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Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration: Japan Lottery Opens Monday

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The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration set does not land until 16 September 2026 — but in Japan, the race to secure the MEGA series products begins this Monday, 10 August. Pokémon Center Online Japan is opening lottery applications for four anniversary products, and for the first time it is tying the winning odds to identity verification. Here is what importers and collectors keeping an eye on the Japanese market need to know — and what Singapore fans waiting for the local launch can expect.

We first covered this landmark set when The Pokémon Company revealed it in June, including its historic first-ever simultaneous worldwide release and the 30 unique Pikachu illustration variants inside every pack. The lottery details below are new, confirmed via Dengeki Online’s 8 August report (Japanese).

What Japan’s Lottery Covers and When It Opens

Four MEGA series products are going on sale exclusively through a Japan-region lottery on Pokémon Center Online:

  • MEGA Expansion Pack “30th CELEBRATION” BOX — ¥7,200 (approx. S$68). This is the flagship booster box: multiple packs of the six-cards-per-pack Japanese expansion, all foil.
  • MEGA “30th CELEBRATION Premium Deck Set Espeon & Umbreon” — ¥6,200 (approx. S$59). A ready-to-play deck set anchored by Espeon and Umbreon.
  • MEGA “30th CELEBRATION FUTURISTIC BOX” — ¥27,500 (approx. S$261). The premium collector’s box featuring the set’s new Futuristic rare cards — Mewtwo ex, Mew ex, Greninja ex, and others in a never-before-seen card rarity tier.

Lottery applications for these three products open Monday 10 August at 12:00 JST and close Friday 14 August at 16:59 JST. A fourth product — the MEGA “30th CELEBRATION Card Set” (nine card types, ¥10,800 / approx. S$103) — has its own separate lottery from 28 to 31 August.

Pokemon TCG 30th Celebration Futuristic rare cards including Mewtwo ex and Jirachi ex
Image courtesy of The Pokémon Company

The New Anti-Scalper Measure: My Number Card Verification

For this lottery, Pokémon Center Online Japan is splitting applicants into two tiers: Players Club: Identity Verified and Players Club: Unverified. According to Dengeki Online (Japanese), “the majority of winning allocations are designated for the identity-verified tier,” making prior verification with Japan’s national ID card system — the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) — a meaningful advantage.

This is a direct response to the scalping problem that has plagued high-demand Pokémon TCG releases in Japan over the past few years. By requiring government-issued ID to unlock the better lottery odds, The Pokémon Company Japan is also de facto locking out overseas resellers who do not hold a Japanese national ID. Singapore-based resellers who have historically obtained Japanese product through proxy services will find this lottery particularly difficult to access through the usual channels.

What Singapore Collectors Should Do

Pokemon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box
Image courtesy of The Pokémon Company

If you do not have a Japanese Pokémon Center account with My Number Card verification, you cannot enter this lottery directly. The good news is you do not need to. The 16 September 2026 simultaneous worldwide release — the first time the Pokémon TCG has ever launched a set on the same day globally — means Singapore fans will have access to the international English-language products on exactly the same day as Japan. Pre-orders for the English-language 30th Celebration range are already open via major international retailers and local games shops.

The English Elite Trainer Box contains nine booster packs and a full-art promo Nidorina card. The Pokémon Center edition has eleven packs and two full-art promos. Each pack contains five fully foil cards — there are no non-holo commons in this set — plus one of the 30 Pikachu rare variants drawn by a different illustrator. Collecting all 30 will be the collector challenge of the year.

Watch the Official 30th Celebration Trailer

[Official] Pokémon TCG – 30th Anniversary Global Synced Release — via Pokémon Asia ENG on YouTube

Singapore pre-orders are expected at major game retailers and electronics chains that carry Pokémon TCG products. The September 16 date is confirmed; local SGD pricing has not been officially announced at time of writing. Check the Pokémon section for updates as they land.

Manga Anime, News

Re:ZERO Season 4 Recapture Arc Starts 12 August — Trailer, New Cast and How to Watch

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The two-month wait is almost over. White Fox has released the first full trailer for Re:ZERO Season 4’s Recapture Arc — the adaptation of light novel Arc 6, widely regarded by readers as Tappei Nagatsuki’s strongest storyline — confirming that the second cour premieres on Crunchyroll this Wednesday, 12 August. As we covered when the season dates were announced in July, the arc has been one of the most anticipated anime events of 2026 for isekai fans. Now there is a trailer to match the hype.

What the Re:ZERO Season 4 Recapture Arc Is About

Re:ZERO Season 4 – The Recapture Arc official key visual showing Subaru and the main cast in the Pleiades Watchtower library
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA / White Fox

Season 4 opened in April with The Loss Arc, eleven episodes built around the shattering aftermath of the battle in Priestella: Rem plunged into an endless sleep, Crusch stripped of her memories, Julius robbed of his very name by the Gluttony Sin Archbishops. Where Part 1 leaned hard into psychological collapse and despair, Part 2 shifts register. Subaru sets out for the Pleiades Watchtower — a forbidden structure rising from the sands of the Auguria Dunes — in search of Shaula, an enigmatic all-knowing sage who may hold the key to reversing what was taken.

Among light novel readers, Arc 6’s Watchtower storyline is consistently placed at the top of the series: a story that pushes questions of identity, memory and personal worth to extremes, wrapped around some of the franchise’s most intense battle sequences. The eight episodes of the Recapture Arc have a lot to live up to — and the trailer makes clear White Fox intends to deliver.

Watch the Official Recapture Arc Trailer

Re:ZERO Season 4 Recapture Arc Trailer — via 「Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活」チャンネル【公式】 on YouTube

The new promotional video revisits the wreckage of Priestella before pulling out to the Auguria Dunes and the imposing silhouette of the Pleiades Watchtower. New enemies flash through the cut — including glimpses of the Gluttony Archbishop Roy Alphard and what appears to be a confrontation with Reid Astrea, described in the light novels as one of the most formidable swordsmen in the world’s history. Running through it all is the ending theme “Ender Ember” by MYTH&ROID and TK from Ling Tosite Sigure — a collaboration between two names inseparable from Re:ZERO’s musical identity.

New Characters and Voice Cast for the Watchtower Arc

Re:ZERO Season 4 promotional visual showing Subaru surrounded by character portraits with the text Who are you
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA / White Fox

The Recapture Arc introduces a new wave of key characters, each voiced by prominent names in the Japanese anime cast pool. As reported by Final Weapon:

  • Shaula — voiced by Fairouz Ai (Jolyne Cujoh in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean), the Pleiades Watchtower’s mysterious guardian who holds the answers Subaru is desperately seeking
  • Reid Astrea — voiced by Tomokazu Sugita (Gintoki in Gintama, Joseph Joestar in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), one of the tower’s greatest threats
  • Roy Alphard — voiced by Kengo Kawanishi (Rei Kiriyama in March Comes in Like a Lion), a Gluttony Sin Archbishop whose actions drove much of Season 4 Part 1’s tragedy
  • Rui Arneb — voiced by Konomi Kohara (Kasumi Toyama in BanG Dream!)

The returning core cast remains intact: Yusuke Kobayashi as Subaru, Rie Takahashi as Emilia, Inori Minase as Rem, Rina Hidaka as Beatrice, and Takehito Koyasu as Roswaal, among others.

New Theme Songs — Konomi Suzuki Meets Ashnikko

Subaru with a determined expression in a scene from Re:ZERO Season 4 Recapture Arc
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA / White Fox

Both theme songs are new for the second cour. The opening, “Reconnect,” pairs Konomi Suzuki — who has performed multiple Re:ZERO themes across the seasons — with British-American artist Ashnikko, produced by Giga and Teddyloid. The ending, “Ender Ember,” brings together MYTH&ROID and TK from Ling Tosite Sigure; MYTH&ROID previously gave the series “Paradisus-Paradoxum” in Season 1 and “Warcry” in Season 2, so their return feels like a deliberate callback to the franchise’s roots. A snatch of “Ender Ember” runs through the trailer and already sounds like one of the year’s standout anime themes.

How Singapore Fans Can Watch from 12 August

Re:ZERO Season 4 streams exclusively on Crunchyroll, which is available in Singapore via web, mobile and smart TV apps. Episode 12 — the Recapture Arc premiere — goes live on 12 August, simulcasting alongside the Japanese broadcast. If you’ve been following Season 4 Part 1 on Crunchyroll, no action is needed on your end; the new episodes slot into the same series listing.

If you’re catching up, all prior seasons are on the platform. Seasons 1 through 4 are there, and the eleven Loss Arc episodes from Part 1 are the essential lead-in — the Recapture Arc picks up directly where Episode 11 left off, with no gap in narrative momentum. An English dub for the Recapture Arc has not been confirmed yet; the Loss Arc dub timeline from earlier this year gives a rough guide to how long a dub catch-up is likely to take.

For more anime streaming on Crunchyroll this season, check our ongoing coverage of the Summer 2026 lineup.

News, Singapore Gaming Scene

Hong Kong Takes WCS 2026 Gold — and Summer Cosplay Summits Are Over

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Hong Kong’s cosplay duo Ar Lu and Ronnie Kui left Nagoya’s Aichi Arts Center on 2 August 2026 as the World Cosplay Summit’s newest grand champions — and as something more: the final winners ever to claim the title in summer. In a historic announcement made on the same night, WCS organisers confirmed the event will permanently move from August to November starting 2027, ending a summer tradition that has defined the global cosplay calendar for over two decades.

Team Hong Kong performing their Monster Hunter battle scene at World Cosplay Summit 2026 in Nagoya
Image courtesy of World Cosplay Summit

Monster Hunter Meets Lion Rock — The Winning Performance

Team Hong Kong’s entry was a love letter to Monster Hunter. Ronnie took the stage in meticulously handcrafted Zinogre armour — gleaming teal-and-gold scales with razor-edged pauldrons — while Ar Lu portrayed his Palico companion, a bipedal Felyne kitted out in full adventurer gear. Their act depicted a high-stakes battle against an Elder Dragon, with Hong Kong’s iconic Lion Rock projected dramatically behind them as a backdrop. As each beat of the choreography landed, the Aichi Arts Center crowd erupted.

The pair also took home the WCS Alumni Award for best performance among returning past competitors — a double podium sweep that left little doubt about who deserved the top spot.

“Mum, I did it! Hong Kong’s the greatest of all time!” declared Ar Lu in her acceptance speech. Ronnie, speaking to South China Morning Post, admitted it was surreal: “It still felt like a dream when they announced the champions.”

It was Hong Kong’s first-ever WCS grand championship, made sweeter by the fact that the city’s local qualifying event had been dormant since 2022 until Ani-Com & Games HK revived it last year, giving Ar Lu and Ronnie the path to Nagoya they needed.

Ar Lu and Ronnie Kui preparing their Monster Hunter costumes backstage at World Cosplay Summit 2026
Image courtesy of World Cosplay Summit
WORLD COSPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 — via コスサミ (World Cosplay Summit) on YouTube

Full Podium — 40+ Countries, Three Outstanding Acts

This year’s WCS drew more than 40 countries and regions to Nagoya — a record field — each pair bringing months of handcrafted work to a single high-pressure performance slot. The top three:

  • 🥇 1st — Hong Kong: Ar Lu & Ronnie Kui, Monster Hunter (Zinogre Hunter + Palico Felyne)
  • 🥈 2nd — Canada: Tokyo Aliens manga cosplay
  • 🥉 3rd — Brazil: Tales of Arise game cosplay

The choice of Monster Hunter feels especially resonant right now. Monster Hunter Wilds broke Steam records on its 2025 release and has sparked a wave of MH-inspired cosplay across Asia — Hong Kong’s win on the biggest cosplay stage in the world underlines just how deeply the franchise has embedded itself in the craft.

Team Hong Kong's Zinogre Hunter and Palico Felyne costumes at official World Cosplay Summit 2026 photo shoot
Image courtesy of World Cosplay Summit

Why WCS Is Leaving August Behind

The shift to November is not cosmetic. Nagoya’s summer heat has worsened sharply in recent years, with temperatures hitting 40°C / 104°F in and around the outdoor event spaces this year — punishing conditions for cosplayers wearing dense foam-and-resin armour under direct sunlight. WCS organisers cited the climate reality as the primary driver, describing 2026 as “the last time WCS will be held in August due to intense summer heat in Nagoya.”

The 2027 edition is currently slated for November 12–14 in Nagoya. Exact venues have not yet been confirmed, but November falls squarely in Japan’s peak autumn season — cooler, drier, and dramatically more comfortable for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who fill Nagoya’s streets during WCS week.

Competitors from multiple countries celebrating on stage at the World Cosplay Summit 2026 championship ceremony in Nagoya
Image courtesy of World Cosplay Summit

What It Means for Singapore and SEA Cosplayers

Singapore has long sent representatives to WCS, and our cosplay scene watches the event closely — it is, in effect, the world championship of the craft. For anyone planning to compete or make the trip to Nagoya in 2027, here is what changes:

  • Local qualifying timelines will shift — if your national selection runs in spring or early summer, expect it to move later to align with a November final
  • November in Nagoya means roughly 12–18°C — a dramatic improvement over the 38–40°C conditions that greeted this year’s competitors and spectators
  • Japan in autumn coincides with peak momiji (maple foliage) season in Aichi, making the trip doubly worthwhile

The full 2027 WCS schedule — including qualifying structures for each country — has not yet been announced. Watch the official WCS website for updates as the new format takes shape. In the meantime, congratulations to Ar Lu and Ronnie Kui: Hong Kong’s finest, and the last summer champions in World Cosplay Summit history. For more cosplay and community events on the GameTrader radar, check our events section.

Game Industry News, News

The Tenth Mosaic: Persona, NieR, Danganronpa Creators All in Tokyo This September

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Imagine sitting in a room where the full Persona 3/4/5 creative team is on stage together for the first time since Persona 5, while across the hall Yoko Taro is discussing NieR with his longtime composer, and later that afternoon Fumito Ueda — the reclusive creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus — is in conversation with Eric Chahi, the Frenchman who made Another World. That is not a fantasy: it is what is happening at The Tenth Mosaic in Tokyo this September.

The two-day gaming culture festival takes place on 22–23 September 2026 at the Institut français de Tokyo (Institut franco-japonais de Tokyo), 15 Ichigaya Funagawaramachi, Shinjuku. Both days fall on Japanese national holidays, making them ideal for SG gamers already planning a September Japan trip. The event celebrates video games as “le dixième art” — the tenth art — and was just announced this week via Famitsu (Japanese).

What Is The Tenth Mosaic?

The Tenth Mosaic is billed as a celebration of game culture — not a trade show, not a consumer expo, but a curated arts-and-ideas festival in the spirit of a European cultural institution. Think TED talks crossed with a game-music concert crossed with a living museum, for about ¥2,000 a day (roughly S$19) as a base entry. Individual talk sessions require a separate ¥3,000 ticket (~S$28) due to limited capacity of 100 seats each.

The lineup is, frankly, remarkable.

The Creator Talks

Persona 30th Anniversary — the Full Team Together

Persona 5 Royal
Image courtesy of Atlus

This is the session Persona fans will clear their September calendars for. Katsura Hashino (director of Persona 3, 4 and 5), Shigenori Soejima (the series’ art director) and Shoji Meguro (composer of Persona 3’s “Burn My Dread,” P4’s “Reach Out to the Truth,” and P5’s “Life Will Change”) are appearing together to mark 30 years of the franchise. They rarely appear together outside Japan. With Persona 6 now confirmed as an Xbox exclusive, expect candid reflection on the series’ evolution and where it goes next.

Yoko Taro and Keisuke Okabe on NieR and Ender Lilies

NieR Replicant
Image courtesy of Square Enix

Yoko Taro and his regular composer Keisuke Okabe take the stage to discuss the interconnected universes of NieR, ENDER LILIES and ENDER MAGNOLIA. Yoko Taro rarely travels, so his appearance alone makes this an event worth flying to Tokyo for. Expect the mask, expect the misdirection, and if his past public appearances are any guide, expect something unexpectedly moving buried inside an apparently chaotic conversation.

The Horror Game Legends Panel

Four genre-defining horror game creators share a single stage: Frédérick Raynal (Alone in the Dark, 1992), Keiichiro Toyama (Silent Hill, 1999; Gravity Rush), Makoto Shibata (Fatal Frame series) and Hifumi Kono (Clock Tower, 1995). For fans of psychological horror in games, this is a once-in-a-generation gathering. Singapore gamers who grew up terrified by the original Silent Hill or Fatal Frame on PS2 will find this especially resonant.

Kazutaka Kodaka and Masafumi Takada on Danganronpa

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Image courtesy of Spike Chunsoft

Kazutaka Kodaka (creator of Danganronpa and The Hundred Line) and Masafumi Takada (the series’ distinctive composer) discuss the world they built and what comes next. With The Hundred Line — Last Defense Academy having recently launched, there is plenty of fresh material to dig into.

Eric Chahi × Fumito Ueda

This might be the most quietly astonishing session of the two days. Eric Chahi, creator of Another World (1991), and Fumito Ueda, creator of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian, are two of the most influential minimalists in game history. Both are reclusive. Both shaped the medium’s sense of loneliness and wonder. Hearing them in conversation — apparently for the first time publicly — is not something that happens at a typical gaming convention.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi Masterclass: Rez Turns 25

2026 marks 25 years since Rez arrived on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, defying every genre expectation and inventing what Tetsuya Mizuguchi called “synesthesia gaming.” Mizuguchi leads a masterclass exploring the game’s origins, its VR evolution in Rez Infinite, and his ongoing experiments with sound, light and motion. If you have ever played Rez in VR — or want to understand why it still matters — this session is unmissable.

Rez Infinite PC Launch Trailer — via Enhance Experience on YouTube

Music, Live Drawing, and More

Beyond the talks, the base ¥2,000 entry covers a live game music concert featuring legendary composers Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Actraiser, Etrian Odyssey) and Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon series), performing works including the complete Rez and Enemy Zero soundtracks. There is also a live illustration session by Katsuya Terada spanning both days, an Indie Legacy Showcase curated by former Sony PlayStation Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, and special exhibitions covering gaming hardware history and an Enemy Zero 30th anniversary tribute.

Tickets and Getting There

Tickets are on sale now at thetenthmosaic.peatix.com. Entry is ¥2,000 per day (~S$19) for the exhibitions, concerts, indie area and live drawing. Individual talk sessions are ¥3,000 each (~S$28) with capacity capped at 100 per session — they are expected to sell out fast given the lineup. The Institut français de Tokyo is in Shinjuku, well-served by train.

September 22–23 falls during Japan’s autumn holiday cluster, so SG travellers who pair this with a week in Tokyo are not going out of their way. Budget Singapore Airlines and Scoot both fly direct to Tokyo Narita. For Singapore fans of Persona, NieR, Danganronpa, ICO, or any of the franchises represented here, The Tenth Mosaic is probably the most remarkable gathering of game creators that money can buy — and the price is genuinely low.

Game News, News

Nintendo’s Q1 Profit Surges 53% as Switch 2 Crosses 23 Million — What Singapore Players Need to Know

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Nintendo dropped its first-quarter earnings on 6 August, and the headline numbers tell a story that might surprise you: profits are way up, hardware is slightly down, and Nintendo’s IP machine is running hotter than ever. For Singapore Switch 2 owners, the results confirm the platform is in rude financial health — and point to a loaded second half of 2026.

Nintendo Switch 2 – Overview Trailer — via Nintendo of America on YouTube

Switch 2 Hardware: 23.68 Million and Counting

Nintendo Switch 2 console hardware with Joy-Con controllers and dock
Image courtesy of Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch 2 has now sold a cumulative 23.68 million units worldwide since its June 2025 launch. In the April–June quarter alone, 3.82 million units shipped — down 34.4% from the same quarter last year, when the console was riding its initial launch wave. That cooling is expected and normal for any platform entering its second year.

Nintendo’s own full-year hardware target is 16.5 million Switch 2 units for the financial year ending March 2027, down roughly 17% from the previous year’s pace. One factor affecting hardware economics: the Switch 2’s price was raised in some markets due to rising memory chip costs driven in part by AI-related demand. Singapore has not been immune to global component pricing shifts, so if you have been sitting on the fence, buying sooner rather than later remains the sensible call.

The original Nintendo Switch, for its part, continues to surprise: it has now shipped 156.59 million units lifetime, cementing its place as one of the best-selling consoles in history.

Software Carries the Quarter — Tomodachi Life Leads the Charge

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream key art featuring colorful Mii characters on an island
Image courtesy of Nintendo

While hardware cooled, Switch 2 software was up 9.2% year-on-year, with 9.46 million software units sold in Q1 and the cumulative Switch 2 software total now at 58.17 million. The standout performer: Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which launched in April and has already sold nearly 8 million copies (7.94 million) — making it one of the fastest-selling Nintendo first-party Switch 2 titles to date.

Singapore gamers have taken to Tomodachi Life’s chaotic Mii life-sim energy in a big way, and the game’s localisation across Southeast Asian languages has made it an easy pick-up-and-play favourite for families and friends alike. If you have not tried it yet, it is available via the Nintendo eShop in Singapore.

Digital sales surged 90% year-on-year to ¥132.7 billion, reflecting the accelerating shift away from physical media — and a stark contrast to Sony’s ongoing controversy over its planned end to PS5 disc releases, which we covered in our news section.

Where the Profit Surge Actually Came From

Here is the nuance worth understanding: Nintendo’s net sales for the quarter came in at ¥517.8 billion — actually down 9.5% year-on-year. Yet operating profit jumped 150.5% to ¥142.5 billion, and net profit rose 53.5% to ¥147.4 billion, comfortably topping analyst estimates of ¥77.8–78.3 billion.

Two factors explain the profit surge. First, Nintendo received roughly US$300 million in refunds of tariffs levied under US trade legislation — costs it had previously absorbed rather than pass on to consumers. Second, IP-related income more than doubled to ¥34.8 billion (up 107.4%), driven significantly by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which has generated over US$1 billion at the global box office since its April 1 release and has become 2026’s fourth highest-grossing film worldwide. Merchandise, licensing and theme park revenues followed in the film’s wake.

Nintendo left its full-year guidance intact: ¥2.05 trillion in net sales and ¥310 billion in net profit through March 2027. That steadiness signals management confidence in the software pipeline ahead.

What Singapore Players Can Expect in the Coming Months

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave characters standing in a grand stone hall on Nintendo Switch 2
Image courtesy of Nintendo

Nintendo’s earnings call specifically flagged several upcoming titles that should keep the momentum going through year-end — and every one of them is confirmed for Singapore on the Switch 2 eShop.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave launches on 17 September 2026 exclusively on Switch 2. The game — the first mainline Fire Emblem built ground-up for the platform — was the subject of a dedicated Nintendo Direct on 4 August, which revealed its dual-protagonist structure, time-manipulation battle mechanics, and branching story routes. SGD pricing has not been officially confirmed, but expect it in line with other Switch 2 first-party titles (roughly S$80–S$90).

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is also on the 2026 horizon. Nintendo confirmed this in its June Direct, and while an exact release date has not been pinned down, strong financial guidance implies Nintendo is confident in a 2026 window. For many Singapore gamers who grew up with the N64 original, this one is a genuine event.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is slated for October, broadening the Switch 2’s casual appeal heading into the school-holiday and year-end gifting season — traditionally strong months for Switch hardware sales in Singapore.

Taken together, Nintendo is entering its highest-stakes software window of the Switch 2’s lifecycle. The balance sheet is strong, the IP pipeline is firing, and the platform’s Singapore-region library continues to grow. Whether you are a day-one Switch 2 owner or still weighing the purchase, the second half of 2026 looks like the best argument yet to be in the Nintendo ecosystem.

Manga Anime, News

Shonen Jump Print Copies Fall Below 1 Million — A First in History

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Weekly Shōnen Jump has crossed a threshold that once seemed unthinkable: for the first time since Japan’s print-circulation records began, the most famous manga magazine in the world averaged fewer than one million copies in a single quarter. According to Anime News Network’s report today, citing certified data from the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, the April–June 2026 average came in at 985,000 printed copies — and it is not just Jump that has crossed the line. As Nikkei reported (Japanese) alongside the same data, there is now no print magazine in Japan — across any category — that still prints over one million copies. Jump was the last one standing.

From 6.53 Million to Under a Million

Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue 35 (2026) cover featuring Sakamoto Days
Image courtesy of Shueisha

The numbers tell a story of relentless structural decline. Weekly Shōnen Jump, published by Shueisha since 1968, hit its all-time peak with 6.53 million copies per week in the New Year 1995 issue — a figure so dominant that the magazine had a total readership of 18 million people in Japan at the time. By 2017 it had slipped below two million. By the early 2020s it was hovering around 1.3–1.6 million. The Q2 2026 figure of 985,000 completes what has been a three-decade-long contraction.

For context, the rest of Japan’s major weekly manga publications are even further along the same path. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha) now averages 281,000 copies; Weekly Shōnen Sunday (Shogakukan) sits at 120,000; and the monthly CoroCoro Comic — still Japan’s Pokémon magazine of record — comes in at 213,000. None of those are new struggles, but Jump reaching the same sub-million territory is the milestone that closes the chapter on Japan’s print-magazine boom era.

What Is Still Running in Jump Right Now

Kagurabachi manga art from Weekly Shōnen Jump
Image courtesy of Shueisha

None of this means the magazine is going away, or that its best titles are disappearing. Weekly Shōnen Jump’s current serialisation list remains one of the strongest in manga: Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is approaching its final arc; Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter × Hunter is in an active run; Yuto Suzuki’s Sakamoto Days — whose cover art appears on recent issues — is one of the breakout action hits of the past five years; and newer series like Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi and Boichi’s The Marshal King have built substantial global fanbases without a single printed copy needing to change hands.

The Marshal King manga art by Boichi for Weekly Shōnen Jump
Image courtesy of Shueisha

That last point matters. A huge share of Jump’s actual readership never buys a physical copy at all — and never has. The magazine’s Manga Plus platform, which simulpublishes chapters globally for free on the day they drop in Japan, has become one of the most popular manga platforms in Southeast Asia. Singapore fans in particular have been reading Jump titles through Manga Plus since it launched in 2019 without needing to track down an import issue at Kinokuniya. VIZ Media’s digital Shonen Jump subscription covers the Western audience on the same schedule.

Print Is Down; the Manga Is Not

The picture that emerges is not of a magazine dying, but of a distribution format completing a very long transition. The stories and the readership are intact — the ink-on-paper pipeline is not. Shueisha knows this: the company has invested heavily in Manga Plus as a global free-to-read channel, and titles like Kagurabachi and The Marshal King are clearly built with an international digital audience in mind from day one.

For Singapore manga fans, the practical reality hasn’t shifted much — most of us have been reading manga on our phones for years. But there is something still worth pausing for in this number. The magazine that introduced the world to Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece once printed 6.53 million copies in a single week. On 6 August 2026, for the first time, it printed fewer than one million.

Manga Anime, News

Cyber Formula Is Back — New Sequel Anime and 35th Anniversary Festival Confirmed

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Twenty-five years after Cyber Formula SIN wrapped its final OVA episode, Hayato Kazami is heading back behind the wheel. Sunrise and Bandai Namco Filmworks have officially confirmed a new short anime sequel and a 35th anniversary festival — news that broke in Japanese media this week and has gone almost entirely unreported in English.

A New Sequel After 25 Years

Zenith Asrada AKF-S0/G — the brand-new cybermachine for the Cyber Formula sequel short anime
Image courtesy of SUNRISE / Bandai Namco Filmworks

The upcoming short anime runs approximately six minutes and is described as the legitimate continuation of Shin Seiki GPX Cyber Formula SIN (the fourth and final OVA series, released between 1998 and 2000). Series director Fukuda Mitsuo — who has helmed every instalment since the 1991 TV series — is back at the helm, and the production uses entirely hand-drawn animation with no CGI for characters or machines. The short condenses, in Fukuda’s own words, “a new year of Cyber Formula” into its six-minute runtime.

No release date or streaming platform has been announced yet; Sunrise has stated details will follow in the months ahead. Singapore fans who followed the series via VCD or cable broadcasts in the late 1990s should note this is Japan-focused for now, with no confirmed international release.

The Zenith Asrada — A Brand-New Cybermachine

Rear view of the Zenith Asrada AKF-S0/G, showing twin jet engines
Image courtesy of SUNRISE / Bandai Namco Filmworks

Alongside the new anime, the announcement introduced a completely original cybermachine: the Zenith Asrada AKF-S0/G. The design comes from none other than Kawamori Shoji — the mecha legend behind the Valkyries in Macross — marking a reunion with a franchise he worked on during the original run. The Zenith Asrada features the franchise’s signature swept-wing silhouette with twin rear engines, retaining the DNA of the original Asurada machines while pushing into new visual territory.

35th Anniversary Festival — January 9, 2027

The centrepiece of the celebration is a live event at Misato Bunka Kaikan in Saitama Prefecture on January 9, 2027. The festival is titled New Century GPX Cyber Formula 35th Anniversary Festival: Glory of Winners and runs in two sessions — afternoon (2:00 PM) and evening (6:00 PM) — with all seats reserved at ¥9,800 (roughly S$90).

The guest list reads like a who’s who of the original production: director Fukuda Mitsuo, mecha designer Kawamori Shoji, voice actors Kanemaru Junichi (Hayato Kazami) and Mitsuishi Kotono (Asuka Sugo), plus live musical performances from Kageyama Hironobu — the legendary anime singer behind the Dragon Ball Z opening and many Cyber Formula tracks. Fastest-access presale tickets opened August 5 and run until August 23; check V-Storage (Japanese) for ticket links.

Watch the Official Teaser

OVA Series Memorial Promotion Video with new teaser cut — via SUNRISE Official on YouTube

Sunrise released the official OVA Series Memorial Promotion Video on their YouTube channel, featuring highlights from all four OVA arcs and closing with the first teaser cut for the new short anime. It is the best place to revisit the series and catch a glimpse of the Zenith Asrada in motion.

Ride the Zenith Asrada at Mega Hobby Expo 2026

Life-size Zenith Asrada AKF-S0/G model under construction for the Mega Hobby Expo 2026 ride experience
Image courtesy of SUNRISE / Bandai Namco Filmworks

Before the January festival, fans in Japan can get up close at Mega Hobby Expo 2026 F-DASH!!! on September 26, 2026 at Akihabara UDX. MegaHouse is building a life-size Zenith Asrada that visitors can sit in — a ride experience that lets you feel like an ace pilot, if only for a few minutes. The event also features a dedicated stage presentation.

Collector’s Corner: New Figures and a Music Box Set

Cyber Formula Collection Heritage Edition Super Asurada 01 Circuit Mode NEON Ver. limited figure
Image courtesy of SUNRISE / Bandai Namco Filmworks

For collectors, MegaHouse has also revealed a Super Asurada 01 Circuit Mode NEON Ver. (limited to 350 units) with a dark-blue and neon-yellow paint scheme, plus a special Cyber Formula Winners CD Box — collecting restored 8cm singles and a vinyl record — releasing on January 9, 2027 at ¥9,980 (roughly S$91). These items are import-only for Singapore fans; check the official Cyber Formula site (Japanese) for ordering information.

There is no word yet on a Singapore or SEA streaming release for the new short anime, nor on local retail for the merchandise. Follow @Cyberformula_GP on X (Japanese) for updates, and check our anime coverage for any confirmed SG details as they come.

Manga Anime, News

Hatsune Miku Joins MTG as a Secret Lair Commander Deck

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Magic: The Gathering is getting its first-ever Universes Beyond Commander deck, and Hatsune Miku is leading the charge. Wizards of the Coast revealed the Secret Lair Commander Deck: Hatsune Miku on 4 August, with the pre-order window opening at midnight SGT on 11 August — and closing just 24 hours later. If you miss the window, the deck is gone: this is a print-on-demand release with no planned reprint.

What the Hatsune Miku MTG Commander Deck Contains

Hatsune Miku MTG Secret Lair Commander Deck key art
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

The 100-card pre-constructed deck is built around Miku-themed artwork throughout. Inside the box, per Wizards of the Coast’s official decklist reveal, you’ll find:

  • 12 new foil borderless cards featuring original Miku-inspired artwork
  • 14 foil borderless basic lands
  • 10 double-faced tokens

The deck is a green-white (Selesnya) build focused on tokens and life gain — a playstyle that rewards going wide, stacking counters, and building an army of small creatures. It should be approachable for players new to Commander while having room to upgrade for veterans.

The Commander Card Is Drawn by Miku’s Original Designer

Hatsune Miku MTG Commander Deck card art by KEI
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

The centrepiece is the Commander card itself, illustrated by KEI — the character designer who created Hatsune Miku’s iconic look back in 2007. Having the original designer bring Miku into the MTG multiverse as a Universes Beyond card is a meaningful choice: this isn’t just licensed art, it’s as close to an official Miku origin print as you’ll find in a card game. Additional artists on the deck include Naoki Saito and Yaso (八三).

The Universes Beyond line lets characters from outside the MTG universe appear as fully canonical multiverse cards. Miku joins a line that has previously welcomed The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and Final Fantasy.

A New Product Format: The First Secret Lair Commander Deck

Hatsune Miku MTG Secret Lair card art detail
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Until now, Secret Lair releases have been small booster-style sets — a handful of alternate-art reprints or Universes Beyond cards sold directly. The Hatsune Miku Commander Deck is the first Secret Lair product to be a full 100-card Commander deck, marking a new tier in the Secret Lair line.

Because it is print-on-demand, Wizards only produces units for confirmed orders placed during the 24-hour window. There is no secondary stock, no retail distribution, and no reprint planned. Once the window closes, the only way to get one will be the secondary market.

How Singapore Commander Players Can Pre-Order

Hatsune Miku MTG Commander Deck card featuring Miku
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

The pre-order window opens at 09:00 PDT on 10 August 2026, which is midnight (00:00 SGT) on 11 August for Singapore players. It runs for exactly 24 hours, closing at midnight SGT on 12 August.

Orders go through the Secret Lair store directly. The price is US$149.99 — roughly S$200 at current exchange rates. Check the Secret Lair store for your region’s shipping options, as Singapore and Southeast Asia availability varies by drop; the listed regional destinations are North America, Europe/UK, and Japan (via Rakuten Books). If direct shipping to Singapore is not listed, your local game stores may organise a group order — it’s worth checking with your community before the window closes.

Physical delivery timelines: North America, May 2027; Europe/UK, June 2027; Japan, within 2027. This is not a day-one pickup — it’s a pre-order for a product roughly nine months out.

For players based in Japan, a separate channel opens on Rakuten Books at 12:30 JST on 11 August, also for 24 hours, at approximately ¥24,750 (including tax). The Secret Lair drop page lists the deck’s available languages and shipping details.

Hatsune Miku MTG Secret Lair Commander Deck card art
Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Singapore has one of the most active MTG Commander communities in Southeast Asia, with Friday evening Commander sessions running at multiple game stores across the island. A Miku Commander deck — combining two fandoms that overlap heavily in this region — is the sort of release that sells out quickly. Set an alarm for midnight.

Manga Anime, News

Heaven Burns Red Enters Its Final Chapter — Jun Maeda’s Story Draws to a Close

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Seven years after Jun Maeda first sketched its six-chapter arc on a whiteboard, Heaven Burns Red is finally heading into its final chapter. WFS and Yostar confirmed on 3 August 2026 that Chapter 6 — the conclusion to Maeda’s original vision — is now in development, marking the beginning of the end for one of mobile gaming’s most emotionally ambitious RPGs.

Heaven Burns Red key art featuring the five main characters standing in a hangar
The five main characters of Heaven Burns Red. ©WFS Developed by WRIGHT FLYER STUDIOS © VISUAL ARTS/Key

A Story Planned From the Start

Heaven Burns Red launched in Japan on 10 February 2022 for iOS and Android, with a PC client following on 11 August 2022. From the very beginning, the narrative had a fixed endpoint: on 19 March 2019 — nearly three years before release — Jun Maeda documented a six-chapter structure for the main story. That document has guided every major plot beat since.

The game reached global players on 15 November 2024, when Yostar launched the official English version on iOS, Android, and PC. Singapore players have had full access since that release, and the local anime community — long familiar with Maeda’s earlier works like Clannad, Angel Beats!, and Charlotte — has followed the story closely.

Two Heaven Burns Red characters facing a Cancer monster under a red sky
Heaven Burns Red’s signature visual tone: high-stakes battles against the Cancers. ©WFS Developed by WRIGHT FLYER STUDIOS © VISUAL ARTS/Key

Chapter 6: The Final Destination

WFS producer Yohei Kakinuma acknowledged in the announcement that the team is “still exploring how long the final chapter will take and in what form it will be delivered.” That candour suggests Chapter 6 may be released in multiple parts rather than as a single block — consistent with how earlier chapters have been delivered.

Crucially, the announcement makes clear the game itself will continue after the main story concludes. Side stories, character episodes, and ongoing content updates are planned to carry on, meaning the end of the main narrative is not the end of Heaven Burns Red as a service.

Heaven Burns Red official cover art featuring the protagonist and the game logo
Heaven Burns Red is available globally via Yostar on iOS, Android, and PC.

New Content Alongside the Announcement

Alongside the Chapter 6 reveal, WFS introduced Unit 19A, a new playable unit joining the roster as the final chapter begins. No further gameplay details on the unit have been released at time of writing, but the timing signals that the game’s content pipeline remains active even as the main storyline moves toward its conclusion.

Players who have been following the English version since its November 2024 launch are still catching up to where the Japanese version currently stands, so there is plenty of story ahead before the finale arrives for global audiences.

Close-up of a blonde Heaven Burns Red character with a Day counter UI element
Heaven Burns Red tracks in-game time with a Day counter, underlining the story’s sense of urgency. ©WFS Developed by WRIGHT FLYER STUDIOS © VISUAL ARTS/Key

What to Watch

For those yet to start the journey, the trailer below covers the climactic beats of Chapter 5’s finale — the chapter immediately preceding the final arc — and gives a sense of the storytelling scale Maeda and WFS have built toward.

[Heaven Burns Red] Main Scenario: Chapter 5—Part 1 Final Trailer (official Yostar EN channel)

No release window for Chapter 6 has been announced. Updates are expected via the official Heaven Burns Red EN site and Yostar’s social channels. We’ll cover the chapter as it rolls out.