Anime
Anime Expo Screens U.S. Premiere of Sparks of Tomorrow TV Anime, Hosts Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Anime Staff – News
©Hiro Yuki, Kyoto Animation/Sparks of Tomorrow Production Committee
Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that it will screen the U.S. premiere of the first two episodes of the television anime of Hiro Yūki’s Sparks of Tomorrow (20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku) novel at this year’s event on July 3 at 10:00 a.m. in the JW Marriott Platinum Ballroom.
The convention recently revealed that it will host the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sōsō no Frieren) television anime’s second season director Tomoya Kitagawa, supporting director Keiichirō Saitō, animation producer Yuichiro Fukushi, and character designer Keisuke Kojima. The four will be at a panel for the anime on July 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott Platinum Ballroom.
The event will also host manga artist and illustrator Acky Bright.
The Sparks of Tomorrow anime will debut on July 5 and will air on Sundays at 11:00 p.m. on Tokyo MX and on 11:30 on BS11. The series will also air on ABC TV and TV Aichi. The anime will exclusively stream worldwide on Netflix on Sundays starting on July 5 at 11:00 p.m. JST.
The original novel takes place in the summer of 1907, the 40th year of the Meiji era. 15-year-old Inako Momokawa lives in the Fushimi area of Kyoto, and is the second daughter of a sake brewer. Nothing she does ever comes out right, and she receives a scolding from her father every day. Her only relief is the trust she places in her prayers to the gods. One day while at Fushimi Inari shrine, she meets a freewheeling young man named Kihachi Sakamoto. He rejects the gods, and boasts of the incoming age of electricity.
This Year’s Anime Expo will also host a “JAPAN MUSIC VOCALOID Powered by DWANGO” event on July 4 with guest performers Hachiōji-P, kz (Livetune), picco, SatapanP, and TeddyLoid. Entry is included with attendees’ Anime Expo credentials and no separate ticket is required. ALI, Yōko Kanno, girl group Roselia, rock band SPYAIR, and singer Yoko Takahashi will perform at the J-POP SOUND CAPSULE @ AX 2026 music concert.
The event will also host “the first official North American screening” of the The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? anime film on July 5 at 12:00 p.m. PDT. BIGWEST will also host a Macross panel on July 2 at 1:00 p.m. PDT.
The convention previously revealed the following guests:
Anime Expo 2026 will take place from July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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Anime
Inti Creates’ Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced Game Collection Heads to Switch 2 This Year With New Story Mode – News
Paid upgrade pack will also be available for those who own Switch version
Inti Creates announced at the Bit Summit event on Friday it will release Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced — a collection of polished and updated versions of its Azure Striker Gunvolt, Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, and Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 games — this year for Nintendo Switch 2. The new version will have a new story mode.
English version
Japanese version
Into Creates describes the Switch 2 edition:
The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition adds not only support for high framerate and resolution displays, but a new story mode called “Azure Striker Gunvolt GX.” Players will control a tag-team duo of Gunvolt and Copen with new weapons and abilities. It also features a new “Inspiration” system, encouraging players to swap between the two heroes at the right time to activate gameplay and score bonuses.
A paid upgrade pack will be available for those who have the Nintendo Switch edition, and the developer is looking into releasing the new story mode as paid DLC for other non-Switch platforms.
A demo of the new story mode is available at the Bit Summit event this weekend.
Inti Creates released the trilogy pack for the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in July 2025.
The game collection features “Live Novel” dialog that plays during missions without interrupting gameplay. The collection also has 37 total tracks sung by the “Muses” and full voiceover. (Gunvolt 1 and 2 will have Japanese voices only.)
The original Azure Striker Gunvolt game debuted in North America in August 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS.
Inti Creates launched Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 for the Nintendo 3DS console in August 2016 in Japan, and in September 2016 in North America. An Azure Strker Gunvolt Striker Pack featuring the first game and the sequel launched in Japan in August 2016 and in North America in October 2016.
The two games have since launched for Switch in August 2017, and then for the PlayStation 4 console in April 2020. Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 debuted for PC via Steam in June 2020.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 launched for Nintendo Switch in July 2022 and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in August 2022. The third game released on PC via Steam in October 2022.
Inti Creates announced an anime adaptation of Azure Striker Gunvolt during a panel at Anime Expo in July 2016. The anime launched on the Nintendo eShop in February 2017.
Source: Bit Summit stage presentation
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Inti Creates announced at the Bit Summit event on Friday it is developing the Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger iX 3 game for Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam with a planned release in 2027.
English version
Japanese version
Inti Creates describes the game:
The third entry in the high-flying 2D action series, Luminous Avenger iX 3 sees Copen back in his home world facing a new threat.
A mysterious girl appears before him, bringing warnings of otherworldly invaders known as “iX Bearers.” Featuring the same classic 2D action as the previous games, iX 3 ups the intensity with a new weapon: the twin energy swords, “Divide Edge.”
iX 3 also brings unprecedented levels of character customization with the “Code Customizer” system, allowing you to build up Copen’s strengths as you see fit, provided you can manipulate the system to your benefit!
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 3 is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam in 2027!
A demo for the Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection game is available at Bit Summit this weekend.
Inti Creates‘ Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection, which includes the first two Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX (Shiroki Kōtetsu no X: The Out of Gunvolt) games, will launch for Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam on July 9. It includes all DLC and balance updates.
The original Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX game launched for Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam in September 2019. The Xbox One version was slated to launch on the same day, but it was delayed to December 2019 due to a game crashing bug.
The Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 sequel game launched for Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam in January 2022.
Inti Creates released Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced — a collection of polished and updated versions of its Azure Striker Gunvolt, Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, and Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 games — in July 2025 for the PS5 and Switch. A Switch 2 version with a new story mode is slated for this year.
The original Azure Striker Gunvolt game debuted in North America in August 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS. Inti Creates launched Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 for 3DS in August 2016 in Japan, and in September 2016 in North America. Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 launched for Nintendo Switch in July 2022, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in August 2022, and PC via Steam in October 2022.
Source: Bit Summit stage presentation
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© KADOKAWA Game Linkage Inc.
The May 14 issue of the Japanese game magazine Famitsu celebrated the popular game NieR:Automata with an interview with the game’s production staff. The interviewer asked the game’s director Yokō Tarō and producer Yōsuke Saitō about the cryptic message “NieR:Automata to be continued…” at the end of the February 20 video that commemorated 10 million copies of the game shipped or downloaded.
Saitō responded, “I was the one who asked for that to be included. I don’t know if there will be a sequel, but I felt including ‘to be continued…’ was an absolute must for the ninth anniversary video.”
Yokō added, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, “I suspect the message is something like, ‘We’re not done, we’re going to keep raking it in.’”
Saitō countered, “Ending on the ninth anniversary feels a little unsatisfying, so wouldn’t you want to keep going until the 10th anniversary?”
The interview then touched upon the game staff’s April Fool’s Day joke teasing a new NieR project. The joke post said, “New NieR Project Production Kettei”. However, rather than using the usual kanji characters for kettei, 決定 (Green-Lit), the post used the (meaningless) homonym kanji 血定 (literally, “Established Blood”). (Trust us, it’s a little bit funnier in Japanese. A little bit.)
【NieR 新プロジェクト 制作血定】
虚無に生まれるは、希望か。
それとも、救済という名の絶望か。━━━Coming Soon…… pic.twitter.com/nBdtqQEF12
— NieR公式PRアカウント (@NieR_JPN) March 31, 2026
【New NieR Project Production Kettei】
Is it hope born into nothingness?
Or is it despair masquerading as salvation?
━━━Coming Soon……
Saitō said the post was just an April Fool’s Day joke, but noted NieR fans were more excited than he expected. Yokō elaborated, “We debated about how to present the joke. Originally, it said ‘Release Green-Lit,’ but we changed it to ‘Release Not Green-Lit’ because we were worried people might misunderstand.”
However, Yokō said that the staff had second thoughts, realizing the “Release Not Green-Lit” wording could lead to even more confusion: “Saitō pointed out, ‘Since it’s April Fool’s Day, wouldn’t ‘Release Not Green-Lit’ mean this is a lie, and therefore it’s actually green-lit?’ He said some people might read too much into it.”
Saitō then explained they went with Yokō’s idea of using the kanji 血定 for the April Fool’s Day joke. “Looking back now, I don’t really get what ‘血定” means,” Yokō concluded.
NieR:Automata launched in spring 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and subsequently on PC, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. The game is the sequel to 2010’s NieR. The game saw an anime adaptation, NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, in January 2023. As of press time, the staff has not announced any more new NeiR projects.
Sources: Famitsu May 14, 2026 issue, Famitsu’s website, Square Enix‘s YouTube channel, NieR’s X/Twitter account via Hachima Kikō
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