← all stories
Bar
Facts
- Noted
- The fourth film in the 'Detective is in the Bar' series · 2026-07-14
Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/bar.
CC BY 4.0.
All coverage
1h ago
The fourth film in the 'Detective is in the Bar' series, titled 'Bye Bye Love: The Detective is in the Bar', has announced nine new cast members. The film is set for release on December 25, 2026, nine years after the previous installment. Directed by Kazuya Shiraishi and written by series screenwriter Ryota Furusawa, the movie stars Yo Oizumi as the detective and Ryuhei Matsuda as his partner Takada. The new cast includes Aju Makita as Akemi, a runaway high school girl and niece of recurring character Gen-chan; Koji Yamamoto as town mayor Okuji Yutaro; Takuma Oto as Mori Gousuke, president of a powerful local company; and Tomoya Nakamura as Adachi, the new underboss of the Kirihara group, replacing Yutaka Matsushige's character Aida. Additional cast members are Keiko Horiuchi as Misako, Toshinori Omi as Nakatani Shigeo, Hiromasa Taguchi as the Fukuoka yakuza Togashi, Takamitsu Nonaka as detective Midorikawa, and Shingo Mizusawa as Morino Kenkichi. The story follows the detective and Takada as they become entangled in a conspiracy after a request from Junko, played by Kyoka Suzuki.
15h ago
Shirakami Fubuki and Hoshimachi Suisei played a browser-based real escape game based on Steins;Gate, encountering a freeze that forced a restart. The article also recalls Oozora Subaru and Usada Pekora's first-time reactions to the series. The piece promotes the upcoming Steins;Gate RE:BOOT, which adds a new Gamma world line route.
2d ago
Orange Inc. announced on Thursday that its emaqi service will release four manga titles in English: Pierrot-Man (July 10), The Isekai Reincarnation Sketchbook of Hundred Burger-chan (July 17), Barefaced: The Man Who Left Public Security (July 17), and Beyond the Heavens (July 31). Two of the titles will also be available on the emaqi Premium subscription, which launched July 1. The service is also adding 88 additional volumes to its subscription catalog in July.
3d ago
Nugem Studio and Tesseract Studio announced that the Steam market for high-rarity items in the idle RPG Taskbar Hero will reopen in July after stability checks. A development roadmap through 2027 was also released, detailing new dungeons, items, classes, and Season 1. The announcement follows a period of market restrictions and sanctions against approximately 20,000 fraudulent users, as well as ongoing issues with save data and server compensation.
4d ago
Embark Studios launched Season 11: Galaxy Masters for THE FINALS on July 9, 2026. The space-themed update adds the Galaxy Estate arena with speed tunnels and anti-gravity zones, overhauls melee combat with defense, stamina, and precision strike systems, and introduces a Bot mode for Cashout. A space-themed battle pass and convenience improvements like an improved respawn system and expanded pins are also included.
5d ago
Christopher Barrett, the former director of Bungie's upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, has settled the defamation and breach-of-contract lawsuit he filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie in December 2024. Barrett had sought over $200 million (approximately 30 billion yen) in damages, alleging that the companies fabricated sexual harassment allegations to avoid paying him share compensation and retention bonuses owed after Sony's acquisition of Bungie in 2022. The lawsuit was initially dismissed by the Delaware Court of Chancery in December 2025 on jurisdictional grounds, and Barrett refiled in the Delaware Superior Court in January 2026. On July 9, 2026, a joint statement from all parties announced the settlement. Terms were not disclosed, but Barrett said he was "very satisfied with the result." As part of the resolution, his name has been added to the credits of Marathon as "Original Game Director." Barrett was fired in March 2024 after an internal investigation found he had made inappropriate comments about female subordinates' appearances and relationships.
6d ago
Developer Barely Making Games announced on July 8 that it will complete the railway simulation game 'Retro Rail GO!', which had been under consideration for cancellation after widespread criticism of its similarity to Taito's 'Densha de GO!' series. The title has been changed to 'Retro Rail: Japan!', and the in-game UI and demo version have been updated. The developer stated it made the changes not because it yielded to criticism, but to maintain a healthy and safe development path. The core gameplay remains unchanged. The demo update removed all AI-generated placeholder assets and replaced them with artist-created works, switched the train horn sound to one more characteristic of Japanese trains, added station character sprites and crossing gate models, and fixed UI scaling for widescreen aspect ratios. The developer also emphasized that no copyrighted materials were used. The game is set in a fictional Japanese railway route with retro 3D graphics reminiscent of 1990s simulators. It will offer two modes: Casual mode with relaxed schedules and Professional mode with strict timetable adherence and two-step notch control. Early access release on PC via Steam is planned within 2026. A demo is currently available.
6d ago
Toei Video announced the 2026 edition of its fan-vote-driven Blu-ray project, selecting 10 candidate tokusatsu works including Superhuman Barom-1, Inazuman, Metalder, and Kabutack. Fans vote in two rounds; one or more titles will receive a new 4K negative scan HD remaster and Blu-ray release. The first voting period runs July 8-16.
Jul 7
Dracogen Studios has announced Cosmic Crowbar, a story-focused 2D action-adventure game. Players take on the role of the hero Cosmic Crowbar, who crash-lands on Earth and fuses with an ordinary crowbar to survive. The game is set in a mysterious scrapyard, where players gather companions, fight enemies, and use crowbar-based actions. It is scheduled for release on PC via Steam.
Jul 7
The idle RPG Taskbar Hero has sanctioned approximately 20,000 users for cheating. The developers plan to resume Steam market trading of high-rank items after confirming stability, and will release a development roadmap within the week. A DLC adding trade ship slots and compensation coins has also been released.
Jul 5
JAST USA announced the full English voice cast for School Days Remastered during Anime Expo 2026 on July 5. The remastered version of Overflow's 2005 visual novel will receive its first official English dub. Katelyn Barr voices Kotonoha Katsura, Brittany Lauda voices Sekai Saionji, and P.M. Seymour voices Makoto Itou. The cast also includes Jalitza Delgado as Setsuna Kiyoura, Sara Ragsdale as Otome Katou, Kayli Mills as Hikari Kuroda, and others. The game will support English and Chinese text. School Days originally launched in Japan in 2005 and inspired a 12-episode television anime in 2007, followed by two OVA spinoffs in 2008. The story follows a love triangle among protagonist Makoto Itou, his classmate Sekai Saionji, and Kotonoha Katsura. The anime gained notoriety when its final episode was preempted by a real-life axe murder in Japan, leading to the "nice boat" catchphrase. JAST USA announced the English dub version is scheduled for overseas release in 2026. The remastered version updates the original fully animated visual novel for modern PCs with enhanced presentation and quality-of-life improvements.
Jul 2
The official website for Mebius Dust revealed five new cast members on Thursday. Kanon Amane, Kenshō Uesugi, Shōta Hayama, Kō Bonkobara, and Genta Nakamura join the series as members of the dangerous group Diabolic Ghost. The anime, an original TV anime by Dōga Kōbō based on Hajime Shinagawa's story, premieres July 9 on Tokyo MX and BS Fuji and streams on Crunchyroll.
Jun 30
Korean team HIBOO won the APAC League Cycle 2 finals of THE FINALS esports tournament The Grand Major Online Series on June 28, 2026. HIBOO came from behind to defeat Chinese team KZ in the final match. The win earns HIBOO $2,000 and 100 points toward qualification for the TGM Grand Final 2026 in Stockholm.
Jun 29
Netflix released the first full trailer for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners II on June 29, 2026, confirming a fall 2026 premiere for the 10-episode anime. Studio Trigger returns to animate the sequel, which tells a standalone story with an entirely new cast of characters rather than continuing the original series. Bartosz Sztybor is back as showrunner. The official logline describes the series as "a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge" set in Night City, where violence has become entertainment and survival often means becoming part of the spectacle. The logline poses the question: "When the world is blinded by spectacle, what extremes do you have to go to make your story matter?" The first Cyberpunk: Edgerunners became a breakout hit for Netflix and CD Projekt Red after its 2022 debut, helping revive interest in the Cyberpunk 2077 game. The new season follows a different set of characters navigating the same dystopian setting.
Jun 28
With the Sagrada Familia's main tower recently completed, a Game Spark feature looks back at the 1992 adventure game 'Gaudi: The Wind of Barcelona,' developed by Nippon Telenet / Wolf Team for the PC-88 and MSX2. The game, set against the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, follows former detective Henry Howard in a point-and-click adventure with a branching story and a unique rewind system called the HRS.
Jun 27
Eric Barone, creator of Stardew Valley, shared a development update on Haunted Chocolatier, the chocolate shop management sim announced in 2021. He explained the game is still in careful development because he wants every element players interact with to be 'perfect,' citing recent work on the recipe book UI as an example of the refinement process.
Jun 27
Team3Studio released Bootlegger's Bar for PC via Steam on June 25, 2026. The puzzle incremental game casts players as bartenders who take orders, mix ingredients, earn money, and unlock items. A demo with Japanese support is available. A 15% launch discount runs until July 9.
Jun 27
The idle RPG Taskbar Hero resumed its Steam Market on June 25 after a suspension caused by concentrated access. The update introduces a four-slot listing limit with an eight-hour cooldown per slot and temporarily restricts listings of the top three rarities. The developer also announced disciplinary action against 6,180 accounts for cheating.
Jun 27
Developer Turning Wheel announced on June 26 that Barony has surpassed 1 million sales, 11 years after its initial release. The first-person roguelike sold 1,400 copies on day one and slowed to under 1,000 per month, but major updates, especially the August 2023 Quality of Death update, drove steady growth. 75% of players started after that update, and 250,000 began playing in the past year.
Jun 27
Anime News Network's review of episodes 11 and 12 of The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King finds the finale unsurprising in both its romantic resolution and its heavy-handed treatment of the series' central theme about dehumanizing enemies. The reviewer notes that while the romantic plot concludes happily, the broader political conflict remains unresolved, and the show continues to struggle with how it portrays women.
Jun 24
The Korea-Thailand co-production BL drama Wooju Bakery will stream exclusively on FOD starting July 8, 2026. The sci-fi romance follows a bakery owner (Barcode Tinnasit) and a space prince (Jeff Satur) who crash-lands on Earth. The 8-episode series also stars Korean actors DION and Q, and Filipino idol group members Jayson and Alpha. Four episodes will be released weekly.
Jun 24
Nippon Columbia Group released a music video for 'Futari Kiri de', an unreleased song recorded by Hibari Misora in 1956 when she was 18. The video uses AI technology, produced by Toshiki Aoki and AI creators neruko and Int.Lab. The song is also included as a bonus track on the 4-CD set 'Uta no Housekibako', released today to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Misora's entertainment career.
Jun 24
VIZ Media and Yen Press announced their Spring 2027 manga licenses on June 12, with simultaneous social media posts. VIZ's slate includes 12 titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Over Heaven, and a Slam Dunk deluxe hardcover. Yen Press added four series, including Witches Can't Be Collared and Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom.
Jun 23
The manga adaptation of Machibari's light novel series The Banished Saint's Pilgrimage: From Dying to Thriving by Komugi Awaya is listed to end with its third compiled volume, shipping August 10. The manga launched in September 2023 and its second volume released in February 2025. The original light novel series ended in February 2025.
Jun 22
Eiga Natalie's Heisei Drama Committee column, written by Terebi no Sukima, revisits the 2006 late-night drama Akihabara@Deep. The piece calls it a symbolic work of the era and a turning point for Gen Hoshino, who met his best friend Toma Ikuta and ally Bananaman through the production. The drama featured Shunsuke Kazama, Toma Ikuta, Gen Hoshino, and Yuki Himura before their major breakthroughs.
Jun 20
The staff for The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King anime released a new visual and promotional video on Saturday previewing the show's climax. The final episode will air on June 25. The series debuted on April 9 after a delay from October 2025.
Jun 19
The television anime adaptation of Yu Hibari and Siso's light novel series Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her will premiere on July 6 at 11:30 p.m. on TV Tokyo. The second promotional video and key visual also revealed that the duo harmoe performs the ending theme song "Tilt." Crunchyroll will stream the series.
Jun 18
Nanatsu Mukunoki, creator of Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!, will launch a new manga titled Barikyari JK Mone-senpai in Comic Yuri Hime on July 16. The story follows two adult women, a career-focused office worker and a manga creator, as they navigate their own paths.
Jun 16
Saber Interactive announced that Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival will launch on October 8, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Two announcement trailers, a standard version and an uncensored extreme version, were released. Doug Bradley reprises his role as Pinhead. Pricing and editions were also revealed, with Deluxe Edition details coming later.
Jun 16
At NDC26, Embark Studios machine learning lead Martin detailed how the studio uses ML for recommendations, quest generation, and enemy behavior. A key takeaway was that a simple EASE recommendation model increased purchasers by 400% in The Finals, but organizational hurdles nearly killed the project until an engineer physically moved desks to the commercial team.
Jun 16
Proto Division updated the Barfender demo on June 15, adding cooperative play for up to four players, the ability to move the bar counter and set background music, a feature where customers throw objects, and Twitch streamer mode that lets viewers visit as customers. The full game is scheduled for Steam release in the first quarter of 2026.
Jun 16
SNK posted a mysterious video on June 16 showing a gold-armored figure, with a copyright notice listing companies involved in the 1994 Fatal Fury anime film. Fans speculate the character Laocorn Gaodamus from that film may join the game. Director Masami Obari responded with a quote hinting at a storm.
Jun 13
Anime News Network reviews episodes 9 and 10 of The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King, noting inconsistent animation in a hot springs scene and praising episode 10 for world-building and character growth as Sera confronts her assumptions about the world beyond Illdoran.
Jun 12
Kadokawa announced on June 12 that the television anime adaptation of Kureha's light novel series Bride of the Barrier Master will premiere in January 2027. The announcement came with a teaser visual, a teaser video, and the main cast. Akari Kitō will voice Hana Ichise, and Kikunosuke Toya will voice Saku Ichinomiya. Tōru Kitahata is directing the series at studio TROYCA. Minami Murayama is designing the characters, and Yūko Kakihara is handling series scripts. The music is composed by Yukari Hashimoto, Ruka Kawada, and R.O.N. The light novels, published by Kadokawa since December 2021 with illustrations by Bodax, have over 2.5 million copies in circulation. The seventh volume is due on June 16. A manga adaptation by Odayaka began in March 2022. Yen Press publishes both the novels and manga in English. The story follows Hana, an eighteen-year-old from a branch family of a barrier-weaving clan, who hides her powerful magic to avoid attention until clan head Saku seeks a bride strong enough to stand by his side.
Jun 12
Atari has opened pre-orders for the physical edition of Barbie Rewind, a collection of 16 Barbie video games spanning NES to GBA, including the previously unreleased Barbie Vacation Adventure. The collection releases November 12, 2026, with a Deluxe Edition limited to 2,000 units that includes a Barbie doll wearing an Atari T-shirt.
Jun 11
Nugem Studio and Tesseract Studio will deploy the next update for idle RPG Taskbar Hero on June 15, 2026. The Steam Market resumes with a capped listing system of four slots per eight-hour interval. Anti-cheat data and abnormal item deletion are added. The game surpassed 300,000 concurrent players on Steam.
Jun 10
Hyakumantenbara Salome announced an indefinite hiatus via a YouTube stream, citing declining physical condition and a desire to travel and work on other projects. She initially planned a July 2026 return but changed it to indefinite. The Nijisanji Vtuber debuted in 2022 and set a record for fastest million subscribers.
Jun 10
SNK released an animated video for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, teasing a new character. Masami Ōbari directed, storyboarded, served as chief animation director, and acted as creative producer. Studio G-1 Neo produced the animation with Asahi Production. The video arrives as the game nears its first anniversary.
Jun 10
June 9, Rock Day in Japan, saw anime and manga properties including Girls Band Cry, My Hero Academia, Precure, and Haibara's Teenage New Game+ post themed art and messages. The date is a wordplay on the numbers 6 (roku) and 9 (ku).
Jun 9
The official Oishinbo X account announced a special compilation for the official YouTube channel titled "A Little Kind Kaibara Yuzan Special." It compiles episodes where the strict gourmet advisor Yuzan Kaibara shows kindness. The special premieres on June 12 at 8:00 PM.
Jun 9
SWERY reported on June 8 that Hotel Barcelona's Steam user reviews have improved from 'Mixed' to 'Mostly Positive,' with recent reviews rated 'Very Positive.' The roguelike horror action game, developed by White Owls in collaboration with Grasshopper Manufacture, received a major update in March when the studio switched to self-publishing, adjusting movement, combat, and balance. A DLC and further updates in April also contributed to the turnaround.
Jun 8
Baroque Decay released a demo for its horror RPG Catechesis, following a boy named Daniel who is possessed by a demon and fights demons in dungeons at night. The demo includes the first dungeon, main character encounters, and about one hour of play. A new trailer also dropped. The release date is undecided.
Jun 6
Kiyoshi Kuwabara, music producer for Ensemble Stars!! and head of Arte Refact, resigned after acknowledging allegations of misconduct with women as largely true. His company Memento mori Inc. confirmed the facts and said his future as representative is under discussion. His band Sir Vanity also apologized and is reviewing upcoming releases and events.
Jun 5
The developers of the idle RPG Taskbar Hero have denied that recent mass account suspensions are random, after reports of false bans spread among players on Steam forums and social media. Nugem Studio and Tesseract Studio, the game's developers, announced that as of June 1 to 5, over 4,700 users have been sanctioned for using cheat programs to generate and sell in-game items on the Steam Community Market. The game, which peaked at over 260,000 concurrent players on Steam, allows trading of items for real money, prompting strict anti-cheat measures. However, numerous players claim they were banned without using cheats or external tools. Some users speculated that streaming software or other applications running alongside the idle game might trigger false detections. The developers told foreign media outlet The Gamer on June 4 that the suspensions are based on specific detection records and are not arbitrary. They have opened an appeal form for users who believe they were unfairly sanctioned. Affected accounts receive a Steam game ban, restricting online play and market trading, and the penalty is visible on the user's Steam profile.
Jun 4
Good Smile Company is releasing a plastic model kit of Tauburn from the 2010 anime Star Driver: The Radiant Takuto. The kit is the first plastic model of the Cybody and is being produced under the full supervision of its original designer, Shigeto Koyama. Further details are pending from the official account.
Jun 3
Musician Yasuyuki Okamura and actor Kento Nakajima, who sing the opening theme for the TV anime Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!, have appeared on the YouTube channel THE FIRST TAKE. A one-take video of the song Shunpatsuteki ni Koi Shiyou premieres on June 3 at 10:00 PM.
Jun 2
Kazuki Amamiya's Haibara's Teenage New Game+ light novel series concluded its main story with the 11th volume on Monday. A 12th volume containing an epilogue is planned. The series, which won the HJ Novel Award grand prize in 2020, began its final arc in July 2025 and inspired a TV anime that debuted in April.
Jun 2
The idle RPG Taskbar Hero received a June 2 update that deletes specific equipment and bans trading of items below Rare rarity on the Steam Community Market. The developers acted after cheaters caused chests to fail to open and drop rates to fall. Cube functions are restored, but the chest respawn issue remains under recovery request with Valve.
Jun 2
Developer Byte Barrel announced its new tactical FPS DIOXIDE on June 2, 2026. The game is set in a dystopian city devastated by industrial collapse and ruled by a ruthless corporation. Players take the role of an "immediate erasure target" who obtains a Core-ID management module that allows resurrection in a new body after death. The player fights corporate enforcers across areas including soot-covered production districts, toxic underground streets, and heavily guarded upper-class districts. The game features the studio's signature comic book-style visuals with heavy blood effects. DIOXIDE incorporates Soulslike elements with high difficulty, weapon customization through modular attachments, and a sanctuary hub where players manage resources and face moral dilemmas about helping or exploiting survivors. The game is planned for PC via Steam, with a playable demo scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. Byte Barrel is known for the Lovecraftian horror FPS series Forgive Me Father. DIOXIDE marks the studio's transition from the 2D/3D hybrid style of its previous games to full 3D graphics.
Jun 1
Nugem Studio and Tesseract Studio announced on June 1 that they are drastically limiting item trading in the free idle RPG Task Bar Hero, which hit over 140,000 concurrent players on Steam. The change removes most equipment grades and low-level items from the Steam Market, and raises the trading requirement to Cube level 10. Steam requested the reduction after server load hit its limit, partly due to malicious actors sending abnormal requests. The developers apologized for insufficient technical consideration and will give away six paid DLC costumes as compensation.