The Tales series will appear in Last Cloudia once again as part of a collaboration event in the mobile game. It’ll take place on January 23, 2025, and it’ll introduce a new unit.

There’s virtually no information on the Tales collaboration in Last Cloudia right now. However, considering Tales of Graces f Remastered’s upcoming release, the new unit will likely be one of the main characters from that game. If it implements a Graces character, then it would fall between Asbel, Richard, or Sophie, who are the more iconic main characters from it.

The last time there was a Tales and Last Cloudia crossover event in the mobile game was in 2022. At the time, it featured Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia. Other Tales games who appeared include Luke and Stan. In particular, Stan is on the key visual announcing this 2025 Tales crossover, so he’ll likely reappear in the story and gacha.

Tales of Graces f Remastered is the enhanced port of the original Tales of Graces f game from 2010, which was also an enhanced port of Tales of Graces from 2009. It follows Asbel Lhant, the son of a lord, who meets a mysterious amnesiac girl named Sophie in a flower meadow. After a traumatizing event in his childhood, he leaves home to become a knight, which is where the main arc of the story begins.

Last Cloudia is available on mobile devices and Windows PC via Steam. The Tales collaboration event will start from January 23, 2025.

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Bkub Okawa, the manga artist for most famous for his work on Pop Team Epic, shared fan art on social media of Yugi Muto from Yu-Gi-Oh in his usual style. As of the time of writing, about three days after he posted it onto Twitter, it’s accumulated over 12k reposts and 65k likes. [Thanks, Oricon!]

The art shows Yugi (not Yami Yugi) looking up to the side while holding the Millennium Puzzle, which is still around his neck. He has the signature cat-like smile that characters from Pop Team Epic tend to sport. Though Okawa limited replies, a lot of people quote-retweeted the picture to give their impressions on it.

Here is the Bkub Okawa fan art of Yugi Muto from Yu-Gi-Oh drawn in the Pop Team Epic sort of style.

Some users pointed out that this is the version of Yugi from the earlier parts of the series. Back in the beginning, Yugi used a normal cord to hang the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. However, during the Battle City arc, he changed it to a silver chain. Other comments refer to him as AIBO, which is the nickname Japanese fans gave him. This is due to how “aibou” means “partner” in Japanese, and it’s what Yami Yugi consistently referred to Yugi as during the series. Time will tell if Okawa plans on drawing other characters from Yu-Gi-Oh. The next piece of artwork he posted was of Okami Mio from hololive.

You can watch Yu-Gi-Oh on streaming services like Crunchyroll.

The post Pop Team Epic Artist Drew Yugi From Yu-Gi-Oh appeared first on Siliconera.

As part of a collaboration with One Piece, Japanese skincare brand Sekkisei will release UV protection items that feature characters from the Straw Hat Pirates on the packaging. They’ll appear in Japan from February 16, 2025. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

You can get goods with Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper on them. The packaging includes the marketing line “Leave fighting the sunlight to us!” as if the Straw Hat Pirates plan on literally punching away UV rays before they can hit your skin. Luffy adorns the UV essence gel, Zoro is on the essence milk, and Chopper is on the UV softening milk. You can purchase them via the Sekkiei online shop, as well as any physical store that handles Sekkisei products.

Sekkisei is a very popular Japanese brand in Asia, and people of all ages and genders can use its products. It touts that it can give luminous and translucent skin, and is a go-to brand when it comes to brightening and whitening skin tone. You can now purchase it in countries outside of Asia. However, it’s highly unlikely that Sekkisei stores in countries like the United States will carry the One Piece collaboration skincare items.

One Piece is available on streaming platforms like Crunchyroll, and Viz Media localizes the manga. Part 2 of the Egghead Arc in the anime will resume on April 6, 2025.

The post There’ll Be One Piece Sunscreen From Sekkisei appeared first on Siliconera.

More Honkai: Star Rail merchandise will appear at Animate Only Shop in Japan, as well as during in the Animate Fair for Winter 2025. Both campaigns will start in early February 2025. [Thanks, Genshin Goods!]

For starters, exclusive Honkai: Star Rail merchandise will appear for a limited time at the Animate Only Shops starting on February 8, 2025. It will be sold there until March 16, 2025. The Ikebukuro and Fukuoka Parco stores campaigns will appear between February 8-24, 2025. The Sendai, Nagoya, and Nihonbashi stores will have their events from March 1-16, 2025. During this time, you can take pictures at the photo spots, as well as with the Herta dolls on display.

Merchandise available at the Only Shop include:

• Chibi cat pins: 550 JPY (each)
• Final Victor Light Cone acrylic print: 1870 JPY
• Trading chibi train figures: 660 JPY (each) / 7920 JPY (box)

All of these items are ones that are available via the official miHoYo TMall store, too. However, buying them at Animate might be easier for those in Japan and tourists, considering the difficulties in importing from TMall.

Honkai: Star Rail will also appear at the Winter 2025 Animate Fair, which will run from February 8 to March 16, 2025. For every 2200 JPY you spend during this time on Honkai: Star Rail items, you’ll receive a postcard containing a serial code. You can then use the serial code to exchange for in-game items. The postcards use key visuals for Version 3.0, as well as new characters like Aglaea and Phainon.

Honkai: Star Rail is available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices.

The post New Honkai: Star Rail Merchandise to Appear at Animate appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix opened up pre-orders for a collection of Kingdom Hearts pins that look like the stained glass displays you see in Dive to the Heart. These will come in individual blind boxes. At the moment, they're only available in the Japanese eStore.

The entire collection, which consists of 14 pins, costs 12,012 JPY. That would convert to approximately $77.20. As a disclaimer, Square Enix noted that while the box collection comes with 14 different blind boxes, it doesn’t guarantee that you can collect every individual design by buying a box. This is because the manufacturers themselves likely don’t know which blind box contains which badge. So you should keep that in mind before you order the entire collection. As a note, these pins do not appear on the North American version of the Square Enix store.

Each Kingdom Hearts stained glass pin has a holographic effect over the design, and it’s quite large at around 75 millimeters in width. Barring King Mickey, none of them contain the stained glass panels of the Disney princesses or worlds. They all focus on characters who originated from the Kingdom Hearts series.

The stained glass designs from the Dive to the Heart are a popular motif in Kingdom Hearts merchandise. In January 2024, Bandai Spirits released a statue of a Station of Awakening from the second game. A few months later, the Square Enix store released acrylic mirrors featuring female characters from both Disney and Kingdom Hearts.

The most recent major release for Kingdom Hearts was a Steam collection that came out in May 2024. The Kingdom Hearts stained glass pins will come out on April 26, 2025.

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Around fifteen years after it first appeared on the Nintendo Wii, Tales of Graces f Remastered finally brings the experience of protecting your friends and family onto even more consoles. The updated graphics, combined with the very anime aesthetics and bright watercolor-like palette, help in making the game look stylized, rather than dated. As the first entry in Bandai Namco’s initiative to remaster the Tales series, it’s a roaring success that amplifies the original game’s pros while cutting down on its cons.

Tales of Graces is, for better or for worse, a pretty standard JRPG in terms of its plot. It follows Asbel Lhant, the eldest son of Aston Lhant. His parents expected him to inherit Lhant territory from his father. However, Asbel's dream was to become a knight in the service of Windor's king. During his childhood, he (along with his younger brother, Hubert, and their childhood friend, Cheria) encounter a girl with amnesia. They dub her Sophie, and then learn that monsters had attacked a carriage carrying Prince Richard, who’d been on his way to visit Lhant. The group becomes fast friends. However, a monster they encounter in the underground of Barona’s castle changes the course of their lives forever.

The main arc then follows Asbel after he becomes an adult. While the childhood prologue was the weakest part of the story for a variety of reasons, it's not something you can skip. The friendship pact that Asbel, Richard, and Sophie made at the beginning of the game comes up again and again, especially when Asbel and Sophie are discussing how much Richard changed. As a kid, he was more of an idealist who wanted to do good in the world. But when Asbel and the others meet him again as an adult—even if he went through some pretty traumatizing events—he’s like a completely different person. As they try to figure out what caused Richard’s dramatic personality change, they also uncover a secret about their planet’s past.

Tales of Graces f Remastered has a pretty simple story. It’s not as emotional or memorable as Legendia’s, but I don’t think it’ll stir as much controversy as, say, Xillia’s or Zestiria’s. The narrative plays most of the tropes it introduces straight, which can make later plot twists predictable to players familiar with the genre. That’s fine, though. Not every game is going to be a contender for Best Narrative at the Game Awards. The party dynamic in Graces more than makes up for the weaker story. Because most of the party knows each other from childhood, there’s a very relaxed atmosphere in the group after the initial awkward phase passes. Pascal and Malik, the newcomers, are all chill adults, who either mind their own business or can play along with the wilder quirks from the Lhant group (and Richard).

Tales games tend to employ a pseudo-family dynamic for its parties. I don't want to say "found family," because the characters fall into very stereotypical and gender-specific positions. For example, Asbel is the dad, Cheria is the mom, and Sophie is the kid. Pascal, somehow, fills the role of Sophie's sister, even though she's older than both Asbel and Cheria. I definitely felt my growth as a person when seeing the characters interact with each other, as well as the overall plot revolving around the Lhant family. For reference, I first played Tales of Graces when it first came out on the Wii, and imported f back in 2010 when it was still a Japan-exclusive. That means I was only in my teens when I played it.

When I was younger, I felt really bad for Kerri (Asbel and Hubert’s mom) after seeing the way teenager Hubert talked to her. But now that I’m old enough to have kids Asbel and Hubert’s age at the beginning of the game, my sympathy for her and Aston faded a lot. At most, I can understand why they even had to choose between their children, since they're both the sons of a lord. Most of my general irritation at the pseudo-family dynamic in Tales of Graces f Remastered faded as well, especially after I saw Lineage and Legacies. While Lineage and Legacies was really fun for its endgame dungeon and Accelerate Mode, its plot was even weaker than the childhood prologue. Honestly, the interactions between the party members (in the main story) were so cute. I don’t understand what annoyed me so much when I was a teenager.

As Yusuke Tomizawa, the general producer of the Tales series, said in August 2024, a huge selling point for Tales of Graces f Remastered is the combat. It’s fast-paced, addictive, and stylish. With relatively short casting times for spells, as well as a lot of flashy animations for the melee characters’ A and B artes, the screen can get very busy very fast. So some people who aren’t too familiar with how combat in this game looks might decry it as visual noise. Personally, because I know what’s going on and I’m also used to flashier Tales battles, I don’t notice anything wrong with it.

While you can get away with mindless button mashing, I do suggest taking the time to learn how to use the different techniques and characters. Each character has A and B artes, which can alter how they work in battle or offer different bonuses. Asbel's B artes unsheathe his sword. Using A artes will sheathe his sword again, as well as heal him based on his Physical Defense and how many B artes he used. Knowing little tricks like this can really save you in more difficult battles later in the game. In Asbel's case, I could get away with letting my healers prioritize someone else, because he can stay alive long enough to at least eat an Apple Gel. The more you learn about the Graces battle system, the more fun you'll get out of it.

Oddly enough, I had a far harder time settling on a difficulty level. Because I started the game with both double and quintuple EXP (along with other boosts), it didn’t take long before I became too overpowered for regular encounters. That made the game pretty boring since, again, the combat is Tales of Graces f Remastered's main selling point. But turning the difficulty to the highest setting, especially in the early game when you can only control Asbel, made the game way too hard sometimes. I felt embarrassed at how many attempts I needed to kill that first wolf you fight in the main arc. In my defense, I usually control Sophie. It took some trial and error before stumbling upon the perfect combination. I’d rather get through random battles quickly than have to redo a boss fight over and over again, especially really annoying ones like enemies with a Nova shield.

Speaking of which, one of the mechanics that Bandai Namco announced would be in the remastered version of Tales of Graces f was the grade shop being available right at the beginning of the game. If this is your first time playing, I do not recommend taking bonuses like the 5x EXP one. Like I said in the paragraph above, it makes the combat way too easy. In my opinion, the 2x EXP bonus was more than enough. It makes grinding for the endgame dungeon a lot easier, but doesn’t trivialize combat outside of boss fights.

Another quality of life change in the remastered version of Tales of Graces f was the on-screen map. You can now see where you need to go, as well as any time-limited events you might miss. Other than the improved graphics, this is the biggest reason to play the remastered version and not the previous ones. It is a serious life-changer. If there’s one thing that I think Graces did terribly at, it was dungeon design. All the dungeons look the same no matter where you are in it. And since you can't follow along your mini-map while you're inside a dungeon, it was hard to remember where I was or where I needed to go.

The Wallbridge, in particular, is a nightmare. One of my core memories of Tales of Graces on the Wii was being stuck in that stupid fortress for literal days. Every turn and room looked almost the same. I remember backtracking to see if I had gotten all the treasure chests, and then couldn't find my way back to where I needed to go. The goal icon on the screen in the remastered version not only helped to guide me to my destination, but it also served as an on-screen landmark whenever I wandered off to loot or fight.

Finally, let’s talk about the game’s visuals on modern consoles. It’s impressive! Close-up shots of the characters sometimes highlight the low-poly background. Seeing it makes it obvious that Bandai Namco didn’t develop this from the ground-up in the 2020s. However, the character models all look smooth. I booted up my PS3 Tales of Graces f to compare, and I never noticed how grainy PS3 games were. It says a lot about the quality of the game’s models and overall design that the remastered visuals hold up, even fifteen years after its initial release. At times, backgrounds and characters in the distance looked foggy in a weird way. But Tales of Graces’s watercolor-like aesthetics helped a lot in making it look natural rather than odd with the rest of the game.

I read some reviews from when Tales of Graces and Tales of Graces f first came out, and saw a few criticisms that came up again and again. One of them was load time. I'm happy to report that while the game needed to load up a new map or transport me to the battlefield, it never felt slow or annoying. On the PC, at the very least, load times were minimal. Another common criticism was the graphics. Even when f came out in 2010, it looked pretty dated for a PS3 game, apparently. When playing the remastered version, Tales of Graces f felt like a lot of the visual choices Bandai Namco made were purposeful. It looked like a stylistic choice, especially since we're now in an era where realism or "fancy" graphics is no longer the main pursuit of studios.

Between Tales of Graces f Remastered's challenging endgame dungeon and collectibles, completionists can easily sink over a hundred hours into this game. Its palatable story and fast-paced combat also make it a good introduction to the series if you’ve never played Tales before. The thing about that, though, is that there are a lot of references to previous Tales games in this one—even titles that never appeared in the west. Another detriment is that the Graces combat system makes older games in the franchise feel horribly sluggish in comparison. Nonetheless, Tales of Graces f Remastered is a promising way for Bandai Namco to start its year, as well as a potential Tales renaissance. 

Tales of Graces f Remastered will come out on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC on January 17, 2025. PC version reviewed.

The post Review: Tales of Graces f Remastered Preserves Its Best Parts appeared first on Siliconera.

HoYoVerse announced yet another collaboration between the game Honkai: Star Rail and Lawson convenience stores in Japan, which will mean more merchandise. More details on it will appear in late March 2025.

This collaboration focuses on Amphoreus, which is the new world that the Astral Express and Trailblazers will visit when version 3.0 launches on January 15, 2025. After the collaboration starts, food items and merchandise featuring the new Amphoreus characters from Honkai: Star Rail will appear in participating Lawson locations. Buying them will earn you the chance to win some exclusive and limited goods. As well, participating stores will have some Honkai: Star Rail announcements and decorations.

The last time HoYoVerse and Lawson had a Honkai: Star Rail collaboration was back in April 2024. This campaign featured Acheron, Aventurine, and Sparkle, who were the first new characters we saw when the setting shifted to Penacony in version 2.0. Back then, Lawson collaboration Honkai: Star Rail merchandise included acrylic keychains, foldable tables, and Meiji snacks. The store offered prizes like clear files and magnet sheets based on what you purchased.

While it’s hard to tell the order that the Amphoreus characters will appear in, we can assume that characters HoYoVerse already released drip marketing for will be present in this collaboration. That includes: Aglaea, Tribbie, and Mydei. Other major characters like Phainon might appear on the goods as well.

Honkai: Star Rail is available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices.

The post There’s Another Honkai: Star Rail Lawson Collaboration appeared first on Siliconera.

Line released a new My Melody theme for the Sanrio mascot's 50th anniversary. This is a permanent addition to the Line shop, so you don’t have to rush to purchase it.

The 50th anniversary My Melody Sanrio Line theme is a bright and pastel pink, with a My Melody crane game going on in the background of conversations. Unlike some recent goods and campaigns for this mascot, we don’t see any characters like Kuromi or My Sweet Piano. My Melody is the only Sanrio mascot who appears in this theme, though she appears in different variations of herself. Like other Line themes, the icons when you’re inputting your password, as well as the icons on the main menu, are different. This one uses My Melody heads.

My Melody first came out in 1975 as Hello Kitty’s best friend. She is a white rabbit with a pink (or red) hood that covers her ears, and she usually has a flower or a bow on her right side. Because of her design, as well as her long history, My Melody is a very popular Sanrio mascot. In the 2024 popularity poll for Sanrio, she appeared in sixth place (with her rival Kuromi appearing in third). She also frequently appears in collaborations or campaigns, like when Zoff released Sanrio glasses.

The 50th anniversary My Melody Line theme is in the Line shop as a permanent fixture. It costs $3.50.

The post My Melody Line Theme Appears for Her 50th Anniversary appeared first on Siliconera.

Atlus released a new patch for Metaphor: ReFantazio, which contains some quality of life improvements such as the ability to change your party members via the main menu and equip screens. There are also some fixes for the Windows PC and Steam versions of the game.

All versions of Metaphor: ReFantazio will see some minor adjustments after we download the patch from Atlus. But the biggest parts of this update have to do with the main menu. After you install the patch, you’ll be able to change your party members in Metaphor: ReFantazio via the equipment screen. In the past, you had to access the party screen in order to do this. You’ll also be able to jump to different categories when clicking on the item menu. Atlus also fixed a bug that’ll prevent progress after a certain input in the main menu.

PC fixes focus on quality of life complaints and bugs. For example, the patch fixed an issued in which the camera movement will slow down after using the mouse. It also fixed an issue that locks your frame rate after certain inputs.

Metaphor: ReFantazio came out in October 2024 and is a new IP from Atlus. The same creative team that worked on the Persona 3, 4, and 5 developed this game. It was very popular at launch, and received several major nominations in 2024.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. As of the time of writing, Atlus has not yet implemented the patch.

The post New Metaphor ReFantazio Patch Adds Party Change Options appeared first on Siliconera.

Since it came out in 2023, Dave the Diver, an action-adventure scuba diving game that combines harpoon fishing with restaurant management, has received almost universal praise from critics and fans alike. Despite its unique premise and cute pixel art, I didn't purchase the game until the end of 2024. The only reason behind my reluctance to try Dave the Diver was my crippling thalassophobia and megalophobia. However, new year, new me. It’s time to overcome my fear and, to my surprise, it worked better than I imagined.

Honestly, I thought most people have thalassophobia. "It’s not irrational or ridiculous or something I need to work on at all," I thought. Have you ever looked at how vast and dark the ocean is, and realized how small we humans are in comparison? The idea of being trapped underwater while God knows what lurks around you in the murky depths is terrifying. And speaking of which, don’t even get me started on the creatures that live down there. Whales are friendly, I know, but they’re so big. What if it swallows you by accident? Fish don’t need to be big to be scary either. Some look like they’re the bastard children of Lovecraftian horrors and Satan’s nightmares. Of course, that’s when I remembered that marine biologists and scuba divers exist in real life. So maybe it’s not as normal a fear as I thought.

My fear of the ocean (any large body of water, really) was so bad that I freaked out while on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Tokyo DisneySea. The Fishdom ad, when it shows that giant fish about to swallow all the other fish, makes my heart beat faster. A trailer I saw of Subnautica once scared me so badly that I had to exit YouTube. Yes, I’m aware of how embarrassing this is and how weak I seem, but I can’t help it. Since even clips of Subnautica look far scarier than any other horror game I’ve ever seen, I decided that Dave the Diver is the safest place to start from. I mean, how scary can it be?

In Dave the Diver, you play as a dude who dives for fish, which you then give to sushi chef Bancho. At night, you also need to help out at Bancho's restaurant. The pixel art is so cute, and the gameplay loop sounds relaxing. Surely, I can see that the ocean is a lovely place full of friends, and that'll curb my fear with this. That optimism didn’t last long. The moment I had to travel to the depths and a huge shark appeared from the dark, I wanted to turn off the game. All the tunnels full of tubeworms and hostile jellyfish, as well as the sheer scale of the ocean you can see in the background, frightened me.

But you know what? My idea actually worked. I was right about how the game's visuals make it approachable. I won't lie and say the depths didn't scare me at first, but after a while, I stopped hesitating to dive down there for fish and quests. Subnautica features a much wider space, and it forces you to see it from a first person perspective. Since Dave the Diver's level design is more compact, and you view it from a third person perspective, it's not so bad once you play more of it. The designs of the fish aren't that realistic thanks to the pixel art, and you see them from such a distance that even species I'd normally scream at look fine.

There's something soothing about the grind, too. Focusing on finding coral or looking for a specific fish to hunt keep my eyes and mind busy enough that I don’t notice the dark environment anymore. The game constantly forcing you down there for quests, as well as the rather static layout, makes the depths more familiar, which is another way of alleviating fear. The pixel art really softens the visuals when it comes to the scarier looking marine animals, too. Riding the high of the confidence boost, I checked out some Subnautica clips and had to back out before even seeing the Leviathan Reaper. So I have a real appreciation for the overall design in Dave the Diver.

Gaming therapy is a real thing, and it’s something that’s gaining some real traction from its first use in 1980. Different cases require different games or genres. Relaxing games like Flower can relieve stress, while some therapists use more open-world games like Minecraft to help children with autism. For better or for worse, games are a more mainstream hobby now. Sure, there are some people now who still believe games (like anime or cartoons) are specifically for children. But, that seems like a minority opinion nowadays. So it makes sense that as games become more common in our everyday lives, different fields and industries will employ them for their own purposes.

Saying that Dave the Diver helps me with my real-world phobia is like saying a Band-Aid helped me with a broken arm. Toss me into the ocean, away from land, and I’ll definitely have a panic attack. But at least while I occupy Dave’s body and paddle around the pixel waters of Dave the Diver, I feel better about my fear of thalassophobia. I can at least watch that silly Fishdom ad with a normal resting heart rate now. Maybe one day in the far future, I’ll work myself up to playing Subnautica.

Dave the Diver is available on the PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, and macOS.

The post Dave the Diver Actually Helped With My Thalassophobia appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix has put out a customer harassment policy that focuses on protecting its employees. As a quick summary, it will no longer provide customer service to those who engage in this sort of harassment, nor will it allow them to continue enjoying their games or products.

Customer harassment, according to Square Enix, is when customers (the players) target Square Enix staff with malicious behavior. Examples of such include physical violence, hateful speech (racism, prejudice, et cetera), threats, defamation, slander, trespassing, stalking, sexual harassment, and more. Acts that prevent staff from performing their duties, such as calling and keeping them on the phone for long periods of time, also count.

While not harassment, Square Enix is also taking a stand against undue demand. This includes unreasonable exchanges or requests for monetary compensation, or unreasonable and excessive demands for punishment. For example, you can’t demand that Square Enix fire someone just because they didn’t offer you a refund.

Square Enix also states that it will pursue legal action against particularly extreme acts of customer harassment. So in the worst case scenario, not only will you lose access to certain products or services from Square Enix, you will also get in trouble with the authorities and the law. Like streaming guidelines, though, a lot of the malicious behavior listed in the policy is socially unacceptable in any country. Most people shouldn't need to worry about infringing on it.

You can read the new harassment policy in Japanese and in English on the Square Enix website.

The post Square Enix Outlines New Customer Harassment Policy appeared first on Siliconera.

Cover announced on its website the measures it’s been taking against defamation, slander, and libel directed at its hololive talents. You can also make your own reports if you witness distressing or malicious behavior online.

The news on Cover’s website covers its actions from January to December 2024. According to Cover, it addressed 252 cases last year. Its actions mostly focus on removing posts and accounts on social media that infringe upon its rights. It also took legal action against websites, such as aggregator or “matome” sites, that might post personal information about a talent (whether the information is legitimate or not).

Malicious posts, or posts that infringe on Cover or hololive’s rights, usually entails content like impersonation, misinformation, slander, or libel. Direct harassment towards the talents or their fanbase also counts. For years, Cover (and other major VTuber agencies like Anycolor) has worked to keep its VTubers and other talents safe from online slander, defamation, and harassment. As it mentioned in its post in January 2025, this also includes disclosure requests. Disclosure requests only occur in the most malicious cases, though.

You can read the full details of Cover’s 2024 measures against defamation and harassment via its website. It’s available in English and in Japanese.

The post Cover Announces Measures Taken Against Hololive Defamation appeared first on Siliconera.

“Crystal Snow,” the theme song for the 2025 Snow Miku design, is now available on YouTube. Aqu3ra composed the song, while TomoboP handled the mastering. As usual, the Hatsune Miku Vocaloid software is used for the music.

You can listen to “Crystal Snow” here:

Aqu3ra is a newer Vocaloid producer; he made his debut in 2018. Some examples of his compositions include “Supernova,” “Ghost Dance,” and “Lonely Universe.” TomoboP (Tomodachi BoshuuP) debuted in 2009. Though he started out as a composer, he’s more prominent nowadays for his audio mastering and engineering work. Illustrator Yuribou handled the artwork and animation for the “Crystal Snow” music video. Mono-Devoid edited it as well.

In the description for “Crystal Snow,” Piapro described it as a lovely song that conveys the warmth inside the cold feeling of ice. Piapro revealed this year’s design back in August 2024. The theme for this year was “Kira Kira Snow Material,” which is why there are snowflakes and ice shards in Miku’s hair and outfit. This theme might’ve also served as inspiration for Aqu3ra and TomoboP when working on the song.

Snow Miku is a seasonal version of Miku, with a design that changes every year depending on Piapro’s theme. Design contests for Snow Miku started in 2012 and the look with the most votes at the end would be the “official” one to receive merchandise or appear in music videos. The first time a theme song appeared for a Snow Miku was in 2014, though.

Good Smile Company will open up pre-orders for the Snow Miku 2025 Nendoroid later this year.

The post Snow Miku 2025 Theme Song is “Crystal Snow” appeared first on Siliconera.

The newest trailer for The Rose of Versailles anime focuses on Oscar Francois de Jarjayes. This is one of the main characters from the series, as well as perhaps the most iconic. MAPPA also announced six new voice actors for The Rose of Versailles cast. [Thanks, Comic Natalie!]

You can watch the Oscar trailer here:

The trailer has English and Japanese subtitles. Over the course of a minute, we can see Oscar’s past and struggles, as well as how she chooses to face the commoners during the French Revolution. As a reminder, veteran voice actress Miyuki Sawashiro (Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter (2011) among many, many other roles) voices Oscar in this adaptation of The Rose of Versailles.

Here are the new voice actors who’ll appear in The Rose of Versailles anime:

• Colonel d’Agout: Jin Yamanoi (Rolento in Ultra Street Fighter IV)
• General Bouille: Akio Otsuka (Solid Snake, Naked Snake, Solidus Snake, Venom Snake in Metal Gear series)
• Louis XV: Hochu Otsuka (Xigbar in Kingdom Hearts)
• Jadame Jarjayes: Sumi Shimamoto (Yukiko Kudo in Detective Conan)
• Madame Noailles: Fumi Hirano (Lum in Urusei Yatsura (1981))
• Robespierre: Kensho Ono (Akutagawa in Bungo Stray Dogs)
• Rosalie: Saori Hayami (Yor in Spy x Family)

The Rose of Versailles is a highly influential manga that ran from 1972 to 1973. It is a historical drama set both before and during the French Revolution. Oscar is one of the main protagonists, alongside Marie Antoinette. MAPPA first announced that it would adapt the series as an anime movie back in September 2022.

The Rose of Versailles will air in Japan on January 31, 2025.

The post New Rose of Versailles Anime Trailer and Voice Actors Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

As part of the upcoming version 3.0 Love and Deepspace update, Papergames and Infold will add a period tracker, of all things, to the game. Caleb will also appear as a new romance option.

The period tracker in Love and Deepspace is part of the new “Remind Me” feature. You can use this to keep track of important events and dates, as well as daily chores, in your real life. During the “When Home Calls” livestream for Version 3.0, we could see an example of how Remind Me works. The boys actually comment on whatever they’re reminding you of. That means that, yes, they do bring up the fact they’re keeping track of your period for you. Whether they find it weird or not depends on the character you have on your home screen. Whether you find it weird or romantic depends on your personality.

Caleb will also appear as a new romance option after Version 3.0. Like the other men in the game, you'll be able to pull for his card and access "With Him" features. Players will receive his 5-star and 4-star memories for free by completing Special Investigation missions or the 10-day login event.

Love and Deepspace is the first 3D otome game that uses a free-to-play gacha-monetized gameplay pattern. Aside from the dating and romance aspect, there’s also an action portion in which you fight against monsters. As of October 2024, it achieved over 14 million downloads and generated over $196 million in revenue. It’s also incredibly popular in countries like Japan.

Love and Deepspace is available on mobile devices, and version 3.0 will appear on January 22, 2025.

The post Love and Deepspace to Double as a Period Tracker appeared first on Siliconera.