The opening theme song for the recently announcedGenshiken 2nd Generation anime series has been confirmed. The official website of multi-talented singer/voice actress Sumire Uesaka announced that she will sing the series opening theme song.
“Genshi, Joshi wa, Taiyō Datta” is the name of the song and it will as a single on July 10th, 2013 as both the full-length version of the song and the abridged television version. A special first run edition of the single will come with a DVD that features the music video for the song.
Genshiken 2nd Generation is slated to premiere in Summer 2013 with Production I.G. handling the production of the series. We will keep you updated as more information on the series comes to light.
Indie devs Stillalive Studios released their32nd Dev Diary video to discuss preparations for their upcoming Kickstarter campaign for their game, Son of Nor. The campaign will begin on Tuesday, April 30th. The video shows off some work on the terraforming spell Windpush and teases the new spell combination system. Some concept art was also displayed for a new area called the Sarahul camp and a new character named Airtharii.
Son of Nor is an action adventure game with co-operative multiplayer to be released for PC, Mac, and Linux. Players will be able to mold the dynamic desert world with spells and abilities. The game currently has no release date.
It seems that The Creative Assembly has already put the finishing touches on Total War: Rome II, even if they’ve only been able to show off pre-alpha footage, meaning that they will not be able to add in any more for the retail game while it works to be released. However, that just means that they can now start working on DLC for the game when it does finally come out, which is exactly what their news was today.
Just what will be the first DLC? Well, those that have been checking out the different factions on the Total War Wikia, had a little bit of a clue when they noticed that there was an additional spot after the final faction of the retail release was announced. It seems that players will be able to download a ninth faction as day one DLC, but before players get into a tizzy, this is in-fact FREE day one DLC.
So, whose the new faction joining the ranks competing for domination of Rome? Pontus, set upon the mountains on the Black Sea, having developed from a more Eastern background than some of the other factions in the game. Because of their region’s mountainous terrain, the Pontic armies rely less on cavalry and more on infantry and ship warfare. Their opponents then shouldn’t be surprised to see the main force composed of pikemen, but should watch out for their fearsome scythed chariots.
Players wanting to find out more about the Pontus faction in Total War: Rome II can find plenty of details in the latest episode of The Creative Assembly’s Rally Point embedded below. Those looking forward to playing it however, must continue to wait as there is, as of yet, no release date for when it comes out on PC.
Junya Inoue, creator of the Btooom! manga, announced on Friday that he has completed the first chapter of his new manga La Vie en Doll. Inoue revealed this via twitter, stating:
“The first story of the new series of “La Vie en Doll” was finally completed after today! I’m sorry, it is not a publication. Is complete. Series start will be from June.”
The new series is set to premiere in Shueisha’s Jump X (Jump Kai) July edition, released in June.
Btooom! has run in both Shinchosha’s Weekly Comic Bunch and Monthly Comic bunch. The eleventh issue is set to ship to Japan on May 9th. Inoue has said that he intends to work hard to serialise both Btooom! and La Vie en Doll simultaneously.
“Objection!” He says, before the game has even come out…
CapcomUSA’s senior vice-president, Mr. Christian Svensson, wrote on the Capcom USA forums that the Ace Attorney 123 HD Collection for iOS has been delayed until sometime in July. Mr. Svensson has said that the delay is not Capsom USA’s fault at all, that it is the mobile team in Japan that has caused the delay.
Quote:
“I’d hate to say it, this is the mobile team in Japan playing with dates for what they deem will work best in their market. Sadly, this is not an area we have had any degree of control.”
It’s unfortunate that the delay has come about but if you’re a fan of the Ace Attorney series you wont mind too much because it will definitely be worth the extra couple months of waiting.
The trilogy is, obviously, being released in anticipation of the new game Ace Attorney 5 which happens to be coming along smoothly.
Mr Svensson had this to say:
“AA5 is coming along great. I saw a build last month when I was in Osaka. We’ll have some news for Western fans in the not so distant future (we know you want to know and we know you know the Japan dates). Hang in there…”
Who is excited about AA5? Let us know in the comments section below!
Anime.AU has been changed and renamed Gamma.Con, the name change was done so that Video Games and Pop Culture could feature alongside anime. Now the Con isn’t so focused which means that it will, most likely, expand and be a fair bit bigger than previous events.
Gamma.Con, like Anime.AU, will still be held in Canberra so no change in location. It is organised by ANUAS (Australian National University Anime Society) and will take place in the Manning Clarke Center at the ANU (Australian National University) on the 18th of May 2013.
Like a lot of other events Gamma.Con will have cosplay, traders, anime screenings, art displays, a talent quest and a troll dubbing competition alongside video game tournaments and a bunch of free-play rooms.
Recap:
Gamma.Con 2013 will take place at Manning Clarke Centre, Australian National University, on Saturday the 18th of May, 9am to 5pm and General Admission Tickets will cost $20. They can be purchased online through eventbrite.
For more information hit the Gamma.Con website here and keep an eye on our Events Page for any more info.
While TT Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are still going strong with their LEGO game for this year it must have occured to them that only releasing a large set of screenshots for LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey probably isn’t going to cut it. After all this will be the first LEGO game based upon an original property, rather than a license or the concept of LEGO in and of itself.
Have no fear LEGO fans, as the new trailer shows off the gameplay in action and what it shows is classic LEGO gameplay applied to an all new world. Unlockable characters, a variety of powers, and plenty to break and rebuild. The trailer also seems to show that the abilities will vary mainly based on species of animal, while main character Laval will also have special Chi powers.
Players can watch the trailer embedded to check it out for themselves before LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey releases this Summer (Winter in Australia) for Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita, or in Fall (Spring for Australia) for Nintendo DS.
Welcome to another episode of CC: Anime, Capsule Computers Anime Podcast! In our sixteenth episode, the CC: Anime crew discuss the latest anime and manga news, the Aku no Hana controversy, answer your questions and announce the winner of our Tiger and Bunny competition.
Cast: Luke Halliday, Travis Bruno, Jahanzeb Khan, Frank Inglese and Kane Bugeja
We hope you enjoy CC: Anime Episode 16, be sure to let us know what you think.
Kanokon Omnibus 1-2 Author: Katsumi Nishino Illustrator: Rin Yamaki Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment Release Date: April 16, 2013 Price: $18.99 – Available Here
Overview: Those familiar with the Kanokon franchise may have heard of the series thanks to the anime series which was brought to North America courtesy of the now diminished anime publisher Media Blasters. However before that, Kanokon was a series of light novels published in Japan by Katsumi Nishino. Now these light novels were originally meant to be released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment but after those plans fell through, the company has instead decided to bring the manga series over. Now with the first omnibus containing the first two volumes of the Kanokon manga hitting store shelves, is it worth your time?
Story: The story of Kanokon follows a boy named Oyamada Kouta who has just transferred into a new school. While this is a common occurrence, Kouta has lived his entire life in the countryside where practically no one attended school. Because of this, he is initially awestruck by the amount of people that are at his new high school. Before he even has a chance to settle in, he is approached by a beautiful girl named Chizuru Minamoto who asks him to meet her in the music room after school.
Despite being warned of Chizuru’s nature by his fellow classmate, Kouta meets with Chizuru at the music room where she suddenly confesses her love for him. While this would be surprising for any teenager, Kouta is even more surprised when Chizuru’s hair color changes and she sprouts fox ears and a tail. When Chizuru reveals the truth behind the school and herself, Kouta chooses to accept her for who she is, but by doing so he has found himself in a new world full of dangers, including other students at the school, people from Chizuru’s past and of course, Chizuru herself.
Kanokon Omnibus 1-2 contains the first two main story arcs of the series; the first mini-arc involves Kouta learning about Chizuru and becoming accepted by her “brother” and the second much larger arc dealing with an unruly group of yokai who also attend the school. A large number of characters are introduced and given a bit of development in these two arcs and it is clear that most if not all of them will be playing some role in later releases.
At first readers will likely be caught off guard by the fact that Chizuru falls head-over-heels in love with Kouta so quickly. However as the story progresses various elements of their relationship are explored slightly such as how innocent Kouta’s heart can be, though it does feel as if their sudden relationship is rushed for the sake of quickly progressing the story.
Ultimately these two volumes manage to find a decent balance between plot development, action, and “lovey-dovey” romance. Not only does Kouta expand a bit as a character but the yokai world is explained a bit in these initial chapters. With the amount of characters introduced in these two volumes and obviously plenty more to work with, readers will likely be intrigued enough to see where this human and yokai pairing will go from here.
Artwork: The artwork provided by Rin Yamaki for the characters in Kanokon ranges in quality and there are a few times throughout this release that the facial structures of the characters shift, but overall their designs remain relatively consistent. As for the characters themselves, Kouta is represented as smaller than average first-year highschooler and his reactions to the surprising events that occur around him are portrayed well on his face. Chizuru, being the main source of fan-service in the release and the main girl, is well-portrayed and designed well with clear-cut differences between her human and fox forms. As for the rest of the characters, they each have their own unique looks though it is worth noting that a few are a bit generic looking.
Outside of the characters themselves, most of the panels in the Kanokon manga are unfortunately quite empty. Even when some background art is added into a panel, it is usually very plain outside of one specific chapter in this release. This is unfortunate, though it does highlight that the characters should be the main focus of the readers’ attention. As far as fan-service goes, there are a number of “panty shots” here and there but no actual nudity in the release and there is a nice balance between storytelling and fan-service.
As far as the translation of the manga and its effect on the artwork, thankfully it seems that nothing has been lost in translation. Wherever possible it seems that the Japanese sound-effect symbols were removed entirely and replaced with English sound-effects though certain ones were left in thanks to the amount of re-drawing that would be necessary if they were removed. It is also worth noting that outside of a small white border around some of the text directly overlaying a few panels of artwork, none of the manga’s images have been obscured by black text bubbles or lost due to improper editing.
Extra Content: When readers open the book up they are first presented with a color page of Chizuru wearing a yukata in her fox form followed by a two page color spread of Chizuru and Kouta that includes some of the side characters. Also included is another two page color spread of Chizuru in her fox form but in a much more provocative pose than before since she is barely clothed in this spread. Closing out the color intro pages is a simple color page of Chizuru in human form wearing a flight attendants outfit. These color pages are a nice inclusion and obviously are meant to please those who are fans of Chizuru and serve as a good introduction to the fan-service in the book itself.
Outside of the color pages there are messages from the illustrator Rin Yamaki describing the characters as well as messages of thanks for picking up the volumes in this omnibus. Closing this release out is an extra chapter involving Chizuru and a yet un-introduced character discussing her love for Kouta and a “World of Kanokon” section that explains a few of the terms used in these two manga volumes.
Overall: Kanokon’s first omnibus release helps introduce the reader to the main cast and the world of the series well enough by balancing plot progression and character interactions nicely, even if the main couple feels a rushed together. With plenty of humor and a good deal of fan-service, Kanokon introduces itself as a fun series that also has a fair share of supernatural action. While the artwork is a bit basic at times, the editing process has managed to keep all of it intact and it is nice to see a number of bonus color pages included in the release. With Seven Seas planning on releasing the Kanokon series in omnibus format such as this, readers will find themselves not only a deal, but plenty to enjoy within the pages of Kanokon Omnibus 1-2.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Kung Fu Rabbit Developer: Neko Entertainment Publisher: BulkyPix Platform: Wii U (Reviewed), iPhone, Android Release Date: April 18, 2013 Price: $4.99
Overview
The Wii U is far along in it’s lifespan now that we are beginning to see smaller digital releases for the eShop on the platform. Much like the Wii, these have been a bit hit or miss, but after seeing the likes of Trine 2 and The Cave make the transition smoothly, there is more potential here for developers to truly shine. As many of you know, Kung Fu Rabbit was released a good while ago on the iOS and was rather successful despite it’s “freemium” styled set-up. Neko Entertainment have now provided us with a port on the Wii U, with no unnecessary spending or touch gimmickry attached. Does this title from a much different market stand a chance on the console, or is this one rabbit with a distorted vision? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
I won’t be speaking about the story much with Kung Fu Rabbit, as while present, it is minimal at best and the only thing you need to worry about is making it to the next stage. Just like it’s iOS kin, this title places the player in the role of a little bunny with some serious fighting skills who is going after alien scum. Levels are made to be small, with only a section to be played at a time before moving on to the next. You know those type of games that break down what could be one giant world into forty short stages? Well, this game is like that, but without the moments of interruption inbetween. At it’s core, Kung Fu Rabbit plays as a quick, side-scrolling platformer. Our furry friend must jump his way to the end point of each level while avoiding obstacles in order to progress onward, and starting off – the game gives off the illusion that things are simple.
That alone is a lie, and this rabbit will break you if you don’t have reflexes of steel. You see, Kung Fu Rabbit plays a lot like Super Meat Boy. Each level is set up with a good number of hazards littered everywhere, with enemies also pacing back and forth waiting to stop you from moving on. The hazards themselves appear as tar that kills our rabbit at the touch, clinging to the edges of walls and platforms so that players will have to use precise platforming in order to stay safe. Carrots act as a reward for each stage, and truly finishing each stage means that you collected all four during the run. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. These carrots are put right above a pit death, at the feet of an enemy, or at the edge of a cliff, so it’s actually more of a test of skill for those that want to collect everything in each level.
With this precise platforming and tricky enemies to defeat, most will be happy to know that the button-control layout comes off as smooth and fluid, where every death is essentially your own fault if it does happen. After defeat, the player must start the stage all over again, but that in itself isn’t much of a problem as the stages are rather short to begin with. Personally, I am not a fan of “trial and error” styled challenges. That was the main problem I had when it came to enjoying myself with this game, and my own personal preferences made the later levels quite grueling and tedious. Before I hear “then why did you review it!” due to that statement, hear me out.
I love platformers of all styles, but when you replace a true challenge with a test of memory or attempt to punish the player for their own curiosity, your game loses the spirit of its genre. This is not just Kung Fu Rabbit I am speaking about either. In my opinion, platformers are meant to be an odyssey into the unknown. Remember when we found secrets in Donkey Kong Country due to a bit of experimentation or discovered a legendary flute in Super Mario Bros. 3? Those titles, along with many others gave us the freedom to enjoy the world we were placed in. Kung Fu Rabbit features a lovable little mascot and a beautiful world, but limits the experience with artificial challenges made up of trial and error. There is a big market for this style of gameplay, but I would be lying to you, as the reader if I said I enjoyed it. Having an enemy kill you because its hit box is one pixel wide is frustrating, and utilizing wall slides and quick jumps excessively begins to feel repetitive and grinding as the challenge grows.
Now, there are options to assist with this difficulty. In the original game, players could use their in-game currency – or carrots, to purchase items that have the ability to create a checkpoint, wipe out all moving antagonists on a stage, or provide a special power, but these only come when you have enough saved up and even then do little to curve the difficulty of the main game. Don’t get me wrong, with controls as tight as these and a well thought out level design, nothing is impossible and beating a tough stage is rewarding, but in a title designed to punish the player, seeing ten even more grinding stages ahead is enough to sit that Gamepad down and take a break. As I said, I understand many out there love these types of challenges in platformers and respect that. Kung Fu Rabbit however is less of a platformer and more of a test in patience and proper reflexes. Sort of like a complex puzzle game, if you will.
Visuals and Audio
The world of Kung Fu Rabbit is one filled with color and pure happiness. Maybe that is why I was eager to explore and enjoy myself – only to find disappointment as the fun was put on hold in order to perform timed jumps over and over. Our rabbit himself is also utterly charming with is squared body and large mouth, making it easy for players young and old to get behind. It’s almost like your watching a cartoon set in a Chinese painting, and for those that do enjoy the challenges that approach, you are sure to take in the rich atmosphere attached.
The soundtrack however leaves less to be desired. Sure, the oriental themed tunes do well to capture the environment and go along with the theme of the game, but they are looped – which means you will be hearing the same tunes restart as you make your way through the levels. Maybe this was done so players would try to aim for a better time, but with such a beautiful art style, it’s a shame we don’t get more in the music department. Now the sound effects, well – they almost redeem the entire experience for its melodic shortcomings. Sure, the little jumps and attacks sound good, but it’s the “pitter patter” of our protagonists footsteps that add in a ton of charm, making this hero extremely lovable.
Overall
I review a lot of titles here at Capsule Computers, but it has been a long time since I have been so torn on with my final thoughts for a game. On one hand, Kung Fu Rabbit is built with a tight, easy-to-learn control scheme and a genuinely interesting setting. On the other, you have a game that makes you feel as if puppet strings were attached at the start of the experience, with every movement made coming off as predetermined and the high challenge only presenting itself due to one straying away from the developer’s forced intentions. Kung Fu Rabbit is not a bad game at all. Some in fact may praise the precise platforming involved as at it’s core, you have a game that resembles Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be the Guy. Fun in a video game is very subjective however, and those who are looking for an afternoon of exploration and wonder rather than a test of skill and memory are better off giving this little port a pass.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
