While we could tell from the very start that The Emperor’s Caretaker manga would eventually involve a romance between Linhua, one of the caretakers for the series’ child emperor and his regent Souren. However, Ichiha Hiiragi and Aya Shouoto’s story initially prioritized establishing life in the palace, Linhua’s role, and professional relationships. It’s only in the third volume that things start to actually get into different types of obligations that come from the jobs people have or their positions in families. As a result, we’re finally getting the lovey-dovey moments suggested and teased as these other elements play out.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for volume 3 of The Emperor’s Caretaker manga below.

What I love about The Emperor’s Caretaker volume 3 is that, while this is the point in the manga when it gets to the romance elements, it still is focusing on folks’ personal, professional, and familial obligations. Linhua and Souren are getting their moment toward the end. However, in the lead-up we are seeing how even though he’s a child, Emperor Zhiyou can be called upon to rule a kingdom and see what happens with the Li family chancellor. We also get another glimpse at what life is like for Linhua as a daughter of the Liu family and how that familiar obligation influences her life and future.

In the case of Emperor Zhiyou, the example is an especially trying and pivotal moment. Throughout the volumes, we’ve seen him start to connect to his brother Souren finally, thanks to Linhua’s influence. They’ve build up a real relationship, and that’s highlighted as this volume begins. But because of Chancellor Li’s actions throughout the three volumes, it hit a point where there need to be repercussions for his actions. And while the man is clearly a villain, he’s always been kind to Zhiyou and acted like something of a grandfather to him. So we witness a small child going through more of his royal training, then being forced to act against someone he likely loves. It’s striking. Especially since we also see Rui, said chancellor’s son and a person Linhua’s father considered as a politically advantageous marriage candidate for the her for the Liu, debate against doing what’s right and filial piety. 

Obligations to family and expected roles in society play a big part in Linhua’s storyline. From the start of her series, Linhua’s father has been trying to get her married off. It’s how she even ended up as Emperor Zhiyou’s caretaker in the first place. With what happened to the Li family and Rui possibly jumping in power, we’re seeing him see an opportunity. Which means she’s concerned about leaving a job she loves for a marriage she’s forced into. It’s especially interesting to see how, at this point in the story, we’re getting to see her on the verge of possibly taking steps toward everything she could want.

Things are really in motion in The Emperor’s Caretaker volume 3, as the manga is establishing a challenge to the comfortable position Linhua holds, a possible future with Souren, and an emperor who is gradually growing up and developing as a ruler. While I don’t think we’ll see Zhiyou become a major force by the end of the series, seeing him preside over a ruling her feels like foreshadowing. So does Linhua and Souren making a commitment and hints that, while the two probably have a future together, other obligations might pose challenges along the way.

Volume 3 of The Emperor’s Caretaker is available now, and Square Enix will release volume 4 of the manga on September 9, 2025.

The post The Emperor’s Caretaker Volume 3 Gets Into Obligations and Love appeared first on Siliconera.

With the global release of Cygames’s Umamusume: Pretty Derby, interest in horse racing and the real-life horses that inspired the characters like Haru Urara has risen in the English-speaking community. The inspiration behind her is still alive today in Japan. Fans can visit and feed the actual horse Haru Urara, though they’ll have to obey guidelines when doing so.

Haru Urara is living out her retirement at the Matha Farm in Chiba. To meet her, you’ll need to make a reservation with the ranch. According to Twitter user tarutaru_mage, openings for these reservations start without warning the month before, and they fill up fast. You need to make a reservation before going to the ranch, so plan accordingly if you wish to make the trip.

Cygames also published guidelines to follow when visiting horse ranches in Japan. You can read the entire document on the game’s official website. In short, you should practice common sense when dealing with large animals like horses, such as not touching them, not making loud noises, and not feeding them.

For those who aren’t in Japan and don’t plan on visiting the country any time soon, but still wish to support the real-life Haru Urara, you can still do so. The Namabokuso Bank service in Japan lets you purchase a 5-kg box of pasturage to horses, with Haru Urara as one of them. It costs 6000 JPY ($40.50) to do so, and you can also set it to do so monthly. As of the time of writing, over 2180 kg of pasturage have been sent to Haru Urara. Many of the most recent comments from supporters are in English, and make mention to Umamusume: Pretty Derby.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby is readily available on the Windows PC and mobile devices. The original anime is on Crunchyroll, while Cinderella Gray streamed on Amazon.

The post How to Visit and Feed Haru Urara, the Real Umamusume Horse appeared first on Siliconera.

We’re looking for even more feedback on Siliconera, what you want to see from the site, and just things in general that you enjoy! We’ve started up a whole new survey so we can get your thoughts. Our goal is to constantly build on the site’s foundation to continue to make it (and our newsletter) bigger, better, and more able to cover everything you like! 

With this latest survey, we hope to get your insights about the site and things you like to check out online. That means answering a handful of questions about topics that matter to you. If you could please spare 5-10 minutes of your time, we’d really appreciate it! And in the end, your responses could really make a difference!

Thanks you all for visiting Siliconera and taking the time to fill out this survey. 

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A new Form-ism figure of Kaine from NieR Replicant will release in Japan on December 27, 2025. The figure costs 7,700 yen (or approximately $52,27), and it is now available for pre-order from the Square Enix online e-store.

Additionally, the European Square Enix online store has a listing for the figure for 69.99‎€ (~$81,78.) The European release date for the Form-ism Kaine figure is May 2026. And while there is currently no information on a North American release, we can expect to see an announcement in the near future.

The static figure is approximately 18cm tall (or about 7.09 inches). In the figure, Kaine is wearing her signature blue lacey dress, with her left arm and leg also covered in bandages. Additionally, Kaine carries her twin swords in each hand, prepared for battle in an elegant combat pose.

You can check out the new NieR Replicant Kaine Form-Ism figure here:

As a reminder, Square Enix recently revealed that the NieR Poster Collection will come out overseas sometime along 2026, alongside the FFVII Rebirth: Material Ultimania and the FFIX Picture Book.

The new NieR Replicant Form-Ism figure of Kaine costs 7,700 yen (~$52,27), it is now available for pre-order, and is set to release in Japan on December 27, 2025. NieR Replicant is available on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

The post NieR Replicant Kaine Form-ism Figure Debuts in December appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company shared an update on the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Nendoroid of Sam Porter Bridges, and the prototype included a tiny Dollman figure on his waist. There’s no release window for him yet. However, since it is in a painted state, it is possible we could see pre-orders open in the next few weeks.

The Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Nendoroid of Sam involves a number of elements based on his appearance from the latest game, including the little Dollman figure. He’s wearing his typical porter outfit. Lou’s BB pod is attached to his chest, with the surface darkened. He’s carrying some cargo in his right hand. Dollman is attached to his waist. An Odradek is attached to his back. 

Here’s the photo of the current version of the prototype. It seems like the Dollman figure attached to Sam might not be completely finished yet, as the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach character doesn’t have any facial features painted on in this example.

Good Smile Company also made a Nendoroid of Sam Porter Bridges based on his original Death Stranding appearance. Two versions appeared. It dubbed the more expensive one the Great Deliverer Version, due to the fact it came with additional packages to load up on his back, a hood, and sunglasses. As both are out of print, it will likely be quite expensive if you find it somewhere online like Amazon or eBay.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is available now. There’s no word yet on when the Nendoroid based on Sam will appear.

The post Death Stranding 2 Sam Nendoroid Comes With Dollman appeared first on Siliconera.

VShojo Director of Talent Panini left the Vtuber company in July 2025. On July 10, 2025, a statement appeared on the former staffer’s official social media account. No specific reasons were mentioned as a cause for the departure.

The statement from Panini noted this move happened after starting at VShojo in 2022 and spending three years with the Vtuber organization working with talent and eventually being director of talent. It also noted an intention to keep working in this sphere as a consultant or as management on individual projects. However, Panini did note anyone interested in her services would need to wait for a response and services for a "couple of weeks."

Here is the full message from Panini going over the move and what will happen next:

Multiple current and past members of VShojo responded to Panini’s statement, as did other Vtubers and individuals in the sphere. Among the performers sharing well wishes were Ironmouse, Henya, Geega, Shylily, AmaLee, CyYu, Buffpup, and Sayu Sincronisity. 

This is one of multiple notable VShojo departures to come up in 2025, as both Vtubers and individuals in executive and management positions left. Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder Phillip "MowtenDoo" Fortunat left in May 2025. That month is also when Matara Kan parted ways with the company. Two other performers who left within the last few weeks are Geega and Zentreya. 

The post VShojo Director of Talent Departed the Vtuber Company appeared first on Siliconera.

Back in March 2025, MegaHouse confirmed a Lucrea Hatsune Miku Gundam figure that would pair her with a 00 Gundam Haro. Only concept art by Ixy appeared at that time. Now the company took to social media to reveal the prototype for the upcoming item.

The current design resembles the Ixy art almost exactly. Hatsune Miku is hugging a Haro that has accessories on its head that resemble hers while looking at whoever is watching the two of them. A keyboard is imbedded in the ground by her right foot, and a sword is forced into the stand near her left foot. She sits on top of a number of CRT style monitors. The flowers from the original art aren’t shown on the stand in this prototype.

Here’s a close-up look at the unpainted prototype of this figure side-by-side with the original Ixy concept art used for its creation.

In another photo MegaHouse shared, it is shown on display with the other Lucrea figure in this collaboration. That features the Vocaloid with a Wing Gundam Zero-inspired look.

There are multiple figures and elements to this Gundam x Hatsune Miku Anniversary Special Project. Another will be a Banpresto Evolve figure of the Vocaloid with the RX-78-02 Gundam. That one will debut in Japan in December 2025. However, the prototype of it is on display at the Ikebukuro GiGO in Japan now.

There is no release window for the Gundam x Hatsune Miku Lucrea figure of her with a Haro yet. Pre-orders are expected to appear in 2025, according to initial announcements.

The post Hatsune Miku Hugs a Haro in New Gundam Figure Prototype appeared first on Siliconera.

Nintendo Japan shared the Switch game download rankings for the first half of 2025, and the most popular title ended up being Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. The list consisted of the top 30 most popular games in the region. It only took into account sales made between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025.  [Thanks, Game Watch!]

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time debuted worldwide in May 2025. The ranking here only applied to the Switch version of the game. It didn’t include the Switch 2 sales figures. It is one of 10 2025 releases in the top 30. 

Here are all of the top 10 Switch games that topped the 2025 download rankings list in Japan for the first half of the year. All of them are titles that are available worldwide.

1. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
2. Super Mario Party Jamboree
3. Tamagotchi Plaza
4. Minecraft
5. Urban Myth Dissolution Center
6. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
7. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition
8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
9. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD
10. Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics

As for the other new 2025 releases that made it into the top 30 Switch games downloaded, all of them also appeared in every region. Deltarune Chapters 1-4 appeared in 12th place. Saga Frontier 2 Remaster took the 19th spot. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is ranked 22nd. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy ended up being 26th. Finally, the Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster found its way into 28th place.

As a reminder, Suika Game topped the 2024 Switch Download Ranking.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available on the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC worldwide.

The post Fantasy Life i Tops Switch Game 2025 Download Rankings so Far appeared first on Siliconera.

As part of the promotions for the Umamusume: Pretty Derby game, anime, and other projects in Japan, Cygames updates its official YouTube with shorts and videos starring characters and hosts Gold Ship’s PakaTube site and social media. This can also involve featured clips of other characters. Following the global launch of the Umamusume game, Cygames updated with a video of underdog racer Haru Urara singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

In the Umamusume new video, Haru Urara sings “If you’re Happy and You Know It” in Japanese. She starts by humming the tune. Then, she breaks into the first verse. This is performed complete with clapping at the designated parts.

Haru Urara is a one-star unit in Umamusume. Everyone gets her after starting the game. She’s one of five free characters given out to new players and one of the best early options for Dirt track racers. Aside from her appearance singing "If You're Happy and You Know It," there are no other YouTube Shorts starring Haru Urara on the official Japanese channel. (You can check in the future for more of her videos there by searching for "ウララ" or "ハルウララ."

It isn’t uncommon for brief clips of Umamusume characters singing popular songs to come up. When the movie Top Gun: Maverick released, Mayano Top Gun was used in part of the promotional material. While the official video is privated, that character performed part of “Danger Zone” with Gold Ship as part of PakaTube. 

You can watch a copy of that video from ウマウマ動画制作局 on YouTube below:

Kenny Loggins, the artist behind “Danger Zone,” also responded to that performance, but that video has been made private as well. Copies of it have appeared online, one of which you can see on Precious Grain’s channel:

Umamusume: Pretty Derby is available on PCs and mobile devices. The original anime is on Crunchyroll, and Cinderella Gray is on Amazon.

The post See the Haru Urara ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ Umamusume Video appeared first on Siliconera.

Now that the Fate series crossover is live in Honkai: Star Rail, a message in-game reminded people that there are no English voice actors for Archer or Saber. At the moment, there is no voice acting for them at all if someone selected that language option. The option to hear Japanese voice actors will come in 3.5. This also comes alongside a confirmation that Archer performs his full, 40-second long Unlimited Blade Works Incantation when performing his Ultimate.

The reminder about the absence of English voice acting for Archer and Saber comes up as a notification in Honkai: Star Rail. That noted that the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean localizations are all present instead. If you go into the News and Notices section or check HoYoLab, it also brings up the audio absences and noted the 3.5 version will let you choose their Japanese voice overs under Voice in the Profile section of Character Details. 

As for the Archer Incantation, it’s now one of the longer speeches that happens before a character Ultimate in Honkai: Star Rail, and it can be about a 40-second long speech. Here’s a video from Xafrel that showed it in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.

Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the Fate series crossover based on Fate/stay Night Unlimited Blade Works runs until the end of 3.6.

The post Archer and Saber Have No English Voice Acting in Honkai: Star Rail appeared first on Siliconera.

Koei Tecmo announced the Atelier Ryza series is returning with a Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack that will bring the three games to platforms it previously appeared on and the Switch 2 for the first time. It will launch in 2025. There will be new and old content, and Gust will go over details in a livestream at 5am PT/8am ET/9pm JST on August 4, 2025.

The announcement confirmed this Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy collection will include the games Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout, Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy, and Alchemist of the End and the Secret Key. The initial reveal teased new allies will be present. The first trailer for this collection started with Ryza acting as a teacher in front of a group of kids, then acting as a narrator as footage from all three games played. It also seemed to perhaps include a Serri tease.

We do know some details about this release, though! All DLC will be included, which happened with past pack releases in the series. The official website also addressed the issues of physical copies. In Japan, Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack will be digital-only for the Switch 2 and PC versions. The US and UK English sites says it will only be sold digitally for all platforms.

Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack will bring all three games to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, and PC in 2025, and the showcase discussing it will air worldwide at 5am PT/8am ET/9pm JST on August 4, 2025.

The post Atelier Ryza Secret Trilogy Deluxe Pack Includes Switch 2 Debut appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company announced and shared updates on seven Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroids and two Zenless Zone Zero figures. In the case of the Zenless Zone Zero characters, both are in the unpainted prototype phase. Progress on the Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroids is more mixed and includes both older characters and members of the Chrysos Heirs.  

Both of the Zenless Zone Zero Nendoroids are of characters who are part of factions tied to government organizations. Hoshimi Miyabi is a Hollow Special Operations member who is part of Section 6. She’ll come with her weapon. Seth Lowell is a Criminal Investigation Special Response Team Member, and his figure will come with his shield.  

Here’s how both of those look so far:

In the case of the seven Honkai: Star Rail Nendoroids, only four unpainted prototypes appeared. The only older character in the bunch is Kafka. The Herta, the five-star version of Herta, Hyacinthia (Hyacine), and Phainon are the others. The Herta, Hyacine, and Phainon are all shown with their respective weapons, and Hyacine will also include her Memosprite Little Ica. 

The initial prototype photos for all four appeared:

Some of the Honkai: Star Rail Chrysos Heirs figures are so early in development that there are no pieces of concept art or prototypes yet. These are Anaxagoras (Anaxa), Castorice, and Mydeimos (Mydei).

This comes after pre-orders for other HoYoVerse series characters appeared. Earlier in July 2025, Good Smile Company started selling the Koleda Belobog and Grace Howard Pop Up Parade SP figures and a Harumasa Asaba Nendoroid. 

Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices. Zenless Zone Zero is out on the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices.

The post New Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero Nendoroids Teased appeared first on Siliconera.

Yoshitaka Amano, the Japanese artist best known for his works in the Final Fantasy series, is involved in the development of Resident Evil Survival Unit. The official website for the upcoming mobile game revealed that the artist designed an original creature named Mortem.

This collaboration is made possible by another familiar name to the Final Fantasy community: Shinji Hashimoto. As a reminder, Hashimoto is no longer affiliated with Square Enix after he reached the mandatory retirement age in May 2022. However, that did not mark a complete end to his career, as he joined Sony Music Entertainment's ForwardWorks right after in June 2022.

In October 2024, Hashimoto moved to Aniplex, which is also another subsidiary of Sony Music. This eventually led to his appearance in the Resident Evil Survival Unit announcement video as the mobile game's executive producer. Aniplex is primarily working together with the Korean company JoyCity to develop this title, with Capcom supervising the whole process. This video also showcased JoyCity's finalized render of Yoshitaka Amano's original creature, Mortem.

Shinji Hashimoto explained the involvement of Yoshitaka Amano in Resident Evil Survival Unit via an interview with Famitsu. The former noted in the interview that the two had been long acquainted since his previous tenure, without even directly mentioning Square Enix and Final Fantasy. Hashimoto also stated his desire to make a surprise by asking Amano to design a pure villain for this Resident Evil mobile game.

The interview also revealed that Amano gave JoyCity much freedom to convert his creature design. Hashimoto added that Amano eventually approved the final render with a "that's cool" statement. The executive producer is also preparing another surprising collaboration for the mobile game, which will appear in 2026 or later.

Resident Evil Survival Unit will launch worldwide for Android and iOS mobile devices in 2025.

The post Yoshitaka Amano Worked on Resident Evil Survival Unit appeared first on Siliconera.

If you’ve ever played one of Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball games, you know the company consistently supports them. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 came out almost 10 years ago. It got an add-on based on the Dragon Ball Daima new spin-off anime back in May 2025 and Future Saga updates in 2024. It’s totally plausible and even expected for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot to get its own Daima DLC five years after that installment’s debut and, after some initial time spent with it, it seems 

For those familiar with Dragon Ball Daima, I feel like the add-on starts off by quickly getting us introduced to the spin-off’s new characters and shuttled off to the Demon Realm where the story takes place. If you didn’t watch that show, it’s pretty good at quickly and concisely getting you started. As a quick summary, new Supreme Demon King Gomah got the Dragon Balls. He wished Goku and his allies would become kids. He took Earth’s Guardian Dende. The bad news for Gomah is that Goku was still super powerful as a kid. He and Supreme Kai Shin (also turned into a child) end up going into the Demon Realm with new allies Panzy (was a child even before the wish) and Glorio (the only “adult”) to save Dende and show Gomah what for. 

I really appreciated how quickly things get going. Which is a necessity here, since the whole point of the add-on is to get access to this new space, its original quests and characters, and the adventure tied to it. I experienced only the first parts. It’s a pretty solid introduction to this new story. I think that will bode especially well for newcomers, since the banter between existing characters like Goku and Shin works well, and this add-on maintains the same relationship I enjoyed between him and Glorio and Panzy for the parts I went through. I don’t feel like someone new to this story would feel left out. 

There are also marked design decisions present to make the Daima Demon Realm feel different than other places we’ve been in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. CyberConnect 2 made it look different, naturally. We’re also forced to explore it all on foot. This makes it feel like a more traditional type of open-world experience, and I also felt it encouraged me to do a little more exploring and investigating since I couldn’t just fly up and check out everything from above. Also, seeing his crew around him, running alongside as you explore areas, is just a nice touch and makes it feel a bit more like the newest anime.

This decision also changes combat. Since this is a child version of Goku, our moveset is a bit different. He’s still going to use ki, but I appreciated the enhanced focus on using his Power Pole. It genuinely reminded me of watching the original Dragon Ball anime after school as a kid. The inability to fly comes up in fights as well. This means different types of evasive maneuvers or pursual tactics need to be employed to dodge or get in close for attacks. 

The first part of the Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Daima DLC seems like it could be a really worthwhile adventure. The brief segment I sampled seemed surprisingly large. It added a new type of gameplay experience that remained true to the source material. It could also serve as a good introduction to that storyline for folks who didn’t catch the series yet. I’m excited to see more. Especially since CyberConnect 2 made sure we get introduced to and comfortable with the new world so swiftly.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the first part of the Daima DLC debuts on July 17, 2025. The second part of the add-on’s story will arrive in 2026. The Dragon Ball Daima anime is streaming on Crunchyroll.

The post Preview: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Daima DLC Seems Impressive appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix will introduce a new vocation, Hermit, in Dragon Quest X. It should come out in late August 2025. [Thanks, ryokutya2089!]

The official English name of the new Dragon Quest X vocation has not been announced yet. According to ryokutya2089, it will be a support-focused Master Vocation with its own unique gauge. This gauge will fill up over time, or with special skills. To become a Hermit, you’ll need to have enough levels as a Priest and a Ranger. The Hermit can use the power of spirits to offer multiple boons to the party. It’s unknown at this point if this new vocation supports with purely buffs, or if it can heal as well. Lastly, ryokutya2089 believes that the Hermit’s visuals are a little plain.

Dragon Quest X is the online MMORPG entry of the long-running Dragon Quest series, and it first came out in 2012. An offline remake version is also available under the name Dragon Quest X Offline. In Japan, you can even purchase it for mobile devices so you can play it on the go without bringing your console around.

Dragon Quest X is readily available on the PS4, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, and mobile devices. More information on the new vocation will appear at a later date.

The post New Master Vocation to Appear in Dragon Quest X appeared first on Siliconera.