Chained Soldier Season 2 Reveals Second Key Visual

By
Soul Kiwami
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Pony Canyon has released the second key visual for Chained Soldier Season 2, which premieres on January 8, 2026. The second key visual highlights the mighty Unit Commanders, the strongest of the Demon Defense Force, from Chained Soldier Season 2.

Chained Soldier Season 2 second key visual
©T,Y/S,CS2P

As previously announced, Chained Soldier Season 2 will be streaming on HIDIVE, just like the first season.

The cast of Chained Soldier Season 2 includes:

  • Kana Hanazawa as Ren Yamashiro
  • Akari Kitō as Kyōka Uzen
  • Kana Ichinose as Konomi Tatara
  • Fairouz Ai as Mira Kamiunten
  • Manaka Iwami as Bell Tsukiyono
  • Fūka Izumi as Yakumo Ezo
  • Maaya Uchida as Tenka Izumo
  • Yukana as Fubuki Azuma

Masafumi Tamura is directing the anime at studio Passione and Hayabusa Film. Keiya Nakano is handling the character design, while Kohta Yamamoto handles the music. Yasuhiro Nakanishi, Ohine Ezaki, Takahiro Nagase, and Kyōta Kanō are the scriptwriters.

Additional staff includes:

  • Series Composition: Yasuhiro Nakanishi
  • Concept Composite: Junpei Takatsu
  • Art Director: Shino Ohara
  • Color Design: Sakie Suzuki
  • Assistant Color Designer: Mai Kabatani
  • Director of Photography: Kōji Hayashi
  • CG Director: Takayuki Taba (SANZIGEN)
  • Editor: Ayako Tan
  • Sound Director: Chikako Yokota
  • Sound Production: Dax Production

Takahiro and Yōhei Takemura released the Chained Soldier manga on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ manga website in January 2019.

Lastly, here’s an overview of the anime, via HIDIVE:

Two supernatural forces appeared simultaneously on Earth: entrances to another dimension known as Mato and Peaches, resources that give unique abilities to women. From the Mato come Yomotsu Shuuki, dangerous monsters that leave destruction in their wake. The government’s Anti-demon Corps stands against these creatures, employing women empowered by Peaches to face the monstrous threat.

Yuuki Wakura watches these forces clash from a distance, but when he unexpectedly runs afoul of a Yomotsu Shuuki, he’s rescued by Kyouka Uzen, the chief of the Seventh Unit of the Anti-demon Corp—and she sees something in him that could turn the tide of the monster incursion. Yuki holds the unique power to make Peaches more effective, but he’ll have to become Kyoka’s willing slave to join the fight against the Yomotsu Shuuki and save the world.

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar Anime Premieres on January 9

By
Soul Kiwami
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Dark Moon: The Blood Altar anime

The staff of the TV anime adaptation of HYBE and ENHYPEN’s Dark Moon: The Blood Altar webtoon will premiere on January 9 at 12:00 a.m. JST / 10:00 a.m. EST on Tokyo MX, BS11, Gunma TV, Tochigi TV, and other channels. Crunchyroll will stream the Dark Moon: The Blood Altar anime in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS.

The cast of the anime includes:

  • Kikunosuke Toya as Heli
  • Shugo Nakamura as Jino
  • Shunichi Toki as Shion
  • Chiaki Kobayashi as Noa
  • Hiroto Shimizu as Jaan
  • Jin Ogasawara as Solon
  • Yūto Uemura as Jukah
  • Fūka Izumi as Sooha

Shōko Shiga is directing the Dark Moon: The Blood Altar anime at TROYCA. Tōko Machida is handling the series scripts, Masami Inomata is designing the characters, and Naoki “naotyu-” Chiba is the music composer, and Takatoshi Hamano is the sound director.

The webtoon launched in English in January 2022 and ended in October 2023 with the 71st chapter. Ize Press will release HYBE’s original novel in English in print on December 2. The webtoon features the members of the South Korean K-pop group ENHYPEN.

Yen Press licenses the series, and it describes the story as follows:

The seven most popular boys at Decelis Academy all share a secret—they’re vampires. Keeping their identities concealed and dealing with their werewolf rivals is trouble enough, but the appearance of a mysterious new student only further complicates things. The girl, Sooha, also has hidden powers, and the boys can’t help but feel an inexplicable attraction to her. As Sooha and the vampires find themselves increasingly drawn toward each other, murky pasts and intertwined futures threaten to turn their world upside down. Just what fate awaits them under the dark moon…?

Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride is Now Available to Download

By
Soul Kiwami
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Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride

Nintendo has opened the Nintendo eShop page for the Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride, allowing Nintendo Switch 2 users to download the beta test and prepare for its launch on November 8. Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride will be playable from November 8 to 9 and November 15 to 16 during weekend sessions, and the introductory lessons are accessible at any time during the weekends, even outside the sessions.

Here’s the schedule for the Kirby Air Riders Global Test Ride:

First Weekend:

  • November 8, from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. PT
  • November 8, from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. PT
  • November 9, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT

Second Weekend:

  • November 15, from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. PT
  • November 15, from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. PT
  • November 16, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT

The new Kirby & Warp Star and Bandana Waddle Dee & Winged Star amiibo will launch on November 20 alongside Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2. Kirby Air Riders players can tap them to summon Figure Players in-game that you can train and level up, and the amiibo also allows them to swap riders just like in the game to choose your rider and machine. New Meta Knight & Shadow Star, King Dedede & Tank Star, and Chef Kawasaki & Hop Star amiibo will launch in 2026.

This successor to 2003’s Kirby Air Ride offers many new features, including a wide range of playable characters across the Kirby series, a variety of machines, and more. Some of the characters include Daroach from Kirby: Squeak Squad, Taranza from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Rick from Kirby’s Dream Land 2, Marx from Kirby Super Star, Lololo & Lalala, Rocky, Scarfy, and Waddle Dee.

Eternal Breaker Announced, Releases in 2026 for PC via Steam

By
Saras Rajpal
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Eternal Breaker Announced, Releases in 2026 for PC via Steam

Secret Character, the developer behind Banchou Tactics, has revealed a new game titled Eternal Breaker. The upcoming 2.5D turn-based roguelike will release in 2026 for PC via Steam. 

Secret Character initially released Banchou Tactics, a “delinquent strategy RPG,” in August 2023. The game is available on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch. It is unknown if Eternal Breaker will later come to consoles. Check out the trailer for Eternal Breaker below:

The Steam page describes Eternal Breaker as follows:

Eternity Breaker is a Turn-based Roguelike game with 2.5D pixel art fantasy graphics. The story is about the battle to find a way out of an endless dungeon.

In Eternity Breaker, combat requires the use of Skills. In each combat round, the Skills available for use are randomized, and skill upgrade statuses can also be randomized.

Skill types in the game are divided into 3 main categories: Melee (Red), Magic (Blue), and Technical (Green). Each Skill type functions differently. Furthermore, the Skills you acquire in battle will also affect the main character’s class. 

Classes in this game are divided into 2 types:

​Basic Class: Has additional special techniques.

High Class: Has an additional ultimate attack.

For example, if you acquire 2 Red-type Skills, you will change to the Warrior class. If you then get 2 Blue-type Skills, you will change to the Battle Mage class.

​Or, if you get 4 Red-type Skills, you will change to the Black Knight class instead.

​There are more than 20 classes available in the game.

​Additionally, combat also features Artifacts and items that allow you to combine various combat techniques, creating new and diverse playstyles in each run.

Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix- Anime Reveals 10 New Cast Members

By
Soul Kiwami
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Amuse Creative Studio has revealed 10 new cast members for Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix-, the anime adaptation of Shōgo Imamura’s Hikuidori (Fire Eater)—the first volume of Ushūboro Tobigumi historical novel series.

The new cast members for Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix- include (from left to right across both images below):

  • Kent Itō as Jinsuke
  • Naoya Uchida as Rokuemon Hōjō
  • Kōji Yusa as Samon Orishimo
  • Yasuaki Takumi as Renji
  • Shinpachi Tsuji as Kingorō
  • Aya Hisakawa as Akiyo
  • Shinnosuke Ogami as Moriemon Dategasaki
  • Kana Ichinose as Osuzu
  • Tetsuo Komura as Heizō Nobuo Hasegawa
  • Shinichirō Miki as Tōgorō

The Oedo Fire Slayer -The Legend of Phoenix- anime premieres in January 2026 on CBC, TBS, and 28 other channels across Japan in the “Agaru Anime” programming block on Sundays at 11:30 p.m. JST.

The main cast of the anime includes:

  • Yūichirō Umehara as Gengo Matsunaga
  • Shūichirō Umeda as Shinnosuke Torigoe
  • Subaru Kimura as Torajiro
  • Nobunaga Shimazaki as Hikoya
  • Kenshō Ono as Kaji Seijuro
©今​村​翔​吾​／​祥​伝​社​／​ぼ​ろ​鳶​組​一​同

Shōgo Imamura released the Ushūboro Tobigumi novel series in 2017. Shodensha has published 12 volumes of the novel, as well as a spinoff short story collection, which was released in 2022. The novel achieved massive success, winning the sixth Yoshikawa Eiji Bunko Award in 2021.

On April 24, Shinobu Seguchi released his manga adaptation of the Hikuidori novel, also titled “Oedo Fire Slayer – The Legend of Phoenix.” The manga will get a digital English release in North America this summer.

Amuse Creative Studio describes the story as follows:

The fire extinguishing samurai who stopped the great fire was called “The fire-eating bird”. Matsunaga Gengo, once known as the “Fire-eating Bird”, was the best fire-fighting samurai in Edo.

He had resigned from the fire brigade for a reason, but suddenly received an invitation to serve in the Shinjo clan. The Shinjo clan’s fire-fighting team had neither money nor personnel and was looked down upon by those around them.

With the encouragement of his wife, Miyuki, Gengo decides to rebuild the collapsed fire-fighting clan as its chairman. Gengo and his friends, all of whom have their own peculiarities, struggle to “save any life”, despite being ridiculed as “ragged steeplejacks”(= the ‘Boro-Tobi-Gumi’). In Edo, a mysterious series of suspicious fires, known as “foxfires,” continues.

Good Smile Company Reveals Fire Emblem: Three Houses Byleth Dancer Figure

By
Saras Rajpal
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Good Smile Company Reveals Fire Emblem: Three Houses Byleth Dancer Figure

Good Smile Company has revealed a new figure based on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, featuring Byleth as a dancer. Pre-orders are available now. 

It is a painted, which sculptor hashifu has made out of plastic. Additionally, is at 1/7 scale. The package includes a stand for the figure. It is approximately 250mm (9.85in) in height. The Fire Emblem: Three Houses Byleth dancer figure will ship between December 31, 2026 and March 31, 2027. It will cost $194.99. 

Additionally, a new Fire Emblem: Three Houses POP UP PARADE Hilda figure will release in Q1 2026 for $83.99. The figure also comes courtesy of Good Smile Company. The new figure is the sixth in Good Smile Company’s line of Fire Emblem: Three Houses figures. The others include Byleth (Female), Dorothea, and Sylvain, to name a few.

Recently, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have announced Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, the next entry in the Fire Emblem series, for Nintendo Switch 2. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave will launch in 2026, and the reveal trailer teases a connection to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. 

Lastly, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is available now on Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo eShop describes it as follows:

War is coming to the continent of Fódlan. Here, order is maintained by the Church of Seiros, which hosts the prestigious Officer’s Academy within its headquarters. You are invited to teach one of its three mighty houses, each comprised of students brimming with personality and represented by a royal from one of three territories.

As their professor, you must lead your students in their academic lives and in turn-based, tactical RPG battles wrought with strategic, new twists to overcome. Which house, and which path, will you choose?

CRKD Announces Drum-Kit Controllers, Releases in 2026

By
Saras Rajpal
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CRKD Announces Drum-Kit Controllers, Releases in 2026

CRKD has announced that it will release a new line of Drum-Kit controllers starting in 2026. It will reveal more details about the controllers’ compatibility and features in the coming months. 

In a press release, CRKD says the following about the announcement: “Driven by the community, no one listens to gamers like the folks at CRKD, constantly striving to innovate and deliver the very best in collectible, quality gaming hardware and the all-new Drum-Kit Controllers will certainly continue the mission to bring the community what they’re craving and bringing the band back together for a whole new era.”

Check out the trailer for the CRKD Drum-Kit controllers below:

Recently, CRKD revealed a new multi-platform controller: the Gibson Les Paul Cherry Sunburst Pro Collector’s Edition Bundle. The controller, which costs $199.99, is compatible with PC, PC handhelds, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and Android devices. Some of the features include multiple connectivity options, unique navigation hub, Guitar Knob controls, and a discreetly placed D-Pad on the back of the headstock, among other things.

The bundle includes the following contents:

  • Cherry Sunburst Pro Edition
  • Pro OG Signature Fret Neck
  • Pro Solo Signature Fret Neck
  • Premium Backpack
  • Exclusive Shoulder Strap
  • 2x Collector Pins
  • Sticker Pack
  • Wireless Dongle
  • USB-C Cable

The controller is compatible with games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Fortnite Festival. Players can also tune their experience with the CRKD App (CTRL). The app will allow them to remap buttons, adjust the sensitivity of the strum bar, control the RGB neck lighting, install firmware updates, and change the tilt activation settings. The controller is available to order now via the CRKD app, and will start shipping in December 2025. 

Ninja vs. Gokudo Anime Casts Nobunaga Shimazaki as Daijin

By
Soul Kiwami
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Daijin in Ninja vs. Gokudo

The staff of the Ninja vs. Gokudo anime announced that Nobunaga Shimazaki is voicing the character Daijin. As Daijin, Nobunaga Shimazaki portrays a character whose fellow members from the “Glass Children” assassin group have all died, and he plays an advisory role in Gamte in Ninja vs. Gokudo.

©近藤信輔・講談社／「忍者と極道」製作委員会

The Ninja vs. Gokudo anime is airing on NTV and BS NTV in Japan and Prime Video worldwide.

MIYAVI performs the opening theme song “Sweet Disaster,” and Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas performs the ending theme song “Until You Die Out. ”

Japanese cast members include:

  • Chiaki Kobayashi as Shinoha Tanaka
  • Katsuyuki Konishi as Kiwami Kimura
  • Sumire Uesaka as Gamute
  • Zanzou Kasai, voiced by Tomoyuki Morikawa, Kensho Ono, Mariko Higashiuchi, Yuki Sanpei, Serina Machiyama, Volcano Ota, Hisako Kanemoto
  • Hochu Otsuka as Kaiza Akiba
  • Yuma Uchida as Nodoka Matsumoto
  • Kana Hanazawa as Shiki Yamada 
  • Hiroki Yasumoto as Uryu Yagi
  • Yuka Iguchi as Tome Odaka
  • Makoto Furukawa as Sako Hasegawa
  • Yasuhiro Mamiya Kosei Yuzawa
  • Takehito Koyasu as Hiroki Yajima
  • Tomokazu Sugita as Anatomi Kurita
  • Taiten Kusunoki as Hanako Saito
  • Mamiko Noto as Maya Kohara

The English dub cast for Ninja vs. Gokudo includes:

  • Conradie van Heerden as Shinoha
  • Nate Prentice as Kiwami
  • Gordon van der Spuy as Kaiza
  • Rob Coutts as Yuzawa
  • Gavin Gomes as Zanzo
  • Daniel Levi as Nagashima, Ichimaru
  • Chris Van Rensburg as Male Narrator

Rensburg is also the director of the English dub at Transperfect Media, with Azelle le Roux is adapting the script.

Toshinori Watanabe directs the anime at Studio DEEN. Keiichirō Ōchi oversees the series’ scripts and Tokuyuki Matsutake designs the characters. 

Ninja vs. Gokudo key visual
©近藤信輔・講談社／「忍者と極道」製作委員会

Shinsuke Kondō initially released the manga in Kodansha’s Comic Days website in 2020. Lastly, Kodansha describes the manga’s first volume as follows:

Since ancient times, the ninja and the yakuza have been at war, spilling blood around the world as empires rise and fall. So when, in the modern age, Shinoha, a ninja, meets Kiwami, a gangster following the path of the yakuza—the gokudo—and discovers they have common interests, the obvious assumption is that nothing good can come of it. But can it be that one burgeoning bromance will shake up a 300-year grudge?

Who will win the struggle for real ultimate power?

Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf Season 2 Reveals Staff Members and Key Visual

By
Soul Kiwami
-

The staff of Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf Season 2 revealed the staff members of the anime, along with a new key visual. A premiere date for the second season was not announced yet.

Spice & Wolf merchant meets the wise wolf Anime Season 2 key visual
© 支倉凍砂・KADOKAWA／ローエン商業組合

Takeo Takahashi is the chief director with Hijiri Sanpei, the director of the first season. Nobuyoshi Nagayama and Takahiro Majima direct Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf Season 2 at studio Passione. Koji Haneda and Rina Sugimoto are the character designers, and Kevin Penkin is the music composer.

Additional staff members include:

  • Color Design: Tomoko Koyama
  • Art Setting: Morihito Ōhara
  • Art Director: Kazuhiro Inoue
  • Director of Photography: Yuki Okada
  • Editor: Ayako Tan

 

The new Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf anime premiered on April 1, 2024, at 25:30 JST, or April 2 at 1:30 a.m. JST, on TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Aichi. The anime aired for two consecutive cours, with English subs and dubs. The anime’s cast including a returning Jun Fukuyama as Kraft Lawrence alongside Ami Koshimizu as Holo.

The original light novel series is written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Jū Ayakura, and 24 volumes have been released to date. ASCII Media Works publishes the series under its Dengeki Bunko imprint. Additionally, Yen Press distributes the series in English.

Lastly, here’s an overview of the Spice and Wolf anime series, via Crunchyroll:

Lawrence, a traveling merchant, finds a nude girl with the ears and tail of a wolf asleep in his cart. She is Holo, a harvest goddess with an untamed beast lurking inside. Armed with his street smarts and her animal instincts, a simple peddler and a forgotten deity journey through the countryside while reaping the riches of happiness and exposing the bankruptcy which dwells in the human heart.

Next Mass Effect Game is Still in Development at Bioware

By
Soul Kiwami
-
Mass Effect N7 Day

In celebration of N7 Day, Bioware released a new blog post to confirm that the next Mass Effect game is still in development with Electronic Arts. Mass Effect executive producer Mike Gamble also commented on the upcoming Mass Effect TV series at Amazon and upcoming collaborations with skate. and Apex Legends.

You can read up on the full N7 Day blog post for the Mass Effect series below:

Happy N7 Day, everyone!

You guessed it … I come to you with another blog! But each year that I write these, they are important moments of reflection for me. I get to pause and think about how truly lucky we are to have Mass Effect, and how thankful we are for the community and support we get. We’ve been through a lot together, and we appreciate you.

Like you, we’ve heard the rumors lately. You’ve made it clear you care deeply about what’s next. So let’s start by setting the record straight: the next Mass Effect game is in development, and EA and BioWare remain committed to telling more stories in this universe.

The truth is, the last few years have been an incredibly busy time at BioWare. But currently, the team is heads-down and focused exclusively on Mass Effect. We have a lot of universe to cover, lots of features to build, and lots of romances to figure out. We’re excited by what we’re building, and we promise you: when we’re ready, it’ll be a lot of fun to show. Until then, thank you for your patience because y’all are thirsty for news and I see you looking for secret meaning in my tweets (okay, sometimes they have secret meaning). 

Beyond the next game, there’s more to get excited about. I haven’t talked about it much, but you might have heard a little something about a TV series? We’ve been partnering closely with Amazon on it, and we’re really excited with what the talented team over there is coming up with. 

The writers room is going strong, and we’ve got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon, and where it sits in respect to the new game. The show will explore a brand-new story within the universe’s timeline, and will be set after the original trilogy. It won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story – because after all … that’s YOUR story, isn’t it? 

Keep an eye on our social channels for more celebrations today including some awesome new Mass Effect gear, free crossover items appearing in skate. and Apex Legends, and more.

Happy N7 Day,

Mike Gamble Executive Producer, Mass Effect

PS – Disclaimer: there is no secret game information to be gleaned by anything I’m saying today, I promise.

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