Genki’s *Tokyo Xtreme Racer* is back after nearly 20 years! While there were a couple of mobile versions, this arcade-style racing series has returned in full force. It launched on Steam this week after an early access period that began in January, and will soon be available on PS5.
Since Halloween falls at the end of October, all these streaming services are adding lots of scary movies and shows this month. You’ll be able to find the first three *Scream* films on several platforms, while HBO Max will have the *Nightmare on Elm Street* series featuring Freddy Krueger. Hulu is offering most of the *Saw* movies to its subscribers.
Disney+ is launching a 24/7 streaming channel dedicated to *The Simpsons’* “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The channel will play all 35 “Treehouse of Horror” specials in order, continuously. Disney+ also promises some extra surprises for viewers. This marks the first time all of these spooky Simpsons specials will be shown in sequential order.
Over time, instead of thriving, Bungie started to struggle. *Destiny 2* lost many loyal fans due to frustrating choices about how the game was funded and balanced. Their next major project, *Marathon*, initially generated a lot of excitement, but recent issues – including disagreements, company choices, and unstable early testing – suggest Bungie might be losing its momentum, especially with the delays to *Marathon’s* release.
James Gunn told *Entertainment Weekly* he expected the script cover he shared would get fans speculating. He acknowledged, “I knew posting that cover would start a conversation,” but added that he’s not ready to reveal what it all means just yet.
Star Wars: Visions is a unique animated series featuring short films created by several famous Japanese anime studios. Each film tells an original story set within the Star Wars universe. So far, two volumes of these shorts have been released, and a third is coming to Disney+ this October. A new trailer has just been released, giving fans the best look yet at the upcoming shorts. You can watch it below!
Beginning October 10th, the film The Substance will be available to stream on HBO Max. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the movie features Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a popular aerobics instructor who loses her job due to her boss’s sexism. She then turns to a questionable black-market serum that promises a youthful transformation, but the results are terrifying. Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid also star in the film, which was a hit with both critics and audiences. It received five Academy Award nominations, including nods for Best Director (Fargeat) and Best Actress (Moore).
The anime series *Shenmue The Animation* debuted in 2022, a collaboration between Crunchyroll, Telecom Animation Film, and Adult Swim. For those unfamiliar, it’s based on the *Shenmue* video game series, which originally launched on the Sega Dreamcast. The anime follows the story of Ryo Hazuki, a young man on a journey to avenge his father’s death – a storyline that unfolded across three games released between 1999 and 2019. As of now, there are no plans for a second season.
Later in the first season, it’s revealed that Giyu broke the rules of the Demon Slayer Corps, doing something no other slayer – and certainly not a Hashira – would ever do. This shows us more about his character. While he believed the siblings were unique, he also had another reason for his actions. The original Japanese version with subtitles showed his intentions back in episode two, but the English dub altered this important scene. Because of this change, viewers who watched the dub didn’t learn Giyu’s true goal until the Hashira Training Arc, which came out in 2024 – five years after the anime first aired.
Marvel Studios’ animated shows haven’t been well-received either, facing similar criticism to their live-action series. A common complaint about shows like *What If…?*, *Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man*, *Eyes of Wakanda*, and now *Marvel Zombies* is the animation style. These series use a cel-shaded look, aiming to blend seamlessly with the live-action movies and characters fans are familiar with. However, this style has been criticized for a long time, making a recent sequence in *Marvel Zombies* particularly unexpected and puzzling. (Spoiler warning ahead.)