Month: January 2019

Crunchyroll has announced the nominees for this year’s Anime Awards. This year, there are five new categories: best character design, best director, best fight scene, and best performance by a voice actor–both for Japanese and English.

Megalobox is the dominant series this year, nominated for eight of the 15 categories, including Anime of the Year. For Anime of the Year, Megalobox is joined by A Place Further Than the Universe, Devilman Crybaby, Violet Evergarden, Hinamatsuri, and Zombie Land Saga. My Hero Academia, which dominated the last Anime Awards, is only nominated for Best Animation and Best Boy this year. However, both series protagonist Midoriya and his childhood friend Bakugo are nominated for the Best Boy category.

Fan voting begins January 11 at 12:01AM PT, and you’ll have until January 18 at 11:59PM PT to submit your choices for which shows you think deserve to win. Head over to Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards portal to submit your votes.

The full list of categories and their nominees are outlined below.

Crunchyroll Anime Awards Category Nominees

Anime of the Year

• A Place Further Than the Universe
• Devilman Crybaby
• Megalobox
• Violet Evergarden
• Hinamatsuri
• Zombie Land Saga

Best Animation

• Violet Evergarden
• Devilman Crybaby
• Megalobox
• A Place Further Than the Universe
• Bloom into You
• My Hero Academia Season 3

Best Opening Sequence

• Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
• Darling in the Franxx
• Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler
• Pop Team Epic
• Aggretsuko
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Best Ending Sequence

• Megalobox
• Attack on Titan Season 3
• After the Rain
• FLCL Alternative
• Revue Starlight
• FLCL Progressive

Best Film

• Night is Short, Walk On Girl
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
• Mirai of the Future
• Liz and the Blue Bird
• Mazinger Z: Infinity
• Fireworks

Best Character Design

• Violet Evergarden
• Devilman Crybaby
• Zombie Land Saga
• Megalobox
• Aggretsuko
• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Best Boy

• Kotaro Tatsumi
• Honda-san
• Izuku Midoriya
• Sakuta Azusagawa
• Katsuki Bakugo
• Joe

Best Girl

• Anzu
• Hinata Miyake
• Lily Hoshikawa
• Asirpa
• Shirase Kobuchizawa
• Mai Sakurajima

Best VA Performance (JP)

• Mamoru Miyano
• Soma Saito
• Megumi Han
• Nao Toyama
• Rareko
• Reina Ueda

Best VA Performance (EN)

• Kari Wahlgren
• Christopher Sabat
• Erica Mendez
• David Wald
• Clifford Chapin
• Erika Harlacher

Best Director

• Masaaki Yuasa
• Atsuko Ishizuka
• You Moriyama
• Yohei Suzuki
• Taichi Ishidate
• Hiroko Utsumi

Best Protagonist

• Retsuko
• Yumeko Jabami
• Joe
• Violet Evergarden
• Rimuru Tempest
• Sakuta Azusagawa

Best Antagonist

• Ryo Asuka
• Akane Shinjo
• All For One
• Yuri
• Tokushiro Tsurumi
• Momonga

Best Fight Scene Presented by Capcom

• Hina vs Anzu
• All for One vs All Might
• Naruto & Sasuke vs Momoshiki
• Jiren vs Goku
• Yami vs Licht
• Satan vs Devilman

Best Continuing Series Presented by VRV

• The Ancient Magus’ Bride
• Dragon Ball Super
• Black Clover
• March comes in like a lion
• One Piece
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is out now on Nintendo Switch, with a few new features and improvements over its Wii U cousin. One of those, Toadette, is certainly welcome, but her inclusion seemed to mean one of the Wii U version’s playable characters, Blue Toad, was no longer in the game.

However, it appears Nintendo was fooling us all along. You can still play as Blue Toad: simply hover over (Yellow) Toad on the character select screen and hold either ZL or L. Voila! Yellow Toad will switch out for Blue Toad, who is then playable in any level in the game–including those in the New Super Luigi U expansion.

We enjoyed the Switch remaster here at GameSpot, and we awarded it a 7/10 in our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review. “Despite its aging formula, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is still a great entry in the series, with its typically tight platforming and both accessibility and depth to spare,” we said. “While it can feel a bit stale for those who have been round the Mushroom Kingdom one too many times before, Deluxe is well worth playing, especially if you didn’t get a chance to play NSMBU on Wii U.”

For more on the game, check out our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review roundup or check out our report on how the game works with the Switch’s NES controllers. You can also take a look at some gameplay of new character Peachette in the video above.

Update: Koei Tecmo has stated Dead or Alive 6’s beta is exclusive to PS4. A PlayStation Plus membership is required to play. Original story follows.

Dead or Alive 6 recently saw its release date delayed by a couple of weeks, but fans will still get to play the fighting game very soon. Without any form of prior announcement, publisher Koei Tecmo has launched an online beta of the game on PS4.

The demo version is available to download now on the PlayStation Store, though you’ll need to wait until 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM GMT on January 11 (2 AM AET on January 12) to play. The trial will last for precisely 72 hours.

In a tweet announcing the beta, Koei Tecmo did not mention platforms, leading many to believe the test would be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as with the full game. However at present the beta only appears to be on the PlayStation Store, not the Xbox or Steam equivalents. Five characters are included in this free pre-release version: Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, and new fighter Diego.

Dead or Alive 6 was due to launch on February 15. However, following a delay to allow developer Team Ninja to “further polish its balance, gameplay, and expressivity,” the game will now be released on March 1. The sixth main entry in the series focuses less on the overt sexuality of previous titles and more on easing in newcomers, according to our preview.

Al Pacino has been acting since the 1960s, but he’s never starred in a TV show in a recurring role. That could be set to change soon. Deadline and others report that the Oscar-winning actor will star in Amazon’s new Nazi-hunting show, The Hunt, which comes from the mind of Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele.

Pacino appeared in an episode of the TV show N.Y.P.D. back in 1968, but this will be the first time he’s in a TV show on a recurring basis. He joins actor Logan Lerman in The Hunt.

Lerman plays a character out for blood after his grandmother is murdered, while Pacino portrays the mentor to Lerman’s character. The Hunt is set in 1977 New York City, when a group of people known as Hunters track down Nazis who live secretly in the US hoping to establish a Fourth Reich in America.

Peele is producing The Hunt through his Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment labels. Moonfall’s David Weil created the show, and he’ll write and executive produce the show. Amazon has ordered 10 episodes of The Hunt, but there is no word yet on when the program will air or who else will star in it.

Peele is famous for his comedy show Key & Peele, but he reached another level of success with the horror movie Get Out, for which he won an Oscar. He’s keeping busy, as in addition to The Hunt, he has a horrifying-looking new movie, Us, coming out, and he’s also working on the new Twilight Zone that will air on GameSpot sister network CBS All Access.

Amazon Studios has a number of intriguing projects in the works, including a very expensive Lord of the Rings TV show that could focus on a young Aragorn.

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If you’re eager for a great JRPG to dive into, you should pick up Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. Often cited by fans as one of the best games in the Tales franchise, this remaster of 2008’s Tales of Vesperia is essentially an enhanced version of the Japan-exclusive PS3 port. This means you get additional playable party members, story subplots, dialogue, costumes, dungeons, mini-games, and much more that weren’t available in the original Western release. In addition, all paid DLC is included. For hardcore fans who never imported the PS3 version, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is essential. And for newcomers, the remaster serves as an ample opportunity to experience the series at its greatest.

Tales of Vesperia tells the story of Yuri Lowell, a former soldier who embarks on a journey to aid a young noblewoman on an important mission. While simplistic at a glance, the story remains captivating thanks to its alluring cast of characters and vibrant anime-styled presentation. Much like last year’s Dragon Quest XI, there’s a strict adherence to classic fantasy conventions in Tales of Vesperia, but it’s delivered with such infectious joy and charisma that you can’t help but be drawn towards the plights of its characters.

Over a decade after its release, Tales of Vesperia is still fantastic.

It also helps that the Definitive Edition looks and runs great. Aside from a blurry filter that seems to pop up during cutscenes at times, the visuals have aged well. We spent the majority of our time with the Switch version, which divvies up its performance to 30 fps during exploration and 60 fps during combat. Returning players from previous versions should feel right at home with these specs, but if you’re looking to experience the game at its most enhanced, you’re better off with the PS4 and PC versions, which run at higher frame rates across the board. Interestingly enough, it’s worth noting that the Xbox One version’s performance is identical to Switch. Regardless of which platform you choose, you’ll find few technical issues that’ll take away from your time spent playing Tales of Vesperia.

Admittedly, one major shortcoming of the Definitive Edition is the new bonus dialogue interspersed across the story. A welcome addition on paper, the way it has been handled left us scratching our heads. While most of the original cast reprise their roles, a new actor has been brought on to play Yuri. Originally voiced by Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Metal Gear Solid V), the replacement does a decent enough job emulating the popular voice actor’s performance. However, it’s undoubtedly disorienting to hear Baker one moment only to hear a different actor take the reins for a brief slice of bonus dialogue. Fortunately, you’re not without options, as the game does contain the original Japanese performances, which keeps its voice cast consistent throughout.

Over a decade after its release, Tales of Vesperia is still fantastic. With the flow of big releases slowing down, now’s the perfect time to jump into this JRPG classic. For a closer look at how the game holds up and how it plays in its early hours, be sure to check out our commentary video above.