Archive for 'Anime' Category

Gundam’s Zeon Empire Forms Sister State Alliance with Saitama

The Japanese prefecture of Saitama announced on Friday that it would become sister states with the fictional Principality of Zeon from the Mobile Suit Gundam anime.

Prefectural assemblyperson Takumi Tamura explained the alliance in the assembly’s special budget committee, saying that Saitama agreed to it in hopes of gaining interest from tourists. “I think there’s plenty of worth in trying it out,” he said.

There were men in their 60s who attended the meeting and were baffled at the agreement with the Principality of Zeon, as they had no idea what it was.

The designer of Gundam. Yoshiyuki Tomino, has been living in Niiza, Saitama for over 30 years.

100 “life-size” Doraemon figures at Hakone event

One hundred “life-size” figures of the popular comic character Doraemon will adorn areas in and around Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, as part of an event running from March 9 through 31,

Each Doraemon figure will have a different facial expression and “secret tools” that the character is known for, according to Odakyu, which operates trains linking central Tokyo with the scenic Hakone area.

The dolls to be displayed during this year’s event were newly created, according to sources familiar with the matter.

http://www.odakyu-dora100.jp/

Katsuhiro Otomo Unveils Short Peace Film Teaser

Short Peace, the omnibus of four shorts by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Memories, Steamboy) and other leading anime creators, will open in Japan on July 20. The official website began streaming a teaser trailer.

Short Peace is an omnibus project assembling “top creators at the leading edge of Japanese animation, exploring possible future avenues of expression.” Short Peace is also the title of a collection of Otomo’s manga shorts that was first published in the 1970s. Yasumasa Tsuchiya is producing the shorts at Sunrise.

“Combustible” already debuted in a preview screening in Japan last April, and the Annecy Film Festival in France presented both “Combustible” and “Tsukumo” last June. “Combustible” also played at the Platform International Animation Festival in Los Angeles in October. The short won the Grand Prize in the Animation division of the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards and the Noburou Oofuji Award in the 67th Annual Mainichi Film Awards.

The four shorts are:

“Combustible” (“Hi-no-youjin”)
Screenplay, Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Character Design, Visual Concept: Hidekazu Ohara
Music: Makoto Kubota

“Tsukumo”
Screenplay, Director: Shuhei Morita (Kakurenbo, Freedom)
Original Story Concept, Conceptual Design: Keisuke Kishi

“Gambo”
Director: Hiroaki Ando (Five Numbers!)
Original Story Concept, Screenplay, Creative Director: Katsuhito Ishii (Redline, Funky Forest: The First Contact, Taste of Tea)
Character Design: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion, .hack, Summer Wars)

“Buki yo Saraba”
Original Story: Katsuhiro Otomo
Screenplay, Director: Hajime Katoki (mechanical designs in Gundam franchise, Super Robot Wars)
Character Design: Tatsuyuki Tanaka (Tojin Kit)

Prime Minister Abe promises to keep supporting “Cool Japan”policy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave his governmental policy speech at the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives of the Diet on Feb.28. In that address he referred to the importance of  Japan’s remaining a tourism-oriented country.

 

Today  Thomas Yayi Boni, the president of  republic of  Benin in Africa was invited and observed the session. Yayi Boni currently serves as chairperson of Africa Union ,and  now, TICAD5 (Tokyo International Conference on African Development 5) is planned to be hosted in Yokohama Kanagawa Pref.  Jun.1-3.

Abe  declared in his remark that Japan Government will retain the tourism-oriented country policy and  said, “Japanese contents, fashion, and the strength of our culture and tradition has got much attention all over the world. Anime and other items’ booms should not end up  temporary fads, and let us enhance Cool Japan as our business that we can take pride in so that it should become something we can boast to the world with us promoting tourism-oriented country policy that attracts people in the world. “.

“N-dimensional original tourism anime pilgrimage/Contents-tourism/possibilities of the sociology of tourism”

A book “N-dimensional original tourism anime pilgrimage/Contents-tourism/possibilities of the sociology of tourism” (/「ｎ次創作観光　アニメ聖地巡礼/コンテンツツーリズム/観光社会学の可能性」), an academic work written by Takeshi Okamoto, a researcher of  the sociology of tourism at Kyoto Bunkyo University  was issued by bouken book store(http://bouken.thebase.in/).

“N-dimensional tourism” is a new concept produced by the author who is a professional of sociology of tourism that fans of anime works create flows of tourism like the way  they create their own “applied works” of the original works in “two-dimensional work” to “three-dimensional work” or others as “original developments”.  fans’ visiting “the holy place” of manga or anime works’ settings(“the pilgrimage of  the anime sanctuaries”) is a typical development of this kind, he explains.  He states about his theory of  possibilities of  developments of tourism industry making much of the huge influences of  such fans’ psychology , mentality,and acts tendencies.

‘Glass Mask’ manga gets gag anime

Suzue Miuchi（美内すずえ）’s Glass Mask (ガラスの仮面/Glass no Kamen) manga is getting a gag anime adaptation starting this April.
Image © Suzue Miuchi/Hakusensha 2013 © 2013 Glass no Kamen Desu ga Production Committee

DLE Inc. (Thermae Romae, Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume Neo) is producing the Glass no Kamen Desu ga (It’s Glass Mask But) television anime series.

Image © Suzue Miuchi/Hakusensha 2013 © 2013 Glass no Kamen Desu ga Production Committee

The anime will re-imagine the story with the characters Maya Kitajima and her rival Ayumi Himekawa being “yankee” (delinquent) girls who both aspire to be the leader of the “Crimson Goddess” gang. The series of three-minute shorts will air on BS12 on Sundays starting on April 7. The show will have a total of 17 episodes. Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web is currently hosting character designs for the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Megan Fox x Ninja Turtles

Actress Megan Fox has been cast in the new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie, according to filmmaker Michael Bay, who directed the actress in two Transformers films.
Megan Fox megan

The two appear to have resolved their differences after Fox compared Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview. The actress was replaced by British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the third Transformer film after making the comment.

Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists.

From their home in the storm sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society-at-large.

Ninja Hattori-kun Anime’s Indian Remake to Air in Japan

The India-produced Ninja Hattori-kun animated television series remake will premiere in Japan on May 13.

The remake had been slated to premiere in Japan last summer. The original Ninja Hattori-kun anime debuted in India in 2006, and the remake premiered on the Nick India channel in May 2012.

The 26-episode series was produced by Shinei Animation, a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Asahi, and Reliance MediaWorks, a major Indian production company. It was pitched to Asian broadcasters last year. The project is the first new animated program in nearly 25 years for Ninja Hattori-kun, the comedy action manga/anime franchise from Doraemon co-creator Motoo Abiko or “Fujiko Fujio (A).”

New York International Children’s Film Festival　X Mamoru Hosoda

The New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYCIFF) revealed on Tuesday that it will host director Mamoru Hosoda（細田守/Wolf Children, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) for two Q&A sessions after the screening of Wolf Children on Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Wolf Children

The film is also screening during the festival on March 10 at 10:30 a.m. and March 24 at 4:30 p.m. The film’s story covers 13 years and begins with a 19-year-old college student named Hana who encounters and falls in “fairy tale-like” love with a “wolf man.” After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth and raises two wolf children — an older sister named Yuki (“snow”) who was born on a snowy day, and a younger brother named Ame (“rain”) who was born on a rainy day. When the wolf man suddenly dies, Hana decides to move to a rural town far removed from the city.

Mamoru Hosoda（細田守)

Doraemon’s Secret Gadget Cafe Opens

To celebrate the 55th anniversary of founding of the company, TV Asahiturned its “Cafe Chez Madu” in the first-floor atrium of its headquarters into “Doraemon’s Secret Gadget Cafe.” The cafe opened to the public on Friday and will be in service for a limited time to tie-in with the March 9 opening of the new movie EigaDoraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dōgu Museum (Doraemon: Nobita’s Secret Gadget Museum).

Like its movie counterpart, the cafe has been entirely transformed into a museum, from the Dokodemo Door (Anywwhere Door) at the entrance, to the tables and chairs. Fans of the show will find all sorts of replicas of well-known Doraemon gadgets, such as the Small Light, a lamp that shrinks objects to small sizes.

The cafe’s food menu provides adult and child-sized portions, such as the “4D Pocket Sandwich,” with ham in the shape of a Dokodemo Door and a cheese Bamboocopter for 600 yen (about US$6.50), a chicken sandwich with Doraemon’s bell motif, and a 4-cheese “Dora-gratin” with brown rice. For dessert, customers can enjoy “French Toast de Ankipan” based on Doraemon’s Memory Bread for 900 yen (US$9.70). As for drinks, customers can order lattes decorated with Doraemon characters, flavored milk, and set of smoothies — one Doraemon smoothie made with bananas, or an orange-colored Dorami-chan smoothie made with pineapple and mango.

http://mantan-web.jp/gallery/2013/02/01/20130201dog00m200024000c/003.html

Wii U released

The newest version of  Nintendo Wii, one of the most popular video game sets on Dec.8th.

 

The new game set comes in two colors of black and white. And  there are two types of a Basic Set of ￥26,500 and Premium Set of ￥31,500.  In the first day’s morning,  a lot of people stood in line to buy one, at some stores more than 300 people.   Wii U is a next generation type of Wii, which has sold more than 9,700 sets. The new type has an excellent  color handy monitor and Wii U game soft wares have started released as well.  The Basic Set includes minimum items of game hardware, while the Premium Set includes a stand set and other extra accompanying items.

Gundam Santa

The life-size Gundam statue is being decorated with holiday lights.

A “Gundam Santa” presentation will run from December 25 to Christmas Day.

The decorations include a Gundam Santa riding a White Base sled being driven by Zakrello reindeer, as well as the A Baoa Qu fortress transformed into an upside-down Christmas tree.

“Evangelion Q”, the newest episode of “Eva” released at movie theaters

“Evangelion Q” ,  the newest episode of  “Evangelion”, one of the most popular anime work series of  Japanese sci-fi anime was released at movie theaters on Nov.17th. http://www.evangelion.co.jp/news.html

 

 

“Manga Tottori Kingdom” – series of manga events

A series of manga related events are being held in Tottori Pref., which is the home area of  Shigeru Mizuki, one of the oldest working manga artist who is the creator of  Japanese monster manga works such as “Ge ge ge no Kitaro”.  http://manga-tottori.jp/?id=158

The series of  the Kingdom’s events will have been held  2012. April- 2013 March.

No.1 song of the best 30 songs of JASRAC-“The One and Only Flower in the World”

JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights Authors,Composers and publishers ) announced the best selling 30 songs 1982-2011  on Nov.6th, in token of commemorating the 30th anniversary of  JASRAC Award. http://www.jasrac.or.jp/ejhp/index.htm

The No.1 song is “The One and Only Flower of the World”(/世界に１つだけの花）, made by  Noriyuki Makihara and  sung by SMAP.

The song has won some awards as well . And in its lyrics, it sings “You don’t have to become No.1, you are inherently  one and only..”, but the song is quite popular nationwide or even internationally, and actually has “become No.1” song.

Some of other 30 songs are Enka, some are Anime songs, such as “Evngelion” BGM, “Gundam BGM” and others.