Nintendo will increase the Switch2 price by 10,000 yen starting May 25, according to GAME Watch. The current price remains available only through May 24. Original Switch models are also scheduled for price increases, though details were not specified.
Famitsu's Japan video game rankings for May 11-17 show Tomodachi Life at #1 for a fifth consecutive week with 98,092 copies sold. Pokémon Pokopia crossed 1 million total sales. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle debuted at #14 with 2,133 copies.
Perfect World Games announced the first major update for the free-to-play open-world RPG 'NTE: Neverness to Everness' during a preview program on May 23. Version 1.1, titled 'Dream Corridor', will launch on June 3 across PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. The update introduces a new area called Hinata Island, a peaceful seaside location away from the main city Heterocity that mixes modern resort facilities with supernatural elements. A separate location anomaly called 'Corridor' will also appear, featuring a white giant statue among cherry blossoms and a snow-covered amusement park. Two new playable characters join the roster: Requiem, a dark-type esper from E.T.D's 4th Squad who can copy enemies and inflict a stacking 'Nightmare' status, and Chaos, a phase-type esper from the 6th Squad who summons mist hounds and can set warp points for exploration. Chaos becomes the first male character that players can invite home, though male and female characters cannot be invited simultaneously. A new in-game social network called 'Bagel' becomes functional, allowing players to view character daily lives and earn points. Additional content includes a fighting game-style prison fight against Tornez, a battle royale-style 'Dark Racing' mode with heavy weapons, full unlock of the Porsche 918 Spyder collaboration vehicle, and a feature to mute only the voice of the TV-type anomaly Tagido.
At BitSummit PUNCH, Lazy Bear Games and tinyBuild are showing a playable demo of Graveyard Keeper 2 where attendees can sit or lie inside a padded coffin to play. The demo covers the opening of the cemetery management sim, which is set for a 2026 release on PC and consoles.
Crunchyroll announced the winners of the 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards on May 23, with My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON taking Anime of the Year. The ceremony set a record with 73 million votes. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Arc Chapter 1 won Film of the Year, and the late Tatsuya Nagamine received the Global Impact Award.
The anime adaptation of Taizan 5's manga "Takopi's Original Sin" will be re-released as a theatrical compilation film. The film, titled "Takopi's Original Sin -Thank You, See You Tomorrow-", will compile all six episodes of the television series and add new scenes. The announcement was made on the anime's official website on May 23, 2026. No release date has been set yet. The six-episode series premiered on streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Crunchyroll on June 28, 2025. It was produced by studio ENISHIYA and directed by Shinya Iino, who also handled series composition. Keita Nagahara served as character designer and chief animation director. Kurumi Mamiya voiced the alien Takopi, and Reina Ueda played Shizuka Kuze. The cast also included Konomi Kohara as Marina and Anna Nagase as Azuma. The manga ran in Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ from December 2021 to March 2022, collected in two volumes. It was nominated for the 16th Manga Taisho Awards and the 27th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes.
The second season of the Hana-Kimi anime has a July 1 premiere date and theme songs by the trio Omoinotake, revealed in a promotional video streamed on May 23. The opening theme is "Flashbulb" and the ending theme is "Hanataba." The season will air on Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV, and BS11 at 24:30 on Wednesdays, effectively July 2 at 12:30 a.m. JST. Amazon Prime Video will stream episodes in Japan one week ahead of the terrestrial broadcast, except for the first episode, which will be distributed after the broadcast alongside episode two. The promotional video was part of a special program that featured voice actors Aki Yamane (Mizuki Ashiya), Taku Yashiro (Izumi Sano), Yuichiro Umehara (Minami Nanba), Reiji Kawashima (Chisato Nakao), and Kouki Uchiyama (Taiki Kayashima). The first season of the anime premiered in January 2026 after a world premiere at Anime NYC in August 2025. The anime adapts the manga by the late Hisaya Nakajo, who died in 2023. Viz Media publishes the manga in North America and describes the story of a girl who disguises herself as a boy to attend an all-boys high school and be close to her idol.
Sony Music's VEE project opened pre-orders for 4th anniversary acrylic diorama stands for talents Ruki Otokado, Airu Hinahoshi, and Tulsi Maou. Each 4,500-yen stand includes a bonus sticker. Pre-orders run through June 7 at the VEE Official Shop, with shipping starting in mid-August 2026.
Iori Noguchi and Hana Oba from =LOVE have been cast in the serial drama "Yankee Gekisenku no Shitenou ga Idol Group ni Tensei Shitara?," which stars ≠ME. The show follows four delinquents reincarnated as idols. It premieres on Nippon TV on June 10.
The feature-length animation Tom and Jerry's Treasure Island will air on TOKYO MX on May 24. At the end of the program, the opening scene from the upcoming film Tom and Jerry: The Magic Compass That Transcends Time, releasing May 29, will be shown for the first time on TV.
The tenth annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards ceremony was held in Tokyo on May 23, 2026, hosted by Sally Amaki and Jon Kabira. A record 73 million votes were cast globally, with the highest engagement coming from Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, and the United States. My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON won the top prize, Anime of the Year, presented by The Weeknd. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle took Film of the Year. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 won the most awards of any single series, with five wins including Best Drama and Best Director. Gachiakuta won Best New Series, Best Character Design, and Best Background Art. Solo Leveling Season 2 won Best Animation and Best Action, a drop from its six wins the previous year. DAN DA DAN Season 2, the most nominated series with 20 nods, won Best Comedy and Best Opening Sequence. Director Tatsuya Nagamine received the Global Impact Award for his work on series including One Piece and Dragon Ball Super.
Nijimen published results of a fan poll for the TV anime Tamon-kun Ima Docchi!?, which aired from January to March 2026. F/ACE member Sakaguchi Sari took first place with 201 votes, beating protagonist Fukuhara Tamon by 19 votes. The top six spots were all F/ACE members or heroine Kinoshita Utage.
Square Enix will add Sephiroth as a limited-time character in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy on May 26. Toshiyuki Morikawa voices the role. Sephiroth is a Long Range unit with the Fire attribute, a counterattack move called Flash, and a passive that boosts movement speed when Cloud is nearby. He is free as a season reward.
Dramatic Create announced that Meiji Tokyo Renka: Twilight Kiss, the sequel to Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon, will launch on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam in 2026 with English, Japanese, and Chinese subtitles and Japanese voice acting. The game originally released in Japan in April 2015.
LINE Manga will offer all 704 chapters of Hideaki Sorachi's Gintama manga for free from May 29 to May 31. The promotion celebrates the series' long run and the upcoming 4DX release of the new Gintama film, New Gintama Movie: Yoshiro Great Fire.
Mega Crit's May 2026 'Neo Letter' explains why the boss 'Door Maker' was removed from the beta patch for main branch players, citing complexity exceeding the intended threshold. Early development art was shown. The patch also adds a Monster Encyclopedia, shifts to bi-weekly updates, and reveals player stats including a 25% win rate.
The latest Steam Weekly Square column covers new releases including Forza Horizon 6 set in Japan, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight spanning 86 years of Batman history, and several other titles across genres from bullet hell shooters to retro FPS and strategy games.
A new anime adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic shoujo manga 'Ribbon no Kishi' has been announced. Titled 'THE RIBBON HERO', the series will stream exclusively on Netflix starting in August. A teaser visual by character designer Kei Mochizuki has been released, but no footage or story details have been shown yet.
FuRyu announced the HD remaster of its 2013 fantasy RPG Exstetra will release on Steam in English on July 30. The company also confirmed Nintendo Switch 2, Switch, and PS5 ports are in development. The game has never had an official English release before.
Riot Games clarified on May 23 that its latest Vanguard update for VALORANT does not damage PC hardware or disable devices, after a May 22 post joking about cheating devices becoming paperweights sparked concerns that the anti-cheat could permanently destroy SATA/NVMe firmware.
Kenkitsu-dan, a four-person Korean indie team, is developing the mystery adventure KILLA with publishing handled by Toei Games. At BitSummit PUNCH, they showed a demo updated with a screensaver, shorter play sessions, and new guides, while the core game remains their own creation.
The anime "Fist of the North Star -FIST OF THE NORTH STAR-" and Japanese entertainment chain ROUND1 are collaborating from May 29 to August 30, 2026. The campaign includes themed food and drink menus, limited-edition novelties like acrylic coasters and visual mats, collaboration packs for bowling and karaoke, crane game prizes, and decorated rooms at select stores. The collaboration runs in two phases across 93 to 100 stores nationwide.
QUByte Interactive announced Thunder Hoop Collection, bundling Gaelco's 1992 arcade game Thunder Hoop and its 1994 sequel TH Strikes Back. The collection includes rewind, save, and filter features. It is set for release on PC, PS, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch in 2026.
The film "TOKYO BURST - Crime City -" released a villain character introduction video on YouTube, featuring Pierre Taki, Ueda Tatsuya, Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura, Tsurumi Shingo, and Park Ji-hwan. Comments from Aoki Takahiro, Tanahashi Hiroshi, Jiro, and others accompanied the video. The film opens May 29.
The six-member Nijisanji unit VACHSS performed a live concert titled "THE TAKEOVER" on May 14, 2026, at Makuhari Messe as the opening special stage of Nijisanji Fest 2026. The group, consisting of Kuzuha, Kanae, Hayato Kagami, Minato Fuwa, Tōya Kensetsu, and Shō Yumetsuki, debuted a new track "Replace to be" and dominated X's trends. The performance marked a rare full-unit gathering after years of separate activities.
Streamer Oniya has been appointed head of the Shadowverse division of eSports team REJECT, effective May 22. The division was established in March 2026 to compete in the Shadowverse Premier Series 26-27 league. Four additional players-Agunomu, Tabata, Parachan, and Takumi-were also announced as members.
Doyusha will release five "Infinity Action X Series" action figures from the Star Wars franchise in June 2026. The lineup includes Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin, and Grogu, with the latter two drawn from the film "Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu." Each figure costs 5,500 yen.
The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is exhibiting 10 titles at BitSummit PUNCH, matching its Tokyo Game Show 2025 presence. The lineup includes action, deck-building, deduction, and puzzle games, with several demos available on Steam. Highlights include Archetype Blue, BLACKOUT: Zero Point, Lone Chef, MONOWAVE, and Project Revenant.
PLUM is releasing a 1/7 scale figure of Setsuna Yuki from Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club in her CHASE! solo song costume. The figure is scheduled for July 2026 at 25,300 yen. AmiAmi orders include a B2 fabric poster as a limited bonus.
Fuming, creator of occult adventure Zelle, and Odencat are developing Dream Channel Zero, a surreal adventure game shown at BitSummit PUNCH. The game follows Akira and Rumiko trapped inside a video game world filled with bizarre characters, absurdist gags, and uneasy story beats. Music is by Minneapolis-based producer Xavier LeBlanc.
At BitSummit PUNCH, Gotcha Gotcha Games exhibited the upcoming PC software "RPG Tsukuru U2U," the latest entry in the RPG Tsukuru series. Producer Hiroyuki Ichinose gave an interview explaining the title's central feature: P2D (Perspective 2D), a visual system that adds 3D-like depth to traditional 2D maps while keeping the pixel-art aesthetic. Ichinose described P2D as "PC's first challenge in 3D" for the series, which has used 2D on PC for over 35 years. The system uses a fixed viewpoint, allowing creators to reuse 2D assets from past RPG Tsukuru titles as decorative map tiles, and only requires building what is visible on screen. Ichinose acknowledged that the previous Unity-based title, "RPG Maker Unite," received poor reviews due to a control scheme that differed from traditional RPG Tsukuru games. For "RPG Tsukuru U2U," the team redesigned the UI to be more intuitive for longtime users. The Japanese name revives the "Tsukuru" branding, while the English name remains "RPG Maker U2U." Over 100 pre-made P2D maps are included. The software also features gravity settings, adjustable water levels and colors, silhouette display for characters behind walls, and environmental effects like heat shimmer. Ichinose said the team plans future events where users can try P2D.
James, a modder who previously made a portable Xbox, has built a working portable PlayStation 2. He stripped a slim PS2 of unnecessary parts, cut the controller in half, and assembled the screen, battery, and shell using hot glue and duct tape. The exposed disc can fly off during use, but the console runs games.
A 4Gamer.net play report from BitSummit 2026 describes Dreadmoor, a PC horror fishing game from Digital Vortex Entertainment and Dream Dock. The player fishes for strange fish in an eerie sea, with a strong personality and a focus on atmosphere.
The free horror adventure game Daishou Shoujo, which has over 270,000 views, is returning as a roguelike deck-building title called Daishou Shoujo: Re:Compensation. The indie circle Kodansha developed the PC game, and a playable demo is at BitSummit 2026.
Jiro Sato, who wrote, starred in, and co-wrote the film Nameless, appeared at a Tokyo stage greeting on May 23 alongside cast members Ryuhei Maruyama, MEGUMI, Kuranosuke Sasaki, and director Hideo Josho. Sato discussed the origin of the story and his role as a mass murderer with a hidden power.
The upcoming TV anime adaptation of The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power has released a fourth character concept visual, this time focusing on the character Theodore. The visual was unveiled on May 22, 2026. The anime is scheduled to premiere in Japan in July 2026. Mitsutaka Noshitani is directing the series, with Toko Machida handling series composition and Taihei Nagai designing the characters. Animation production is a joint effort between Magic Bus and Picante Circus. The voice cast includes Rie Takahashi as Carolina, Makoto Furukawa as Edward, Haruka Shiraishi as Flora, Shunichi Toki as Theodore, and Inori Minase as Melissa. The series will have an advance screening event on June 6, 2026, in Japan, where the first two episodes will be shown with the main trio of actors in attendance. The ending theme song is "Unknown Me" performed by Utahime Dream All Stars. The light novel series, written by Almond and illustrated by Yoshiro Ambe, ran for four volumes from June 2021 to June 2023 under Earth Star Entertainment's Earth Star Luna imprint. J-Novel Club licenses the series in English.
A new seasonal visual for The Apothecary Diaries anime has been released, showing Jinshi and Gaoshun walking in the rain past Japanese iris flowers. The image is part of a second set of seasonal visuals for the series. The third season of the anime is set to air in two split cours, with the first cour starting in October 2026 and the second cour in April 2027. Akinori Fudesaka, who directed the second season and served as assistant director for the first, will direct the third season. A theatrical film with an original story by light novel author Hyuganatsu is scheduled for release in December 2026. New anime projects for the series were announced in July 2025 after the second season concluded. The first season aired in 2023, and the second season ran from January 2025. Crunchyroll streams both seasons in select territories. The light novel series, written by Hyuganatsu and illustrated by Toko Shino, began publication in 2014 and has 16 volumes as of May 2025. J-Novel Club publishes the English digital edition.
A new game titled 'Crazy Localization' was presented at BitSummit, offering a comedic take on the trials of game localization. The story follows a translator who becomes trapped inside a game world and must navigate the absurdities of the localization process as a grand adventure.
The song "Ex-Otogibanashi (Anime ver.)" from the short anime "Super Kaguya-hime!" will be added to the rhythm game Groove Coaster Future Performers as part of a free update in August 2026.
Publisher Critical Reflex has added 'Grindset T.V.' and 'Tiny Chills - Not From Ear' to its CR Channel indie horror label. 'Grindset T.V.' is an open-world speedrun platformer set in a distorted world, while 'Tiny Chills - Not From Ear' is a body horror game about ear cleaning. Both are scheduled for release on Windows via Steam.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha will release a 48-page expanded edition of the Jun Mihara feature on June 26, including a first-publication handwritten manuscript draft from before the Hamidashikko series. A limited box set with the full manuscript, two exhibitions, and a talk event are also scheduled.
Sanrio's Pompompurin, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is collaborating with hat brand CA4LA on two handmade hats: a face hat shaped like the character and a beret inspired by the one Pompompurin wears. Pre-orders open May 29, 2026, with general sales in September. The character also leads the interim 2026 Sanrio Character Ranking.
The Steam and Epic Games Store pages for the anime-style urban open-world RPG 'NTE: Neverness to Everness' went live on May 23. The Steam page lists a July 2026 release date, while the Epic Games Store page says 'Coming Soon.' The game is developed by Hotta Studio and published by Perfect World Games.
Good Smile Company announced Nendoroid figures for Hikari and Nozomi of CCC from Blue Archive. The two figures are available individually for 7,000 yen each or as a set for 14,000 yen, with pre-orders open at the Good Smile Company official shop. Release is scheduled for October 2026.
Shunta Sono, a member of the pop group M!LK, will play Shuma Kumon, the villain Kamen Rider Yumemi, in the upcoming film Kamen Rider Zetts. The movie is part of a double feature with Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity, releasing July 24. Sono contributed ideas for his transformation pose and performed full-scale action choreography for the first time.
At BitSummit PUNCH, developer Kazuhide Oka showed Quiet Express Room 909, a 3D adventure game set on a cross-continent train. Players explore cars, talk to passengers, and relive a seven-day journey to prevent a derailment. The demo ends with a time loop reveal. Oka cited Blue Prince and Road 96 as influences.
Apparel and bags featuring sunburned designs of Hello Kitty and My Melody are now available from EMODA. The three-item lineup includes T-shirts, a skipper knit top, and a clear shoulder bag, launching May 27 at EMODA stores, the RUNWAY channel online shop, and ZOZOTOWN.
4Gamer.net reports on Corebreaker: 核元突破！, a roguelite action game from aQuadiun Games shown at BitSummit 2026. The game features no contact damage, warp unlocked from the start, and a high difficulty that remains easy to pick up, offering a satisfying sense of achievement.
FURYU Corporation announced on May 23 that the HD remaster of the 2013 fantasy RPG EXSTETRA will release on Steam on July 30, 2026. The company also confirmed that versions for Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PlayStation 5 are in production, with release dates to be announced later. The game originally launched for PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS. It is set in Amasia, a version of Tokyo fused with another world and facing destruction. Players control Ryoma, a high school student chosen as the savior Prisma, who awakens allies called Prisma Knights through a kiss-based battle system. The protagonist absorbs energy called Ex by defeating enemies and shares it with companions via kisses, enabling powerful special moves. An opening movie featuring vocals by singer NU-KO was released on FURYU's official YouTube channel to coincide with the announcement, which was timed to Japan's Kiss Day.
ArtFanders Inc. launched egoGraphica on May 23, 2026, an art-tech platform that builds AI agents from contemporary artists' interviews and statements, allowing viewers to dialogue with an artist's thoughts. The platform integrates sales, multilingual support, and analytics, and is linked to touring exhibitions in Fukuoka and Seoul.