Daily Briefs - December 2025

Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song Remastered International Game Review

Dec 14, 12:00

games

If Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song gets its hooks into you, you'll likely find that there are few other titles out there that scratch the RPG itch in quite the same way. ― There are three facts that you probably need to know before reading much further into this review of Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song - Remastered International: 1. Aside from the newly localized scripts, this is the same game that Squa...

news

13 comments

Toshiaki Iwashiro's Psyren Manga Gets TV Anime in 2026

Dec 14, 10:00

13 comments

manga anime

Symphogear AXZ's Katsumi Ono directs anime at Satelight ― The third 2026 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine announced on Monday that Toshiaki Iwashiro's Psyren manga is getting a television anime adaptation in 2026. Anime distributor REMOW also announced the adaptation and revealed the key visual, the teaser trailer's English version, main cast, and staff. Iwashiro drew an illustration t...

news

12 comments

Male Staffer for HKT48 Idol Group Treated After Being Stabbed

Dec 14, 07:43

12 comments

events

Members at group's office near incident took shelter safely ― The official website for HKT48, a Fukuoka-based idol group tied to the AKB48 group, reported on Sunday that a male staff member for the group is being treated at a hospital for a non-life-threatening injury after being stabbed. The incident occurred earlier in the day at the Boss E•zo Fukuoka complex, which houses the idol group's 17Live H...

survey

ANN Readers' Choice Awards 2025

Dec 13, 12:00 anime

The nomination period is over, and it's time to cast your vote for this year's Readers' Choice Awards!

review

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Manga Series Review

Dec 13, 12:00

manga

Vigilantes breaks the spin-off mold by shattering expectations, at times rivaling or even exceeding its progenitor manga. ― Spin-offs often come with the expectation that they're mere money-grabs, cynical exercises in milking popular franchises. Plenty of popular shonen manga receive short-lived spin-offs, most often comedic or episodic in nature, and they're rarely essential reads, even for die-hard...

feature

Read it First: Manga, Light Novel Sources for Winter 2026 Anime

Dec 13, 09:00

manga light novels

Not sure what's ahead for the winter anime season? Check out the source material in our roundup of manga and light novels getting an adaptation! ― It's hardly a rule that you have to read the source material before you watch the adaptation, but what if you want to? A decade ago, anime fans who wanted to read the manga or light novel before the show debuted were out of luck (legally speaking), which ...

news

Voice Actress Julie Mayfield Dies

Dec 12, 12:35

people

Mayfield voiced Dr. Kureha in One PIece, Kyoko in Fruits Basket, Eva in Case Closed ― Mary Collins Agency revealed on Tuesday that voice actress Julie Mayfield died on November 20. She was 67. A memorial service will be held in 2026. Mayfield worked with Mary Collins Agency for 35 years. She has appeared in theater in Dallas-Fort Worth, and performed improv with 4 out of 5 Doctors and Lone Star Comed...

review

You And I Are Polar Opposites Volumes 2-7 Manga Review

Dec 12, 12:00 manga

The story does a lot with setting up expectations, flipping them on their heads, but then making the reason for why they were flipped on its head different than what you would originally expect. ― One thing that caught me off guard about You and I are Polar Opposites was just how quickly our main couple got together. It's very rare nowadays to have a slice of life comedy romance where the two main le...

column

5 comments

This Week in Games - Can't Ask Harada for Nothin'

Dec 12, 10:00

5 comments

games

The famed director of Tekken is hanging up his gauntlets at Bandai Namco after 30 years. Plus, Jean-Karlo looks at Brown Dust 2's untimely cancellation on Steam and more in This Week in Games! ― Welcome back, folks! I was able to greatly enjoy my birthday weekend. I didn't get to beat Future Redeemed like I hoped, but hey, progress was made. I was even able to finish my Tekkaman Blade model kit! I'd ...

feature

The Complete My Hero Academia Anime Timeline

Dec 12, 09:00

anime

Sorting out the timeline for My Hero Academia can be a bit confusing—especially once you realize the majority of it takes place over the course of a single, hectic year. ― My Hero Academia is one of the biggest shonen hits of the past decade. Its story is of a future world full of superheroes that is spread across 170 TV episodes, 10 OVA episodes, 4 movies, and a spin-off prequel (with said prequel ...

news

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories Anime Gets 16th Season on January 11

Dec 12, 05:26 anime

Theme of new season is "ties" ― The staff of the Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories television anime announced on Friday that the anime is getting a 16th season that will air on the TV Tokyo channel starting on January 11. The theme for this season is "ties." Cast members in the new season include: Kanji Tsuda, Ryō Hirano, Yūta Hoshino, Yutaka Shimizu, Satoko Tsuchiya, Tomoko Oishi, You Koizumi (from...

review

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar Volumes 1-7 K-Comic Review

Dec 11, 12:00

korean

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar knows precisely what it wants to be and who it wants to be for. It's a fun, occasionally intense fantasy hung on a familiar framework and filled with small delights. ― Every so often, you encounter a series that is more fun than sensical, that wears its influences on its sleeve and gleefully indulges in narrative conventions designed not so much to tell an engaging and cohe...

news

Voice Actor Jim Ward Dies at 66

Dec 11, 10:40