Following their conquest of Japan, the high school idols of hit anime Love Live! have their eyes set on the rest of the world, with an international release for their first theatrical feature. But even that might not be a big enough stage for the animated vocalists. They’re now on their way to taking over the skies as well, since you can now watch Love Live! anime on selected flights on, of all carriers, Qatar Airways.
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Next month, Hetalia, the anime and manga franchise featuring anthropomorphized nations and a hefty amount of homoerotic subtext, is getting its very own live-action musical adaptation, and the play’s producers have just released the first photos of the cast in costume as their respective nations.
It’s perfectly natural in Japan for a popular and well-loved anime to pair up with a clothing brand to create a sublime line of products that people will want to wear while out and about. Whether it’s jackets, jewelry, or shoes, there’s usually something for everyone.
Anime fashion site Super Groupies is one such online venue that loves to turn our favorite characters into delightful fashions. This time, they’re joining forces with the singing, dancing idol anime Prism Paradise, to create a series of vibrant and original shoes that you might want to wear even if you have no idea what Prism Paradise is.
Anime based on a successful manga series sometimes run into an awkward situation where they have to use “filler episodes” in order to give the manga time to add more story. These episodes are generally more of the same stuff fans already love, but in the back of their mind, they know nothing truly groundbreaking can happen in them.
Gintama is a special case though since the series is quite episodic and those in charge of the anime are free to add their own additional stories. Which is probably why one of the best stories from the original manga hasn’t made it to air yet. Gintama fans don’t have to wait too much longer, though, as the Assassination Arc is finally making its debut on TV this December.
Studio Ghibli’s animated works have won acclaim around the world, and we’re sure many of our readers are familiar with their hit films like Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky. But have you ever wondered what it may be like to actually work in the famous studio? Well, now it looks like we can get a glimpse of what goes on in the studio, as one of Ghibli’s former animators, Hitomi Tateno, will be coming out later this month with a book titled “The Pencil War Chronicles: The Studio Ghibli that Nobody Knew“!
If you thought having to send a couple of Christmas cards to close friends and far-flung cousins during the holidays was annoying, wait til you get a load of the nengajo (New Year’s card) tradition here in Japan. Not only is one obligated to send nengajo to family and friends, but you’re also obligated to send them to co-workers, bosses, anyone who regularly provides you a service, anyone whom you regularly provide a service to, your landlord, your mother’s landlord, Crazy Uncle Jeb over at the asylum, the stray cats in your neighborhood, and your mortal enemy (just to let him know you’ve got your eyes on him).
In fact, you’ve gotta send these things to so many people, it’s not uncommon to drop by the Japan Post near you and see people purchasing stacks of hundreds of these things. And unless, like me, you avoid any and all human contact, you’ll probably also come home one winter day to find your mailbox stuffed to the brim with the things. So, given their ubiquity, it’s no surprise that Japan Post (who prints and distributes loads of nengajo every year through both their yubin-nenga.jp website and physical post office locations), occasionally tries to mix it up with some very nontraditional designs.
This year, bizarrely, the running theme seems to be… moe. As in those super-cute anime girls and dreamy, slightly effeminate anime guys who are all the rage in Japan.
There are many well-known areas of beauty all around Japan, but sometimes you stumble upon something off the beaten path that simply takes your breath away.
That’s what happened to one person in Japan, who came across a waterfall in a tunnel of sunlight, filled with the same muted hues as a scene from a fantastical animated movie. Upon sharing the atmospheric photograph above on Instagram it received thousands of likes, with people all over the country eager to learn where the secret waterfall was hidden.
It might look like something from the foggy mists of a far-flung island many miles from Tokyo, but the beautiful scene is actually located just a short one-hour drive from the bustling metropolis. We decided to make our way there, and we’ve marked out the route so you can visit it too!
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).
Most of the events and promotions organized by energy drink maker Red Bull are thoroughly in the “XTREME” category. As a matter of fact, sometimes the names of the events are so intense that we have only the vaguest idea of what happens in them, such as the Red Bull Rampage, Red Bull King of the Rock Tournament, and Red Bull Cape Fear.
However, Red Bull has a bit of a playful, silly side to it too, as shown in a contest it sponsors in which entrants launch their home-made flying machines from a pier and see who can travel the farthest distance before hitting the water. But even then, Red Bull can’t help but do things in the most XTREME way possible, and in the competition’s latest iteration, held in Japan, they killed giant anime robot Gundam.
There aren’t a lot of cushy jobs in the anime industry. Aside from the pressure of having to please fickle fans and meet strict deadlines, most animators in Japan earn a pitiful salary.
Still, almost all anime professionals are also fans, and at the end of the day, being able to contribute to the art form that they love must be worth something. Plus, the employees of one particular anime studio get to enjoy the ultimate after-work perk: a dip in the hot spring that was found in their office building!
When you’re looking for cute inspiration, you don’t have to look much further than Japan. As the birthplace of the world’s beloved wide-eyed, chubby-faced anime characters, the nation is full to overflowing with commercials, posters, sweets and goods that are so adorable even self-respecting adults can’t help but squeal like delighted children when they catch sight of them.
Now Japan’s cast of cute characters have found a home for themselves across the seas in a gorgeous little Airstream trailer in California, where they continue to pop up in limited numbers in the best way ever: as deliciously sweet macarons. Come with us as we take a look at some of the cute critters and adorable edibles in the collection after the break.
Love it or hate, there’s no doubt that many Dragon Ball Z fans growing up in the United States and other English-speaking countries got their start by watching Funimation’s English dub of the series. Once a staple of Cartoon Network’s weekday Toonami programming lineup back in the early 2000s, hearing the English voices of Goku and Vegeta, played by Sean Schemmel and Christopher Sabat respectively, is sure to induce a wave of nostalgia for many present-day “kids” now approaching their 30s.
In fact, the two veteran voice actors were recently featured in reddit’s Ask Me Anything series of video interviews. Join us after the jump to hear the duo’s candid thoughts about a variety of topics, including being asked to sign babies’ diapers, texting in Vegeta’s persona, playing pranks with kazoos, and female Super Saiyans!
Last week we took a look at a new brand of instant curry on sale in Japan that includes a DVD of a sexy model who pretends to be your girlfriend as you eat it. Now, who’s ready for some dessert?
In Japan, it’s not a proper Christmas Eve without a romantic date and some cake, so unattached anime fans will be thrilled to know that one of the industry’s most popular voice actresses is available for a dessert date this year. The only catch?
The date takes place in virtual reality.
Japanese publisher Shueisha puts out a number of manga anthologies, but by far the jewel in the publisher’s crown, and really the entire Japanese comics industry, is Weekly Shonen Jump. For decades, the magazine has been home to the biggest manga hits, whose creators achieve legendary status in the hearts of legions of fans.
As a matter of fact, so many of Japan’s best-loved manga writers and artists achieved fame through Weekly Shonen Jump that Shueisha is getting self-referential with a new magazine set to launch soon, in which each issue highlights a different manga artist and comes bundled with a DVD of the creator at work and tracing paper so you can try to duplicate the results.
The currently airing anime TV series One-Punch Man is winning fans for two reasons. First is the way it turns the idea of a handsome, hot-blooded action hero on its head with protagonist Saitama, a laid-back, completely bald superhero who looks more like Charley Brown than Superman. Second, the show features some gorgeous animation from Madhouse, the veteran production studio behind such landmarks of anime visual style as Redline, Ninja Scroll, and Millennium Actress.
But as impressive as the movement in the One-Punch Man anime is, its animation has just been shown up by the most unlikely of rivals, the One-Punch Man manga, as in the non-animated comic the TV show is based on!
Kutani porcelain ware, which has its origins in Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan, is a craft with a history of nearly four centuries. In recent years, we’ve seen makers of the traditional ware produce more modern and pop looking items in efforts to broaden their appeal to the public, with some beautiful results.
Now, we have another example of Kutani ware with a modern twist and it comes from a someway unexpected source — toy maker Bandai. Yes, in a brilliant case of pop culture meeting traditional craft, Bandai will be coming out with a line of Gundam Kutani ware!
The Evangelion Store Tokyo-01 is celebrating four years this November as the one-stop-shop for everything Evangelion. The store has sold a number of snazzy clothes, fashion accessories, and of course, hordes of merchandise featuring characters from the series over the years. To celebrate their success, they’re rolling out the cast in a new lineup of clothes that you can wear too! Check out the new shoes, skirts and more, after the jump.
Hayao Miyazaki film buffs will appreciate the popular video documentary “Hayao Miyazaki – The Essence of Humanity” created by Lewis Bond, an English film maker. The 16-minute video, featuring a montage of Miyazaki’s much-loved animated films, beautifully explores human nature, Miyazaki’s vision, and the universal appeal of his movies.
With its pudgy, simplistic character designs and sharp-edged humor dicing up current trends, American animated comedy South Park is about as different from anime as it can be in look and tone. But every now and again the show’s focus swings around to Japanese culture, and the theme of its most recent episode was none other than yaoi/boys’ love, the anime subgenre of male homosexual romance that’s loved by legions of female fans.
So while the episode featured the inane logic of South Park’s citizens and resulting laughs fans expect, it was also filled with anime-style artwork depicting its two male characters who had become the darlings of the city’s amateur artist community.
As we head into winter, you can spot more and more people out and about in Japan wearing cloth masks. The main reason is to prevent the spread of germs during cold and flu season, but recent research suggests that for women, wearing a pink mask could make them appear twice as attractive.
Based on that, we can only assume that anyone wearing one of these new Sailor Moon masks instantly becomes three times as good-looking.
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