Released in limited quantities at Comiket 87, Itaru Hinoue's (Clannad, Rewrite) newest visual novel Holy Breaker will be released in Japan next week by publisher Visual Arts. Involving a plot revolving around a conflict between magic users, the black witch Minase Tenma and the conjurer Haruka Abeno, they compete to gather ten magical weapons and gain untold power. The protagonist, Tsukomo Izumi becomes involved after he witnesses them fighting.

While in attendance at Anime on Display (AOD) 2015 in San Francisco, we had an exclusive opportunity to interview the up-and-coming Japanese illustrator P19. Known for her rich and colorful character design work with the visual novel company Light, she has served under their Sweetlight brand and has also done numerous illustrations for their series of novels. This includes Vamp on the Dead Line with author Madoka Igami and Himegitsune no Servant with author Kasuga Mikage, as well as doujinshi under the circle name, "practice." Learn all about her inspirations behind her upcoming Elements artbook, as well as her thoughts on being a professional artist in Japan!

Featuring stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Mexico, all-female Japanese band SCANDAL has announced that tickets for their 2015 North American tour are now on sale, along with a select number of VIP tickets. Click the jump for more information.

Earlier today, SEGA announced that anime/manga fighter Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax will be released this summer on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Featuring characters including Asuna from Sword Art Online, Kuroyukihime from Accel World and support characters like Touma Kamijou from A Certain Magical Index and Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!, this fighting mashup takes manga characters straight out of the Dengki Bunko magazine in Japan and fields them against each other in SEGA-themed worlds.

Yesterday, UK-based video game publisher PQube announced their plans to release MAGES., 5pb. and Science Adventure Team's critically acclaimed visual novel Steins;Gate to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in both Europe and North America sometime next year 2015.

In conjunction with Otakon Vegas 2015, Japanese and anime music label Lantis Records recently announced that they will be bringing seven major artists to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on January 16th and 17th to spread word about Anisong to American fans. Scheduled to tour across six cities, Lantis will be kicking off the ANISONG WORLD TOUR- LANTIS FESTIVAL in Nevada to bring American fans the enjoyment of anime and video game music.

Featured singers include: JAM Project, Yoko Ishida, Yousei Teikoku, ChouCho, Faylan, Sayaka Sasaki and bamboo of milktub fame.

Earlier today, Japanese rock band SCANDAL's newest album Hello World, was released on iTunes and Amazon. Featuring their newest single "Image," which features a composition and lyrics by MAMI, Hello World looks to be the group's latest success in a long line of albums that have all achieved top 5 status on the Oricon Charts in Japan.

If you're a fan of games and anime, then Universal Studios Japan has a special treat for you! Well, that is assuming you're planning on booking a trip to Japan sometime within the beginning of 2015. From January 23 to May 10, UNIVERSAL COOL JAPAN will be taking over the amusement park for a total of 108 days. In addition to the previously announced Biohazard (Resident Evil) and Monster Hunter, the main attraction for Universal Cool Japan will also include a special 4D Evangelion attraction along with a full reproduction of a life-sized Titan from Attack on Titan to showcase these special entertainment brands in an immersive environment. More details on the attractions themselves after the jump.

Earlier this week, the official Japanese website for the pop duo ClariS was updated with a character visual for the newest member Karen, illustrated by Otohiko Takano. As the replacement for Alice, who left the duo to focus on her studies, Karen made her debut with the song "Clear Sky," which was included as a bonus CD with M-ON! Entertainment's Lis Ani! Magazine.

The magazine also revealed that the duo will be singing the ED for the upcoming Tsukimonogatari anime, Border and that they will be doing their very first live show during Lis Ani! Live 5 on January 25, 2015.

Fueled by the passion of Key fans worldwide, English localization group, Sekai Project's recently released Kickstarter campaign for the translation of CLANNAD managed to reach its target stretch goal of over $140,000.00 within twenty-four hours of its launch. Currently, both the $1,000.00 and $7,000.00 pledge tiers are all sold out, with Sekai Project hinting that they are currently looking to adding a few more spots to the $1,000.00 tier which includes an exclusive B2 tapestry and autographed copy of the game by Key artist Itaru Hinoue. The company has also announced that they are currently exploring bringing over the HD assets from the PlayStation 3 release of CLANNAD.