Australian anime distributor Madman Entertainment has announced today that the first half of its Cowboy Bebop Blu-ray release has been delayed from July 3 to August 21.
Madman is releasing the venerable series in two collections. Cowboy Bebop Remastered Sessions Collection 1 will include the first 13 episodes and a 40-page booklet. The show has been released on DVD before both in the US and Australia, but the BD version is a first from either of the regions. Anime Limited of the UK is releasing the Blu-ray collections as well, on July 29 and September 23 respectively.
Set in the distant future, Cowboy Bebop is about a group of bounty hunters trying to make ends meet by traveling the solar system for work and meeting new companions along the way.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing has barely seen the light of day and has just received free DLC for the taking! Scenario DLC will allow players to take on high-level monsters up the level 30 skill cap. These new levels will be accessible from the Helsing’s Secret Lair.
NeocoreGames promises continual updates for this DLC, so players can experience even higher level challenges to obtain unique items. Upon future rollouts, “Heroic Deeds” will be given as a boost to those slayers skillful enough to remove Borgovia’s mysterious threats.
Take a gander at the new screenshots below as well as our The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Preview. One can not simply wait for the coming onslaught. It’s kill or be killed in the bowels of Borgovia. Buy the title and gain access to free DLC on STEAM for only $14.99.
It has been 15 years since the Tales Of Series first entered the video-game zeitgeist in the West and to kick off celebrations for the series, Namco Bandai Games have released a tribute video highlighting the legendary RPG franchise’s history.
The tribute video highlights every main installment in the series starting with Tales of Phantasia and concluding with Tales of Xillia.
It was rumoured that a HD version of Tales of Symphonia would be released this year to celebrate the anniversary but those rumours were squashed by series producer Hideo Baba himself. All of that leaves it a mystery what else Namco Bandai have in store for anniversary celebrations.
Stay tuned for more information on the Tales Of Series 15th Anniversary celebrations as they come to light. For now enjoy the retrospective tribute video below.
A brand new visual art for the Nisekoi anime has been revealed through Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The visual which can be seen above showcases the series cast as they are set to appear in the anime series.
The character designs look very close to the manga source material which is of course a great thing for manga fans hoping for a faithful adaptation. All signs point to Nisekoi doing its manga material justice.
As of posting it is currently unknown what studio is set to produce the anime series. More details are sure to come in the following weeks from Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, so please stay tuned for any further updates on the Nisekoi anime series.
Japanese bullet-hell shoot-em-upMamorukun Curse! is coming to the North American PlayStation Network for the PS3 on July 16, courtesy of UFO Interactive Games.
Developed by G.rev Ltd and Gulti, this top-down, vertical scrolling shooter follows Mamorukun and several other Chosen Souls who have been plucked from the realm of the Living and tosses into the Netherworld. They must then restore balance to the Netherworld and stop the World of Darkness from taking over.
There’s a choice of seven different characters, each with different gameplay mechanics. Here’s a list of the stack of features:
3 exciting game play modes: Netherworld Action Mode, Arcade Mode, and Story Mode
Online Leaderboards: Use Curse Powers to rack up huge bonuses and challenge your friends to the top-ranking spot of the online leaderboards
Includes all previously released DLC from the original Japanese version
66 challenging PS3 Trophies to unlock
Like all crazy “danmaku” shooters, the real appeal is dodging ridiculous patterns of bullets, often with ultra cute characters and addictive music. A fine art the Japanese have mastered in games such as Deathsmiles, Akai Katana and the cult Touhou series.
Mamorukun Curse! will be priced at US$19.99. Check out the screens and announcement trailer below, and follow the publisher’s Facebook and Twitter pages for more info.
Ride to Hell: Retribution, the upcoming action game from Deep Silver, has a little more information for hog-lovin’ hellions today. Players will be able to create their own motorcycle using a large variety of different parts within the game. You can customize the handle bars, engine, and more to make the bike that suits your tastes.
Retribution will take players on a road trip into a world dominated by motorcycle gangs and violence, where a man proves his worth with the roar of his engine and the weight of his fist.
Ride to Hell: Retribution will make its way to the Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3 in North America and Europe in June 2013. It’s companion title, Ride to Hell: Route 666 is in the works as well. For more information, be sure to check out their official website here.
Good news for fans of the anime series Gargantia as it appears the series will receive a spin-off manga not unlike the spin-off manga which was just announced for Valvrave the Liberator, another mecha series airing this season.
The Gargantia spin-off manga will follow the popular character Bellows. She soon became a fan favourite for her no nonsense attitude, love for salvaging and for being well endowed. The manga will follow Bellows origin story leading up to her salvaging discovery of Ledo’s Chamber mecha.
The manga will be titled Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: The Headwater’s Bellows. Stay tuned for more information on this as it comes to light.
Indie developer Survivalist Games has released their inaugural title, Shelter, for iOS and Android devices today.
Shelter is a collectible card dueling game set in a zombieapocalypse. It features a graphic novel art style and plays like a hybrid of collectible card games and castle defense games.
Features of Shelter include:
Deep but accessible game-play. Easy to learn. Hard to master.
More than 100 game cards.
Integrated deck builder for deeply customisable play.
Graphic novel & comic inspired hand drawn artwork.
Compelling story and characters.
5 Campaign levels including a free roaming level (with more to come).
Library Wars: Love & War Volume 1 Author:Kiiro Yumi Illustrator: Kiiro Yumi Publisher:Viz Media/Madman Release Date:February 10, 2013 Price: $14.95 – Available Here
Overview Library Wars is an interesting manga for a number of reasons. First of all it is loosely based upon the highly popular light novels series of the same name. It also happens to be a shojo series which in and of itself is an interesting choice considering the high concept of the series. Perhaps the most interesting part of Library Wars is how it manages to be both simultaneously cliche ridden but also feeling absolutely fresh. It is a tight rope walk to say the very least but Kiiro Yumi manages to keep her balance throughout this entire first volume making for what is a great introduction to what looks to be an intrigue filled romantic tale of love and war.
Story For a shojomanga, Library Wars has a surprising high concept. The idea is that the government has let the censors run wild and they are deciding that all manner of books should be destroyed, often for very frivolous reasons. In order to prevent books from meeting the fire, Libraries have become militarized to protect books against the censors. There is a great deal of intrigue there and Kiiro Yumi does a good job of revealing a little about it in this volume without giving it all away too soon. There is still a lot to learn about this world and the titular ‘library war’ that it is waged in and that is just fine.
We meet protagonist Iku Kasahara in training to become part of the Library Defense Force. She wants to fight to protect books much like her hero and ‘prince’ did. The main mystery of this volume revolves around who this man may be, but there is more than enough hints as to who it could be. The prince of her past saved her book and touched her on her head, a touch that she fell in love with. Of course over the course of this volume several guys touch her head making her wonder if they could be her prince. It does seem pretty evident however that the prince is none other than her superior Dojo. Time will tell if that turns out to be the case though.
The story progresses quite quickly in this first volume with Iku being recruited to the Library Defense Force only three chapters in after a reckless act of trying to stop the Media Betterment Act from taking a child’s book. She is recruited alongside a perfectionist by the name of Tezuka, he naturally despises the hapless Iku and looks to undermine her at every turn much to the chagrin of his superiors. It looks that Tezuka will continue to serve as Iku’s rival in the coming volumes and he certainly makes for a nice antithesis of Iku who is by and large a complete screw-up albeit one who tries her best and refuses to give up.
There was an interesting atmosphere to the proceedings of Library Wars that I feel I must mention. The libraries are considered to be a place of freedom in this manga yet there was a strange sense of claustrophobia in the library scenes, almost as if they were trapped. I’m not sure what Kiiro Yumi was trying to convey with this tone and atmosphere but it certainly gave the feeling that the Library Defense Force isn’t as free as one would like. I’m interested to see that explored more in future volumes.
While Iku is seemingly at odds with nearly all of the other cast in the manga, she does manage to find some understanding with Tezuka and Dojo by the end of this volume, how long that will last is another question altogether. Regardless this was a fun first volume that set the stage for things to come by building up the world and concept of Library Wars as well as developing its characters beyon the cliche situations they often find themselves stumbling upon. There is potential here and I look forward to what lies ahead for Iku and her many princes.
Artwork Visually Library Wars is your standard shojo fare. There isn’t anything particular unique about it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The shojo style of big expressive eyes and stunningly handsome bishonen is well served here to supplement the romantic elements of the manga. It is simple and neat with a great measure of detail to environments as well as characters themselves. The character designs are likewise simple yet distinctive enough that they leave an impression. Yumi does a good job framing and creating atmosphere with her art, but never verges on brilliance instead resigning to a more safer aesthetic. I’m hoping to see her flex her artistic muscles a little more in the future as there is a potential here that she doesn’t seem ready to reach for, but with a little more confidence she could create something genuinely beautiful.
Extra Content Library Wars volume 1 has a few little extras for readers to take a gander at. I personally found the numerous author comments throughout the volume to be rather enlightening about Kiiro Yumi’s thought process while working on the series. Yumi wants to do the original light novels justice and constantly doubts herself and questions whether she is actually good enough. It is a compelling inner struggle that really shows on the page. There is also a bonus omake chapter and even a message from the original creator of Library Wars Hiro Arikawa, which serves as an excellent exclamation point to all of Yumi’s commentary. Yumi doubts herself but Arikawa sees something special in her. It was a very interesting read an a welcome addition to this volume.
Overall What we have here is a manga that shows a lot of potential. Library Wars has all the right tools to be a great shojo manga, this entire first volume was really all about setting the stage for things to come, so it will be interesting to see whether it puts those tools to use in the future. For now it is hard to tell where Library Wars will go next, there doesn’t seem to be an endpoint it is heading towards and it doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of direction, but as an introductory volume Library Wars volume 1 does a great job at creating intrigue and building its foundations. It is a fun volume of manga that while not as thought-provoking as its concept promises to be manages to be quite a delightful read none the less.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Plants vs Zombies are expanding to the Facebook garden. The new game takes the classic Plants vs. Zombies gameplay and moves it on an adventure across the country. Popcap has created new plants, zombies, and characters to collect and use. The soundtrack has been expanded to add new tunes and a new twist to the traditional gameplay has been added as zombies can now invade from all directions. Once players are finished keeping zombies off their lawn, they can help build their town and send visiting zombies to their friends’ towns.
It has been 15 years since the 
