At the end of the 30th ANNIVERSARY OF EVANGELION event, a brand-new anime series in the franchise has been revealed, with Nier writer, Yoko Taro, set to scribe the series.

While details are currently sparse for the new animated series, Evangelion revealed that there’s a new anime series in the works, written by Nier: Automata‘s Yoko Taro. Yoko Taro is known for embracing the macabre, employing dark, heavy emotional sequences in his storytelling. This makes the marriage between writer and series a natural fit, given that the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series often teetered on the brink of catastrophe. Yoko Taro has been on a winning streak, as the NieR series has been confirmed to continue by Square Enix, following 10 million sales of NieR: Automata.

『エヴァ』30周年を記念するフェス「EVANGELION:30+； 30th ANNIVERSARY OF EVANGELION」最終日である2月23日(月・祝)Final Programにて『エヴァンゲリオン』完全新作シリーズの制作に関する初報を発表致しました。

シリーズ構成・脚本
ヨコオタロウ

監督
鶴巻和哉、谷田部透湖

音楽
岡部啓一

制作…

— エヴァンゲリオン公式 (@evangelion_co) February 23, 2026

Yoko Taro has previously praised Neon Genesis Evangelion in a 2024 interview with IGN. He described Evangelion as a major inspiration for the NieR franchise, saying, “I thank you for praising NieR: Automata’s story, but actually it’s pretty much just a retelling of Evangelion, so there’s not much originality to it. I don’t really watch recent movies, so I’m mostly inspired by memories of works I saw in the past.” Based on those comments, it is clear that the writer is deeply familiar with the series.

The Director of the Rebuild films (a four-film tetralogy, designed to be a retelling of the series) and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, Kazuya Tsurumaki, helms the project alongside Toko Yatabe, who was an assistant director on Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (the final Rebuild film). NieR creator Yoko Taro is taking over writing duties, and NieR‘s composer, Keiichi Okabe, is providing the sound for the new series. Outside of these small details, the production remains tightly under wraps, detail-wise. So, until the production is ready to spill more details, fans won’t know if this is a reboot, another retelling, or something different altogether.

Fans can now head to the new official website while waiting for more information about what’s next for the animated sci-fi series, or watch the full 30th anniversary celebration video.

One Piece will continue streaming One Piece on April 5, premiering the Elbaph Arc—along with English dub episodes streaming on March 24.

Anime fans can rejoice again, as one of the biggest series returns in time for springtime. One Piece returns to Crunchyroll with episode 1156 and the start of the Elbaph Arc, beginning on April 5, 2026. After a three-month hiatus, the anime will resume in April. Toei Animation and Crunchyroll made the announcement this week, in addition to noting the final Egghead Island English dub episodes will begin streaming on March 24.

For the first time in One Piece history, the anime entered a three-month hiatus—the longest hiatus for the anime. The final episode of the Egghead Island arc aired on December 28, 2025, with episode 1155. There were only two other major streaming breaks for the series. One was during the 202 COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a 9-week break between episodes 930 and 931. The second one was a 5-week break that occurred in 2022 due to the Toei Animation hack.

Ultimately, this three-month break was mandatory to support the new seasonal production schedule. Toei Animation posted on X back on October 28, 2025, that the weekly episodes format would switch to a “two-cour” annual format. This equates to roughly 26 episodes a year. The production company explained that this decision aims to improve animation quality, fix pacing issues, and prevent the show from catching up to Eiichiro Oda-sensei’s manga. Fans have already voiced their pros and cons for this new format, with many opposed to getting fewer episodes per year and others appreciating fewer filler episodes when the show catches up to the manga.

The Strawhat Pirates finally reach the legendary land of giants this spring. Elbaph was originally introduced through the Little Garden Arc (approximately between episodes 70-77), where giants Brogy and Dorry discuss their home. Remember the two duelling giants, who were duking it out for 100 years? Those guys. This arc was literally 25 years in the making. Finally, Usopp will fulfill his wish to visit his dream destination. Usopp was deeply moved by the honour and bravery of the giants, shaping his goal to become a “brave warrior of the sea.”

Here is One Piece’s Elbaph Arc described on the Crunchyroll site:

“After a daring escape from the Future Island Egghead, the Straw Hat Crew set their course for a legendary destination. Joined by the mighty Giant Warrior Pirates, they finally reach Elbaph, the long-awaited Land of Giants. New encounters with Giants, and long hoped-for reunions unfold. A colossal new chapter begins as the crew heads into an adventure unlike anything before, all in the pursuit of the ultimate treasure, the “One Piece!”

The first official trailer dropped a month ago, but the views continue to climb. As of writing, the trailer already has about 1.2 million views with 34,000 likes. The time to set sail again is soon upon us! To Elbaph!

Okay. So, a staple in shojo manga series is to eventually introduce some sort of love triangle conflict. The goal is to add a little drama to possibly add a “will they or won’t they” element to the story. Does it get annoying? Absolutely! Especially when it’s dragged out. Volume 4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga continues that type of plot line from the third one, but Hisui doesn’t drag the situation out and instead introduces the mature and realistic approach of Lily and Prince William actually talking to work it out.

Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for volume 4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga below.

 The conflict in the third volume of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga stemmed from a visit by the princess of the kingdom of Belluno, Marianne. She came to the kingdom of Zavanni for a visit and, throughout much of that installment monopolized Prince William’s time so his fiance Liliana was left to her own devices. When secretly exploring outside of the palace in disguise with guards, Lily ran into the two of them together, with Marianne hanging on Will’s arm. This led to mistaken impressions of the situation, which carried over to the initial issue in this volume. However, instead of dragging it out, things are handled in an actually mature manner.

While the outset of this volume offers are first view of the situation from Marianne’s perspective, confirming she did come to the country to drive a wedge and become Will’s new fiance as some suspected and Lily assumed after seeing them together, it quickly gets into practical advice and proper communication. When Will is lamenting Lily’s behavior and anger, his guard and even Princess Marianne both say he needs to talk to her. Though it is awkward between the engaged couple when they do come together in the next scene, both of them don’t drag out this mistaken situation. Will apologizes and explains, as does Lily. (Though she does freak out a bit momentarily thinking his apology is because he intends to break their own engagement.)

As a result, we get to see how productive conversations between a couple we know love each other works out. The two of them explain themselves. The set a time for another date, which shows their commitment to each other. Then when they go out, which also involves scouting a location for a school Lily wants to build for children in the city, they’re completely focused on the task and each other.

What’s interesting, however, is volume 4 of the The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince manga also shows how communication helps the situation between Lily and Princess Marianne too. After the “crisis” is over, it still seems the foreign royal isn’t entirely giving up on her plan, since she at the time sees it as the only recourse to aid her own country during a salinity crisis. When the two of them get a chance to properly talk upon the opening of the finished school and classroom, it leads to new revelations between them and a possible positive relationship.

Which is great, as it all comes back to The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince being a shojo manga that focuses on positivity. It’s sweet! It’s funny! The leads generally care for and respect each other! Now with this volume, we see they handle issues responsibly and with clear communication. It’s lovely to see.

Volumes 1-4 of The Small-Animallike Lady is Adored by the Ice Prince are available now, and Yen Press will release volume 5 of the manga on July 28, 2026.

The post The Small-Animallike Lady Is Adored by the Ice Prince Shows Communication Matters appeared first on Siliconera.

McDonald’s Japan will include Spy x Family and My Hero Academia Uno decks in its Happy Meals from February 27, 2026. They will be available for about three weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUnKaP1daAM

There are two parts to the anime Uno collaboration. From February 27 to March 5, 2026, you can get the Anya, Loid, and Todoroki decks. Anya’s is Uno Flip, while Loid’s is just normal Uno. Todoroki's is Uno All Wild. Then, from March 6 to March 12, 2026, McDonald’s will launch the second half of the collaboration. During this period, you can get the Yor, Bakugou, and Deku decks. Yor’s deck is Uno All Wild, Bakugou’s is Uno Flip, and Deku’s is normal Uno. From March 13, 2026, you can get any deck from the above six.

These Uno anime decks are actually available on their own, so you don’t have to get a McDonald’s Happy Meal for them if you don’t want to. They’re more expensive that way, though. It should also be noted that Japan isn’t the first or only country to get these Uno decks. Canadian McDonald’s announced this collaboration in January 2026, along with Boruto decks.

The Spy x Family and My Hero Academia Uno decks will be available in McDonald’s Happy Meals in Japan from late February 2026.

The post McDonald’s Japan Will Have Anime-Themed Uno Decks appeared first on Siliconera.

Viz Media announced its new Fall 2026 manga and book acquisitions, and among them are Beastars mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Witching Hour and manga versions of The Apothecary Diaries light novel and anime and The Amazing Digital Circus web series. It also confirmed it will publish the biography Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record. 

In the cases of The Apothecary Diaries and The Amazing Digital Circus manga adaptations, both are taking work from the original authors and productions. They each have new mangakas assisting in telling the tales for these adaptations. In the case of The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace, Touko Shino’s character designs from the original light novel are still used, but Minoji Kurata is the mangaka. For The Amazing Digital Circus, Sakura is listed as the artist.

Here’s the full list of new Viz Media manga and book reveals. All of them have Fall 2026 release windows, but there are no exact dates for any of the releases.

• Albus Changes the World manga volume 1
• The Amazing Digital Circus manga volume 1
• And Then There Were None manga volume 1
• The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace manga volume 1
• Black Torch Complete Box Set
• Call of the Night: Paradise Arc manga
• Dorohedoro Illustrations: Mud and Sludge art book
• Heroes, with Interiors manga
• Horror Picture Book: A Bad Book by Miyuki Miyabe with Hisanori Yoshida art
• Horror Picture Book: Is It There or Not by Natsuhiko Kyogoku with Naoko Machida art
• Horror Picture Book: Looking at Me book by Soshichi Tonari with Junji Ito art
• Jujutsu Kaisen Complete Box Set with double-sided poster
• Kiki's Delivery Service: The Official Cookbook
• My Hero Academia Box Set 2 with double-sided poster and booklet
• My Hero Academia: Ultra Artworks art book
• Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record biography
• One Piece manga volume 91-111 box set with One Piece Card Game play mat
• Sakamoto Days: Assassin’s Blues manga
• The Seaside Where Dragon Boys Dwell manga volume 1
• Shiba Inu Rooms manga volume 1
• Sound of a Blink manga volume 1
• The Studio Ghibli Chronicles book
• Takumi: A Little Japanese Bakery cookbook
• Witching Hour manga volume 1
• Yakuza vs. Cat manga volume 1
• Yona of the Dawn 3-in-1 Edition manga volume 1

The post Viz Manga Pick-ups Include Apothecary Diaries, Witching Hour, and Amazing Digital Circus appeared first on Siliconera.

Parade announced that, at the end of February 2026, Chiikawa Sanrio plush of characters from the anime and manga dressed as mascots like Hello Kitty will appear. There will be three varieties. They will appear in actual arcades as prizes in Japan and in many online crane games. There’s no word on if we’ll see them eventually everywhere. 

While three characters appear in this Chiikawa Sanrio lineup, they only feature two of the main characters from the series. Chiikawa is present, wearing a hood that looks like My Melody’s. Hachiware is there too with a Hello Kitty ribbon on the left ear. However, the third is the side character Kuri-Manju in a full Hangyodon costume. All of them are just under a foot tall at 11 inches (30cm).

Here’s how all three of these plush will look. One of the photos Parade shared shows the Chiikawa My Melody one being held, to offer a sense of scale.

We’ve seen this kind of crossover happen before. Gray Parka Service featured a similar plush collection that included six characters from the series dressed as Sanrio mascots. Those launched in Japan in December 2025. Chiikawa was My Melody, Hachiware was Hello Kitty, and Kuri-Manju was Hangyodon for that line too.

The Chiikawa Sanrio plush will appear in Japanese arcades at the end of February 2026, Kodansha handles the manga, and the anime isn’t streaming on any platforms in North America at the moment. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island will air in Japan in 2026. 

The post Chiikawa Sanrio Crossover Plush Reference Hello Kitty, Hachiware appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company opened orders for the new Sunrise Pop Jujutsu Kaisen blind box plush pendants that are about the same size as Pop Mart’s Labubu and feature characters from the Culling Game arc. It will be ￥2,156 (~$14) for a single blind box with a random accessory inside or ￥8,624 (~$55.70) for a set of all four. These will ship in June 2026, and Good Smile Company will ship worldwide.

Actual photo examples of the plush pendants aren’t available yet. Only concept art of the four designs appeared. Yuji Itadori, Yuta Okkotsu, Choso, and Naoya Zenin are all options. As this is inspired by the later parts of the series, Yuji will feature two scars on his face. The Yuta one will also include a sword. All of them will feature a keyring at the top, for displaying them on bags, which features the logo for the series on the fabric portion.

Here’s the concept art for the four options.

These aren’t the only plush pendants based on the series. The other one features characters from the flashback Gojo’s Past Arc in cat costumes, with Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Shoko Ieiri, Kento Nanami, Yu Haibara, and Toji Fushigoro as options. There is a secret character in that batch, which is Gojo with no sunglasses. 

The new Jujutsu Kaisen Sunrise Pop character plush pendants from Good Smile Company will ship in June 2026, and pre-orders close on March 18, 2026. Viz Media handles the manga, while the anime is streaming on Crunchyroll. 

The post New Jujutsu Kaisen Plush Pendants Include Yuji and Choso appeared first on Siliconera.

This is probably a sentence that could be said literally any day of the week, but a new cosy farming sim is on the block, this time taking the form of Starsand Island. The flavour on this occasion is of the anime variety, with some slightly goofier farming mechanics (i.e. turning your watermelon patch into one singular, 10 foot tall watermelon), some very Pokemon Legends: Arceus looking combat, and some appropriately cute animals to hang out with. And there's skateboarding! But never do launches go all that smoothly, as developer Seed Sparkle Lab have had to do a dash of damage control regarding some concerns over the game.

Read more

Animation studio ufotable has released a trailer teasing a Tales of series 30th anniversary collaboration …

Source

The Witch on the Holy Night anime movie produced by ufotable, first announced in 2021, …

Source

Acclaimed animation studio ufotable who have produced a number of notable anime shows such as Demon Slayer have teamed up with Bandai Namco’s Tales of series and will be revealing a special 30th anniversary collaboration, which will be fully unveiled on 3rd April. The company is no stranger to working alongside Bandai Namco has they have animated the… Read More »Anime studio ufotable teases Tales of series 30th anniversary collaboration

Source

In the world of anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion is easily one of the most iconic series out there. Created by Hideaki Anno, this mecha psychological anime went on to define an era, and to this day, its influence on the anime industry as a whole remains felt. The original Neon Genesis Evangelion anime ran from 1995 to 1996, and in such a short amount of time, it managed to make history, so much so that it is remembered fondly even today. The Evangelion franchise has continued strong with various releases over the years, but none of them have been even remotely as big as what was announced earlier today. It's now officially been confirmed that Neon Genesis Evangelion is getting a new anime series, and the new project is officially in production.

Do you remember the .hack series? Are you even old enough to know what it is? Don't worry if your answer is negative, as even RPG veterans admit it wasn't particularly big in the West. Still, it remains one of the most fascinating series out there, albeit a hard one to follow due to its complicated titling and transmedia characteristics.

Read more

The latest big content update has been revealed for HoYoverse's breakout game, Genshin Impact. Version Luna 5, which has the unusually long and needlessly layered title — Song of the Welkin Moon: Variation - Homeward, He Who Caught the Wind — is set to arrive February 25.

Read more

HoYoverse just wrapped up a big Honkai: Star Rail Special Program. We’ve been waiting for this one for a couple of weeks now thanks to a delay, but the developer has finally delivered all the news on Version 4.0, which will arrive February 13.

Read more

Though it may seem like we just had a big life sim release in Heartopia, 2026 actually has more than one highly-anticipated release in that particular subgenre of cozy game. The next big one on the horizon is Starsand Island, the life and farming sim from Seed Sparkle Lab.

Read more

Arknights: Endfield developer Gryphline has a good reason to celebrate, as the upcoming free-to-play action RPG has achieved yet another milestone. The developer announced today that Endfield already has over 35 million pre-registrations.

Read more

“Thank you for calling GameStop. This is Chris speaking. How can I help you?”

Genshin Impact’s latest Special Program has spilled all the beans on the game’s next major update, Luna 4. The update, which arrives on January 14, kicks off 2026 with several bits of new content, including some previously-teased characters.

Read more

The Game Awards 2025 ceremony brought us yet more gacha game news, this time a big announcement for Arknights: Endfield. The free-to-play game set in the the universe of Arknights has been in various forms of closed tests for a while, but it finally has a release date.

Read more