Fate/Zero Visual Novel Now Available in Japan

Fate/Zero has returned to its visual novel roots thanks to visual novel developed by Pocket for the iOS and Android! Fate/Zero is a prequel to Type-Moon's Fate/stay night visual novel.

Called "Fate/Zero: The Adventure", this game takes place 10 years prior to the events of Fate/stay night. In the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War, seven mages and seven Heroic Spirits fight for the Holy Grail, a mystical item that can grant any wish.

The main protagonist is a man named Kiritsugu Emiya, a notorious mage killer who has abandoned hopes of becoming a hero and saving humanity. The game will feature fully voiced scenes, original illustrations by ufotable and original scenarios for the game.

Fate/Zero: The Adventure costs 3,000 yen.

Source: Siliconera

VIZ MEDIA TO PREMIERE FATE/ZERO ANIME SERIES ON NEON ALLEY

VIZ MEDIA TO PREMIERE ANIPLEX’s SUPERNATURAL ACTION SERIES FATE/ZERO

ON NEON ALLEY ANIME CHANNEL THIS SPRING

Aniplex Of America Adds New Content For The Innovative Console-Based 24-Hour Anime Channel Available On PS3 And Playstation® Network, As Well As Xbox 360® And Xbox Live®

San Francisco, CA, February 6, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, has announced that Aniplex of America, Inc. has become a content partner for the recently-launched Neon Alley 24-hour anime channel. VIZ Media will premiere the hit Aniplex anime action series, FATE/ZERO, on Neon Alley this Spring.

Neon Alley is VIZ Media’s new 24-hour, subscription-based anime channel available for the PS3 game console and Playstation® Network, and soon to be available for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live®. The platform features the world’s best titles (dubbed in English and uncut), presented in HD (when available), for a low monthly subscription rate of only $6.99.

FATE/ZERO is based on a Japanese light novel, written by Gen Urobuchi and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi. This is the story that goes back to zero, back to the beginning. The ultimate battle royal, in which seven Masters vying for control of the miracle-granting Holy Grail summon seven Servants and fight until only one remains... The Holy Grail War!

“We’re very excited to welcome Aniplex of America as a premiere content partner for Neon Alley,” says Brian Ige, Vice President of Animation for VIZ Media. “The Neon Alley platform represents the next stage of the evolution of anime in North America and utilizes an innovative, console-based digital delivery model. The debut of the supernatural action series FATE/ZERO will be a wonderful addition to the channel’s programming roster and we know fans everywhere will not want to miss this exciting premiere later this Spring!”

“Aniplex of America initially teamed with VIZ Media to bring the hit anime series BLUE EXORCIST to Neon Alley and we are now looking forward to fans tuning in for the upcoming launch of FATE/ZERO,” says Hideki Goto, President of the Animation Business of Aniplex of America. “This legendary tale of the Fourth Holy Grail War will thrill fans with its sophisticated story and captivating animation. We look forward to cultivating our relationship with VIZ Media and to licensing additional content for Neon Alley in the near future!”

Neon Alley’s schedule includes a dynamic mix of action, adventure, sci-fi, supernatural, fantasy, and horror anime, including weekly exclusive episodes of BLUE EXORCIST, INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN, and TIGER & BUNNY, as well as blockbuster favorites DEATH NOTE, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, ONE PIECE, VAMPIRE KNIGHT plus more. Neon Alley is also designed to be studio agnostic, offering a diverse array of titles from several leading anime studios and distributors. Complete details on Neon Alley and its programming are available at NeonAlley.com.

For more information on Neon Alley, please visit NeonAlley.com.

For more information on FATE/ZERO, please visit FateZeroUSA.com.

For more information on Aniplex of America, please visit www.aniplexusa.com.

For more information on VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About Aniplex of America, Inc.
Aniplex of America Inc. (Santa Monica, California) is a subsidiary of Aniplex Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan), a group of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and leading provider of anime content and music production and distribution in Japan. Aniplex of America has launched fan-favorite DVD and Blu-Ray releases such as Gurren Lagann the Movies, Durarara!!, R.O.D series, The Garden of Sinners and Baccano! The company's ever-growing line-up of shows includes our most recent titles, Blue Exorcist, Rurouni Kenshin OVA and Movie, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. More information on Aniplex of America is available at: http://www.aniplexusa.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

2012 Year End SP: Top 10 2012 Anime Titles

Here is yet another year end blog post and this time, it is about my favorite anime titles for the past year. Unlike the tokusatsu list, it took me quite some time thinking about what are my favorite anime titles for this year. Take note, this list of mine is just my own personal opinion, if you hated my favorites, it only means that we don't have the same taste.

10. Nyarko-san Another Crawling Chaos
The series is basically what if the characters in the Lovecraft Mythos are now moe anime girls, do anime and tokusatsu references and have the main female protagonist madly in-love with the male protagonist. This is the show in a nutshell and I really enjoyed it and I hope the second season is just as fun as the first one! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]

9. Kuroko's Basketball
It's hard to watch some recent sports anime titles for the following reasons: (a) too much pretty boys, (b) more drama less action and (c) if there is action, it's always over the top. I don't mind the 3rd reason since that's the only reason why recent sports anime is fun to watch but that's not what I am looking for in a sports anime.

Kuroko got what I wanted for a sports anime; there is a balance of sports action, comedy, drama and yes, moments of some of the characters going a bit over the top. With the announcement of a second season, I hope that the introduction of the two remaining members of the Generation of Miracles will be really good! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]

8. Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
At first see the series as Akibaranger the anime with more focus on the split-screen comparison between reality and delusion. It gets more interesting when they started talking about the issue of escaping reality via delusions and if it is time for Rikka to face the harsh reality. [SERIES REVIEW COMING SOON]

7. Bakuman Season 2 and 3
The previous season improved a lot in terms of pacing, making the series more enjoyable to watch. Aside that the series is more focused on Mutou Ashirogi's trials in the world of manga like how can they make Detective TRAP last longer and the trials they went through during its run before moving to Tanto then to PCP. The second season also expanded Mashiro and Azuki's love story, especially during the time Mashiro was hospitalized due to some liver complications.

With the third season getting more interesting every week thanks to the introduction of a new rival, guess next year will be one explosive year to the Bakuman anime as it draws nearer to its series conclusion.

6. Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
The concept of generations of Gundam pilots is the first thing that got me into watching this series. Though the series started a bit slow, it gets more interesting in the last few episodes of the first arc. The Mobile Suit designs are interesting and Flit's growth from an innocent young boy into an old man who only wants genocide is something that rarely happens in a Gundam series. I might rank the series a bit higher if it wasn't for the fourth arc. At least Flit is awesome till the end. [PART III & IV REVIEW COMING SOON]

5. Sword Art Online
One of the most talked about anime show of 2012 for obvious reasons, the setting is really interesting and having a game beta tester as the main protagonist made me more intrigue since he is supposed to be the first person who has the knowledge that the game's creator plans to trap 10,000 players in his own video game. So why this show ranked 5th in my list? Simple, they have forgotten some elements that made the series intriguing in the first place and the second arc. I will reserve my thoughts about it my review of the series.

4. AKB0048
To be honest, I have very low expectations about this series. I mean, how can you write a series based on an idol group without making it too cliché? The result: a space opera featuring idols fighting for the rights of every human to experience free entertainment with a major focus on a group of young idols aspiring to become those famous idols. Since the series ended with a message about the General Elections, I can't wait for the second season! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]

3. Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Though I have problems with the series at first for skipping some fun details about the Hunter Exam arc, they were able to make up for it with the later story arcs. Aside that they fixed the issues I had with the 1999 anime, namely the amount of filler content and some of the animation, the 2011 anime was able to compress 90+ episodes of the 1999 anime into 50+ episodes. The reason why I got bored with the later episodes of the 1999 anime is that felt too slow for me that I tend to ignore the important details. The new series made me want to watch more Hunter x Hunter and it's a good thing. The only problem I have right now in the series is if they have plans to change the opening theme.

2. Fate/Zero
The first season is exciting but the meat of the story is in the second season. Seriously, we have the Kiritsugu's back story, an epic battle in some river featuring a Lovecraft-inspired monster, the Holy Grail War drawing closer to its conclusion and finally, how they were able to tie up the events that happened in the original Fate/stay night eroge without making any plot holes like what Star Wars did in its prequel movies. Did I mention that ufotable did a good job in adapting the series and the show had one amazing soundtrack? [SERIES REVIEW COMING SOON]

1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
After 25 years, the adventures of the Joestar family finally has a proper anime adaptation and boy, it didn't disappoint me! The anime series is so amazing that I decided to read the original source material because I can't wait what will happen next in the next episode! The series is currently on Part 2, my favorite story arc in the manga and hopefully, by the end of the arc, we might have an announcement if they will adapt Part 3 and 4!

Fate/Zero's Chogokin Armored Archer/Gilgamesh Figure Revealed

Aside from Saber, Fate/Zero's Archer-class Heroic Spirit, Gilgamesh will also have his own die-cast or Chogokin figure! This new figure was displayed in the Dengeki 20th Anniversary event last weekend.

Release date and the price of the said figure is still unknown of the moment. Anyways, more images of the figure below!