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Slam Dunk Manga, Precure Anime Made into Online Games

Not-So-Daily Links of the Day: Manga creator Takehiko Inoue is supervising Slam Dunk Online, a Korean game adaptation of his Slam Dunk basketball manga. Goorm Interactive and Daiwon Media are developing the game with a story rooted in the original manga and with all the manga's main characters. A closed beta test will begin in the middle of January, and an open beta test is slated for the first half of 2010. Viz Media is publishing the sixth manga volume this month, and episodes of the anime are available from ANN, IGN, Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Joost.

Toei Animation and Cosmo Mark Online officially launched Precure Online, a game based on the ongoing Fresh Precure! anime series, on October 8 in Japan. The game recreates the anime's world of Clover Town, and users (primarily children) can create their own avatars to experience life there and interact with Love Momozono, Miki Aono, Inori Yamabuki, and the other anime characters. Other than the Adobe Flash Player software, the system does not require any new software to be installed. A sample of the gameplay is available for testing with no registration required. Canada's YTV channel is running the remaining episodes in the first Futari wa Pretty Cure anime, and Toei is distributing the first anime on IGN's Direct2Drive and also on the Crunchyroll video-sharing website.

Other manga and anime that have been adapted or will be adapted into online games include Fist of the North Star by GungHu Online Entertainment, Appleseed by Gamepot, and Dragon Ball by NTL.

Instead of an online game, Furyu is adapting Mayu Shinjo's Sensual Phrase (Kaikan Phrase) manga into a Nintendo DS romance adventure game called Datenshi no Amai Yūwaku x Kaikan Phrase (Fallen Angel's Sweet Temptation x Sensual Phrase). Shinjo herself is supervising the standalone story, in which the player becomes the Lucifer rock band's lyricist and falls in love with the male characters. The game will ship in Japan on February 18. Pre-ordered copies of the game will come with a drama CD titled Datenshi no Amai Nyūyoku (Fallen Angel's Sweet Bath), in which the six main characters appear in scenes cut from the game. Viz Media published the entire manga series in North America.

Source: 4gamer.net, animeanime.jp, Comic Natalie

Images © ABC, Toei Animation
© Mayu Shinjo © Furyu Corporation 2009

Update: North American availability of Futari was Pretty Cure and Sensual Phrase added.