Streaming: Winter 2016 anime first impressions

What a bizarre season this is shaping up to be! The UK streaming situation is always a mess, with a different jumble of underfunded, confused companies splitting all of the simulcasts haphazardly between themselves and leaving the average viewer struggling to watch the shows they want.

This time, Funimation have finally stepped up to the plate after years of grabbing UK rights for titles they had no intention of allowing UK viewers to watch and announced that they'll be giving us access to their relaunched 'Funimation Now' streaming service in February. To help us wait for the Funimation content to become available, Daisuki are streaming five of their shows on a one-week delay. Not ideal, but at least Daisuki always publish titles on a regular schedule.

Crunchyroll have an excellent lineup this time around too, with (mostly) worldwide rights for most titles. We also had some activity from The Anime Network (Sentai) who decided to announced that they would stream their titles to the UK themselves instead of adding them to Crunchyroll. In truth their own service is exceptionally expensive for what you get in the UK - three simulcasts and half a dozen catalogue titles - but it's nice to be remembered.

It's easily the best anime season we've ever had in terms of UK availability.

Viewster and Animax seem to be sitting the next few months out entirely - Viewster has one new delaycast but it's a continuation of a title licensed for a previous season, and Animax was completely quiet until a handful of Funimation shows were silently listed on its site. No episodes are available at the time of writing this three weeks into the season, however, so I'm unable to add any further commentary. Neither Viewster nor Animax can keep to a regular schedule and they're difficult to recommend.

Several series are continuing from autumn, namely Haikyuu!!, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Gintama.

Some shows are continuing from previous seasons, too

News roundup: Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi starts its theatre run today

It looks as though this is going to be another week with no magazine updates. I'm not expecting any news to break next week so I guess Capcom are busy promoting the new stage play at the moment.

The last batch of stage play updates before the show commences

The Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi stage play starts its run today, so we can expect a range of reports from the media very soon. In the meantime, there's an official video message from none other than Fuuma Kotarou:


There are also a few more videos (with actual speech) on the official YouTube channel here. The actors talk about their characters and it's a good opportunity to see their costumes up close. Fujita Ray's Katsuie looks better than ever.

I hope that I receive a response from the production company about a wider release for the DVD versions soon...

Previews of the official stage play merchandise

It wouldn't be a Sengoku Basara tie-in without a selection of new merchandise to buy, and Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi should satisfy fans of the performers with its offerings. First in the list is the official 34-page A4 programme for ¥2,000:

Thirteen different five-piece sets of photographs of the actors and actresses for ¥1,000 each:

A muffler towel covered in weapon designs for ¥2,000:

A set of two A4 clear files for ¥1,000:

And thirteen different randomly-packed 56mm tin badges for ¥300 each:

Stage play attendees can also enjoy a taste of Sengoku Basara near the venue

To celebrate the stage play's run, the Roppongi branch of the Pasela Resorts karaoke and entertainment chain - which happens to be very close to the theatre - is offering a special menu until 7th February 2016. Most of the dishes have appeared in the past at other Pasela venues such as the Three Monkeys Cafe tie-in and karaoke menu last year. Fans who order the Sengoku Basara food and drinks will receive one of forty different character coasters with each item.

Cover artwork for the next Sengoku Basara drama CD release

The Animate TV website has posted preview images showing the cover artwork for February's new drama CD. Drama Yose CD Sengoku Basara -Tokugawa Ieyasu & Ishida Mitsunari- has an eerie theme which should suit the storyline that was teased where Ieyasu, Mitsunari, Sakon and Katsuie all end up taking shelter together during a storm. It's not really the season for ghost stories but that's the atmosphere we seem to be getting!

The preview also includes a sample of the illustration used for the Animate-exclusive keychain for this volume.

Updates from the current Sengoku Basara radio show

Animate has published an interview with seiyuu Ishida Akira (Takenaka Hanbee) and Hoshi Souichirou (Sanada Yukimura) to accompany the second episode of the Sengoku Basara -Nekketsu! Yose Raji!- ('Sengoku Basara: Hot-blooded! Variety Theatre Radio!') radio show. It's very short, but Hoshi mentions that he'd like to have Sen No Rikyuu's voice actor Sakurai Takahiro on the show and Ishida hints that they'll probably be able to share more information about the new Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den game as times goes on.

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Well, that's all for now! I'll be travelling for the next few days - an attempt to recover from my recent period of overwork - so updates might be even slower than usual. I'm still looking forward to hearing more information about the new game as soon as it's available.

News roundup: We're still waiting for game news, so here's more about vacuum cleaners and suitcases

It's magazine day in Japan but it doesn't look as though either Weekly Famitsu or Dengeki PlayStation have any new information for us this time. I'm going to make a wild guess and say that next week's Weekly Famitsu is the most likely time for Capcom's next batch of news, otherwise it might still be a little while away. We might get some hints on Monday/Tuesday when they post their magazine preview articles.

The stage play website updates to show the last new actors in costume

It's not long until Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi debuts so preview pictures of Kojuurou, Sasuke and Sen No Rikyuu have been posted on the official website. I'm not too convinced by Rikyuu's facial expressions but the costumes are certainly looking good; it's going to be great to eventually see them all in action. I'm a little worried that so many of the show dates are still far from being sold out.

Edit: Famitsu has posted a compilation article with better pictures of Rikyuu.

In Japan right now? Experience the Date Masamune vacuum cleaner in person

The preorder period for the upcoming Sengoku Basara Premium Cocorobo vacuum cleaner ends on 18th January 2016, so SHARP have organised some special preview events to show off this very exclusive piece of merchandise.

The first event is scheduled for tomorrow (14th January 2016) between 19:00 and 21:00 at the Nico Nico Honsha event space in Ikebukuro. The venue's capacity is limited and if demand is high signups for the hands-on demonstration will be halted. Attendees will receive a special sticker illustrated by Mikami.

Mikami incidentally provided the illustrations used by the cleaner when it communicates with its owners via the Cocoroboard smartphone app.

After that, the next opportunity to talk to the cleaner will be on the 16th and 17th January 2016 when it will be present in the Karaoke Pasela reception area in front of the Capcom Bar in Shinjuku between 11:00 and 19:00 each day.

If you're not in Japan - like most people reading this - Capcom TV kindly posted their own news bulletin about the vacuum cleaner here. The news update recaps a few other announcements before getting to the segment with their reactions to experiencing the cleaner's voice controls, alarm clock and weather report features.


e-Capcom makes even more Sengoku Basara suitcases available

The extravagant 31L Sengoku Basara carry cases are back on e-Capcom, with a whole host of brand new designs for fans of Ieyasu, Motonari, Motochika, Sakon, Katsuie, Kojuurou and Sasuke. Each case costs ¥30,000 before tax and delivery is scheduled for 24th March 2016.

In addition, the previous carry cases will be made available again for those who missed out.

The specification of the Masamune, Yukimura and Mitsunari designs hasn't changed.

News roundup: Vocal songs, Monster Hunter Explore and a few updates about the new stage play

Sample the new Sengoku Basara vocal CD with a preview video

The release of the Sengoku Basara 10th Anniversary Warrior Themes Vocal Collection CD is just ten days away now, and Avex have obligingly uploaded a preview video with clips from some of the songs. I rather like it...


Edit: The official site is now live too with lyrics and samples of the full list of songs.

The latest Sengoku Basara gaming news from Japanese magazines

As I mentioned on Twitter last week, the 21st January 2016 issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine didn't include any new coverage about the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den game. Instead, KobaP participated in a two-page interview about game tie-ins which looked back at some of the memorable collaborations over the history of the Sengoku Basara series.

KobaP mentioned that KobaP won't have all that many collaborations (in comparison, Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi had a lot) but they have some interesting things planned. He noted that he really wants to show off the fighting styles and voice actors for the new characters Sanada Masayuki and Nobuyuki.

Coupled with his comments in mid-December I strongly suspect that at least one of the two new Sanada clan members will be playable in the new game; possibly both of them.

The usual pattern for new information is that Weekly Famitsu breaks it first then Dengeki PlayStation covers it the week after; if that holds true then I would guess we'll hear more on 21st January. However, this is purely speculation and nothing is stopping Capcom from suddenly releasing new information at any time.

The latest Sengoku Basara crossover is with Monster Hunter Explore

Hot on the heels of KobaP's interview, news broke the next day about a new collaboration with iOS/Android title Monster Hunter Explore. Fans of the game will be able to obtain special in-game equipment based on Sengoku Basara between 14th January and 29th January 2016.

There will be four different three-piece armour sets available for player characters. The Azure Dragon's Armour (Blademaster) and Azure Dragon's Haori (Gunner) sets are lightning elemental while the Akazonae are fire. The armour sets resemble the costumes of Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara, of course.

It will also be possible to obtain four weapons. There are one-sword and six-sword versions of Masamune's Kagehide blade, as well as dual and juumonji versions of Yukimura's Shura spears.

(Please forgive any translation issues as I'm not too familiar with Monster Hunter conventions. The juumonji versions of the spears look more like Yukimura's Shakubou to me, but I'm sticking to the naming on the official site for now.)

More cast photographs unveiled for Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi

The Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi stage play is starting its run in less than two weeks too, and they've been regularly updating their website with pictures of the cast members in costume. Larger versions can be found on Twitter and Facebook. There are also a few brief video clips with interviews with the actors for Masamune, Yukimura and Motochika.

Speaking of the stage play series, the DVD release of Butai Sengoku Basara 4 has had a few problems as they have been unable to keep up with demand; even people who ordered as soon as the listing went live are still waiting for their copies. The Ace Shop staff have been very apologetic. I suppose that this means the release has been a success, even if fans are still waiting to actually see the show.

News roundup: Happy New Year, Sengoku Basara fans!

The Sengoku Basara news kept on rolling out over Christmas before taking a break for the New Year. I'm going to have to do some catching up today!

Catch up on the classic Sengoku Basara games with the Winter Stylish Action SALE

Capcom is celebrating the holiday period with a sale on the Japanese PlayStation Store. Fans who purchase classic Sengoku Basara games between Christmas Eve and 4th January 2016 will be able to enjoy big discounts!

The original Sengoku Basara, Sengoku Basara 2 and Sengoku Basara 2 Eiyuu Gaiden (HEROES) are selling for ¥329 apiece as 'PS2 Archive' titles on PS3 instead of the usual ¥823. The handheld titles are also discounted; Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes is currently just ¥280 (usually ¥700) and Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes is down to ¥800 (usually ¥2,000).

In addition, Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi is on sale at a 30% discount, costing ¥4,193 for PS3 (usually ¥5,990) and ¥4,893 for PS4 (usually ¥6,990).

An official event report from Jump Festa

Capcom has published an event report from Jump Festa covering KobaP's stage presentation. There are a few new pictures (and comical moments, such as the description of Ashigaru-kun participating in the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi gameplay challenge and not doing so well). The only potentially new item about Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den in the article is a mention that an Osaka Siege azure-crimson clash between Yukimura and Masamune is set to be the climax of the game's story.

Incidentally, I didn't have time to mention it previously but fan Mewshuji spotted the Houjou crest in the Masamune scenes from the Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den trailer almost as soon as it was published.

This bodes well for the return of Ujimasa, who has been absent from the main series for a little while now. Great! I think some of the less popular characters will really benefit by appearing in a game with a smaller roster so they don't end up forgotten.

The first episode of the new Sengoku Basara radio show is now available

The first episode of the Sengoku Basara -Nekketsu! Yose Raji!- ('Sengoku Basara: Hot-blooded! Variety Theatre Radio!') radio show launched on Christmas Day as planned, and it's possible to tune in and listen by clicking on the 'FLASH' or 'WMP' buttons on this page. Obnoxiously, it's region locked, so fans outside Japan will need to use a region unblocking tool of some kind in order to listen. I don't really understand the purpose in region locking audio shows in languages which aren't widely spoken across the world, but what do I know?

Anyway, the guest for the first 41-minute episode is Ishida Akira (Takenaka Hanbee), and Hoshi Souichirou (Sanada Yukimura) is hosting. The second episode will go live on 8th January 2016.

Missed out on the Eagle Talon tie-in merchandise? Check out the DLE store

The collaboration between Sengoku Basara and Frogman's Himitsu Kessha Taka No Tsume (Secret Society Eagle Talon) series back in summer led to a little merchandise. Well, fans who missed the exhibition can now purchase the goods from the official DLE store. There's a lot of variety, so if you've ever had a yearning for your favourite characters in bear form it might be worth checking out.

e-Capcom plans a range of Sengoku Basara mobile phone stands

A special page has appeared on the e-Capcom website offering the chance for fans to 'vote' on 51 different designs for mobile stands based on the Sengoku Basara characters in one of the most unnecessarily complicated merchandise strategies for which I've had the pleasure of translating the instructions. All 51 main characters from the series are available as potential designs.

The acrylic stands can be used to hold your smartphone, or simply as decorations. They're approximately 200-250mm tall, depending on the character.

Called the Sengoku Basara 10th Bushou Ransen Mobile Stands, each costs ¥2,500 (¥2,700 with tax) and they'll only be available through e-Capcom. Delivery is expected to take place in March 2016.

There's a catch, however. Even though 51 designs are available and this is a rare chance for fans to take home merchandise for some of the series' least popular characters, only the designs which receive a minimum number of orders will actually be produced.

There's no detailed information about the minimum order quantity; it could be 2 preorders or 200. Fans who want to apply simply make reservations on the e-Capcom website as usual. If the minimum order quantity is met, they'll be charged for all of the stands they reserved and receive them in March as normal. If it's not, the stands which didn't pass the order threshold will be cancelled automatically. Fans outside Japan will have to use a deputy service as e-Capcom don't support non-Japanese orders.

I sort of hope that e-Capcom reveals which stands made the cut once the preorder period is closed. It will be interesting to see.

Streaming: Autumn 2015 anime final impressions

My personal life has been horrendously busy lately, and not in a good way - work has quite literally taken over my life. I didn't even notice Christmas even though I'm supposed to be relaxing now (in some strange universe where working every hour I'm awake is 'relaxing'). I'm not sure how great the quality of my writing will be under the circumstances, but tradition is tradition and now that the autumn 2015 anime season is over I want to post my thoughts about the shows I watched from the fragments of it which my sleep deprived brain can still remember.

Nothing much has changed with the UK-friendly streaming providers, and FUNimation have apparently been selling a few exclusivity contracts to companies like Animax, which is frustrating when Animax's service isn't very good. Exclusivity contracts suck for fans. I still have no idea when anything not on Crunchyroll or Daisuki goes live because Viewster and Animax don't really do schedules or announcements properly. Speaking of Viewster, I think I'm falling out of love with them now they seem to be holding back all of the features I actually want behind their expensive Omakase service. I have way too much Sengoku Basara merchandise lying around to even begin to consider paying a premium for a bunch of anime-related toys I don't want.

Anyway, my ranking hasn't changed much, except that Dance With Devils became available to the UK and upstaged everything else with its inherent stupidity. It turns out that fluffy supernatural shows are exactly what I need when I'm exhausted.

1. Dance With Devils
2. Gintama
3. Diabolik Lovers

The new Mobile Suit Gundam almost made it into the list too. The story gets a little weak from time to time and the strange hairstyles bother me, but those fantastic climaxes as the end of each episode have been way too exciting. It's a shame its UK streaming arrangement isn't that great.

'Twas the season of demons and vampires

News: Dengeki PlayStation vol. 605 (14th January 2016) includes a Sanada Yukimura-den interview (updated with video!)

As we already knew from the leaks a few days ago, the newest issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine released this week featured some Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den content.

I have now purchased the magazine, so here's my summary. Most of the article is a recap of the information revealed last week but there's a new interview with KobaP and producer Nonaka at the end. Some of this information is very similar to what we've heard before; I've skipped the parts which were exactly the same.

• The first question from the interviewer asked why the staff had changed, since the team of KobaP and YamamotoD has been associated so closely with the Sengoku Basara games in the past. KobaP explained that he nominated Nonaka as producer this time; he wanted this title to be different to the previous games in the series.
• As for YamamotoD, his workload has become so great that it was decided that director Tanaka Toshihiro would join the project too. Of course, YamamotoD is still involved when it comes to character design, story ideas and planning out the game. Tanaka is in charge of the main story and YamamotoD is supervising.
• Since this is the first game which focuses on a single character, picking the title gave them some trouble. They came up with the name Retsuden Series to show that they were making a single long story focused on a single warrior.
• (Raindrops' note: As I said before, Retsuden is an ordinary word which means 'chronicle' or 'life story' but they deliberately write it slightly differently to give it the connotation of being an intense, hot-blooded story.)
• The reason Yukimura was chosen for the first game in this series is that they wanted to showcase a prominent moment in the history of the Sengoku period, like they did with the Battle of Sekigahara in Sengoku Basara 3. They settled on the Siege of Osaka. Since it's the 400th anniversary of the conflict, they thought it would be perfect to have a story with Yukimura as the lead.
• It's also an appropriate way to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary since Yukimura was one of the two leads in the very first game.
• Focusing on a single character wouldn't have been feasible if they had chosen to make Sengoku Basara 5 instead.
• Nonaka followed up with a longer explanation. In the main Sengoku Basara series there are many warriors, and one of the charms of the games is that each one of them can be the 'main character'. They wouldn't have been able to concentrate on a single storyline with one main character without the Retsuden Series. Not many of the warriors in the game were directly connected to the Siege of Osaka but Yukimura played a key role. They realised that by covering the story of his life they'd be able to delve deeply into the Siege of Osaka.
• KobaP would be delighted if people could pay close attention to the bonds between Yukimura and his older brother, and between Yukimura and his father. He hopes the fans will try to come up with their own theories based on historical records while they wait for further information.
• Since the story draws from actual history, some character relationships and backgrounds will be a little different this time. In some cases, characters who know each other in the main Sengoku Basara games didn't interact historically. As a result their relationships have been altered for this game.
• KobaP elaborated further; games like Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi are essentially 'what if?' scenarios. Since this game isn't like that, it's tough for them to include characters who weren't involved historically. They don't want to go against established history so they reluctantly decided that some characters wouldn't be appearing at all.
• The interviewer asked about Sasuke, noting that he has a deep relationship with Yukimura in the series despite being a fictitious character. KobaP refused to answer, saying it was still a secret at this point.
• Instead, he mentioned that Shingen and Yukimura's interactions were the same kind of thing, 'what if?' scenarios rather than historical events. Since Yukimura's father and older brother are appearing this time, Yukimura's position has changed with regards to Shingen. These examples show that the world of Sanada Yukimura-den is different, with its own characteristics.
• However, the new continuity won't affect the personalities of the existing Sengoku Basara characters who appear in the game. Some relationships have changed, but don't worry, the warriors' individual personalities and voice actors haven't.
• The new trailer (from Jump Festa) is going to appear on the game's official website on Christmas Eve.
• In the trailer, Yukimura is shown as he faces his final battle - the Osaka Summer Siege. In the actual game, he gradually matures into the 'unprecedented' Yukimura shown in the video.
• Nonaka wanted to show Yukimura growing over the course of the game, so his appearance and weapons become flashier over time. Yukimura's association with fire is strong so the flame imagery is at the forefront.
• KobaP noted that he has more aerial moves this time. It's a good match for the phoenix imagery on his new outfit.
• We can look forward to a story which has both Yukimura-style hot-blooded content and serious moments.
• Masamune uses his six-claw style all the time in this game. We can expect new moves which make use of the six swords.
• Since this is a new game, there are new gameplay elements. But we have to wait for further details.
• Nonaka said that there are also new elements to keep people coming back and playing after they complete the main story.
• KobaP added that there's only one story so to keep people wanting to play, they've included all kinds of Basara-ish things. The stages have been put together especially for this game so they're different to before, and the stages have different win conditions. They can't say more for now.
• However, the difficulty level hasn't changed. It's possible to play in a relaxed way as usual, sitting back and enjoying the solemn story. People who want more of a challenge can select a higher difficulty.
• It's appeared in previous games but since Osaka Castle is the climax of the game, it's a completely new stage this time around.
• KobaP joked that this Osaka Castle looks very flashy from outside.
• Although Tokugawa Ieyasu was an old man by the time of the Osaka Summer Siege in real life, they haven't retained that element in the game (lol).
• Please expect all of the returning Sengoku Basara characters to look the same as usual. Nonaka wants to surpass the fans' expectations when it comes to making the characters stronger, but he doesn't think there's any need to change their core character concepts. So there won't be any dramatic alterations like changing their ages.
• Nonaka thinks there are many characters in the series who would work as a lead in a future Retsuden Series game. If it was his decision, he'd like to make a game about Xavi! Honda Tadakatsu would also make an interesting lead for a future title.
• KobaP thinks that they'll end the Retsuden Series if it isn't well received. Even though he's a little nervous, he's really looking forward to hearing what fans think about it. His heart is pounding because it's a new experiment!

Raindrops' note: I said that Nonaka was the director last time, rather than the producer. This was a mistake on my part due to overexcitement, he's definitely the producer. Sorry. It's not even written in Japanese.

I didn't spot anything new from Weekly Famitsu in this week's bumper year-end issue. That fits the pattern they have used in the past, though, where Weekly Famitsu breaks the news one week then Dengeki PlayStation (which is on a fortnightly schedule) adds a few more details while Weekly Famitsu concentrates on other titles.

As per KobaP's comments, the game's official website will update tonight and add the video from Jump Festa. I'll add the direct link to this post when I wake up. What a great Christmas gift!

Edit: The video went online at 10:00 Japan time!

You can watch it on the official YouTube channel.

News roundup: Mini midweek update

I'm anticipating making another news post tomorrow so I'll quickly summarise the latest happenings now to avoid things getting mixed up.

Some additional Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den information from Dengeki

It seems that there's a little more information about Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den in this week's Dengeki PlayStation magazine. BlackKite has summarised the early leaks so far here. I'm not expecting any major new reveals but if those comments are representative there might be a few interesting tidbits to read when the magazine is released.

A few more preview pictures from January's new stage play

There's also been an update on the Butai Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi stage play website. Katsuie (Fujita Ray), Motonari (Kotani Yoshikazu) and Tsuruhime (Kawamura Yukie) are now shown in costume. Even if there are no major changes from their previous outings as these characters it's still nice to see them dressed up.

A special Christmas offer for the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi music packs

Finally, there's currently a Christmas/New Year sale running on Japan's PSN which is offering some of the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi background music DLC at a discount until 4th January 2016. more specifically, if you purchase any one of the other six 'music collection' DLC packs from previous Sengoku Basara games, or the Character theme songs ~DISCO BASARA mix~ music pack, you'll receive the Classic Sengoku Basara X music collection pack for free.

For reference, this pack contains the following songs:

1. JOY RIDE (Suriagehara) CROSS.ver
2. Determination Of The Right Eye CROSS.ver
3. Ueda Battle CROSS.ver
4. Maeda Keiji's Theme CROSS.ver
5. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Theme CROSS.ver
6. Takenaka Hanbee's Theme CROSS.ver
7. Chousokabe Motochika's Theme CROSS.ver
8. Battle Of Itsukushima CROSS.ver
9. Conquest By Military Force CROSS.ver
10. Awakening CROSS.ver

News roundup: Today was the first Jump Festa 2016 stage presentation

Fan reactions to today's Sengoku Basara stage presentation

As promised, today KobaP held a stage presentation at the Jump Festa event and gave the assembled crowd a sneak peek at the first video footage for Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura-den. Sadly, Capcom wasn't streaming any of its stage presentations at all so I've had to make do with various fan accounts from social media. The new video seemed universally well-received with people commenting that they were glad they came to watch the presentation for it.

A few notes (I hope to be able to add to this later since there's so little information):

• The video was narrated by Takeda Shingen (Genda Tesshou).
• Masamune had his six blades drawn the whole time; it seems that his reworked move set gives him access to six-claw-style combat right from the start.
• The action in the video was really intense.
• They plan to release more details about the game from spring next year through to the summer.
• There will be more information at next year's Basara Matsuri event in March.

There's another presentation tomorrow morning at 10:40am Japan time, but I'll only make a new post about it if I hear any new details since the content is likely to be the same. I hope that the video will appear on the game's official website very soon. Previous event videos have appeared as early as the following Monday, but since the announcement is still so new it's difficult to be sure when the clip will become available.

Edit (20/12/2015): Gamer has posted some stills from the presentation as part of its Jump Festa coverage. The article describes the video as a scene from a confrontation between Yukimura and Masamune, and there was a loud cheer from the audience when Masamune appeared on screen. KobaP went over the information from last week's Weekly Famitsu magazine afterwards and mentioned that there were new game mechanics but didn't go into any further detail. He also outright said that it was possible for Masamune to use all six blades throughout the game this time; there was a lot of surprise from the crowd at those comments. Apparently, the new Osaka Summer Siege stage will be quite different to what we have come to expect from Sengoku Basara.

Edit (21/12/2015): 4Gamer has now posted its coverage too and it sounds as though we can expect the new video very soon. Since the gaming sites are taking a while to publish their reports I'm guessing it won't be today, but instead when the official site updates (on Thursday, if they're consistent). Let's see. OneSanitarium also noticed that the website is specifically calling it a one-player game; this might mean there's no co-op mode at all. The game's genre was quietly changed back to the usual 'Stylish Hero Action' too.

More details about the Date Masamune vacuum cleaner (there's good news, and bad news)

Speaking of events, one of the big announcements back at TGS 2015 was that Capcom were collaborating with Sharp to create a Premium Cocorobo - a talking roomba vacuum cleaner based on Date Masamune. Today's event had a demonstration of the vacuum cleaner and it seems to have caused a lot of excitement.

The listing is now up on the e-Capcom store and the first thing most people will notice is the price: ¥162,000 including sales tax. That's a huge amount of money for a novelty vacuum cleaner! It comes with its own voice recordings from seiyuu Nakai Kazuya, special packaging and an instruction manual on CD, and the device itself has all kinds of advanced features such as connecting to wireless Internet to download news, weather reports and interacting with smartphones.

Preorders will be accepted until 18th January 2016 or until all of the units are sold; it's a strictly limited item. The roomba is expected to ship in March 2016.

Edit: The device's official website is now online, and they've added a hilarious new promotional video.


Ashigaru-kun visits the Capcom Bar (official tie-in report)

Ashigaru-kun has been very busy this week, not just appearing at the event above but also writing up the third of his reports about the new Sengoku Basara menu items at Shinjuku's Capcom Bar. This week is the last article in this series so he talks about the various drinks which fans can buy, with help from the bar's manager who describes everything in more detail. It's not that great unless you like pictures of Ashigaru-kun's goofy face, since the official pictures of the drinks are already good enough to give a good idea of what they're supposed to look like.

Previews of this week's new manga releases

Today marks the release date for both Tane Jugou's comical Wan-Nyan Sengoku Basara manga and Sumeragi's Mame Sengoku Basara 4 volume 3 (the final book). To draw attention to the releases, the Dengeki Online website has posted a preview article showcasing some of the artwork.

For a limited time, customers who purchase either book through Animate will receive a mini shikishi paper with illustrations drawn by the original manga artists. Previews of both papers are also included in the Dengeki Online article.

News: Details from the official Sengoku Basara Sanada Yukimura Den announcement in Weekly Famitsu

A summary of the newest game information from Weekly Famitsu magazine

I picked up this week's Weekly Famitsu (dated 31st December 2015) for the promised details about the new Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura Den (Sengoku Basara: Sanada Yukimura Legend) PS3/PS4 game due for release this summer.

Here's a summary in English; please forgive any errors as I'm so excited typing this up that I'd make Yukimura look calm.

• The article about the new game leads with a cool picture of Yukimura dressed in a more elaborate outfit with golden highlights and a longer jacket - it looks much more like a traditional jinbaori and a little like his special costume in The Last Party.
• An illustration shows the full costume; it has awesome golden flames at the bottom, making Yukimura resemble a phoenix according to the article. The six coins of the rokumonsen are arranged in a cross on his back this time.
• He's fighting his rival Date Masamune in the main picture. Masamune is dressed in a slightly different outfit too, white with gold highlights. Masamune certainly seems to be a main character from his prominence in the article. His image colour is white in this game, a departure from what we're used to.
• The characters have flashy gold parts on their weapons too.
• An inset picture shows Yukimura surrounded by Tokugawa soldiers. Another shows that Masamune's white costume has a golden cross on the back, a clear reference to a story about the real Masamune and Hideyoshi which YamamotoD has mentioned a few times in the past.
• As mentioned in yesterday's leaks, the game will go as far as the famous Osaka Summer Siege.
• As part of the Sengoku Basara Retsuden Series the game's story focuses on an individual character (Yukimura) as one long dramatic story, full of blazing drama which runs closer to actual history.
• Osaka Castle is billed as the stage for the decisive battle, a natural decision given its role in the famous series of sieges Yukimura is still associated with today.
• The game's genre is 'action'. Details such as the price and CERO rating are still unconfirmed. Development is 50% complete.
• The voice actors for Yukimura and Masamune are still Hoshi Souichirou and Nakai Kazuya, of course.
• The game's interface isn't shown but it looks really similar to the usual style. New moves are confirmed for both characters.
• A comment from the magazine staff observes that Masamune always has all six blades drawn in the gameplay pictures so far.
• While KobaP and YamamotoD are still credited as series producer and series director respectively, the game's producer is Nonaka Daizou and Tanaka Toshihiro is credited as director.
• (Raindrops' note: I typoed on this point before and have since corrected it.)

The article finishes with a two-page interview with Nonaka and KobaP.

• KobaP said that Yukimura is a very important character in the Sengoku Basara series and they felt as though he hasn't had many opportunities to take a central role as the main series developed. Since the 400th anniversaries of the Osaka Winter Siege and Summer Siege took place last year and this year, it made him want to try focusing on Yukimura from a new perspective.
• (Raindrops' note: Capcom's headquarters is based a short distance from Osaka Castle, so it would be impossible for them to miss all of the celebrations that have been taking place there.)
• It's going to be a Sengoku Basara game with a single long story, a little like Devil May Cry or Biohazard (Resident Evil).
• The interviewer asked whether other characters would star in future games of this kind. KobaP refused to give any hints; there are plenty of things they want to do but he still doesn't know what will happen.
• Producer Nonaka has no previous involvement in the Sengoku Basara series but KobaP has been working with him for three or four years. Since this is a new series (the Retsuden Series, not Sengoku Basara itself!) he's letting a new producer and staff take care of the project.
• Nonaka spoke up too at this point. He said that even though he hasn't worked on the series before, he's always been interested in it and plays the games as a fan. So he was very pleased to be called upon.
• They removed the usual Sengoku Basara logo because it wouldn't make sense to have the Date crest in the background for a game about Yukimura.
• Actually, redesigning the logo gave them quite a lot of trouble. It was hard to get the balance right and incorporate the rokumonsen crest, so they settled on something easy to understand.
• KobaP explicitly confirmed that the game will be closer to actual history than the version of Yukimura's life story we've seen so far.
• Nonaka said he went back and researched Yukimura's life story all over again in order to work on the game and even if he left everything as it really happened historically, Yukimura's short life was dramatic enough as it was. He was already involved with many famous warriors and major events, so upon adding some 'Basara-style' flair the story steadily expanded.
• The interviewer thought that a lot of the fans would be wondering which other characters might appear. KobaP joked that he wasn't able to say anything about that but there is a very high possibility that characters with links to Yukimura - just like his rival, Date Masamune - will show up. They'll reveal additional characters gradually, along with brand new characters.
• This remark sent the interviewer into a panic so KobaP continued to explain. It wouldn't really be possible to tell Yukimura's life story properly if his family didn't appear, so his father Sanada Masayuki and older brother Sanada Nobuyuki will be in the game as new characters. Yukimura will have father-son and brotherly connections in the game as well as his usual rivalry with Masamune.
• Yukimura has never been shown interacting with Masayuki or Nobuyuki before so Nonaka wanted to show him having real human relationships.
• KobaP told everyone not to worry, Masamune and Yukimura themselves won't be portrayed too differently to usual.
• The costumes were redesigned to launch the Sengoku Basara Retsuden Series and give it a different feel to usual. KobaP said that even though the series is ten years old they've never altered the characters' base outfits before. He thinks that doing it right from the start this time will have a big impact.
• Yukimura's redesigned outfit is inspired by the Osaka Summer Siege, where the real Yukimura died. Nonaka said this was his peak as both a human being and warrior. He wanted an outfit worthy of such a climax so every single part of the new costume is flashy and they made it more like a jinbaori. Sadly Nonaka couldn't talk about much more without revealing spoilers, so he stopped at this point.
• The interviewer was surprised that talking about a jinbaori could be a spoiler. KobaP laughed and said "I wonder?" then changed the subject by mentioning that the game would include various other costumes in addition to the ones which have been revealed so far.
• As I speculated above, Masamune's white clothing is a direct reference to his interactions with Toyotomi Hideyoshi in actual history. White clothes are associated with death and burial in Japan, and I'm going to steal some comments from the interview with YamamotoD in Sengoku Basara Magazine to explain (I'm sorry I haven't posted my full translation yet!)
• (From Sengoku Basara Magazine issue 10) The anecdote about the time Masamune dressed in white is another great story. He arrived late for his duties at Odawara and when he went to apologise to Hideyoshi, he wore white burial clothes to the meeting. In addition, when he had to explain himself after causing an uprising, he shocked the people of the capital - including Hideyoshi - by arriving dressed in white once again and carrying a golden crucifix.
• KobaP also thinks that the white colour has a western-style knightly image to it. The redesign of Masamune's outfit to remove his traditional blue and famous helmet is rather striking.
• The interviewer said the characters' images had changed a lot. KobaP assured them that it isn't just costumes; their move sets have been redone as well. Fans will get a fresh feeling from both of them when they play the game.
• It's already been five years since Sengoku Basara 3 and both Yukimura and Masamune have had some upgrades in that time. However, it feels as though they're lagging behind compared to newer characters like Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Sen No Rikyuu in Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi. KobaP and YamamotoD thought it would be a bad idea to recklessly make changes to the characters's move sets. However, since this new game gave them an opportunity to try it out they went ahead and used the momentum from designing the brand new characters to revamp Yukimura and Masamune as well.
• (Raindrops' note: This sort of sounds as though other new characters will be playable, doesn't it?)
• The idea behind Yukimura's new moves is 'a Yukimura who has become stronger'. Nonaka reassured the readers that he plays similarly to before.
• They can't give any specific details about Masamune yet but it's a little different to Yukimura, who is the main character you control for most of the game. Masamune's role is somewhat antagonistic as Yukimura's rival, and his personality comes across more strongly this time.
• Masamune doesn't have his own separate story, it's more that you can control him at certain points in the game. The story shifts between different characters' viewpoints and at those points you control the other characters.
• As for stages, they're only focusing on Osaka Castle in this particular article. It's being introduced with an evening shot showcasing Hideyoshi's helmet shape over the castle keep, the way it was recently depicted in the main game series.
• KobaP joked that Hideyoshi doesn't even wear a helmet in Sengoku Basara.
• They all joked a little about how the castle keep doesn't really have any gameplay elements anyway. KobaP said it made you want to climb up to the top (not a serious comment).
• The stage gimmicks have been changed for this game, so players will have to adapt rather than using their previous strategies.
• They're aiming to release Sanada Yukimura Den next summer, so we can look forward to more reveals before then.

I imagine the official website will be live very soon to share all of these images in decent quality.

Edit: Here we go, the official website is now online.

The DVD recording of Butai Sengoku Basara 4 is coming out after all!

This is such good news that it deserves an exclamation mark. The DVD version of the 2014 stage play, Butai Sengoku Basara 4, has had its cancellation cancelled.

Citing fan demand as the reason for its release, the announcement confirms that the DVD set will include two discs for a runtime of 183 minutes (the play itself) plus 118 minutes of bonus footage. The extras include 'making of' documentary, cast interviews, a compilation of moments from the 'after show' talks on stage, the curtain call from the grand finale and interviews with the actors who graduated from the Butai Sengoku Basara series at the end of the show. Buyers who order the first press edition will receive five cast photographs along with their DVDs.

The set will cost ¥7,500 and it's already available for preorder through the Ace Shop. I expect it to receive a general release through normal retailers later on. No English subtitles are listed on the specification, which isn't too surprising as this play didn't have the 'live subtitling' feature of some more recent events.

There will be a special Capcom store in Utsunomiya for a limited time

Gamer is reporting that a Capcom Shop will open in the Parco department store in Utsunomiya, Tochigi between 18th December 2015 and 11th January 2016. It's difficult to see buried under all of the Monster Hunter merchandise but there will be some Sengoku Basara goodies available to fans who make the trip to visit.

I've been to that Parco a number of times and it's generally very quiet, so I hope that the shop does well over the holiday period. There will probably be a few nice New Year offers available.