Despite the critical success of Too Kyo’s newest game, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, the company remains in debt. The company's tough financial situation has affected the decision to provide a localization for languages other than English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

Kazutaka Kodaka, one of the creators of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy and a founder of Too Kyo Games, talked about the company’s situation on his Bluesky . He stated he would love to start working on multilingual for the game if he can pay off his debts early. However, the company is still on the brink of going under. Kodaka also reiterated that Too Kyo has no plans to release the game for platforms other than the PC or the Switch.

Too Kyo Games has stated many times in the past that the company’s continued existence hinges on this ambitious visual novel. The company went into debt to develop The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. Regarding this, Kodaka said in 2024, “If the game doesn’t sell, you can’t pay off your debt. In that sense, this is a rare opportunity for players. You get to witness how the sales of a single title can affect the future of a company and its creators.”

That being said, Kodaka stated again on his Bluesky that thinking about the company’s financial woes may make it hard for players to focus on the game. So he will stop talking about it, and hopes that players can enjoy The Hundred Line without any worries.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is readily available on the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. You can read our review of it here.

The post Too Kyo Games Still in Debt Despite Hundred Line Success appeared first on Siliconera.

With intriguing mysteries, a colorful cast, and fun strategic stages, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a gem of a game that never wears out its welcome in spite of its staggering length. As the perfect split between the styles and humor of Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kotaka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, it will more than satisfy anyone who enjoys bombastic sci-fi stories with a resonating emotional core.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy follows Takumi, a boy living in the dome-shaped Tokyo Residential Complex. He’s an ordinary student living an ordinary life with his mom and childhood best friend Karua and doesn’t expect that to change. However, an invasion from otherworldly creatures flips his life upside down. He finds himself, along with a smattering of other high schoolers, conscripted in a war against the relentless army of invaders. They must defend the Last Defense Academy for a hundred days, while also figuring out who brought them there in the first place and why they were chosen for this task.

I really enjoyed the story and cast! Unlike in Danganronpa, where losing characters is a given and leads to some with less development or screen time, it feels like everyone gets an even share of the spotlight. Even characters with off-putting quirks, like Ima and Kurara, became endearing. Conversely, it can make bonding events feel weak, since they’re more of a monologue that provides trivia rather than anything meaningful. With how much we learn about them throughout routes in the game, though, the bonding events never left me wanting for more.

The writing is hilarious too. This was the most physically hazardous review for me, because I had to put down the game at several points after laughing way too hard. The localization was successful at taking specific memes or references that would fly over the head of an English-only audience and turning them into jokes that are in-character and true to the original context. Minor inconsistencies and punctuation errors exist, but it's hard to fault minor mistakes when one considers the scope of the project. As a whole, the localization team did an amazing job!

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a very long game. Even with over a hundred hours of playtime—excluding idling and retries—I haven’t explored every route or seen every ending. Sometimes, the routes can read like an episode of The Simpsons. You think the story is going in one direction, only for it to be about something completely different. Because of the sheer number of options, the story can feel like a smorgasbord of genres. Not every route is a winner and it can suck when the game traps you in a boring story for hours, but I never tired of the game.

Aside from being a visual novel, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a combination of a Fire Emblem-like SRPG and a tower defense game. Some levels can be surprisingly difficult, especially when you haven’t upgraded your characters. A major reason for this is that you can’t choose where to place them. I one level that had two characters I would’ve never put together to hold down the fort. Since you only have a set number of AP to share with your entire army and characters can’t move too far after an action (unless you expend Voltage or an item), I had no way of sending more mobile units over to help. Finding the optimal strategy can feel more akin to a puzzle, rather than pure tactics or strategy.

Usually in these games, you don’t want to lose your units. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy goes against this notion. It encourages you to let them die or kill them off. Aside from providing you with bonus points after the battle, you gain 100% Voltage. Voltage is one of the most important resources, since you can use it to power up characters via hemoanima boosts. This includes increasing their attack strength or granting them a counterattack. So kamikaze your characters or don’t bother with healing them. Who cares if you win a battle with only one person standing? Death is glory!

I recommend first focusing on characters like Takumi and Kako (star AP farmers) or Shouma (a literal godsend). As he’s the protagonist, you always have Takumi. He’s the safest option to pour resources into until you’re at a more comfortable spot with BP and materials.

My major gripe about the game is the UI choice for the chapter select screen, which is where you can see all the story branches and routes. You can’t zoom out to see the entire chart and every path looks the same, which can make it hard to tell what you’re looking at without hovering over a node. It’s just genuinely a difficult flowchart to look at or use. The lines linking all the nodes together and the line dividing up the timeline into days look the same as well, which adds another layer of frustration. Maybe a future patch can introduce colors to make the routes stand out more, or make it easier to look at the whole thing.

Kodaka said while promoting the game that he considers The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy his “best work” and a game that’s close to his ideal. After experiencing it for myself, I have to agree. It’s unique and unforgettable, and a magnum opus that Too Kyo Games will be hard-pressed to top in the future.

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy will come out for the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC via Steam on April 24, 2025.

The post Review: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Is a Masterpiece appeared first on Siliconera.

Aniplex just shared the first new episode of the Lycoris Recoil: Friends are Thieves of Time anime short series, and it is available for all of us to watch for free on the official YouTube channel. As these are brief looks at lives of the Direct Attack (DA) Lycoris agents during their downtime, it seems each episode will be under three minutes. It is designed to act as a complement to the original anime adaptation.

This short begins at LycoReco. Chisato is at work alongside Mika. She mentions that someone is constantly ordering tea and adding liquor to it. He guesses it is Mizuki. When talking with Takina, the two overhear drunken karaoke next door and talk about viewing cherry blossoms. While they are supposed to be working, the two then share a moment and relax together.

Here’s the full first episode, which is called “Take It Easy.” English subtitles are included.

Six anime shorts total will appear in the Lycoris Recoil: Friends are Thieves of Time series. Here’s when the next five will show up. All of them will appear on Wednesday mornings and feature Japanese audio with English subtitles.

• April 23, 2025
• April 30, 2025
• May 7, 2025
• May 14, 2025
• May 21, 2025

The first Lycoris Recoil: Friends are Thieves of Time anime short is live now. The original anime is present on Crunchyroll. Yen Press handles the manga and light novel.

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The Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui has three wives in the Demon Slayer manga and anime, and in the new The Hinokami Chronicles 2 game they will appear together as one character. Aniplex, Sega, and CyberConnect 2 shared a video on YouTube highlighting the trio as they face off against the Upper Rank Six demon Gyutaro. These heroines are making their debut in this installment, as they weren’t in the first game.

Based on the trailer, it seems like Hinatsuru is the primary character, and Tengen Uzui’s other two wives are pulled into the fight depending on the attacks used. Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma are kunoichi and use kunai to attack, though we also see Hinatsuru use her crossbow during this footage. This is a nod to her actual fight against Gyutaro in the series, as she used the same move against him there. The finishing move involves all three women striking at once. While Hinatsuru and Makio pull off their attacks flawlessly, the dazed Gyutaro hits Suma in the face. This causes her to respond emotionally and beat him up for it.

Here’s the full Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 trailer showing gameplay of Tengen Uzui’s wives Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma.

There will be 40 characters in Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2, with many new ones ing returning fighters. Some of the new ones have been revealed via trailers gradually like this. For example, at the end of March 2025, Aniplex, CyberConnect 2, and Sega confirmed the Hashira Obanai Iguro, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Gyomei Himejima would all be playable. 

Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will come to the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 5, 2025, and those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition can start playing on July 31, 2025. The first game is available on those six platforms. 

The post Tengen Uzui’s Wives Are 1 Character in Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 appeared first on Siliconera.

Each year for April Fools’ Day, Aniplex, Type Moon, and FGO Project release a Fate/Grand Order game created just for the holiday. 2025 is no exception, and the April Fools’ Day game this year for FGO is called Fate/Final Journey. The official site is live, and it can be played on a mobile device via the App Store and Google Play pages. Unfortunately, it is region-locked.

The Fate/Final Journey game this time around is a Vampire Survivors sort of game starring the Crypters from FGO. Players will pick a Master and Servant pair, then will pick weapons and items upon leveling up or finding them. The confirmed initial characters on the site are the player with Mash Kyrielight and Kadoc Zemlupus with Caster/Anastasia. Each pair is available at the start. However, imagery also shows characters like Beryl Gut, Daybit Sem Void, Hinako Akuta, Ophelia Phamrsolone, and Scandinavia Peperoncino. Your new goal as a Crypter is to fight to overcome hordes of enemies and survive, so you can get out of the UR simulation. 

There is already gameplay footage online. xNaya shared about a six minute clip showing Kadoc and Anastasia in action against hordes of Servants. 

Here are some screenshots showing how the game looks:

There is also an in-game bonus for FGO for April Fools’ Day 2025. People get 10 Saint Quartz for logging in. This is being given out until April 2, 2025. As usual, you can use this to do things like get Servants from the gacha. 

These April Fools’ Day FGO games always tend to pull from different genres. For example, the 2022 Fate/Pixel Wars entry was a “grow” style game. In 2023, we could play Fate/Grail League baseball. For 2024, the title was Fate/Dream Striker soccer.

Fate/Grand Order is available on mobile devices worldwide, and the April Fools’ Day 2025 FGO game is Fate/Final Journey. 

The post FGO April Fools’ Day 2025 Game Is Fate/Final Journey  appeared first on Siliconera.

Now that Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra is live, Aniplex revealed the first banner and event in the game features original anime stars Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi. The gacha banner will be available until April 10, 2025. There’s no end date for the first event.

The first banner features two five-star Kiokus. One is Lux Magica: Madoka Kaname, and the other is Concentrated Missile Fire: Homura Akemi. Aniplex didn’t mention what the pity rate system is like in the game. However, it did note that this will follow typical gacha game elements by providing a guaranteed four-star or higher Kioku after every 10 draws. 

As for the Madoka and Homura event, it is an alternate universe tale. The “what-if” story is called “Steady Steps Forward: Magical Girl Dreams.” It is a more casual tale, with the official art showing the two heroines in their school uniforms as they walk through the city together. You do need to finish “The Fourth Window of Memory [Candy Witch] Boss” in order to unlock and be able to play through it. However, since there’s no end date, it will be possible to take your time unlocking it.

Here are the official images for the first Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra Madoka and Homura banner and event:

As a reminder, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra is a turn-based RPG based on multiple series. In addition to characters and storylines based on the original anime and manga, there are ones from the Magia Record mobile game and anime. 

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra is available now on PCs and mobile devices, and the Madoka and Homura banner and event are live for all players. That banner ends on April 10, 2025. The anime based on the original series is available on Crunchyroll, and Yen Press handled the manga. 

The post Madoka and Homura Stars of First Magia Exedra Banner and Event appeared first on Siliconera.

Aniplex and Type-Moon have published the official key visual for the Fate/stay night 20th Anniversary Concert Finale. It features Saber as a maestro conductor, with the fireworks in the background signifying the festive mood for the major anniversary milestone.

This key visual was made by a Type-Moon team led by Takashi Takeuchi, who also drew the picture draft. Hirokazu Koyama and Shima-Udon colored the picture, while Yuuro worked on the background.

Aniplex has also opened applications for the concert's tickets via Lawson Ticket. Prices for the tickets will range from ¥9,500 (~$63.30) for regular A-tier seats to ¥15,000 (~$99.95) for S-tier seats with a bonus book. However, the tickets will be exclusively available via lotteries.

Aniplex and Lawson Ticket will close the application period on April 6, 2025, and announce the lucky winners on April 10, 2025. The winners will then have a whole week to finalize their payments.

This concert will be the last one to mark the 20th anniversary of Fate/stay night, which originally appeared as a PC visual novel in 2004. Prior editions of the concert series have also been recorded in Blu-ray sets, which were just released on March 19, 2025.

The final commemorative concert will also feature guest appearances by Noriaki Sugiyama, Ayako Kawasumi, Kana Ueda, Noriko Shitaya, and Junichi Suwabe. As a refresher, they are the respective Japanese voice actors for the main characters Shirou, Saber, Rin, Sakura, and Archer.

The Fate/stay night 20th Anniversary Concert Finale will take place at Hall A of Tokyo International Forum on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

The post Fate/Stay Night 20th Anniversary Finale Concert Art Shows Saber appeared first on Siliconera.

Sega and Aniplex released new trailers for Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 that show three of the Hashira characters. The videos for the fighting game focus on Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro, Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima.

The new Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 trailers are only available in Japanese, and they show gameplay footage with minimal dialogue and combat barks. As befitting the Serpent Hashira, Obanai fights using his Serpent Breathing style and brings with him his pet snake and companion Kaburamaru. You can check out how the Serpent Hashira fights here:

Meanwhile, the hot-blooded Wind Hashira Sanemi strikes his enemies with powerful wind attacks and relentless aerial combos. Here is the trailer for Sanemi in Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2:

As for Stone Hashira Gyomei, the former monk delivers methodical and precise strikes with his Nichirin chained flail and axe up close and personal and from afar. Take a look at Gyomei in Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 here:

Pre-orders for Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 are now available for multiple digital storefronts. Those purchasing the Digital Deluxe Edition will have early access to the game on July 31, 2025.

Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will come to the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam on August 5, 2025. The first game is now available on all of those platforms.

The post Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 Trailers Show 3 Hashira appeared first on Siliconera.

Aniplex released a new gameplay trailer for Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra ahead of its debut, and it covers opening footage including a tutorial fight involving Homura. It spends just under five minutes highlighting what the initial moments in the new experience will look and feel like. It also offers an idea of how the original anime influenced the title.

This is directly taken from the start of a new game, so the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra gameplay trailer begins with the graphics quality being set. For the purposes of the example, it’s the “high quality” option. It also confirms we will need to 2.1GB of assets before we can start playing. In the introduction, there’s a callback to the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as we see Homura about to fight Walpurgisnacht on her own. However, she isn’t really alone. Madoka is there and running to try and reach her. This is when actual gameplay begins, as someone will control the character at this part. As she reaches the top of the building, Madoka and Kyubey see Homura in the fight.

It’s at this point that an actual Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra battle tutorial begins. Homura faces Walpurgisnacht, and we’ll control her during it to learn how to play. This highlights the turn-based battle system and types of abilities available. 

Here’s the full Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra opening gameplay trailer showing Madoka, Homura, and Kyubey.

Prior to this latest Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra gameplay trailer, peeks at actual footage were limited to brief moments in character teasers. During those videos, we typically get to see the character in a fight and about to use a special attack. As such, we never really got a chance to see the UI in action or any story segments. 

The last one of those trailers involved Sana Futaba from Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story. We got to see how her unique wish influenced her magical girl powers. As such, the focus is on her defending and attacking with her shield. 

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra will come to the PC and mobile devices on March 27, 2025. The anime based on the original series is available on Crunchyroll, and Yen Press handled the manga. 

The post Madoka Magica Magia Exedra Gameplay Trailer Shows Homura Fighting a Witch appeared first on Siliconera.

A Gintama and Sanrio collaboration pop-up store will open up in Japan throughout April and May 2025 and feature merchandise pairing up characters with mascots. The official Gintama PR social media also ed the key visual, which shows all of the the combos between the anime's stars and mascots for this crossover.

First, here's the official announcement that shows all of the characters together.

From April 16-29, 2025, you can find it in the event space by the southern exit of Ikebukuro station in Tokyo. Then, from May 16-25, 2025, the store will appear on the fourth floor of the Lucbus in Osaka. The store will open from 10am to 9pm JST, and only those with a ticket can enter during the first three days. You can apply for those tickets via lottery on the official site.

As for the character and mascot combos for the Gintama and Sanrio merchandise collaboration, we will see:

• Gintoki with Hello Kitty
• Hijikata with Pochacco
• Kagura with Lala of Little Twin Stars
• Kamui with Kiki of Little Twin Stars
• Katsura with Tuxedosam
• Okita with Kuromi
• Shinpachi with Keroppi
• Takasugi with Badtzmaru

Like other Sanrio crossovers, the mascots are wearing outfits like their character counterparts, while the characters have a little badge that matches their mascot. Katsura and Tuxedosam are the exception, as Tuxedosam is wearing an Elizabeth hat and holding up a placard instead of dressing like Katsura. Other character and mascot pairs appear in the goods as well, such as Yamazaki with Pekkle and Bansai with Hangyodon.

Merchandise you can get ranges from can badges (550 JPY each) to acrylic plates (1815 JPY each) to tapestries on standees (1760 JPY each). Almost all the items depict a character with their mascot, with only the clear file and B2 tapestry having the ensemble cast from the key visual. You can see all the items via the special website for this pop-up store.

The Gintama and Sanrio pop-up store will appear in Japan from April to May 2025. The Gintama anime is streaming on Crunchyroll, and Viz Media handles the manga.

The post Sanrio Gintama Merchandise Pairs Up Characters in Spring appeared first on Siliconera.

Aniplex confirmed yet another returning magical girl will be a playable character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra, as Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story anime’s Sana Futaba will appear in the game. Pre-registrations also ed 900,000, which means the fan kit now includes A-Q, Name, and Nighthawk. 

The announcement was accompanied by a teaser trailer that hints at what it will be like to use Sana Futaba in-battle in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra. In her original appearance, she wished she would be ignored and invisible. As such, a lot of her abilities are defensive. We see her summon a shield, which she uses to hide and attack in the footage. 

Aniplex also confirmed that Yui Ogura will return as the character in the game. She’s also known as the voice of March 7th in Honkai: Star Rail, Shiroko Sunaookami in Blue Archive, Feri Al-Fayed in Trails Through Daybreak, and Shiori in Rent-a-Girlfriend. During the video, we hear her talk about Iroha, Ai, and her feelings toward them.

Here’s the full Sana Futaba Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra trailer:

In case you want to catch up with the past magical girls revealed for Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra, here’s the list of character trailers so far:

• Ashley Taylor
• Felicia Mitsuki
• Homura Akemi
• Iroha Tamaki
• Kirika Kure
• Kyoko Sakura
• Madoka Kaname
• Mami Tomoe
• Oriko Mikuni
• Ren Isuzu
• Sayaka Miki
• Yachiyo Nanami
• Yui Tsuruno 

Also, in case you missed the launch trailer, here’s that:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magia Exedra will come to the PC and mobile devices on March 27, 2025. 

The post Sana Futaba Will Be a Playable Madoka Magica Magia Exedra Character appeared first on Siliconera.

Aniplex ed the first trailer for the Gnosia anime, which will start airing in October 2025. The trailer also reveals the key staff for the project, along with the voice cast for characters who appeared in the first loop.

The trailer covers the basic gist of Gnosia, in which character stuck on a spaceship must, through debate and discussion, uncover the identity of the Gnosia hidden among them. Gnosia are inhuman monsters that kill someone every night, and so the humans on the ship must eliminate them. You can watch the trailer here:

Near the end of the trailer, we can see the silhouettes of the other crew on the D.Q.O. They, as well as information on their voice actors, will likely appear in another trailer in the future.

Kazuya Ichikawa (The World Ends with You: The Animation) is the director, Jukki Hanada (Steins;Gate) is the scriptwriter and series compositor, and Hideyuki Fukasawa (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works) is the composer. Here is the voice cast we know so far:

• Gina: Asami Seto (Nobara in Jujutsu Kaisen, Chihaya in Chihayafuru)
• Raqio: Hiroki Nanami (Hao in Shaman King (2021), Abyss in Mashle)
• Setsu: Ikumi Hasegawa (Arcueid in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, Ikuyo in Bocchi the Rock!)
• SQ: Akari Kito (Barbara in Genshin Impact, Nezuko in Demon Slayer)
• Yuri: Chika Anzai (Chaika in Chaika: The Coffin Princess, Chisato in Lycoris Recoil)

In the game itself, you create a protagonist to play through the debates. For the anime though, Yuri takes the role of that protagonist.

Gnosia is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Gnosia anime will start airing in October 2025.

The post Gnosia Anime Release Window, Cast Revealed in First Trailer appeared first on Siliconera.

Sega not only revealed the Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 release date, but also noted pre-orders for the game are available on multiple digital storefronts. We can already call dibs on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC copies, though the Switch editions aren’t showing up at the eShop at the moment. The game debuts on August 5, 2025, though the Digital Deluxe Edition guarantees access on July 31, 2025. 

Here are links to all the Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2  pre-order pages that are live so far:

• PC via Steam
• PS4 and PS5 via PlayStation Store
• Xbox One and Xbox Series X via Microsoft Store

Standard copies of the game cost $59.99. That nets you the game and, if pre-ordered, Muichiro Tokito and Mitsuri Kanroji character unlocks that gain you access to both faster. The digital standard version also features unlocks for the Kimetsu Academy versions of Kyojuro Rengoku and Tengen Uzui. There will be about 40 characters in the full game, with new and returning fighters appearing.

The Digital Deluxe Edition of the game is $69.99, and it adds four more features. However, some of them are just unlocks. As mentioned earlier, you get early access on July 31, 2025 if you pre-order, as well as the ability to use Muichiro and Mitsuri right away. The Kyojuro and Tengen Kimetsu Academy unlocks are present too. The other free unlocks gives you access to Gyomei Himejima, Obanai Iguro, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Tengen right away. Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira both get their Entertainment District kimonos as extra costumes. You can dress up Tengen in his Shinobi Attire outfit. Finally, you get an Upper Rank Demons set of VS Mode system voices that includes Akaza, Daki, Gyokko, Gyutaro, and Zohakuten.

Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will come to the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 5, 2025, and those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition can start playing on July 31, 2025. The first game is available on all of those platforms now. 

The post Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles 2 Pre-orders Open  appeared first on Siliconera.

Persona 3 Reload finally brought one of my favorite JRPGs of all time to modern audiences in a way that matches the visuals and quality-of-life features of games coming out today. Now that this wish of mine is finally granted, it is time to look ahead to the future. For instance, how it is currently nigh-impossible to legally watch the excellent Persona 3 anime movies.

Persona 3 The Movie was the first in this quartet of films, coming out in Japan on November 23, 2013. Each movie came out about a year after one another, with the final one — Winter of Rebirth — dropping in 2016. What may be surprising about this situation is how relatively new (so to speak) these movies are.

After all, the final movie in the series came out not even 10 years ago at this time. This is quite intriguing since the original Persona 3 came out in 2006. In fact, these movies are even newer than the Persona 4 anime series. It came out in 2011 and even its Golden version came out in 2014.

That said, there is a stark difference between the Persona 3 anime movies and the anime adaptations of both Persona 4 and 5. Both of the latter series are available to stream right now legally on services like Crunchyroll. Despite the Persona 3 movies being newer than the Persona 4 anime, it isn’t available to stream anywhere.

In fact, if you would like to watch these movies legally, you would have to buy the physical copies of the films or a digital version. And, to be frank, good luck with that. Not only are the physical copies hard to find, but they are quite expensive these days. Furthermore, there seems to be a digital version you can get of these films, but it is only available on Amazon Prime as of right now.

Buying digital copies isn’t the most sure-fire solution, especially when it’s only on one platform, and things could change anytime. In addition, it would cost $60 to get all four movies this way. There is a rental option, but then you only have a limited set of time to watch them. It would be much better if you could stream these movies on a service like Netflix or Crunchyroll. This was possible in the past, and is how I watched them, but no longer is the case.

It truly is a shame that the Persona 3 anime movies are unavailable to stream because more fans of the series deserve to see them. I get if you are jaded by the anime adaptations of these masterpiece JRPGs since both Persona 4 and 5’s anime series are a bit lackluster. However, that isn’t the case at all with their Persona 3 counterpart.

For one, the visuals of these movies are incredible. These are movies for a reason, rather than a TV series, and it shows in the quality and budget of the series. Studio A-1 Pictures —that worked on movies 2-4 — is hit-or-miss sometimes when it comes to its animation quality, but these movies are some of the best work the studio has ever done. It captures the dark and grim aesthetics of the original JRPG so well.

In addition, having the movies divided up into four movies gives just enough time to do most of the story justice. Sure, you don’t get some of the side stories here. That said, thankfully, most of the main plot points happen and are done well. In addition, you get just enough time with certain characters to experience their full arc before tragic events happen.

Plus, bringing back the Persona 3 anime movies would allow a service like Crunchyroll to finally dub them. It is a shame there is no official dub for them at this time. With the recent release of the original game’s remake, Persona 3 Reload, in 2024, now feels like the perfect time for these to return. Here’s hoping the Persona 3 anime movies come back soon. After all, fans of the series and this game, in particular, are missing out otherwise.

Persona 3 Reload is available right now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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In the demo version of The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-, you get to experience a surprisingly addictive week of slaughter, mystery, and crude humor. Clocking in at somewhere between two and three hours, it gives a good idea of what to expect in the final product, and so far, I’m really enjoying what the game has to offer.

The story of The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- follows Takumi Sumino, an ordinary high school boy living an ordinary life with his ordinary family. He lives in the Tokyo Residential Complex with them, and has a childhood friend slash potential romantic interest named Karua. One day, while he and Karua are on their way to school, a siren blares out over the TRC. However, it’s not the usual drill. Bizarre monsters appear from out of nowhere, massacring citizens left and right. When they're about to kill Karua, a strange mascot resembling a gross version of Shinigami-chan from Rain Code appears and unlocks hemoanima — a strange blood-based power — within Takumi. With this new ability, Takumi fights off the monsters, but then the mascot, Sirei, transports him away from the TRC.

After waking up in an unfamiliar school with a group of other strangers, Takumi learns that Sirei conscripted them in a war against the school invaders. Though no one really knows anything about these invaders, they do know that they’re after something inside the school — something important to the fate of the universe. To protect their loved ones from the impending apocalypse, Takumi and his new friends pick up arms to fight off the invaders. But things aren’t as simple as they seem (not that they were simple to begin with).

As you might expect from a project with Kodaka as one of the main writers, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- features a colorful cast of characters. We’ve got a (canonically) gross siscon, a manic pixie emo girl who belongs in the world of Danganronpa, and a cute mechanic who’s ready to lose her lunch at the slightest provocation, among others. This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve played previous games from him or the team, though.

Since the demo covers the first seven days, only a handful of characters receive much attention. This also has to do with the fact that the vast majority of the cast straight up aren’t interested in fighting against the school invaders due to fear, confusion, and Sirei’s caginess. Hopefully, The Hundred Line can avoid the pitfall of Super Danganronpa 2, in which some characters only exist for a gag or one-off purpose. It does feel familiar to that series, though, in that a good chunk of the first chapter features the characters refusing to participate in the story's main conceit. Between the music (which sounds like a knockoff version of Danganronpa tracks) and Darumi's existence, there are a lot of little in-jokes for Danganronpa players.

As a note, I couldn't change my voiceover language until I unlocked the main options menu. This took me about an hour to do. You also can’t change the language while you’re in the game, and I didn’t realize this until after I beat the demo, meaning I played the whole thing in English. That was a drag for me, since I was excited for a good number of the Japanese cast. Everyone’s performance was really good, though, with special props to the voice actors for Takumi and Takemaru. Eito's voice actor really sold his shtick well, and I have a new appreciation for Tsubasa's English voice actress for how much of herself she put into her "URK!"s.

Speaking of the voices, I couldn’t tell if this was a bug or a feature. But in certain scenes, only some characters will have fully-voiced lines. For example, in one conversation, Takemaru was the only one whose lines were fully voiced. Everyone else only had the little sound bites and grunts. That was kind of weird.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is a tower defense TRPG in which you have to clear victory conditions (usually routing all enemies or killing a specific commander) while protecting the barrier generator at the back of the map. Each turn, you have a set amount of shared AP. So long as you have AP, a character can take action as many times as you please, though you'll have to for them becoming Fatigued. You can also get AP back through kills or hemoanima boost, or let excess carry over. It's pretty satisfying to chain your AP recovery methods to let a character attack, like, five times per turn and mow down a whole crowd of invaders before they can get anywhere near the generator.

After each wave, the game revives any fallen characters, and restores everyone's HP to max. So fighting to keep them alive isn’t that big a deal. In fact, the game even gives you bonus points for how many of your units die, either to an enemy or with a special suicide attack. Of course, you still have to time when you toss your unit to the metaphorical wolves, since losing too many units can leave you defenseless against the perpetual advance of enemies. The enemies generally keep moving forward until they reach the barrier and can self-destruct near it. As protecting this barrier is your main goal, students have to stop as many as possible before they can reach it, and they can't do that if they can't move from their tile, or if they're stunned after an ultimate attack.

Since it’s still early in the game, it’s not that hard once you get the hang of the system. The revival and healing mechanic between waves really opens up a lot of options, since you can be as reckless as you want. The characters don't level up in battle, either, as you can enhance them during your free time. So there's no need to keep anyone alive just so they can get experience points. Losing Takumi near the end of a wave only warranted a shrug, whereas a good unit's death in another TRPG (especially a protagonist) would've required a restart. I’m hoping the later stages will introduce some different gimmicks and victory conditions, or amp up the difficulty, to keep it from becoming stale.

Outside of battles, you can spend time with your allies or explore the world outside of the Last Defense Academy. Exploration reminds me a bit of Ultimate Talent Development Plan from V3. You can choose how many steps you take on a Monopoly-like board, with some tiles giving you a text-only event and two options to choose between. No matter what you decide on, you’ll receive a reward, but some “wrong” choices will deplete your HP. This will carry over into battle, so you'll want to keep an eye on that. Exploration gives you resources (though I didn't get a chance to use them in the demo), and the main story requires you to do it as well.

Finally, in Danganronpa, Free Time was a way to speak to other characters and get to know them a little better. While The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- also has this, the free time events are a lot shorter, and don’t really give as many details about everyone. You can receive points to improve Takumi’s grades, which level characters up and give them more options during exploration. But it doesn’t look like there’s an affection system or deeper character interactions through Free Time. Again, though, as this is the demo, it’s hard to say for sure. I do hope that we can learn more about everyone in Free Time, though. Some of the character stories in Danganronpa gave new insight that would be out of place in the main story, as well as offered more minor characters the chance to shine.

With a simple yet intriguing storyline that’s already set up multiple questions and clues, a surprisingly addictive tower defense combat system, and some pretty likeable characters, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- feels like a game that someone can easily sink hours upon hours into. Seeing the reminder at the end that the game is coming out in late April 2025 rather than any time soon was a bummer, as I really wanted to know more about the academy, the TRC, and the invaders. As it's only about three hours long, give or take, I recommend anyone who's interested to give it a try.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- will come out on the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC via Steam on April 24, 2025. Previewed on Windows PC.

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