Month: January 2016

Import Duty- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Blue Destiny (SEGA Saturn)

Published by Jahanzeb Khan

Gundam isn’t a Japanese niche, it’s huge all over the world with the same acclaim and widespread recognition as something like Dragon Ball Z. Whether it’s the anime, manga, or the huge selection of figurines and model kits that get their own dedicated section at Hobby stores, Gundam is a well-known commodity no matter where you are. That being said, fans outside Japan tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to video game adaptations. Over the past few decades, and even now, most of the good Gundam video games almost never leave Japan. We’ve seen a few games show up in local shops over the years, in particular the very undesirable Dynasty Warriors: Gundam spin-off/crossover series. Also at this point, a Dynasty Warriors re-skin is quite possibly the laziest way to make a video game, not to mention that playing as a mech in a Dynasty Warrios game doesn’t even remotely feel like controlling a mech. In fact, Luke Halliday has been trying to give away his copy of Dynasty Warrios: …

Detective Pikachu is the Private Eye in Demand

Published by

No one cares about the next Pokemon game or any of the recent spin-offs right now, as all they want is a title that doesn’t even bear the Pokemon name, but stars a very unlikely variation of the beloved Pikachu: Great Detective Pikachu. It’s clear by now that this is no joke, as an adventure game starring a talking Pikachu with a deep manly voice, and wearing a classic Sherlock Holmes hat, does indeed exist in the Japanese eShop. Not to mention it’s not too expensive a release either. As for the thought process and discussion that lead to the inception of this game, and helped make it all the way as a complete product… I can’t even fathom. As strange as the game is, fans all over the world want it badly. There’s been petitions begging not only for a localisation, but to have none other than Hollywood legend Danny DeVito provide the English voice for Detective Pikachu. He’s done some great voice work in the past, and if this petition works and Nintendo get …

Space Dandy Part Two – Review

Published by Kane Bugeja

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a great space epic was unfolding. Heroes, villains, battles fought for the very survival of galactic peace and prosperity. Slightly to the left of that, a few eons in the future (I think), we fin yet another tale of heroes, villains and battles fought for the very survival of galactic peace and prosperity…not that anyone really cares about that. Taking all the wonder and majesty of the universe and cramming it in the path of the universes most notorious drifter, who not many people know, the saga of Space Dandy is one of…confusion. With every conceivable creature, planet and event a mere warp away, our champion of the stars throws reason to the ever expanding corners of the universe, spending countless hour pining after the fairer sex, yet somehow still planting his quaffed visage squarely in the path of oncoming adventure. It’s ludicrous, it’s nonsensical, but at the end of the universe all that really matters is that it’s dandy, baby. Picking up where they left …

The Hentai Prince and Stony Cat – Review

Published by Luke Halliday

Sometimes a title can serve as a draw to a series and other times it can give off the entirely wrong impression as to what the series is exactly about. What’s in a name? Well a lot actually, it can be the thing that catches your eye and it can prove to be a iconic title that lasts in the minds of those who experience the series it lends itself too. It can also prove to be a destructive force that can hurt a series deterring viewers away from an otherwise good series who think it is something other than what it truly is (see: SKET Dance, Bobobo-bo-bobobo bobo-bo bo, Oreimo: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute). The Hentai Prince and Stony Cat falls under this category as well because the title really is misleading. At first glance you’d come to expect it to be yet another low brow harem with nothing to say other than: “Boobs and panties are pretty fantastic right?” But that isn’t what this series is about and while it …

The Original Kamen Rider Returns for ‘Superhero Year’, Takeshi Hongo Rides Again In New Movie!

Published by Luke Halliday

It has been 45 years since Takeshi Hongo first became a cyborg after an experiement gone wrong, he then set out in order to combat the evil organization known as Shocker that made him the Kamen Rider. The iconic motorcycle riding cyborg hero in a grasshopper suit ‘rider kicked’ his way into fans hearts and remains ingrained in the Japanese Pop Culture all these years later. This year marks the 45th anniversary of Kamen Rider and the 40th anniversary of Super Sentai, in order to celebrate Toei is releasing a new Kamen Rider film which will see the return of Takeshi Hongo as Kamen Rider 1 for the first time in roughly 40 years! The film is titled Kamen Rider 1 – Go and will be the first of many anniversary celebrations throughout the year. There will be more news posted on those when they come to light. You can check out the trailer for the upcoming 45th anniversary special below. I for one am absolutely stoked to see Kamen Rider 1 ride again and …

‘My Hero Academia’ hits Arcades with Card Game Machine

Published by Luke Halliday

DETROIT SMASH! PLUS ULTRA! ONE FOR ALL! These are all familiar phrases to fans of the breakout Shonen Jump hit manga series My Hero Academia. These will also likely be heard in the upcoming arcade game from Takara Tomy Arts based on the series, My Hero Academia: Clash! Heroes Battle. The game will be a card game based arcade machine that will produce cards that can be used in battle. The game will be a simple game in the same vein as Bandai Namco’s Animal Kaiser and the arcade version of Yo-Kai Watch. It will feature many of the series’ heroes and villains as they duke it out for ultimate supremacy, or something like that. I personally have been playing Animal Kaiser and I must say that these kinds of card based arcade games are super addictive and I for one would love to play a game of this style based around the My Hero Academia series. The game will feature characters like Izuku Midoriya and Bakugo Katsuki. The arcade cabinet is set to hit …

Shinsuke Nakamura Officially Joins WWE, First Match Against Sami Zayn

Published by Jahanzeb Khan

There’s been a lot of mumbling in the wrestling rumour mill lately but now things have come to fruition in the most spectacular fashion. Earlier this month Wrestle Kingdom 10 took place, which saw a phenomenal match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. Just hours after the event rumours started going around that AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and a few other New Japan stars had given their notice and accepted offers from WWE. Not long after, Shinsuke Nakamura vacated his IWGP Intercontinental Championship which further added fuel to the rumours. However, following the historic debut of AJ Styles in WWE, it’s now been confirmed that Shinsuke Nakamura has signed with the WWE and will be performing for their thriving and popular NXT brand. Shinsuke joins the likes of Asuka and Kenta as part of WWE‘s ever expanding roster of international stars. Shinsuke Nakamura is a huge acquisition for the company, and his planned debut match will take place at the NXT Takeover PPV in Dallas, Texas. His first opponent? None …

A Wild Catgirl Appears! – Review

Published by Bailey Runholm

THE RIDE NEVER ENDS If you’ve been paying attention to SnapThirty this past month you might’ve seen a new addition to the team pop up here and there, “Hey how’s it going?”, doing his own take on SnapThirty’s, is that how you write that?, First Thoughts on some major 2015 anime that the guys missed out on, covering the recent release of No One But You and stirring the anime communities pot with his take on the current level of toxicity throughout the community. So, to finish off his check-list and become a full-fledged member, in his eyes at least, he needs to do a complete review of a game, anime or manga AND he needs to be a part of at least one episode of SnapThirty’s, again is that how you write it?, podcast: The SnapCast. However, with the second option out of the window because the rest of the team seem to keep recording them without him, cheers boys, the newest member of the team instead decided to go and review something. I …

Here Comes The Bride – Nina Williams Returns For Tekken 7: Fated Retribution

Published by Frank Inglese

With fighting game continuations such as Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, fans of the long-running series always worry about the updated roster. Often, a developer will keep all the characters that the fans have come to know and love while throwing in others for the sake of variance. Occasionally, a developer will forget about fan favorite characters for reasons unbeknownst to us, but in the case of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution it seems as though Bandai Namco Entertainment truly know what it is that it’s audience wants the most. Announced a while back, Tekken 7: Fated Retribution is, incase you can’t already tell, the next addition to the long line of Tekken video games to hit both arcades and home consoles. Like every other new iteration of the game; Tekken 7 boasts well-tuned gameplay mechanics, incredibly high-calibre visuals, and the return of many series staple characters…like Nina Williams who has today been revealed as a returning fighter to the King Of Iron Fist Tournament that stands, somewhat, as the core of the Tekken series of fighting games. …

Gatebox – Waifu in a Box!?

Published by Bailey Runholm

Over the past 10 years or so the tech world has grown immensely, from fancy consoles like the PS4, Xbone and Wii U, to figures that control games, like Skylanders and the amiibo craze, the beginnings of the VR and AR world with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive and now…2D girls controlling your electronics, helping you with day to day tasks and basically ‘The Waifu Age’ is now upon us hip hip hooray for NEETs everywhere. I can already hear the celebrations from here No I’m serious, the Japanese have once again figured out a way to completely blow my, no our, minds with something we never really thought we’d need, or want for that matter. Vinclu Inc., a company only formed in 2014, are developing what they call a “World First Holographic Communication Robot that enables you to live with your favourite character.” The device, or maybe I should say ‘she’ I really don’t know at this point, will help you with day to day tasks, like waking you up in the morning, letting …

It’s A Big World, And It’s Time To Start Discovering It – Final Fantasy: Explorers Launch Trailer Released

Published by Frank Inglese

Square Enix are very happy to announce that their latest handheld Final Fantasy title, Final Fantasy: Explorers, has now been released across Australia and New Zealand. Hooray! Finally, those of us living “Down Under” will get the chance to truly explore the vast world of a franchise that has been around since, well…perhaps the beginning of time. In fact, I remember reading segments of the Bible that detailed times wherein which some of the apostles had to take breaks from their holy work to level grind. This may be strange, but some of you reading this may not know exactly what Final Fantasy: Explorers is, and that’s fine because Square Enix have you covered with the release of the video game’s launch trailer which takes audiences through each and every aspect of the game, making sure to inform people of what exactly they’ll be in for when starting up the new title. A Final Fantasy game the likes of which you’ve never before experienced; Final Fantasy: Explorers ditches the turn-based RPG setup of previous games and instead …

What If Star Wars: The Force Awakens Was An Anime?

Published by Luke Halliday

It is not secret that Star Wars takes inspiration from Japanese culture, be it in the kendo influence behind the light saber battles, the samurai-esque look of Darth Vader or even the fact that the first movie is basically a space opera version of Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress. That said, what if I told you that some wonderful person on the internet has decided to bring Star Wars: The Force Awakens into the anime realm? Well that very thing has happened with a fan putting together an ‘anime opening’ video for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The video plays on all the tropes and even makes use of a song by perrenial anime music makers, J-rock band FLOW. You can check out the Star Wars: The Force Awakens anime opening below. Let us know what you think of this lovely bit of mash up in the comments section. -30-

Dragon Ball: Project Fusion’s List Of Fusible Characters Is…Endless?!

Published by Frank Inglese

About a week or so ago, I wrote an article regarding an upcoming Dragon Ball Nintendo 3DS title from the lovely people over at Bandai Namco Entertainment that boasted a gameplay experience unlike any other Dragon Ball title we’ve ever seen. The game is called Dragon Ball: Project Fusion and is aparantly an RPG title that allows you to fuse a whole bunch of alternative Dragon Ball characters, instead of the standard Goten/Trunks, Goku/Vegeta combinations. Now the latest issue of V-Jump magazine has been released over in Japan, and with it comes more information regarding the upcoming game. From what we’re lead to believe by the double-page spread featured in the popular magazine; the fusion possibilities for the upcoming game are…infinite. It goes without saying, but Dragon Ball: Project Fusion will not feature an infinite amount of fusion characters, there simply aren’t enough characters in the series, nor is there the storage capabilities to properly host all of them on a Nintendo 3DS game cartridge, as well as countless other things that only work against …

Romance Ladies, Beat On Dudes, And Fight For Glory – Uppers Debut Trailer Released

Published by Frank Inglese

I’ve personally written many news pieces regarding the upcoming Marvelous brawler title Uppers because, well…seriously, if I have to explain it to you than it simply isn’t worth it anyway.  It’s a fighting video game developed by a bunch of developers who once worked on alternative beat em’ up titles like the Kenka Bancho series, overseen by the man behind Senran Kagura; Kenichiro Takaki. Uppers is a game about a man, you, and many other men brought to a mysterious island for the sake of entertainment, but what will you be doing to amuse crowds of blood-thirsty wealthy-types? Well…you’ll be beating each other to death, baby! That doesn’t mean you wont have time for romance though! There are plenty of eligible young ladies who’ve made their way to the island, and if years of martial arts discipline wont help you overcome your opponent, maybe getting close and comfortable with one of your lady-friends will give you the drive you need to survive. This upcoming PlayStation Vita title, because of its development team, is slowly but surely building …

How Bleach: Brave Souls Restored My Faith In Mobile Gaming And Rekindled My Love For The Series

Published by Frank Inglese

It’s strange, if you’ve been following SnapThirty and the crew for a while now you’d know that there are a few things we can’t seem to help but hate on, despite the fact that we try as hard as possible to keep a positive attitude about almost all facets of Japanese pop culture. One of those things happens to be the Shonen Jump Manga series Bleach written and illustrated by Tite Kubo; a series that, although we very much enjoyed at the beginning of it’s longer-than-necessary run, we have all come to somewhat despise due to what we consider to be a superfluous continuation of a series that should have ended years ago. Not only that, but the quality simply isn’t the same. Something else none of us seem to be fans of is that of mobile gaming; a platform that boasts cheap fun but is actually littered with forced advertising and micro-transaction that, without the purchase of some in-game currency, would make the title simply unplayable. It’s strange to that think Bandai Namco Entertainment’s …

First Thoughts: Girls Beyond the Wasteland – WHAT A LOVELY DAY!

Published by Bailey Runholm

ANOTHER ROMCOM!? So we’re going to start this off with me being completely honest about how I felt prior to the 2016 winter season of anime starting: originally I didn’t much care for it. Besides fangirling over another new anime release from KyoAni with Myriad Colours Phantom World, “KyoAni finds a way!”, nothing else stood out too much to me. Erased sounded alright, but I was going to wait until the show had finished just in case this seasons “saviour of anime” turned out to be ANOTHER flop, I didn’t even give BBK/BRNK a second look until Frank said I should go check it out, Dagashi Kashi was in the same boat until the internet went into an uproar about it and I haven’t even seen GATE yet, so checking out season 2 was pointless. Here come the torches and pitchforks Of course, now that the season has actually started my opinion has changed drastically to what was previously mentioned. However there is one show that has seemed to have gone mostly under the radar that, personally, …

SnapThirty Crowns Best Shonen Jump Signature Move

Published by Frank Inglese

    For years, pop culture fanatics have been at war with each other. Countless relationships have been ruined over talks of who is best this and who is best that. For example: While some of us tend to think Persona 4’s Chie is Best Girl, others may believe it is Sword Art Online’s Asuna. The problem with this ongoing debate is that it is one fought entirely on a biased foundation, meaning that there can never be a proper resolution. This conflict is one that seems as though it is never going to end, but us here at SnapThirty want you all to know that we will be the ones to bring peace back into the pop culture world…one character at a time. On episode 43 of the SnapThirty podcast, the boys decided that they were going to run a series of tournament brackets to decide once and for all who from Japanese pop culture truly are the best of the best. While Best Girl is indeed the most sought after title in all …

Bandai Namco Announce Dragon Ball: Project Fusion Nintendo 3DS Game

Published by Frank Inglese

What is your favorite thing about Dragon Ball, reader? Personally, I enjoy seeing two characters fuse together, simply because I’ve always been a fan of the staple fusion characters Vegeto and Gogeta. I mean, what’s better than a character with the overwhelming power of Goku combined with the devastating arrogance of Vegeta? Simply…nothing. That’s why the prospect of a Dragon Ball video game that relies heavily on the fusion aspect of the series excited me to such a large degree! Bandai Namco Entertainment have announced this week, through Japan’s V-Jump magazine, a brand-new Nintendo 3DS title called Dragon Ball: Project Fusion that, as I mentioned previously, is an RPG that gives the spotlight to the fusion ability introduced late in the series’ run. So far, not a lot has been revealed regarding how this game will play. All the V-Jump announcement detailed was that it is an RPG and that it will revolve around fusion, backing it’s statement up with an image of life-long enemies Goku and Broly partaking in the Fusion Dance; something many …

One Piece’s Sanji Has A Last Name, And It Has Just Been Revealead

Published by Frank Inglese

One Piece’s Sanji hasn’t been in the limelight as of late, seeing as his level of appearance in the Manga has been at all-time low, but he is still one of the fan favorites, and still one of the more powerful members of the Straw Hat crew, so there’s no way we could forget about him for even a second. Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, has this strange but amazing talent to be able to write characters in ways that make them seem, regardless of how much “screen time” they’re given, like they have gone through some sort of growth or evolution. This also works in the inverse; Oda is able to write a character with a large amount of backstory without ever needing to specifically detail it. The latest chapter of One Piece, which has just been released over in Japan as a part of the latest Weekly Shonen Jump issue, reveals to the audience something we never thought would ever come about. In fact, I personally never thought about this until…now. …

First Thoughts: ERASED – Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance

Published by Luke Halliday

It’s not often an anime like ERASED comes along. A series that blows all expectations one could reasonably have for an episode of television out of the window, one that so thoroughly reshapes the entire landscape of the medium so much so that it is immediately the benchmark of excellence that everything else is to be held up against. ERASED does that in its all too brief yet utterly breathtaking 23 minute pilot episode, an episode I believe will be held in high regard in years to come as one of the all time best first episodes in anime. ERASED follows Satoru Fujinuma, a down on his luck manga artist who has become disillusioned with the world around him and struggles to explore the heart of his own mind for fear of what may be waiting for him. He has the burden of being subjected to a phenomenon he calls ‘Revival’ which forces him to relive an event until he alters fate in one way or another. How this happened to occur to him is …

Digimon Adventure Tri Part Two: Determination First Preview Trailer Released

Published by Frank Inglese

If you’re Digimon fans who have not yet watched the first film of the Digimon Adventure Tri series, well…I’m very disappointed in you, and that includes my fellow writers Kane Bugeja and Luke Halliday who also have not found the time to experience possibly one of the best pieces of Digimon media in the modern day. It’s fine though, you all have time to catch up before the second movie, Determination, gets it’s release, which has just been announced for March this year alongside the reveal of a preview trailer that only serves as fuel to the digital fire burning in my soul. March 12th is when the next movie will get a theatrical release across the great country of Japan, with Crunchyroll possibly picking it up for legal Western distribution sometime after. I mean…it’s what they did with the first movie, an educated assumption is that they’ll do the same with the second. Unlike the first film, Determination will not entirely focus on the character of Yamato (Matt) and Taichi (Tai). No, this film will …

See Behind the Ninja Magic with Latest Naruto SUN Storm 4 Trailer

Published by Kane Bugeja

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (Naruto SUN Storm 4 for shorter), presents die hard kunoichi with the latest opportunity to once again jump into the open toed sandals and bright orange jumpsuit of the least stealthy ninja of all time. Following the formula of the three that preceded it, SUN Storm 4 adds new faces to the familiar, allowing players to partake in some historic Naruto battles straight from the pages of the manga. It also allows players to ignore any sense of story and just pit a whole bunch of Kakashi’s against each other, maybe with an Obito thrown in for good measure. Anywho, in their latest trailer showing, CyberConnect2 has decided to show what life is like behind the scenes, discussing the various facets of production and how they go about bringing Naruto to the console. So, if your interest in the world of ninja extend behind the curtain, check out the trailer below and enjoy your glimpse into video game creation. Should your interest not go that far, then there are …

First Thoughts: Charlotte – Tissue Boxes to the Left, Pizza Sauce to the Right

Published by Bailey Runholm

Baz is comin’ to get’cha, boy! I’m not exactly sure what kind of driving force pushes me onto the school-based anime hypetrain, but ever since late 2012 I’ve loved watching these kinds of shows. Of course as a kid I started with the entry anime big guns, Dragonball, Sailor Moon, One Piece and Naruto, along with Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! among other shows, however it was school-based anime, K-On! to be exact, that got me so into this wonderful, lively world and even now, 3-4 years later, I love watching them just as much as I did back then. So, to continue on from my recent trend of ‘big anime that we missed from 2015’ I decided to move onto a show that the community had mixed feelings for and a show that I’ve been holding onto in my back catalogue ever since it was announced, Charlotte. Now let me start off by saying I have never seen or played Angel Beats!, Kanon, or Air and I’ve never seen all of and never fully completed the …

First Thoughts: Bubuki Buranki (BBK/BRNK) – Confusing But Intriguing

Published by Frank Inglese

Often, I can follow a fairly complex Anime storyline. I don’t find it too hard, and so long as you let your imagination run wild while watching it, chances are you’re going to pick up what a series is laying down fairly quickly. Bubuki Buranki, oddly shortened to “BBK/BRNK“, is a series about, well…I kind of have no freaking idea. It has something to do with magic, or magic items, or magic monsters, or robots, or monsters, or robot monsters, or even magical robot monsters…I literally have no idea. A majority of the first episode takes place in the past, set as somewhat of a prequel to the events of the series as future episodes come out. In this “flashback” we follow a small family living, I don’t know…in the past? Kind of. They have modern clothing, but not modern commodities, apart from the gargantuan mech that is revealed, spoiler, by the end of the episode to belong to the magically-powered mother of the twins who I’m lead to believe will serve as the protagonists of …

Gurren Lagann (Pierce the Heavens Collection) – Review

Published by Kane Bugeja

Life is complex. From the day to day doldrums, to the once in a lifetime events, the ol’ flow of time is never shy about throwing curveballs in amidst the pitches. Of course, whilst some of these moments are notably exciting, shaping personalities and searing themselves into the minds of the masses as key points in history, the vast majority of life just kind of floats on by under the radar. Enter fiction, that great bastion of the soul, the world of infinite possibilities wherein all may take refuge from stress and monotony in order to reinvigorate that voice in their mind that screams joy about the world. Why the introspection and broad scoped quizzicality you ask? Well my curious companions, that’s because I am about to talk about a series that condenses the struggles of life into a handy dandy physical form and then cathartically punches it in its smug face. Why? Because that’s how Gurren Lagann rolls, ’nuff said. Gurren Lagann, the series that takes all the action and excitement of anime, crashes it into …

Vagabond (VIZBIG Edition): Volume Eight And Nine – Review

Published by Frank Inglese

To live the true life of a Samurai, one must master not only the art of combat but poetry, painting, illustration, conversation, and everything in between. The road of the warrior does not lead straight ahead, there are turns to make through avenues unexpected that will teach a man to master the lifestyle. Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman in all of Japan, wrote about this in The Book Of Five Rings saying: “You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain”. What is interesting about the life of Miyamoto Musashi, a famed Samurai and philosopher, is that it was only through years of combat that he was able to come to develop a practice not entirely based on swordsmanship. Some time in his life something had changed him. Whilst a young Miyamoto Musashi would grin at the possibility of combat, an older Miyamoto Musashi would write about why one believes such a situation to be beneficial, or the inverse. In volumes Eight and Nine of Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond, provided to …

Wrestle Kingdom 10 Was a Night of Redemption and Triumph

Published by Jahanzeb Khan

No wrestling promotion kick starts the New Year with a bang quite like New Japan Pro Wrestling with their traditional Tokyo Dome wrestling extravaganza, which has for the last decade gone by the apt Wrestle Kingdom moniker. Wrestle Kingdom is quite simply wrestling royalty, and easily the closest alternative to WWE’s Wrestlemania showcase of wrestling immortality. Last year marked the very first English localisation of Wrestle Kingdom, with Wrestle Kingdom 9 delivering an amazing night of superb wrestling action, all made accessible to fans outside Japan thanks to the great efforts of the English commentary team that comprised of Matt Striker and the legendary Jim Ross. You can of course read our full coverage of the amazing Wrestle Kingdom 9 and how much we enjoyed nearly every match on the card. 2016 started off with Wrestle Kingdom 10 on January 4th, and it was a night filled with familiar faces and champions, but more importantly the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10 was a rematch of the unforgettable closer of Wrestle Kingdom 9: Hiroshi Tanahashi …

First Thoughts: “Myriad Colours Phantom World” – How Low Can You Go?

Published by Frank Inglese

I have no idea what to say about this Anime. It has confused me, as well as many others, not because of it’s complex story or challenging character archetypes, but because it has left me feeling somewhat in a state of, let’s say…limbo. Why? Well Myriad Colours Phantom World is a new Anime series that plays host to some wonderfully vibrant, masterfully-animated visuals, a story that piques the imagination which can be expanded on in coming episodes…and a scene wherein which the heroin of the story must use breast physics simply to prove how low she can go. I’m talking limbo, baby! Myriad Colours Phantom World follows the story of a group of young men and women with fantastical powers that allow them to combat supernatural forces known as Phantoms. As the story goes; these Phantoms have always existed, but thanks to a freak accident a poisonous gas clouded the globe, not killing people, but allowing them to now see these once-mysterious creatures. Now, as that stands…this story is fairly interesting. We’ve seen stuff like …

Gurren Lagann Pachinko Machines Revealed, The World Falls Silent In Sadness

Published by Frank Inglese

As it turns out, Pachinko parlours are where dreams go to die…but at least their burial site is flooded with the clashing of stainless steel ball-bearings and clouded with cigarette smoke. That’s good, right? At the end of December last year, my fellow writer Kane Bugeja posted an article regarding an “exciting new Gurren Lagann project” that took the internet by storm, despite the fact that nobody knew a single thing about what it could be. Click Here to read the full article. For a week or so…nothing had been said, which left us fans of the ridiculous Anime series in a state of, let’s say, confusing limbo. Well I’ve got some bad news for everybody who was excited for the possibility of another Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Anime series; you ain’t getting it…sorry. When this news began circulating the world wide web, it was thanks to a brand-new website made for the simple sake of teasing audiences. This website’s domain name featured the letters P and S, which some people came to think eluded …

First Thoughts: “Prince Of Stride Alternative” – Sprinting Ahead Of The Rest

Published by Frank Inglese

There are certain specific features that make a Sports Anime great…but so long as a series has pretty boys with homoerotic tendencies, those other features can jump out the window! Just ask every single fan of every single modern day Sports Anime. Obviously I’m kidding, but there is something to be said about the Yaoi-driven fanbase of most contemporary Sports titles, and you’ll find that the closer characters are in these shows, the more popular they are with the fanbase because, regardless of whether or not they’re “together“, the Anime-loving community enjoys a little thing we call “Shipping“, and it alone can make or break the popularity level of an Anime…like you absolutely wouldn’t believe. Now, I’m totally cool with that because, at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what makes you happy, and if it’s imagining two characters romantically embracing (amongst other things) than, by all means, enjoy it! For me…it’s not really at the top of my “likes” list, and I often steer clear from fanbases that are driven by this …

First Thoughts: KanColle – World of Warships The Animation

Published by Bailey Runholm

It begins I’m just going to start off by saying that I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into when I started watching Kantai Collection. I have obviously seen images of the show flying around the internet, seen the now infamous “Poi” quote and I’ve seen that if you search up a majority of the real ships names on Google you’ll get images of the girls…and not the original warships. But for the story itself I honestly knew nothing about it. So, I went into this world completely blind and watched the first 3 episodes in this 13 episode series, and in all honesty… It was worth it. Kinda. For people who have been either living under a rock or haven’t seen the show for themselves yet but have seen these ‘boatgirls’ everywhere, Kantai Collection, often abbreviated to KanColle, is based off of the Japanese internet game of the same name. The show features anthropomorphism, try saying THAT really, really fast, girls that do battle with the ‘abyssal fleet’, some form of …

Japanese Video Game of the Year Awards 2015

Published by Luke Halliday

Welcome to SnapThirty’s inaugural ‘Japanese Video Game of the Year Awards’ for the Year of 2015. It has been a hell of a year for Japanese video game fans with long awaited games hitting our shelves and some doing what they do best and remaining unreleased (I’m looking at you Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III). We have been enchanted by the wonderful worlds we have visited and the incredible journeys these games have taken us on. So in honor of this year in Japanese video games we present the awards for the best of the best and even a look at some of the most memorable moments in gaming this year. Without further adieu, these are the winners for SnapThirty’s 2015 ‘Japanese Video Game of the Year Awards’: Japanese Video Game of the Year 2015 – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain In an era where open world epics have become almost commonplace for both role playing games and action games, none rose to the occasion quite like Metal Gear Solid V: The …

Anime of the Year Awards 2015

Published by Luke Halliday

Welcome to SnapThirty’s second annual ‘Anime of the Year Awards’ for the Year of 2015. It has been a wild ride for anime fans with countless classics making a major impact on the anime community and industry. Over the past year we have seen blood used as a weapon, we have witnessed city wide destruction on multiple occasions, learned how to assassinate our teacher, felt the true force of a single punch, joined the fight with Tekkadan, sang along to Bump of Chicken’s ‘Hello World’ in broken Japanese, saw life unfold from the bar stools of Quindecim and saw a topless doctor perform surgery in the middle of a Vietnam war battlefield. So in honour of this year in anime we present the awards for the best of the best and even a look at some of the most memorable moments in anime this year. Without further adieu, these are the winners for SnapThirty’s 2015 ‘Anime of the Year Awards’: Anime of the Year 2015 – Blood Blockade Battlefront How many Anime compel you to rewatch the current …

Screenshots and More New CG Art Released for Upcoming VN: No One But You

Published by Bailey Runholm

Not even a day or two after I had finished releasing my article about the first new scenes being shown off on their Twitter and KickStarter for their new upcoming game No One But You, Unwonted Studios has again released even MORE new images for the upcoming game, this time opting to show off screenshots of the game, rather than just showing CG and background art. The screenshots in question don’t really give away too much of the story, instead showing semi-random parts of the game. Except for Yui here picking a fight with current best girl Megumi.  By the looks of things, the screenshots show a mixed bag of both ‘common route’ scenes and ‘character route’ scenes. Along with the preview screenshots released, Unwonted Studios have also released one new piece of CG art, showing of a gaming arcade at, what I assume to be, night. Whether this is also just showing a ‘common route’ scene or if its showing off something that may be of importance later in the story I’m not entirely sure, …

One-Punch Man Volume Three – Review

Published by Kane Bugeja

Regardless of what they entail, jobs can be stressing. Be it an issue with a computer, a clash with a customer or an all round slow day, their are countless trials and tribulations that can turn any frown upside-down and then immediately right side up. But what ho, fiction dawns upon the horizon, that age old escape from the problems of a hard fought day, that window into a world unbound from the laws of our own, free to exist in whatever form it so desires. Monsters, angels, demons, heroes, beings free from the confines of reality, from the mundanity of…no. wait, heroism is a career now. Damn. Ah well, a little fiscal accountability never hurt anyone…right? Yes my friends and fans of fiction, being a champion of justice just got legal. No longer are our caped crusaders vigilantes in the eyes of the law, no longer must they hide for fear of recompense, for they are now agents of the law, under the law. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig right? Well yes and …

New CG Art Released for Upcoming VN: No One But You

Published by Bailey Runholm

For anyone who might not have any idea on what I’m talking about, which I can’t blame you much seeing as it has been a little under the radar, No One But You, often abbreviated to just ‘NOBY’, is an upcoming visual novel developed by a new developer, Unwonted Studios (See: Written in the Sky), and is being published by them and Sekai Project. You know, the guys who seem to be publishing all the big VN’s on Steam at the moment (see: Nekopara Vol.Allofthem, Grisaia and Clannad, just to name a few). So far, the story is looking to be one of the best I’ve ever played in a while. Seriously, if you haven’t checked it out yet then go download the demo on Steam and play it right now! Its okay, I can wait around here until you’ve finished. No seriously, go on. I can guarantee you’ll enjoy it. So, how it’d go? If you enjoyed it then that is great! You can join me on the NOBY hype train. If you didn’t …

Asian Kung-Fu Generation Re-record Classic Song ‘Re:Re:’ for Upcoming Anime About Redoing Things

Published by Luke Halliday

Any Asian Kung-Fu Generation fan would know the 11 year old classic Re:Re: from their career defining album Sol-Fa. The song is a stand out from the album filled with stand out songs and has been dug up from the past for use in the upcoming anime series ERASED: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi. The series is looking to be one of the most interesting of the Winter 2016 anime season line up and with its time travel concept and mystery elements it looks like front man Gotch and the rest of his Asian Kung-Fu Generation have the perfect anime for Re:Re: which they have now completely rerecorded specifically for ERASED. You can check out the new recording of Re:Re: in the promo video below to get a listen to AKG’s new take on the classic track. Needless to say it bloody rocks. For comparison sake you can check out the original version of the song below: Also just because it is cool and I love Asian Kung-Fu Generation here is a live performance of Re:Re: …

Toxicity in the Anime Fandom

Published by Bailey Runholm

Fanbases truly are a wonderful thing. They help to make a show bigger and better, and if a majority of them voice their opinions on something they can invoke change in a show, game or other form of entertainment for the better. It’s a great way to also share content that you create out of love for the medium with the rest of the world, like music or fan art for example. Probably one of the biggest and best examples of fanbases working together would be with the creation of conventions, central hubs of entertainment held over the course of a weekend where fans from across the board go to hang out, buy cool stuff and check out panels hosted by voice actors, YouTubers and artists just to name a few. Specifically looking into the anime fanbases however, it’s not all roses like it might first seem. There tends to be a lot of infighting between specific ‘groups’ in the anime community, and I don’t just mean fighting over whether or not #TeamChitoge or #TeamOnodera …