Friday Night Fights: 00 Raiser vs Jehuty

13 hours ago - 6:00 PM on 11.02.2012   |   Salvador G-Rodiles

*ding, ding, ding*

It's over!

Dracula tried to throw every ounce of power and flames at Roa, but he could not withstand Roa's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Better luck next century, Dracula. Roa wins! (7 > 4)

Next up on the agenda, we have two machines that are powered by a powerful energy source. Utilizing the power of the G.N. Particles, we have the 00 Raiser. And wielding the power of Metatron, Jehuty is ready to defend Kojima's honor. Both machines have great speed and power, so I look forward to seeing how you guys will affect the outcome of this battle.

Let's keep this fight clean, and remember to add a +1 after the robot that you decide to vote for. You have from today till Wednesday to vote, so let's get this fight started. 

*ding, ding, ding*

Begin!

[images by ZB and ToMo]

Review: One Piece: Pirate Warriors

19 hours ago - 12:30 PM on 11.02.2012   |   Bob Muir

I've never really paid attention to Dynasty Warriors, as Chinese history usually isn't something that grabs my attention. Besides, I didn't think that I was missing much more than a whole lot of button mashing. Then Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei announced that they were making a Dynasty Warriors game based on One Piece, Shonen Jump's anime/manga franchise about a stretchy boy trying to become the next Pirate King. Most anime-licensed games tend to be forgettable, but early footage looked surprisingly fun, like it could capture the energy of the source material.

Though plenty of anime games get passed over for localization, Namco Bandai actually decided to release One Piece: Pirate Warriors, albeit without an English dub. Fans should feel lucky the game is being released at all -- One Piece's popularity outside of Japan is far lower than other Shonen Jump properties like Bleach or Naruto. But is the game worth playing, or is it just Dynasty Warriors with cel-shading and stranger characters?

Annotated Anime: Fall 2012 Week 5

7:06 AM on 11.02.2012   |   Josh Tolentino

Hello, and welcome to your late-in-the-week edition of Annotated Anime, the weekly Japanator recap that made the most of its storm-born break period contemplating one of life's fundamental mysteries: How can you steer a tank with hands that plant flowers?"

The answer? "Easily, unless you're trying to do both at the same time." 

Our work is done, but before we retreat to the Meditation Hammock to contemplate whether the question was a rhetorical one, we should show the work which led to our profound insight. It mainly consists of watching a ton of hot new Japanese cartoons, including JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Girls und Panzer, Blast of Tempest, K, Magi, Hiiro no Kakera, Little Busters!, Robotics;Notes, Busou Shinki, Sword Art Online, Bakuman, Hidamari Sketch, Chuunibyou, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Muv-Luv Total Eclipse, Shin Sekai Yori, Space Bros., and Jormungand Perfect Order!  

Indeed, such a diverse banquet of Nippon's animations are rich fare to contemplate fundamental mysteries with. Read on to partake of the feast, and contribute your own musings in the comments!

Laharl brings out the pants in Disgaea Dimension 2 teaser

9:00 PM on 11.01.2012   |   Salvador G-Rodiles

For a good while I assumed that Disgaea Dimension 2 was going to be a sequel to the visual novel game on PSP, but then I realized that the PSP VN game was called Disgaea Infinite. Tossing aside my foolish assumption, Disgaea D2 is bringing back the strategy RPG goodness found in the other Disgaea games. 

Even though our trio is over thousands of years old, a game that takes place ten years after the original Disgaea is enough time for a change in wardrobe. Symbolizing the overlord's growth, Laharl has traded in his shorts and golden bracelets for pants and black leather gloves. And speaking of lower clothing change, Etna has decided to abandon her skirt in favor of going skirtless.  

Not to sound like a Negative Nancy, but I am a little concerned about the new game, since the good ending for the first Disgaea felt like it wrapped up everything in a satisfying manner. Perhaps the big thing in Disgaea D2's story is that they will probably cover the story that sets up towards Flonne becoming an Archangel.

Disgaea D2 will arrive in Japan on March 20th, 2013, with a DLC of Laharl and Etna's original costumes for those who pre-order the game. There's also going to be a limited edition that includes a figure of Etna and Flonne, a two disk soundtrack, and a hard cover design book that will make your stay in the netherworld a bit more pleasant. 

So to all of you NIS game fans, are you all looking forward to getting a new game with Laharl, Etna, and Flonne? 

[via ANN]

Review: Shakugan no Shana Season One

12:30 PM on 11.01.2012   |   Pedro Cortes

When I think of tsundere, the voice of Rie Kugimiya springs to mind. That lady has done some of the most famous bitchy girls in anime history, all within a relatively short span of time. One of the most popular of these girls is Shana, the titular character from Shakugan no Shana. Based off a series of light novels about a fiery little girl that fights demons with the help of a high school student, Shakugan no Shana spawned three popular shows and proved to be a merchandise juggernaut for a while.  

The first season of Shana was originally licensed by Geneon back in 2006, so you can guess that it's been a bit difficult to get your hands on it for the last several years. When it seemed that we wouldn't be getting another crack at Shana here in the states, Funimation came in and rescued the license. Along with the recently completed third series, they also picked the movie, the OVAs, the second season and the original. So now that you can easily get your hands on the first season of Shana, how does it hold up? Well, hit the jump and find out!

Bloggers Wanted: An open letter to...

10:00 AM on 11.01.2012   |   Chris Walden

Can you smell that? It's the smell of a fresh, new month! That means it is time to change the Bloggers Wanted topic, so get those caffeinated drinks and start thinking of something cool to write!

Oh yes, better explain what I want from you guys first. 

First of all, thank you to everybody that participated in the topic for last month! We read each and every post that ends up in the C-Blogs, Bloggers Wanted related or otherwise, so it's great to see people whacking keyboards for our sake! Of course, there were some great posts that didn't make it to the front page last month, but don't get disheartened! You could still make it to centre stage with this months topic!

What we want you to do is write a letter. This can be to anyone or anything, living, dead or fictional. It could be a fan letter that shows how much you appreciate Oda-sensei a famous figure, a letter that voices a complaint about a show or event, or just something extraordinarily creepy. If you can't think of a person, why not a letter about a specific thing? An open letter to ban anime recap movies, perhaps?

There are plenty of possibilities, so get your thinking hats on! Title your C-Blog 'An open letter to', followed by the subject. We'll then pick a few over the course of the month and throw them on the front page for everyone to see!

Incidentally, us folk at the Japanator underwater HQ have been thinking about answering any questions you might have. If you have something to ask us, on any topic, send it to tips@japanator.com and we might respond to it in a post in the near future. Let us know if you want to stay anonymous, and don't be too mean! You could ask us what our least favourite shows are, what we like to do in our spare time, favourite ice cream flavours... anything! Give it some thought!

From all of us here, good luck and have fun!

Argh me mateys: Gokaiger returns with a new piratey look

9:00 AM on 11.01.2012   |   Salvador G-Rodiles

To those that thought that Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Superhero Wars was going to be Go-Busters vs Gokaiger movie, think again! It so happens that a new team-up movie is in the works, which will do justice to those that suffered through Superhero Wars. And bringing back the Superhero Wars deja vu, Marvelous, Joe, Luka, Don, and Ahim start off as the Go-Buster's enemy. 

Before you activate your aura of skepticism, the movie is going to be handled by the Go-Busters staff, so there's hope that it will be great. But let's face it, Marvelous and the gang look amazing in their new getup, since it makes them look more like real pirates. I mean, check out Marvelous's brand spankin new pirate hat -- now that's the hat of a true captain. And let's not forget Ahim's new dress that makes her blend well with the crew. But most importantly of all, Don is doing a fine job in sporting that new bandana. 

Since Gai seems to be absent from the crew, there's a possibility that the piratey Gokaigers are the main villains of the movie in disguise. Yes, we know that it's been done, but it's still too early to point fingers at Toei. 

Go-Busters vs Gokaiger will set sail to Japanese theaters on January 19, 2013. And in the meantime, you can check out the images from the new movie in the gallery after the jump.  

[via Henshin Justice, image by Ru On]

MAGfest releases their full performer lineup

8:00 AM on 11.01.2012   |   Kristina Pino

I'm going to be hitting up MAGfest for the first time ever this January, and I'm ridiculously excited. Yesterday, I received a press release revealing the full performer lineup for the event, which includes names like Kinuyo Yamashita (notable: Castlevania), Those Who Fight (Final Fantasy-themed rock opera), Super Guitar Bros, Professor ShyGuy, and many more brilliant artists.

Are any of you Japanator readers also attending? I'd love to meet you! A team of sister site Destructoid's editors will also be there to join in the fun, so I'm looking forward to partying hard to the beats of nerddom in good company. 

For the full list of artists with links to their work, click past the jump! 

Evangelion: Q's theatrical trailer hits the internet

4:23 AM on 11.01.2012   |   Elliot Gay

The theatrical trailer for Evangelion: Q has hit the internet, and boy is it a doozy. Between the giant pink Eva units, and Asuka being a badass, I probably couldn't be more excited.

With all hell breaking loose in this third film, I can't wait to see what surprises are in store for us. Now that the films have completely dislodged themselves from the original story, this crazy tale can go anywhere it wants to.

Go check out the trailer in the link below. It's the top video.

EDIT: I'm getting some reports that the video is inaccessible outside of Japan? If that's the case, stay tuned for an update with a Youtube link.

EDIT 2: Trailer has been uploaded to Nico Nico. Thanks NicoHayashi! Link below should be fixed.

EDIT 3: Youtube trailer added to header.

[Via Hachima]

JapanaEight: Eight things that scare us

11:16 PM on 10.31.2012   |   Josh Tolentino

Take heed, dear readers! All Hallow's Eve is upon us, and on this most spooooky and scaaarrry of nights, things that go bump in the darkness ride out, be they on city streets in search of delicious candy, on videogame discs in search of delicious revenue, or on fun-loving Japanese culture blogs in search of delicious traffic *cough*.

Even we at Japanator are not immune to the Halloween fever, and in our delirious state, we've come up with eight things that put the fear in us. Our little fears run the gamut, from secret phobias and pet peeves turned frightening to disturbing societo-cultural trends and, well, random crap we thought was kind of creepy. Mostly the last bit, to be perfectly honest.

All ye of faint heart and jelly-like constitution (assuming you are not normally a monstrous slime or jelly-based lifeform), be warned! The rest of you can click on below to check out eight things that scare Japanator's hardiest writers, and perhaps take to the comments and tell us about your fears as well.

Prism Nana's second pilot promo contains magical rockets

7:00 PM on 10.31.2012   |   Salvador G-Rodiles

What's that? Are those tears that I'm seeing? I guess this is a sign that Prism Nana is going to be filled with some drama after all. And judging from that fall, there's a chance that the main girl was brought back from the dead to become a magical girl. However, the real star of the show is the rocket that hints towards a space themed magical girl series. 

Sure, we had Sailor Moon's magical girls that are named after planets in our solar system, but none of them have ever come close towards harnessing the power of a giant rocket. 

But don't think that you are off the hook yet, Prism Nana. Somewhere along the road, you will do something that will blow us out our seats. If not, then Prism Nana has a chance of going to places where no magical girl has gone before. 

[via ANN]

Idol(s) of the Week: Trick or Treat Edition, Part 4

6:00 PM on 10.31.2012   |   Hiroko Yamamura

It's time for the Idol(s) of the Week, Trick or Treat edition. All of the our lovely idols will prove to be a feast for the eyes on this lovely Halloween day. However, choose wisely! You never know what you may end up with!