With just under a year until it's release, we have our first official image from the sci-fi film, Ghost in the Shell, starring Scarlett Johansson. The movie, based on the massively popular anime and manga series, has been criticized for it's casting choice of an American actress over a Japanese actresses for the role. Fans are sounding off on twitter and various other social media sites. While the movie is retaining the name of the original characters and setting, this is far from the first manga adaptation (even recently) to 'whitewash' the main role. Ghost in the Shell is due out in theater March 31st, 2017 and also stars actors Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, and Takeshi Kitano.

There's no debating that Attack on Titan (also know as Shingeki No Kyojin) was the largest launch of a new manga series in popularity in quite a long time. The franchise felt like an over night hit with it's viral theme song, spin off series, multiple video games, and even two live action films but anime fans are still left scratching their heads wondering where season 2 is. Creator Hajime Isayama and anime director Tetsuro Araki have announced that the anime will most likely not be arriving in 2016 due to the fact that it's not yet far enough ahead of the manga series. They claim that the suspense was kept alive due mostly to the fact that the manga and anime series ran together. While this isn't anything new for big manga series, it's a bit disappointing for anime fans considering the fact that the series concluded it's first season in 2013 and I wouldn't be shocked if we didn't see a second season until 2017 if not longer than that. There's always options the creators could take like creating filler arcs like popular series Naruto and Bleach have done in the past, creating original story lines just for the anime series. Seeing as that is not the intention of the creators, it looks like we'll just have to be patient but fans can read the series that is currently two story arcs from where the anime series left off back in 2013.

VR is heading in the right direction especially with the latest news that IBM is working on a title centered around the massively popular anime series, Sword Art Online. A short teaser debuted showing off how the game is planning to immerse players into the RPG universe. Using a "cognitive system," players will use their bodies to make in game decision. An alpha test will be available from March 18th-20th in Tokyo and there's an official site where you're able to sign up for it now! Sword Art Online centers around the premise of characters finding themselves stuck inside a virtual reality game, fighting for their lives to return to the real world. Let's hope life doesn't imitate art. Take a look at the teaser below!

It's no secret that the Dragon Ball series is on a roll and it looks like we're getting another new title. Previews in Japan's V Jump magazine, a new title from Bandai Games, Dragon Ball: Project Fusion, has been confirmed for the 3DS with a 2016 release window in Japan. If that's not awesome news, it looks like the image above will show a fusion between Goku and the legendary saiyan Broly in the game as well! There's a bigger image from the magazine below but get excited as we hear more news about this tentatively titled game as the year progresses.

Anime fans rejoice! A major company is bringing some new mobile gaming titles from some very popular series. Tokyo Ghoul and Fairy Tail will have their own titles in 2016 courtesy of a deal through animation company, FUNimation alongside NGames and GameSamba. The Tokyo Ghoul project will have players acting as a ghoul and choosing whether or not to attack or protect humans. The Fairy Tail title on the other hand will be closer to an RPG that should feature some elements of customization. Are you fans of these series and will you be picking up their titles when they're released in 2016?

The gang is back! Digimon Adventure Tri, the continuation to the original Digimon Adventure series has finally debuted and you can watch the first four episodes in the U.S. right now through steaming service Crunchyroll. Digimon Adventure Tri see's our heroes 3 years after the events at the end of Digimon Adventure 2 and dealing with their own priorities before a rift in the digital realm creating a disturbance and letting lose foes both old and new. The series, which will be 6 films, will be released in episodic format and will be streamed through Crunchyroll, the first region film DVD, Saikai, is available now and the second is scheduled for release next March.

Anime might be hard to navigate by the season by I have a few recommendations for you if you're looking for something new or something great to get into!

The first is One Punch Man. To be frank, I didn't know a thing about this series before I watched it other than the main character was bald and his name is Saitama. What I got was one of the most hilarious anime series I've seen in years. One Punch Man features a protagonist so hilariously over powered that he kills a villain with a move called "consecutive normal punches." His biggest flaw is that he's trained so hard, he's able to kill anything with just one hit. The shows amazing and pokes fun at a lot of older action anime series. It's currently on it's second episode and you'll definitely want to give this one a shot. Take a look at a few mother under the jump.

Good news for anime fans! The popular series, Sword Art Online, will be getting the feature length film treatment. Revealed over the weekend at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival and later confirmed on the official website alongside a new trailer! Get excited for a brand new, virtual adventure, that's sure to be great if it's anything like the series!

The star of The Fault In Our Stars, Paper Towns and most recently, The Intern, has apparently been chosen for the lead of the live action adaptation of the iconic thriller manga and anime, Death Note. Death Note follows Light Yagami, a high school boy who finds a notebook that can kill any person who's name is written in it. The anime and manga series themselves have been immensely popular, spawning a 2006 live action film in Japan as well as winning various awards throughout the 2000's. With production to start in the spring and Adam Wingard behind the lens, let's hope this turns out to be a good adaptation that does this amazing story well!

Before we see the live action version of the iconic anime series, Ghost in the Shell, it looks like we'll be getting a video game and from the looks of it, it's a bit different from the series we know and love. The game will feature a free to play game mechanic, setting players against against one another in what appears to be some first person action. The game will feature 8 customization players and will run a closed BETA from the 1st-4th of October. From the looks of the trailer, the game really feels like it's just borrowing characters from the GitS series and putting them in a pretty average looking multiplayer shooter. Hopefully I'm wrong but until we find out for sure, take a look at the official launch trailer for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - First Assault Online!