The upcoming Kamen Rider Zetts film has released the character visual and a character movie for Kumon Soma, played by M!LK member Sono Shunta. Soma is a cold strategist who transforms into Kamen Rider Mugen, a dark rider aiming to turn reality into a daydream world. The film opens July 24 as a double feature with Ultra Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity.
TOHO and Anime Limited have announced Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to Takashi Yamazaki's Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One. A new teaser trailer and poster were released on July 9, 2026, confirming that Min Tanaka joins the cast as biologist Kanji Murakami. Returning cast members include Ryūnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, and Hidetaka Yoshioka from the first film. The film is the first Japanese production to be advertised as 'Filmed for IMAX.' It will open in Japan on November 3, 2026, which is Godzilla Day, commemorating the original 1954 film's release. The same week, it will open in North America on November 6, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 6 as well, distributed by Anime Limited. This marks the first time a Japan-produced Godzilla film will open near-simultaneously in Japan and major Western markets. Yamazaki returns as director, screenwriter, and VFX supervisor, with Naoki Satō composing the music. Production is underway at TOHO Studios with ROBOT and Shirogumi.
Taito has opened pre-orders for the friendship-building simulation remake Eternal Fantasy 2nd Album Revival, releasing March 18, 2027 on Nintendo Switch. Physical editions purchased during Amazon Prime Day (July 10-13) include a download code for the original 1998 Sega Saturn port. The company notes the bonus may be sold separately later.
A Kindle sale on Gundam manga is underway, offering 50% off and up to half the purchase price returned as points. The sale includes 46 titles spanning the franchise's history, from 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin' to 'Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam' and 'Mobile Suit Gundam: Pulitzer.' The sale may end without notice.
KADOKAWA and ABEMA announced the "KADOKAWA・ABEMA Anniversary Anime Selection" project on July 10, offering free streaming of 10 anime titles that are celebrating anniversaries in 2026. The project includes two types of streaming: dedicated ABEMA channels for some titles and free marathon streams for others. Five titles will receive dedicated channels: Steins;Gate (15th anniversary, channel from July 11), Re:Zero (10th, from August 8), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (20th), Konosuba (10th), and Bungo Stray Dogs (10th), with channels opening sequentially. The Steins;Gate channel will stream all 24 TV episodes, the movie "STEINS;GATE: The Movie - Load Region of Déjà Vu," all 24 episodes of Steins;Gate 0, and two special episodes (#23β and #25) streaming for the first time on ABEMA, available free for two weeks after airing. The other five titles-Zero no Tsukaima (20th), Aria the Scarlet Ammo (15th), Haganai (15th), Joker Game (10th), and Pompo: The Cinéphile (5th)-will receive free marathon streams. A dedicated website for the project has also been launched.
The butt-battle action game Ketsu Battler will launch its Series 2 major update and DLC character Kiden on July 30. Details will appear in the August issue of CoroCoro Comic on July 15. The franchise also has a manga adaptation that ranked third in the 2026 Manga Ranking We Want to See Animated.
Publisher Flashlight Games and developer Death Guild have postponed the release of 'The Brave Party Was Annihilated' from July 22, 2026 to the fourth quarter of 2026. The team cited a need for final adjustments to improve overall feel and battle balance. A new demo version is planned to gather user feedback. The game is a roguelite dungeon exploration adventure where players choose one quirky hero to escape a dungeon.
Kadokawa's Comic Newtype began serializing the crossover manga Minuet Zero on July 10, 2026. The story, set after the Gundam Wing war, sees Britannia overwhelm Mobile Suits with Knightmare Frames. Satoshi Ogasawara draws the manga, with scenario by Hirojiro Taniguchi. The project was announced in December 2025 and commemorates the 30th anniversary of Gundam Wing and the 20th of Code Geass.
King Records announced a robot anime orchestral concert for October 24-25 at Tokyo's Nippon Seinenkan Hall, marking the 45th anniversary of the Starchild label. Performers include Maya Ayukawa, Hiroko Moriguchi, Chihiro Yonekura, Yumi Matsuzawa, and angela. The program will feature songs from Mobile Suit Gundam, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Martian Successor Nadesico, and Fafner in the Azure, with a two-day format and ticket pre-sales starting July 11.
Cygames held the opening show of the first Umamusume world tour on June 20-21 at Ariake Arena. The two-day event featured performances by cast members, historical references to real horse racing, and a surprise appearance by the voice actor for newly announced character Titleholder. The concert included songs from the game's recent scenarios and a tribute to the franchise's global growth since its English version launched in 2025.
Pocketpair released the full version 1.0 of Palworld on July 10, 2026, ending an early access period that began in January 2024. The open-world survival crafting game, which has exceeded 40 million total players, introduces two new regions: the floating Tenyo-kyo and the story-critical World Tree. The update adds 72 new Pal species, bringing the total to 287, and overhauls nearly every system including Pal parameters, base building, multiplayer, and graphics. New breeding mechanics called Awakening and Mutation are included. The number of tower bosses rises from five to eight, and the player level cap expands from 50 to 80. To mark the release, 4Gamer.net will host a Twitch stream starting around 1:00 p.m. JST, touring the new areas and hunting for new Pals. The streamer has played the development version but warns that the game has changed so significantly that even veteran players may feel like newcomers.
NetEase Games and Starry Studio have announced that the free-to-play open-world survival game Once Human will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on August 25, 2026. The console version includes over 300 hours of content, a new first-person view, crossplay and cross-progression support, and enhanced controller features. Pre-order packs are now available on both stores.
Happinet will exhibit three titles for trial play at the indie game exhibition Tokyo Game Dungeon 13 on August 8, 2026. The adventure game 'Tokyo Stories', developed by Dricom, uses pixel art and 3D visuals and is set in a deserted Tokyo. Also playable are the RPG 'Artis Impact' and the action ADV 'Mononoke no Kuni'. 'Artis Impact' launches on Switch on September 17, 2026, while 'Mononoke no Kuni' is planned for Steam in 2027.
Manga Up! Global added three manga over the past week: Trained to be the Ultimate Anti-magic Spellblade (July 2), Uglymug, Epicfighter SSS (July 6), and AGERECO! Getting Into the Voice Acting Spirit! (July 10). The fantasy, comedy, and voice-acting titles are now available on the platform.
Bliss Brain released a countdown trailer on July 9 for the remastered version of '70s-style Robot Anime Geppu-X,' a 1999 PlayStation shooter built from 8,000 hand-drawn cels and structured like a TV anime episode. The remaster, launching July 16 on PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox, and PC, restores the original Betacam footage to 24fps and adds modern features like rewind and CRT mode. Original voice actors and theme song artists return.
Bliss Brain has released a countdown trailer for the re-release of the 1999 PlayStation shooting game '70s-style Robot Anime GEPP-X', scheduled for July 16. The trailer accompanies a message from original creator Akira Hachiteki, who reflects on the game's excessive production-over 8,000 hand-drawn cels and four CD-ROMs-and its cult status after poor sales. He calls the game a 'genuine fake' that required foolish effort to become authentic.
Cygames has restocked two 1/7 scale figures from Uma Musume Pretty Derby at its official shop CyStore. The Kuren-chan and Mejiro Aldan figures are in their race outfits and priced at 23,500 yen and 25,200 yen respectively. Orders are expected to ship within 15 business days.
An IGN report cited by Game Spark reveals that over 50 staff have been laid off at Bethesda Game Studios, including veteran developers who worked on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind onward. Current and former employees say the cuts threaten The Elder Scrolls 6, with replacement workers, onboarding delays, and staff from The Elder Scrolls Online being pulled in to fill gaps. A 27-year veteran, Christiane Meister, has also left.
Bandai is releasing a new gashapon set called 'MLB TM Capsule Torso Players Edition' featuring Japanese players active in MLB, including Shohei Ohtani, Munetaka Murakami, Kodai Senga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Seiya Suzuki, and Lars Nootbaar. The six-figure lineup will be available in the third week of July 2026 at 500 yen each.
The standard edition DVD and Blu-ray for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Arc Chapter 1: Akaza Returns will be released at Lawson stores on July 29, 2026, with a Lawson-exclusive bonus set of three smartphone stickers featuring Tanjiro Kamado, Giyu Tomioka, and Akaza. The film was the only Japanese work nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards. The animation is produced by ufotable.
The strip mahjong game 'Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns', developed by ILLUMINATION and Infinite Loop, introduces a free camera movement feature allowing players to view heroines from any angle during matches and reward scenes. The heroines respond with teasing lines. The game supports VR with a 'Desktop Mode' and 'Auto Mode' for non-mahjong players. It is scheduled for a summer 2026 release on Steam.
505 Games and KUNOS Simulazioni released Ver.0.8 for Assetto Corsa EVO, adding the KTM X-Bow GT2, GT4, and Volkswagen Golf 8 R, plus the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit. The update expands user-generated content with livery tools, mod cars in multiplayer, and league event organization. VR receives foveated rendering and performance tuning as the early access build continues toward 1.0.
Netmarble released a story trailer and a combat video for Solo Leveling: Karma, a PC and mobile game launching this year. The game covers a story segment from the webtoon that the anime has not yet adapted. The videos contain major spoilers for that arc. A-1 Pictures animated the game's opening.
Sega will live stream the 13th Anniversary Tournament for SegaNET Mahjong MJ on July 16, 2026, featuring four M-League players: Genta Takeuchi, Yu Suzuki, Akina Mizuhara, and Takanori Nagai. Commentary comes from Maki Asami and Koshin Asakura. A support campaign offering autographed tumblers runs until the stream begins.
Researchers from General Intuition, Kyutai, and Epic Games have released MIRA, an AI model trained on 10,000 hours of Rocket League gameplay. It generates 20 frames per second on a single B200 GPU, allowing players to control a car in real time with no physics or rendering engine. The model uses data from the Necto bot, has a 4-second context window, and the team has released the dataset and code.
Pocketpair advised players to remove old mods before the July 10 1.0 update for Palworld. The update changes game specifications, and leftover mods can cause crashes, save data corruption, and quest progression issues. The developer recommends backing up saves, deleting mod files, and verifying game files on Steam. Starting a new save is also suggested to fully experience the 1.0 evolution, which adds new areas, Pals, and story missions.
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.
The new trailer for Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three, the final chapter of the sci-fi series, was released worldwide on July 9. It shows Paul Atreides as Emperor facing assassination plots, his promise to Chani to end the war, the return of Duncan Idaho, and a full appearance by Alia. Robert Pattinson appears as a mysterious new character. The film opens December 18 simultaneously in Japan and the US.
Anime Feminist reviews the premiere of A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even. The episode introduces Elizabeth Leiston, who after being betrayed by her fiancé the crown prince, vows to destroy her homeland using magical grimoires. The reviewer appreciates the protagonist's level-headed ambition and her bond with maid Mireille, but notes the familiar villainess setup and Elizabeth's misplaced anger toward commoners. The animation is decent, and the show offers an enjoyable time for genre fans.
Myrion Studio announced Dungeon Betwixt, a fantasy extraction collection RPG for PC via Steam. Players navigate dungeons with rival adventurers, traps, and sealed vaults, using parry-and-counter combat and extraction mechanics. Between runs, they craft gear and prepare items. Playtesting is planned, with details to come. Post-launch content includes new classes, maps, loot tiers, and seasonal events.
ABEMA announced a special project, 'KADOKAWA・ABEMA Anniversary Anime Selection,' offering free streaming of 10 KADOKAWA anime celebrating anniversaries in 2026. The lineup includes dedicated channels for five series, starting with Steins;Gate on July 11, and free marathon streams for five more. The project runs through the year.
Anime! Anime!'s reader survey for the second consecutive year asked which medicine-related anime character comes to mind. Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries took first place with about 33% of votes, followed by Detective Conan's Ai Haibara at about 15% and Touhou Project's Eirin Yagokoro at about 7%. The survey ran from June 13 to June 20, 2026, and collected 322 responses.
The IMAX version of 'Movie Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island' will screen simultaneously from the film's July 24 release date. A MAX visual featuring Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi in extreme close-up has been released. The film is the first theatrical adaptation of Nagano's manga, adapting the 'Siren Arc'. Animation production is by CygamesPictures, with a cast including Haruka Aoki, Makoto Tanaka, and Ari Ozawa.
ASCII.jp reports that the first volumes of Hidamari Sketch and Joukamachi no Dandelion are now available on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited subscription service. Hidamari Sketch is a four-panel manga that was adapted into four TV anime series. Joukamachi no Dandelion is a four-panel manga about a royal family with special abilities, adapted into a TV anime in 2015. Subscribers can read these volumes at no additional cost.
Pocketpair announced on July 8, 2026 that Palworld has surpassed 40 million total players across PC, Mac, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. The milestone comes two days before the game's 1.0 full release on July 10. To mark the occasion, the studio released a special retrospective video looking back at the game's updates since Early Access began on January 19, 2024. A 30% off sale is ongoing on Steam, dropping the price to 2,380 yen until July 10 at 2:00 JST. The 1.0 update adds 47 new base Pals, 25 new subspecies, new areas Tenyo Village and World Tree, a revamped main story, and a level cap increase from 65 to 80. The patch notes span 27 pages. Upon the full release, concurrent Steam players surged past 470,000, ranking fourth on the platform behind Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, and Dota 2. The game's all-time peak concurrent count is approximately 2.1 million, the third highest in Steam history. Pocketpair also confirmed the price would not increase after the full release. Some MODs may not work with the 1.0 update due to specification changes.
A new behind-the-scenes video for 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' shows Tom Holland performing most stunts himself with almost no CG, as director Destin Daniel Cretton praises his physical abilities. The film recreates Marvel comic covers in its battle scenes and follows Peter Parker four years after the events of 'No Way Home'.
NetEase Games announced a new first-person escape action game, Gui Ying Cang Feng, inspired by Chinese strange tales, and opened its Steam store page. The game is set in a Chinese-style land devastated by a calamity called Shadow Disaster, where players explore stages, fight monsters and other players with cold weapons, and escape within a time limit. A PC test begins August 7.
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.
Anime News Network published a five-part roundup of Tanabata greetings from across the anime, manga, and video game industries on July 7, 2026. The collection includes wishes and illustrations from official accounts for series such as Bungo Stray Dogs, Detective Conan, My Hero Academia, Sakamoto Days, Doraemon, Chibi Maruko-chan, Hell's Paradise, and Dragon Quest. Video game franchises like Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, and Like a Dragon also participated, alongside creators including Hideo Kojima, Yuki Kaji, and Shoko Nakagawa. Several series tied their posts to new releases: the second season of Yoroi Shin Den Samurai Troopers premiered on July 7, My Happy Marriage released a special Tanabata illustration and announced a three-episode special for 2026, and My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren't Wicked began airing on July 8. The roundup also features greetings from manga titles like Chiikawa, MARRIAGETOXIN, and Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, as well as from studios Tatsunoko Production and Square Enix.
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on July 8 that the DMM GAMES version of SD Gundam G Generation Eternal will release on July 22. The smartphone version of the strategy simulation launched in April 2025. The DMM GAMES version runs natively on Windows 11 PCs and supports data linkage with the smartphone version, allowing players to continue progress across platforms. Pre-registration is open, and a campaign will award a total of 3,000 in-game diamonds if 100,000 players register. The game includes an auto mode for easier play. Players form squads by combining units and characters from across the Gundam franchise, with a supporter slot and leader skills that boost performance. History stages for Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED X Astray have been added. An in-game event commemorating RX-78 Day runs until July 16. The DMM GAMES version is free-to-play. PC specifications require Windows 11, an Intel Core i5-1135G7 or equivalent CPU, 16GB of RAM, 30GB of disk space, and a Radeon RX 470 or GeForce GTX 960 graphics card.
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.
The Harvey Awards announced nominees for the 2026 ceremony, with five anime and manga-related projects nominated for Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel. The Best Manga category includes seven titles. The winners will be announced at New York Comic Con on October 9.
Graniph will release 20 collaboration items with the anime Detective Conan on July 14, 2026. The lineup includes T-shirts, hoodies, bags, and more featuring characters like Conan Edogawa, Ran Mouri, Kaito Kid, and the Black Organization. Prices range from 1,200 yen for socks to 8,900 yen for a zip hoodie. Advance web reservations began July 8.
Microsoft announced 10 titles coming to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass between July 9 and 21, 2026. Two day-one new releases, Ascend to Zero and Fogpiercer, lead the lineup. Other additions include the Xbox debut of The Planet Crafter and the official launch of Palworld on July 10.
Good Smile Company announced six new Brickroid figures from the Rebuild of Evangelion films, including Evangelion Unit-01 Awakened Ver., Unit-00, Unit-02 Beast Mode Second Stage, Mark.06, the Fourth Angel, and the Tenth Angel. A Building A + Base Set also joins the lineup. The Evangelion figures release in December 2026, and the building set in November 2026.
Kinyuu Joshi. Co., Ltd. and SocioFuture Co., Ltd. began providing Letter, a communication tool for experiential IR, on July 7, 2026. The project marks the 10th anniversary of Kinyuu Joshi., which started in 2016 and has grown to 3,500 members and over 10,000 contacts nationwide.
Amazon Kindle has launched a large-scale sale offering up to 50% points back on select Kadokawa manga titles, running from July 7 through July 13 for the Kadokawa campaign and until July 23 for the Summer Super Point Fair. The promotion coincides with Amazon Prime Day and covers dozens of series, including Delicious in Dungeon, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, Nichijou, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5: Mementos Mission, and Gunslinger Girl. For Delicious in Dungeon, all 14 volumes (excluding volume 10) are eligible; buying the full set costs 10,742 yen and yields 5,012 yen in points. The Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible Complete Edition and Ryoko Kui's sketchbook Daydream Hour are also included. The Persona manga adaptations are similarly discounted: all 11 volumes of Persona 3 cost 6,897 yen with 3,454 points back, all 13 volumes of Persona 4 cost 8,173 yen with 4,092 points back, and all 3 volumes of Persona 5: Mementos Mission cost 2,057 yen with 1,029 points back. Other notable titles in the sale include Fate/stay night, Fate/Zero, Today's Menu for the Emiya Family, A Bride's Story, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Erased, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, and The Eminence in Shadow.
The first episode of Rich Girl Caretaker introduces Itsuki, a normal student who becomes the secret caretaker for the outwardly perfect but inwardly messy Hinako. The episode frames Itsuki's abandonment by his gambling parents as comedy, and Hinako's dependency on him as a running joke. The review finds the humor flat and the central relationship more uncomfortable than charming, comparing it unfavorably to Kare Kano.
Anime Feminist's review of the first episode of The Duke's Son Claims He Won't Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration highlights the series' focus on tenderness within the arranged marriage subgenre. The premiere introduces noblewoman Elsa, who enters a political marriage with Duke Julius, and depicts her impoverished background and genuine character. The review notes the show's refreshing sincerity compared to crueler entries in the genre.
A first-impression review of the anime A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires finds the revenge plot promising but undermined by shallow characterizations. The prince's betrayal of Elizabeth is rushed, and the king and chancellor's decision to abandon her feels flimsy given her power and importance. The review argues the episode's emotional shift lacks conviction because the characters act as plot demands rather than consistent personalities.