The characters of Bleach have some pretty enviable blades, but as cool as they are, fans just can’t go swinging them around a convention center. Now, thanks to a collaboration with knife and sword manufacturer Pacific Solution Marketing and Viz Media, fans can own replicas of their favorite characters’ swords, including the umbrella swords, in safe, convention center-friendly foam.
Posted by Anime News Network (Page 16)
Sometimes, everyday tasks can seem like a bigger challenge than a stage in a retro video game. As the day draws on, you get more and more tired, losing the ability and will to go on. Wouldn’t itbe nice to have some sort of item that could instantly refuel all of the energy that you’ve lost throughout the day? Well, fear not, because CAPCOM has decided to bring the E Tank, one of Megaman‘s most useful and iconic items straight from the year 20XX to the current day in the form of a sports and energy drink.
The Asia-Pacific Journal‘s Asato Ikeda recently transcribed an illuminating interview with famed director Hayao Miyazaki originally printed in Studio Ghibli‘s monthly Neppu magazine.
In it, Miyazaki delves deep into his life, talking about his childhood thoughts on war, his feelings on Japan and its warpolicies,his father, current politics, and the Abe administration.
Since 2013, the Nagano Prefecture Police Department has run a 4-panel manga series called Keisatsu-no Oniisan! (literally “Big Brother Policeman”) on its website. It depicts two police officers, one young and the other middle-aged. Now, thanks to their increasing popularity, they’re getting a manga in a magazine, Manga Time Jumbo, devoted to 4-panel manga.
A man wearing what appears to be a Pikachu hat and carrying a Pikachu plush broke the security perimeter at the White House when he jumped over the North Fence on Thursday evening.
Sanrio aims to break this stereotype with the introduction of the HELLO KITTY MEN Project, a new venture that will tell guys that it’s okay for them to like Hello Kitty, too. Their tag line? “Sorry to keep you waiting, boys.”
Yasutomo Ihara, a former stuntman known for his participation in the Kamen Rider franchise, has since turned his training to nefarious ends. In a story seemingly grafted from a J-drama, he was arrested on September 8 by Saitama Prefecture’s Criminal Investigations Unit for 43 separate counts of theft. His method involved scaling walls by slipping his fingers into tiny indentations and entering houses through their second-floor windows, earning him the nickname “Spiderman” from the investigators. His targets were in the neighboring Saitama Prefecture cities of Warabi and Toda.
Now that the whole debacle over Hello Kitty’s identity is settled, fans can get back to other things, like preparing for the first ever Hello Kitty convention, set to take place from October 30 to November 2 in Los Angeles.
And, at least in that small corner of town, everyone is ready. The Line, the official hotel of the convention, is trotting out special Hello Kitty-themed rooms, and a Hello Kitty Spam musubi by chef Roy Choi.
Charapedia asked 10,000 what anime series they’re most looking forward to this Fall. The sequel to Gen Urobuchi‘s futuristic, dystopian crime-drama Psycho-Pass took the top spot with 2,015 votes. Here’s the Top 20ranked based on all votes, followed by Top 10 by gender.
Angry Birds, the smartphone game app franchise that boasts 2.3 billion downloads worldwide, inspired its first manga on Wednesday. Hiyoko Hatano launched theStella ~Nana to Mahō no Eitango~ (Stella: Nana and the Magic English Words) series in the October issue of Kodansha‘s shōjo magazine Nakayoshi on Wednesday. The short stories star Stella, a pink bird character from the Angry Birds apps, and a Japanese girl named Nana.
Hatsune Miku has been known for helping blaze the trail to the future for quite some time now. From her futuristic look, to her function as a vocal synchronization software, Miku has inspired AR apps, 3D hologram concerts, and more. Now it seems that this digital pop-star has inspired her fans to take that extra step into making tomorrow come today. Using Hatsune Miku as a muse, one Niconico Douga user has invented a unique new musical instrument, simply known as Ano Gakki (“That Musical Instrument”).
Those hoping to give their Sailor Moon Pullip doll some friends will only have to wait a few more months. Premium Bandai is now accepting pre-orders for a Sailor Mercury Pullip doll.
The Museum of Kyoto is hosting an exhibition for Chūya Koyama‘s Space Brothers franchise until September 23. The exhibit, which takes up two floors of the museum, features more than 200 pieces of original art from the manga as well as story summaries, anime storyboards, information about JAXA and space exploration, models of spacecraft, and of course, a very large inflatable Apo. ANN had a chance to go to the museum and take some pictures of the exhibition.
Bandai Namco Games unveiled a teaser trailer at the SCEJA press conference on Monday for a new Mobile Suit Gundam game for PlayStation 4. The game is slated for 2015.
Paramount Pictures has asked artists from all over the world to contribute to its Legend of the Yokai project, which features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as inspired by kappa, water-dwelling yokai often found in Japanese folklore.
Hot on the heels of Mario Kart 8‘s collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, Nintendo has announced that players can now preorder two more DLC expansion packs, which will include Zelda and Animal Crossing characters and maps.
While Fox’s Animation Domination High-Def has a long history of skewering anime properties and tropes, like this battle between Naruto and Sasuke, the ultimate anime hero, and super-powered schoolgirls, it’s all out of love. And now, in response to Studio Ghibli‘s announcement that it may dismantle its production department, ADHD has posted a tribute video called “Goodbye, Ghibli.”
Nintendo announced during the “Monthly Famitsu feat. Pokémon Special” live-streamed program that an action/fighting game titled Pokkén Tournament (Pokkén being a pun on the words Pokémon and ‘fist’) will be released for Japanese arcades in 2015. Bandai Namco Games is collaborating on the development of the project.
The official Sailor Moon YouTube channel began streaming a digest video on Sunday from the opening night of the stage musical Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Petite Étrangère. The video features clips from the live show.