Sunday, 30 June 2013

3rd Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie Release Date Confirmed


The TOHO Cinema chain listed that the upcoming 3rd Puella Magi Madoka Magica movie entitled, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica New Feature: Rebellion" will be released this Fall 2013.

Advance tickets will go on sale in theaters on July 6, and buyers can get the first batch of tickets with a card and an exclusive clear file folder.

Source: Anime News Network

UPDATE (7/2/13): TOHO Cinema changed the originally listed October 26th release into Fall 2013.

2013 Pokémon U.S. National Championships Showcase Top Pokémon Competitors, Bring Thousands to Indianapolis

Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game Players Will Compete for a
Trip to the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in Vancouver, Canada

BELLEVUE, WASH.—June 26, 2013—Thousands of Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and video game players, their supporters and families, and Pokémon fans from around the United States will come together July 5–7 in Indianapolis for the 2013 Pokémon U.S. National Championships. For many, this open and free-to-play event represents the culmination of a yearlong journey of competition, travel to numerous Play! Pokémon events, and the many friendships that were made along the way.

Participants from around the country who have worked to build an unbeatable Pokémon TCG deck or to create a battle-tested Pokémon team in the Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 video games will be showcasing their skills and vying for top placement at the Pokémon U.S. National Championships. One video game competitor and one TCG competitor from each of three age divisions will be crowned U.S. National Champion, and will travel with other top players to represent the United States on a global stage at the Pokémon World Championships this August in Vancouver, Canada.

“The Pokémon U.S. National Championships is one of the largest and most prestigious Pokémon TCG and video game events in the world, and it provides a great opportunity for fans and players throughout the United States to come together and have fun playing the games they love,” said J.C. Smith, director of Consumer Marketing for The Pokémon Company International. “The event has continued to grow over the last few years and is a great opportunity for attendees to form new friendships and reunite with old friends, and perhaps win a trip to Vancouver for Worlds.”

The Pokémon U.S. National Championships are a great opportunity for players to gain entry to the 2013 Pokémon World Championships, with competitors and fans from around the country traveling thousands of miles to take part in this open event. The top four TCG and video game finalists from each age group will earn an invitation and Travel Award to the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in addition to Championship Points, thousands of dollars in scholarship awards, a Pokémon National Championship trophy, and other Pokémon-themed merchandise. The U.S. National Championships is held using a Swiss tournament format, which guarantees players the opportunity to play in multiple rounds regardless of their win-loss record.


To celebrate the event, attendees to the 2013 U.S. Pokémon National Championships who bring their Nintendo DS or 3DS system and a copy of the Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2, or Pokémon White 2 video game to the event can participate in a special character distribution, receiving a powerful Metagross based on the one used by World Champion Ray Rizzo in the 2012 Pokémon World Championships. Attendees can also take part in Pokémon League events, where they can earn special prizes.

The 2013 Pokémon TCG U.S. National Championships will begin Friday, July 5, at 9:00 a.m., while the Pokémon Video Game U.S. National Championships will begin on Saturday, July 6, at 9:00 a.m. Both events will take place at the Indiana Convention Center, located at 100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46225, and will conclude Sunday, July 7. Visit www.pokemon.com/play to learn more about the tournament rules, regulations, prizes, and registration times.

Be sure to Like the official Pokémon Facebook page at Facebook.com/Pokemon, follow Pokémon on Twitter @Pokemon, and subscribe to the official YouTube channel at Youtube.com/Pokemon for the latest Pokémon news and fun!

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About Pokémon
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

Jason David Frank Sets New Guinness World Record the Video


Last January 18th, Jason David Frank best known as Tommy Oliver from Power Rangers broke the Guinness World Record of breaking the most 2-inch thick pine boards in freefall. Just recently, the official Guinness World Records YouTube channel posted the video of said Guinness attempt.


He successfully broke the previous record of two boards, now setting the current record with seven boards. So from all of us here, congratulations in creating a new Guinness World Record!

Reborn!'s Akira Amano's New Manga: ēlDLIVE


The official website for the new Jump live smartphone app revealed that manga creator Akira Amano (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!) will launch a new series called ēlDLIVE. The manga's editor teases that the series will be in full color.

The plot and the release date of the said manga is still unknown as of this writing.

Amano ended the popular Reborn! manga in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in November 2012. Publisher Shueisha later published the 42nd and final volume in March 2013.

Source: Anime News Network

Kamen Teacher TV News Feature Video


Here's a special news feature for the upcoming drama adaptation of Tohru Fujisawa's Kamen Teacher manga. The drama stars Kis-My-Ft2's Taisuke Fujigaya as the titular hero Gouta Araki aka Kamen Teacher Hayato Jumonji.


Kamen Teacher is a motorcycle riding hero whose job is to bring light to trouble schools by putting down delinquents. In this series, he is assigned in the notorious Class C and faces a powerful student named M4 (played by Fuma Kikuchi). Can he change this delinquent's ways without resorting the use of the Kamen Teacher persona?

Kamen Teacher will begin this July 6th.

Special thanks to Bobby Priyantono Sokarijo for the heads up!

Kyoryuger July Episodes Teaser Trailer


In relation to what we have posted earlier, here's the teaser trailer of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger featuring the events that will happen this July in the said TV show.


July marks the debut of Doctor Ulshade aka KyoryuViolet (played by Shigeru Chiba) and his partner Zyudenryu Plezuon. Seen in the teaser are two of the Zyudenryu's forms, Plezuoh and its combination with Gabutyra and Bunpachy called Bakuretsu Kyoryuzin.

Special thanks to Ludovic Cosmic for the heads up.

Kyoryuger: More KyoryuViolet, New Mecha Images


More images related to Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger's 9th Hero, KyoryuViolet has surfaced online. Voice actor Shigeru Chiba will play the role of Doctor Ulshade aka KyoryuViolet, the creator of the gear of the modern Kyoryugers.


KyoryuViolet's partner Zyudenryu is Plezuon that can transform into Plezuoh, and can combine with Gabutyra and Bunpachy to form Bakuretsu Kyoryuzin. Also seen in the picture is KyoryuRed using the Deinsogrander Beast Battery.

Source: HeroShock Facebook Page

Kamen Rider Wizard 39 – The Mysterious Mr. Fueki

Screw the soccer friendship plot. More White Wizard, please now.

The mysterious Fueki finally convinces Wajima to create a Wizard Ring for him. Meanwhile, Haruto and his old friend are finally reaching an understanding when it comes to their dreams. Also, Haruto and Kousuke need to defeat the Phantom in order to end this episode.


For starters, I have nothing much to talk about in this episode. Aside from the fact that the show is back into becoming one boring drama series, the only thing worth noting is that Haruto's old friends still trust him even just a little. As seen in this episode, Haruto's former team manager helped him with his bait and switch plan, which is really amazing and showed us that Haruto can actually fool his opponents if he wants to. Second is when it comes to his friend in whom we learned that he still cares for Haruto and at the near end of the episode, the two reached a mutual understanding when it comes to their dreams. It's a really touching scene and I just love that the two relieve some old memories by playing a short football (or soccer) match.

Before talking about the final fight scene in this episode, let's first talk about Fueki. One thing that I like about him is that he has this kind of presence on screen. He gives you this feeling that you should be scared at him every time he makes an appearance. What's more is that based on Wajima's expression, he is kinda forced to create the new Wizard Ring for him. As for the Ring that Wajima made, I will talk about it after I am done talking about the final fight in this episode.


The final fight of this episode is surprisingly, really good. What I like about it is Haruto switching his forms during battle. What I like about it is that it remembers that Haruto has an arsenal of forms that he can use in his advantage. What's more is that when Haruto is in him Wizard Flame Dragon form, the writer remembered that he has a freakin' dragon in his chest once he cast the Special spell. Since this form has something to do with fire, obviously, it has to shoot freakin' fire... and it did shoot fire! Also, the use of Infinity in this episode is for the sake of doing the finisher. I guess they remembered that the Dragon forms are useless to this Phantom when it comes to finishers.

Finally, Fueki's appearance at this part of the episode and not much to my surprise, he is the White Wizard and it didn't help that the Black Cerberus appeared earlier in the episode and that we have spoilers about it floating online. What made his appearance more interesting is the fact that the Wizard Ring that Wajima created is not compatible with the WizarDriver. What's interesting about the said ring is its design, it looks like a crescent moon, but if you at it in a different perspective, and it looks like the moon covering the sun aka a solar eclipse. As we all know, the Phantoms were created during the solar eclipse.


Let's take a look back about the information we have about the Phantoms, and about the White Wizard that we have thus far. The reason why the Wiseman needs to create more Phantoms is that he wants to acquire the Sabbat without the use of a solar eclipse. Second is that the Wiseman can create magic stones used in creating Wizard Rings. As for the White Wizard, he knows the time when the Wiseman created a magic stone and that when the said stone was taken, the Wiseman didn't mind it at all.

Fast forward for a bit around the time Haruto acquired the Infinity Ring, we heard White Wizard say that Haruto is becoming more of a nuisance. Tying up those elements together, guess it is safe to assume that White Wizard is Wiseman after all but then again, White Wizard said something about this episode that they should keep all "final hopes" together and that the fate of the world and Haruto's fate depends if Wajima will create a new Wizard Ring from Fueki's magic stone. If I take it on an evil perspective, it means that he plans to create the ultimate Phantom with the wizards but if I take it on a good perspective, the White Wizard just wants to save the world from the Wiseman.


Thinking about the White Wizard's true motives made me realize that this show is good outside of the standard two-parter episodes and that this show will be better if it is a show with a large story arc with less focus on the victim of the arc, and with more focus on the plot of the bad guys. Speaking of the bad guys, I just love that they continue to bring up the fact that Medusa is just blindly following Wiseman's orders. I think I smell a possibility of Medusa betraying Wiseman at some point in the series.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger 17 – Enter, KyoryuGrey!

The bald hero, KyoryuGrey!

The Deboth Legion is becoming stronger as Dark Species Deboth is becoming stronger, affecting the Zorima foot soldiers and most especially the MOTW, who is kinda responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. With that in mind, the mysterious KyoryuGrey steps up and trains our heroes!


The show is almost close to the 20th episode mark and if traditional Super Sentai show goes, it is around this time that we are introduced to the Sixth Hero. But in this case, we are introduced to the oldest Kyoryuger in the form of Tessai aka KyoryuGrey, a Chinese hero who fought the Deboth Legion 1,500 years ago. His appearance caused me to be bothered on why the other Spirit Rangers in a really slow pace for veteran warriors. After rewatching this episode for at least 2 times, I realized that these guys are just waiting for the perfect opportunity for them to show up. Grey only appeared because he noticed that the current Kyoryugers can't handle this situation on their own.

This then leads us to the central plot of the episode, about our heroes not stronger than the bad guys. Now that Dark Species Deboth's revival is almost here, it is expected that the monsters are now stronger. Obviously, our heroes are weaker than them... except for Utchy. Because Utchy is capable of defending himself and that we have a hard-headed kung-fu monk, the next obvious step is a training sequence!


Grey's method of training is more on the mind strengthening side of things and less on the physical aspect. The fact that they are trapped inside Grey's illusion and their souls are stuck inside of it, it is kinda obvious that he is not aiming to strengthen their bodies, but to strengthen their minds and discover something that they are capable of doing even though they think they are not capable of doing it at first. As seen in Ian, Nossan, Souji and Amy's training scenes, they discovered that they can do anything if they want to do it.

As for King, he easily passed Grey's test and to top it all off, he is experiencing what the four are experiencing at the same time! Compared to the four, the way King passed the test is rather more on the physical side of things and not on the mental side. He just acted brashly and hit the target and that's about it. In short, he didn't learn any lesson from that test. Because of a new Deboth attack, it is time to put Grey's test into execution. Aside from the really great roll call sequence, the fights in this scene are really amazing. What's more is that for an episode that doesn't look like it is directed by Koichi Sakamoto, the sub director felt like he took some notes from him and showcase the individual fighting styles of each Kyoryuger.


More on the said fights, we also saw the big difference between King and the rest of the team. What's great about it is that the fight scenes showed us how much they improved and why King is currently, the weakest member of the team. You can feel King's amazement just seeing his teammates excelling in battle but while watching it, I can't help myself but to feel pity on King's current situation. But that is just the icing on the cake, the fact that King's Gabutyra Fang move or the Kentrospiker attacks didn't work on the MOTW simply means that he is the weakest link of the team even though he passed Grey's test!

What's more interesting is that Utchy just used Kentrospiker as an ordinary giant sword weapon when the finisher didn't connect. Thanks to that attack, one of the MOTW's shields was destroyed and it is time for the giant battle special thanks to the giant Zorima. This is when Bunpachy comes out and showed us its moves. What is interesting about Bunpachy is his weapon, a Chinese meteor hammer. For a robot that is based on a dinosaur who likes to headbutt his opponents just to get the girl, his weapon is not related to the said activity, but for some reason, it works well in this dinosaur robot.


Another thing I noticed about Bunpachy is the use of model version of the robot and the CGI version of it. They know when to use the CGI and when to use the models, and much to my surprise, they prefer using the models for most scenes. The transition between CGI and model figure is pretty well done. After Bunpachy defeated the giant Zorima, we finally have an explanation on why he is grey. I just love how they included some Chinese philosophy about yin and yang and made it sound so simple to understand.

At the end, Bunpachy recognizes the fact that the five Kyoryugers passed his test and now are worthy to use him... except for King. This scene between King and Grey is pretty well made and it showed us that King will stay in that state if he doesn't discover his weakness. This scene also made me realize that King is shonen anime archetype. An idiot hero, who thinks that he is unstoppable, is kinda dumb on what is happening around him and lastly, he easily trusts people. Even though you say that some of it is his good traits, those kinds of heroes often get proper character story arcs that humanizes them. In King's case, he doesn't have a proper story arc about it. Now that Grey has pointed out how "perfect" he is will the next episode be a proper character development arc for him?

Saturday, 29 June 2013

Kamen Rider Wizard Episode 42 Preview


Here's the preview of Kamen Rider Wizard's 42nd episode entitled, "The Ringed Novelist". Section Zero's Agent Kizaki is missing after he was attacked by a mysterious figure after he discovered something about Fueki aka the White Wizard.


Haruto is alarmed to find Kizaki has disappeared after he has been asked to search for the White Wizard, who put Yuzuru in danger for seeking out another person worthy of becoming a wizard or witch. After Kamen Rider Wizard saves Saionji, a novelist, Saionji reveals he is looking for a young woman to give him the inspiration to write again.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Episode 20 Preview


Here's the preview of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger's 20th episode entitled, "Unlucky! Fortune at Tanabata". Daigo's father returns and it seems that he knows Torin.


While celebrating Tanabata with Nossan's family, Amy makes a wish and finds that the next day it has come true. However, it turns out to be the power of Debo Tanabanta, who grants Tanabata wishes but the person will die the next day.

Dairanger Suits To Be Used in Power Rangers Super Megaforce?


More details in regards to the marketing teasers for Power Rangers Super Megaforce was posted on RangerCrew recently. Much to my surprise, Fury Diamond's notes revealed that the Dairanger suits was used in those teasers!


In the teaser, the Megaforce Rangers used the Super Megaforce Morpher to transform into past Rangers and one of those Rangers is Dairanger's RyuuRanger! The teaser also showed a shot of the Dairangers as well.

The only time anything related to Dairanger appeared on Power Rangers was with the mecha footage for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2, the KibaRanger suit and the Magna Defender Morpher in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. Speaking of which, it was rumored that the Dairanger suits are supposed to appear in Lost Galaxy as the Ancient Rangers.


Before anyone of you will start panicking, there is no official word coming from Saban Brands if the suits will be used in the actual show. To read more of the marketing teaser notes, you can check Fury Diamond's post in the RangerCrew forum.

UPDATE (7/18/13): This year's San Diego Comic Con featured the footage, which was described in this post. Photos of the Dairanger scenes courtesy of Henshin Justice.

Two New Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Movies to Premiere Next Year


The August issue of Jump Square announced that two new live-action Rurouni Kenshin movies based on the Kyoto Arc will air summer of 2014. Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O) will reprise his role as Kenshin Himura in both movies.

The Kyoto Arc takes place several months of living in the dojo, Kenshin discovers that his successor as assassin of the shadows, Shishio Makoto, plans to conquer Japan by destroying the Meiji Government, starting with Kyoto. Feeling that his friends may be attacked by Shishio's faction, Kenshin goes to meet Shishio alone in order to defeat him.

During the events of the arc, he decides to finish his training with his master, Hiko Seijuro and meets more remnants of the Oniwabanshū after she meet Oniwabanshū ninja, Makimachi Misao.

The Kyoto Arc was animated countless times. The recent was with the New Kyoto Arc Two-Part OVA series. The first Rurouni Kenshin movie premiered in Japan in August 2012. Outside Japan, the movie premiered in various countries such as the Philippines.

Source: Anime News Network

Manga Artist Hiro Mashima to Create 150 Pages Worth of Fairy Tail for 2 Weeks!


Fairy Tail manga author Hiro Mashima revealed via Twitter that he will attempt something that most manga artists can't do, to write and illustrate 150 pages worth of Fairy Tail manga in just two weeks.

An average chapter of Fairy Tail is around 18-20 pages and the first three chapters will be published in the 32nd issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine, which will be released on July 10th. The next three chapters will be published in the 33rd issue of the magazine, which will be released on July 17th.

Lastly, he also tweeted that he will also be doing even more Fairy Tail for a magazine special, which will be released on July 20th. To top it all off, he will also do all color pages for all three chapters to be released in next issue!

Mashima-sensei, good luck with all that work!

Source: SGCafe