A new anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's genre-shaping, gender-bending action-comedy manga Ranma 1/2 is in the works. Details are sparse, but it looks like a new Ranma project has officially been locked in.

The announcement for the new Ranma 1/2 anime dropped on the official X/Twitter account of Takahashi which, unfortunately, I can't translate directly. Fortunately, reputable manga news reporter @MangaReporter did just that, confirming that the show is in development and that we'll learn more about it at a live event scheduled to launch on Jul?y 17th at 6 P.M. Japanese Standard Time (JPT).

For those who might not remember the manga, Ranma 1/2 follows Akane Tendo, a tomboyish martial artist who discovers that her fiancée, Ranma Saotome, suffers from a curse that causes him to transform into a girl whenever cold water hits him. Two anime adaptations of the series were made, with the first lasting only a few episodes. The second series, which aired between 1989 and 1993, proved much more successful and is still highly regarded by shonen fans today.

A Rumiko renaissance

This new Ranma 1/2 anime may follow in the footsteps of some exceptional anime remakes based on Rumiko Takahashi's work. David Productions' remake of Urusei Yatsura's anime gave the series some much-needed updates, modernizing the series' setting and adjusting elements of the story that haven't aged well. Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon also helped pave the way for Ranma 1/2, re-introducing anime fans to Inuyasha.

We don't know anything else about what the new Ranma 1/2 anime will change about its source material, or if it will change anything. However, I feel it will be good if Urusei Yatsura is anything to go off of.

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A new trailer for the second season of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a just dropped, bringing exciting new information about the second course of NieR: Automata's beautiful but beleaguered anime adaptation to the series' fans. Among these new tidbits was an estimated release window ?of July 2024.

Carrying the weight of the world

According to the trailer, which premiered simultaneously on X and Aniplex's official YouTube page, the second season of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a will premiere sometime in July of this year. If the first season of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is anything to go off of, the second season will feature a total of tw??elve episodes, meaning that its run will probably wrap up in either August or Sep??tember, depending on when in July it premieres.

While the second season is currently set to be released in the summer, NieR: Automata Ver1.1a developed a reputation for its production schedule. The first season was infamously marred with COVID-related production issues that caused it to be delayed twice, so NieR fans have a righ?t to be a little skeptical ?about the schedule for the second phase of 2B and 9S's adventures.

The first season of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a adapted a version of the game's story through Endings A and B, which are only two of the five endings that players need to arrive at to gain a complete understanding of NieR's events. Given what we see in the trailer, the second cour will likely adapt Endings C through E, which completely flip the story of NieR: Automata on its head and turn what appears to be a story of humanoid androids warring against robots into something?? a bit more co?mplicated.

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After already being turned into a two-part movie, the sci-fi slice of life manga series Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction is getting a TV adaptation too. And unlike the movies, this adaptation is getting an official Western re??lease.

Even better is that the show is starting ?very soon, with the first episode premiering on Crunch??yroll on Thursday, May 23 at 8pm PT / 10pm CT / 11pm ET (any UK readers will need to wait until 4am BST on May 24). There will be 18 episodes in total airing weekly and the show promises to feature "brand new footage" not seen in the movies. So, even those who've watched both movies have a reason to check it out.

In case you're unfamiliar with the original manga, Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction begins with an alien spaceship appearing above Tokyo. However, that's not the focus of the story, with it jumping ahead three years later and centering aroun??d the normal lives of high school girls Kadode Koyama and Oran “Ontan�Nakagawa as they learn about growing up, adult life, and how the supposed alien invaders may not be the true threat to humanity.

Just like the movies, production has been handled by Production +h, with Tomoyuki Kurokawa as director, a screenplay by Reiko Yoshida, and music by Taro Umebayashi. All three held the same roles for the movies, so things should feel consistent between the two adaptations. Voice actors Lilas Ikuta and ano have also reprised their roles as the two leads, Kadode and Oran. There's so far no mention of whe?ther the show will get an English dub, but there's little reason not to watch it regardless, especially? since there's no sign of the two movies ever leaving Japan.

Written by Inio Asano, the original Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction manga ran from 2014 to 2022, and has sold over three million copies. At San Diego Comic-Con in 201?8, it was named one of the y??ear's Best New Manga and was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2019.

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There are quite a few here at Destructoid that are big into anime, so this is for them as well. For a limited time only, Twitch is offering viewers a free trial of Crunchyroll, the hit animatio??n streaming service, for your viewing pleasure.

As outlined in a recent Twitch blog post, the Amazon-owned platform is providing a 60-?day trial of Crunchyroll M?ega Fan Premium membership. This means you'll get to watch all your favorite anime and manga shows without ads.

Of course??, it's not as simple as just holding out your hand and waiting for the trial to drop into it. There are a few provisos before you can qualify. Because of course there are.

*Sigh* Okay, what do I have to do?

For starters, the campaign is only being run for this month, so you have until November 30 to get your free trial. In exchange for the Crunchyroll membership, you'll need to purchase "two new T?witch subs and/or gift subs."

The type o??f Twitch subscriptions and gifted subs that?? are eligible include:

• New monthly subs (any tier)
• Multi-month subs (3-month, 6-month)
• Gift subs (any tier for any number of months)

Prime subs, existing sub ren??ewals, bits, turbos, and a bunch of others don't?? qualify.

It's also worth noting that it's only available on "participating channels streaming in the Just Chatting, Art, and One Punch Man: World categories." You also can't qualify for the ??offer if you live in any of the following countries:

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Cuba
• China
• Iran
• Japan
• North Korea
• Syria
• South Sudan
• Sudan

What else? Oh, y?eah: "existing or past Crunchyroll memb??ers or users who have previously claimed a Crunchyroll free trial in the past year are not eligible."

I think that covers everything. As i??s typical with these types of deals, there are plenty of Ts & Cs before you qualify. If you do quality, happy days. If not... Young S?heldon, I guess.

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I recently had the opportunity to check out the first episode of Shangri-La Frontier, a new anime about a VRMMORPG. Now, this genre in particular has gotten a bit saturated in recent years due to the success of Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, and even Ready Player One. However, the art style of the trailer piqued my interest, and the press release indicated SLF would have a bit more of a focus on world-building and game mechanic??s.

A beautiful world

Shangri-La Frontier is by C2C Studio, a Japanese animation studio that has been around since 2006. C2C's popular recent works include Reincarnated as a Sword and Otaku Elf. I have to admit, I only recently got back into anime and have been extremely picky so I haven't seen either of those. But, after watching the trailers for both, I'm even more impressed with the visuals in Shangri-La Frontier. That's not to say the other two titles look bad by any means, but SLF? is definitely their best work yet in terms of visual quality.

The premise of Shangri-La Frontier is simple enough. The main character Rakuro Hizutome is an odd one, preferring to play scuffed games that are considered trash by others. He finds enjoyment in learning how to navigate and appreciate a title's bugs, a?s opposed to getting upset by them. But after a recent playthrough of Faeria Chronicle Online, Rakuro heads to the game store to check out something new. A poster for Shangri-la Frontier, a massively popular VRMMO catches his eye. He f?eels it's time to try what some would consider a god-tier game, as opposed to a trash one.

It's fun watching an anime that clearly cares about gaming. While Rakuro is in the local game shop, a "Comic Frontiers" poster is in the back with the same font and art style as Sonic Frontiers?. Not relevant to the story, but still fun to see.

Focusing on the details is what makes SLF entertaining

While creating his character, Rakuro settles on Twinblade Mercenary as his class and chooses Wanderer as his Origin story. His preference to focus on acquiring the best weapons and ignoring armor results in him selling all his starter armor. However, he doesn't want to be running around naked if everyone can see his face, so he also grabs a blue bird mask to hide his face. And so his character, Sunraku, is born. Rakuro logs into Shangri-La Frontier for the first time, and his adventure begins.

It's here that the worldbuilding and focus on game mechanics really start to kick in.?? Rakuro begins grinding on Goblins found in the forest he spawns in, keeping trac?k of their spawn rate as well as the experience gains and item drop rates along the way.

He also encounters a rare spawn that gives noticeably more experienc??e. More importantly, the rare spawn has a cool-looking weapon that surely deals more damage than his starting weapons. Unfortunately, the rare spawn doesn't drop anything on death, but he's convinced the weapon is on his drop table. Hours later Rakuro is dual-wielding the weapon, over-leveled, and still in the beginner area. He's calculated the drop rate at this point but feels it's time to move on. Better experience gains are out there.

I've been here before. I know that feeling. An accomplishment that's not so meaningful in the grand scheme of things—after all I'm sure he'll quickly replace the weapons. But in the moment, feels so rewarding. Maybe that's what's so intriguing to me about SLF. It doesn't beeline through?? everything but rather takes its time and shows you all the details.

Another glimpse of where VR MMOs could someday be

The episode ends with Rakuro extremely excited to take on a boss higher level than him that the game recommends a party to take down. For the first time in a while, he can utilize his skillset as a gamer to take on a toug?her enemy witho??ut the fear of silly bugs getting in the way. For a moment we see a glimpse of Rakuro lying in his bed, completely still, VR headset on. But with a smile on his face. I have to admit, I'm envious of Rakuro at this moment. I can't wait until we can explore truly immersive VRMMOs like this.

If you're a fan of Sword Art Online and Log Horizon, or even just an MMO fan, I recommend checking out Shangri-La Frontier. Especially if you care more about the details, mechanics, and even numbers when it comes to that sort of experience. I can tell SLF plans to tell its story while building the world around it, which is a refreshing take on the genre. I'm not a huge anime guy, but when a show properly mixes gaming into it, I'm all for it. And SLF does this well.

Shangri-La Frontier is available now o?n Crunchyroll and will continue to be simulca??st on a weekly basis.

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Pocket Punchers

At the finale of this weekend's Capcom Cup IX festivities, Capcom and Crunchyroll Games announced that mobile RPG title Street Fighter: Duel will make its global de?but on February 28, bringing its pocket-sized scrapper action to iOS and And??roid devices. Pre-registration is available now on both platforms.

Set against the backdrop of the Super Street Fighter IV timeline, Street Fighter: Duel tasks players with building up a faction of fighters with which to take on both Shadaloo and S.I.N. �led by the all-consuming CEO/Naked Puppet Man, Seth. The pint-sized RPG first launched in China back in 2020, so it's certainly taken its sweet time to make its way overseas to western shores. Street Fighter: Duel will launch with a huge roster of 40 unlockable characters, with fu??ture updates ?on the books.

//www.you??tube.com/watch?v=SH??9evri9ezo&ab_channel=CrunchyrollCollection

Street Fighter: Duel looks to offer up typical mobile action, built around leveling up characters, mashing through battles, and unlocking further characters, buffs, and abilities �punctuated by a slew of microtransactions. While the gameplay and format can be expected to be typically divisive, I do dig the cartoony alternate takes on the?? World Warriors' classic appearances. I'll be sure to check out the game upon launch, and we'll see whether Crunchyroll is headed for a K.O., or whether it's lining up to be another popular franchise that fails to translate to the mobile RPG market.

Street Fighter: Duel launches February 28 on iOS and Android. A PC and console port is pl?anned for? the summer.

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I hope each Hadouken doesn't cost me 99¢

Fighting games and phones might not seem like the most likely of allies, but the genre has thrived on the platform over the years with popular and expansive releases like Injustice 2, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, and Skullgirls Mobile. The Street Fighter franchise is no stranger to the format, having released an excellent port of Street Fighter IV Champion Edition to iOS and Android several years ago. Next month, Ryu and company will return to mobile devices with Street Fighter: Duel, a free-to-play RPG that brings together 40?? characters from the fighting game franchise in a new format that focuses on building teams of figh??ters.

So, you know, it sounds like most other mobile RPGs. And while the trailer below doesn't showcase any of Street Fighter: Duel's actual gameplay, if you go to its product page on the App Store or Google Play Store, you should see one screenshot that'll give you an idea of what it looks like in action. Maybe I'm looking too much into this, but I can almost see some inspiration from the wonderful Project X Zone games that have sadly been on ice since 2016.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH9evri9ezo

Like with most other mobile RPGs you can download these days, Crunchyroll Games is promising PVP and a new story mode that'll no doubt find plenty of reasons to keep the same group of people constantly at odds with one another. If you're interested in Street Fighter: Duel, preregistration has opened on the App Store and Google Play Store. If anything, I'm sure this game will tide people over until the next "real" Street Fighter game launches this summer.

Here's to hoping it doesn't disappear in less than a year like Puzzle Fighter did. I'm still miffed about that one.

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The new NieR adaptation is right around the corner

NieR fans won't have to wait too long into the new year for its anime adaptation to kick off. The NieR: Automata anime h?as locked in a premiere date for January 7??, 2023 in Japan.

A few trailers have been dropping over the holidays for the upcoming anime adaptation of 2017's NieR: Automata. The first features 2B and 9S fairly prominently, as two leads we'll be following in the Ver. 1.1a anime.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGpskkA7vrw

Another new trailer today shows off some of the supporting cast, as well as the opening and ending tracks for the series. Both trailers have a January 7 premiere date set for the adaptation. We already knew it was arriving sometime in January, but it l??oo?ks like the date is much sooner in the month than one might have expected.

Most of the adaptation is covering some familiar territory, given what we see in the trailers. There is one character, Lily, who appears in the lore but seems to be playing a larger role in the anime. It'll be interesting to see how much this Ver 1.1a diverges from the game.

Become as gods

The series looks set to air on Crunchyroll as well as?? other platforms, though exact distribution plans and dates aren't clear just yet. We'll have to see just what the global rollout looks like as the series goes live.

NieR: Automata isn't the only video game adaptation kicking off in January 2023, either. HBO's The Last of Us is set to debut not too long after on January 15, 2023. And the animated Dragon Age: Absolution just recently went live on Netflix, too. It's quite the time for video game adaptations, and there's even more on the way. Hopefully they can turn out as well as shows like Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners have.

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Revenge is in the air this Februrary on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim

Depending on who you ask, Shenmue is legendary, now and forever �it's not even up for debate. Others respect the series from a comfortable distance with fond memories, and plenty more folks just know about it from second-hand goofs and hearsay. There are a lot of takes! And while Shenmue III has only further complicated things (as evidenced by reactions to a recent Epic Games Store giveaway), a bunch of people are rooting for the incoming anime adaptation. Shenmue the Animation will debut on February 5, 2022.

Over 13 episodes, Shenmue the Animation will try to "capture the same essence of myst?ery and thrilling martial arts" that Ryo fans remember from the Dreamcast days.

Some of the biggest question marks so far have been what the core cast will sound like, and what note the story might end on. On the former point, the Japanese site for Shenmue the Animation lists Masaya Matsukaze as Ryo Hazuki and Takahiro Sakurai as Lan Di, which is consistent with the games. (Per Siliconera, Austin Tindle will voice Ryo and Scott Gibbs will play Lan?????????????????????????? Di in the English dub. You can get a preview in the trailer.)

As for the latter concern �don't hurt us, Telecom. It's been enough of a slow burn!

Here's the new English trailer for Shenmue the Animation

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pldV6eZdHWo

And here's the Japanese trailer from Crunchyroll

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybkgsZU18sk

Now normally, I'd say to pick your poison, but they're both worth watching. It's always int??eresting (and sometimes not very flattering) to compare English and Japanese performances side-by-side, especially given the source material. Beyond those inherent differences, though, these are straight-up different trailers with different vibes.

When it comes to the Shenmue series, I'm no Michael Huber �but the trailer(s) still managed to put me in a good, hopeful-enough mood. It's intriguing. Trailers are just trailers, so we'll see what everyone thinks of Shenmue the Animation on February 5.

The debut is set for 9:30 p.m. Pacific. Worst case, I'm excited about the gif potent?ial.

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