Tag: anime | RocketNews24

anime

Family Mart and Hatsune Miku team up to brighten your rainy days with limited edition umbrellas

2 days ago by Casey Baseel
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Each of Japan’s seasons has its own unique charm. Whether it’s the cherry blossoms of spring, fireworks on the beach in midsummer, crimson maple leaves in the fall, or a hot spring surrounded by winter snow, there’s something to enjoy at almost any point of the calendar.

The glaring exception, though, is the few weeks of rainy season during June, when the constant threat of sudden squalls make the weather report about as reliable as a third-rate palm reader. You’re pretty much guaranteed of getting caught in a shower at some point, and if you’re not lucky enough to be around a 100 yen shop at the time, you’re stuck ducking into a convenience store and paying a premium for a clear plastic umbrella you’ll probably throw away as soon as you get home and can swap it for your sturdier regular one.

Thankfully, convenience store chain Family Mart has a new product to take some of the sting out of that situation.

2 days ago by Mike
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China has something of a reputation for playing fast and loose with international copyright, even though the results sometimes get horribly mangled in translation. Nowhere is this more evident than these Doraemon cakes, which are so poorly designed, they border on depicting a different character entirely.

5 days ago by John Stuart Translations
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Keisuke Itagaki, creator of the Baki the Grappler manga series, has teamed up with Calbee to produce Grappler Baki potato chips.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Baki is a young wrestler who travels and fights around the world, honing his skills in the hopes of following in the footsteps of his father, Yujiro, to become the strongest fighter on the planet. In staying with the theme of strongest, Itagaki decided the Baki-themed chips should be flavored after one of the most powerful creatures to walk the planet, Tyrannosaurus rex. According to Itagaki, the packaging of the chips is also designed to reflect “forcefulness” and “intensity,” traits associated with the popular manga character.
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Tokyo Toy Fair: The only place you’ll see cute girls and Star Wars figures in the same room

5 days ago by Mike
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We used our journalistic cred to gain access to the Tokyo Toy Fair a few days in advance of the public. Don’t hate us–we did it for you!

Check out our gallery below, and please excuse any blurring. We’re perfectly comfortable interacting with Gundam models, but talking to female models gives us the shakes.

5 days ago by Mike
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After teasing a release of “something” for a month on their website, Bandai unveiled this painstakingly detailed figure of the iconic robot from Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky, to the delighted squeals of Ghibli geeks everywhere.

6 days ago by Casey Baseel
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With the rainy season already here in Japan it’s time to start planning out your summer activities. Anime fans already have July 20 marked on their calendars, being the day when the newest animated film from Studio Ghibli, The Wind Rises, is set to premier. With legendary studio head Hayao Miyazaki back in the director’s chair, expectations are sky high for the tale about Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane used by the Japanese military in World War II.

It’s normal to see trailers for upcoming films when you go to the movies, and some theatres are currently showing an extended four-minute preview for The Wind Rises. What’s unusual is some cinemas’ decision to show the preview directly following the conclusion of the feature film viewers just paid to see.

Jun 11, 2013 by Master Blaster
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The hit anime and manga title Attack on Titan (Shingeki No Kyojin) has grabbed readers and viewers with its combination of high-flying action and surprisingly disturbing giants.

More than just being violent, something about the titans in this series strikes the creepy chord perfectly in people. So when figure maker Kaiyodo released four capsule toys based on the series they wanted to make sure that feeling came through.

And come through it did. Be warned that some of these figures depict scenes of violence and gore.

Jun 7, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Convenience store giant 7-Eleven certainly knows its way to customers’ hearts. The store’s current Jump Heroes campaign–a collaboration with Shonen Jump Comics–is giving customers the chance to bag some pretty impressive prizes, with things like games consoles, tablet computers and even free hotel accommodation up for grabs.

Jun 5, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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Who needs copyrights when you’ve got over nine dozen iconic anime characters?

The past few years have seen a handful of anime projects featuring anime characters crossing over from one franchise to the other. Famed thief Lupin III crossed paths with the great detective Conan himself in 2009, and the pirates of One Piece have teamed up with both omnivorous master hunter Toriko and Dragon Ball hero Son Goku.

But what if instead of just combining one or two series, you tried to combine all of them?

Jun 5, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon. Since the series’ start as a manga comic serial in Kodanhsa’s Nakayoshi anthology, its team of planetary-themed, pleated skirt-wearing protectors of humanity have appeared in five seasons of televised anime, three theatrical features, a live action TV drama, and numerous video game adaptations.

Sailor Moon also inspired a live-action stage musical, with 27 variations and over 800 performances during its 12-year run that ended in 2005. As part of the franchise’s 20th anniversary festivities, a new version of the musical is set to open this fall, and producers have just announced the starring cast.

Jun 1, 2013 by Master Blaster
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For those who work in factories or on construction sites the equipment used might not be too awe-inspiring. However, when laymen lay their eyes on these huge hulks of machinery they can look confusing or downright terrifying.

Like looking at clouds and constellations, when people see something unusual with they can’t help but relate it to something more familiar. This is just what happened when a group of Japanese Twitter users shared their experiences with unknown machines and what it reminded them of.

May 31, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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First written as a children’s novel by Eiko Kadano in 1985, Kiki’s Delivery Service is the story of a 13-year-old witch who, following the traditions taught to her by her similarly magical mother, sets out to live by herself for a year to mature and learn about the world. The story achieved international fame with its 1989 theatrical anime adaptation, directed by industry legend Hayao Miyazaki and crafted by his team at Studio Ghibli.

Filming has begun on a live-action version of the story, and producers recently released the first still image from the set.

May 30, 2013 by Mike
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If there’s one thing Massively Multiplayer Online RPGS (MMOs) are known for, other than their marriage-destroying addictive qualities and almost cult-like fan communities, it’s the absolutely mind-numbing repetition of doing the same quests and activities over and over again to level up your character.

Realizing computers are pretty good at that whole mindless repetition thing while humans generally dislike it, one entrepreneurial Japanese geek has figured out a way to jury-rig PCs that will perform a leveling task for you over and over again and is offering them for sale on bidding site Yahoo! Auctions right now.

May 29, 2013 by Master Blaster
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Japanese animation has over the course of its evolution branched out into several sub-genres based on the proliferating light novels and manga series. While this is great, it seems as though the once-loved era of giant fighting robots seems to be slipping away.

Gundam‘s still chugging along and Evangelion has been enjoying its reboot, but there hasn’t been a whole lot new going on. Enter Abu Dhabi-based Alter Ego Productions with their trailer for Torkaizer which offers a fresh look on a classic genre.

May 29, 2013 by Oona McGee
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Hokkaido and its capital, Sapporo, are known for many great things: beer, chocolate, butter ramen, and a giant snow festival to name a few. Now the city is adding a fleet of extraordinary cabs to their long list of must-try experiences. The taxis, decked out in all sorts of wild, anime-inspired designs, are proving to be a hit with locals and tourists alike. But with nothing to gain from advertising, why are the cab drivers doing it?

May 25, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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It’s taken several years, but as anime and computer generated vocaloid songs continue to grow in popularity abroad, Japanese pop music has solidified a passionate overseas fan base. Go to YouTube and do a search for the opening or closing theme of a major recent anime hit, and you’ve got a decent chance of finding a foreign fan doing a cover, either while strumming a guitar or with the vocal-less karaoke mix from the song’s single playing in the background.

But that’s not good enough for Russian band, Pudra (meaning “powder”). This quartet of teenage girls goes all out with their anime song performances, with full arrangement and polished videos. And while many foreign cover artists rewrite lyrics in their native languages, Pudra sings all of their J-pop renditions in their original Japanese. Read More

JSDF’s new helicopter may or may not be fake, a real-life transformer

May 23, 2013 by Mike
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All this anime is clearly getting to Japanese people’s heads. Japanese media has fallen hook, line and sinker for this seemingly impossible, anime-inspired helicopter design, breathlessly reporting that Ghost in the Shell-style vehicles are being designed by the (Japan Self Defence Force) JSDF right now.

May 21, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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The anime/merchandising franchise Evangelion is one of the few animated series, like One Piece or Gundam, to have achieved true cultural mainstream status in Japan. Even people who have never watched an episode of the TV series (or seen an installment of the movie, or read a chapter of the comic, or played one of the pachinko machine adaptations, or shaved with one of the Eva razors, or eaten one of the Eva burgers… like we said, franchise) can recognize its iconic characters and giant robots.

It wasn’t always like that, though. When Evangelion (or simply Eva, as its fans call it) began airing in 1995, its robot designs took some getting used to. Whereas most anime robots were inspired by a body builder’s physique, Eva’s machines had an almost gangly appearance, with lanky limbs, stooped posture, and what appeared to be tennis shoes. Their fragile look would turn out to be a perfect match for the psyches of their teenaged pilots, but things didn’t start out that way, as shown in Eva’s early planning portfolio. Read More

Japanese Electronics Shoppers Create Works of Art on Floor Samples

May 17, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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With nearly all of today’s graphic, comic, and animation design work being digital, any serious artist needs a graphic tablet. These are large LCD screens that can be drawn on directly with a stylus allowing for easy uploading and computer editing of the created image.

Like most electronics chains in Japan, Yodobashi Camera has sections of its stores where customers can try out the latest products, graphic tablets included. Most of us would probably be content to scribble a few lines, doodle a stick figure, or maybe add a splash of color. But like finding a novel filled with dozens of fleshed-out characters and a gripping narrative left on Word in the laptop section, seriously talented artists have been creating true works of art on Yodobashi’s graphic tablet floor samples. Read More

Vietnamese Trade Ao Dai for Anime-Inspired Uniforms and Collars at Ho Chi Minh City’s First Locally-Owned Maid Café

May 15, 2013 by Casey Baseel
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One of the most enduring images of Japanese pop culture in the past few years is that of the maid café, where customers are served by waitresses with personalities to match the careful craftsmanship of their cute, frill-covered outfits. Maid cafes have become something of a cultural export, popping up in the U.S., Canada, and, as RocketNews24 previously showcased, Russia. The phenomenon has also reached Southeast Asia, as showcased by reporters from website Post Seven who recently visited a maid café in Vietnam.