Finally the long awaited second half of One Piece has a premiere date. The New World half of One Piece has been announced to begin on October 2nd, 2011.
After the manga’s first halfs conclusion earlier this year, the series did a time-skip of 2 years and 3 days, which protagonist Luffy commemorates with a tattoo not too disimilar to that of his brother Ace. Following the Straw Hat’s entrance to the new world they discover Fishmen Island. The anime has been what many fans believe to be dragging it’s feet for the past few weeks in an attempt to allow the manga to get further ahead of the anime.
Now that they are sufficiently ahead, the Straw Hat’s will set sail for the New World. So keep your eyes peeled on October 2nd, 2011 for what is set to be a monumental day for One Piece fans world-wide. Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
Wow, time sure does fly. It feels like just yesterday that Ichigo met Rukia for the first time, but if that was the case, yesterday would be 10 years ago. That’s right it is the 10 year anniversary of the Bleach manga and as you’d expect, celebrations are in order.
To celebrate this landmark event, it has been confirmed that the first 21 volumes (which comprise the Substitute and Soul Society arcs) will be compiled into 6 seperate special edition omnibus volumes. These omnibus volumes will be title the Bleach: Resurrected Souls collections and the first of them is set for release tomorrow on August 22nd, 2011. Each omnibus will also feature original colour pages which where excluded from the single volume tankobon releases.
This is without a doubt a great way to celebrate the series as well as bring in those who have yet to climb on board with the series thus far. So what more can I say besides, Happy 10th Birthday, Bleach!
With the imminent premiere of the new Hunter x Hunter anime series which is set to reboot and revitalise the franchise, a new role playing community based around the series has opened its gates up for fans. Whether you have never role-played online before or are a seasoned veteran, the Hunter x Hunter World role-play community will welcome you with open arms.
You can join in on the action and make your way into the Hunter x Hunter World here. With little amount of places on the interenet for fans of the series to congregate, it is truly a good sign for the series future to see the first Hunter x Hunter online role-playing site open up. So if your a fan or plan on getting into the series when it makes it’s television premiere in Japan on October 2nd, 2011, be sure so sign up and enter the world of hunters!
Being the third edition of Anime Focus, I thought it appropriate to discuss a topic many anime fans have pondered and debated upon – What will be the next Big 3 anime? Throughout this edition of Anime Focus I will discuss what series have a chance at being a part of the next Big 3 and whether there will necessarily be another Big 3.
Now for those wonder what I am referring to when I say “Big 3”, I’ll give you a brief explaination. The Big 3 is the collective name of the 3 anime series that completely took the world by storm over the past decade and in case you have been living under a rock you probably know all 3 of them. They are One Piece, Naruto and Bleach. Each series is still-ongoing so you may be thinking it’s premature to discuss the next Big 3 but let me tell you, this discussion has been going since as early as 2005.
Before we move onto what could possibly be the next Big 3, let’s discuss what made One Piece, Naruto and Bleach so successful.
Each series is very different yet they all had something that made them successful. That thing was timing. When I say that I do not mean to say that they couldn’t have become successful when placed into another time. But during the time they came out, there was little competition. They had tapped into a genre and target audience just growing up like those who grew up during the era of Dragon Ball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho in the early 90’s. The audience was young teens, particularly males growing up in the late 90’s and early 00’s. At the time, no other series had come along for this generation to call their own. Until the Big 3 came along. The timing was perfect and the moment was right, the stories were relevent and spoke to the viewers more than any other long running series at the time. That is why they became such major successes, the market was dry and the Big 3 rose from obscurity to a fanbase the genre had forgotten it even had.
What we now need to examine is whether a new generation of anime has come along to nurture the next generation of anime fans. With such great new long running shonen series having been produced in the back end of the 00’s and the early going of 10’s it’s easy to imagine that a new Big 3 could have risen. But what series can we really classify as being a part of this?
A few recent series pop to mind, such as Reborn!, Fairy Tail and perhaps even Beelzebub or Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. But is there a definitive new Big 3? I honestly think it’s too early to say. But that raises the further question, should their be another Big 3?
An important thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, the past should stay the past. Repetition is not always a good thing and perhaps a new Big 3 is likewise not a good thing. Perhaps, with the old Big 3 still up and kicking in the current anime landscape it’s not possible or necessary for a new 3 to rise. However that doesn’t mean series won’t come by that will gain the same level of fandom as some of the big 3. Take Reborn! for example, while not nearly as big worldwide is often on par with Bleach or even surpasses it in sales. Whilst the series is on break it may have lost a lot of heat to Fairy Tail which also regularly strikes it high and hangs with the Big 3.
I believe that after years of the market being completely dominated by the Big 3, it seems that there is finally a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. There are finally other series competing regularly with the Big 3 (excluding One Piece, that is a whole other story altogethor). I think it is conclusive that another Big 3 won’t be coming any time soon, nor should it. With such great series hanging with the big boys, there no longer is any classifications, theres no real Big 3 anymore, just a bunch of great anime series duking it out side by side.
With that, I conclude Anime Focus #3. What are you thoughts on the potential of another Big 3? Do you agree or disagree with me? Leave a comment below letting us know what you think.
Q-Games series of Pixel Junk games have been praised by gamers and critics alike. One of their new games, PixelJunk Sidescroller, was shown off at Gamescom with a trailer and some brand new screenshots. In the trailer below, it appears that this game will feature a mix of old style shoot ’em 2D action with puzzle elements. Featuring lots of bright colors and vivid enviornments, it certainly appears that this developer will have another hit on their hands soon. PixelJunk Sidescroller releases in Quarter 3 of this year for the Playstation 3. We can’t wait to try it out. How about you? Are you a fan of the PixelJunks?
Words can not describe how thoroughly sickening, weird and plain awesome this latest Street Fighter X Tekken video is. Something about the combination of a creepy, giant Lego head in the background of the fight scenes, and a bear farting on an opponent as a finishing move has us entirely entranced. It is a little disturbing.
Take a look at the video below and let us know your thoughts on it. We just want it in our hands right now though because, quite frankly, Bear Farts = WIN! Capcom has certainly outdone themselves on this one. Street Fighter X Tekken launches in March of 2012 for Vita, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Harmonix is aiming to improve Dance Central 2 in just about every way. First off, this game will feature playlists so you won’t have to stop dancing just to select another song. Up to 20 songs can be added in a playlist, and you can skip songs you don’t like if need be.
Next, voice control can used to select any song, whether it comes from your Dance Central 1 import or the Dance Central 2 game.
Finally, the “Break It Down” mode will teach routines to those of us who have trouble following on-screen dancers. Gamers can select different pieces of a song to hone their skills on, slow down the track if they want to see a certain dance move more clearly, or they can skip certain pieces of the track and speed it up too. The Xbox Kinect will also record your moves so you can see your dancing in action later and pinpoint weak spots in your routine.
One of the things that Capcom said would be added to the partially new Dead Rising 2: Off the Record was more combination weapons. Although some of them have been shown off, none of them had been highlighted at any given time. Until now that is.
Earlier today Capcom released two videos, each of them detailing a new combo weapon. The first one you can see below was available during the E3 demo shown off to the press and is called the Lazer Eyes. The Lazer Eyes will be made through a car battery and an alien mask and can shoot either singular beams or a singular arc beam.
The other video is of the Bouncing Beauty which is a new flying explosive weapon that looks to be made with fireworks and a propane tank. Zombie killing explosions never looked so wonderful huh? Something else that can be noticed in these trailers is that apparently the personal “massager” can now be combined to make a weapon. Exactly what weapon that is going to be will probably have to wait until Dead Rising 2: Off the Record comes out on October 11th in North America and October 14th elsewhere.
Good news everyone who enjoys a good romance anime. Amagami SS is going to be getting a second season. Amagami SS aired last year through the Summer and Fall anime seasons and spent 26 episodes following Junichi Tachibana and his romantic exploits. Amagami SS was a breath of fresh air to the romance genre because rather than focus on harem or anything similar to that, the series stayed as normal as possible with the character’s romance.
Also, albeit a little repetitive, each girl was given four or five episodes where Junichi would only focus on them, eventually falling in love with each other and beginning a relationship. After that, the series would start back over at the beginning and focus on another girl’s route. This news is honestly a little surprising as I’m not entirely sure what girls they could focus on now, or if they will make a different approach next season. Currently there is no date given for the beginning of Season 2.
Thrustmaster has announced at Gamescom 2011 that they will be bringing a brand new Italia Racing Wheel to the Xbox 360. Called the Ferrari F458, this slick controller comes with a rubberized grip around its 11″ circumference, metal paddle shifters, Manettino dials and a $180 price tag. It doesn’t get much better.
In addition, the company also announced that they will be bringing a TH8 RS gear shifter to the market for $90. Compatible with the T500 RS and other Thrustmaster USB PC Steering wheels, this shifter will let you adjust nearly everything for the perfect experience. This model is also compatible with the Playstation 3.
Finally the long awaited second half of One Piece has a premiere date. The New World half of One Piece has been announced to begin on October 2nd, 2011.
