Bandai Namco has announced an upcoming global streaming event to highlight both current and upcoming Dragon Ball titles. ‘Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2022’ will take place between February 18 and February 19 in regions around the world. Plenty of updates and announcements will be made during the stream, so you won’t want to miss it!

The event was first held in February 2021 and brought together Dragon Ball fans from 23 countries around the world. This second annual event will feature even more popular content and will utilize the latest technology to bring even more excitement to fans of the series.

The world’s strongest players will once again be invited to participate in an exciting battle! This year’s Games Battle Hour will feature the Dragon Ball FighterZ, the Dragon Ball Super Card Game, and the smartphone title Dragon Ball Legends. Kids can also enjoy the new Super Dragon Ball Heroes digital card game!

On Dragon Ball FighterZ, the World Championship will be held to determine the world’s best player among the winners of the Regional Finals, a tournament featuring the top-ranked players from Europe, Japan, and North America. In the Dragon Ball Super Card Game, the winner of the 2021 World Championship will face off against the newest top player. Dragon Ball Legends will also announce a new project. 

A Super Dragon Ball Heroes event will pit six players from Japan against each other, separated into two teams for 3v3 battles. Those who aren’t interested in participating in fighting games can also enjoy a trivia competition!

The “DBXV2 Super Fashion Show” will see the top 16 fashion leaders in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 showcasing their most creative work. The ‘Dragon Ball Art Challenge’ will also invite viewers to create their favorite characters using unique mediums like balloons and Rubik’s cubes.

The recently revealed multiplayer game, Dragon Ball: The Breakers, will also be part of the event with the game’s producer giving an in-depth look and gameplay demonstrations for this upcoming game. ‘Dokkan DATA 2022’ will look back at the seven years since the launch of Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and will share some data about how players have been playing the game and its exciting history.

Viewers can also take place in a workshop to learn how to best photograph their ‘Dragon Stars Series’ and ‘S.H.Figuarts’ action figures. A master of Chinese cooking will also take the stage to recreate dishes from Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot in the special program ‘Kakarot Cooking.’

A master sculptor and his protegee will create figures of Goku and Vegeta live during the event as well! Will you be tuning in? 

©BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION

©バードスタジオ／集英社・東映アニメーション　©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

Eve will hold a special live streaming event on YouTube on–you guessed it–Christmas Eve! The stream will run from 19:00 until 20:00 on December 24, 2021. 

The stream is being held to celebrate over 3 million subscribers to Eve’s YouTube channel. During the event, he’ll go behind the scenes of the Yadorigi music video, as well as show the Live Film version of Inochi no Tabekata. There may also be a big announcement during the stream, so don’t miss it!

There will be no VOD for this event, so remember the date and time.

Amazon Prime Video is now streaming the second season of ‘The Benza,’ a Japanese comedy-drama series produced by independent film team Tokyo Cowboys. The new season will feature seven episodes, with the first four currently available. Episodes 5 to 7 will be released in March 2022.

‘The Benza’ was originally a 14-minute short film released in 2018. It inspired the first season of the television series in 2019 and found large popularity overseas. The show has won 32 awards from numerous film festivals in Japan and abroad, including Best Comedy, Best Actor, and Best Series. The series follows Kyle and Chris as they try to figure out how their toilet seat broke to prevent the end of the world.

Official Trailer

‘The Benza Season 2’ is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and PLEX in over 190 countries in eight languages.

Hard rock band BAND-MAID will stream a special acoustic concert on Christmas day. The event will be available to watch globally, so don’t worry about missing out!

This will be the group’s first attempt at an acoustic performance with no audience and will be pre-recorded. Everything within the stream was created with Christmas in mind, and the audio commentary will have English subtitles. More information detailing tickets and the stream’s start time will be announced soon. 

The official scorebook for BAND-MAID’s “Unseen World” will also be released on January 31, 2022. In addition to the band’s score for all 13 tracks on the album, the book will include member interviews, special photos, and an instrumental CD of the album. The interviews will be translated into English for international fans. 

Stay tuned for more details on the event coming soon!

Tactical Sound Unit Walküre, featured in the Macross Delta anime series and film Passionate Walküre, held their live tour finale at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo on September 10, 2016. Now, a complete version of the concert will be livestreamed to 18 countries around the world for the first time on August 28.

This stream will be the only way to view the complete version of the show, as it has never been included in any DVD or Blu-ray releases.

Walküre made their debut in Macross Delta, the latest entry in the Macross franchise. Macross is celebrating its 40th anniversary next year.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity!

©︎2015 BIGWESTMACROSS DELTA PROJECT

Following the successful film Your Name, Makoto Shinkai has produced yet another masterpiece called Weathering with You (Tenki no Ko), collaborating yet again with RADWIMPS. RADWIMPS’ released their brand new album called Weathering with You (Tenki no Ko) on July 19. Until now, their song Ai ni Dekiru Koto wa Mada Aru Kai has made quite a few brief appearances in the promotion in the movie including in the movie trailers and has stirred quite a sensation. 

Today, along with the release of the album, the official music video went public. Each scene of the video has been depicted beautifully. As the weather changes, each scene shifts perfectly in response, portraying the beautiful world of the film flawlessly. The music is filled with the strong and intense yet gentle and kind vibes of RADWIMPS that you absolutely cannot miss. 

The new album includes a total of 31 songs, consisting of the five main theme songs and the 26 songs that are used as background music in the film. Please check out their emotion-filled album and then see the movie for yourself to see just how RADWIMPS have added colour and emotion to scenes of the film. All songs from the album have been released by major streaming services such as iTunes and Rekchok, so please check it out. 

There is also a special bonus scheme running to treat those who purchase the new album from a shop. The bonus involves the free giveaway of a CD-sized card with a special design that represents the five main songs from the album. The pattern on the card varies from shop to shop, so please find out more information about this scheme by visiting their official website if you are interested. 

©2019 Weathering with You Production Committee

ASCA’s song Hibari, which is the ending theme song for popular anime The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II Rail Zeppelin Grace Note, was released on streaming services. CD sales are soon to follow. 

ASCA Hibari Music Video

Yuki Kajiura handled the music, lyrics and editing of the song, creating an exotic ballad. ASCA’s expressive singing of the powerful lyrics is especially striking. 

A music video to accompany the song was also created and was released on July 13 straight after the second episode was aired.

Hibari will be included on ASCA’s new single RUST/Hibari/Koubou, which will be released  on September 4, so please check it out. 

©️Makoto Sanda/TYPE-MOON / LEMPC