In the last 24 hours, The Pokémon Company, the creative minds behind the ever-popular Pokémon series have announced a new mobile game known as ‘Pokémon Go’.
Being produced as a major collaboration between both Nintendo and Niantic, Pokémon Go is expected to find a release on both iOS and Android some time in 2016. It was also confirmed that the game will run on a free-to-play model with some in-app purchases available.
You can watch the full trailer below:
Are you excited to bring your next Pokémon adventure into the real world? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
The much anticipated ‘Steins;Gate 0’ — sequel to the rapidly successful ‘Steins;Gate’ Visual Novel has had another sneak preview of the game revealed, this time, in the form of a TV commercial.
Uploaded today onto the 5pb.Games YouTube Channel, we’re given yet another peak into the world of Steins;Gate 0. With a confirmed release date of November, 11th 2015 on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, there is definitely a lot of excitement surrounding this commercial.
Also alongside the PlayStation 4 release of the game is a free full HD-Remaster of the original Steins;Gate game being dubbed ‘Steins;Gate HD’.
It’s interesting, I never thought the future of Japanese pop would actually be a step 20 years back into the past, but I think that is ultimately the direction Kobe based trackmaker ‘tofubeats’ is taking us; and I’ve been enjoying it every step of the way.
Born and raised in Kobe, Japan, tofubeats (the online moniker of artist Yusuke Kawai) started his career in his early teens spreading his home made, heavily sample influenced hip-hop tracks onto various Japanese message boards. It was through these message boards that Yusuke would eventually go on to meet Tomad, a fellow user who himself was only a year older than Yusuke at the time. Tomad was the owner of a net-label known as Maltine Records which recently celebrated its 10th year anniversary, and it was through this chance encounter that Yusuke would go on to release on Maltine under the moniker ‘DJ Newtown’. His releases included tracks such as ‘it’s too late’, from his 2009 album ‘cutegirl.jpg’ .
Fast-forward to 2012, Yusuke under the tofubeats name has just released his first independent album ‘Lost Decade’; accompanying it, a track known as ‘Suisei’ featuring Onomatopoeia Daijin, which to date has been tofubeats’ most popular track. It was from the popularity of this song that Yusuke was contacted by ‘Warner Music Japan’. With tofubeats about to release his second album through Warner Music, he’s certainly come a long way from his humble net-label beginnings.
‘POSITIVE’, the latest album by tofubeats features a total of 13 tracks in which he is joined by a total of eight guests, including long time friend Okadada. At the time of writing, tofubeats has released three music videos for the tracks on this album ‘POSITIVE’, ‘Suteki na Mason’ and ‘STAKEHOLDER’.
1. DANCE&DANCE
Opening with tofubeats’ pre-set speech at the aforementioned Maltine 10th Anniversary Party, we’re presented with an upbeat positive introduction to the album. Featuring vocals from tofubeats himself, I found myself already moving along to the mesmerising lyrics and entrancing beat, barely even one song into the album.
It was easy to see that this song calls homage to tofubeats’ signature vibes, bringing on this sense of wistful nostalgia whilst entrancing the listener in this feeling of satisfaction. It’s got this fitting sense that the party is just getting turned up, and you’re given the opportunity to sit down and watch it all unfold.
2. POSITIVE
‘POSITIVE’, the title track for this album is a personal favourite of mine; Featuring one of the most notable guests on this album, Dream Ami of girls group E-girls.
In this track, we’re presented with a very in your face, get up and move kind of positivity which radiates perfectly through the charming lyrics. Giving off all the right vibes, it’s easy to see why Yusuke went out of his way to get Dream Ami on this track with him.
3. T.D.M. feat. okadada
Now, it wouldn’t be a tofubeats album without long time friend and companion Okadada making an appearance.
‘T.D.M.’ taken straight from his recently released ‘STAKEHOLDER’ EP, utilises Okadada’s vocals to create a very down to earth, mellow track. A slight slowdown from the prior two tracks; I honestly found its placement as the third track a little confusing. To me, it felt like one of the weaker tracks on the album, but that’s without saying that it is still on its own, a very unique and refreshing piece.
4. Too Many Girls feat. KREVA
Taking the general vibe of tofubeats’ original breakthrough album Lost Decade, ‘Too Many Girls’ finds its place by delivering a powerhouse of verses layered over gloriously rhythmic chorus’.
Regardless as to whether or not the listener understands the lyrics, it’s still easy to find appreciation within the intricacy of the tracks flow. It runs the same for all the songs, however you’ll obviously have that extra level of enjoyment if you do understand.
5. STAKEHOLDER
The title track of tofubeats’ last EP ‘STAKEHOLDER’ is something that I actually found to be very hit and miss with a lot of listeners. It’s simple lyrics and easy to follow beat make it an ideal kick-back track however, which to me is a merit in itself.
6. Throw your laptop on the fire feat. 小室哲哉
“I didn’t realise that early DJ Newtown was making an appearance”
‘Throw your laptop on the fire’ was definitely one of the more abstract tracks on the album — One that I can see many people who aren’t familiar with some of tofubeats’ origins being a little confused about. When listening to this track, I was instantly taken back to the classic sounds of DJ Newtown’s early Maltine releases (one of Yusuke’s other monikers). It’s this hard-hitting, aggressive track that honestly has no place on the album, but boy am I glad it is there.
7. I know you
Taking a complete 180° turn around from the last track, ‘I know you’ is a slowly paced, almost luxurious piece composed of various highs and lows. With no vocals until the concluding end of the song, it could almost be seen as an interlude between the fast paced ‘Throw your laptop on the fire’ and the following piece ‘Without U’.
8. Without U feat. Skylar Spence
Calling on American producer and friend Skylar Spence, tofubeats brings us our first completely English song of the album.
Felt the sting
When you told me that you wouldn’t change a thing
Hurt like hell
I bit my tongue and smiled and I swore I only wished you well
What we’re presented here is an upbeat, fun track with completely polarising lyrics. It’s something unique about this combination, however, that left me humming the lyrics throughout my day, finding joy in a song about the pain of loss.
9. すてきなメゾン feat. 玉城ティナ (Suteki na Mazon feat. Tina Tamashiro)
All the way up there with ‘POSITIVE’, ‘Suteki na Mazon’ (lit. Dreamy House) finds a comfortable spot up top as one of my uncontested favourites of the album. It’s slow dreamy pacing and delicate lyrics leave a sense of homeliness to them, renewing a feeling of ease with the world. Tina Tamashiro really does outdo herself on this one, bringing tofubeats’ work to a whole new level.
10. くりかえしのMUSIC feat. 岸田繁(くるり) (Kurikaeshi no MUSIC feat. Shigeru Kishida)
Perhaps the beginning of the end of the album, ‘Kurikaeshi no MUSIC’ is where things really start to slow down, but not in a bad way. What we’re looking at is almost like the last songs of the night; The aforementioned party that ‘DANCE&DANCE’ kicked off back at the start of the album slowly beginning to come to an end. Everything’s beginning to get a little slower, but it’s in that slowness that you find appreciation for the great night you’ve just had.
11. 閑話休題 (Kanwakyudai)
‘Kanwakyudai’, or in English ‘Let’s get back to the main point’, does exactly what its name implies — It brings us back to reality in a simple 1:37 piece composed of simple note progressions. There really isn’t that much more to it, being used as an interlude to the next track ‘別の人間’.
12. 別の人間 feat. 中納良恵(EGO-WRAPPIN’) (Betsu no Ningen feat. Yoshie Nakano)
By far the most serious track on the entire album; Yusuke has called on EGO-WRAPPIN’ member Yoshie Nakano, a late 90’s Japanese Jazz Band in whom reached commercial acclaim for tracks such as ‘Kuchibashi ni Cherry’, which managed to reach No. 9 on the Oricon charts back in 2002.
What we’re presented sets the stage for a tragic love story, powerful lyrics bolstering over a dramatic composition in which Yoshie Nakano takes center stage.
13. I Believe In You
‘I Believe In You’ is a fast-paced, energetic track placed as the final song to get you moving, back into the positive vibes after the more-so serious track that was ‘Betsu no Ningen’.
Spanning out over 8:12, we’re presented the longest track on the entire album. The lack of vocals places copious amounts of emphasis on the sheer fact that this tracks one purpose is to get you in the groove, ensuring that you leave the party with those gloriously positive vibes that this party entailed.
Conclusion
What we are presented with in ‘POSITIVE’ is so much more than just a 13 track album slapped together for the sake of it. It represents growth in tofubeats’ releases, showing off a mature side of Yusuke not often touch upon in his other compositions. It shows that with growth and development, there is always going to be a slice of positivity to reflect upon. The way I analyse this album, tofubeats is in his most pure and open form — and that’s something in which I can quite quickly come to appreciate. What this album manages to create — it’s all shaping the future of Japanese pop music, taking the scenic stroll through memories lane.
tofubeats – POSITIVE will be available in stores and digitally on the 16th of September, 2015.
Today Sega has revealed the latest entry into the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva series ‘Project Diva X’ via the official website.
Project Diva, a long running PlayStation exclusive series (With the exception of the arcade releases) is finding it’s first next-gen release on the PlayStation 4, as well as a release on the PlayStation Vita. Announced today on Hatsune Miku’s 8th Anniversary, Sega coupled the announcement with a new track — presumably to be featured in the game.
Are you excited about this new addition to the series? I’ve been looking forward to a next-gen Miku title for a while, so this is a welcome addition for me. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with any new details as they emerge.
Ping Pong — At face value, we’re presented with a crude yet uniquely animated sports seinen; but after watching the eleven episode series in its entirety, having such a shallow view of this masterpiece is almost offensive.
With a total of five volumes, Ping Pong was originally a seinen manga series serialised by Big Comic Spirits between the years of 1996 – 1997. In 2002, a live action film was created and in 2014 Tatsunoko Productions produced an anime adaptation directed by Masaaki Yuasa which was to air on Fuji TV.
And here’s your big lesson for the day, Ping Pong is a freakin’ blast!
Ping Pong closely follows the story of two childhood friends Peco and Smile. They maintain polarised personalities, but yet through thick and thin, remain together. The two boys are both pupils at Tamura Ping Pong Dojo which is run by a mysterious old lady who shares a bit of the history with the sport. Peco grew up a champion, competing in meets all across Japan as a grade school student; His unrivalled skills came with almost no effort at all. On the other hand, Smile was always sitting on the back-burner being trained and protected by Peco all his life. It was largely because of this, he developed a hero complex where all he wanted was to see Peco succeed in his aspirations of becoming the best.
This is so much more than just an animation about sports. What we’re presented with is a reminder that growing up isn’t just determined by your age, but rather the experiences that entail your life journey. To portray this, we’re given four characters in which we witness grow and develop throughout the anime’s one year timeline. Smile, Peco, Ryuichi and Kong.
Smile grew up enduring many hardships, often being the victim of various instances of both physical and psychological abuse by those around him. He eventually caved, thus entering this cocoon-like state where he felt he was safe from the world. That was, until Peco came along and showed him that the world does have positives — like ping pong. Peco was quick to hone his skills, but refused to utilise them at the risk of getting in the way of Peco’s goals. Smile’s arc closely follows his journey to overcome this through various challenges that life throws at him.
Peco knows nothing but victory; even from childhood he was taking the top place. It was through these victories, that he managed to find fun in the sport. Peco’s arc finds it’s place after he faces defeat for the first time, which to him is a foreign concept. Peco loses all hope and quits completely from the sport; thus finding himself travelling around his home town trying to find a new purpose in life.
Ryuichi is Japan’s best — raised into a life of ping pong, Ryuichi was the bi-product of his grandfathers dream. Much like Peco, he knows nothing but victory; However, the major difference between the two lies in the fact that he was always crafting his own abilities through rigorous training, unlike Peco who utilised sheer skill and a love for the sport. Ryuichi’s arc closely follows the prominent idea of rekindling a spark for something that lost it’s flame long ago.
Kong, an Ex-Chinese Ping Pong Nationalist who was kicked from the team for reasons unexplained — After initially being flown to Japan to help boost the rankings of a local Japanese school, Kong struggles after the realisation that his environment is only going to bring him down, largely due to the absence of anyone with what he considers to be ample skill. He curses the idea of being stuck in Japan, and he quickly formulates a goal to clear through the Japanese nationals so he can return home with a sense of honour. Kong’s journey, using Ping Pong as a means of discovering his own self value once again; must also lead him to realise the value and potential of those around him.
What Ping Pong is trying to represent through these four characters is the journey to discover ones self value and worth, and in doing so coming out all the more mature. What I witnessed was that this was more-so the focus, whilst utilising ping pong as the catalyst to bring it all these stories together. It was because of all this that we were give something so much more than just another anime about sports; rather, we’re given a unique story with many different ways to watch and enjoy it.
I could honestly recommend this anime to a million and one people, but there’s one polarising issue that always seems to lead them away — the animation style. Now, whilst I argue that it’s the animation style that makes it so unique, giving it a clear indication that it really isn’t your generic ’moe’ anime, a lot of people really do get turned away by it. The way I see it is that Ping Pong maintains an animation style that is true to the manga; Some scenes even making use of multiple panels as if the scenario were to be analysed and read. Personally I really don’t find this to be a fault, however, I won’t go out of my way to argue with you if that’s your reasoning for not watching (though I really do advise you do).
So in conclusion, what we’re presented through Ping Pong to me is four unique stories, with two ways to watch them. Observing it from the top layer, we find a group of four unique individuals working towards their goals of becoming the best ping pong competitors out there. But scratch the surface even a little, and you’ll find yourself following a story about maturity, growth, and self realisation. To me in many ways, Ping Pong is definitely a breath of fresh air in the anime industry, and is most certainly worthy of the title as a near-perfect animation.
If you’re interested in checking out Ping Pong and are currently in Australian or New Zealand, you’ll be able to watch it on Anime Lab free of charge: https://www.animelab.com/shows/ping-pong
Joining us on the stage in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, everyone’s favorite little sister — Nanako Dojima!
After Nanako and her father make the long trip from Inaba to see Yu, Rise and the rest of the team perform at the Love Meets Bonds festival, Nanako is given the once in a lifetime opportunity to practice her dance moves in front of Rise’s manager. It didn’t take much more than that for her talent to truly shine through, just check out this clip below!
Now, it wouldn’t be a Persona game without the Queen of the Velvet Room herself — Margaret!
In Persona 4: Dancing All Night you’ll be able to take control of Margaret as she displays her vogue moves on the dance floor. However, due to the nature of her role in the game, Margaret will limited to use in the ‘Free Play’ game type and must be unlocked through in-game accomplishments. You can check out her character video here:
Persona 4: Dancing All Night will be available in stores on the 29th of September for $49.99 in the America’s and will also be available on the PlayStation Store for the same price. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as more news emerges.
NCSoft’s long awaited English release of the MMO Blade & Soul is finally heading towards Closed Beta as announced today by the team at NCSoft.
We’re excited to announce the availability of Blade & Soul‘s Founder’s Packs! Each Pack includes Closed Beta Access and Head Start.
There are three types of Packs you can buy, with our top tier Pack offering an exclusive Weapon Skin and Costumes amongst other great benefits. Come learn more about what’s in our Packs.
Buy a Founder’s Pack now and get ready for Blade & Soul launch in early 2016.
There are going to be three tiers to this system: Initiate Pack ($24.99), Disciple Pack ($74.99) and the Master Pack ($124.99). With each tier there are going to be various bonuses included, as well as access to all of the Closed Beta sessions being run up until launch in 2016.
Blade & Soul launched in Japan back in May 2014; whilst being in development in the West since 2012. You’ll be able to purchase these packages here.
We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as we learn more about the upcoming title.
Over the weekend I was able to attend my first ever Australian convention: SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show, and as someone born and raised in Australia, I was genuinely surprised.
Growing up in Rural Australia was always something different; I felt like I was surely the only person in my town who enjoyed late nights of anime, or staying up until who knows what hour of the night for that latest single to drop by my favourite Japanese band/artist. My town was known as the beef capital of Australia, we specialised in beef, and beef accessories, there really wasn’t much more to it. I guess it was because of where I grew up that I started to see the whole of Australia like this; so when I got news that I was being flown to Sydney to cover this event, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me had extremely low expectations, having just recently come back from Anime Expo in Los Angeles, I knew that it would surely be impossible for SMASH! to live up to that sort of stature; especially something in little old Australia, right?
The Positive and The Negative:
I woke up Saturday Morning and headed off to the Rosehill Gardens Race Course in the New South Wales capital of Sydney for the first day of Smash!. We managed to pick up our tickets in an absolute breeze and were supplied free on-premise parking which made things extremely convenient. I remember distinctly this odd feeling when seeing my first cosplayer of the day; not only were they cosplaying a character I knew, but it was an incredibly good cosplay too.
Once I finally wrapped my head around the concept that I was in Australia and there were other anime fans, I went into the exhibition hall. The first booth I saw was the Madman Entertainment booth, which for those who don’t know, is the official publisher of anime and manga in Australia (Think of Madman as Australia’s version of Viz Media). It was quite an elaborate setup, offering a collection of their various anime, staff in cosplay, freebies for everyone, and they managed to bring the entire Love Live! School Idol Costume Exhibition along with them which was quite interesting. I spoke to the staff at the Madman booth for a while, discussed some things that I believe we would both like to see come to Australia in the future in regards to the scene, and then I continued walking around. I think the second booth I properly visited was the Culture Japan booth; I didn’t manage to meet Danny Choo whilst at Anime Expo, so I was eager to get to see him this time. I was actually surprised that Culture Japan decided to have a presence at the convention; but unfortunately, that’s pretty much where the big name exposure ended.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the little guy being front and center at a convention like this, but when there is genuinely no exposure from the big names in the industry; Fakku!, J-List, etc. I tend to envision a lot of untapped potential. But at the same time I felt like with the lack of those big names, we’re left the fundamental basis of what an anime convention really is; a gathering of fans to celebrate what it is that they really love.
However, no matter how hard I tried to push it to the side, the absence of big name support was something that made staying for even fourteen hours quite difficult, unless you had managed to completely book out your day with doing various activities, you were going to get bored quite easily (Though maybe that’s just me).
When I first committed to going to Smash!, there was one clear thing that had me hooked from the beginning. ‘Anisong x Smash’ which was something completely unheard of to me, Japanese musicians such as kz Livetune, GARNiDELiA, yanaginagi and ‘DJ Hello Kitty’ performing in Australia? There was no way I was going to miss this in the world. Within the first five minutes of seeing the ad for it, I had already printed out my ‘Platinum Class’ tickets which offered me the full package; Autograph Sessions, ‘Premium Viewing Positions’, No Long Queues, and the list went on. To me, this was a sign of something great to come; such big names performing here, surely they’re going to have to put in their all next year to top it, and from there we’ve got a chain reaction of expansion.
I saw a large mix of people at this event, and that’s what had me the most excited. Long gone is the stereotype of middle-aged men being the only people to find enjoyment in this medium. I think this convention was something that really solidified this in my mind; seeing it as somewhere for like-minded people to go out and enjoy themselves, doing what they love most.
So although I still feel as though the anime and manga scene within my rural Australian town is almost null, I now know that Australia is on the brink of something great; and I very much look forward to taking part of it every step of the way.
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, the upcoming 2D fighting game based on the characters of Dengeki Bunko’s light novels (Sword Art Online, Durarara!, Oreimo, etc.) will be releasing on the 6th of October in North America, South America and Europe. The game will feature both a physical and digital release in North and South America, and a Digital-only release in Europe. It will be priced at $39.99 for the PlayStation 3 version, and $29.99 for the PlayStation Vita version.
Both the North American and South American versions will include a special launch edition which will feature a ‘Bonus Edition Soundtrack CD’ with songs from notable SEGA composers, including Teruhiko Nakagawa, Naofumi Hataya, Kenichi Tokoi, Jun Senoue, and plenty of others. The CD Soundtrack will only be available for retail pre-orders and a limited number of launch copies. Unfortunately for our European friends, the release will be digital only.
For those of you that haven’t seen the official launch trailer yet, it’s available here:
Having played Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax in both arcades, and on the PlayStation Vita with the Japanese release; I can vouch that whilst it’s a simple fighter which probably won’t ever be seen making its way into the competitive scene, it’s still a fun niche game for fans of both the anime/manga and fighting game genres respectively.
You can expect a Western Release on the 6th of October and we hope to have a full review out to accompany it.
Oyasumi Punpun, a 13 volume, 147 chapter story follows the life of Onodera Punpun, a character metaphorically depicted as a small bird in a human world. Oyasumi Punpun has been renowned by fans for its striking detail to scenery which is clearly shown on every page; the gritty progression throughout the story and emotional attachment it leaves with the reader is something that doesn’t come along too often in such a short manga series.
Oyasumi Punpun covers a wide range of topics pertaining to the real world in a very cryptic manner, making each re-read all the more interesting than the last. An official date has not been announced for 2016, but this is a series I strongly recommend to anyone looking for a bit more of an abstract read.
We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as any more news is announced.
Akiba Weekly 