Stephen ALCALA

This Week in Anime - Fantasy Football

Feb 12, 10:00

anime manga

Are you ready for some football? No, not that kind - Coop and Lucas are talking about the football you actually play with your feet. ― Are you ready for some football? No, not that kind - Coop and Lucas are talking about the football you actually play with your feet. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warni...

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My Thoughts After 20 Hours With Monster Hunter Stories 3

Feb 12, 10:00 games

The same things that will inevitably make this game more tedious for some players will also scratch a hyper-specific itch for others. ― Monster Hunter is one of those game franchises like Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, where it's not totally uncommon to find people who get super into it, have encyclopedic knowledge of it, and have save files easily exceeding 300 hours. I… am not one of those people. ...

survey

ANN 2026 Reader Survey

Feb 11, 16:09

Time for our annual reader survey. As a thank you for filling out this massive survey, we're giving away ANN subscriptions to 100 randomly selected people who fill it out.

news

16 comments

Actor James Van Der Beek Dies at 48

Feb 11, 15:30

16 comments

people

Actor played Dawson in Dawson's Creek, Pazu in Castle in the Sky ― Actor James Van Der Beek's wife Kimberly Van Der Beek revealed on Wednesday that the actor has died following his battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer. Van Der Beek died peacefully on Wednesday morning. He was 48. Van Der Beek revealed in November 2024 that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in August 2023. He was b...

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Celebrating Girls-Love at the Yen Press Yuri Café in New York City

Feb 11, 14:00

manga events

In a brutally cold New York February, there’s a warm home for yuri fandom at the Yen Press Yuri Café ― In 2025, The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't A Guy At All by Sumiko Arai, often referred to as the “Green Yuri” among fans, saw incredible success. Named Best Manga of the Year at the American Manga Awards, it has opened doors for other yuri manga, including inee's Love Bullet, to get full merchand...

review

Touring After the Apocalypse Volume 4-6 Manga Review

Feb 11, 12:00

manga

Everyone is dead, everything is destroyed, let’s go on a road trip! ― In the early volumes of Sakae Saito's post-apocalyptic landscape bike tour, we met Youko, a young human, and her companion Airi, an artificial humanoid of some kind, who are traveling around Japan on a Yamaha XT225, known as the Yamaha Serow. This small motorcycle allows for off-road and street riding. With no people to repair infr...

interview

Rewriting the Chivalrous Yakuza: Interview with Stray Manga Writer Ryu Kamio

Feb 11, 09:00 manga

"I have no time for those who uncritically submit to authority. If one senses that the direction their group is heading is misguided, I believe they should have the courage to cry out that it is wrong." ― Writer Ryū Kamio and artist Yu Nakahara's newest work available in English is Stray, a twisty crime drama that follows Hachiya Ken, a man who just finished serving time in prison for a crime he did ...

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Pokémon Pokopia Might Be A Lot Darker Then We Think

Feb 11, 06:00

games

I wasn’t expecting a game that looked like this to have potentially darker implications! ― The Pokémon franchise has always toyed with the idea of utilizing Pokémon in creative ways outside of battling. In the anime, Pokémon are sometimes used to help out with infrastructure or power cities. In the video games, Pokémon abilities can be used to alter terrain in order to access new areas or solve puzzl...

news

Shanghai License Company Issues Statement After Chinese Social Media Criticizes Detective Conan Series for Collaborating With Banned My Hero Academia Franchise

Feb 10, 13:33

manga

China removed My Hero Academia series in February 2020 for using controversial character name ― The Shanghai Character License Administrative Company issued a statement on January 31 after Chinese social networking sites criticized Gosho Aoyama's Detective Conan series for doing an illustration collaboration with Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia series. Chinese digital platforms had removed the My ...

your score

Your Anime Rankings - Best of Winter 2026, Jan 29-Feb 4

Feb 10, 12:50

anime

If Jujutsu Kaisen's ups and downs are giving you whiplash, check out Shiboyugi, a consistently high-rated little surprise. Find out what else is worth your attention in our weekly user rankings. ― Let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season, based on the polls you can find in our Daily Streaming Reviews and on the Your Score page with the latest simulcasts. Keep...

review

Scarlet Anime Film Review

Feb 10, 12:00

anime

Is Scarlet Mamoru Hosoda’s best film? No. But is it an above-average film worth watching? Absolutely. ― It's obvious from nearly the first scene of acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda's newest film that Scarlet draws from the Shakespearean play Hamlet. Character names and basic plot points are ripped straight out of the play—and Scarlet herself is an obvious female proxy to the titular prince. However, ...

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The Winter 2026 K-Comics Guide

Feb 10, 11:00 korean

It's the Winter K-Comics Guide for all of you manhwa and webtoon needs! Come find your new full-color favorite! ― Welcome to Anime News Network's Winter 2026 K-Comics Guide, the companion to our manga guide! Every included manhwa was published in December or January, although some are ongoing titles without a physical release. This guide focuses exclusively on series premieres, i.e., only the first ...

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14 comments

This Week in Anime - Artsy-Fartsy

Feb 10, 10:00

14 comments

anime

Is anime art? Where does the line between "art" and "pretentiousness" get drawn? Or is all art quite useless? Sylvia and Chris explore these erudite issues. ― Is anime art? Where does the line between "art" and "pretentiousness" get drawn? Or is all art quite useless? Sylvia and Chris explore these erudite issues. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are n...

game review

Romeo is a Dead Man Video Game Review

Feb 10, 09:00

games

A zany story and over-the-top characters, along with an avant-garde and polychromatic presentation, clash with somewhat simplistic combat mechanics and camera issues. ― Suda51 is a Japanese game developer who needs no introduction. Known for games like Lollipop Chainsaw, No More Heroes, and Shadows of the Damned, his studio Grasshopper Manufacturer continues to take the enigmatic approach in storytel...

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This Week in Mobile Games - CTW CEO Ryuichi Sasaki Talks the Advantages of Browsers in the Anime Game Wars

Feb 9, 13:43

games

How does CTW adapt anime into games? What's the curse that hit the Steam release of Granblue Fantasy? Josh has the answers! ― Hello, and welcome once more to another installment of This Week in Mobile Games, your actually-biweekly look at the latest in gaming on phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. In our first installment, I noted that while the line between mobile games and "regular" games on...

review

Hana-Kimi Omnibus Volumes 4-6 Manga Review

Feb 9, 12:00

manga

It’s got its ups and downs for certain, but this omnibus of the beloved shoujo manga mostly remains a fun read. ― After a slow start, what better way to kick things up than with a school festival? Here we have arrived at one of the more exciting parts of Hana-Kimi's early phases. It approximates itself towards a tournament arc with the way it opens up; what better way to show off than by having the h...

game review

20 comments

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Game Review

Feb 9, 10:00

20 comments

games

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties ends up improving on the original experience enough to make it well worth the time of anyone that wants to check out this early chapter of Kazuma Kiryu's sprawling life story. ― Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties presents the Like a Dragon franchise at an interesting crossroads. Now that the series has achieved a degree of mainstream recognition and success that its original fans...

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48 comments

Answerman - What's Really Happening With The Crunchyroll Store Delistings?

Feb 9, 10:00

48 comments

industry

The loss of a true one-stop shop for anime fans hurts the industry as a whole, and a drive to cut inventory costs may be to blame. ― Anime fans ask: I've been following some worrying developments with the Crunchyroll Store lately and wanted to get your take on what's happening. You might have seen the news that the Crunchyroll Store is allegedly pulling low-selling in-stock inventory items. Word has...

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A League of Heels - The Spices Behind Sports' Best Baddies

Feb 9, 09:00