Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island opened in Japan on July 24, 2026. One Tokyo multiplex gave it all ten screens and 41 showings, with 32 near sold out by 7 a.m. Why this cute-but-brutal series travels, and what fans abroad can actually get.
Japanese fans split within hours over Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, due in 2027: hope for real SF from Kamiyama and EnJoe, resistance to an alien enemy.
Kingdom: Decisive Battle of the Soul opened to 2.06 billion yen in four days, the biggest live-action debut in Japan this year. Why the series keeps beating the manga-adaptation curse, and how to watch it abroad.
Japan's Patent Office has issued a final rejection of Nintendo and The Pokemon Company's application for a touchscreen creature-capture patent. The decisive prior art was a 2013 fan-made 3D Pokemon video, and the examiner dismissed Nintendo's argument that a copyright-infringing video cannot count. Here is what it means for the Palworld lawsuit, fact separated from speculation.
Purupuru Maker, a free browser tool that wobbles only the parts of an image you paint, has gone viral in Japan and abroad. Meet the solo developer behind it and Japan's culture of gloriously pointless web toys.
Bandai Namco Filmworks reveals a new Gundam anime on July 24, timed to a San Diego Comic-Con panel. Japanese fans are guessing everything from Hathaway's finale to Crossbone and the cursed Gundam Sentinel. The English press release may have already spoiled it. Updated with what was actually revealed.
Loss-making mobile-game studio KLab has signed an MOU to bring an undisclosed partner's counter-drone system to the UAE. Inside a game company's pivot, UAE royal money, and Japan's neutral-broker play.
The Summer 2026 anime lineup looks identical in Japan and abroad, but expectations split hard. Ghost in the Shell goes global-first on Prime Video, Code Geass: Rozé already finished overseas two years ago, and Tai Ari lands with the fighting-game crowd thanks to a Street Fighter 6 tie-in.
Broke adventurers eating monsters: Delicious in Dungeon is a respected award-winner at home and a Netflix phenomenon abroad. We trace its path from Ryoko Kui's short-story years through the Harta serialization and Studio Trigger's anime to global success, and preview Season 2's Falin rescue arc, arriving October 2027.
Japan's METI selected 27 anime and game projects under its IP360 content subsidy, covering half of production costs up to ¥1.5 billion each. We break down how the program works, the backlash over funding companies like DeNA, and how Japan stacks up against South Korea and the US.
YAO unites ONE OK ROCK, Awich, CHICO CARLITO and Paledusk, with debut single 777 released on July 7, 2026. A look at the rock/hip-hop crossover, their global reach, and why these four aren't as random a pairing as they seem.