Tag: Japan

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Fans dissatisfied, Bandai Namco too: Blue Protocol is running behind expectations in Japan

The signs for Blue Protocol things are not looking good for its impending release in the West. The console version launched in Japan in December; the service was previously running on PCs.

Bandai Namco Online had previously hosted an “emergency livestream” in September 2023. 50 percent of players in Japan were dissatisfied: the balancing was immature, the microtransactions were criticized and the endgame grind displeased fans. Class buffs and debuffs were not well received and so on.

To date, the problems do not seem to have been fully resolved. And if the players are unhappy, then of course Bandai Namco is too. As the latest annual report shows, Blue Protocol is falling short of its expectations.

Bandai Namco cites losses due to “new online game titles introduced this fiscal year.” You don’t mention the child by name, but Siliconera points out that it is the only online game that Bandai Namco has recently launched.

Will the start in the West be successful?

Amazon Games, which is launching the game in the West, promised last year to work closely with Bandai to receive detailed player feedback. Then there was the postponement to 2024. The action RPG will also be playable for free in the West.

We were able to play Blue Protocol at Gamescom. Our session had a somewhat tempering effect on our anticipation at the time. But that was just a preview version back then. However, there are currently not very good signs that the Western launch will be significantly more successful than the one in Japan.

Images: Blue Protocol, Amazon Games, Bandai Namco


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Karasuno seeks glory: Hakyuu!!: The Battle at the Garbage Dump presents its first trailer and its release date in Japan


If 2023 has been a wonderful year for the anime industry, 2024 is aiming even higher. After a modest announcement about the film’s title, Haikyuu!! has finally released the first trailer for what will be the first of the two parts into which the end of the adaptation of this famous film will be divided.

The last season of Haikyuu!! did not conquer the public due to its unstable rhythm and, above all, its poor quality of animation. Until that moment, the adaptation had been exceptional, with legendary scenes and a soundtrack that we will all remember. However, the change in style did not favor Hinata and his team. Fortunately, it seems that we will not see this problem in the film, as can be seen in its first trailer.

In the trailer, you can see that Production IGthe studio in charge of adapting the work of Haruichi Furudatehas chosen to return to the style they used at the beginning of the series, which seems to be a tremendous success, especially considering the great success that the anime had in its first years of broadcast.

Haikyuu!!: The Battle at the Garbage Dump will land in theaters throughout Japan on February 17, 2024. The release date in Spain has not yet been announced, but considering the latest news about The Boy and the Heron and Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning, it would not be unreasonable to think upon release next spring.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is censored in Japan, but fans are having a lot of fun with it


Spike Chunsoft released the Japanese version of on December 21st Baldur’s Gate 3 published by Larian Studios for the PS5. Japanese fans who have already gotten their hands on a copy seem particularly amused by the creative decisions involved in self-censoring the characters’ private parts.

Even before release, it was announced that the Japanese PS5 version of Baldur’s Gate 3 would contain some changes compared to the global version – that is, explicit content such as depictions of blood and genitals would be self-censored.

While the standard version of the game lets you choose whether to allow or hide nudity in cutscenes, these options have been removed from the Japanese version, making it censored by default.

However, the self-censorship of characters’ genitals using a single, carefully placed fig leaf appears to have had primarily a comedic effect. The amusing measure even contributed to that people are completely okay with these cuts. But why is it so popular?

Yatta!

Well, for one thing, it’s simply an amusing picture. But there is a little more context: namely a bizarre song and music video that has apparently burned itself into the collective memory of many Japanese people. We’re talking about “Yatta!”, a parody song from 2001 by the fictional boy band “Green Leaves”. The music video shows the members wearing nothing more than their underwear with a fig leaf detail. The song was a chart hit at the time and lives on today as an immortal internet meme.

But back to Baldur’s Gate 3. Why is the Japanese version censored at all? Games ported to consoles in Japan must limit depictions of genitalia to comply with CERO guidelines. Fortunately, there are no regulations regarding the form in which this self-censorship must take place. Hence the amusing fig leaf approach, which has apparently hit a completely unexpected nerve of nostalgia among Japanese players.

In any case, the creative decision to censor character privacy in Larian Studio’s Baldur’s Gate 3 seems to have struck a completely unexpected chord of nostalgia and humor among Japanese gamers.

via Automaton Media, images: Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios, Spike Chunsoft