Kodansha Archives | Otaku No Culture

Lights, Pencil, The Fable Manga Build Roguelike… in Action! A Playful Mash-Up in Mixed Genres.

The Fable Manga Build Roguelike is a fresh sense of style, turning every encounter into a right-to-left comic page that springs to life. It’s ambitious, clever, and an intriguing experiment for fans of the long-running series.

Mono Entertainment & Kodansha
PC and Nintendo Switch

Instead of traditional turn-based combat or flashy real-time brawls, The Fable Manga Build Roguelike hands you a very different way to stage a fight. You’re not pressing attack buttons; you’re making a comic. Each action is defined by a randomized manga panel you must arrange, and the layout flows right to left like an authentic Japanese graphic novel. When the page goes live, the game animates those panels and decides the outcome.

It’s clever, and best appreciated on a big screen. My only regret during playtesting was requesting the Nintendo Switch code first. This isn’t a small-screen experience; after activation issues, shifting to the Steam version became necessary. Unless the handheld is attached to an adapter for a big screen, enjoying the art is like squinting to appreciate the details.

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Kobunsha’s YouTube Video Gives Sneak Peak at Macross “Valkyries Third Sortie”

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

This latest YouTube video released two days ago by Japanese publishing company Kobunsha (owned by the Kodansha Group) reveals some of the pages from Hidetaka Tenjin’s upcoming art book Valkyries Third Sortie. It is the third volume in the series of illustrations from the world of Macross. Tenjin’s first volume in the series, Valkyries, was published by Kobunsha in 2005.

Valkyries Third Sortie will retail for ￥4,298 which is currently $42 US, $55 Canadian, or £32 GB (excluding taxes). According to Kobunsha, the book will be available September 16, 2016 through good book importers everywhere.

Source(s): Gwyn Campbell and the Vintage Anime Fans Facebook group.

Video Source(s): kobunshaswd さんのチャンネル.

Wind up Geek’s Cool Japan: Ghost In the Shell Cyber Security Awareness Campaign

At different train stations especially at one of the busiest stations, Shibuya, there are large advertisements featuring the characters of the animated series Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Right now in Japan, there is a special campaign from February 1st to March 18th to promote cyber security awareness. The campaign is promoted through the Government of Japan and the Japan Network Security Association (JNSA), with cooperation from manga publishing company Kodansha. At different train stations especially at one of the busiest stations, Shibuya, there are large advertisements featuring the characters of the animated series Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

To coincide with this campaign, a special manga has been made available through the JNSA called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Human-Error-Traps. There are two different options available for people to acquire the manga and these options are all through JNSA’s official website.

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