Japan's anime studios billed a record $2.56 billion in 2025, clearing 400 billion yen for the first time. Teikoku Databank says 2026 could bring the first decline since 2021, in a year when 34.6% already ran a loss.
Kohei Ikeda, game director on Tekken 7 and 8, has joined Katsuhiro Harada's SNK-backed VS Studio, putting the three men who ran Tekken 7 under one roof. The response is less unanimous than it looks.
At Disney's D23, Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue promised Kingdom Hearts IV arrives in 2027 with absolutely no delay. Given the studio's history, that is an unusual thing to say out loud.
Chiikawa the Movie took 8.07 billion yen in 20 days. A random figurine, then a Bonbon Drop sticker: how Japan's moviegoer-gift system built the repeat viewing behind that number, and where the film opens next.
Japan's Neko Kentei cat exam has drawn roughly 40,000 takers since 2017. Three levels of 100 questions each, part of every fee funds stray-cat neutering, and your cat is officially allowed on camera.
A Czech team pooled five studies on what competitive gaming does to the body. Energy use barely moves, 1.3 to 2.5 kcal a minute, while heart rate can jump from 85 to 137 bpm. In Japan, the argument is about the word.
A German team had 50 students play Super Monkey Ball on a Wii and then work an arthroscopy box trainer. The game scores tracked surgical scores. Splatoon 2 did not, and gamer status predicted nothing.
Good Smile Company's Gyaru Tomie x Hello Kitty figure ships from May 2027 at 18,800 yen. The all-gray sculpt with one red bow, the Junji Ito and Sanrio crossover behind it, and how to preorder from outside Japan.
A Japanese developer has built a full Sengoku strategy game that runs inside the Vim text editor. Set in 1560, it holds 41 provinces, 32 clans and 256 historical generals in one 2,371-line file.
At CEDEC 2026, Nintendo explained how Donkey Kong Bananza's QA team kept fun exploits as features, planned for sequence breaks, and embedded testers in the dev team.
BE:FIRST release BRUCE WAYNE feat. Flo Milli, ATL Jacob on July 31, 2026. Five months after drawing 100,000 people to a Tokyo stadium, the six-piece plays a 650-capacity New York theatre in October. How a Japanese boy group is entering the U.S. on a route that is not the K-pop playbook.