SGCafe Anime, Manga, Cosplay, J-Pop News: March 2014

Monday, 31 March 2014

7 new anime titles to watch out for this Spring 2014 anime season

In Japan, the cherry blossoms have already bloomed, signalling the start of Spring, and with the 2014 Spring anime season only a few days away, we present to you seven new anime to watch out for this coming season. Now take note, these are seven new anime so we have excluded the anime which are returning for another season or having a new series like Dragon Ball Z Kai, Fairy Tail, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Love Live! and Date A Live.

The Irregular at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei)

Let’s begin things with perhaps the most hyped anime this season. The anime still hasn’t even been aired yet and fans, not only in Japan, have already touted this series to be this year’s Sword Art Online or Attack on Titan. Many anime fans have been jumping on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei hype train ever since the anime adaptation was first announced and from the looks of things, that train is hard to stop as it takes the #1 spot in Charapedia’s most highly anticipated Spring 2014 anime beating out big names like Jojo, Love Live! and Fairy Tail.

The anime is based on Tsutomu Satou’s hit Dengeki Bunko light novel series. It is set in a world where magic exists and follows siblings Tatsuya Shiba and Miyuki Shiba who enroll at the Private Magic University Affiliated High School where students are ranked by their test scores.

Knights of Sidonia

This SciFi mecha anime is based on Tsutomu Nihei’s futuristic manga where it follows humanity’s fight for survival against gigantic shape shifting aliens known as Gauna. Humanity has now left the Earth on board gigantic space ships like the Sidonia where human culture like human cloning, asexual reproduction, human engineering such as controlled hybrid human/animal mutations and human photosynthesis are considered the norm. The series follows Nagate Tanikaze, a human who has not gone through any modifications at all.

Mekaku City Actors

Based on the popular vocaloid song series, Kagerou Project, which has amassed over 3 million views in the Japanese video streaming website Niconico. This anime follows a special group of teenagers known as the Makaku-dan who have developed special eye-based powers. Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo (Monogatari Series, Nisekoi) and produced by Shaft, expect plenty of character developments, interesting relationships a good story and a whole lot of head tilting.

Black Bullet

The year is 2021 and humanity has been decimated by a viral epidemic known as Gastrea. They are forced to live in Monoliths made of varanium, a metal which can subdue Gastrea. Black Bullet promises to be action-packed and full of suspense as it follows Rentarou Satomi, a high school student who is also a Promoter in Tendou Civil Security. Along with his initiator, Enju Aihara, they receive a mission to prevent the destruction of Tokyo.

Hitsugi no Chaika

This upcoming Spring anime promises a lot of things which are loved by anime fans like action, suspense, great characters and a silver-haired loli main character armed with a massive sniper rifle. The story follows Acura Toru, a very lazy guy who is forced to go on an errand by his sister, Akari. He then runs into Chaika, a mysterious silver-haired girl carrying a coffin. They are then attacked by a monster, adventure ensues.

No Game, No Life

This fantasy anime follows shut-in siblings, Sora and Shiro, who have gained quite a reputation because of their gaming skills. Both of them hate real life and consider it as “One Crappy Game”. However, one day, they are sent into another world to become “Saviors of Humanity” and must use their gaming know-how to guide the humans into victory against the other races. This Megahouse anime promises plenty of lovable characters, a beautiful fantasy setting and great artwork which may blow you away.

Soul Eater Not!

OK, Soul Eater Evans, Maka Albarn, Black Star, Tsubaki, Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters may not have the starring role in this one, but expect plenty of the things which made you love Soul Eater appear in the anime like its beautiful action, lovable characters and plenty of laughs. The series follows freshman weapon Tsugumi Harudori and her two meister friends, Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn as they try to learn to control their powers in order to overcome their difficulties to have a normal life.

So there you have, that’s our list for anime to watch out for this 2014. What other anime do you think should be included?

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7 new anime titles to watch out for this Spring 2014 anime season

[New Figure] Good Smile Company shows off their 1/1 Scale Bath Time Collection: Swimsuit Girl

Good Smile Company is known for their quality figures, however, their latest one takes realism to a whole new level as they take on the massive 1/1 scale figures.

This new figure is part of their Bath Time Collection figure line and is 100% articulated. The great thing about this new figure is you don’t get to see any of the joints which you usually see in articulated figures at all! It’s as if this figure is real! This will also be the first Bath Time Collection figure which will be fully articulated.

This figure is fully painted and is a real work of art as she comes with not just one or two facial expressions, but a whole lot more. She also possesses very realistic hair, you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference! According to Watanuki-shi of the planning team, they have put much effort in sculpting and painting the figure. He said that the sculptors of GSC have truly researched real girls for days to make this figure as faithful to them as possible.

Like all Bath Time Collection figures, she also floats! How did they make her so buoyant? It seems like it’s a trade secret after all.

She can now be pre-ordered via Goodsmile.info. No word as to when she will be released or how much she costs.

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Oh, and Happy April Fool’s Day everyone!

Source: Kahotan

[New Figure] Good Smile Company shows off their 1/1 Scale Bath Time Collection: Swimsuit Girl

Kamen Rider online voting tops AKB General elections in number of votes as Heisei Riders ride to victory

The voting is done and dust has finally settled, and by a very narrow margin of 0.027% of votes, the winner has finally been decided as the newer and younger Heisei Riders triumphed over their more classic Showa Riders in the Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider War feat. Super Sentai movie.

The Heisei Riders got a total of 1,387,041 votes while their Showa counterparts got 1,386,281 votes for a difference of only 760 total votes. Now that is a close one. The online voting yielded a total of 2,773,322 votes which is surprisingly more than last year’s 5th AKB General Elections which yielded 2,646,847 votes. The online voting decided the outcome of the movie, meaning that it’s the Heisei Riders who won.

During the movie’s premiere in Shinjuku Wald 9 last March 29, 2014, some of the Riders were present to enjoy their movie along with the fans. Heisei Riders Masahiro Inoue (Kamen Rider Decade), Kento Handa (Kamen Rider Faiz), Gaku Sano (Kamen Rider Gaim), Yutaka Kobayashi (Kamen Rider Baron), Shunya Shiraishi (Kamen Rider Wizard) and Showa Riders Ryo Hayami (Kamen Rider X) and Shun Sugata (Kamen Rider ZX) along with director takayuki Shibasaki and new Kamen Rider Itao Itsuji (Kamen Rider 15) posed for a picture to announce the winners of the movie and the voting.

Hiroshi Fujioka, who finally transformed into Kamen Rider 1 after 38 years later said that “Heisei Won? The young people are certainly the future and it looks bright.” He also added that he felt special when doing a henshin for the first time in years.

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Source: Eiga.com

Kamen Rider online voting tops AKB General elections in number of votes as Heisei Riders ride to victory

Play on the Zeon side with the latest PV from the Zeonic Front of Mobile Suit Gundam: Side Stories

Bandai Namco is remaking Zeonic Front for their Mobile Suit Gundam: Side Stories collection and surely enough, you will be fighting for the glory of all spacenoids! Sieg Zeon!

The game will be following the Midnight Fenrir Team which will be deployed for advance reconnaissance, surprise attacks, and blitzkriegs in Earth. You can totally use those Zaku II’s and DOMs to punish those whose souls have been tainted by Earth’s gravity and beat the hell out of the Feddies.

Zeonic Front allows you to use a team of three mobile suits at your disposal for both space and ground battles.

The collection will include other “Side Stories” like Missing Link, The Blue Destiny, Rise from the Ashes, and Lost War Chronicles. It will be released on May 29, 2014 for the PlayStation 3. Sieg Zeon!

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Source: Bandai Namco

Play on the Zeon side with the latest PV from the Zeonic Front of Mobile Suit Gundam: Side Stories

The Fourth Kazekage takes center stage in the latest Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution PV [Video]

After the release of the gameplay videos for the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage, it’s now time for Gaara’s old man to be introduced as the latest Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution PV introduces us to the Fourth Kazekage.

Fans have been asking for the four Edo Tensei Kages to be playable in the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm series and Bandai Namco has certainly heard their requests. This will be the third Edo Tensei Kage video and it shows the Fourth Kazekage using his Golden Sand attacks to beat the hell out of Naruto.

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution is scheduled for worldwide release in 2014 and it will be available for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. It will contain team jutsus and over 100 playable characters including the newly announced Edo Tensei Kages as well as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Might Guy, Hinata, Kiba, Gaara, Shikamaru and more. There will even be a game-exclusive mecha Naruto! No exact release date has been confirmed yet.

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Source: Bandai Namco

The Fourth Kazekage takes center stage in the latest Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution PV [Video]

Kirito gets some sweet time with Klein as Eir Aoi tries her hand in Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment [videos]

Move over girls, it’s finally Klein’s time to shine and there is nothing you can do about it. From the looks of things, there is a whole lot going on than your usual Bromance as new Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment screenshots of Kirito and Klein have been released and it features “Kirito-kun” having some time with Klein in bed and even giving him the “Princess Carry”. Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

This all started out with a simple question asked by J-pop sensation Eir Aoi – “Can I go on a date with a guy?”, and apparently you can! All you need to do is max out your friendship stats with Klein and you can do all these things with him. Well, one thing’s for sure, fujoshis (yaoi fan girls) will be going wild. Aoi’s look says it all.

This was all revealed when the Japanese pop star responsible for singing Sword Art Online Extra Edition’s theme song decided to play the game. Looks like she had loads of fun too as Bandai Namco’s Futami Takakai showed her around the world of Aincrad. Yes folks, from the looks of things, this ain’t no April Fool’s joke.

Eir Aoi played as Kirito and really enjoyed herself. She was battling monsters and bosses like the legendary Skull Reaper which killed a lot of people in Aincrad. She even tried customizing Kirito’s looks as well as going on dates with new heroine Filia, Silica, Leafa, Yui and of course, Klein. The videos are split into three parts:

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment will be released on April 24, 2014 for the PS Vita.

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Source: Dengeki Online

Kirito gets some sweet time with Klein as Eir Aoi tries her hand in Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment [videos]

Sunday, 30 March 2014

"God Eater Visual Gallery" opens in Asagaya Anime Street

Original artworks, figures and merchandise from the hit video game series, God Eater, were on display over at the Asagaya Anime Street in Tokyo where Bandai Namco has set up the God Eater visual gallery which celebrates the popular game franchise.

God Eater producer Yusuke Tomizawa, series director Kou Yoshimura, God Eater 2 action director Yuichi Yodo, God Eater 2 game designer Yuuta Yamamoto and Kanon Daiba’s voice actress Ryou Hirohashi were all present and talked about the upcoming ver. 1.4 for the PS Vita version of God Eater 2 which will improve NPC and player durability parameters and add a new survival mission as well as add a new element of growth in NPCs.

The panel also exhibited various God Eater merchandise from figures from Plum, Good Smile Company and Alpha Max to dakimakuras or body pillows.

Director Yoshimura also presented a God Eater 2 visual Artbook

Various original artworks featuring the Aragamis and character profiles from the God Eater series were also on display along with figures of Alisa and Kanon.