We see Namco Bandai bringing us new Naruto PSP games all the time, but have yet to see a Bleach: Heat the Soul game appear overseas. Somehow, it doesn’t seem fair. Thankfully, the PSP is region-free and fighting games transcend language, which means its fairly easy for people to import and enjoy a game like Bleach: Heat the Soul 7. However, while it is a good fighting game that is visually impressive, represents the Bleach series well and is fun to play, it doesn’t make the same strides forward as previous Heat the Soul entries. The result is a game that, while good, is okay to pass over if you’ve already purchased or played Heat the Soul 5 or 6…

While Naruto has been the king of shonen anime video games that have received North American releases, Bleach hasn’t exactly been out. There have been multiple DS and Wii games inspired by the series that received English releases. However, we’ve never seen one on a Sony platform outside Japan. NIS America has changed all that, by bringing Bleach: Soul Ignition to North American PS3s as Bleach: Soul Resurreccion. I’m sure Bleach fans were hoping for one of the Bleach: Heat the Soul games, but Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is definitely worth a look.

If you’re thinking about picking up Bleach: Soul Resurreccion for your PS3 next month, then odds are you’re a fan of the Bleach anime and manga series. Well, NIS America has a little treat for you. If you decide to be an early adopter, you won’t just get the game in your Bleach: Soul Resurreccion box. You’ll also get a voucher to download some episode of Bleach from the PlayStation Store….

While many Bleach games haven’t been released in North America, tons of have been released in Japan. One of the most popular series is the Bleach: Heat the Soul PSP fighting games. There have been seven so far, each one expanding on the last. The series began in March 2005 with the original Bleach: Heat the Soul, a rudimentary entry with a solid premise, even though it was lacking when it came to characters and the story mode.

NIS America had a big press event on May 13, 2011, where they happened to announce a number of surprises for fans. One of the biggest is that the company will be bringing the PS3 Bleach game, Bleach: Soul Resurrección, to North America. We totally did not see that coming! I know that I’m definitely glad to hear about it, and other PS3 owners should be too.

Bleach: Soul Resurrección isn’t a fighting game. Rather, it’s an open world, action game…

It’s been a while since Important Importables took a peek at Japanese music, so let’s do that this week, yes? That was rhetorical by the way. Don’t worry though, odds are you’ll like this column’s featured group – it’s UVERworld. Sure, you may not understand the lyrics when you listen to their music, but it has the same sort of feel as US popular rock and top-40 music. If you like songs from Anberlin, Relient K, Fall Out Boy, Ellegarden or Boys Like Girls, then you might enjoy listening to UVERworld too.

As the beta for NGames’ latest free-to-play, browser-based MMO draws nearer, the company has decided it’d probably be a good idea to reveal some details about it. I mean, it does want people to come and play after all. So “Project Ninja” has been officially dubbed Pockie Ninja! Those are some of the characters players will encounter on their own ninja adventure in the game. Wow – I’m experiencing some serious deja vu here.

Pockie Ninja will allow players to create a ninja character, learn lots of abilities and take on missions. As you play, you can change classes at any time. You’ll also be able to synthesis items and raise pets. It also looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen…

The first Bleach PS3 game is in development and while Sony has been tight-lipped about Bleach: Soul Ignition so far, information should start flowing in soon. After all, that’s what tends to happen after an official website is opened. Fans can head there right now and start looking at all the pretty pictures. It’s not like there’s much else to do there yet…

One of the best series, and most prolific, PSP fighting games in Japan happens to be 8ing and Sony’s Bleach: Heat the Soul. As you can guess, they’re all based on Tite Kubo’s world famous Bleach manga and anime series. There have been six entries released so far with a seventh on the way.

Unfortunately, none of the Bleach: Heat the Soul games have been released outside of Japan. All of the entries are fighting games though, and very import friendly. If you don’t mind searching online, or have a Japanese PlayStation Store account, you can even download demos for some of the games. Plus, they all tend to be released in a cheaper greatest hit version within a year or so of being released.

With so many games, it can be difficult to determine which would be right for you. So let’s take a brief look at what’s special about each of the already available entries…

When animated series are successful enough, video game developers and publishers will try to cash in and create games that fans of the series will enjoy. While many of these games can fall under the shovelware umbrella, a few attempts stand out as truly entertaining and worthwhile endeavors.

This week’s installment of Important Importables is devoted to the best of the best, the anime games that were so good, even people who are unfamiliar with the original series seek them out. A few of them may seem incredibly familiar, as they even received worldwide releases. Rest assured though, the following 10 games and series are so good, you’ll enjoy them even if you’ve never even heard of the animes they’re based on.