Tag Archives: Japanese Media

Yakuza Kiwami: Story PV, New Character Introduction

InTheSky December 12, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega has produced a new promotional video for Yakuza Kiwami and uploaded it to their Japanese YouTube account for the Yakuza franchise. It’s an eight minute trailer that skims over the story of Kiwami, a remake of the first Yakuza title. We see here Kiryu’s sacrifice and Nishiki’s descent as he is overcome with guilt and inadequacy. While one man falls and then rises from the ashes, the other rises to power but falls into corruption.

Of course we see other key characters receiving some spotlight in this trailer, with Haruka’s introduction (“I am not ‘omae’/you. I am Haruka”) and Majima being his lovable self, who will be around to harass Kiryu at the player’s leisure. A new character introduced specially for Kiwami is Shinichi Shinohara, a videogame representation of a real-life retired judo talent. He’s the new face shown in the featured image for this article, but he’s not shown in the Story video. Kiryu is supposed to be his tour guide for Kamuro-cho, but Shinohara is also a participant in a underground fighting club and invites Kiryu to participate. Between him and Beat Takeshi in Yakuza 6, Yakuza’s certainly got its celebrity cameos covered. Not a bad look for the franchise.

Yakuza Kiwami’s Japanese release date of January 21, 2016 is fast approaching. Check out the trailer below!

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final’s Animated Promotional Trailer

InTheSky December 12, 2015 Leave a reply

Atlus uploaded an animated promotional trailer for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final to their Japanese YouTube account. It clocks in at a little under two minutes, and details the havoc that the continued war between deities and demons is wreaking on the human world. Let’s not forget that these powerful beings are not exactly looking to cooperate with humans either, aiming ultimately for the servitude of humanity in some form or another.

In any case, the protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei IV Final is apparently at the wrong place at the wrong time during a demon attack…and yet all the same, it’s an accident that will change his life and the course of history. What that ultimately means will be up to the player.

Continue reading to view the trailer!

7th Dragon III Code: VFD OST To Be Released This Month

InTheSky December 9, 2015 Leave a reply

Famitsu recently announced the production of an OST package for 7th Dragon III Code: VFD, to be released December 23rd. What an opportune Christmas present, especially if you’re a Yuzo Koshiro fan! The OST includes 45 tracks across three CDs. Check out the Famitsu article at the start of this writeup to view the tracklist. After checking out preorder pages for Amazon.jp, HMV, and CDJapan, it appears the sale price is at ¥3600 with tax.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD released this past October. It was just shy of 100k before dropping off of the ranking of the top-selling Media Create games the following week after the above-cited link (maintaining a presence on the list for a good month or so.) Not bad at all for a turn-based RPG selling only in Japan.

Credit for the featured image goes to the above-linked Famitsu article.

Genei Ibun Roku #FE: Yashiro and Introduction Videos

InTheSky December 5, 2015 Leave a reply

Two new trailers for Genei Ibun Roku #FE have been recently uploaded to Nintendo of Japan’s YouTube chanel – one being another from the character introduction video series and the other being an extended Introduction Video that summarizes the game itself, clocking in at around five minutes.

Yashiro Tsurugi is cool and composed, and incredibly distant to the point of being stand-offish. He’s an accomplished idol unlike some of the other members of the cast. Perhaps the pursuit of success has warped Yashiro’s personality? Or does it have to do with a certain incident in the past that he’s tied to, wherein a number of performers seemingly vanished into nothing? He’s also got heterochromia, and that bright blue iris certainly stands out compared to the rest of his color scheme.

Also, note that Introduction Video starts off with “ATLUS X Fire Emblem.” It’s an interesting pivot from when this project was first introduced as “Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem” years ago but conceptualizing it now as Atlus X Fire Emblem does seem to make the most sense. The Video itself covers all of the bases of the game, but another reason to watch it is for the flashy and dramatic battle sequences. Performances are the lifeblood of this game’s concept after all.

Anyway, continue reading to check out both videos!

Yakuza 0 and Phantasy Star Online 2 Recognized at Playstation Awards

InTheSky December 4, 2015 Leave a reply

The winning titles of this year’s Playstation awards have been announced, and certain Sega games have received some distinction for commercial performance or through fan recognition. These awards are based on the performance of games released from the start of November 2014 to the end of October 2015 and covers combined sales throughout Japan and the Asia commercial region.

Phantasy Star Online 2 (PS Vita version) received the Playstation Network Award for being one of the top three highest-selling downloadable titles.

Yakuza 0 received the the Gold Prize for shipping over 500,000 units, and the User Choice Prize for fans polled in the Asia region (Yakuza 0 being one of five recipients for this award.)

It’s worth noting that with receipt of the Gold Prize, Yakuza 0 earned itself recognition alongside some powerful competitors. Here are the other Gold Prize recipients:

Bloodborne
God Eater 2: Rage Burst
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3
Grand Theft Auto V

While it’s true that Japan is generally regarded as a hostile environment for conventional “packaged games” (games on dedicated gaming platforms like Playstation 3, Nintendo 3DS, etc.) a number like 500,000 is quite good for a franchise that releases as regularly as the Yakuza franchise does. It also probably shows that Sega’s pivot towards more inclusion and marketing in the Asia region is going to pay off. With a strong Playstation 4 and PC userbase in North American and Europe, hopefully with some proper execution Sega can gain more footing in games in the West. I’m sure many fans can attest to the sentiment that Western Sega presence of its Japanese franchises could be better.

Toshihiro Nagoshi and Masayoshi Yokoyama were present at the event as representatives of the Yakuza franchise, per YakuzaFan. You can check out some nice images of Nagoshi and Yokoyama accepting awards at this DualShockers article.

Credit goes to the above-linked YakuzaFan post for the featured image.

Genei Ibun Roku #FE: Maiko Character Trailer

InTheSky November 28, 2015 Leave a reply

The character trailer for Maiko Shimazaki from Genei Ibun Roku #FE has recently been uploaded. She’s the president of the entertainment company that the party characters of this game work for. Maiko’s personality seems to reflect that of a friendly “older sister” type character who is familiar and casual with the talent she manages. Since she’s playful and has a mature appearance this invites some chaos (read: embarrassment, confusion) on the part of her poor, young fledgling idols. As someone with some background in the industry (gravure) she’s probably still dependable in spite of her propensity for teasing. There’s no battle footage of her in this trailer, unfortunately, but she is a playable character.

Continue reading to check out the trailer

Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation – 2nd PV, OP Theme is Previewed

InTheSky November 26, 2015 Leave a reply

A second PV for Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation has been released by the anime’s production team. The first episode will be screened at Tokyo on December 29, and the episode’s public air date is set for February 7.

On a separate but related note: Sympathy 2015, a concert event celebrating 15 years of Phantasy Star Online, also recently passed, and Shouta Aoi (voice of Itsuki Tachibana, a protagonist character in the anime) was on hand to debut the OP for the anime at Sympathy 2015. The song is called “絶世スターゲイト” (Zessei Stargate, or Unrivaled Stargate) and the CD for it will go on sale on February 3.

Continue reading to check out the song preview and some clips from the anime! I like Shouta Aoi’s voice.

By the way, if you didn’t already know, there’s a Japanese PSO2 the Animation Twitter account. Sega’s official PSO2 the Animation website is here.

Genei Ibun Roku #FE: TiKi, Bloom Palace Trailers

InTheSky November 21, 2015 Leave a reply

Next in the character trailer spotlight for Genei Ibun Roku #FE is TiKi. Tiki is a name borrowed from Fire Emblem, and her character in #FE takes the form of what is essentially a Vocaloid. She welcomes you to the Bloom Palace and refers to Itsuki, the protagonist, affectionately as her “older brother.” Such familiarity throws off the protagonist, but being the gentleman that he is, the protagonist doesn’t actually object to this. Or else TiKi would probably just call Itsuki a dummy or something.

On the note of the Bloom Palace: it’s a sort of central hub where you as the player can access special party customization features that you can’t change simply by going to the main party menu. Notably you can use Performa to customize a Carnage for your Mirage – Carnage being the weapon that your character and his/her Mirage/alter ego uses to fight, and such customizable attributes include elemental affinity and attack power. Performa can also be used to enhance what are called Radiant Skills, which include improvements for base stats, Session attacks (which boost Performa gains,) or other normal offensive skills. Radiant Skills also improve your ability to succeed in the (real) entertainment world. At the Bloom Palace, you can also Class Change your characters. Class Changes are generally meant to progress your character’s capabilities as you unlock new Classes; they allow you access to new Carnage configurations and Skills. The second trailer posted for this article offers a comprehensive visual look into these processes.

Bloom Palace is a lovely garden paradise that suits TiKi’s cherub-like appearance. Let’s check both out after the break.

Valkyria Promotional Blitz: Teaser Websites, Screens, and a Twitter Account!

InTheSky November 19, 2015 Leave a reply

There’s no two ways about it; Sega of Japan is really betting on Valkyria’s growth as a franchise.

Sega of Japan has created a Twitter account for the Valkyria franchise. Give them a follow! If the Twitter accounts for other franchises like Yakuza and Sakura Wars are any indication, the Sega staffers for each franchise are quite dedicated and take note of all sorts of minutiae related to the franchise (the Yakuza and Sakura Wars accounts occasionally posted information on their characters being present in Project X Zone 2, for example.)

The Valkyria franchise seems to be addressed on this page as the “Valkyria Project”, so as to encompass the Chronicles games (Valkyria Chronicles 1-3) and Azure Revolution. We can probably expect to see it addressed as such in the future.

The first tweet of the Valkyria Twitter account announces Sega’s Valkyria portal website. It features links to official websites for all console/handheld Valkyria games at the bottom, and at the top there are three tabs. The first offers summaries and images for each Valkyria game (including Duel.) The second is an anime tab, with pages for the anime adaptation of the first game and the Valkyria Chronicles 3 OVA. The third tab is a Goods tab; it’s a cataloging of Valkyria Chronicles media and merchandise. It doesn’t offer product pages or purchase links for everything (though some items do have purchase links) but it’s an effort that is much respected.

Next, let’s check out the promotional website for Valkyria: Azure Revolution. Suffice it to say, at the moment it won’t take you too long to check out the whole site, though I like the background colors. Worth noting is the caption for the logo – it could be a tell for the plot events of Azure Revolution. If you missed the release of screenshots for the game earlier today, check out our writeup.

A website for the PS4 remaster of Valkyria Chronicles – Valkyria Chronicles Remaster, is also available. It features a large collection of screenshots and details the plot, gameplay and visual features, and added DLC content (all previous DLC episodes, Hard EX mode) present in the remaster. PSN trophies will also be available for this game. You may recall that the absence of trophies was met with some backlash after the game’s PS3 release. The planned boxart for the can be seen below:

Here’s to hoping the West follows suit! Valkyria’s second wind could be quite the storm.

Kazuma Kiryu Figma Test Model Images

InTheSky October 22, 2015 Leave a reply

YakuzaFan recently posted an entry featuring Masayoshi Yokoyama (Yakuza series producer) and a prototype Kiryu figma. This past summer we saw the announcement of a Goro Majima figma too, so it looks we’ll probably be seeing both of their figmas sometime next year, ideally in the earlier part of the year (although Kiryu’s figma will definitely be ready first.)

The above is Max Factory’s test model and it is still subject to any sort of change in the future. However, production seems to be moving along smoothly and Sega’s Japanese Yakuza Twitter account definitely seems on board with the project. It’ll be cool to see how this turns out!