Welcome to another episode of CC: Anime, Capsule Computers Anime Podcast! In our twentieth episode, the CC: Anime crew discuss the latest anime and manga news, our thoughts on the digital manga revolution, what we think of the Summer season, as well as answering your questions. We also have a prize giveaway of Chihayafuru Part 1 on DVD thanks to our sponsor Siren Visual, find out how to enter here.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Travis Bruno, Frank Inglese and Kane Bugeja
We hope you enjoy CC: Anime Episode 20, be sure to let us know what you think.
Sasuke, also known as Ninja Warrior internationally, now has a video game spinoff. Ninja Warrior Game is a side scrolling platforming for iOS and Android that will pit the player against gamers around the world for the best finish times. The game is developed by MarvelousAQL, the team behind Soul Sacrifice.
Inspired by the TV show, the Ninja Warrior Game features a variety of challenging levels where players will need to leap, swing, and slide. Some levels are more natural, featuring desert canyons and dense jungles, while others would be at home on the set of Ninja Warrior. Players will create their own racer, customize outfits, and improve skills over time.
“Ninja Warrior Game will put players’ platform racing game skills to the ultimate test,” said Takuo Tanimoto, Executive Producer and Senior Overseas Manager at MarvelousAQL. “As in the TV show, only the fastest, strongest and smartest contestants will run, slide and jump through challenging obstacle courses with the speed needed to become the ultimate Ninja Warrior champion.”
To celebrate the game’s release, Ninja Warrior Game, Cross Horizon, and Ark of the Ages will be 50% off. Ninja Warrior Game is normally $1.99 and is available on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon AppStore.
Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow Volume 2 Premium Edition Studio:P.A. Works Publisher:NIS America Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release Date: July 2, 2013 Price:$69.99 – Available Here
Overview Ever since NIS America started bringing anime to North America alongside video games, they have regularly picked up hidden gems. One such gem happens to be Hanasaku Iroha, which was passed over by other companies back when it aired in 2011 but since NIS America picked up the license, they have already released the first half of the series, the review of which can be found here, and now have released the closing half of the series. Even though things wrapped up decently at the end of the first volume, is volume 2 continue the excellence of Hanasaku Iroha?
Story When we last left Ohana, she had begun to fit in with the rest of the staff at Kissuiso Inn and overcame some of the biggest pieces of drama that the series had going for it. Ohana had managed to partially mend the relationship between her mother and grandmother and managed to find some closure regarding her feelings towards the friend she left behind in Tokyo, Koichi.
With these two major developments wrapped up, Hanasaku Iroha features a number of mini-arcs throughout volume 2 before bringing everything together for the finale. You see, while the first half of the series featured numerous character developments and the bonding of the characters of Hanasaku Iroha, volume 2 takes these well-developed characters and places them in situations where the story can really shine.
By being planted firmly in reality, these characters actually feel genuine, which is something hard to accomplish in anime. As such, one of the high points of Hanasaku Iroha is simply watching Ohana and the rest of the staff live out their lives while working at Kissuiso Inn. That being said, this closing half of the series still has its fair share of drama, mostly centered on a high school festival and the fate of the inn itself.
As mentioned earlier, the fact that we have come to know these characters so well over the course of the series, coupled with the way that Hanasaku Iroha manages to balance the side-characters, is the series’ biggest highlight and seeing them deal with these issues can be quite emotional since they actually have made the viewer care about these characters in a realistic fashion. In fact, one of the major arcs of this half of the series focuses not on Ohana herself, but on Minko and even a minor arc for Nako is presented.
Despite the number of arcs presented throughout volume 2, the series is still extremely slow paced and light-hearted even when something dramatic occurs. It also doesn’t help that the series tends to hold onto story arcs for far too long without any type of development, only making the slow pacing of the series even more frustrating.
That being said, perhaps it is because of this slow-pace that the slice-of-life feel of Hanasaku Iroha feels refreshing and natural compared to standard anime series which usually have forced developments or some odd twist that causes a shift in tone. Even at the end of the series Hansaku Iroha feels rooted in reality and leaves viewers with a bittersweet ending as they say goodbye to a cast they’ve seen live their daily lives for twenty six episodes.
Visuals It would be an understatement to say that Hanasaku Iroha is stunning looking. The amount of detail that P.A. Works has put into every aspect of the series is wondrous to behold, especially on Blu-ray. Since the main focus of the series are the characters, the amount of time spent on their facial expressions and designs. The attention paid to the character designs is especially impressive since the characters regularly wear different outfits without re-using the same designs, minus uniforms, often. There is even a fair bit of fan-service this time around, though nothing over the top, since this half of the series also includes the basic beach/hot spring episode with a twist.
As for the environments themselves, it is clear that the animation studio spent a lot of time making sure that everything looked realistic and impressively detailed. There are numerous sequences throughout the series where the background is used for dramatic affect or a scene lingers on the environment to give viewers a glimpse at the wonderful background designs.
Audio Those familiar with NIS America’s releases know this already, but it is worth noting that Hansaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow Volume 2 only contains the original Japanese voice track with no English dub. This isn’t too much of an issue however thanks to the fact that the Japanese voice actors have done a great job bringing these characters to life for the audience.
The soundtrack continues to be impressive with numerous light-hearted and relaxing themes that match the nature of the series. Since this is the second half of the series, new opening and ending themes are introduced in the form of “Trace Warp” by Nano Ripe and “Hanasaku Iroha” by Clammbon. The new opening and ending themes continue to be light and fitting with the series, though some may have preferred the first opening to the new one.
Extras As one may have surmised from the title of this review, NIS America has given Hansaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow Volume 2 the Premium Edition treatment similar to what was found in the first release. The on disc bonuses are rather sparse, with a clean opening theme and multiple clean ending themes for special episodes, as well as trailers for other NIS America anime and the original Japanese trailer for Hanasaku Iroha.
The true bonus in these Premium Editions is not on-disc however, but with the packaging itself. The series comes in an oversized chipboard slipcase featuring Ohana, Minko and Nako in their work clothes on the front and their school uniforms on the back. It is worth noting that the style for this packaging is a bit different than others, since the art box is meant to be displayed horizontally, rather than vertically. This is new for NIS and may make displaying the box a bit difficult for those used to the vertical displays, but this is only a minor issue since the company made great use of the horizontal artwork.
As for the full color art book, the book contains numerous pieces of promotional art for the series featuring the characters in an art gallery, which is then followed up by numerous interviews with members of the Japanese staff. Since the interviews concern the character designer and key animator, these interviews are then followed up with character sketches and notes for each character in the series.
Overall Hansaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow Volume 2 brings this heartwarming series to a close. It may have been a very slow series throughout both volumes, but the slow pace allowed viewers to grow attatched to the characters in a realistic way by portraying their lives normally as they overcome the difficulties placed in their path. By offering viewers a character driven storyline with a likable cast of characters, it is sad to see such a great series end, especially in a way that will likely leave viewers with a few tears. However that is a sign of a truly exceptional anime, which is exactly what Hanasaku Iroha has proven to be.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Riding on the wave of their successful game Knights of Pen & Paper, Behold Studios has brought their latest project to Kickstarter. Chroma Squad is a simulation game where players manage a Sentai studio. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese roots of classic childhood shows like Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and Changeman, Tokusatsu series featured colourfully dressed Sentai (task force in English) of three to five who would combine their powers to create a super weapon to defeat their enemies.
In Chroma Squad, players can create their team of actors, customize details such as jump suits and skills, equip the tv studios, record episodes, and manage the show’s publicity. Behold Studios is offering an incredible amount of customization options for the player on both the TV management side of the game and the superhero aspects.
The Kickstarter has raised 20% of the funding in three short days, and the support is growing quickly. Personally, Chroma Squad has the potential to be one of the best indie management titles in the last several years.
Chroma Squad is looking to release the game in December 2013 for Linux, Mac, and Windows. Tablet versions for iOS and Android will follow soon after.
Prehistorik is a remake, under the Joystick label, of the original classic, where the caveman, Grag, must take back the tribes food supplies and defeat the Giant that stole them. Features include:
More than 15 varied levels (jungle, mountain, glacier, cave)
Discover hidden statuettes and find all the sacred artefacts (B.O.N.U.S letters) to access hidden levels
Platform phases, flight in a Jetpack-Cola, Pig Surf slope
Support from Dung Fly in the process of the adventure and Super Fly for after-game guidance
Character actions: jump, run on all fours, whack enemies with a club and use the “Neanderthal scream” to beat all foes
Crazy enemies; Chicken Mouth, Dinos with boxing gloves, Pterodactyls, Tyrano de Bergerac and Snowman
Prehistorik is available for $9.99 on PC and Mac and $2.99 on Android and iOS, that all come in EFIGS (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish), Japanese, Corean, Bresilian, Chinese and Russian.
The Australian eShop is gearing up for Olimar and company as Pikmin 3 is finally ready to land on the Wii U. With the release comes a nice discount as well, which concerns The Wonderful 101, so those who are planning to buy in bulk should check out the details down below.
Also this week comes Kirby’s Dream Land 3, which is one of the most imaginative in the Kirby franchise to the Virtual Console for the Wii U, as well as Street Gangs for the 3DS. Some discounts and other releases are also listed below, so check these deals and new offerings and get to downloading!
Title
Platform
Available on
Price Point
Pikmin™ 3
(Nintendo)
Wii U (Download)
Nintendo eShop from 27/7/13
AUD $79.95 (NZD $99.95)
Game Description: On a hostile planet, command a giant army of tiny ant-like creatures to protect you, only in Pikmin 3 on Wii U. Lead two new Pikmin types as you explore a rich and diverse world, using the Wii U GamePad’s built-in screen to oversee the action in this unique blend of action and strategy. Crack enemies’ tough outer shells and break down barriers with the new Rock Pikmin, and use the new Winged Pikmin in combination with the individual skills of other Pikmin types to proceed. Decide how best to divide your Pikmin teams to assign them the most appropriate tasks, and maximise your progress in each day.
With Pikmin 3 launching on 27th July, and The Wonderful 101 launching on 24th August, if Wii U console owners buy Pikmin 3 on Nintendo eShop between 27th July 2013 and 21st September 2013, they will be able to buy The Wonderful 101 on Nintendo eShop on the same Wii U for 30% off the regular Nintendo eShop price once it is released and only until 21st September 2013.
Kirby’s Dream Land™ 3
(Nintendo)
Wii U
(Virtual Console – Super Nintendo)
Nintendo eShop from 26/7/13
AUD $10.40 (NZD $13.60)
Game Description: King Dedede has been possessed by an evil force and is causing trouble all over Dream Land and only Kirby can save the day! As usual, Kirby can swallow his enemies and absorb their abilities like fire, ice or stone; but also Kirby can call on his animal friends like Rick the Hamster and Nago the Cat. He can also summon his stretchy-tongued pal Gooey, controlled either by the computer or a friend. With its colourful 2D graphics, classic gameplay and abundant cuteness, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 oozes old-school charm!
This is the US version of the game.
Super Black Bass 3D
(Rising Star Games)
Nintendo 3DS
(Download)
Nintendo eShop from 26/7/13
AUD $26.00 (NZD $34.00)
Game Description: The ultimate 3D fishing experience! Cast your line as you would in real life – imitate real fishing actions for an immersive experience. Battle changing conditions to achieve more challenging catches – changing seasons, weather and time all affect your fishing style. Worldwide ranking system – challenge fellow anglers from around the world across five competitive categories.
I Love My Pets
(Big Ben)
Nintendo 3DS
(Download)
Nintendo eShop from 26/7/13
AUD $49.99 (NZD $69.99)
Game Description: Become the manager of a hotel for cats and dogs and take care of your pets: take your puppy out for a walk in the park, teach them to jump over a skipping-rope, pet them, play Frisbee with them… Brush your cat, teach them to hunt, train them for an obstacle course… and make them purr! Choose between 16 breeds of cats and dogs: Dalmatian, Labrador, Husky, Siamese, tabby… and play hide-and-seek with your pet with the AR Card of your Nintendo 3DS™!
Street Gangs
(Arc System Works)
Nintendo 3DS
(Virtual Console – NES)
Nintendo eShop from 26/7/13
AUD $6.50 (NZD $8.50)
Game Description: Street Gangs is the Western version of the acclaimed Japanese hit Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, a unique mix of beat ‘em up and RPG. Friends Alex and Ryan must save River City from the evil Slick and his gang who have also kidnapped Ryan’s girlfriend Cyndi. Fight your way through gang members and bosses, raise your stats by eating the right foods, and gain new techniques by reading special books. Play solo or battle with two players simultaneously via Download Play (only one copy of the game is required).
AUD $2.50 (NZD $3.50) each ; If you buy or own any three out of these four Wii U Panorama View video tours, you can download the fourth one for free! Only from 26/7/13 until 09/8/13.
Ubisoft have just announced that Rayman Legends will now be heading to PC as well as the previously announced Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita. The game will hit PC on August 29th, 2013, along side the game’s release on other platforms.
Rayman Legends was originally exclusive to the Wii U, that was until Ubisoft decided to delay the game in order to make it a multi-platform title with releases on all manner of systems.
You can pre-order Rayman Legends as a digital copy for PC on the Ubisoft store here. Pre-ordering the PC version of Rayman Legends will give you the exclusive pre-order bonus of a free copy of Rayman Origins.
DICE’s social platform Battlelog is getting a major facelift going into the release of Battlefield 4 this October, and the developers, along with EA, have released a new video detailing its changes and additions.
Battlelog 2.0 will be taking advantage of the second-screen capabilities on offer with laptops, mobiles and tablet platforms. While you are playing, you can open the Battlelog app on your desired device, check your stats on the go, and access a variety of features that will influence your multiplayer game. Realtime Loadouts allow you to modify your in-game loadout on the fly, maybe in that moment where you’ve just been killed and are waiting for the respawn. The Server Browser allows you to scroll through the multiplayer server list, and pick one from your device, which will be instantly entered into in-game with no laborious switching process.
Battlescreen enables you to become your team’s Commander with the use of your device as a mini-map for navigation and keeping track of squad mates, on which you can also set attack points. Missions can now be created by you or your friends, to be challenged amongst your network as friendly competition. Want to task your mates with beating your Kill Streak on a certain map, within a time limit? You can do just that. Finally, GEO Leaderboards allow you to compare your standing, not just in your country or the world at large, but in your city and region.
That is a whole lot of features, making what looks to be a truly expansive second-screen experience for an already mind-blowing and impressive-looking game in its own right. The trailer can be viewed embedded below the gallery.
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale Developer:Level 5 Publisher:Level 5 Platforms: Nintendo 3DS Release Date:Out Now Price: $7.99
Overview
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale is a brief but enjoyable experience from Kaz Ayabe, one of Japan’s leading game developers. It feels like a love letter to a time and place long since forgotten by many. As a game it is somewhat shallow and short, but beautiful scenery and the feeling of being able to look at the world through a child’s eyes speak volumes.
Story
You play as Sohta who, along with his family, has recently moved to a small rural Japanese village during the 1960s and 1970s. It was a simple time where massive urban development hadn’t taken over much of the countryside and the “Superhero” tv genre was reaching its peak of popularity.
The Kaiju (‘Giant Monsters’) were a favourite of children everywhere at the time, and Sohta is thrilled about the prospect of being able to watch kaiju shows every week.
The town they have moved to has a somewhat unique trait though: every Friday, the monsters from TV come to life and do battle with the heroes just outside the town. The children gather of a Friday afternoon to watch the monsters do battle.
The game is great in the way it presents its story, for most of the play through you are not sure if the monsters are real, or if they are just the exaggerated stories of children. Sadly the truth is far less satisfying than just a child’s imagination, and by the end you are left with a lot of unanswered questions and a sense that it didn’t quite live up to its expectation.
Gameplay
Gameplay is the weakest aspect of Attack of the Friday Monsters. The whole experience is rather short, clocking in at under 3 hours for most playthroughs, and most of it is spent watching cut-scenes and listening to dialogue.
As Sohta you travel around the small-town map, interacting with the locals, and collecting ‘Glims.’ These glims allow you to create monster-cards to participate in the monster card game against the other children.
The monster card game is rather shallow too, and in essence is nothing more than a game of rock/paper/scissors but with pictures of monsters. Each participant places down five cards randomly, while trying to guess what the other has. The winner is able to “cast a spell” (say some funny words) to knock their opponent over. While it isn’t complex, and there isn’t exactly anything supernatural about it all, it is still presented in such a way that it feels real. It captures how children act with one another; creating silly games with even sillier consequences.
Aside from the card battle, you as Sohta are just running around the map, which is although covers the entire town, is still rather small. Checkpoints are marked on your map and you move from one to the other to progress the story. As I mentioned before, the story is only a few hours long at best, so you can breeze through the entire game in one sitting.
Visuals
One area where Attack of the Friday Monsters really shines is its visuals. The character models all look great, but the real star of the show is the backgrounds. All of the game’s backgrounds are pre-rendered and look absolutely outstanding.
The backdrops and scenery are all drawn in an anime-style, and are done so beautifully. The smallest details are all visible without making the screen look crowded, or the artwork being ruined. The pre-drawn art looks like it was hand-painted before being inserted into the game. Colours are vibrant, and no two houses look identical.
The 3d effect on this game is really impressive too. The foregrounds are done in the same style as the backgrounds, and when you flick your 3d slider on, you are greeted with this sense of depth that is almost impossible to put into words. Clothes hanging from a washing line are jumping out of the screen at you, looking like they are being blown so slightly by the breeze.
It is also the little details that were not necessary, but their inclusion makes for some great images. Sights like a train moving along the tracks in the background are great to see, as are the lights from the city of Tokyo off in the distance.
Audio
The choice of sound in Attack of the Friday Monsters captures perfectly the sounds of a small rural community. The sound of a slight breeze rustling the leaves of trees, and of crickets chirping really bring to life this quaint little village.
All of the character voices are in their original Japanese, with English subtitles. As I am sure most anime purists will agree, this keeps the tone and feel of the game in-tact, and doesn’t water-it-down with English voice actors who more often than not just don’t get the job done.
The music is great too, quiet and calming but still present. In fact that is probably the best way to describe all the audio of this game. The calm nature manages to capture the light-spirited, soothing adventure that you are on.
Overall
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale has so much going for it; from its visuals, to its sound, to the way it managers to personify a child’s glee and imagination. Sadly, the gameplay and story itself are areas that are lacking, and when it comes to a video game, those are some key elements to be missing out on. If you have ever lived in a tiny country village, or were around in 1970s Japan, then this game will be a breath of nostalgia for you. For those who weren’t, you will enjoy feeling like a child over again, and maybe even feel like you have an idea what it was like to live at that time.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Ubisoft have just confirmed that the legendary Prince of Persia franchise has now made its way onto mobile devices. That’s right folks, Prince of Persia: The Shadow and Flame is now available for download on the iTunes app store and the Google Play store for Android.
Prince of Persia: The Shadow and Flame follows the story of the original Prince of Persia game which debuted 20 years ago. The game is said to feature state-of-the-art environments that will wow gamers as well as immerse them once again into the mystic world of Prince of Persia.
You can pick up the game on iOS here, on Android here and on Amazon here. Check out the trailer below for a look at what the game has to offer Prince of Persia maniacs and even those new to the series.
