Fans of Dragon Ball Z eager to try the latest game in the series won’t have to wait until release day to do so. Namco Bandai recently announced at a conference in London that the game will be receiving a demo sometime in December for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (it is unclear if the demo will be for Vita as well but it seems likely). The demo will feature both single player and online battles so players can try all aspects of the game and any progress you make will continue into your full purchase should you buy the game when it releases.
The conference also unveiled that there would be a limited edition of the game coming to Europe (and I assume Australia as has happened in the past). The limited edition is called the “Goku Edition” and comes with a statue of Goku in his Super Saiyan form as well as an art book in addition to the day one DLC Naruto Sage mode costume for Goku. North America hasn’t received many Dragon Ball Z game limited editions in the past and unfortunately this might be no exception. The Goku Edition is only available for the PS3 and 360 releases as the Vita is getting a digitial only release.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is launching in January worldwide with Australia to receive the game the same day as Japan on January 23rd, 2014. Europe will receive the game on the 24th while the game launches in North America on the 28th. Stay tuned to Capsule Computers for more information on Battle of Z as it becomes available.
I am a picky man when it comes to comedy. If something is silly for the sake of being silly I will be the first to leap on it and tear it to shreds. That is not to say though that wacky ideas have no place in anime, or that all comedy should be serious and expertly crafted, quite the opposite in fact. For instance, one of that anime that inspired me to become a reviewer was the Fall 2011 surprise anime of the season, Ben-To. An utterly ridiculous anime with an off-the-wall concept, but what made it so brilliant in my eyes was its refusal to drop any hint that it was concious of its own silliness. Taking itself utterly seriously despite the clearly mad idea that it was based on made every joke twice as funny while also immersing you in the world and actually making you think that fighting over half priced food was insanely epic. So far Noucome is no Ben-To in my eyes, but it is achieving one thing that may secure its place in the greats if it can keep it up, its gimmick is seeming less like a gimmick and is actually serving a purpose.
At first glance Noucome seems like a generic harem with a funny idea behind it and I am certainly not going to claim that it is anything more than that 3 episodes in, but I have a good feeling about it thus far. Today’s episode was a direct continuation from last week‘s mini-cliffhanger involving Kanade overhearing a surprise confession from the otherwise stony Yukihira. What I loved about this introduction was how in a matter of seconds they turned what looked like maybe the start of a romance back into exactly what it was before via a quick uppercut, knocking him out, and wiping his memory. It was a nice bait-and-swap trick that completely got me and left me in stitches. Not to mention, Yukihira’s initial reaction where she lit up like a stop light and stammered his name like the secret moe girl that lies under that fake cold aura she puts on.
After last week’s efforts to make Yukihira laugh completely failed it looked like Kanade might have failed his task at the first hurdle, but in the end all it took was a gravity defying slip on a banana peel to have both her and myself rolling on the floor laughing. You simply can’t beat the classics. This week’s challenge seemed easy by comparison, “Spot Yawakaze Konagi’s panties being worn.” It’s just one quick panty shot, nothing could go wrong right? Well … Apparently not in the world of Noucome where a schoolboy can be cursed with absolute multiple choice. At every corner he gets defeated, be it by the Yawakaze Bodyguards that beat him up on multiple occasions or the multiple other natural phenomena that get in his way. By far the funniest moment of the episode came towards the end when Konagi repeatedly falls over and every single time one of the many forms of anime censorship comes to her rescue and is pointed out in true parody fashion by Kanade. Damn those supernatural light beams! First To LOVE-Ru Darkness and now this!
God didn’t make Kanade’s quest easy by dropping some really obscene choices into the fray, but nothing that you wouldn’t expect having seen previous episodes. However, there were a few new comedic techniques thrown in like the occasional bits of self-narration which were very blunt and amusing. I really like how the series has set up the main character as being in an obscene situation which requires him to say rude things to girls and generally be an idiot, but keeps letting you in on his perspective where it is apparent that he is really sorry that he has to do these things. Having a main character that is not just a senseless pervert is nice in this situation and definitely helps the laughs keep on coming.
Romance wasn’t exactly a big factor of this episode, but we did get a bit more of an insight into Yūōji and Konagi who hadn’t really been touched on until now. Konagi was as moe as can be and even Kanade recognises it which is why he feels so bad having to put her through so much to see her panties. Yūōji on the other hand, seemed completely shameless until right at the end when she ran off after getting embarrassed when the wind blew her skirt up. Forget Yukihira being gap moe, I think Yūōji is the true gap moe character here! Either way there was enough moe goodness in this episode to sink a battleship and as a result the episode was wonderful. Fantastically funny, quick paced, and despite how stupid it was it had a surprisingly sharp wit which puts it a cut ahead of most of the other comedies this season.
On a side note, the “what-if” situations that seem to have become a recurring skit are just getting funnier and funnier. They’re probably the main reason I like the multiple choice gimmick so much. Let’s hope they continue to be this random and well executed.
For more reviews of this season’s best and worst anime head over to our Anime Impressions page and check them out!
“Love makes the world go round,” as the old saying goes, and yet day after day we are bombarded with songs on the radio about heartbreak and suffering. While it is definitely not a zero-sum game, romance can bring about as much sorrow as joy and the author of Golden Time is clearly no stranger to that feeling. Losing a loved one is something that a lot of people can relate to and while it may not be through death, a messy breakup can feel just as traumatic and the betrayal, however genuine or misinterpreted it may be, can leave a nasty sting. In Kouko’s case her delusions of affection have been a huge part of her life ever since her childhood so when the bubble popped, it was more like an explosion, destroying everything that she built her future around. It only took 4 episodes for the inevitable to happen, so now the real drama begins, how will Kouko handle the destruction of all that she knows?
It would seem that I was spot on with my predictions last week as this week’s episode ushered in a whole direction for Golden Time after the sudden “break up” between Kouko and her beloved childhood friend, Mitsuo. No matter how completely expected and inevitable the confrontation was I still felt a certain sense of discomfort as I shuffled in my chair awkwardly, relating Kouko’s utter desperation to my own experiences of breakups. The way that J.C Staff paced the first half of the episode combined with the perfect scripting of every character involved built up a sense of dread that culminated into one key scene that captured her despair perfectly and finally got me immersed into the series as a whole.
Kouko is an odd character that I have been sitting on the fence about ever since episode 1. At first she came across as simply a crazy girl who I felt nothing for in particular since she had her heart set on one person and that was that. Personally, my favourite part of any romance is watching the love between two characters gradually growing with each episode until the final payoff, so seeing Kouko already obsessively in love left me remarkably unexcited. It took a lot to break her, but now that she has fallen from grace she is left with a blank slate and now the real romance can begin.
Cue the main character on his white horse to rescue our damsel in distress from her pit of despair. Stepping in to wipe her tears, Banri stuck with Kouko and stopped her from going down a path of self-destruction. Much like his attempts to get her to leave the religious cult last episode though, Kouko’s strong will made her impossible to completely control and soon she was on stage at a heavy metal concert, screaming at the audience and making a fool of herself. While cringe-worthy, the latter half of this episode was amusing in its own way and it all came together when Banri confessed to Kouko which shocked her enough to make her forget about her grief at least for the time being. If I know girls, that definitely won’t be the last we hear of the issue, but with Banri showing his intentions all of a sudden it won’t all be doom and gloom and the adorable will-they-won’t-they moments should come in their floods!
Golden Time is proving to be a game of masks and façade. Neither character has shown their true nature in full effect yet, but what makes it so engaging is that neither of them could have avoided it. Banri has the crippling problem of amnesia so his mask was forced upon him and the exciting possibilities that could come from this are endless. Will he ever discover his true face and when he does will he want to go back to how he was? That then raises the question of what is your real personality? Is it what everyone expects you to be or is the you that you are now who you really are? All the while he is working this out I imagine Kouko will be falling in love with the Tada Banri that he is now so if he were to ever return to who he was before the accident what would happen to their relationship? Now that her mask has been shattered after years of pretence she will have to build her life from the ground up and Banri is the only one left to help her. If he disappears then how will she cope? If we didn’t have enough questions before then we certainly do now!
The story is set and now that the dam that was Kouko’s delusions has been shattered, the story is in full flow. Next week we will see what comes of Banri’s confession and how Kouko will react. Moreover, how will Mitsuo take it? You never know what you have lost until it is gone and for all we know he could hate Banri for confessing to her. All will hopefully be revealed next time! For more awesome reviews of this season’s best and worst anime, head over to our Anime Impressions page.
The newest and feature packed version of the popular indie title Trine 2 is coming to the PlayStation 4. Trine 2: Complete Story aims to release alongside Sony’s new console when it launches but this may or may not happen depending on if development is completed in time. Developer FrozenByte has been hard at work porting the game over and it looks great as you can see from the screenshot and trailer below. The game will run in full 1080p HD with a stable 60 FPS and stereoscopic 3D.
For those who don’t know of the Trine series, the game is a sidescrolling game of action, puzzles and platforming. You play as one of the Three Heroes who make their way through dangers untold in a fantastical fairytale world. The game features an exciting adventure full of action, including physics-based puzzles using fire, water, gravity and magic; wicked goblins as the heroes’ adversaries; and a magical environment full of wonder.
Game features of the PS4 version include:
Three heroes – the Wizard, the Thief and the Knight – in a story-driven adventure full of fantasy
Physics-based puzzles with fire, water, gravity and magic
Plenty of skills and abilities to solve puzzles in different play styles
Intuitive control system designed to take full advantage of the PS4 controller’s touch surface
Online and local co-op with up to three players
Includes the expansion Trine 2: Goblin Menace
Includes the Dwarven Caverns level, unlocked by collecting secret map pieces
20 exciting levels in total, ranging from lush forests to a burning desert, to the insides of a giant sand worm
Beautiful graphics in Full HD 1080p, 60 fps
Stereoscopic 3D support
Trine 2: Complete Story will be available as a PSN download title at around a similar price to its Steam counterpart. Keep checking back with us as we find out more information about the release date as it becomes available.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will see the return of more characters than just the titular Lightning, which will be even more apparent with the new screenshots that Square Enix has just released today just one month before the game releases in Japan. The character shown to return this time is none other than Fang, whose been searching the Dead Dunes for a relic when she meets up with Lightning again.
Also revealed with the reappearance of Fang, it the new EP Ability: Escape that allows players to escape from a battle and then re-prepare to take on the monster again. Those wanting to see the full-sized versions of the new screenshots can view them by clicking on the images in the gallery below. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is set to release in less than a month in Japan, but not until February 2014 elsewhere for both Xbox 360 and PS3.
“Hail to the King baby!” It’s been a long 22 years in the making, but we now have as solid a confirmation as ever that Army of Darkness 2 is going ahead.
Not only will the film definitely see the light of day (although we may have to potentially wait another 2 years), but it will be directed by the series’ original horror mastermind Sam Raimi! A tweet from Evil Dead reboot director Fede Alvarez definitively confirms as much;
“@thielebenjamin: Hey @fedalvar will you be directing the Army Of Darkness 2 movie?” Sam Raimi will!
This comes after Bruce Campbell‘s response to a fan asking if the project was a go and if he was involved at the Wizard World Nashville Comic Con, where he at first facetiously pondered the possible antics of an older Ash, before getting serious and stating,“Alright sir, the answer is yes.” So everybody, get your boomsticks loaded! Also, the aforementioned Alvarez will continue work on a sequel to his much more straight-horror Evil Dead reboot, with rumours of a crossover moment/film, introducing that timeline’s main protagonist Mia to Ash down the line. Which film releases first is another question…
Welcome to another episode of CC: Anime, Capsule Computers Anime Podcast! In our twenty third episode, the CC: Anime crew discuss the latest anime and manga news, our thoughts on the Space Dandy global broadcasts, J-Stars Victory VS, Darker Than Black’s spiritual succesor, the new Pokemon movie, Crunchyroll introducing manga, as well as answering your questions and announcing the winner of our Chihayafuru competition.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Travis Bruno, Frank Inglese, Kane Bugeja and Phil Federico
We hope you enjoy CC: Anime Episode 23, be sure to let us know what you think.
Nagi no Asukara continues to focus on friendship and character development rather than throwing a spanner in the works with Episode 4. That’s not to say that things aren’t moving toward uncertain times, as we see with Uroko-sama and Chisaki in particular later in this episode. The previous episode wrapped things up nicely, with all the guys and girls putting away hostility and getting along with each other. However, in an “uh-oh” moment we also found out Akari’s boyfriend has a child from a previous relationship, and that kid and a friend demand Hikari to break them up.
The episode begins with Hikari refusing to meddle in his sister’s affairs for the two kids, Miuna and Sayu. He makes quite a big impression on the daughter, Miuna, with his stoic principles of not playing dirty. The next day during class it becomes obvious that tensions between the Sea People from the village Shioshishio and land dwellers from the surface still run high. Especially between kids in the classroom. During a home economics class, the friends have to share their food with another group, leading Manaka to offer her plate to a couple of mean-looking surface kids.
This doesn’t go down well, and it ends with poor Manaka on the ground and the plate of food all over the floor. Call me old fashioned but I can’t even imagine a guy pushing a girl over while she’s carrying something, even as kids in middle school. Tsumugu steps in and tells them to apologise (you’re doing it again!), catching Manaka’s attention. The friends go check up on their hand-made, wooden offering to the Sea God, making eye contact with the two boys who caused a scene earlier on the way. Once they arrive, the whole thing looks as if it went to the dogs. Naturally, Hikari is led to believe those same guys did it and shoulder charges them both into the lockers. While Hikari blames them for the act, they escape punishment by the principal and Hikari storms off home with Manaka in pursuit.
This leaves Chisaki and Kaname alone, and I have to admit I find these moments the most interesting. These two have really intriguing chemistry going on. While Chisaki is jealous of Manaka’s cuteness and personality, Kaname just tells her to be herself but he also pokes fun at her. While cleaning the wooden offering they discover the graffiti has Sayu’s name on it (not too clever, Sayu!), ruling out their classmates’ involvement but Chisaki wants to keep this a secret. Why? Because she wants to protect Hikari from taking the blame of wrongful accusation.
It’s almost awkward seeing these two talk in private only for Chisaki to show she’s still head over heels for Hikari, secretly. The question is, what does Kaname want? He seems to be the most cluey out of the friends and yet we haven’t got an inkling of his true feelings so far in the series. Tsumugu comes in at this point and suggests they shouldn’t keep this a secret, causing Chisaki to snap at him and run away.
In the meantime, Manaka and Hikari save Akari’s boyfriend from drowning when he decides to visit the village in faulty diving gear. While Hikari accuses the guy of having an affair, the truth is his “other” partner is already dead. Miuna’s mother (who was from the sea) passed away, and so of course she feels at odds with her brother finding a replacement. We see a pretty interesting conversation between Akari and Uroko-sama where rather than worshipping him, she is really informal around him. While their talk does nothing to ease Akari’s worries, Uroko-sama’s musings to himself reveals that the Sea God is trying to prevent the people of the sea from disappearing to the surface. While it seems inevitable they will “die out” due to land dweller-mixing, it seems they’re not allowed. Not yet, apparently.
Manaka is clearly changing. We learn from an honest conversation between the two that she doesn’t want to be the timid girl at the back that Hikari always protects, but wants protect him herself instead. They bump into Miuna who declares she ruined the wooden maiden, defending Sayu. After that Hikari and Manaka apologise to the boys at school, getting on their knees in a humiliating gesture. They in-turn say sorry for pushing Manaka over. While they’re reconciling their differences, Kaname notices Sayu outside and confronts her for the trouble she caused. Here is another element on the importance of friendship, just in case we didn’t have enough already. We find out that the bond between Sayu and Miuno runs deep, and that Miuno always looks out for her.
One more apology later (they do that a lot here!) we’re reminded that all is not well, once again. Chisaki is clearly troubled by her desire to want to protect Hikari but she is feeling hardly relevant at this point. Here’s hoping her pent-up frustration doesn’t turn into contempt or lead her into a downward spiral. Come on Kaname, snap her out of it by stepping up to the plate!
While gamers in North America still have a week to wait until they can get their hands on the latest game from NIS America, gamers down in Australia and New Zealand can run out to the store right now and pick up The Guided Fate Paradox or download it directly from the PlayStation 3 of course as the game is now available in those countries.
A number of screenshots and trailers have been released for the game so far but for those who don’t know, The Guided Fate Paradox follows the story of a high school student who becomes a god after winning a lottery and must now travel through the “Copy World” to make changes to the world and help make people’s wishes come true, all while some sinister force is working in the background.
Over the weekend NIS America has announced that they have picked up the license to not only release The Eccentric Family in North America but they have also put the anime up for streaming on both Hulu and Crunchyroll. Currently no details about when or how The Eccentric Family will be released in North America.
For those who don’t know, The Eccentric Family aired last season and it takes place in a world where humans, tanuki, and tengu live together. When the head of the tanuki society is suddenly turned into soup, his four sons continue to live a relatively happy life until a number of occurrences put them to the test and may reveal the truth about their father’s demise.
While gamers in North America still have a week to wait until they can get their hands on the latest game from 
Over the weekend