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Anime News Network (Page 5)

Fans criticize Softbank’s anime character live-action phone ads as ‘disrespectful’

Last month, SoftBank‘s series of commercials depicting several classic anime characters all grown up premiered. The ads star Kyoko Koizumi (Tokyo Sonata, Hanging Garden) as Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon), the proprietess at Moon Ribar an atmospheric rooftop bar. She’s assisted by Maruko-chan (Chibi Maruko-chan, played by Suzu Hirose) and welcomes guests like Fist of the North Star‘s Kenshiro (famous Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō XI), Obocchama-kun (played by Shinnosuke Mitsushima), Duke “Golgo 13” Tōgō (played by Fumiyo Kohinata), Joe Yabuki (Ashita no Joe, played by comedian Naoki Matayoshi) and Astro Boy himself, played by Masato Sakai (Honey and Clover).

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Expand your Super Mario figure collection with enemy characters

Bandai’s S.H.Figuarts line has released several figures from the Super Mario video game series: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and important items from the games like pipes, blocks and coins. Its latest figures expand the collection with iconic enemy characters: a Hammer Bro, Lakitu and Spiny.

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Viewers got an eye full of Tezuka’s iconic doctor’s abs in the first episode of Young Black Jack‘s but opening theme song singer UMI☆KUUN is giving the 2D bishōnen a run for his money. The singer reproduced an image by the manga’s artist Yū-Go Ōkuma where Kuroo Hazama appears only half clothed.

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Hiroya Oku, Keita Iizuka launch Gantz spinoff manga in November

The November issue of Shueisha‘s Miracle Jump magazine is revealing on Tuesday that Hiroya Oku and Keita Iizuka (Blue Gralia) will launch a Gantz spinoff manga temporarily titled G-GANTZ in the magazine’s December issue on November 17.

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Little Big Planet 3 offers Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain costumes

The official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed on Tuesday that Sony‘s Little Big Planet 3 game is offering a Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain-themed costume pack for the game’s characters. Buyers who purchase the costumes as a complete set will also receive a Box Costume for the character Toggle. The costumes can also be purchased separately.

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‘Shin Godzilla’ movie listed on sign at Tokyo filming locale

A notice posted at the Kamata bus station in Tokyo revealed that buses will not stop as usual at the station on Sunday morning, due to the filming of a movie titled “Shin Gojira” (New Godzilla).

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The Pokémon Company sues organizers of Pokémon-themed party for copyright infringement

The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) filed a lawsuit against two Seattle residents on Wednesday, claiming that the Pokémon-themed party they were organizing allegedly infringed upon TPCi’s copyright.

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Shokotan munches on limited edition isopod cake in Shibuya

Would you dare eat a cake shaped like a deep-sea dwelling organism? Shokotan certainly would.

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Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast film sells 3 million tickets

Mamoru Hosoda‘s The Boy and The Beast film has sold over 3 million tickets to earn over 3.8 billion yen (about US$30.5 million), 30 days after opening on July 11. It dropped from #4 to #7 at the Japanese box-office for the August 8-9 weekend. It played on 354 theaters in its fifth weekend.

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Live-action Attack on Titan director teases Godzilla plans

Coming off mixed reviews of his live-action Attack on Titan film, fans may recall that Shinji Higuchi is also tasked with directing TOHO‘s upcoming Godzilla film with fellow tokusatsu lover Hideaki Anno. Helming the first Japanese Godzilla film in 12 years is no small feat. In fact, Higuchi almost turned down the offer because of the sheer amount of pressure that comes with directing such an iconic monster.

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Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ earns $1.97 million to rank #6 on U.S. opening night

Box Office Mojo reports that Funimation‘s limited theatrical run of the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ film earned US$1,967,626 on its opening night on Tuesday. That gives the film a per-screen average of US$2,198, the highest among the top 10 movies playing in the United States on August 4.

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’s GamesCom trailer previews open world

The official website of Konami‘s upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain began streaming the GamesCom 2015 trailer for the game on Wednesday. The trailer previews the open world environment for the game.

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The World Cosplay Summit 2015 competition crowned Mexico representatives Twin Cosplay as the Grand Champions at the award ceremony on Saturday. The duo also took home the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award, ANA Prize, and the Tabi Pad Award.

Twin Cosplay‘s presentation was based on Nintendo‘s Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask video game. Between the two, a total of four costume and set transformations take place in three minutes.

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Enjoy the summer festivals in a Gintama yukata

Premium Bandai is listing two special yukata for the many discerning Gintama fans. Rather than being outright replicas of Gintoki’s kimono and the Shinsengumi’s uniforms from the series, both yukata take color and print cues for something original.

The Gintoki yukata includes a fan motif featuring the pattern on his own kimono. The rest of the print includes red, black, and blue dots in varying sizes and small diamond shapes. The set includes a black obi.

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Disney to release ‘Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki’ Blu-ray set

Disney announced on Thursday that it will release “The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki” Blu-ray box set. In addition to Miyazaki’s 11 feature films, the set will include a bonus disc with the 1972 television pilot film Yuki no Taiyō (Yuki’s Sun), three episodes of the 1972-1973 series Akado Suzunosuke (Little Samurai), and a video of Miyazaki’s retirement press conference.

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Sanrio mascots promote pacifism on 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender

On August 14, 1945, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Forces it would come to be known as V-J Day before signing the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender but the anniversary is also in the midst of debate over constitutional revisions with criticism honed in on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Sanrio has seemingly voiced its option, albeit through the mouths of its popular mascots, in the latest issue of the company’s Ichigo Shimbun magazine. The magazine includes an article reflecting on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender and is titled “Let’s think about what we can do for peace” with a sub-headline reading “No more war!” It calls for readers to research war through popular media and the memories of those who lived during that time.

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Star Wars rice paddy art grows in Aomori Prefecture

The village of Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture is hoping to drive tourism with a Star Wars-themed rice paddy. The image of R2-D2, C-3PO, and the newly introduced BB-8 take up a 1-hectare field. The varying colors are created using 11 varieties of rice.

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Franco-German artist is making a torii gate made of speakers

A Franco-German artist is tasked reinterpreting an iconic symbol of Japanese culture. The torii gate is usually seen outside of Shinto shrines as a marker designating an entrance into a sacred space. Benoît Maubrey is creating a more interactive version than the traditional red ones found throughout Japan.

Meriken Park in Kobe will be the site of a torii made entirely out of 300 recycled speakers. The sculpture is functional and includes a four-way channel so visitors can speak to one another through the gate using a microphone or their smartphones. When it’s not in use, the gate will emit varying kinds of white noise.

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Hakone volcano erupts on small scale

Ōwaku Valley, a part of Mount Hakone with high volcanic activity, has been showing more signs of an impending eruption recently.

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The Boy and the Beast film debuts at #1, earns 667 million yen in 1st weekend

Mamoru Hosoda‘s The Boy and The Beast film debut at #1 during the July 11-12 weekend, topping the Japanese debut of Terminator Genisys. The Boy and The Beast opened on 457 screens, and earned 667,035,100 yen (about US$5.4 million) in its first two days. The film sold 494,170 tickets over the weekend.

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