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4h ago
The Chinese version of the mobile RPG Sennen no Tabi ELF stopped all services on August 26 after operator and developer Inchi Game entered bankruptcy liquidation. The announcement came through the Bilibili official account. Login, payments, and gameplay are unavailable, with no restart date given. The Japanese version, published by Zenexus, a separate company, remains in pre-registration with a fall 2026 release planned. Whether the bankruptcy affects the Japanese version is not stated.
4h ago
Astronaut Diaries showed Denari at gamescom 2026, a hack and slash action adventure set on islands facing destruction. The world draws on Maori, Polynesian, and South Pacific culture and mythology. Composer David Mason and guest vocalist Emi Evans of the NieR series are attached. Ninja Kiwi will publish, and a Switch version is confirmed. A demo is live on Steam.
4h ago
Mukuil Inc. is recruiting two students for the October 2026 opening of Tech Buddy, a school for engineers with one to five years of practical experience who want to learn AI-driven development. Applications close September 21, 2026. The first two applicants pay 199,000 yen instead of the regular 398,000 yen. The curriculum runs 71 sections across about 168 hours, covering Claude Code, spec-driven development, RAG design, and security.
5h ago
POPKIT Co., Ltd. will produce PRICEKIT, a sister app to its POP creation tool POPKIT, which has passed 700,000 cumulative users. The app streamlines price card creation and price change operations and is scheduled for release in early 2027. The company cites frequent storefront price revisions and anticipated consumption tax reductions as the reason.
5h ago
Vercors Games, a new Spanish studio built from Tequila Works veterans and creators from Airship Syndicate and Blizzard Entertainment, revealed its debut title Tuned In at gamescom 2026. The horror game is played through an old CRT television interface: players turn dials to tune channels, adjust volume, and tweak picture quality to solve puzzles. Its programs form an anthology of nightmares spanning slasher, psychological, and J-horror inspired by Japanese folklore. A demo, Tuned In: The Prologue, is on Steam.
5h ago
FlashLabs released GLM-5.3-MLX, an Apple Silicon-optimized MLX quantization of Z.ai's open-weight GLM-5.3 (about 743B total parameters, 40B active, 1M-token context), on Hugging Face. The OrcaSAQ method cuts the FP8 size from about 1.51TB to roughly 322GB at 2-bit, a 79 percent reduction, while keeping about 80.2 percent accuracy. A 512GB Mac with M3 Ultra runs the 2-bit, 3-bit, and 4-bit builds locally.
8h ago
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple has built and tested an internal prototype Apple Pencil designed for the foldable iPhone, unofficially called the iPhone Ultra. The prototype is shorter than the regular Apple Pencil to match the device size. Gurman notes the accessory could scratch the delicate screen, and that releasing one would contradict Steve Jobs' well-known dislike of styluses.
8h ago
Ikkado Ito's The Long Summer of August 31 manga is getting a television anime by SHAFT and a live-action series adaptation, the manga's official X/Twitter account announced on Monday. The account also revealed an ultra teaser visual for the anime. Seven Seas Entertainment publishes the manga physically, while Kodansha's K MANGA service publishes it digitally.
8h ago
Chinese marketing analysis firm DataEye reports that 89 of the top 100 anime and dramas on Douyin in May 2026 were AI-produced. The China Netcasting Services Association counted roughly 128,000 short dramas released in China in the first quarter of 2026, with 95% generated by AI. ByteDance's video-generating models, including Seedance 2.5, are driving the surge.
8h ago
WannaBe Inc. launched OWNMORE, a new in-house ladies' apparel brand, through its fashion brand platform TRAME on August 30, 2026. The brand proposes feminine styles with a handsome essence, combining delicate lace, flowing tulle, and glitter with a certain decisiveness. The name blends "one more" and "own." Director Hiroshi, who previously directed the brand NOTRE emor, leads OWNMORE.
9h ago
Good Smile Company opened reservations for the Hyper Body Dorothy action figure from Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. The figure includes four interchangeable expression parts, the Ungrateful Oz weapon, and removable mechanical wing parts. It costs 18,500 yen with reservations open until October 14, and shipping is scheduled for October 2027.
9h ago
BANDAI SPIRITS announced that Stark, the kind-hearted warrior from the TV anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, will join the S.H.Figuarts action figure line. The Stark figure includes his signature battle axe, which can be worn on his back using joint parts, and soft materials in parts of the costume to allow for dynamic poses. Interchangeable expression parts include a comical crying face and combat expressions. The set also includes his favorite drink, the Jumbo Berry Special, and a bonus magic tome that connects with the separately sold S.H.Figuarts Frieren figure. Pre-orders for Stark, along with re-releases of Frieren and Fern, begin Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at general retailers. All three figures are scheduled for release in March 2027. Frieren is priced at 8,800 yen, Fern at 9,350 yen, and Stark at 9,900 yen, all tax included. Frieren and Fern re-releases also include their respective magic effect parts.
9h ago
Developer 8th Street opened the Steam store page for Recycle Shop Eko on August 31. The game blends binary art style 3-match puzzles with a horror novel, tasking players to observe 7 characters and investigate supernatural phenomena across 35 episodes. It releases within 2026 and is free to play.
9h ago
One or Eight Co., Ltd. announced the open beta test for 'Warota, My House Is Next to the Demon King's Castle www' starts today, August 31, at 2 PM JST. The action RPG blends village building, life simulation, and base defense. The test runs to September 7, supports Japanese, English, and Chinese, and covers play up to the first boss.
10h ago
CCMC opened the Steam store page for Ollie Ninja Slash, a high-difficulty platform action game starring Hololive Indonesia talent Kureiji Ollie. Developed by 7 Moon Studio, the game launches September 18, 2026 for 250 yen. Wishlist registration is now available.
10h ago
Hololive members Laplus Darknesss and Botan Shishigami have been appointed Red Bull Virtual Ambassadors. A collaboration campaign runs from September 1 to September 30 at Don Quijote, Apita, PiaGo, You Store, and Robin Hood stores nationwide. Buyers of a 250ml 6-can pack receive a pouch; purchases of 12 or more cans enter a lottery for an original jacket via the majica app. A commemorative stream by the two airs August 31.
10h ago
Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions announced on August 31 that Tsumugi Wenders from 'Summer Pockets' is now the tourism ambassador for Ogijima in Kagawa Prefecture. The appointment coincides with Tsumugi's birthday and the 'Ogijima Lighthouse Summer Pockets Festival vol.4,' which includes a 'Lighthouse Candle Night' recreating a birthday scene from the game.
11h ago
The Jinja Meguri Production Committee, four companies led by LLC ReproMedia, is crowdfunding on CAMPFIRE to expand the Jinja Meguri portal, which offers 360-degree 3D VR shrine tours and online offerings. The drive runs August 21 to September 14, 2026, targeting 1 million yen. Kyoto's Taiho Shrine is the first collaborator.
11h ago
On August 31, Kodansha announced that Ikkado Ito's manga "The Long Summer of August 31st" will receive both a TV anime and a TV drama adaptation. Shaft, the studio behind "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" and the "Monogatari" series, handles animation production. The time-loop comedy, serialized in Morning, has all 13 volumes in print.
11h ago
Operator Blackbox announced an audition for new members of the 2.5-dimensional idol VTuber group LovviPale!! during an official stream on August 30, 2026. The entry period runs until September 20, 2026. Applicants must be women aged 18 or older, with singing and dance experience welcomed but not required. The selection process includes document screening, an online interview, and an offline selection in Tokyo.
11h ago
Kodansha Creators' Lab announced 'BUZZ or DIE', a death game adventure from indie creator Bon, scheduled for release on PC (Steam) within 2026. Players team with a former cult leader and compete for viewer likes by mocking opponents in short videos. The winner is acquitted; the loser faces public execution and eternal dignity destruction. Character art is by Atsushi Okada.
11h ago
The official Gunpla fan community Builders Note announced four kits for reissue based on voting in the Gunpla Reissue Conference 2026 Summer. A lottery sale runs from August 31 to September 14, 2026, with winners announced September 18. The kits are RE/100 Nightingale and Dijeh, plus RG Johnny Ridden's Zaku II and Force Impulse Gundam SpecII.
11h ago
G.S.Collection's [SC] line is releasing a 1/7 scale figure of Hatsune Miku based on the main visual of the 'Hatsune Miku Symphony 2025 Yokohama・Kobe Performances' full orchestra concert. The figure, called 'G.S.Collection [SC] Hatsune Miku Symphony 10th Anniversary Ver.', is priced at 55,000 yen and ships in January 2028.
11h ago
Good Smile Company is turning Cutie Honey Nova's bike Honey Chaser and a Honey Chaser & Hurricane Honey set into PLAMATEA plastic models. The solo bike is non-scale at roughly 205mm, priced at 7,700 yen, and scheduled for release in July 2027. The combined form Armored Hurricane is reproducible.
11h ago
CLLENN, the DMM Group's digital comic publisher, began distributing six new horizontal-reading manga works in August 2026. The slate spans labels like Comic REBEL and DEDEDE, including 'The Yakuza President's Devoted Obsession' and 'The Cursed-Ear Bride'. Titles are available on platforms such as Piccoma and Mecha Comic.
11h ago
BS TV Tokyo announced a 10th season of the live-action Wakako-zake series, premiering next January with Rina Takeda returning. For the first time in the series, episodes were filmed overseas: the first two at a beach resort on Australia's Gold Coast, with Tourism Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland, Experience Gold Coast, and Qantas involved.
12h ago
Premium Bandai opens reservations on August 31, 2026, for re-releases of 11 High Grade kits spanning multiple Gundam series. The lineup includes RG Strike Freedom Gundam Deactive Mode, G Gundam's Mandala Gundam, Gundam Maxter, and Gundam Rose, plus GQuuuuuuX's Gelgoog (GQ), Witch from Mercury units, and G-Reco's G-Self. Shipments start November 2026.
13h ago
Tencent released the AI model Hy4 preview on August 28, 2026. It is an open model with 770 billion total parameters, 490 billion active parameters, and a 1 million token context length. It surpasses GPT-5.6 Sol on some benchmarks and is free under Apache License 2.0.
13h ago
Something We Made will release Toem 2 on September 29. The sequel to the hand-drawn adventure game Toem launches on Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2. The previous game holds an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, with 99% of 9,599 user reviews positive. The new installment adds running, jumping, climbing, new camera attachments, and more.
13h ago
neko punch Inc. published a production case study for FREECASH advertising creatives covering 26 projects over 7 months from January 2026. The workflow combines video and static image banners to deliver over 130 pieces per month, built as an integrated generative AI pipeline from planning to delivery, including handling ad review rejections.
13h ago
Bandai Spirits announced the re-release of the METAL ROBOT魂 <SIDE MS> ν Gundam action figure from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack in March 2027. Pre-orders open at general retailers on September 1, 2026. A separate HWS & Display Parts Set was also confirmed, with details to come later.
13h ago
Indie circle Crush-vAdin opened the Steam store page for SATSUBATSU SUCCUBUS on August 29. The high-speed FPS, planned for PC via Steam in the fourth quarter of this year, stars a protagonist cursed by the succubus Lilin Zeckchole to kill angels. Developer Bhaskara previously made Cult-Strict Gal and Gal Tomura, both rated Very Positive on Steam.
15h ago
Netflix series "They Were Told Something About Me?" starring Koji Yakusho and written by Kankuro Kudo begins streaming on October 22. The story follows a major actor forgotten by the public and his family after returning to Japan. Planning is handled by Aki Isoyama, with the directing staff from the "Futekoto" team reuniting.
20h ago
TMS Entertainment announced on Monday that Baki Gaiden: Kaioh Retsu wa Isekai Tensei Shitemo Ikkō ni Kamawan, the isekai spin-off of Keisuke Itagaki's Baki franchise, is receiving a TV anime adaptation. The announcement came via TMS Anime's YouTube channel and Comic Natalie. The manga centers on the Kenpo-style master Retsu Kaioh, who reincarnates into another world after losing his life in a battle with swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. In the new world, Retsu sets out to prove the strength of Chinese martial arts against swords, magic, and powerful creatures. The manga launched in Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2020. Eiji Mutsui is drawing the manga, while Keisuke Itagaki and Sai Ihara are credited for the original concept and story, respectively. As of August 2026, the series has surpassed 2 million copies in circulation across print and digital editions. Akita Shoten published the first compiled book volume in May 2021 and the 16th volume on March 6. The 17th volume will ship on September 8. TMS Entertainment continues its involvement with the franchise following Baki, Baki Hanma, and BAKI-DOU.
20h ago
The official website for The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You anime confirmed Yumika Yano joined the season 3 cast as Kishika Torotoro. Kishika is a third-year high school student, captain of the girls' kendo club, and Rentaro's newest girlfriend. She appeared in the season's ninth episode on Sunday. Hikaru Sato returns to direct at Bibury Animation Studio.
23h ago
Kadokawa revealed on Sunday a teaser trailer, teaser visual, character visuals, and the February 19, 2027 opening date for the upcoming anime film based on Tsurumaikada's Olympic ice-skating manga Medalist. The film will tell a story set after the end of the television anime's second season, with the cast and staff from the TV anime returning. The first season premiered in Japan on the "NUMAnimation" programming block on TV Asahi and 23 affiliated channels in January 2025, with Disney+ streaming it. The second season debuted on January 24 on the same block and ended on Sunday. Hulu is streaming the anime in the U.S., and Disney+ is streaming it in other countries and territories. The second season featured the returning cast and staff, with Hazuki Nakamura as art director and Kentaro Kashiwagi as compositing director of photography. The anime's second season opening theme was "Cold Night" by girl group HANA, and the ending theme was "Rookies" by Conton Candy. Japanese figure skater Rika Hongo took part in motion capture filming alongside the first season's Akiko Suzuki, who choreographed the skating routines. Tsurumaikada launched the manga in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine in May 2020, and Kodansha published the 15th compiled volume on July 22.
1d ago
Yutaka Kōno announced on X that his Sayonara no Iikata Nante Shiranai novel series will get a manga adaptation by Yukiko Seike on Kodansha's Comic Days platform in fall. The novels are part of the overall Kamisaki series, which Kōno relaunched as a solo author in 2019. Shinchosha published the 11th volume on August 28 with illustrations by Hagu Koshijima.
1d ago
Game Spark played the demo of Canvas City, a grid-based SRPG on Steam where street youth fight the ACU organization. Movement builds attack cost, graffiti marks Claim Spots for territory, and skaters and artists replace knights and mages. The demo shows promise but has balancing concerns.
1d ago
Hobonichi will release the 2027 edition of the Hobonichi Techo and Whiteboard Calendar featuring MOTHER2: Gyiyg Strikes Back on September 1 at 11:00 AM. The MOTHER edition of the Techo marks its 13th year since the 2015 edition. The cover uses Dungeon Man as a design motif, with embroidered details. A Mr. Saturn pattern appears on the Weeks type, and a Hint Shop Graph Paper Notebook comes as a bonus.
1d ago
Game Spark's weekly indie feature highlights three titles for late August: Backroom Cleaners, a 4-player co-op roguelike TPS set in the Backrooms; Hubert, a sheepdog adventure game; and Screw IT, a relaxing screw-sorting sim. Each has distinct platforms and release windows, with Backroom Cleaners holding a limited playtest and Hubert offering a demo.
1d ago
The Haruhi Suzumiya franchise announced a partnership with Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku, teasing a new project with a wordplay on the S.O.S. Brigade's full name. Details are limited, but staff promised more information. The announcement comes after the February 2026 theatrical re-release of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
1d ago
Gamemiracle released a demo for Gallop Diva on Steam. The adventure game is set at a prestigious girls' equestrian academy that hides a harsh world of rankings and faction conflicts. Race scenes are full 3D with whip commands, and races, horses, and jockeys are based on real horse-racing data. Japanese interface and subtitles are supported. AI assistance generates some animations and scenes.
1d ago
Ueni Trading will open orders on August 31 for the third 'Blue Archive Original Watch' installment, a mechanical watch inspired by Hikari and Nozomi of Highlander Railway Academy. It works as both a wristwatch and a pocket watch, priced at 29,800 yen with shipping scheduled for May 2027.
1d ago
ETOILE Co., Ltd. announced 'Katadzuku AI,' a business improvement program featured in the August 26, 2026 issue of Sports Nippon's Kyushu regional edition. The service enters workplaces, understands operations, and transforms burdensome tasks into AI-driven systems. It is limited to five companies per month with no initial cost. The company aims to reduce corporate burdens by 100,000 yen per month, tidying up tasks like invoices and data entry.
1d ago
Bandai will release the gashapon "HUNTER×HUNTER Gashapon! Collection Chimera Ant Arc" from the 5th week of August 2026. The lineup turns Nen abilities from the Chimera Ant Arc into 3D figures: Hyakushiki Kannon, Gangu Shuurinin, Crazy Slot, Shien Kiheitai, and Toritaten. Each comes with a nameplate base. Price is 400 yen per play.
1d ago
Ryuichiro Yamada, a new Nijisanji VTuber who debuted on August 28, 2026, has digitally released his original song "Itsuka no Shiawase" along with a music video. Yamada wrote the lyrics, composed, mixed, and mastered the track himself, with fellow debutant Taiga Kaminaga playing viola and violin. His subscriber count was nearing 100,000 by August 29.
1d ago
Studio TRIGGER announced that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 will premiere on Netflix on October 20th. The second season is a standalone 10-episode story from the world of Cyberpunk 2077, directed by Kai Ikarashi, with returning character designer Kanno Ichigo and Hugo Award winner Bartosz Sztybor as showrunner, story writer, and producer.
1d ago
A Japan Powered review of Agents of the Four Seasons Dance of Spring argues the story sidesteps the folktale damsel trope by making the prince unnecessary. The review notes Hinagiku, Agent of Spring, frees herself after a decade of captivity, with guard Sakura coaxing her back. Rosei, Agent of Winter, later acts as the prince, but Hinagiku saves him spiritually, and both women stand as equals to their male counterparts.
1d ago
Bandai's candy toy line Mobile Suit Gundam G-Frame FA releases its 10th installment on August 31, 2026. The set includes V2 Assault Gundam, Re-GZ Custom, and a renewed Guncannon with a new specification. V2 Assault Gundam can convert to V2 Assault Buster Gundam using the separate Buster Parts Set. Seven total figure types are included at 748 yen each.
1d ago
MegaHouse is releasing a Lucrea figure of Eris Greyrat from Mushoku Tensei III in March 2027. The figure depicts Eris after her training arc, with a toned physique, a confident smile, a sword at her waist, and flowing red hair. It stands about 270mm tall and costs 24,750 yen including tax. The third season has been airing since July 2026.