Happy Sunday, everybody, and welcome to an all-new AniWeekly. Last week was a huge one for the gamers out there, in particular, with some big reveals and surprising happenings that had fans at the edge of their seats.

Throughout last week, runners from around the globe gathered in Virginia for Awesome Games Done Quick, the annual event where runners put their skills to the test for charity. This year’s event was the biggest yet, bringing in over $2.2 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation with a number of truly amazing runs. From an blazing-fast play through the original Final Fantasy, to a truly breathtaking relay through the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, it seemed like the action just didn’t stop. It was fitting, then, that after the now-famed Super Metroid race, the team put a beautiful cap on the event with indie darling Undertale.

On a more grand scale, Nintendo took the wraps off their Nintendo Switch console on January 12. The event, which was streamed live, featured early looks at the latest Mario game titled Super Mario Odyessy, a new Shin Megami Tensei, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In North America, this was followed by the members of Nintendo’s Treehouse localization team demoing titles live throughout the next day. In Japan, a public play event was held at Tokyo’s Big Sight (home of Comiket), which featured entertainment from the Nintendo house band, as well as prominent entertainment figures like Game Center CX host Shinya Arino.

This week’s anime landscape seemed a bit less crazy in comparison, but there were still a lot to surprises, the biggest of which being Amazon’s new Anime Strike channel. We’ll be your guides through the headlines, as we show off all the news and community views that are fit to read!

In the News

Strike the blood, I mean anime. Amazon unveiled their first of (possibly) many dedicated sub-channels last week. Anime Strike is an add-on to Amazon Prime Video which, for the price of $5 per month, allows access to over 1,000 anime episodes. This includes the latest Noitamina properties like Scum’s Wish.

Aqours, snowshine! The leading ladies of Love Live! Sunshine!! idol group Aqours are on their way to Sapporo! Well, kind of. Snow sculptures of all nine idols, from Chika to Hanamaru and Yohane, will be represented in snow, as well as the obvious merch.

This one’s scattering to the four winds. NIS America’s license for House of Five Leaves is slated to expire. Though a specific date wasn’t revealed by the publisher, NIS revealed that they have no plans to renew.

Climbing the tower of Babel, looking for a rescue. Discotek Media rescued the license to anime classic Babel II. They plan to release the title on DVD in April, with both the Japanese and Streamline’s English dub included.

Epic rap battles of anime! Sentai Filmworks unveiled their full English dub cast for Amagi Brilliant Park. The series will star Adam Gibbs as Seiya Kanie, and Molly Searcy as Isuzu Sento.

Behold Kyoto’s latest cultural ambassador! The Eccentric Family anime was named a Kyoto Special Goodwill Ambassador, which honors the series (and its upcoming sequel) for “develop[ing] the brand of Kyoto and its tourism.” A ceremony was held at Shimogamo Shrine to celebrate the news. At the event, the show’s staff unveiled a pair of key visuals, while the show’s official website updated with a promotional video.

There are no jokes here. At all. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Jung-hyun Park on homicide charges. Park, age 41, allegedly murdered his 38 year-old wife at their home last year. Park is the assistant editor-in-chief of Kodansha’s Morning magazine, and served as the first editor for the Attack on Titan manga.

Can you feel the Greenlight inside? The Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs video game has hit Steam Greenlight! The page features a new trailer for the project, as well as a “third quarter 2017” release window.

An anime classic returns to theaters. The original Ghost in the Shell anime film is returning to theaters! Funimation and Lionsgate are teaming up to screen the movie in 110 US theaters on February 7 and 8.

The envelope, please. Crunchyroll unveiled the winners in their first-ever Anime Awards. Thirteen categories were unveiled, including Hero of the Year and Best Drama, were unveiled. Anime of the Year will be shown off in a live presentation on January 28.

From the AniBlogging Community

Let’s get mundane! …Wait. Atelier Emily takes a look at Little Witch Academia‘s new TV series, and how it portrays the fantastic and the mundane, and how Trigger uses both to really breathe life into the series.

Anime babies: super real edition. Ogiue Maniax takes a look at babies in anime, and those rare moments when things just get real.

Weekly Fun Stuff!

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is slated to be the first Nintendo Switch game. At the same time, it’s also the last Nintendo Wii U game. With both versions of the game hitting on March 3, there’s bound to be a few folks making direct comparisons between them. The folks at GameXPlain have gotten a head start, offering side-by-side footage from the Wii U and Switch versions of the game’s demo.

It’s an interesting sight, for sure, which really shows off the sacrifices to make the Wii U SKU run well.