Ultraman
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Netflix is making a CG-animated 'Ultraman' feature film
Netflix is developing an Ultraman CG-animated feature film in partnership with Tsuburaya Productions.
What’s coming to Netflix in April: 'Our Planet' and the return of 'Sabrina'
Spring is here at last and while many of us will want to enjoy the sunshine after what's been a long, harsh winter in many places, we'll still have evenings where we want to kick back and watch something. As always, Netflix has a trove of new shows, movies and documentaries coming our way when the calendar flips to the next page. Among the highlights for April are You vs. Wild, an interactive survival show starring Bear Grylls (April 10th) and the long-awaited nature docuseries Our Planet, which is narrated by David Attenborough and from the creator of Planet Earth (April 5th).
Netflix shows off its 'Ultraman' CG anime series in new trailer
Netflix has released a trailer for its Ultraman CG anime series before the kaiju killer blasts his way to the streaming series on April 1st. The sneak peek shows high school student Shinjiro Hayata as he assumes the mantle from the original Ultraman, his father Shin. It looks like the new show is set a few years after the events in the Japanese live-action series from the 1960's. In the new anime, Shinjiro has to take over his father's role and fuse with the "giant of light" to transform into Ultraman when a new set of invading aliens arrives after a period of peace.
'Evangelion' will make its 'global streaming debut' on Netflix in 2019
Today in Tokyo Netflix announced another set of releases for its flood of content next year and focused specifically on the anime genre. The most familiar name on the list is Neon Genesis Evangelion, the classic series featuring children controlling massive robots battling aliens. All 26 episodes will make their "global streaming debut" (that's right, until now you've had to actually buy them in order to watch, and we're sure that license didn't come cheap) in the spring of 2019, as well as the followup films The End of Evangelion & Evangelion: Death (True)². It's not the only anime classic coming to Netflix either, as there's a brand new Ultraman movie and a series based on the manga 7 Seeds on deck in April. Rilakkuma and Kaoru is a stop-motion animated show about a woman with a stuffed bear as a roommate, while Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac takes place in modern day as warriors fight to protect the Greek goddess Athena.
Amazon Japan adds 12 new original series to Prime Video
Amazon isn't wasting any time making good on its original programming plans for Japan. As part of its Prime Video service, which launched in September of last year, the company had announced plans to offer about 20 original shows tailored to that market. And today, Amazon Japan has unveiled a slate of originals detailing 12 new series that span a variety of genres, including documentaries, dramas and children's shows. Standouts include Magi, a time-traveling historical drama about teens that return to Japan to find Christianity's been banned; new versions of Ultraman and Kamen Rider; and manga adaptations like Businessmen vs. Aliens and Baby Steps. While some of these series are already available to stream now, others are planned to debut later in the year or even in 2017. It's also worth noting that Prime Video subscribers in Japan get access to these originals, as well as other Amazon series like Mozart in the Jungle for the bargain price of $32/year. Doesn't seem fair, now does it?
Kinect hack turns you into a superhero
Here's a prime example of the importance of knowing your audience. Plenty of fully-formed games for Microsoft's Kinect hardware have been market researched and lovingly crafted, but peering into our souls with his Ultra Eye, YouTube user "hogehoge335" has tapped into our most heart-felt desires. In seconds, his new hack transforms the user into an Emerium Beam-blasting, Eye Slugger-tossing super hero -- tokusatsu icon Ultraseven, specifically. We've been trying to think of a mature way to describe the video after the break, but our inner five-year-old has immobilized that part of our brains. So, in closing: He transforms! He can shoot lasers! He tosses his head thing! We want it! We want it!
VC Tuesday: ...
Looks like Nintendo of Japan's game-uploading team is taking the holiday off (or took the holiday off, because technically it's early Wednesday morning over there), leaving the Virtual Console sadly neglected. We feel a bit awkward without having any obscure PC Engine CD-ROM games to pretend we know something about, or Japan-only favorites to cry over. So here's an Ultraman song-and-dance number to the tune of "Scatman." Happy new year! Nothing (No system, nobody, free)
Virtually Overlooked: Ultraman
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.The success of Street Fighter II had an instantaneous effect on the game industry, not only driving production of me-too fighting games, but also providing a template for any fighting game to follow; every 2D one-on-one fighting game since then has stuck closely to this design, distinguishing itself in how it differs from the Street Fighter II formula.Pre-Street Fighter II fighting games lacked this template for fighter success, and thus exhibited more variation in design. In a way, this makes the few pre-SFII fighters more interesting. Unfortunately, most of these games do have one feature in common: they aren't very good. Ultraman for the SNES fits in this category, but we can't help but like it.
Japanese PSP releases for the week of July 25th
Nippon terebi geimu wo shiyoka? You know the PSP can play games from all over the world, right? So, if you're tired of all those PSP games that are released here in the States, then maybe you should consider importing some games from the land of the rising sun. Here are this week's releases: Bleach: Heat the Soul 3The insanely popular Bleach anime series gets a third fighter for the PSP. It received a 28/40 in Weekly Famitsu. Bomberman PortableIt's Bomberman. Does it need any more explanation? And with Game Sharing, you can play with one UMD. It got a 26/40 in Weekly Famitsu. Portable Island: Te no Hira no ResortThis is a ridiculously boring "game" that has you having all the fun of being stuck on a deserted island. Ultraman Fightman Evolution 0Ultraman is still around in Japan for some reason. If you like men in tights fighting each other, you'll want to pick this up. It got a 25/40 in Weekly Famitsu. I'd recommend getting Bleach: Heat the Soul 3. It's by far the prettiest game of the bunch, as you can tell by the video embedded above. And, it's provided in a language that everyone can understand: beat things up. You can import it from YesAsia.com for about $49, shipped.[Via IGN]
