Fans have long wondered whether the anime adaptation of horror auteur Junji Ito's magnum opus, Uzumaki, would finally get an official release date or spiral into another delay. Some good news just dropped in that regard: the long-awaited anime will apparently premiere on Adult Swim later this year.

In a recent interview with the Japan Times, Ito not only revealed that the anime would finally be released within the calendar year, but he also said that the first episode of the four-episode miniseries has been completed and lives up to his expectations.

It's been a whirlwind of a year and we're excited to finally be able to show you this! Enjoy! https://t.co/3uq8l4R7MZ

— UzumakiAnime (@UzumakiAnime1) July 23, 2023

Uzumaki's anime adaptation, which is being co-produced by Adult Swim and Ghost in the Shell studio Production I.G, was originally slated to be released on Toonami in 2020 before it was delayed in 2021, pushed back to October 2022 due to COVID, and delayed a third time without a new release date in June of 2022.

At the time, the official X/Twitter account for the anime released a statement about Production I.G needing more time to work on the adaptation to ensure it recreated "the quality of the intricate designs and detailed line work" of Uzumaki.

米カートゥーン・ネットワーク／Adult Swimの放送枠「Toonami」で放送予定のアニメ「うずまき」放送延期のお知らせです🙇！！
改めての正式リリース発表を今しばらくお待ちくださいませ！！ https://t.co/OHGHY0sQRh

— 伊藤潤二 (@junjiitofficial) June 28, 2022

“As much as we’d like to deliver this show to the public as soon as possible, we don’t want to compromise its quality by delivering a mediocre final product," Uzumaki's production team wrote in the statement. "We remain fully committed to pursuing the completion of this work at the highest caliber. We’ll be back with a firm premiere date once we are confident this adaptation is as good as we know it can be.”

Uzumaki follows a high school girl named Kirie Goshima as she encounters a mysterious spiral pattern that suddenly crops up all over her hometown. Over time, the spiral becomes a source of obsession for the townsfolk, beckoning them to not only find the pattern throughout their daily lives but to become obsessed with it in increasingly gruesome ways.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada's official X/Twitter account has quickly become the fighting game community town square thanks in part to his extra long behind-the-scenes trivia posts and occasional Waffle House asides. Harada's latest bit of Tekken lore dump put to bed a long-running fandom perception that Tekken devs have always hated Anna Williams.

In an impromptu Q&A X/Twitter post, Harada responded to a fan's question about the relationship dynamic between Nina and Anna. In his 1,317-word response — which was written during his lunch break — Harada also addressed the community rumor about Tekken devs hating Anna by stating the exact opposite.

"By the way, there is a small group of people who believe that Anna is not loved by the development team and they even say that Anna is hated [by the] dev team," Harada wrote. "Well, it doesn't matter, Because it's NOT true at all, but the Anna portrayed in the story of TEKKEN is filled with a lot of thoughts and feelings from me and the animation staff."

Two weeks ago, Square Enix made waves when it announced it would be teaming up again with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi for the Nintendo Switch release of his latest RPG, Fantasian: Neo Dimension. Despite the video game reunion being 30 years in the making, Sakaguchi tempered fans' expectations by saying the team-up would not spell his return to Final Fantasy or any other video games from his past.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Sakaguchi said that he has no interest in returning to Final Fantasy or any other games he contributed to. The 61-year-old's reasoning is simply that he has "switched to a consumer rather than a creator" — essentially, he'd rather just enjoy the games as a player then be privy to the behind-the-scenes details.

“If I take on the Final Fantasy brand again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to genuinely enjoy Final Fantasy XIV as much,” Sakaguchi told Bloomberg.

Sakaguchi also expressed disinterest in bringing other games he worked on, such as Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, to modern consoles. An exception to Sakaguchi's aversion to revisiting old games, however, is Terra Battle, a strategy game that was released in 2014 on iOS and Android devices but was delisted. According to the Bloomberg story, he would like to revive that title.

Sakaguchi began his career at Square Enix (then called Square) in 1983. During his 30-year tenure, Sakaguchi took inspiration from formative RPGs like Wizardry and Dragon Quest to make the first Final Fantasy. The game, as Bloomberg notes, saved the company from bankruptcy and went on to become a juggernaut in the video game industry, selling more than 185 million copies across the series. Sakaguchi would also go on to produce other pivotal RPGs like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. He officially parted ways from Square Enix in 2003 with Final Fantasy X-2 as his final contribution to the series he created.

Since leaving Square, Sakaguchi started a new video game company called Mistwalker with fellow Final Fantasy collaborators. Key among them is the series' famed composer, Nobuo Uematsu. Fantasian Neo Dimension — which was previously an Apple Arcade exclusive — will launch on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam this winter.

Thumbnail credit: Jun Sato/WireImage

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Acolyte's fifth episode! If you haven't already, be sure to check out IGN's review of The Acolyte: Episode 5.

The Acolyte's fifth episode rejuvenated Star Wars fans' affinity toward the series thanks to its kick-ass lightsaber fight scene and palpable online fervor for its villain's exposed musculature. While The Master's ties to series villains like Kylo Ren have yet to be officially revealed, his flowy armor and yoked arms owe their inspiration to a surprising source: scantily clad Elden Ring badasses like Let Me Solo Her.

In a recent interview with Inverse, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland shed some light on the early character design process of The Master (AKA The Stranger AKA Qimir), played by Manny Jacinto. Speaking with Inverse, Headland revealed that Qimir's look — which ditches heavy armor for minimalistic flowing garments — took visual cues from Elden Ring player summons.

"So much of Qimir was understanding how to use your body and not just standing there in a suit or being encumbered by a suit," Headland said. "We were like, 'We have to get him in something flowy.' As soon as I said he didn’t have armor, everyone lost their mind. 'How can you not have armor?' I was like, 'Why would you wear armor if you’re not going to get hit?' It’s like the Elden Ring costume. The Elden Bling. When you summon people, you always summon the people that aren’t wearing anything, and it’s like, 'These people are fucking crazy.'"

At one point in the interview, Headland responded to Qimir's arms being a huge draw for newfound and longtime fans, saying she and Jacinto anticipated the reveal to be a big moment for fans. What's more, the design almost didn't get to see the light of day.

"His character design was a long process. I mean, it was for everybody, but specifically for his character, to create a new Sith. Sith have been done so well, so it was very difficult to say 'All right, this is a guy in hiding. This is the guy that moves differently. This guy’s helmet has a different purpose…' and having to unpack that," Headland said. "I remember we were showing [Jacinto] a Qimir costume sketch, and it just showed his arms a little bit, and he was like, 'No.' He’s not a guy that says no very often. He’s very collaborative. He’ll do anything for you. I was surprised. But then I saw his first screen test with the whole outfit, and I was like, “Ha, ha, ha!”

Although Headland didn't explicitly state that Qmir's design was inspired by Elden Ring community legends like Let Me Solo Her, his visual motifs and fighting style do evoke the gamer's style. Let Me Solo Her made a name for themselves in the Elden Ring community as a sword for hire of sorts who'd take on some of the game's hardest boss fights for players, like Malenia. A key component of Let Me Solo Her's lore is that they would accomplish all these feats with dual blades. Qimir doesn't go so far as to fight virtually in the nude, but his lightsaber-disabling helmet, dual-blade saber, and aggressive fighting style elicit a similar combat style to seasoned Elden Ring players.

"Yeah, you have to go in with that offensive attitude, especially with those bosses," Headland said in reference to Elden Rings's boss fights. "You can’t be getting back and panic rolling. You have to be aggressive with them. You have to roll into things."

In our review, we gave The Acolyte Episode 5 a 9/10, writing, "In a notably exciting and brutal episode, The Master is unleashed and unmasked, leading to thrilling and shocking results that truly upend the series."

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

It's been two years since Zack Snyder fans had their prayers answered with the release of his cut of Justice League. Now, the famed comic book director has taken to social media to tease fans with the possibility of Justice League getting a theatrical release.

On July 2, Snyder issued a temperature check of sorts with DC fans and their affinity for his version of Justice League on his official Vero account. In the post, which was accompanied by a black-and-white still of Ben Affleck's Batman, Snyder cryptically wrote, "Want to see ZSJL on the big screen… Stay tuned for a date." IGN has reached out to Warner Bros. for clarification on the cryptic post.

The film's journey into being came after a fan campaign demanding Warner Bros. release the #SnyderCut of the Justice League, which Snyder had to drop out of directing in 2017 in the wake of a family tragedy. In his absence, Warner Bros. turned to The Avengers director Joss Whedon to helm the film, which resulted in rewrites and reshoots. The film's initial release garnered middling reviews from moviegoers and critics alike for its uneven handling of comedic tones and sloppy execution of what was meant to be DC's first major crossover film.

After roughly five years of fervent social media campaigning from fans — which routinely went overboard and may have involved bot manipulation — Zack Snyder's Justice League went from rumor to the real deal when it premiered on HBO Max on March 18, 2022. Snyder's version of Justice League distinguishes itself from Whedon's not only in its 2 hours and 2 minutes of extra runtime, but it's also formatted in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

In our review of Zack Snyder's Justice League, we gave the film an 8 out of 10 and wrote simply, "The Theatrical Cut is dead. Long live The Snyder Cut."

Given that it was an HBO Max exclusive, Zack Snyder's Justice League never got a theatrical release, so one two years after the fact would certainly be a big deal for fans. Should that actually come to fruition, the film's aspect ratio will certainly feel right at home on the big screen.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Warner Bros. Discovery has moved up the release date for Wicked a week ahead of its originally slated fall theatrical release. The film, which tells the untold story of Oz's witches, will now be released on November 22.

According to Variety, Wicked's new release date was seemingly made to avoid having its opening weekend compete against Disney's Moana 2, which hits theaters on November 27. The film's new release date will now have the Hollywood adaptation of the hit Broadway play released on the same day as director Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2.

Chances are Wicked and Gladiator 2's shared release date won't result in a split audience of musical lovers like what might have happened had Wicked come out alongside Moana 2.

Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz that tells the origin story of Elphaba, otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West. The story follows the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, a woman discriminated against for her green skin, and Glinda, a popular witch who aims to find her born in privilege. Actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande play Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The film was first announced back in 2021 and is being directed by Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M Chu.

Wicked is the first part of a duology. Its sequel, Wicked: Part 2, is set to release on November 26, 2025.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh