Capcom has released a list of fixes and updates it will make to Dragon’s Dogma 2 “in the near future” — including the much-requested option to start a new game when save data already exists.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 only offers a single save slot, and presently, players who want to start the game again — perhaps to try a different specialization — can only do so by manually deleting their save file at the system level first. This can be a fiddly process involving disabling cloud saving and, for Steam players, actually locating their game save on the hard drive.
Capcom said it would add “the option to start a new game when save data already exists” as part of the first wave of updates to Dragon’s Dogma 2. This doesn’t mean it will actually add a second save slot for a new character; the update will simply make it easy to overwrite your save from within the game itself.
To all Dragon’s Dogma 2 players!
We’re planning to release patches including the following updates and fixes in the near future, and will release them as soon as they are ready for distribution on each platform.
Capcom also said it would add a frame rate cap of 30 frames per second to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game. As it is, the game runs with an uncapped frame rate, meaning it can sometimes run faster than 30 fps, but this can result in inconsistent and juddery performance (especially for players without variable refresh rate displays). A 30 fps cap should ensure a more consistent and stable feel to the game.
Capcom also said it would add options to switch off the motion blur and ray tracing graphical effects to console versions of Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it warned that doing so “will not affect the frame rate significantly.” Frame rate improvements will come in “future updates,” it said. PC players will now get better-quality results from the DLSS.
Another target for an early fix is the Art of Metamorphosis item that allows you to change the appearance of your character. Previously in very limited supply, the stock of this item is being increased to 99 at Pawn Guilds. This change appears to be targeted at criticism of the game’s microtransactions, which include the sale of Art of Metamorphosis at $1.99. With this change, it will only be inability to afford the in-game price that would push players toward paying real money to change the looks of their character or Main Pawn. (No changes were announced for other rare items available to buy as microtransactions, such as Wakestones or Portcrystals.)
Other changes coming soon will make it possible to acquire your own dwelling earlier in the game, as well as various text display and bug fixes.
Capcom said it would release the updates “as soon as they are ready for distribution on each platform.”
“The Caged Magistrate” is one of several quests you receive from Captain Brant in the early stages of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Brant tells you about one Magistrate Waldahr, someone who has stood his ground against Disa and refused to change the Code of Vermund to her benefit when asked, leading to him now sitting in a cell in Vernworth jail — ahem, gaol.
So Captain Brant has one very simple request of you: set Magistrate Waldahr free. He’ll give you a gaol key so you can let yourself into his cell, but you’ll find that Waldahr needs some convincing first.
In this Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide, we’ll walk through the entire “Caged Magistrate” quest, including where to find Magistrate Waldahr and how to set him free.
Where to find the Magistrate in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Enter the palace grounds and head to the objective marked on your map. This is the entrance to Vernworth Castle Gaol Tower. Otto will greet you and allow you through, so make your way downstairs and aside from a couple of rooms to explore and loot, the main area here is the long corridor with pillars in the middle and cells on each side, for a grand total of eight.
Magistrate Waldahr is in the first cell on the right-hand side, as soon as you enter. Wait until the two guards are facing away from you then use the Gaol Key given to you by Captain Brant to unlock the cell.
Head in and talk to Waldahr, then when the option arises, urge him to escape. He explains that he’s perfectly happy in the cell because he can spend his days “perusing the Code and deciphering old texts.” However, if you can find “a place with a mountain of tomes,” Waldahr will reconsider escaping. Leave the gaol and return to Captain Brant.
Where to find ‘a place with a mountain of tomes’ in ‘The Caged Magistrate’
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Brant suggests talking to a chap named Kendrick, found by The Gracious Hand in the slums. He’s a balding chap wearing a blue robe, wandering around the tents and dilapidated houses on the outskirts of Vernworth. He’ll ask you for a charitable donation of gold, so pay up and he’ll explain a local boy named Malcolm has gone missing.
This starts an entirely separate quest named “The Heel of History,” where you must find Malcolm by speaking to the children of the slums. Look for a girl called Aimee who will be somewhere nearby and she’ll tell you Malcolm went into the vaults underneath the slums. Return to Kendrick and the pair of you will enter the vaults to find the runaway kid.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Explore the vaults in their entirety and you’ll find Malcolm, followed by a huge underground library. Kendrick makes Malcolm promise to keep his mouth shut about the discovery, but you can return to Waldahr in the gaol and tell him about this wonderful place where he can study in peace. Escort Waldahr out of his cell and to the slums, then return to Captain Brant for your reward: 7,000 gold and a ferrystone.
Make sure you also return to Waldahr in the vaults a few days later, as he’ll have another quest for you: “A Magisterial Amenity,” which involves finding his confiscated spectacles.
It’s time, once again, to rally the realm with Mal and Jo as they return to give you their deep dive on the two dueling trailers for the new season of House of the Dragon! They begin with the “Team Green” trailer and discuss what the schemes of Alicent Hightower, Otto Hightower, Criston Cole, and more will be (07:15). Then, they move to the “Team Black” trailer to glean what they can from Rhaenyra, Daemon, and others (68:16). Finally, they take to the skies of speculation to see what they can predict using their knowledge of the book (1:43:30).
Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran
On Friday morning, Bird Studio, a small production workshop in Nagoya, Japan, announced the death of its founder, Akira Toriyama, the legendary manga artist, character designer, and creator of the long-running manga and anime franchise Dragon Ball. Toriyama died on March 1, at age 68, due to an acute subdural hematoma—a blood clot in his brain. The news of his passing has sparked a global outpouring of kind words and heartfelt illustrations, a testament to the late mangaka’s massive multigenerational impact.
Toriyama was, without a doubt, one of the most influential figures in the history of comics and cartoons. He was also a pivotal figure in the popularization of manga and anime outside Japan. Where Hayao Miyazaki is rightly lauded as a hero of theatrical anime, Toriyama was a god of manga and television anime, looming large for nearly half a century before his passing. The studio Toei Animation’s earliest adaptation of Dragon Ball consisted of 153 episodes roughly split into nine story arcs that aired in Japan throughout the late 1980s and appeared only briefly—at least initially—in North America via The WB network. Dragon Ball was the story of Goku, a young boy with spiky hair and magical powers and rigorous martial arts training, on a quest to collect the seven magical orbs—the titular Dragon Balls—required to summon Shenron, a dragon with the power to grant the summoner a single wish before once again scattering the Dragon Balls across earth. Toriyama was heavily inspired by the classic premodern Chinese novel Journey to the West, and yet Dragon Ball was unmistakably original in its art style and its mischievous humor. Toriyama was a mythmaker for a new medium and a new century.
With time, Toriyama wrote Dragon Ball into a more mature direction, and Toei spun the newer volumes into a sequel series, Dragon Ball Z, a much edgier show full of angsty heroes, ruthless villains, awesome superpowers, intergalactic intrigue, cataclysmic battles, and excruciating cliff-hangers: “Next time on Dragon Ball Z!” The Goku of Dragon Ball Z was a grown man, a husband and a father, and while his kindhearted son, Gohan, would in some sense preserve the gentler spirit of the earlier Dragon Ball, Super Saiyan Goku would come to iconically embody the fierce heroism of battle shonen. Cue Linkin Park.
Dragon Ball had an inauspicious launch in the West. Time Warner initially brought both Dragon Ball and then later DBZ to North America, airing the latter alongside Batman: The Animated Series and The Animaniacs, with extensive edits to tame the vulgarity and violence for younger audiences. But violence and vulgarity were rather essential to the appeal of DBZ, and the anime series wouldn’t really take off in North America until Time Warner moved it to Cartoon Network and its action-adventure programming block, Toonami, in August 1998. This version of DBZ featured a new English voice dub, less censorship, and a clearer sense of the target audience. DBZ aired alongside the magical girl series Sailor Moon and the space-mech saga Gundam Wing, among other popular anime of the late 1990s. Toonami raised a generation of kids and thus nudged anime into the mainstream. None of these shows were bigger than Dragon Ball Z. None of their creators were bigger than Toriyama.
Toriyama unleashed something in the modern imagination with the Dragon Ball franchise. Anime had long been seen as something strange and even illicit in North America, an array of sketchy titles filling out the back shelves of video rental shops, next to the porn. Fist of the North Star wasn’t exactly an after-school show. Manga was in an even weaker position, with few serialized titles finding any substantial distribution and readership in North America outside of Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyberpunk classic Akira and Rumiko Takahashi’s fantastical rom-com Ranma ½. Toriyama didn’t just find an audience for Dragon Ball—for so many fans, he redrew the whole notion of comics and cartoons and superheroes. In the West, Dragon Ball was a sensation unlike anything before it, and while in subsequent years anime has produced a few dozen battle shonen hits in roughly the same vein, Dragon Ball is still unrivaled in its influence; the creators of later shows such as Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece will be the first to tell you that they owe everything to Toriyama.
Dragon Ball, as a cultural phenomenon, has never really ended. Toriyama oversaw its expansion into a multibillion-dollar multimedia universe: Dragon Ball, then DBZ, GT, Kai, and Super; the 21 theatrical releases over the years, most recently Broly and Super Hero; and video games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ. Dragon Ball is a gateway, and Toriyama was the best sort of gatekeeper, one eager to invite every kid into his creative vision.
Toriyama’s death comes as a shock; he was old, but not that old, and there were no public signs of declining health. In an industry full of rapidly grayed creators run ragged by the unsparing demands of the profession, Toriyama was forever youthful and always smiling. In its announcement of his death, Bird Studio said Toriyama “still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm.” It’s strange to think that he was so prolific, his influence so multigenerational, and yet, somehow, his work is now unceremoniously unfinished. His influence has spread so far and wide in the decades since he ended Dragon Ball in May 1995, after 42 volumes, with a parting message to his readers: Tackle life with as much energy as Goku! I’ll try to do the same!
An ancient badge found in Poland was likely worn by a Middle Ages traveler for protection, according to experts from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.
Screengrab from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments on Facebook
After discovering a small, lead and tin object in Poland, an archaeologist shared his find with local officials.
It turned out to be an ancient “odznaka pielgrzyma” — which translates to “pilgrim’s badge” — a rare find for the area, according to a Feb. 23 Facebook post from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.
The circular badge is made of a mix of lead and tin, and it measures about 1 inch in diameter, experts said. It was unearthed in the village of Wólka Nieliska.
Experts said the badge depicts a basilisk dragon, which in ancient times was a mythological monster-like serpent known to kill its prey with just a look or a breath.
Photos shared by the conservator show the ancient artifact.
Pilgrim’s badges originated in the Middle Ages, and they were common between the 11th and 16th centuries, officials said. They were worn by travelers, or pilgrims, as protection against dangers such as assault, theft and disease. They were also meant to manifest the purpose of a trip.
Researchers said the badges came in various shapes and forms. They could be circular, cross-shaped or shield-shaped. Some depicted saints, knights or other human figures, while others showed animal figures, like the dragon.
A handful of other pilgrim’s badges have been found in Poland, but there are more throughout western Europe, according to the conservator.
Wólka Nieliska is in eastern Poland, about 160 miles southeast of Warsaw.
Google Translate and Facebook were used to translate a Facebook post from the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments.
Moira Ritter covers real-time news for McClatchy. She is a graduate of Georgetown University where she studied government, journalism and German. Previously, she reported for CNN Business.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year.
It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. The dates of the holiday vary slightly each year, falling between late January and mid-February as it is based on the cycles of the moon,
Festivities to mark the Year of the Dragon in Taiwan were marked by appearances by newly elected president Lai Ching-te and the speaker of the Legislature, Han Kuo-yu, who represents the opposition Nationalist Party that favors political unification with China.
In her address, Tsai said Taiwan faced a continuing conflict between “freedom and democracy versus authoritarianism” that “not only affects geopolitical stability, but also impacts the restructuring of global supply chains.”
“These past eight years, we have kept our promises and maintained the status quo. We have also shown our determination and strengthened our national defense,” Tsai, who is barred by term limits from seeking a third four-year term, said in reference to the self-governing island democracy’s close economic ties but fraught political relations with China which threatens to invade the island to realize its goal of bringing Taiwan and its high-tech economy under its control.
Taiwan, China and other areas saw highways clogged and flights fully booked as residents traveled home to visit family or took the approximately one-week holiday as an opportunity to vacation abroad.
Firing bottle rockets and other fireworks is a traditional way of welcoming the new year and seeing off any lingering bad memories. Children are given red envelopes stuffed with cash as a show of affection and to help them get a leg-up in the coming months.
Long lines of cars congested South Korean highways on Saturday as millions of people began leaving the densely populated Seoul capital region to visit relatives across the country for the Lunar New Year’s holiday.
Royal palaces and other tourist sites were also packed with visitors wearing the country’s colorful traditional “hanbok” flowing robes. Groups of aging North Korean refugees from the 1950-53 civil war, which remains unresolved, bowed northward during traditional family rituals held in the Southern border town of Paju.
The holiday came amid heightened tensions with North Korea, which has been ramping up its tests of weapons aimed at overwhelming regional missile defenses and issuing provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the South.
The South’s President Yoon Suk Yeol started the holiday by issuing a message of thanks to South Korean soldiers, saying that their services along the “frontline barbwires, sea and sky” were allowing the nation to enjoy the holidays.
Vietnam also celebrated the Lunar New Year, known there as Tet.
Parades and commemorations are also being held in cities with large Asian communities overseas, particularly in New York and San Francisco.
LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -The Chinese Community Center (CCC) is preparing for its Annual Lunar New Year Gala Show with an art exhibition. A portion of the paintings sold will benefit the CCC and the artists who live in Tianjin, a Chinese city.
“They are the chubby, lovely, red-cheeked babies that carry symbols such as the Dragon. It has this historical part, the children in these historical costumes,” described President of the CCC, Wei Qin.
President Qin was born in the Year of the Dragon. She says these years have a greater meaning than the other eleven represented by common animals.
“We as Asians have such a deep, deep love for dragons. It’s not a day-to-day animal like a rat or a rooster, those weird things, but a mysterious, powerful figure.”
This will be the first Chinese Lunar New Year recognized as a New York school holiday. The day falls on Saturday, February 10 this year, but next year…
“…2025, it falls on a Wednesday. The kids will be snuggled up at home not going to school. Parents, be ready for that!” exclaimed Qin.
CCC’s 50th Lunar New Year Gala will welcome everyone to the Empire State Plaza on Sunday, February 11. Qin herself is preparing to be in the festivities.
“Everybody likes to be recognized. I think it’s really important for everybody to know that there are other types of celebrations rather than Christmas and Thanksgiving that are fun to everybody.”
The Yan Liu Qing Art Exhibition will be hosted at the Chinese Community Center from Friday, February 2 at 5:30 p.m. to Sunday, February 4 at 6:00 p.m. in Latham. More information on the event and tickets can be found on the Center’s website.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be released on March 22, 2024, reviving Capcom’s sword and sorcery action-RPG franchise after a decade-long break. Capcom revealed the release date and new gameplay details during a digital showcase on Tuesday.
Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the game’s producer, showed off new features coming in the sequel. That includes a huge new addition to the bestiary, the Talos, a massive brass warrior who emerges from the sea. Developers showed varying approaches to taking the Talos down: by leaping onto it from a cliff’s edge, and fighting it while holding on for dear life, à la Shadow of the Colossus; riding birds toward the Talos to close the distance to it; and attacking it from afar using ranged weapons and spells.
Capcom also showed off a new vocation, the Trickster. That Arisen-only character class can use a censer in battle to conjure illusions, causing enemies to fight each other, and to support a player’s pawns to make them more effective in battle. The Trickster, a “devious vocation,” can manipulate the battle from the sidelines rather than fight directly.
The Trickster joins Dragon’s Dogma 2’s previously confirmed vocations: Fighter, Archer, Thief, Mage, Magick Archer, and Mystic Spearhand.
Image: Capcom
Image: Capcom
Image: Capcom
Capcom also showed off its update character creator, which players can use to customize their Arisen and main Pawn. The developer is using new photogrammetry technology to increase the photorealism of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s player-created avatars, developers said.
Finally, developers also teased a bit of the game’s story, which they said was set in a world parallel to that of the original Dragon’s Dogma. As an Arisen, players will find themselves caught between the beliefs and plots of two rival nations. Vermund, the human kingdom, is at the center of a power struggle for the throne, with a false Arisen installed by the queen regent Disa. In Battahl, the humanoid beasts there treat Pawns as a source of misfortune. But both nations view dragons as a threat to their survival.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is coming to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The original Dragon’s Dogma was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, followed by the expansion Dark Arisen the next year.
Ubisoft and Netflix’s new animated series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix has very little to do with the Far Cry game series, from which it draws part of its title. Viewers of the mixed-media show don’t need to know anything at all about Far Cry, or its strange, neon-infused spinoff from a decade ago. But series creator Adi Shankar said it would be “disingenuous” to not referenceFar Cry 3: Blood Dragon, the 2013 video game that was a shocking aesthetic swerve in Ubisoft’s open-world survival adventure game.
Shankar said that calling his new mashup show, in which the worlds of Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good & Evil, and the Tom Clancyverse collide, is him “paying homage, paying credit” to Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
“When you look at how important Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was, it’s a seminal fucking piece of art,” Shankar said in an interview with Polygon. “At some point people are going to look back and say there were seminal things [in that game] that seeded this online art movement, which continues to grow. Blood Dragon was one of them. So this is me wanting to acknowledge that.”
Captain Laserhawk is more like a reverential cousin to Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Both pieces of media are set in dystopian futures, and steal liberally from ’80s-era influences: synthpop music, VHS tapes, video games, and effortlessly cool action stars. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s hero was a mishmash of the T-800 Terminator and Kyle Reese wearing an NES Power Glove holding RoboCop’s hand cannon. Captain Laserhawk’s Dolph Laserhawk is similarly cybernetic, with a gun arm that evokes Mega Man’s Mega Buster or Samus Aran’s arm cannon.
Far Cry bad guy Pagan Min does make an appearance.Image: Netflix
There are clear similarities and distinct differences between the two Blood Dragons. Shankar described his show as “more of a vibe” as opposed to “adapting the ‘tome’ of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.” In fact, when Shankar’s show was first announced back in 2019, it was called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Vibe.
Captain Laserhawk is “part of the same lineage” that the CRT-filtered, laser beam-slathered Far Cry game spinoff was, an aesthetic that has permeated through other works of art over the past decade. Shankar specifically namechecked Destiny 2, The Weeknd’s music videos, and the Duffer brothers’ Stranger Things as examples of contemporary works existing on the same creative lineage.
“It all just kind of organically happened via the internet and Blood Dragon was a seminal moment in that,” Shankar said.
And while the Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon influences may be a small part of Shankar’s animated series, especially compared to how much Beyond Good & Evil influence it contains, there is some Far Cry at the show’s heart — and at its periphery.
“Well, you know [Far Cry 4’s] Pagan Min is in this, reinterpreted through a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure lens,” Shankar said. And, he teased, “the universe is populated with other Far Cry characters. They exist, and you may not see them here, but they’re out there in the universe.”
The recently released Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive RPG with high replay value due to all the choices you can make, so it might seem weird to be talking about the game getting an expansion. But the question has been asked, and the response from the people behind the hit RPG is basically, probably not, because high-level Dungeons and Dragons characters are too powerful.
The Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Baldur’s Gate 3
If you’ve been on the internet lately, it probably seems like the world is obsessed with Baldur’s Gate 3, which fully launched last week to rave reviews after an extended period in Steam Early Access. The turn-based Dungeons and Dragons RPG is truly blowing up on Steam, with hundreds of thousands of players logging in all at the same time to play (and also tohave sex…a lot of sex). And while the game is huge—taking dozens and dozens of hours to fully complete, with multiple endings—some are already wondering about future expansions. But, that’s probably not going to happen. And if it does happen, it’s going to take a long time.
In an interview with PC Gamer on August 7, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke said that the team hadn’t even started on an expansion. And sure, the game caps out at level 12, but DnD supports level 20 characters. Naturally, that seems to leave room for a big follow-up expansion. However, Vincke explained that he thinks it would be “very hard” to continue the adventure with the high-level characters players have at the end of the game. That’s because, in DnD, when players start reaching level 13 and beyond they become nearly godlike. Spells that high-level players gain access to include the ability to see the future, or just instantly kill anything with less than 100HP.
Larian Studios
“[High-level DnD] adventures require a different way of doing things, in terms of antagonists you’re going to have to deal with, which require a lot of development to do them properly,” Vincke said, “Which would make this much more than an expansion in terms of development effort.”
Vincke explained that this is why a lot of DnD campaigns are designed for level 12 or lower characters. So while it might seem like a perfect opportunity for an expansion, to just let players hit level 20, it’s “not as easy as one would imagine.”
Promising an expansion too early could cause problems
Another issue that Larian Studios faces when trying to make a big follow-up expansion to Baldur’s Gate 3? All the choices you can make and the endings you can get. Vincke tells PC Gamer that if the studio was to build DLC for the RPG it would be hard, and players would have to wait for “a long time.”
There’d be one other complicating factor to making a Baldur’s Gate 3 expansion that picks up at level 13: all the possible permutations of a finished Baldur’s Gate 3 campaign feeding into that starting point. If Larian were to build something like that, “you’d have to wait for a long time,” Vincke said.
He further added that if the studio announced expansion plans too early and then, partway through development, realized the expansion was boring or not very fun, it’d have to keep working on it and try to get people to buy something it doesn’t fully believe in.
“That would not be cool. So we have to have the freedom to experiment and do our stuff. And then when we’re ready to announce it, we will.”
So for now, there is no plan to make a Baldur’s Gate 3 expansion, but there’s a small chance it could still happen. One day. Maybe.
If, like me, you’re making your way toward Anime Expo, the self-proclaimed “largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America” this coming weekend (yes, the Otaku of Kotaku will be there!), you may be feeling overwhelmed. But fear not! If you have no earthly idea what must-see events the great congregation of weebs has in store for you or how to make the most of your precious time during the expo, here’s a helpful guide to all the biggest panels at the four-day convention.
Disney’s New Post-Apocalyptic Anime Proves The Mouse Has Good Taste
Anime Expo, which takes place from July 1 to July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, revealed a cavalcade of anime trailers and info on highly anticipated series like Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100, and Trigun Stampede during last year’s event. This year’s convention is looking to maintain that energy with many must-see events as well. While the offerings at this year’s expo include listening to live music from DJ Diesel (that’s Shaq btw), samurai sword training, and discussing the LGBTQ+ themes in Sailor Moon, this list will only cover where and when big-name anime studios will host panels and chat with visitors.
It should also be noted that, while last year’s expo ultimately did require proof of covid vaccination or a negative test result, this year those requirements have been dropped, according to the event’s health and safety guidelines.Anime Expo, however, “strongly recommended” attendees get vaccinations and/or booster shots before attending and wear face masks while inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. Without further ado, here’s your definitive itinerary guide to the biggest panels at Anime Expo.
Image: Anime Expo /Kotaku
July 1
Welcoming Ceremony
Where: Main Events
When: 10:30-11:20 a.m.
Bungo Stray Dogs Panel
What’s Happening: Bungo Stray Dogs creator Kafka Asagiri talks about how he went about crafting the popular mystery manga series.
Where: JW-Platinum
When: 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead World Premiere
What’s Happening: The world premiere of the anime adaptation of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, which premieres on Hulu and Netflix on July 9.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 12:30-1:50 p.m.
Bandai Namco Panel
What’s Happening: Bandai Namco Filmworks, known for making anime like Mobile Suit Gundam and Cowboy Bebop, reveals news on its upcoming anime shows “and more.”
Where: Panel Room 408 AB
When: 2-2:50 pm
Netflix J-Content Presentation
What’s Happening: Netflix provides new info on anime like Pluto, Pokémon Concierge, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, and the final season of Beastars featuring producers of those respective shows during its “From Japan to the World” presentation.
Where: Main Events
When: 3:15-4:05 p.m.
Toho Panel
What’s Happening: Toho hosts a lineup of panels featuring industry professionals from anime series like Jujutsu Kaisen, Spy x Family, and My Hero Academia.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 2:30-3:50 p.m.
Screenshot: Trigger / Kotaku
Studio Trigger Panel
What’s Happening: Studio Trigger is presenting the world premiere of the first episode of its upcoming series Delicious in Dungeon and a first look at a new anime from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners director, Hiroyuki Imashi.
Where: Main Events
When: 1:45-2:35 p.m.
Mappa Panel
What’s Happening: Mappa CEO Manabu Otsuka and producer Makoto Kimura will discuss behind-the-scenes info on its upcoming anime shows.
Where: JW Marriott Ballroom
When: 3-3:50 p.m.
The Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 Panel
What’s Happening: Studio Kafka will be hosting live drawing, cosplay, and behind-the-scenes discussion events as well as the premiere of Ancient Magus Bride season 2’s first episode.
Where: Panel Room 408 AB
When: 3:30-4:50 p.m.
Spy x Family Panel
What’s Happening: Crunchyroll is hosting a panel with voice actor Takuya Eguchi, who plays Loid Forger in Spy x Family’s Japanese cast.
Where: LA Convention Center Main Events Hall
When: 5-5:50 p.m.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles Panel
What’s Happening: Voice actors Chiaki Kobayashi and Alek Le, the Japanese and English voices of protagonist Mash, respectively, discuss the first season of the anime.
What’s Happening: World premiere of NieR: Automata creator Yoko Taro’s new anime KamiErabi GOD.app by Studio Bones.
Where: 403 AB
When: 10-11:30 a.m.
Mappa x Crunchyroll Panel
What’s Happening: Mappa discusses and gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at popular anime titles like Jujutsu Kaisen.
Where: JW-Platinum
When: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Dark Horse Manga Panel
What’s Happening: Dark Horse reveals new releases and answers questions about manga series like Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Mob Psycho 100, and Berserk.
Where: 408 AB
When: 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
Screenshot: Production I.G. / Adult Swim / Kotaku
Production I.G x Wit Panel
What’s Happening: Production I.G and Wit present information about shows like the highly anticipated anime adaptation of horror creator Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.
Where: Main Events
When: 12-12:50 p.m.
Warner Bros. Japan Anime Panel
What’s Happening: Warner Bros. hosts panels for the new seasons of Record of Ragnarok and Bastard!!!- Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy.
Where: 408 AB
When: 1-2:20 p.m.
Undead Unlock Panel
What’s Happening: TMS Entertainment gives fans a first look at the anime adaptation of Undead Unlock featuring the Japanese voice actors for Shen and Fuuko Izumo.
Where: Main Events
When: 1:30-2:20 p.m.
Studio Bones 25th Anniversary Panel
What’s Happening: Studio Bones president Masahiko Minami and Cowboy Bebop character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto reveal new info on their upcoming cyberpunk anime, Metallic Rouge, as well as discuss some of their earlier work.
Where: JW-Platinum
When: 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Yoshitaka Amano Panel
What’s Happening: A panel with legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, featuring a live drawing, a discussion of his work, and the announcement of an upcoming anime project
Where: Petree Hall
When: 2:40-3:30 p.m.
Jujutsu Kaisen Panel
What’s Happening: Crunchyroll hosts a panel discussing behind-the-scenes info on the previous and upcoming season of Jujutsu Kaisen with the team behind the show.
Where: Main Events
When: 3-3:50 p.m.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Panel
What’s Happening: Aniplex producer Yuma Takahashi and the Japanese voice actors for Demon Slayer’s Tanjiro Kamado and Muichiro Tokito discuss the anime’s latest season, the Swordsmith Village Arc.
Where: Main Events
When: 4:30-5:50 p.m.
VIZ Official Industry Panel
What’s Happening: Masakazu Morita,the Japanese voice actor for Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosaki, joins Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead artist Kotaro Takata to discuss the upcoming seasons of their shows.
Where: 408 AB
When: 4:30-5:20 p.m.
SEGA Presents: Dragons of Japan
What’s Happening: RGG Studio hosts an hour-long panel about the upcoming Like a Dragon game featuring producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto, and the English and Japanese voice actors for Kiryu Kazuma.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 5:30-6:20 p.m.
Premieres
July 3
Persona 5 Tactica Panel
What’s Happening: Atlus West and Persona 5 Tactica voice actors give fans a closer look at the upcoming turn-based spin-off.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 10-10:50 a.m.
Warner Bros. Japan x Wit Studio Panel
What’s Happening: Warner Bros. Japan and Wit Studio reveal a “mysterious brand-new anime project” that it promises will blow fans’ minds. It’s apparently an isekai show.
Where: JW-Platinum
When: 10-10:50 a.m.
Aniplex of America x A-1 Pictures Panel
What’s Happening: Aniplex of America and A-1 Pictures reveal their lineup of anime for 2023 and some behind-the-scenes production info.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Panel
What’s Happening: Viz Media celebrates the release of the second part of Bleach’s final season with Masakazu Morita, the Japanese voice actor for Ichigo Kurosaki.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 1:30-2:50 p.m.
Crunchyroll Industry Panel
What’s Happening: Crunchyroll announces new info about new and upcoming anime to the streamer.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 3:30-4:50 p.m.
Hi-Fi Rush Panel
What’s Happening:Hi-Fi Rush game director John Johanas and voice actors discuss developing Tango Gameworks’ rhythm action game.
Where: 403 AB
When: 3:30-4:20 p.m.
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 Panel
What’s Happening: Aniplex Producer Masami Niwa and Yamada voice actor Koki Uchiyama talk about the rom-com gaming anime’s first season.
Where: JW-Platinum
When: 4:30-6 p.m.
Persona 3 Reload Panel
What’s Happening: Atlus West gives players a behind-the-scenes peek at the remake of its beloved RPG series.
Where: Petree Hall
When: 7-7:50 p.m.
Shin Megami Tensei 35th Anniversary
What’s Happening: Atlus looks back on the past games and gives players a “glimpse into the future” of its RPG series.
Where: 411
When: 7-8:20 p.m.
Premieres
Screenshot: Toei Animation / DandeLion Animation Studio / Kotaku
July 4
Undead Unlock Auditions
What’s Happening: TMS Entertainment and Bang Zoom! Studios host open auditions for visitors to land a role in its upcoming anime, Undead Unlock.
Where: Main Events
When:10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Horimiya: The Missing Pieces Panel
What’s Happening: Crunchyroll hosts a panel for the rom-com spin-off of Horimiya featuring the anime’s director and Izumi Miyamura voice actor Kouki Uchiyama and a sneak peek at the first episode.
Where: 408 AB
When: 10:30 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
Closing Ceremony
Where: Main Events
When: 4-5 p.m.
Premieres
Kotaku is covering everything at Anime Expo 2023, including big announcements at panels and exclusive one-on-one interviews with the industry’s biggest creators. Whether you’re a seasoned anime fan or a newbie, you can keep up with all things Anime Expo 2023 here.
You technically don’t need to spend a whole lot of money to play Dungeons & Dragons or other tabletop roleplaying games. But like most hobbies, the game is more than happy to welcome your investment with endless maps, minis, countless dice, and, of course, rulebooks to purchase. Now, it seems, the game is going to get a bit pricer following news from Wizards of the Coast that new D&D rulebooks will see a 20 percent price hike moving forward.
This Arcade-y Basketball Game Brings The NBA Jam Vibes
Rulebooks are the bible of any tabletop roleplaying game, providing players and game masters with all necessary math, descriptions of game systems, and sometimes even critical lore information depending on the kind of book. Since the current, fifth edition, of Dungeons & Dragons, physical books, like the three core ones essential for a group to play (Dungeon Masters Guide, Player’s Handbook,and Monster Manual), have retailed for $49.95 each in the United States. Additional D&D-brand books of similar scope sold for the same price (others have sold for less depending on the amount of content). Wizards of the Coast is now signaling that the rising costs of book production will bring the price of physical copies up to $59.95 for new books. Digital content and previously published material is said to remain unaffected by the new price.
According to IGN, Wizards of the Coast specified the price hike will first hit the upcoming Bigsby Presents: Glory to the Giants followed by the Planescape supplement due out on October 17 of 2023. The October release will refresh a beloved campaign setting many might know from the PC game, Planescape: Torment, which featured interdimensional magic, along with dark, strange, and surrealist motifs in its art and stories.
Kotaku reached out to Wizards of the Coast for comment.
This price hike follows some turbulent times for the D&D publisher. Earlier in 2023, Wizards of the Coast rolled a critical fail with restrictive, proposed changes to its longstanding open license ahead of the upcoming revision of the core rules. Unchecked, those changes would have dramatically constrained the freedom for third party publishers to create compatible rulebooks with the game (something that has been a core part of the industry since the early 2000s).
It is rare that everyone at a game of D&D has all the books. Typically, the dungeon master will purchase the most rules as they’re the ones adjudicating everything; that’s an issue Wizards of the Coast has highlighted as a sore spot for them, expressing a desire in 2022 to try and find more ways to monetize the hobby, hoping to generate “the type of recurrent spending you see in .”
Most of the hilarity emanating from Like a Dragon and its spin-off series, Judgment, comes from the franchise’s snappy dialogue and the absurdist character and item descriptions of its English translations. For example, Like a Dragon’s stalwart protagonist, Kiryu Kazuma, can go from calling a new fighting technique he saw on the street “rad” to vehemently explaining that his propensity to brawl with thugs in public doesn’t make him a “fisting artist.”
Sega (EN) / Ryu Ga Gotoku
Don’t let the fact that developer Ryu Ga Gotoku’s samurai spin-off, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, is a historical period piece that takes place in 1867,make you think that it won’t contain the same levels of ludicrous sidequests and wacky dialogue as its predecessors. If anything, the fact that Kiryu’s feudal stand-in, Sakomoto Ryoma, partakes in similar madcap misadventures in the year of the Meiji restoration and the downfall of the Shogunate only adds to the game’s zaniness.
In that spirit, I spoke with Marilyn Lee, the senior localization producer for Like a Dragon: Ishin!, to get some insight into the work that was put into crafting Like a Dragon: Ishin’s English translation.
Localization in a nutshell
Much like how Like a Dragon’s bombastic heat system fighting moves ought to make you feel like an extreme beast of a man, a localizer must ensure that every bit of text in Like a Dragon emanates an authentic Yakuza experience.
“The translating team takes the raw Japanese and churns out a direct translation as true to the meaning of the Japanese as possible but ultimately clunky, dry, and not especially what we’d call natural,” Lee said. “The team of editors then takes that line and brings in the characterization, makes it sound like natural dialog, which becomes the final script.”
Sega (EN) / Ryu Ga Gotoku
‘Translation is not mathematics’
One way of providing context for players that’s often used in translated works of Japanese games is to swing south with dialogue translations of characters with Kansai accents and give them a southern Texan drawl. But while folks who consume Japanese media have become accustomed to Osakan characters having the vernacular of a person hailing from Alabama or the Bronx, Lee said the LaD localization team strives to “avoid making a direct analog between specific English and Japanese dialects.”
Lee credits the LaD localization team’s decision to examine vernacular characteristics and accents “on a deeper level” to Scott Strichart, a senior localization producer at Sega and “the former architect of Like a Dragon’s Western renaissance.” “While our philosophy on Kansai-ben involves many colloquialisms that might independently register as Southern, we’ve failed if players are categorically hearing all Kansai speakers with a twang,” Lee said.
“In the case of Ishin!, we would invite players to compare characters like Majima and Saejima (or Soji and Nagakura) to the game’s Gunman trainer, William Bradley, who was deliberately written to evoke the manner of a late 19th-century Southern cowboy. Likewise, this game also introduces the archaic Tosa-ben dialect, which we hope is difficult to attach to a given style of English and more so simply reads as rustic and insular,” Lee said.
When it comes to how much free reign the LaD localization team has in terms of cursing, Lee says games with the localization caliber of the Like a Dragon series “can’t simply mechanically swap out ‘kuso’ for ‘damn’ because “translation is not mathematics.”
“Cursing is a vital linguistic component in English, and therefore our editors generally have leave to employ it as freely as they would in any other M-rated title (within reason),” Lee said.
“Localization, as we view it, favors recreating the experience of the source language user rather than risking a sacrifice in writing quality to stay devoutly faithful to the source language itself. If a skillfully deployed curse is going to make a joke hit as well in an English line as it did in a curse-free Japanese line, then we’ll almost always use that curse.”
Localization funsies
You better sing, Ryoma.Screenshot: Sega / Ryu Ga Gotoku
My most hot-button question for Lee was which character in Ishin! was her favorite to localize. It should be noted that when I sent Lee this inquiry via email, I made sure to include the tagline “and why is it Majima?” To my delight, Lee replied saying Majima is “fun to watch, he’s fun to fight, and he’s absolutely fun to localize.”
“Majima is the cross-section of so many compelling character types: he can be hilarious, he can be frightening, he can oscillate between being oblivious and being the smartest man in the room and somehow it always feels authentic. Yakuza 0 players also know that deep down, there’s a real human there, projecting all these personality traits for reasons he may not even remember (in the main series’ continuity, anyway).”
Majima’s cult of personality notwithstanding, Lee said Ishin’s minor characters deserve their due just as much as the Mad Dog of Shimano (period piece edition).
“Working for days at a time on minor characters such as Tom the would-be samurai, or the cryptic, slang-weaving Mysterious Merchant gives our team the chance to craft a wide variety of voices. Truthfully, it demonstrates how tenacious the settings of RGG games are, that they support so many [people] of so many dispositions and still feel cohesive.”
Lost in translation
True.Screenshot: Sega / Ryu Ga Gotoku
Recently, Viz Media translator Kumar Sivasubramanian famously threw in the towel after having the unenviable task of translating Cipher Academy, a mystery series by the creator of the Monogatari series. Sivasubramanian called it quits with Cipher Academy because a bulk of the series’ dialogue was filled with cultural or phonetic puns that don’t make sense in English. Like Sivasubramanian, LaD’s localization team is also confronted with the herculean task of translating Japanese puns or jargon for English-speaking players.
Whenever there are nuances and phrases that don’t have a true 1:1 equivalent in either English or Japanese, Lee said the LaD localization team uses their “best judgment” to find “suitable methods to convey things as closely as possible to the essence of the source language.”
Although some LaD fans can be “diehard purists,” Lee says most have a generally subjective line on what sounds “‘true” to the source material.
Ryoma is a god among men. Screenshot: Sega / Ryu Ga Gotoku
With Like a Dragon, we believe that players can tell that the writing is meant to harmonize with every other aspect of the presentation. If a moment has an over-the-top zoom-in and we replace a simple ‘Nani!?’ with an English line that matches the absurdity of the cinematography, we haven’t betrayed the authorial intent there—we’ve done our best to execute on that intent across countless linguistic and cultural chasms.”
Much like colloquialisms in Cipher Academy, Lee said Japanese puns “never translate.” Whenever a pun is uttered in the LaD series, Lee said her team must “roll with them as they come and commiserate together for the real tricky ones.”
“Thankfully, that also means there are afternoons spent with the whole team shouting out funny chicken names, which is basically the entire reason we all got our college degrees,” Lee said.
Measure twice, cut once (Yakuza style)
He just like me fr.Screenshot: Sega / Ryu Ga Gotoku
In total, Lee said it took the localization team a little over a year to finish localizing Ishin! to have the game ready to launch on February 21 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. Meanwhile, the games that took the longest to finish localizing are Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 because they were a part of the Yakuza Remastered Collection, Lee said.
“Some projects took a long time from start to finish just due to the localization process was intertwined with the development of the game. Some took long because of the number of languages involved. Others took a long time because of the sheer volume of the project,” Lee said.
While localizing the drama and humor in Ishin! was par for the course with other games in the series, the trickiest part of localizing the spin-off was ensuring players weren’t lost with the historical context and geography in Ishin!
“Our updated glossary and new memoir feature can do some of that work, but ultimately it falls to astute translation and sharp editing to be successful. Creating context for the audience is critical,” Lee said.
Historical context for the Meiji Restoration period
Sega (EN) Ryu Ga Gotoku
For historical reasons, Ishin! has an unapologetically negative stance toward Americans and European pressure at the end of the Edo Period, which staff writer Sisi Jiang expanded upon in their review for Ishin! When it came to handling the localization of a game that criticizes the countries some players come from, Lee reiterated that it’s a localizer’s job to ensure the experiences designed in a game are brought to players from different countries, even if aspects of translated text offend people.
“Our job as localization professionals is to convey the meaning and sentiment of a piece of media as accurately as possible in another language. Sometimes this means tackling a challenging subject, especially in Ishin’s case where many characters are driven by different political ideologies that are linked to a historical time period,” Lee said. “We did our best to convey the text, and players have the freedom to come to their own conclusions.”
Earlier today Wizards of the Coast made an announcement that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for: Dungeons & Dragons is going to stop using the word “race” in the rulebook for One D&D (the upcoming major revision of the game), and would instead prefer to use the term “species” instead.
It’s understandable why the word was used in the first place. It was the 1970s, times were different, and the game had been made by some guys, not a team of qualified anthropologists. But as the decades have gone on, and the game has grown more popular and been exposed to the winds of time, that word—race—has become increasingly anachronistic.
For starters, it’s not even accurate! Race, as it’s most commonly defined, is a term humans have used to categorise ourselves based mostly on common physical traits, like skin colour. A black and white human, then, are from different races. A human and an orc are not. They are from different species.
More importantly, though, it has allowed the series to perpetuate long-standing stereotypes that are, essentially, racist. In 2020, for example, the D&D team wrote about how the way the game assigns traits based on a character’s genetics was “painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated. That’s just not right, and it’s not something we believe in.”
Which brings us to today’s announcement, which says (emphasis mine):
Dungeons & Dragons has a history of evolving to meet the needs of our players and foster an inviting space for everyone.
With that in mind, we understand “race” is a problematic term that has had prejudiced links between real world people and the fantasy peoples of D&D worlds. The usage of the term across D&D and other popular IP has evolved over time. Now it’s time for the next evolution.
Since the release of the fifth edition of D&D in 2014, we have made the conscious decision to reduce usage of the term “race” to only apply to the game mechanic. We took this a step further with the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything in 2020 when we presented an alternative to character creation that untangled ability score improvements from your choice of playable people. We have also evolved the lore of the peoples throughout the D&D multiverse to be more diligent in extracting past prejudices, stereotypes, and unconscious biases.
One D&D (the codename for the next generation of D&D) gives us an opportunity to go deeper into every component of Dungeons & Dragons. The immense interest and level of feedback across the first few playtest material releases shows us the value in having an open dialogue with our community about everything related to the game.
In the next Unearthed Arcana containing playtest materials for One D&D, we are presenting a replacement for the term “race.” That new term is “species.”
We know this is an important change to D&D—one that requires an open conversation with our community. And we want to be clear about a few things as we playtest the new term.
– We have made the decision to move on from using the term “race” everywhere in One D&D, and we do not intend to return to that term.
– The term “species” was chosen in close coordination with multiple outside cultural consultants.
– In the survey for this Unearthed Arcana playtest, which will go live on December 21, players will be able to give feedback on the term “species” along with everything else present in the playtest materials.
Having an open conversation around the term “race” is both important and challenging. That is why it’s vital we foster a positive, open, and understanding dialogue with one another. We welcome your constructive feedback on this evolution and the many more evolutions to One D&D that make this game exciting, open, and accessible to everyone. Dragons and elves belong in our world, and so do you.
G/O Media may get a commission
While they go to great lengths to say this is a process, one that will involve dialogue with the fanbase, this also seems like an absolute no-brainer? They’re simply swapping out an inaccurate term for an accurate one, and in doing so also removing from its flanks one of the series’ biggest, most long-standing cultural thorns.
If the news here is that they’re definitely ditching “race”, and need to replace it with something else, then “species” is about as perfect a word as they’re going to get!
A Russian mercenary firm is building a line of anti-tank obstacles across eastern Ukraine. The Wagner Group earlier this month began laying parallel lines of so-called “dragon’s teeth”—three-foot-tall concrete pyramids weighing a couple of hundred pounds apiece—just west of Hirske in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
The initial line of dragon’s teeth is just a mile long. There are indications the Russians plan to build additional fortifications in nearby areas across the same region.
Experts are befuddled by the effort. The fortifications, as implemented, are fairly pointless. Indeed, inasmuch as they consume time and resources, they actually are counterproductive to Russia’s faltering war effort.
A few low obstacles across one small sector of a front that stretches for hundreds of miles won’t stop Ukrainian brigades that, for seven weeks now, steadily have been advancing in the east. The Ukrainians simply could go around the dragon’s teeth.
And if for some reason they find it’s better to go through the obstacles, they have plenty of options for breaching them. Every experienced mechanized army employs combat engineers specifically for such tasks. And the Ukrainian army by now is the world’s most experienced mechanized army.
That Wagner is planting dragon’s teeth should surprise no one. “When on the defensive and time permits, Russians dig in,” Lester Grau and Charles Bartles detailed in their definitive The Russian Way of War.
But the dragon’s teeth by themselves aren’t very imposing. The Russian army and its mercenary allies still mostly follow Soviet doctrine. And in Soviet doctrine, physical obstacles such as dragon’s teeth are supposed to be part of a layered defense that also includes minefields and prepared positions for infantry armed with anti-tank weapons.
The idea is for the obstacles to channel attacking forces into the minefields. If the attackers get clear of the minefields, a good defensive plan then would guide them into kill zones where the infantry can finish them off.
It’s safe to assume Wagner’s engineers are burying anti-tank mines around the dragon’s teeth. Cheap and powerful buried mines are a major danger to troops on both sides of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine.
It’s less evident, however, that the mercs are preparing the extensive infantry strongpoints that, in good doctrine, are a necessary complement to physical obstacles and minefields.
“Barriers, obstacles and mines can be used in the economy of force role to strengthen a naturally strong existing obstacle area so that it need only be lightly defended,” the U.S. Army notes in its Joint Publication 3-15.
Lightly defended is not the same as undefended. To work against a motivated attacker, static defenses still require well-equipped, well-supplied and well-led infantry in supporting positions.
But the Russian army and its allies have lost 100,000 men in Ukraine and are struggling to recruit, train and deploy replacements. It’s possible Wagner isn’t preparing extensive infantry strongpoints behind its dragon’s teeth because there aren’t any infantry to occupy them.
If a Ukrainian brigade runs into the dragon’s teeth outside Hirske and discovers the fortifications to be lightly manned, the brigade simply can pause, deploy engineers and take its time demolishing the obstacles.
Don’t doubt the Ukrainians are prepared to breach a static defensive line. They’ve got the equipment for it, including mineclearing vehicles based on T-64 tanks plus classic ex-Soviet IMR-3 engineering vehicles and explosive line-charges. Ukrainian sappers have trained with the Canadian and Polish armies.
It’s easier to go around obstacles than to breach them, of course—even when the obstacles are thinly manned. The dragon’s teeth Wagner is planting protect just one approach to Hirske, a town with middling strategic value. In a country as big as Ukraine, there almost always are ways around.
It helps, of course, that everyone knows exactly where the obstacles outside Hirske are and how far they extend. When the Ukrainian counteroffensive reaches Hirske, it’s likely the attacking battalions simply will pivot north or south, looping around the dragon’s teeth and any other prepared fortifications.
That’s what the German army did in 1940 when it ran up against France’s famed, and ill-fated, Maginot Line—a far more sophisticated defensive obstacle than Wagner’s sad rows of concrete pyramids. “Didn’t work then, won’t work now,” retired U.S. Army general Mark Hertling quipped.
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REDONDO BEACH, Calif., May 21, 2020 (Newswire.com)
– Butterfly Fish Productions announces the release of their free stay-at-home coloring book to thank essential workers and help overwhelmed homebound families looking for a fun way to teach lessons in kindness while social distancing. It also introduces a new group of children’s book characters, The Kindeez. This free digital copy of The Kindeez Stay-at-Home Coloring Book is available now at thekindeez.com.
What if mythical creatures, prehistoric animals, science-fiction beings, and humans all co-existed during the same time and lived in the same place? Well, in Amigos Valley they do. Meet The Kindeez. The Kindeez is a fantastic and diverse mix of evolved characters that unite to spread kindness to all. From learning to lend a helping hand with Roman the Robot to teaching politeness with Uku the Unicorn, The Kindeez children’s book series by Butterfly Fish Productions presents kindness in a fun and exciting way. The Kindeez Stay-at-Home Coloring Book was created to say “Thank You” to those serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in all essential services. “As a family-owned company, we wanted to do something to help. We noticed that kids were looking for something fun to do during the pandemic, and it seemed like the perfect time to promote the most fundamental lesson of all- kindness,” said Vincent Lucido, co-owner (and illustrator) of Butterfly Fish Productions.
About the Creators
Amid a successful storyboard and illustration career in the entertainment industry, Vincent Lucido began creating The Kindeez with his wife, Sandy Lucido. The result is the book The Kindeez Stay-at-Home Coloring Book and The Kindeez: Learning to be Kind One Act at a Time (soon to be released). Sandy Lucido, co-owner and author said, “This book series was created to offer an alternative to a lot of the negative messaging in the world by showing how just one act of kindness can change people’s hearts.” Vincent and Sandy live in Southern California with their two children. Butterfly Fish Productions is excited to share the many projects and products of The Kindeez, with their message of kindness to all.
Product Availability
The Kindeez Stay-at-Home Coloring Book is available now for free digital download at thekindeez.com.
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THE KINDEEZ and related logos, and the name and appearance of each character, are copyright and trademarks of Vincent Lucido and Sandra Lucido. BUTTERFLY FISH PRODUCTIONS and logo are trademarks of Vincent Lucido and Sandra Lucido.
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