In anticipation of the coming 8th Seiyuu Awards, the most prestigious award in Japanese Voice Acting, to be given out on 1 March 2014, we are bringing you a series of articles featuring last year’s winners.

In this first installment, we will introduce you to the winners of 2013’s Best Actor and Best Actress award.

Winners of Best Actor/Actress at last year’s awards ceremony

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2013 Seiyuu Awards – Best Actor, Yuuki Kaji

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Kaji began his seiyuu journey at the age of 18, when he qualified as a finalist in “VS Audition 2003”, a competition for young aspiring voice actors. He enrolled in a narration school (Nihon Narration Engi-Kenkyuu-jo) under a scholarship from seiyuu management company Artsvision. He scored his first lead role in 2007 and rapidly gained recognition from then.

Not your typical shounen, his unique voice quality has him being exceptionally good at young, adolescent boys. Fans probably first noticed him as Finian in Kuroshitsuji, whose high-pitched squeals had them gender-confused on multiple occasions. He later won the Best Male Newcomer Award at the 3rd Seiyuu Awards in 2009, together with Okamoto Nobuhiko.

Following his win, he continued to shine in big-name anime series such as Fairy Tail and Durarara!!. His big break came in 2011, when he played lead roles in Guilty Crown, No. 6 and Ro-kyu-bu!. He continued to land leading roles in Aquarion Evol, Accel World and Magi, eventually winning Best Actor in the 7th Seiyuu Awards in 2013.

Despite taking on typical shounen roles in anime, he is best known for his little brother-niche in otome game titles including Moujuutsukai to Ouji-sama, Brothers Conflict, and Diabolik Lovers. From his role as Shion in No.6 to Kanato in Diabolik Lovers, he may have just perfected a new niche; the innocent-turned-yandere/psycho. He is also a recent favourite in the Final Fantasy series, where he plays Hope Estheim in FFXIII and Ace in Final Fantasy Type-0.

Aside from his seiyuu roles, he has had two singles released under his name. He is part of the seiyuu unit “BRAVE WING” with Yonaga Tsubasa, and G.Addict with Terashima Takuma, Abe Atsushi and Horie Kazuma. Adored by his seniors, he is playfully dubbed “Kaji-kyun”, “Kajibaba” (for playing Alibaba in Magi) and “Yuu-tan” by both friends and fans.

For those unfamiliar with Kaji, you would have heard him as Eren Jaeger (Shingeki no Kyojin). This season, he plays adorable Yukine in Noragami and Hideyoshi in Nobunaga the Fool. You can also catch him in leading roles in upcoming series Kamigami no Asobi, Black Bullet and Donten ni Warau.

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 2013 Seiyuu awards – Best Actress, Kana Asumi 

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Asumi’s interest in seiyuu work first began during her elementary and middle school days, after listening to seiyuu radio programmes in high school, she auditioned for and joined a Fukuoka local girl group for aspiring female seiyuus, “Ko-ume Five”. She later enrolled in a short college course, obtaining a qualification in kindergarten teaching and childcare. After gaining work experience for a year, she quit her job to become a seiyuu.

In 2005, she passed the audition for a role in game “Crossworld ~Mishiranu Sora no Etatia~“, also forming seiyuu unit CW/3 with fellow cast members Iguchi Yuka and Tokunaga Ai. She landed her anime debut and first leading role in 2007 anime Hidamari Sketch. Subsequently, she won the Best Female Newcomer Award at the 3rd Seiyuu Awards in 2009, together with Tomatsu Haruka.

She gradually gained popularity and made her big break in 2010-2011 as well, landing main roles in Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and WORKING!!. She continued to play main roles before winning Best Actress in the 7th Seiyuu Awards. In the same year, she also won the Singing Award as part of seiyuu unit “Ushiro kara Haiyori-tai” from Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, together with Matsuki Miyu and Ootsubo Yuka. She was part of seiyuu unit LISP from 2010-2011.

Following her win, she continues to voice characters in more recent series DEVIL SURVIVOR 2, Machine Doll wa Kizutsukanai and Non non Biyori. She has received praise for her soothing and gentle voice. Casually dubbed “Asumin” by her fans, Asumi is also close friends with Iguchi Yuka, and often mentions Iguchi in her radio shows.

This season, you can catch her as Tachibana Marika in romcom Nisekoi and Hio Touko in Witch Craft Works. Look forward to her roles in upcoming series Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara and Mekaku City Actors.

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Look forward to our next installment!
Coming next: 2013′s Best Supporting Actor/Actress 

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Image credit © ボイスニュータイプ ．別冊 spoon.2Di．
Images taken from Voice Newtype Issue 47 : 7th Seiyuu Awards feature article and 別冊 spoon.2Di Vol.48: Noragami feature article (Available at local Kinokuniya stores)

The post [SEIYUU] A Look At Seiyuu Awards: 2013′s Best Actor/Actress appeared first on AFA Channel!.

The Japanese princess of Kawaii-ness, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, yesterday release her latest song, “Yume no Hajimarin Rin“. A Graduation song, made for the season of separations and new beginnings, something that many third year high school students will relate too, thus a very viable season for releasing soppy tunes in Japan.

But somehow, Kyary’s new tune is kinda different, it has that mix of melancholy somewhere within the generally happy sounding music and super colourful Promotional Video. And unlike previous , this actually have somewhat meaningful lyrics, even Kyary herself admits it to being more realistic that her other songs. The effect on me is such that I’m subconsciously looping it. It tells the story of Kyary through her various stages of development, represented by a “short” Kyary at the beginning and the various costumes of previous PVs of her songs, with each portion ending with a happy wave of goodbye and then with a tear of, I don’t know, maybe a tint of regret?

Well it’s different and so much so that fans are confused that this would be her last song, or she is retiring, but that is simply not true. For those whom have seen her tweet about the new song, her retiring is unthinkable, this is especially with the upcoming 2nd leg of her World Tour in Asia.

Fact is  though, ”Yume no Hajimarin Rin” is her first song that made any senses and she might do a lot better going down this path for her future music release, afterall she can sing.

2/26発売の新曲「ゆめのはじまりんりん」のMVが公開されました！卒業がテーマのこの曲では、白熊のお父さんに見守られなから成長していく私が描かれています。涙涙涙。きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ – ゆめのはじまりんりん http://t.co/5eIl7IreuB

— きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ (@pamyurin) February 20, 2014

“New Song Release on 26 Feb, The MV for “Yume no Hajimarin Rin” is up for public viewing! It’s a graduation song, and the Polar bear is depicted as the Father that watched over my growth. (tears). Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Yume no Hajimarin Rin.”

 《Release Information》

■Kyary Pamyu Pamyu 8th single “Yume no Hajimarinrin”
Release Date: Wednesday, February 26th, 2014
Price: First press limited edition (CD + DVD) ￥1,500 (tax included), Regular edition (CD) ￥1,200 (tax included)

【Track list】
1. Yume no Hajimarinrin (CHINTAI TV commercial)
2. Slomo (ALOOK TV commercial)
3. Mottai Night Land –extended mix-
4. Yume no Hajimarinrin –instrumental-
5. Slomo –instrumental-

【DVD】*For first press limited edition only
1. Ninjari Bang Bang choreography video by KPP dancers

 《KYARY PAMYU PAMYU NANDA COLLECTION WORLD TOUR in SINGAPORE 2014!》

Location: Star Theatre, Singapore
Date: 21.06.2014 (SAT)
Ticket: TBA
Official Site: http://www.japanmusicfestival.asia/kpp

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Official Website
http://kyary.asobisystem.com/

The post [JMUSIC] Yume no Hajimarin Rin – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu appeared first on AFA Channel!.

In the third and final episode of HELLO! Tokyo, a special live program by Hello! Japan channel, the team will be bringing the sights and sound of Tokyo live from the world famous Asakusa temple, well sort of, from the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center.

Hosting it from Japan will be Ferlyn Yoshimi and  Freddy, and by Benedict in Singapore, the show aims to introduce viewers to the wonder of Tokyo, Japan! Danny Choo will also be presenting certain surprises in the show, so do catch the interesting 2 hour long live program on Sunday.
And since it’s a live broadcast from both locations, there is no telling what kind of fun will happen, so looking forward to it!

Ganba Ferlyn!! 1 last episode to go!
Yes, this will be the last of the 3 planned episodes. So do enjoy it!

Hello! TOKYO

On Sundays 9th Feb, 16 Feb & 23 Feb. 4-6PM (SGT).
It will be on StarHub TV Ch 149, Hello Japan!

Find out more on Hello! Tokyo’s program site: http://www.hellojapantv.com/programmes/about-the-show/128

The post [TV] Hello! Tokyo episode 3 feat. ASAKUSA appeared first on AFA Channel!.

In conjunction with her 25th birthday falling on the 25th this month, seiyuu Kana Hanazawa is releasing a super maxi album containing a total of (of course!) 25 tracks, including both old and new compositions!

Hanazawa Kana ©SonyMusic

If you liked her previous album claire, do make sure to check this one out, since it features the same stellar writing crew as claire. The limited first press edition will also include a Blu-ray DVD containing a special making-of “road movie”, a 32-page booklet, and a 50-page premium photobook. Fans of Kana-chan, don’t miss this!!

She released her debut single Hoshizora☆Destination (星空☆ディスティネーション) in 2012, reaching seventh on the Oricon Weekly rankings. Other memorable singles include Hatsukoi no Oto (初恋ノオト), and happy endings. happy endings also served as the ending theme for anime Blast of Tempest (絶園のテンペスト Zetsuen no Tempest), in which she also starred as Aika. Her first album claire was released last year, to great response. She had her first solo ‘live’ concert at the NHK Osaka Hall and the Shibuya Public Hall in March 2013.

[25] Regular Edition ©SonyMusic

 Kana Hanazawa is easily one of the most prolific female seiyuus of her generation. A casting favourite for all genres of anime, from shoujo to shounen, even outright commercial to avant garde, most seiyuu fans will be very familiar with her. Her incredibly long list characters include Tenshi from Angel Beats!, Kobato from Kobato, Tsunemori Akane from PSYCHO-PASS. Regular attendees of Anime Festival Asia Singapore (AFASG) would have seen her in action when she was invited as the very first seiyuu guest to our sunny shores!

Release date: 26 February 2014

[25] First Press Limited Edition ©SonyMusic

[25] Limited Edition ©SonyMusic

Born on 25 February 1989, Tokyo native. Actress with Office Osawa. Also part of seiyuu vocal unit RO-KYU-BU!
Notable roles: Kurashita Tsukimi (Kuragehime), Sonohara Anri (Durarara!!), Ruri Goko (Oreimo)

The post [SEIYUU] Kana Hanazawa Album [25] for her 25th appeared first on AFA Channel!.

Rock out with historical figures and raise a rocking revolution in feudal Japan! Brought to you by MarvelousAQL Inc, Bakumatsu Rock is an upcoming game that combines the rhythm game elements of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva with the “idol” elements of Uta no Prince-sama, set against the historical backdrop of Bakumatsu, the late Tokugawa shogunate era. This new visual-novel-rhythm game is loosely based off Japanese history, featuring notable historical figures such as Sakamoto Ryouma as the lead character. The modern twist: these warriors fight for power by becoming the best rockers. Rock rules!

Story:
Under the rule of the Shogunate, the Shinsengumi serve as “top idols”, to control and rule the country using “Heaven’s song”. In an era when singing any song other than “Heaven’s song” warrants death, the Rockers fight for freedom, raising a revolution with the power of “Rock”.

Main characters: (from left to right) Katsura Kogorou, Takasugi Shinsaku, Sakamoto Ryouma, Hijikata Toshizou, Okita Souji

Characters:
Sakamoto Ryouma (CV: Kishou Taniyama)
He loves singing and sings from his heart with natural talent and passion. Striving for his songs to be recognised, he strives towards the auditions held by the “Bakufu” (government). Game for any challenge. his forward-looking attitude instills courage and hope in others. His super-positive attitude gets him through any situation.

Takasugi Shinsaku (CV:  Tatsuhisa Suzuki)
A rocker involved in the anti-Shogunate movement. A student of Yoshida Shouin, he conducts guerilla live performances in an aim to spread the “Rock” he learnt to rise against the Bakufu. Believes that true Rock does not need to be overly fired-up. Has an obsession for extremely spicy food.

Katsura Kogorou (CV: Shoutarou Morikubo)
A rocker involved in the anti-Shogunate movement. Also a student of Yoshida Shouin, he is Takasugi’s senpai. Born in a respectable family, Rock was driven into him from a young age. Close friends with Takasugi, whom he had known since childhood. A musical score maniac, he has a large collection of musical scores. He excels in Western studies and has invented many things, including small amplifiers and speakers.

HijikataToshizou (CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki)
Vice-head of the “Shinsengumi”, the top idols placed in charge of spreading “Heavens Song” throughout the country by the Bakufu. Upkeeps a calm appearance and does not show much emotion. Gives his all for those he pledge loyalty to, but cold and reserved to everyone else. Highly popular among his fans for his cool demeanour. Has strong respect for Kondo for certain reasons.

Okita Souji (CV: Kenshou Ono)
Selected from the Bakufu’s auditions, the centre-top of the inaugural batch of the Shinsengumi. The best of the Shinsengumi, and also the most popular. Together with Hijikata, they are known as the Shinsengumi’s W Star. Generally indifferent to people he doesn’t care about. He appears friendly to his fans, but only on the surface.

Gameplay shots

Game system:
1. Watch – The “Adventure” and “Rhythm game” modes are both illustrated as a manga-style visual novel. Experience and enjoy the plot through these illustrations!

Adventure Mode gameplay:

2. Feel the heat – Stand your ground with the power of ROCK! Express your passion from the “Adventure” mode through a “Visual Live” (rhythm game). Choose from 3 modes of difficulty to fit your ability.

Rhythm Mode gameplay:

3. Aim – Earn more fans based on your game choices in Adventure Mode and your “Visual Live” results. The number of fans will determine the ending!

4. Reward – Unlock bonus character scenarios and skits as your fans increase! Get a closer glimpse into the private lives of the characters.

Music track previews available on the official game website are released one track each time, with each preview lasting only a week. Songs sung by individual characters as well as group songs have been made available starting December last year. Check them out here!

Extras:
Promotional videos of the individual characters and interviews with the main cast are also available here. Each video features a short preview of a character song of the featured character, as well as some gameplay.

Sample character PV: Sakamoto Ryouma

Featured song: 「What’s this? Sakamoto Ryouma ver.」Sakamoto Ryouma（CV: Taniyama Kishou）

The interview videos feature each of the main cast giving short introductions of their respective characters and discussing their thoughts on the game.

Sample interview video: Kishou Taniyama (as Sakamoto Ryouma)

Seiyuu trivia:
For a game centred on ROCK music, the cast was certainly carefully selected based on their “ROCK” backgrounds.

Kishou Taniyama (as Sakamoto Ryouma) is also known as KISHOW, one-half of rock band GRANRODEO. As the vocalist/lyricist of the two-man band, his powerful vocals give life to lively, motivational melodies and strong rock ballads composed by guitarist/composer E-zuka. Recent releases include Hengen Jizai no Magical Star, the opening theme of basketball anime Kuroko no Basuke.

Tatsuhisa Suzuki (as Takasugi Shinsaku) is the vocalist of rock band OLDCODEX, performing songs with influences from British-rock. With lyricist/painter YORKE and other band members, they have performed theme songs for anime series Arata Kangatari, Free! and Kuroko no Basuke. They have an upcoming album titled “A Silent, within The Roar” slated for release in this coming April.

Shoutarou Morikubo (as Katsura Kougorou) has released music since 2001, and re-debuted under music label Lantis in 2008. Since then, he has been hosting and performing rock tunes at the Lantis annual concert Original Entertainment Paradise “Orepara”, and has an impressive list of personal and character song releases under his name.

Toshiyuki  Morikawa (as Hijikata Toshizou) has been part of two-person anisong unit “2HEARTS” and is also the vocalist of rock band BLACK VELVET. Recently, he has been less active in music as he is busy heading seiyuu management agency, AXLONE, which he founded in 2011.

Kenshou Ono (as Okita Souji) debuted under music label Lantis just this year. With his clean vocals, he has shown to be equally adept at tackling both slow ballads and rock tunes. His debut single “FANTASTIC TUNE”, is the newest ending theme song for the ongoing series of Kuroko no Basuke and will be released on the 26th of this month.

Details:
Title: Bakumatsu Rock (幕末Rock)
Platform: PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)
No. of player: 1
Date of release: 27th Feb 2014 (Thu)
Price: ￥5,800 (without tax); Download: ￥5,238(without tax)
Rating: CERO B（Ages12 and up）

At the Bakumatsu Rock Nico Nama aired on 1st Feb (Sat), it was announced that there would be about 7 songs per character, so do look forward to more previews and music releases to come! There will also be a special Bakumatsu Rock stage event at ANIME JAPAN 2014, at 13:00 on 23rd March, at the GREEN stage. The programme includes a talk show featuring guest seiyuus Kishou Taniyama, Shoutarou Morikubo and Toshiyuki Morikawa.

Image and content credit ©2014 MarvelousAQL Inc.

The post [GAME] Rock a revolution with Bakumatsu Rock! appeared first on AFA Channel!.

A new teaser for the final episode of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn was streamed on Gundam.info on 22 February 2014 along with the key visual on the Gundam Unicorn official website. The last we saw Banagher and crew, the Nahel Argama were forced in co-operating with the Sleeves in mutual benefit to avoid the onslaught of the Vist Foundation. Aboard the Nahel Argama, the final coordinates of Laplace’s Box was revealed and tensions were getting high. In the end, both parties decided to split off and head towards Industrial 7.

This latest teaser features a recap of the Second Coming of Char, Full Frontal. We also finally get a sneak peek of Full Frontal’s newest mobile armor, the NZ-999 Neo Zeong!

As you can see, the Neo Zeong is a 116m tall hulking monster of a mecha with the Sinanju as it’s core. It has design aesthetics similar to that of older Zeon mobile armors like the Alpha Azieru and of course, the original Zeong which I really liked alot! However, I would think the Neo Zeong would have looked even better if it had the ornate Sleeves design, but it is reasonable seeing that Full Frontal is probably in a rush in the finale. I also noticed that the design number “NZ-999” feels like a contrast to the Unicorn’s “RX-0” as if it was the final battle of the Alpha and Omega, one last swansong to send off the early Universal Century era!

I have really high hopes for episode 7 of Gundam Unicorn and from what we’ve seen so far it doesn’t seem to disappoint, and I’m sure you guys are just as excited as I am! Now if only Bandai would announce a Gunpla version of the Neo Zeong now!

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Episode 7: Over the Rainbow is scheduled for release on 17 May 2014.

The post [ANIME] Gundam UC Episode 7 2nd Teaser! appeared first on AFA Channel!.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a DJ event thanks to my good friend  Bennosuke.

The event aptly dubbed “Kyonyu Night” [ Kyonyu literally translates to "Big Boobs" ] was held at Yakushu Bar. At this point you should know the meaning of our N(exactly)SFW tag, nope, there is no nudity here. So if you are not comfortable with it, leave.

And so, on the evening of 25 January 2014, I found myself on my way to Koenji to attend the event.

The event featured music from talented Djs such as DJ Miria, Satoi, Nonoko, DJ Underwear who made the evening truly enjoyable with some great dubstep, trap and Ani Music.

That being said, the event did have some more surprises. The focus of the night, in addition to the music was the wholesome bosoms of the performing DJs. The event was organised by 26-year-old IT Employee, Senji. I asked Senji why he had thought of organising this event and he promptly responded by saying, “To make friends with the DJs and to have fun with the guests.”

There was a lot of variety to the music with the DJs  pumping out a good mix of Dubstep, Trap And R&B.

Nerima no Wakabayashi 練馬の若林

I was surprised to find out that DJ Nonoko was a pro wrestler and also had a dab hand at producing Ani Music.

DJ Nonoko ~

I managed to speak with Satoi who was worked both as a DJ and a model on her thoughts on the event.
She responded by saying that she had a lot of fun at the event and that it was a great way to meet new people and get to know one another.

Satoi

DJ Underwear’s performance included high octane music that pumped up the crowd.

DJ Underwear

Most of the night was spent enjoying music, getting a few drinks and socializing. The guests were nice so as not to get too “Handsy” with the DJs ^^;.
The event did get pretty wild at a certain point but it was all good fun ^^;

Going a bit too wild~

DJ Pesoki and Senji

The night ended with a lovely performance by Pai Pai Deka Pi!

And so, the night drew to a close and the DJs as well the attendees slowly took their leave. Everyone seemed tired but we all had fun nonetheless!
If you are in Tokyo and there happens to be another “Kyonyu Night” do remember to drop by!

The post [Event-JP] Kyonyu Night – *N(exactly)SFW* appeared first on AFA Channel!.

Livetune‘s YouTube page just released the opening song and an animation short for the Project DIVA F 2nd game that’s coming out soon! Have a look!

“DECORATOR” will be included on a mini album, DECORATOR EP, and will ship on 5 March in Japan for 1500-yen (US$15) plus tax and the limited edition version at 2500-yen (US$24) with tax. The limited edition will also include a DVD featuring music clips for “DECORATOR” and “Pink and Black” the game version of “DECORATOR“, and the Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- F 2nd opening sequence.

Sega previously announced that there has been a delay for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 release of the game ,from 6 March to 27 March. Sega explained that the delay was due to the implementations for some improvements to the quality of the game. Better a delayed but good release than a half-baked launch, right?

Let us know in the comments, how you feel about this release! Also, check out our earlier report for more information.

Source: [YouTube][SEGA]

The post [MIKU] Project DIVA F 2nd Opening Is Out! appeared first on AFA Channel!.

From the world of Sword Art Online, comes a very special nendoroid! This nendoroid is of Asuna in her Titania form along with the bird cage that trapped her up in the World Tree, as seen in the Alfhiem Online Arc of the Sword Art Online Series.

This Nendoroid comes with three different expression: Her standard expression, a joyful expression for when she was reunited with Kirito and Yui , and also a pained expression for when she was still tied up in her cage.

This package includes special parts to recreate the vines that tie her to the cage. It come even with a device on the top of the cage, allowing you to hang the it up with a string, almost anywhere you like. Just like a real bird cage!

Sadly though, this amazing nendoroid will not be available through standards means, as it is a special event item, onsale only at the upcoming Anime Japan 2014 event, to be held on the 22nd and the 23rd of March at the Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba at 4500 Yen(about S$60).

There might just be an online sale for this nendoroid, but it has not been confirmed. So in the meantime, keep a look out at your friendly retailers and keep praying people!

Source [Kahotan's Blog]

The post [JCOLLECTOR] Nendoroid Asuna – ALO Titania Ver. appeared first on AFA Channel!.

“Date a Girl Who Reads”, “Don’t Date a Girl Who Travels”, do this, don’t that — we’re all pretty much drowning in Thought Catalog bullshit. However, no matter how many of these things I scroll past on on my Facebook wall, none of them seem to strike a chord with me as a person in general and as a girl in particular.

Hence, this list. Also, it is February so I get a free pass to be corny.

(Don’t) date a girl who’s into anime

She may be a lot of fun to watch films with: you can have spirited discussions on whether or not Goro Miyazaki can continue his father’s legacy; if Kill La Kill is feminist, sexist, or both; or which of Evangelion’s five endings is the definitive one. However, if her tastes run more towards Gantz, Attack on Titan, or Steins;Gate rather than your weekly staples of Pretty Cure, Date A Live, or Infinite Stratos, there could be trouble in paradise.

Also, she may know a lot more about hentai anime than even you are comfortable with.

(Don’t) date a girl who’s into manga

While it’s really nice to have someone to read along with and help translate the newer Japanese stuff into English for you, she may soon tire of your lazy ass and move to Japan to pursue her language studies (and maybe obtain that post-graduate degree she always wanted but couldn’t get with your sorry ass holding her back — TRUE STORY).

Also, there may be lots of BL manga in your future. Lots and lots of it :3

(Don’t) date a girl who collects figures.

Sure — she may be puzzled with your fascination for resin girls whose anatomies would classify them as disfigured in the real world, but she totally gets it because she has her own little collection of Lego minifigs and Petite Nendroids. Just watch out for “upgrades” — pretty soon she may be too busy (and too broke?) to go on dates with you because she’s spending all her time on AmiAmi trading up to bigger and more expensive figures.

Also, her collection of Hot Toys figures may be worth more than what you make in a year.

(Don’t) date a girl who’s into video games

She will play lots and lots of games, with or without you (and she will be damn good at it). Sure, it’s a lot of fun if you’re playing Pokemon X and/or Y together and breeding and/or trading as you go along. But if she’s trying to rally her Titanfall team and you just can’t follow orders fast enough, she will shove your flashy light-uppy Razer mouse up your ass.

Also it’s really, really hard to compete with Sephiroth on the hotness scale — just saying.

(Don’t) date a girl who cosplays.

It may be great for your ego that lots of (desperately lonely) guys are declaring their eternal love for her on and offline. Just make sure it balances out the fact that at most cons you will be attending, your sole purpose in life is to be a combination bodyguard, chauffeur, personal assistant, make-up artist, caterer, photographer, and photoshoot facilitator.

Also, when your girl crossplays she may turn out to be a hotter guy than you will ever be.

In conclusion: do, or do not — there is no try!

Thank you magnetic_rose for your valuable insights~

The post [FEATURE](Don’t) Date a Girl Who’s Into Anime appeared first on AFA Channel!.

Figurine collectors might want to have a look at this one. Lately in Japan, there appears to be an increase in popularity of a certain… mini foldable chair gachapon. Yep, I kid you not, you can fold them. So now we can get plenty of these to… let our figures have a prop or to sit on.

Here are some of the reference pamphlets that (should) come with each gacha, and the machine:

The Japanese have been twitting images of how they used the chairs for their figs and collections, and lets just say that there are so many uses for it. Hell, there’s even a push cart kind, and even one cart where you can store many folded chairs:

The push cart is quite big, so you can store chairs in it. Or… put a fig in it I suppose?

Anyways, here are some of the pictures, enjoy!

What do you think of these chairs? Think you can get a friend that’s in Japan now to bring a few back for you? Let us know in the comments what you think you can do should you get a hold of a bunch of these chairs!

Source: [RocketNewsvia Naver Matome]

The post [JCOLLECTOR] These Folding Chairs You CAN GET From Gachapon Machines!? appeared first on AFA Channel!.

From the world of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, comes a Nendoroid from Rebellion, the newest film in the series! I present to you, Nagisa Momoe!

This Nendoroid of Nagisa Momoe comes in her Puella Magi outfit, and comes included with her trumpet weapon and effect parts, her beloved cheese, as well as the Dessert Familiar.

Last but not least, this Nendoroid has a trick up it’s sleeve, or should I say………face?

This Nendoroid also comes with a Bebe expression and familiars on a tray! Personally, I would recommend collecting this Nendoroid for fans of the movie, or for those who have been diligently collecting Nendoroids from the Madoka series.

As for me, I might decide just to get it for the unique expression, and that cute pose of her when she is eating her cheese, both of them are extremely irresistible!

This Nendoroid comes out today, so don’t forget to check your friendly local retailers for possible pre-orders opening!

Source: [Kahotan's Blog]

The post [JCOLLECTOR] GSC – Nendoroid Nagisa Momoe appeared first on AFA Channel!.

While the majority of the world has already got their hands on the PlayStation 4s (PS4), Japan only finally got theirs last Friday on 22 February 2014. A launch party was held at the Sony Building at Ginza few hours before the actual launch at midnight and 30 lucky people, queuing for the PS4 at Ginza were invited to join the launch party.

At the PS4 launch party, there were game tournaments of two launch titles Killzone: Shadow Fall and FIFA 14, and special guest appearances by the likes of Hideo Kojima(MGS) and Toshihiro Nagoshi(SEGA) to celebrate the PS4′s arrival into the Japanese console market.

From then, according to sales figures from Famitsu, 322,083 PS4s were bought in just the first weekend of its release. That’s an impressive figure considering the PlayStation 3 (PS3) only sold 88,443 consoles on its first two days.  The PS4 also barely manages to beat the Nintendo WiiU whose sales is 308,570 in the first two days, by a slight margin.  While it is impossible to beat the huge numbers from the PS2 launch, Sony are off to a great start in their home nation thus far.

As of the most recent numbers, the PS4 has sold 5.3 million (not including Japan launch) and the Xbox One has sold 3.4 million. While the PS4 is dominating overall sales numbers, the Xbox One is still managing to get impressive numbers even with all the flak Microsoft is getting.

More exciting days will be coming with many AAA titles set to launch in the upcoming month of March, with Metal Gear Solid V(PS3, PS4, XB1, XB360), Titanfall(PC, XB1, XB360), Dark Souls II(PC, PS3, XB360) and InFamous: Second Son(PS4) so expect both consoles to ship even more numbers!

Source: Famitsu 

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On 27 February, popular Taiwanese cosplayer Akatsuki Tsukasa and Judy will be staring in the first WOWJAPAN LIVE. It’s a segment that invites artists, creators and artiste to share with their fans what matters in their art and craft.

For this week’s episode, we will get the duo to share with us their cosplays as well as what makes cosplaying attractive to them. They will also be answering questions raised by our viewer in the comment box.

Program details:

Date: 27 February 2014
Time: 6:00pm to 6:30pm (SGT)
Channel: http://bit.ly/WOWJAPANLIVE1 (to access the comment box)

If you just want to watch the episode,

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In anticipation of the coming 8th Seiyu Awards, we continue to bring you more articles featuring last year’s winners. Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards are given to two candidates in each category. In this instalment, we introduce you the Best Supporting Actor winners from 2013, Junichi Suwabe and Yuuki Ono.

7th Seiyuu Awards Winners – Men: (clockwise from top left) Junichi Suwabe, Yuuki Ono, Yuuki Kaji, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kazutomi Yamamoto

Junichi Suwabe for Tokyo Disney Resort ® 30th anniversary Edition CD (2is news)

Like most of the veteran seiyuu of his generation, Suwabe did not aspire to become a seiyuu at first. Having joined his school broadcasting committee and movie production circle, and was an aspiring movie director. Having accumulated experience from various jobs, he eventually enrolled in a training school and joined artiste management company Haikyō. In his 20s, he undertook countless narration jobs for prime time tv shows and commercials, far surpassing his peers.

Although his early career revolved around narration jobs and radio shows, his big break into the anime industry took the form of Atobe Keigo (Prince of Tennis). His voice gave cool, egoistic Atobe new layers of charisma, sealing his character niche. Nevertheless, he has mastered a truly unmatched range of character types. From the cool mature adult, hot-blooded shounen, the flirtatious bishounen and even the comedic hooligan, Suwabe has shown that no character is beneath him. Fans are unlikely to forget roles such as the sarcastic yet devoted Archer (Fate/stay night), wild and half-crazed Grimmjow (Bleach), Frau (07-GHOST), downright weird Undertaker (Kuroshitsuji), suave and flirtatious Ren (Uta no Prince-Sama) and recently, sardonic and hot-blooded Aomine (Kuroko no Basuke).

With his clean vocals coupled with Atobe’s popularity, he was the first male seiyuu to enter the Oricon Weekly Top 10 charts in 2005 with character single “Riyuu/E-Kimochi”. As part of the super-popular unit ST☆RISH, he took the Singing Award at the 6th Seiyuu Awards. He is also leader of seiyuu unit “Nazo no Shin-Unit STA☆MEN” consisting of Kouske Toriumi, Kenichi Suzumura, Daisuke Kishio, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Hiroki Takahashi and Makoto Yasumura, highly popular for their entertaining and comedic stage antics.

Junichi Suwabe at the Space Dandy Mini Stage (from Animax Asia Facebook)

He has shown great flair for hosting, often acting as the emcee for various events. His stage presence surpasses language barriers, charming crowds even at overseas fan events in Taiwan and even locally. Known as “Be-sama” to his fans, he drew a huge crowd when he graced AFASG for the Space☆Dandy mini-stage, together with co-star Yurin. Those who had attended the event cannot deny his charisma and wild popularity with the audience, many of whom fought for a chance to get an autograph.

Yuuki Ono, for Style of Prince feature, Girls Style

Having played soccer since he was in elementary school, Ono was all set for a career in the sport, having been scouted for a professional soccer team. However, a serious injury in his final year dashed all hopes of that becoming reality. For a child who only lived, ate and breathed soccer for all his formative years, his first real encounter with anime was when he was asked to record Kimi ga Nozomu no Eien  for a friend in university. To cut a long story short, he was so impressed by lead Kishou Taniyama’s voice, he became inspired to work the in same field as the man himself.

Having the ability to take on distinctly different voice tones for each character, Yuuki Ono has an uncanny ability to meld seamlessly into each character, it’s often difficult to remember that he’s the voice behind these roles.

With his versatility, memorable roles over his relatively short career has already spanned a wide spectrum, there’s the cool, collected Kaname Tsukahara (Kimi to Boku), the rash and hot-headed Taiga Kagami (Kuroko no Basuke), the devoted and reliable Zenkichi Hitoyoshi (Medaka Box), and the loyal but very domestic Ashiya (Hataraku Maou-sama!). Who can forget the pet rooster Nagoya in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (and Tomio too)? Then there is also the mysterious and morally ambigious Magus (The Unbreakable Machine Doll) and recently, Moral (Hamatora).

Yuuki Ono (left) with Kensho Ono, Kuroko no Basuke feature

Known affectionately as OnoYuu or Onopin (in a reference to his role as “Pin” Kazuichi Arai in Kimi ni Todoke) to fans, his name has been pretty much  a source of derision at many events, sharing last names with fellow cast members Kensho Ono and Daisuke Ono, and a similar-sounding name to Aoi Yuuki and Yuuki Kaji – causing quite a bit of confusion at the Valvrave event in 2013. Other than being skilled at soccer, he also holds a hyper yoyo professional license and competes actively, reminiscent of his characters in Saint October (Joshua) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (Kiryu).

Catch OnoYuu’s Taiga Kagami facing off Suwabe’s Daiki Aomine in one of the most thrilling rival match-ups of this season in Kuroko no Basuke, and OnoYuu as the spine-chilling villian Moral in Hamatora. Suwabe is also available as the bumbling Dandy (Space☆Dandy) on Animax, and the very fabulous Ren Jinguji (Uta no Prince-Sama) on Aniplus HD.

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Look forward to our next instalment:
Coming next: 2013′s Best Supporting Actresses  

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Image credit in order of appearance © ボイスニュータイプ , 2is news, Animax Asia, Girls Style, http://kanacaecilius.tumblr.com/
Top image taken from Voice Newtype Issue 47 : 7th Seiyuu Awards feature article. Voice Newtype is available at selected local Kinokuniya stores. 

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In anticipation of the coming 8th Seiyuu Awards, we continue to bring you more articles featuring last year’s winners. Our last installment focused on the men, so this time, we will be introducing 2013 winners of the Best Supporting Actress Award.

7th Seiyuu Awards Winners – Women: (clockwise from left) Asumi Kana, Sayaka Ohara, Haruka Tomatsu, Rumi Okubo, Kaori Ishihara

Sayaka Ohara, for xxxHOLiC (from en.anoword.com)

Ōhara had a strong love for musicals and theatre since young, and only knew of seiyuu as a profession in high school, when introduced to drama CDs by her younger brother. In her 3rd year of university, she became part of Haikyō Voice Actors Studio, and eventually joined agency Haikyō following graduation, despite parental objections. After her debut, she continued part-time acting at a theatre to supplement her income while taking on auditions for seiyuu work. She did mainly narration work until her anime lead debut in 2003, when she played Ai in Popotan, a visual novel adaptation.

Some of her early famous roles include Alicia (ARIA) and Layla Hamilton (Kaleido Star). In recent years, she often plays the roles of mature women, and often motherly characters, in anime. More recent notable roles include Irisviel von Einzbern (Fate/zero), Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail), Sofia Velmer (Jormungand) and Rokka Shimao (Natsuyuki Rendezvous). Most fans would have at least known her from the CLAMP series xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, in which she steals the show as “The Dimension Witch” Yuuko Ichihara, with her mysterious allure and charming, free-spirited childishness.

Ōhara has a highly respectable list of works as a narrator, including narrations for countless TV shows and commercials. She is also the specified voice for Japanese major mobile phone company au, train announcements along private railways lines Keikyu and Keio, as well as other forms of media. By 2010, her voice has been used in at least 5% of all railroad and train announcements in the Kanto area. She has also been the DJ of bayfm radio show “NOW HITS STREET” since 1999, on top of her commitments in anime radio shows.

Known as “Saaya”, “Sayasaya” or “Saya-nee”, she first met overseas fans at the 2012 annual Taiwan Comic Exhibition as a guest for the Fairy Tail stage event, in her first trip out of the country. In the short interview and autograph session, she spoke of how she was drawn to the profession. According to her, a seiyuu could portray various characters by voice alone regardless of appearance; aptly summing up the main reason why fans continue to love this industry.

Given the massive popularity Tomatsu enjoys, it is rather unfathomable that she has only been active since 2007. She entered the industry as a seiyuu when she passed the “Music Ray’n Super Seiyu Auditions” organised from 2005 to 2006, together with the other members from Sphere (Aki Toyosaki, Minako Kotobuki, and Ayahi Takagaki). She immediately caught audiences’ attention with her role as Corticarte Apa Lagranges in Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica, and her portfolio exploded soon after, followed by her meteoric rise to super-stardom.

Showing amazing dedication and tenacity, she spent most of her last two years in high school travelling between her hometown and Tokyo on weekends, juggling school and recordings. Upon graduating from high school, she started living by herself in Tokyo, while continuing her seiyuu, singing and acting work, whilst attending university. Even early in her career, she already had a string of iconic characters under her belt, which includes Nagi (Kannagi), Shiho Sannomiya (Zettai Karen Children), Megumi Shimizu (Shiki), ‘Annaru’ Naruko Anjou (Anohana), Shizuku Mizutani (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun), Saki Rukino (Valvrave), showing off unparalleled versatility. You can also catch her this season as Morigiana in Magi, Mari Maya in Samurai Flamenco, and Karina in Wake Up, Girls.

Haruka Tomatsu, Sphere (from planet-sphere.jp)

Armed with immense talent, a unique singing voice, fantastic stage presence and good looks, she has been unstoppable since her debut, earning herself legions of adoring fans. She’s known for her quirky and unassuming personality, which to this writer, is one of her most endearing charms. By injecting a little of her own quirkiness into her roles, she each one uniquely hers. Also a previous recipient of the Best Female Newcomer Award at the 3rd Seiyuu Awards, she continues to outshine her peers in every domain. Enjoying phenomenal success both as part of Sphere and as a solo artiste, her singles, albums and live performances often becoming best sellers, with her last album Sunny Side Story reaching 5th on the Weekly Oricon Rankings.

Up next: 2013′s Best Newcomers

 Image credit © ボイスニュータイプ , from Voice Newtype Issue 47 : 7th Seiyuu Awards feature article unless otherwise stated
Voice Newtype is available at selected local Kinokuniya stores. 

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In this last instalment, we will be swinging our focus to look at the young talents who have made a splash within the first five years of their début.  With three of the Best Newcomers in 2008 (Yuuki Kaji, Kana Asumi and Haruka Tomatsu) sweeping the top awards in 2013, these up-and-coming newbies are definitely on the cusp of something big. So make sure to keep your eyes (or rather, ears) trained on them in the coming years.

Best Male Newcomers 2013 – Kazutomi Yamamoto, Nobunaga Shimazaki (from Voice Newtype)

Shimazaki first aspired to become a seiyuu as he looked up to veteran seiyuu Midorikawa Hikaru, who voiced protagonist Heero Yuy in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. His love for manga and anime stayed true throughout his schooling years, even joining the school tennis club because he liked the series Prince of Tennis. Although his mother constantly signed him up for talent auditions, he stayed firm in his aspirations. Having graduated from the seiyuu training school affiliated with Aoni Productions, he scored his first leading role in 2012, as Kaito in Ano Natsu de Matteru. In the same year, he was also part of the main cast of TARI TARI and Sukitte Ii na yo. Shortly after his debut, he won Best Newcomer, and shot to fame with his leading role as Nanase Haruka in summer hit anime Free!, and also scored main roles in Ace of Diamond, Date A Live and Photo Kano.

Nobunaga Shimazaki (from Seigura)

As a seiyuu fan himself, he looks up to many of his seniors, sometimes even getting teased for it. In the radio show for baseball anime Ace of Diamond, he is often teased by his peers about his admiration for veteran Takahiro Sakurai, who stars alongside Shimazaki’s character as Kazuya Miyuki. He also gets up to hilarious antics as an adoring kouhai with Tatsuhisa Suzuki on the anime radio show Free! Iwatobi Channel. Among his peers, he is also good friends with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. Sharing a name with a extremely famous historical figure, his name is also the source of conversation, disbelief and often, teasing, among many.

Catch him this season in Nobunaga the Fool, Nobunagan (both in which he ironically doesn’t play Nobunaga), Date A Live II, Buddy Complex and Ace of Diamond.

Kazutomi Yamamoto (from Voice Newtype)

With his small stature and high-pitched voice, Yamamoto is often mistaken for a girl. However, his unique voice quality may have carved a niche for himself. Despite only debuting in 2009, he got his first main role as Yuudai Chiba in 2010 gag series Mitsudomoe. In the same series, he also plays Yuudai’s mother, Kazumi, convincing with a mature female voice. Subsequently appearing as supporting characters in Deadman Wonderland and Nichijou, he scored leading role Kio Asuno in Mobile Suit Gundam Age and Yuuya Mochizuki in horror series Another in 2012, securing his Best Newcomer win the year after.

More recently, he continues to play to his strength as Kenjiro Hato in Genshiken Nidaime, with his extremely convincing female voice. Continue to look forward to (possibly) more shocking roles from this newbie!

Best Female Newcomers 2013 – Rumi Ookubo, Kaori Ishihara (from Voice Newtype)

As the overall winner at the third 81 Auditions organised by renowned seiyuu management agency 81 produce, Ookubo  got a stellar start to her career. She first took notice of the seiyuu profession when she realised that the same voice was behind two different characters in Pokemon and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, provided by veteran Mayumi Iizuka.

Rumi Ookubo, Tokyo International Anime Fair 2012 (from koepota.jp)

Her first main anime role was Kaho Hiiragi in Freezing, quickly followed with other memorable roles such as Chinatsu Yoshikawa (YuruYuri), Hibashi (Mushibugyo), and Touko Ichimiya (Servant x Service). Passionate about her work, she has a penchant for dressing up as her own characters when attending events, appearing before in the Nanamori Middle School uniform for YuruYuri, in hakama and yukata for Acchi Kocchi, and once even dressed up as Sweet Little Devil Nobunaga Oda for Sengoku Collection. In an interview, she admitted to liking kids anime series Digimon so much, that at the beginning of every year, she has this little ritual in which she opens her DVD box set and watches all the episodes.

Kaori Ishihara (from Famitsu.com)

Ishihara started her career in 2008 as a trainee in HAPPY!STYLE Rookies under Style Cube. She graduated from the group in 2009, forming the unit YuiKaori with label mate Yui Ogura. Her formal début as a seiyuu was in hit anime series Kaicho wa Maid-sama! as younger sister Suzuna Ayuzawa. Since then she has been taking on an increasing number of roles, many of them in supporting positions, most memorably as as Azusa Azuki in Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko, Kanna Tanigawa in Ano Natsu de Matteru, Sayu Hisanuma in Nagi no Asukara. Additionally, she has also played the lead in large productions such as Rinne no Lagrange (Madoka Kyouno) and Magi (Aladdin).

Ishihara is also active as an anisong artiste. Not only as part of YuiKaori, Ogura and Ishihara were part of the pioneer generation of seiyuu unit StylipS (with Arisa Noto and Maho Matsunaga). As part of these groups, she has provided vocals in songs for numerous anime series such as High School DxD, KissxSis, Saki Achiga-hen Episode of Side-A, and Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!. However, Ishihara and Ogura both graduated from StylipS in mid-2013, and after, transferred management agencies from Style Cube to Sigma Seven.

We’ve finally reached the end of the series featuring the winners from the 7th Seiyuu Awards! Keep checking back to AFACHAN for the list of winners for the 8th Seiyuu Awards on 1 March~ 

Stay tuned!

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We have been receiving complaints that the result of the poll have been buried under a certain chocolatey post, so we are giving it a new lease of live here. So what is it about?

At the beginning of February, we started a poll to find out, for the Guys “Who you want to get Chocolates from?” and Ladies “Who you want to give Chocolates to?” in the anime world. And after some compiling, here are the results!

A total of 222 ladies, and 157 guys took part in our poll with over 100 candidates have been nominated. And without further teasing, here are the results!

Well Shoutmon X7 was unexpected… When we interviewed him, his partner was laughing really hard at the back of room… Other than that, everything seems so normal, no?

The poll is really quite as expected, but we have 1 question… How did Levi get enough votes to get into the list? Hmm, this will be a mystery but we respect your choices!

Let us know if your choices have made it into our list in the comments!

Disclaimer: This is a just for fun exercise, so no real need to take it too seriously! However aren’t it good to just have the person you like, send you some presents~
Note: The author of this post didn’t get any chocolates from anyone this valentine yet…

The post TOP Anime Characters that you would want to Give/Receive Chocolate to/from!! appeared first on AFA Channel!.

ATLUS have announced that four new games for the Persona Series are set for release in the North American Market over the next couple of years.

Among the games set for release is the highly anticipated, Persona 5 which is set to arrive on North American PlayStation 3 (PS3) systems in 2015. The other titles will be released in Fall 2014. These include, spin-offs for Persona 4, Persona 4: Dancing All Night is set for release on the PlayStation Vita, and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, the squeal to Persona 4 Arena, also known as, Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, for the PS3 and XBox 360 systems. Persona Q, a dungeon crawler game featuring characters from Persona 3 and 4, is set for release on the 3DS.

Persona 5 (PS3)

The highly anticipated Persona 5 is going to be the latest instalment to the critically acclaimed, award-winning Persona Series. Not much is known at this time but what we do know is that we’re all chomping at the bits to start this game up on our PS3s.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (PS3, XBOX360)

Taking place days after the events of Persona 4 Arena, the city of Inaba get enveloped in the a red fog and Mitsuru, Akihiko, Fuuka and Aigis are shown on the Midnight Channel. The investigation team and former SEES members must enter the “other side” to rescue them and uncover the mastermind behind the tournament.

The sequel will see the introduction of Yukari Takeba and Junpei Iori from Persona 3. A new character, Sho Minazuki also joins the fray.

Persona 4 Dancing All Night (PS Vita)

The game takes place after the events of Persona 4 and Rise takes center stage when she hears rumors of a Midnight Stage and decides to investigate. She ends up on the “other side” when she checks out a website at midnight and watches a mysterious movie clip. Making things worse, Rise realises that her her junior idol peers from the group Kanamin Kitchen are missing as well. The Investigation Team is called in to investigate the mysterious events (and dance the night away).

Normal Battle tactic will not work against Shadows in this dimension, but strangely enough, dancing does! So get ready to put on those dancing shoes and dance your way to victory through30 pulse-thumping tracks which make up the new Persona Sound in this rhythm-based action game. P4DAN is made in collaboration with Dingo Inc., the company behind Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA.

Persona Q (3DS)

They are transported into an alternate world resembling Yasogami High school and legend has it that listening to the end of bell chimes coming from the Yasogami High clock tower will cause people to die. The bell rings and the Investigation Team and SEES are trapped in a world full of shadows and the protagonists of each Persona 3 and Persona 4 have their own set of events to follow, allowing players to choose and experience two different plot lines, as both teams look for a way out of this “other world”.

This is the first Persona game to make it’s way over to a Nintendo systems and will feature characters from the Persona 3 and Persona 4 series.

Source: ATLUS USA Youtube

The post [GAMES] 4 New Persona Games set for English Release appeared first on AFA Channel!.

Z-Kai, a Japanese correspondence education service released a television commercial for a new anime.

The “Cross Road” project, directed by anime director Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days) and character design by Masayoshi Tanaka (AnoHana, AnoMatsu, ToraDora!), debuted on television, Youtube and NicoNico in 120, 30 and 15-second versions on the same day.

The Youtube version contains English subtitles in the Closed Captions menu, and can be turned on.

15 Seconds version:

30 Seconds version:

120 Seconds version:

“I’m not alone anymore.”

Plot

“The story of “Cross Road” centers on high school students Miho (Ayane Sakura) and Shouta (Kensho Ono) as they prepare for tests. Miho comes from an island without even one cram school, while Shouta lives in Tokyo and works a part-time job. Both are striving to pass tests so they can enter college. The pair enroll in Z-Kai’s correspondence education courses, and their lives cross before they realize it.” [ANN]

Staff: 

Storyboard, Director, Editor, Background: Makoto Shinkai

Animation Production: CoMix Wave Films

Character Design, Animation Director: Masayoshi Tanaka

Insert Song: Nagi Yanagi (Bakemonogatari, Nagi no Asukara)

Key Animator : Masayoshi Tanaka, Taisuke Iwasaki, Hiroshi Tomioka, Tomoyuki Shimoya, Yuu Yamashita, Ushio Tazawa, Koichi Hayashi, Miho Suzuki

With the amount of quality put into this anime, and Makoto Shinkai at the helm, I have a feeling that this anime will turn out to be quite a touching story.

Also, with no projected date announced, I recommend keeping a lookout for this.

Source: [Z-KAI][ANN]

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