding her because of the kiss, but in actual fact Shizuku believes she is being used because her house is close to the school. The scene where they confront each other does convey genuine emotions on the part of Shizuku; unfortunately the moment gets broken with an attempt to add humour, but luckily kicks back into serious mode at the end when they both share a special kiss.
I did find the relationship between Shizuku and Kotone really interesting compared to Haruka and Yuu’s special moment; both times there were misunderstandings, conflicts, and genuine feelings towards each other, leading to a kiss that seemed natural and real. Unfortunately because of the use of an unnecessary callback, moments that relied heavily on the moe factor and the fact that one scene almost ruined an emotional moment, the humour was as hit and miss as the first episode.
Episode 2-B: School with Harry Chan
Whether we like it or not, studying is one of those things we all have to do, it especially becomes important when your school is about to close and failing will result in you not being able to graduate. Because of Yuu’s tendency to sleep during class and always borrowing notes, Haruka and the girls decide to hold an after school study session for Yuu’s sake. After the traditional way of reading the textbook fails, they try to memorize their science equations by playing volleyball, a decision that Haruka immediately regrets when the ball goes to Yuu. As the hours go by with no amount of studying done whatsoever, Ikeno suggests remembering their notes by engaging in something that would be unforgettable… I think we can all assume what’s going to happen next, and it does. After the other four girls leave, Haruka helps Yuu by kissing her after each question she reads out and judging by the look on Yuu’s face, it looks like she has every answer locked in her head.
There was a slight running gag that involved Iizuka always getting blamed and the Harry-chan mentioned in the title was just a hedgehog charm which was used as another technique to help Yuu study (and also failed). The one thing that did annoy me with this story was Haruka’s imagination, I couldn’t stand how she reacted when she thought about Yuu calling her “Ms. Haruka” and asking to fix her neck tie, her behaviour was too immature and especially irritating when she does it again during the end of the episode.
I cannot end this impression without telling you about the funniest two scenes, one involves Yuu’s reaction when Haruka suggests kissing each other and the other is when they play volley ball. The way Yuu slowly backs out of the class room after hearing Haruka is timed very well, which is made all the more funnier by her blank facial expression. The Volleyball scene however is the funniest moment from the anime so far, I’ve re-watched this scene at least 15 times and it still has me laughing. The scene has a pretty good build up and an even better pay off at the end, everything from the lines used to the sound effects are combined to make a great moment that is even funnier than the veranda jump.
Sakura Trick is animated by Studio Deen and is currently being streamed by Crunchyroll.Don’t forget to check out our Anime Impressions page to see what shows the other Capsule Computers anime crew is watching this season.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman! Infinite Crisis is already filled to the brim with the cream of the crop spanning DC’s impressive multiverse, but it has been missing one important player – until today. The Last Son of Krypton is finally here and he is ready to make his presence known.
Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman/The Man of Steel. It doesn’t matter what you want to call him, what matters is that he is officially a playable character in the hugely popular MOBA starting from today. Superman is primarily a brawler that taps into his Kryptonian heritage to give him some awesome powers that really make him stand out from the crowd.
To mark the arrival of The world’s first superhero, Warner Bros. have provided a short little video that introduces the character, as well as his play style for the game. Check out the video below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Infinite Crisis news as it becomes available.
Today Atlus USA has delivered what many gamers have been hoping to hear, a release date for Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars. Oh, and a trailer has also been released that features gameplay footage taken from the 3DS version of the game and shows off some of the aspects of the game.
The game which is being released on both the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita, will hit stores on April 15th and those who pick up the game at launch will receive a special box for the game as well as a CD containing ten pieces of music from the game’s soundtrack.
ASTRO PORT and Nyu Media, the development and publishing forces behind indie sidescroller shoot ’em ARMED SEVEN, have announced that their newest upcoming side-scrolling shooter, GIGANTIC ARMY, is set to release February 5 for PC.
The 16-bit game will put you in the seat of the ‘GMR-34 SALADIN’ mech, fighting an army of aliens named Ramulons in the 21st century. You’ll be able to customize an arsenal of explosive, projectile, and plasma weapons, even combining them with melee, thrusters, and shields to end the fight with the Ramulons.
Features of GIGANTIC ARMY include:
Six stages of intense mech-shooter action.
Twelve mid and end level bosses of gargantuan proportions to take down!
Four difficulty modes from ‘Easy’ to ‘Insane’ to cater for all skill levels.
Customizable weapons load-out to suit your play style.
Dash, thrusters and shield give your mech satisfying maneuverability and defensive options.
Rebalanced gameplay – making the western release of GIGANTIC ARMY the most up-to-date version yet!
The Steam version will add 42 achievements, trading cards, and more! A Linux version for Steam is also in the works!
Outstanding value: only $5.99!
For more information, you can check out the official website. You can also check out a gallery of images from the game below and watch the teaser trailer below this article.
This week of deals contains even a Xbox One item! However, there are some nice Xbox 360 games to take advantage of here. Role playing gamers in particular should check out Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Witcher 2 if they haven’t done so yet. You will even see a discount to Call of Duty: Ghosts?! How did you sneak in there?
