Find the Lamp Games announced on October 13 that Oomi's Nook launches December 7 on PC via Steam with Japanese in-game text. Players place stickers to build miniature dioramas inside the pages of an open book. The game includes more than 8,000 hand-drawn stickers, over 100 stages handled by 20 artists, and a free mode.
CDL TOKYO, the lifestyle brand run by ØMI (Hiroomi Tosaka), will hold a winter pop up store in Tokyo and Osaka. The Tokyo run is November 27 to 29 at House of OMOTESANDO; Osaka is December 4 to 6 at CONCENT OSAKA 1F. Each venue opens for three days, with apparel, lifestyle items and special footage built around the theme "SCENT OF DAYS".
Dfiance: Dominance is a free-to-play competitive card game for PC, shown at Brasil Game Show 2026 in Sao Paulo and planned for launch within the year. Cards placed in lanes generate points each turn they survive, so holding the board matters more than destroying enemy units. Three factions, Celestial, Ephemeral, and Infernal, anchor the play styles. The title supports Japanese display and ships on Steam.
TABASA will release five Little My items from Moomin on October 16 at its shops nationwide and its official web shop. The lineup is built on a monochrome palette and includes a tunic blouse at 30,800 yen, a border long sleeve T-shirt at 19,800 yen, a hoodie jacket at 44,000 yen, and houndstooth pants at 46,200 yen, with Little My applied in original tape and prints.
The second season of the live-action series of Ogeretsu Tanaka's Renai Rubi no Tadashii Furikata manga adds Rina Komiyama as Maki Oda, Takumi Bando as Kyosuke Hiiragi, and Tamami Sakaguchi as Matsuri Inui. The October 29 debut is on Tokyo MX1. Nanami Asahi, Saya Emori, and Tetsunori Akira return, with Genki Iwahashi and Satoru Soma reprising Hiromu Suzuki and Natsuo Washizawa. Yasuki Sato directs and Motoko Takahashi writes scripts.
Comisma announced on Thursday that it has entered an agreement with London-based Akili International to develop and produce an English live-action film of Teito Yuzuriha's Zukyun x Bakyun manga. Robby Monroe is engaged to direct and write the screenplay. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga, which follows two elite assassins, Dan and Lyla, whose working relationship turns into romance. Yuzuriha launched the manga on Comisma's GANMA! platform in October 2023 and ended it in September 2025.
IzanagiGames announced on October 9, 2026 that the Steam version of AKIBA LOST will release on October 21. The live-action suspense game stars former Kis-My-Ft2 member Hiromitsu Kitayama as Daiki Shinjo, a game creator investigating the Akiba Kamikakushi case that took six girls 13 years ago. Console versions launched September 17 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, while the Steam launch slipped on release day over platform-side review. The game is priced at 5,500 yen including tax. IzanagiGames is raising the two-week launch discount from 10 percent to 20 percent, adding 200 buddy character stills to the gallery, and offering dot-art wallpapers for PC and smartphones. Those additions are also planned for the console versions later. The game presents the stories of six women zapped between in real time, with choices that branch and can alter the ending. A demo is available on each platform.
A teaser video for the television anime of Kennoji and R_ringo's My Sword Saint Master Is Too Cute to Live With! lists seven voice actors and sets a January 2027 premiere. Ai Kakuma plays Liza Parsandra and Seena Hoshiki plays Eugene Dawson, with Hitomi Ueda as Cordelia Dawson and narrator, Azusa Tsujimori as Erin Toa, Tomoyo Takayanagi as Meris Eclipse, Miyu Tomita as Fiona Rosso, and Minami Takahashi as Lumiere Theomere. Masayoshi Nishida directs at Wolfsbane and Lightbox, with Yōhei Kashii on series scripts and WWWave's Deregula label producing.
NHK announced on Friday, October 9, the hosts of the 77th Kohaku Uta Gassen: Mana Ashida, Masato Sakai, Kazunari Ninomiya, and announcer Nahoko Suzuki. The 2026 theme is "Koe te ikou, uta to tomo ni." Sakai and Ninomiya play sworn brothers in the TBS drama VIVANT, whose sequel airs from July for two consecutive cours. The show airs live December 31, 7:20 p.m. to 11:45 p.m.
The second teaser visual for the completely new anime EAT-MAN The Over Order was released on October 9 and unveiled for the first time worldwide at the Crunchyroll Showcase during New York Comic Con 2026, which began October 8 in New York. Original creator Akihito Yoshitomi drew the image, which shows protagonist Bolt Crank in profile with a screw held in his mouth against a near-futuristic cityscape, with a massive structure rising behind him. EAT-MAN The Over Order adapts Yoshitomi's manga about 30 years after serialization began, and Yoshitomi handles the screenplay and original design concepts. Bolt is voiced by Masashi Ebara. Shunji Oga directs, Satoshi Hirayama handles character design, and Studio Cab produces the animation. A giveaway campaign runs on the official X account, with three-sticker sets and screw-themed prizes drawn by lottery from followers who repost the designated post.
Ryotaro Sakaguchi, 36, plays the drag queen and street drummer Angel in the Japanese production of RENT, running at Theater Creation in Tokyo from October 15 to November 13, 2026, double-cast with Hayate Takahashi. He posted a photo of himself in Angel's all-red costume and white hair on October 7, writing that the musical opens next week and that he finished the final rehearsal.
Life Reversal Gaming will help operate "eSpoGOMI with LIDEAL Aomori in Owani Town," an event combining esports and garbage picking (SpoGOMI), on November 21, 2026 at Wanikome in Owani Town. Hosted by LIDEAL Aomori, it is the fifth tournament for the organizer, after events in Aomori, Tokyo, Hirakawa City, and Hachinohe City. Teams of three apply free, with a lottery if applications are many.
The Xiaomi Pad 8 is an Android tablet built for gaming, with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip and a 5.75mm body. Its 11.2-inch display runs at 3.2K resolution and up to 144Hz, and the battery is 9200mAh. The tablet is the first in the lineup to carry the 8s Gen 4 chip. Xiaomi brought the tablet to the TOKYO Gaming-PC STREET 9 event in Akihabara on October 10, where attendees can try it.
Marvel Unlimited will end service on December 7, 2026, about 19 years after the subscription app launched in 2007. A new app called Marvel Comics, run by WEBTOON, launches on November 16 with roughly the same subscription price and more than 35,000 comics at launch. Purchased comics transfer through individual redemption codes, and libraries can be viewed until December 21 before the app is removed on December 28.
Shochiku Games will release a free PC demo for Moomin: Midsummer Madness on Steam on October 15, 2026 at 17:00 JST, with distribution ending October 27 at 2:00 JST. The demo carries the same content shown at Tokyo Game Show 2026 and covers Chapter 1, the opening of the game's six-chapter story. The full game, developed by France-based Crossbridge Game Studios, is a point-and-click adventure based on Tove Jansson's Midsummer Madness. It follows Moomintroll as a great flood sweeps Moominvalley and the family drifts to a strange theater full of costumes and scripts. Puzzles and minigames use each character's abilities, such as swimming or slipping into narrow gaps. A hint system is included. The title is set for release on November 12, 2026 on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and Nintendo Switch. Demos for the Switch versions are planned for a later date.
Good Smile Company has opened pre-orders at Rakuten Books for two POP UP PARADE L Size figures of Hatsune Miku Dekomiku: a Lightness version and a Darkness version. Both are listed at a reference price of 9,799 yen including tax, with a Rakuten Books sale price of 8,613 yen. The designs are credited to DECO*27 and OTOIRO alongside Crypton Future Media.
SmashCore Entertainment will take orders for the Yuki Yomichi model of its voice actor digital clock series C'CLOCK starting at noon on October 7, 2026. The 51st installment carries over 130 newly recorded lines and lets buyers have the name they specify recorded by Yomichi herself. Orders run in four phases over one year, each with a special order period and a general order period.
Anime Anime reports that "KUROMI'S MYSTERIOUS DEPARTMENT STORE" will run from October 19 to November 1 at MEDIA DEPARTMENT TOKYO in Shibuya. The free event uses all three floors, with an information counter, a secret corridor, cosmetics and boutique photo spots, and a third-floor secret base. Shop items include mascots at 2,860 yen, candy-style acrylic charms at 770 yen, and Multi Ring+ at 1,628 yen.
A new teaser PV for the TV anime New Oishinbo, set to air in 2027, shows the main cast's voices for the first time. Yohei Azakami plays Shiro Yamaoka, Hitomi Sasaki plays Yuko Kurita, and Akio Otsuka plays Yuzan Kaibara. Scene photos were also released. Shin-Ei Animation produces the sequel to Oishinbo, which has surpassed 135 million cumulative copies in print.
A limited-time pop up shop for the TV anime Yomi no Tsugai will run from October 2 to 12 at Bushiroad Creative Store Akihabara Main Store in Tokyo. It sells goods built on newly drawn rear-angle illustrations, including diorama acrylic stands at 2,200 yen, trading can badges at 550 yen, and trading mini clear colored paper at 880 yen, plus clear files, frosted glass, acrylic clips, candy boxes, stickers, and acrylic blocks. Buyers spending 3,000 yen per transaction get one of five clear bookmarks while supplies last.
Bandai will release Mame Gasha Hon "Weekly Shonen Sunday Comics Collection" in the third week of October 2026. The lineup covers six works from Weekly Shonen Sunday: Touch, Ranma 1/2, Kyokara Ore wa!!, Ushio and Tora, Detective Conan, and MAJOR. Each miniature comic is about five centimeters tall. The price is 500 yen including tax.
Aiichiro Oga of ALGO ARTIS has released "yomiyasu" under the MIT License, a skill that rewrites awkward AI-generated Japanese into readable prose for practical documents like technical articles and design specs. It runs inside AI coding environments such as Cursor and Claude Code and works through seven transformation principles. A bundled checker scores remaining AI-likeness on a 100-point scale. Oga describes it as personal research, not a company product.
Season 2 of VIVANT has resumed broadcast, and the official X account for the Sunday Theater slot posted visuals of the group preparing to rescue a captured Beppan member. Kazunari Ninomiya's character Nokor paints his face black with two lines on his cheeks, and viewers compared the look to cat whiskers and a calico cat. Episode 20 covers the infiltration of Shaki Castle.
Emi Y. Sun Game began distributing the trial version of its PC title MeMoMi Remake on Steam on October 6, 2026. The adventure game is a full remake in the Godot engine of the free game MeMoMi Original, keeping the core of the original while adding new visual expression and gameplay. Its world is built from skin, fluff, and memories, with body parts as stages, and its story follows fragments of a broken birdcage in search of the Blue Bird.
Developer Daniel Aagentah announced NOMIAD, an open-world sci-fi simulation game for Steam. Players control a droid on off-world mining missions, alone or in online co-op with up to four players. Features include desolate planets, hovercraft design and piloting, tactical contract missions, large-scale faction battles, and hull modules for roles such as stealth, heavy cargo, mining, salvage, reconnaissance, and blockade operations. The game is built with WebGL and TypeScript rather than an existing engine.
Shochiku Games showed Moomin: Moominsummer Madness at Tokyo Game Show 2026 at Makuhari Messe. The game adapts Tove Jansson's novel rather than telling a new story, with players controlling Moomin and Little My in a side-scrolling point-and-click adventure built on item use, investigation, and small minigames. Crossbridge Game Studios development director Daniel said the team wanted to express the source material's mix of gentle nature and harsher episodes.
Kazunori Yamauchi and Xiaomi Auto's Jean-Arthur Madelaine took the stage at the Gran Turismo World Series 2026 round in Singapore on October 3 and confirmed the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo will join Gran Turismo 7 within October 2026, as part of the Spec IV update. The update also adds an EV-only driving lesson using the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra.
BookWalker added 18 comic and webtoon titles from e-comix Media on Thursday, 12 ongoing and 6 completed series. The company also posted on LinkedIn that Tapas Premium and Early Access creators affected by that platform's March 31, 2027 closure can reach out about publishing and monetizing on BookWalker, which rebuilt its site, apps, and reader in March.
All 26 episodes of Martian Successor Nadesico began streaming free on YouTube on October 1 at 18:30, timed to the original broadcast 30 years earlier. The run stays up until October 14 at 18:29. A screening and talk event follows at Animate Theater on October 12, with Houko Kuwashima and Omi Minami appearing, and Yumi Matsuzawa has a 30th anniversary cover mini album confirmed.
Razer announced the Razer Hammerhead V3 X HyperSpeed - Kuromi Edition on September 29, a wireless earphone made with Sanrio to mark Kuromi's October birthday. The case carries Kuromi's silhouette in lilac and black, and each earbud stem has a skull emblem. It is scheduled to go on sale on Razer.com and at RazerStores in some countries starting October 13. A Japan release has not been revealed.
Ryusei Ryo will join Kazunari Ninomiya's personal agency Office Nino, the company announced on the 1st. The two currently co-star in the TBS Sunday drama VIVANT, where Ryusei plays Koutaro Shinjo, a former public security officer acting as a monitor for the terrorist organization Tent, opposite Ninomiya as Nokor.
Prime Video announced its October 2026 lineup on September 30. The additions include the live-action Exit 8 film starring Kazunari Ninomiya and directed by Genki Kawamura, arriving October 2, and the Made in Abyss anime seasons plus its theatrical releases on October 1. The service also adds 26 James Bond films, A Minecraft Movie, and The Apothecary Diaries season 3, among other titles.
Kadokawa's Dengeki Bunko Aki no Saiten Online 2026 livestream showed a teaser promo for the second season of Spice & Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf, set for 2027. Romi Park joins as Eve Bolan. Takeo Takahashi returns as chief director, Hijiri Sanpei directs with Nobuyoshi Nagayama and Takahiro Majima at Passione, and Kevin Penkin returns to compose.
The November issue of Shogakukan's Cheese! magazine, announced on September 24, says Kotomi Aoki will launch a new work for her Kanojo wa Uso o Ai Shisugiteru manga to mark the 10-year anniversary. It runs in the next issue on October 23 and will have 45 pages. The magazine does not state whether it is a new series or a new chapter.
Mozukuzu's new manga, Kemomimi Miko no Isekai Jinja Saikou-ki, launched in the 157th issue of Kadokawa's Dengeki Daioh G magazine on Monday. It adapts a novel by writer Mizuho Itsuki and illustrator risumi, published by Kadokawa in September 2024. The story follows high school girl Suzuka Mimori, who is pulled into another world and given fox ears, a tail, and miracle-working power by a forgotten god.
Miyu Tomita plays PAGTARO, a rotund yellow pug mascot, in the anime Uncle's Obsession with Cute Things, which premieres this fall. In an Anime NYC interview, Tomita said the character's lines are written only as his catchphrase, "Paguuu!", so she annotates the script with the emotion behind each one and ad-libs extra "Paguuu!" lines in shots where the mascot appears.
The Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime announced four more cast members: Saeko Kamijo as Essera Blanket, Hitomi Ueda as Raffine Silver, Azusa Tadokoro as Riculvitar Silver, and Ayaka Ohashi as Lilimi Silver. The Silver family roles join Reliared Silver, voiced by Rina Hidaka. The series premieres October 6 on Tokyo MX, BS NTV, and MBS, runs two consecutive cours, and streams on HIDIVE, ABEMA, d Anime Store, and U-NEXT.
The official website for the Hell Mode anime announced on Saturday that the series is getting a third season covering the "S-Rank Dungeon Conquest Arc." Masato Tamagawa returns to direct at Yokohama Animation Lab, with Daishiro Tanimura on series scripts and Kei Tsushima on character designs. The second season ended on Friday. HIDIVE streams the anime as it airs in Japan.
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the 2026 International Emmy nominees on Wednesday. Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 is nominated in the Short-Form Series category and the My Melody & Kuromi stop-motion series in Kids: Animation. Winners are announced in New York City on November 23. Both are also prize holders elsewhere: two 17-26 shorts went to Bucheon, and My Melody & Kuromi took Best Animation at Singapore's Asian Academy Creative Awards.
The staff for the Mission: Yozakura Family anime released a new promotional video on Friday naming five cast members: Hochu Otsuka as Alexandryu, Miku Ito as Shura, Yumiri Hanamori as Cyber Demon Lord Giga, Sumire Uesaka as Dr. Mozu, and Naomi Shindoh as Hulang. The video also introduced the character Kosmos Akizakura without naming a voice actor. Part 2 premieres October 11 on MBS, TBS, and 26 other channels.
Yomi Hirasaka, author of Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends and A Sister's All You Need., confirmed on September 13 that he retired as a light novelist. He said the reason was FIRE, the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement, and not lack of success or mental health. He was answering a social media post that speculated about his mental health after negative feedback to A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics and that series' final volume.
Junko Yagami sings the ending theme for "Yamato yo Towa ni REBEL3199 Chapter 7: Rainbow-Colored Reincarnation," the final chapter of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 series. The song, "Haruka e, Towa e," has lyrics by Yohei Matsui, music by Hiroshi Miyagawa and Akira Miyagawa, and arrangement by Akira Miyagawa. Yagami last performed a Yamato theme in 1983 with "Love Supreme ~Shijou no Ai~" for Space Battleship Yamato: Final Chapter. The music video is out on the official YouTube channel. Seven character visuals on rainbow-colored backgrounds also released, covering figures including Susumu Kodai, Yuki Mori, and Sasha. The chapter begins screenings on Friday, October 30, 2026. General director and scriptwriter Harutoshi Fukui leads the production, with Naomichi Yamato directing and Satelight on animation. The cast includes Daisuke Ono, Houko Kuwashima, Megumi Han, and Koichi Yamadera.
SEEC announced on September 30, 2026 that it will end service for the smartphone app Tasokare Hotel -Tsubomi- on November 30, 2026 at 12:00. The game is a sequel to the TV anime Tasokare Hotel and is set in the Twilight Hotel, a place that exists between life and death. It follows a new protagonist, Yumeku Hachiya, and other characters. The app launched on March 31, 2025 and will close after about one year and eight months. In-app content received its final update on September 30, and the story will end inside the app without being completed. Sales of paid items stopped on October 1 at 12:00, and refund applications opened at the same time. Refund requests are accepted until November 30 at 11:59, and after applying, paid items can no longer be used. New installations from stores are scheduled to stop after November 30 at 12:00.
Xiaomi held a launch event in Beijing on September 23, where it announced the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max. Both phones use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series, announced the same day at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. The Pro Max is the first device with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, according to the launch coverage. The Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display, 8500mAh battery, and dual 200-megapixel cameras, with a 200-megapixel 3.2x telephoto and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide. Pricing starts at 6999 yuan for the 12GB + 256GB Pro Max. The Xiaomi 18 Pro starts at 5999 yuan with a 6.4-inch screen and a 7000mAh battery. A translucent red special edition was also announced, with both models limited to 16GB memory and 1TB storage. The Pro special edition costs 9999 yuan, and the Pro Max special edition costs 10,999 yuan. Global release timing is undecided, and no Japan release has been announced.
Toei Animation on September 24, 2026 named two new characters for Rakuen Tsuiho -The Stellar Angel-, its visual novel sequel to the 2014 film Rakuen Tsuiho -Expelled from Paradise-. Aladia, voiced by Hiromi Sakurai, is a former Deva security officer who stole the top-secret file Gray Goo and fled to the surface. Naama, voiced by Yui Sakakibara, is a rookie officer ordered to capture her. The game ships November 26, 2026 on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, with Japanese and English text switchable in-game. Shotaro Teshirogi writes the scenario. Rie Kugimiya returns as protagonist Angela Balzac, who now lives on the surface with Dingo, voiced by Shinichiro Miki. The setting is the year 2400, where parallel plants spread across the ruined surface and giant worms attack nearby settlements. The core K2-SYSTEM asks players at key points to pick between Kizuna and Kakugo, shaping Angela and branching the story toward multiple endings. A repost campaign for original QUO cards runs from September 24 to October 1.
Bandai Namco Filmworks announced Monday that Yuika is performing the opening theme for the television anime of Jun Wakatsuki's Promise Me the Spotlight. Yuika revealed and performed the song, titled "Nanimono demo nakatta Watashi dakara" (Because I Was No One), during her special "Sanvitalia" solo concert on Monday. Kodansha's K MANGA service publishes the manga, which launched in Shonen Magazine Edge in 2022 and moved to the Magazine Pocket app in 2023.
TMS Entertainment announced that the 2007 film Oshare Majo Love and Berry: Shiawase no Mahou will stream for a limited time on its official YouTube channel from 20:00 on September 23. The movie adapts Sega's card game, which drew a large following in the 2000s, and was distributed by Shochiku. Hiromi Konno voices Love, Hisayo Yanai voices Berry.
Sanrio announced on September 21 that the artist KUROMI and singer Ado will digitally release their first collaboration song, "DND feat. KUROMI," on September 25. The title stands for "Do Not Disturb." Sanrio describes the track as a strong-willed, positive self-affirmation song about blocking out the noise around you and other people's values, and pushing toward your dreams in your own way. The lyrics were written by Kanata Okajima and monii, with composition by Johnny R, monii, Ari, and KIRA. Arrangement is credited to Ari, KIRA, monii, and Johnny R. Universal Music handles distribution. A collaboration visual was released at the same time, showing Ado with twin tails that link with KUROMI's black hood. The project came about through an offer from KUROMI to Ado, driven by KUROMI's wish to make everyone happy with songs and set the world abuzz. The song is the latest entry in KUROMI's discography, which includes the 1st EP "KUROMI IN MY HEAD" from October 2025 and the 2nd EP "HYPER KUROMISM" from June 2026.
Kadokawa and Marvel Comics have launched a joint project called MARVEL | KADOKAWA, announced at the MARVEL FANFARE panel at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25, 2026. The first wave will consist of five titles, with two confirmed so far. Spider-Man is drawn by tokitokoro, who previously worked on Jeff the Land Shark for Marvel Comics. Its protagonist is Haruto Hachidori, a male high school student living in Shibuya who suddenly gains spider powers and swings through the city while a shadow lurking beneath it begins to move. Spider-Gwen is handled by Ryusei Yamada, who drew Captain Marvel illustrations for MARVEL SWIMSUIT SPECIAL. Its story follows Gwen Stacy, a high school student and drummer in the band Mary Janes, who gains powers after a radioactive spider bite in a laboratory and protects the city as Spider-Woman. Both Japanese titles remain undecided. Both works will begin serialization on Kadokawa's KadoComi service within 2026, with collected volumes planned afterward.
Sanrio's KUROMI and singer Ado have released a collaboration song, "DND feat. KUROMI," on Friday, September 25, 2026. DND stands for "Do Not Disturb," and the song is a self-affirmation track about ignoring outside noise and other people's values. KUROMI offered the collaboration to Ado directly. Kanata Okajima and monii wrote the lyrics, and Johnny R, monii, Ari, and KIRA share composition credits. Universal Music distributes it.