News by Lindsay M.
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly news feature, Catch-up coffee Monday. Each Monday we will bring you the best news from the previous week that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Mo’ Miku, mo’ problems? Clearly not for Dark Horse Comics
In case Matt’s massive review of Project Diva X wasn’t enough to whet your Miku appetite, I bring you more Miku! Dark Horse Comics announced that it has licensed Ontama’s four-panel Miku manga and will be bringing it to the West on 5 October. The manga, titled Mikubon in Japan, was originally released in 2012 with a compilation volume coming out the following year. Ontama is comprised of two people, producer Otomania and artist Tamago. Mikubon isn’t their first foray into Miku, as the pair wrote a four-panel Miku manga between 2008 and 2011. They also produced the original “Ievan Polkka” video for Miku, which can be seen above (but be warned, it’s addictive). Here’s the official description to tide us over until there is more news on Mikubon’s English release:
Hatsune Miku and her friends Rin, Len, and Luka are not only back in manga…they’re back to school, enrolling at the St. Diva Academy for Vocaloids! They’re going to give it their best at St. Diva, as a wonderland of friendship, determination, and even love unfolds! But can they stay out of trouble, especially when the mad professor of the Hachune Miku Research Lab is nearby…?
Attack on Titan’s Western release information announced
Based on the famed manga and anime by the same name, Koei Tecmo’s Attack on Titan game is set to be released this August in North America and Europe. However, each continent has some different information regarding the game’s name and launch date, so read carefully. In North America, the game will be titled Attack on Titan and the release date is 30 August. The European crowd will get the game a few days earlier, on 26 August, under the title Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom. I have no idea why there is a difference, but don’t be confused when the same game is referred to as two different things by the media (we’ll try to keep in consistent though — Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom it is!). The game will have a physical and digital release for PlayStation 4, and a digital-only release for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PC.
Netflix and anime: new BFFs
I think of a lot of things when I contemplate Netflix but anime isn’t one of them. For years, the terms ‘anime streaming’ and ‘Crunchyroll’ were practically interchangeable. Netflix is seriously trying to pick up their anime game, with “new” (read: old-ish) releases popping up on a consistent basis worldwide. The company has succeeded in at least one way this week, announcing it has the exclusive rights to stream the upcoming anime Kuromukuro. This makes Kuromukuro Netflix’s first simulcast anime series, and the first time an anime will stream with the service so close to its television broadcast. The series premieres 11 April in Japan with new episodes every Monday; there is still no word on if/when the anime will air in other regions. Netflix is also seriously close to obtaining rights to the live-action anime-based film I am most excited for, Death Note. Variety has reported that the streaming service was up against STX and Lionsgate, but is now in “final negotiations” to pick up Adam Wingard’s adaptation of the anime. Nat Wolff (most known for his roles in teen tearjerkers such as Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars) is set to star in Death Note, which begins production this June.
Telltale Publishing bringing 7 Days to Die to console this June
The same folks behind The Walking Dead game series are bringing 7 Days to Die to consoles. Telltale Publishing is collaborating with indie developer The Fun Pimps to bring its formerly PC-exclusive to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with both digital and physical releases. 7 Days to Die is best described as an open-world survival game; you’ll have to fight, craft, loot, mine, and explore in order to survive a brutal post-apocalyptic world. Due to the collaboration between publisher and developer, those who pre-order the console version of the game will gain access to five exclusive skins from Telltale’s The Walking Dead series, including current star Michonne. The console version will also have split-screen multiplayer and as of yet unknown features that aren’t present in the current Early Access version on Steam.
Does any of this news tickle your fancy or make you steaming mad? Let us know in the comments! And meet us again next week for a new edition of Catch-up coffee Monday.
– Lindsay M.
News Editor
