I’m constantly bombarded with ads from manga apps with shojo series, like Emaqi and Manga Plaza, taunting me with a few pages from a Cinderella story series about a black sheep twin or stepsister who meets the best man who recognizes her for the diamond in the rough she is. Some of these types of stories can be great in their own right due to certain takes on the genre, like Bride of the Barrier Master. Now that we’re five volumes deep into the My Happy Marriage manga, I keep being reminded how its the superior series when it comes to characters, handling of sensitive topics, and actual relationship development.  

Editor’s Note: There will be some minor spoilers for early volumes of the My Happy Marriage manga below. 12423z

The first reason I feel like My Happy Marriage is the superior Cinderella story manga is because the start is exactly that. Miyo Saimori’s the elder daughter who is pushed aside in favor of her stepsister due to not possessing a Gift and the marriage between her father and mother being essentially a political one. She’s engaged to Kiyoka Kudo, a person with a powerful gift who is also head of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit and rich. He’s as close as a prince as we can get in this period piece. Because she’s so kind, humble, considerate, and unlike any fiance ever forced on him, he ends up seeing exactly who she is and realizing how special she is. And because this is a manga based on a light novel, there’s ample characterization to make him appealing too.

Also important is how Miyo is depicted throughout My Happy Marriage compared to the Cinderella fairy tale and other shojo manga. Miyo went through hell in her family home. She was abused. Throughout the first two volumes, we see her responses to that. She hides the fact that she has so little clothing and is working to make what she has last. She apologizes too much. She goes out of her way to not cause trouble. Don’t make requests. Don’t make mistakes. Don’t make assumptions. It might almost seem like overkill sometimes to see someone trip over herself so much to keep out of others’ ways. However, if you ever were in her position or knew someone who was, it comes across as quite realistic. It isn’t like other shojo manga that involves a heroine more quickly getting over years of abuse because now she’s got a normal life where she’s potentially pampered and loved. She’s very much in recovery.

I also appreciate that Kiyoka’s approach to the situation feels equally realistic. He tries to be patient and kind. He reaches out to her. He sets up gifts in such a way to possibly encourage her accepting them and not feeling guilty about doing so. He has his housekeeper Yurie reach out to her and her. But at the same time, there are moments in later volumes of the manga in which even he gets frustrated. Which happens! Even if you care about someone, it could be easy to get impatient about the time table for recovery not being what you’d expect. 

The fact that Miyo keeps growing throughout My Happy Marriage and her own development as a person isn’t sidelined for the sake of the more romantic elements in this shojo manga and immediately resolved Cinderella story is encouraging as well. By the time the fourth volume hits, we’re aware of her capabilities. But this isn’t a blessing. All gifts are shown to have their own trade-offs, and in her case being untrained is leading to negative experiences that exacerbate her PTSD reflected throughout the story. This means as we lead into the fifth volume, we’re hitting a point at which her own character development is going to be prioritized. As a result, I feel like we’re seeing her feelings for Kiyoka coming through more clearly and better understanding her own power.

I love My Happy Marriage so much, and I’m so glad Square Enix Books picked it up, as the manga ended up being one of the best period piece Cinderella style stories out there. It feels like one of the best written “underdog” tales in a sea of manga about twin sisters who supposedly aren’t the gifted ones, but actually are, and end up with a too-good-to-be-true fiance who realizes exactly how amazing they are and fights off their jealous family. Here we see things like PTSD acknowledged. We watch personal growth between characters. Difficulties surrounding supernatural abilities are addressed, so they don’t seem all wonderful. Plus the actual relationship between Miyo and Kiyoka feels as though it is developing in as health a manner as it can, given the circumstances. It’s a wonderful shojo manga. 

Volumes 1-5 of the My Happy Marriage manga adaptation are available via Square Enix, and both seasons of the shojo anime are on Netflix.

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Kikuri Hiroi can be one of those scene-stealing characters in both the Bocchi the Rock anime and manga adaptations. While the series tends to focus on Kessoku Band like Hitori, Ikuyo, Nijika, and Ryo, this funny and flawed ing cast member with moments of depth is a standout too. Though since she is an alcoholic and has plenty of vices, the enjoyment someone gets out of the Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary spin-off manga will vary depending on how much you like her and the original series.

Editors Note: There will be some mild spoilers for early parts of volume 1 of the Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary manga.  5m2f1e

While the original Bocchi the Rock is a four-koma series that gradually builds on the story of Kessoku band in strips that also can sometimes stand on their own, the Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary side story manga follows a more traditional format as it looks at Sick Hack’s singer and bass player. While it starts by bringing up Kikuri’s talents and how adept bandmates Eliza Shimizu and Shima Iwashita are, it also quickly establishes she is no angel and shows a copy trying to reason with her when she’s in a full drunken “incorrigible alcoholic”moment. 

It’s a stark introduction to two facets of her personality, and the first chapter continues to emphasize that. She gets so drunk after a sold-out Yokohama Arena show that she winds up blackout drunk in Kanazawa. While Eliza and Shima clearly respect her talents enough to perform and be in Sick Hack with her, neither is going to come and pick her up and they also definitely knew she probably wouldn’t make the fireworks show they were going to go to. People in the bar she winds up in think she’s exaggerating about her indie band being popular and talents, due to the fact she walks in drunk and keeps drinking. But then actual fans recognize her, ask to meet her, and her story. Kikuri gets carried away and offers to cover folks’ tabs, blowing through her money and winding up alone and broke at a shrine with a stray cat and huge bottle of cheap booze. 

What I appreciate is that Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary sort of feels like a different type of slice-of-life manga. It’s still going through an indie rocker’s daily life. We get a different perspective. But it doesn’t lock the story into a comedic or dramatic tone, and it establishes that from the outset. Because while this chapter starts out funny, as we see her deal with her drunkenness, not being able to convince people for a ride, and come to with spending almost all of her money as she’s carried away on fan adoration, that quickly turns darker. By the end of the chapter, she’s entered her infamous Spiral of Happiness, which sees her dealing with any discomfort or pain by getting so drunk that she gets “happy” and numb. 

And we see this continue throughout this spin-off. Kikuri reaches a high point, usually a performance of sorts or something dealing with her talents resulting in a win for Sick Hack or her personally. But then something happens to swiftly bring her down. It could be recklessly spending money that could have ed her for a month or longer. Maybe it’s getting so carried away in the moment that she trashes expensive equipment that belonged to a club. While we see people around her, such as Eliza and even Shima, do care in their own ways and offer different sorts of s, there’s a constant cycle that makes it both occasionally amusing and a fascinating analysis of her as a character. However, because Kikuri is a drunk, I could see it being painful or difficult for some people to read, especially when it can seem like she isn’t thinking about consequences or considering others.

So if someone really likes the original series or is interested in the character, I feel like the Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary manga can be interesting supplemental reading. But if someone has experiencing being in a role like Shima or being around someone like that, I think it might be a difficult read. Especially when moments come up when Kikuri or other people do get serious.

Volume 1 of Bocchi the Rock! Side Story: Kikuri Hiroi’s Heavy-Drinking Diary is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 2 of the manga on September 23, 2025. The company also handles the Bocchi the Rock manga. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Bandai Namco announced its latest entry in the Bikkura Bath Bombs series, and it’s a Sanrio My Fave Color series with toys of five characters wearing bows. While some stores will sell them individually, at the moment two of the only places selling full boxes of them are Entertainment Earth ($130.99) and Bandai ($120). This collection is immediately available.

This is a recurring series involving anime characters, stars of games, and mascots. Once you open a package and drop the bath bomb in a full tub, it will disappear and reveal a figure. Each toy is about an inch tall. 

In the case of the Sanrio My Fave Color Bikkura Bath Bombs series, there are 10 possible toys. Each one is inside a bath bomb that smells like strawberry cake. Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, My Melody, Pochacco, and Pompompurin are all available, with two variants of each one as options. The general poses for each are identical, but the facial expressions and colors of the bows they wear will be different. As an example, Pochacco is wearing a pink bow with shirt and sleeping in one and winking and wearing a teal bow and shirt in the other. A full case contains 15 random toys, so someone will likely get doubles and might not get every character.

Here are the official photos of the package and toys. Bandai Namco didn’t share any pictures of the bath bombs themselves.

There is actually another line available as well. That one features Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, Pochacco, and Pompompurin, with each figure designed to be posed in a line together.

In the past, other entries in the series included toys of the shark from Jaws, characters from One Piece, and Tamagotchi hair ties.

The Sanrio My Fave Color series Bikkura Bath Bombs are available now.

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Back in January 2025, Marvelous confirmed Sakuna and Tama from Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin would appear in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, and now there’s a full trailer for the free DLC. It turns out that, after we the add-on, she’ll appear as a villager and be able to seen around town or added to our party as an ally when adventuring. It will be available at launch.

The video begins with a close-up of Sakuna’s character model in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. Then, we see her use some attack actions with her hoe. After that, we can see her with Tama in front of a house and some rice paddies. It is then that a player using the Subaru male avatar comes up to speak with her. 

After that, it confirms Sakuna won’t be confirmed to the village in-game. She’ll be considered one of the NPCs you can add to your party as an ally. She is an Attacker type unit, and of course her physical attack is stronger than her magical one. The footage of the menu shows her at level 20, and there’s more gameplay that highlights the height difference between the avatar and her.

Here’s the full Japanese trailer:

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma will be available for the Switch, Switch 2, and PC on June 5, 2025, and the Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin free DLC will debut on that same day. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is available on the Switch, PS4, and PC. 

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Timi Studio, Activision and Square Enix announced that the Call of Duty Mobile NieR: Automata event is about to begin, and they also shared the various character skins based on 2B, 9S, and the YoRHa Commander White. Everything starts at 5pm PT/8pm ET on May 30, 2025. 

There are three NieR: Automata character skins in Call of Duty Mobile, though only one can be earned for free. By playing, we can get the 9S costume for Ryotaro "Kui Ji" Nagashima. The 2B and Commander White outfits will show up for Lizbeth "Kestrel" Warnholdt and Fiona St. George, though both of those will appear via the Draw banners. The 2B one also will feature Legendary PP19 Bizon, while the Commander one will have AK47 - Final Apocalypact. 

Here’s Kestral as 2B: 

And here’s St. George as Commander White: 

The Kui Ji as 9S costume shows up at the very beginning of the general crossover trailer:

The 9S skin isn’t the only item people can earn by playing Call of Duty Mobile during the event. There are also five weapons. Four of these are based on ones that appeared in NieR: Automata. These are Cruel Blood Oath, Cruel Oath, EM2: Initieno Atonement, Virtuous Contract, and Virtuous Treaty. The remaining item is a Smoke Grenade design to look like the Machine Lifeform enemies from Square Enix’s game.

There’s an official image showing off all of those rewards we can earn, which you can see below.

Call of Duty Mobile is available on Android and Apple iOS devices. NieR: Automata can be found on the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and the anime is on Crunchyroll. The crossover between the two starts on May 30, 2025, and some rewards are free to earn.

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The Pokemon Center announced a new run of Ditto plush, and each one features the character mimicking another one. There are 17 in this collection. Each one is available now and costs $19.99.

While all of the Ditto Pokemon plush are the same price, the size of them does vary a bit. The tallest one is actually the Mareep version at 8 and a half inches. The smallest are the Dragonite and Jigglypuff, which both stand at five inches tall. Each one features the Duplica’s Ditto face that keeps their expression looking like a standard Ditto design, like the character in the anime series.

Here’s the full list of all the different types of Dittos available in this collection. 

• Ditto at Dragonite
• Ditto as Eevee
• Ditto as Espeon
• Ditto as Flareon
• Ditto as Glaceon
• Ditto as Jigglypuff
• Ditto as Jolteon
• Ditto as Lapras
• Ditto as Leafeon
• Ditto as Lucario
• Ditto as Magikarp
• Ditto as Mareep
• Ditto as Mew
• Ditto as Pikachu
• Ditto as Snorlax
• Ditto as Vaporeon
• Ditto as Vulpix

Since the tier cut-off for free shipping in the US is $20, someone would need to get another item to qualify.

Here's how all 17 plush toys look:

It isn’t uncommon for there to be plush toys of the character disguised as other Pokemon. However, they don’t always show up that often. One of the other notable collections involved a series of plush keychains like this from 2016.

All 17 of these new plush are available in The Pokemon Center now.

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HoYoVerse announced the first sign that the 8.3 update is on the way for Honkai Impact 3rd by announcing the beta test phase that introduces elements like the new Erdos Helia Planar Armament: Warped Spacetime Battlesuit. Applications are now open for all of us who play the game.

Gaining access to the test server for 8.3 works in the same way as previous ones offered for Honkai Impact 3rd. You need to be an active player, for one. This is because the only way to access the application is via the client. It’ll show up as a news item under an announcement labeled “Recruiting v8.3 Tester.” After clicking on that, you can fill out a form. HoYoVerse will then email anyone picked to participate in the beta.

While the official YouTube hasn’t shared any Honkai Impact 3rd footage of the Erdos Helia Battlesuit Planar Armament: Warped Spacetime, multiple videos appeared on the official Bilibili one. Some of these were story-based, while others looked more at gameplay. Given the past trends and release schedules, we’ll likely start seeing English of those closer to the global launch of the 8.3 update.

This will mark the second Battlesuit available for the character. Erdos Helia debuted in Part 2. When she did, her Valkyrie Boltstorm unit appeared. 

Honkai Impact 3rd is available for the PC and mobile devices, and the new story missions and Erdos Helia Planar Armament: Warped Spacetime Battlesuit will appear in 8.3 in the near future. 8.3 beta test recruitment is open until June 3, 2025.

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Good Smile Company shared the release windows for the new Persona 3 Reload Nendoroid of protagonist Makoto Yuki, and the Basic version of the figure will release later in 2025 in some regions. In Japan, we’ll see it show up in September 2025. The worldwide release is set for Q1 2026. 

As this is a Nendoroid Basic figure, it won’t be as robust or expensive as others in the line. It’ll be ￥3,900/$26.99. His facial expression is a stoic, neutral one. He also hold his base one-handed sword in his right hand.

Here are two photos Good Smile Company shared with us that highlight how the figure will look:

This isn’t the first Persona 3 Nendoroid, as the original figure based on Makoto’s appearance in the PS2 game debuted in 2022. Since that is a more traditional model, it included extra face plates, hand parts, and accessories. It only showed up once worldwide, and there’s been no rerun since its debut. 

While this is a Persona 3 Reload model, it isn’t too dissimilar from the original Persona 3 version. The hairstyle and facial expression are identical to the 2022 release, and the uniform seems almost exactly the same. The weapon is different, however, as the one-handed sword for this figure is an all-silver one that resembles Makoto’s starting weapon and the one with the original figure was a more traditional sword with gold hilt. 

The Persona 3 Reload Nendoroid Basic figure of the protagonist Makoto Yuki will appear in Japan in September 2025. It will appear later worldwide in Q1 2026. Pre-orders for it will close on June 25, 2025. Persona 3 Reload is available worldwide on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the original game first debuted on the PS2.

The post Persona 3 Reload Makoto Yuki Nendoroid Is a Basic Figure appeared first on Siliconera.

Cygames released a number of new trailers for the English release of Umamusume, with one of them going over the notable unit Mejiro McQueen and the other highlighting what we can expect from the Anime Expo 2025 appearance of the title. There are four new unit trailers to watch total, and all of them should be in-game when it launches worldwide at the end of June 2026. 

First, the Anime Expo 2025 Umamusume reveal video featured Silence Shizuka and Oguri Cap voice actresses Marika Kohno and Tomoyo Takayanagi in-costume discussing what we’ll see at the convention. Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era, the 2024 movie, will be shown in Room 403AB at 1:45pm PT on July 6, 2025. That’s not streaming anywhere, so it being shown at the event is notable. Cygames will give away Silence Shizuka, Special Week, and Tokai Teio pins at its booth throughout the event. Mini cushions will be present there. Takayanagi introduced Oguri Cap and Kohno shared details about Silence Shizuka to close out that video.

As for the new Umamusume character trailers, they featured Grass Wonder, King Halo, Mejiro McQueen, and Mejiro Ryan. Grass Wonder is the star of the thirteenth trailer. She’s voiced by Rena Maeda. She is a part of Team Rigil alongside units like El Condor Pasa and Taiki Shuttle. 

King Halo’s trailer showed up after that. Iori Saeki plays that heroine. She’s not associated with any team.

As for Mejiro McQueen, she’s considered one of the better characters to use in Umamusume even after all this time. She’s also prominently featured in the game and anime adaptation. She’s played y Saori Onishi. While her team affiliation varies based on what you’re playing or watching, she’s on Team Sirius in the game. Oguri Cap used to be on that team, and characters like Narito Brian and Rice Shower are on it with her. 

Finally, the most recent trailer goes over Mejiro Ryan. Yes, she is related to Mejiro McQueen. She isn’t associated with any particular team. Afumi Hashi voices her.

Cygames regularly shares new horse girl trailers ahead of the English Umamusume launch. One of the latest batches included major ones like Daiwa Scarlet.

The Umamusume: Pretty Derby English release date is June 26, 2025, and we’ll be able to pre for the global version of the game on the PC via Steam and Android and iOS mobile devices on April 28, 2025. It is already available in Asia. The new Umamusume: Cinderella Gray anime is on Amazon, and other anime adaptations are on Crunchyroll. Anime Expo will be held July 3-6, 2025, and Cygames will have a booth and show one of the movies based on the series there.

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At the end of May 2025, Level-5 confirmed that the Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time upgrade update would be available for the Switch 2 at launch and teased its changes. It noted it would look and run better, basically. Now the company further explained the difference with two more detailed videos that compare Switch and Switch 2 gameplay.

In each case, there are split-screen videos on YouTube that directly compare the same instances in the Switch 2 version of Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time to show the changes between the two. Each one is rather brief and designed to give a quick glimpse of the changes in action. The shorter of the two is the Graphics Showcase. That only lists 15 seconds. In both, a player’s avatar is using the Woodcutter role to chop down one of the bosses for that job in the field. In the case of the Switch 2 version, the textures for the environment are clearer and we can more clearly see the character’s facial features and clothing. 

The one comparing the load times in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time on both Nintendo platforms is a bit longer. That comes in at 40 seconds. This is because it is showing the time it takes to start the game from the main menu and to go between the Guild Hall in the Present to Ginormosia. It takes 6:19 seconds to load the game on the Switch 2 after starting and 12:12 to do so on the Switch. In the case of heading to Ginormosia with the teleportation gate, it takes 9:39 seconds on the Switch 2 and 17:06 seconds on the Switch. So in each case, the time is almost double on the older console. 

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available now on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Switch 2 version and upgrade update file will launch on June 5, 2025. 

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Good Smile Company and miHoYo announced the release of a new Nendoroid figure of Dr Ratio from Honkai: Star Rail. The figure costs 349 yuan (or about $48.44), and it is expected to release first in China on December 2025. At the moment, there is no information regarding a release date for other regions, though past ones like Aventurine and March 7th appeared worldwide.

The Dr Ratio Nendoroid figure is approximately 100mm (or about 3,94 inches) tall and is articulated. The figure comes with three different faces plates, as is common with Nendoroids. These will be a standard smiling face, a thinking face, and a closed-eyes face plate. In addition to the faces, the figure comes with 4 other parts, including his signature Book of Truth, a rubber duck, a pistol, and a bathtub. The bathtub pose appears on a Light Cone in-game.

Furthermore, a special acrylic stand will be added with the Chinese release. It’s still unclear if the stand or a different bonus will be included once the global release of the figure is announced.

You can check out the figure in more detail, alongside its optional parts, here:

As a reminder, the Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroids figures of Robin and Sunday are expected to release on August 2025, and an Aventurine Nendoroid was recently announced and it will be coming out in Japan on February 2026 and in North America sometime in Q3 2026.

The Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroid figure of Dr Ratio costs 349 yuan (~$48.44) and will release in China on December 2025. Honkai: Star Rail is readily available for the PS5, PC, Android, and iOS devices.

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I enjoy seeing what independent developers can achieve with smaller projects. There might be unusual takes on genres or experimentations with genres and ideas. Chronomon is one of these types of titles, as Stone Golem Studios is attempting to fuse popular genres such as Pokemon style creature capturing and Stardew Valley sorts of farming. It’s still early days, and of course there’s clunkiness in such small things, but the idea seems like a promising one. 

Chronomon begins with our avatars awaking in a bunker. Someone else living there, named Kyral, lets you know that some creatures ended up being successfully trapped last night. After choosing a “starter” and using a CIM card to get its data, the worst happens. of the Epoch Syndicate show up and force a retreat. Worse, since they might breach the underground base, Kyral helps you escape, as well as learn how to use a Chronomon to flip switches to escape. Fortunately, a farm has been prepared. It’s dilapidated and in need of repairs, but we have a chance to regroup, establish ourselves, make connections with villages, and perhaps start to rebuild and fight back. Granted, since this is early access, we don’t have all of that yet, but we can make a start. 

I really like the initial approach in Chronomon, and it does feel like a mix of Pokemon monster-raising JRPGsand Stardew Valley style life sims in a way that similar sorts of games like Moonstone Island doesn’t. There’s a very dark atmosphere that fits the dystopian tone, yet also a sense of hope since we are fighting back and connecting with other people and a village. The look is pretty strong at the moment, especially with farming, though I do think improved controls will help that in time. It also pulls from games like Marvelous’ Rune Factory in that every type of action you’re undertaking shapes your character and progress, so it feels like choosing to farm, fish, or battle with monsters each carries weight. Farming comes down to clearing land, tilling soil, planting crops, and waiting to harvest. Monster battling and catching entails heading out into the world and going through turn-based fights.  

As an early access title, I did notice some elements of Chronomon do feel like they need a bit of touching up. The thing that initially bothered me most, so much so that I ended up restarting, is during the first selection of your monster ally, the execution, controls, and menu meant that I selected a character I didn’t want when I was just attempting to check the stats. Said control issues are currently a problem throughout my sessions, as I went through it on a Legion Go and couldn’t try and go with a mix of switching to keyboard and mouse if I found things weren’t ideal. This is compounded by, at the moment, the UI being a bit cumbersome. Considering how heavy of a focus crafting and character management is, I wish it was a bit clearer and easier to parse. However, keep in mind this is a game isn’t even one month into early access as I write this and, on May 13, 2025, Stone Golem Studios created a Steam Discussions thread specifically looking to address the controls issue. 

Another early issue has to do with balance in Chronomon. Which, again, I think we will see addressed over the coming weeks and months. At the moment, I feel like the goal is to really make this feel like a post-apocalyptic adventure with odds stacked against you. It takes a while for your creatures to level up, even when they’re under level 5 or 10. Enemy creatures can be incredibly strong. If you die, you’re both losing items in your inventory and money. I found it quite daunting, especially in the first three hours I played. I’m not sure if the answer is implementing some difficulty options or eventual balancing patches or adding items that adjust earned experience and influence stats. But again, it’s early on and things could change. 

I do think the one thing I’d like most from Chronomon is something that we might not see happen over the course of development. The game and its concept possess a really strong identity, and you can see that from the outset. Stone Golem Studios seems like it has a really strong idea of what it wants to do, the story it is going to tell, and an approach to pairing farming and a life sim with monster catching and battling. However, I feel like sometimes it visually doesn’t always match that. I wish the character designs for the monsters, NPCs, and our avatars stood out a bit more. Especially since there will be a relationship element with friendship systems. I’d love to see the major NPCs look more unique and some of the Chronomon stand out more as development continues. I even feel like this ties into the UI issue I mentioned earlier. Some adjustments to define the game’s visual identity so it leaves the same sort of impression as the gameplay concepts would be great.

Chronomon could be an indie to keep an eye on. The concept behind pairing a Pokemon like with Stardew Valley is sound. The initial loop is encouraging, and it seems like Stone Golem Studios is trying to use the idea of a post-apocalyptic world to explain its gameplay and narrative in a cohesive way. There are some minor issues at the moment, and I would love to see more defined character and UI designs to help it stand out. However, you have to expect that from an Early Access title. It might be worth watching in the weeks and months to come. 

Chronomon is in early access on PCs via Steam. 

The post Preview: Chronomon Blends Pokemon and Farming Life Sims appeared first on Siliconera.

HoYoVerse shared details about the Zenless Zone Zero Beard Papa cream puff crossover that will feature Anby and Burnice. The promotion will run in the US starting on June 8, 2025, and it will end on July 15, 2025. In addition to exclusive merchandise, there will also be Perfect Taste Bundle codes for in-game items.

Essentially, the Beard Papa promotion guarantees Zenless Zone Zero merchandise and codes if you get certain collaboration sets. The basic one is called ZZZ x Beard Papa’s Operation Yum Collab 2-Puff Set. This gives you the Anby Key Lime Crumble Puff with vanilla bean filling and key lime topping and the Burnice Royal Raspberry Puff with vanilla filling and raspberry glaze. You also get one random pin with either of the two characters or a Bangboo mascot in the restaurant’s costume and the Perfect Taste Bundle code. The 4-puff set comes with both of the limited edition cream puffs, two Original Vanilla ones, an acrylic standee of one of the two heroines and the code. Finally, a 6-puff set comes with two of the Anby puffs, two of the Burnice ones, two Original Vanilla ones, a standee, a random pin, and the code. 

Here’s how all of the Zenless Zone Zero cream puffs and merchandise will look. The Bangboo mascot is paired with the Original Vanilla option.

As for the Perfect Taste Bundle code, that gives anyone who claims it a Bangboo Beard Papa avatar, collectible, and namecard, a Stamina Item, three Senior Investigator Logs, and 30,000 Dennies.

This is the second recent Beard Papa crossover with a popular series. At the start of 2025, a Mashle event appeared. This involved both merchandise and specific cream puffs inspired by characters from the anime and manga.

Zenless Zone Zero is on the PS5, PC, and mobile devices now. The Xbox Series X version and 2.0 update comes on June 6, 2025. The Zenless Zone Zero Beard Papa Anby and Burnice 

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It’s taken 10 years, but Good Smile Company announced it will finally release a new Cardcaptor Sakura Tomoyo Daidouji Nendoroid. This latest figure isn’t an update of the original, as it depicts an older version of the character from the Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card anime. It will cost ￥6,800 when it debuts in November 2025 in Japan, and it will be $44.99 when it launches in the US in Q2 2026.

Since this is an older version of Tomoyo, she wears her Tomoeda Junior High uniform for the figure. In the original, she wore the elementary branch’s, which featured a simpler white skirt and a hat. She comes with an updated video camera accessory and a phone, both for taking pictures and footage of Sakura. Her school bag can be held in her right hand too. She comes with a neutral smiling face plate, one in which she’s extra happy, and a new take on the "Sakura-chan is incredibly cute" expression. (The original Nendoroid featured a similar one with stars in her eyes. 

Here are the first photos of the figure Good Smile Company shared with all of us via the shop.

Just like the first Nendoroid, there is a Good Smile Company Online Shop bonus. The initial one came with a Kero-chan figure. This one comes with extra hand parts for an additional pose, which you can see below:

This figure is designed to match another recent Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Nendoroid. One of Sakura Kinomoto appeared in 2024. Her and Tomoyo’s uniforms will match. This could mean that, if you own both, you could swap their hand, arm, and leg parts for more potential poses.

The Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Tomoyo Daidouji Nendoroid will debut in Japan in November 2025 and worldwide in Q2 2026. Pre-orders are open until July 9, 2025. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Sega announced that Suicide Squad Isekai figures of Harley Quinn and Joker are now part of its Desktop x Decorate collection. They are currently showing up in arcades and online crane games, like Taito’s, in Japan. US storefronts aren’t showing them yet, though places like Amazon and Big Bad Toy Store do often sell items from this line for $20-30 each. 

Both the Joker and Harley Quinn figures are static ones based on their appearances in the anime series. He’s slightly taller at almost six and a half inches tall (16.5 cm), and she’s just over six inches tall (16 cm). Neither one is holding any sort of weapons. However, their poses do match a little, as each character has their right hand on their hip.

Here’s how both look: 

This isn't the only time Sega released merchandise based on the characters' anime appearance. Back in December 2024, it also released four plush toys. King Shark and Katana ed Joker and Harley Quinn for that collection.

At the moment there is only one season of the Suicide Squad Isekai anime series. However, that did end on a cliffhanger. Warner Bros and Wit Studio haven’t confirmed if a second one is in the works.

The Suicide Squad Isekai Harley Quinn and Joker Desktop x Decorate figures are now available in Japan via places like arcades, and the anime is streaming on Amazon and HBO Max.

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