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anime (Page 225)

Tiny characters and cuties to hold up your smart phone 【Photos】

Having a handheld device that tells us how to get places, allows us to check our E-mail, and browse the Internet has been one of the greatest inventions of this century. Plus with video streaming services like Netflix and others on our phones, we are carrying around a library of entertainment. The problem with using our phones like a mini-TV, though, is that it’s difficult to prop them up at the right angle with the myriad objects that fill our homes.

While we’ve brought our readers an inexpensive solution to that problem in the past, some of us want to do it in the cutest and most fashionable way possible. Thankfully, gachapon capsule toy machines are dispensing prizes that feature famous characters and other eclectic figures that are designed to hold up phones for our viewing pleasure. You’ve never seen a phone held up with such panache before.

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Last month, we got our first in-costume look at the cast of the upcoming live-action TV adaptation of manga and anime Prison School. But while the production’s casting directors, stylists, and costumers have done a commendable job making the real-life performers look like their 2-D inspirations, fans have been wondering if the live-action Prison School will still feel like its source material.

After all, it’s not uncommon for there to be a major shift in tone when anime goes live-action, and a lot of the outlandishly pervy stuff that goes on in the animated Prison School ostensibly gets a pass from censors because it’s not being done by real people. Still, it doesn’t look like the live-action Prison School is looking to change the formula that worked for both the anime and the manga, as its two preview videos show it’s still perfectly happy to bask in its ludicrous lewdness, as well as repeatedly ask the question “Do you prefer butts or breasts?”

Heads-up! Depending on how accepting your workplace environment is of ludicrous lewdness, you might want to save these videos for after you get home.

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These fan-drawn fused Pokémon are so cool we wish they were really in the game

When Pokémon graced our tiny Game Boy screens back in 1996 (or, depending on where you’re from,  1998 or 1999), we all thought that nothing could be better than these beautifully crafted 151 animal-like Pocket Monsters. But then a second generation of games came out and suddenly we were graced with 100 new Pokémon who pledged their loyalty and undying love to us, their trainers. Now in 2015, there are 721 different Poké-friends to collect and train and we couldn’t be happier with them…unless we could take two of our favorites and fuse them together, that is!

The concept may have been done before, but each artist brings their own personal fliar and the results are always fascinating. What makes the following combinations unique is that sometimes there are not two but three Pokémon fused together!

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Buildings transform into giant robots in Japanese real estate company’s anime commercial【Video】

When was the last time you sat down to watch a YouTube video by a real estate company? We’re going to assume never, because who even knew that real estate companies had YouTube accounts?

Japan’s Mitsui Real Estate Residential, however, not only has a YouTube account, but their recently posted video is becoming wildly popular. The company managed to combine their housing expertise with the fail-safe giant robot genre to create a short animated series about apartment buildings that transform into giant robots!

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The success of One Piece really is amazing. Not only does it remain a perpetual favorite among its target demographic of young boys, the manga and anime franchise has managed to retain a surprisingly large amount of its original fanbase some 18 years after its first issue was published.

Since One Piece has held the attention of fans for so long after drawing them in as children, there must be something to creator Eiichiro Oda’s pirate tale that appeals to adult men as strongly, or maybe even more strongly, than to children. Maybe it’s the series’ core theme of long-term friendship, which grown-ups can more acutely understand. Maybe the way the stakes keeps getting higher for Luffy and his crew strikes a chord with fans who see it as a parallel to the way life throws more responsibilities and pressures at you as you get older.

Or maybe guys just like Oda’s penchant for drawing ridiculously stacked female characters which are then immortalized in plastic, as with this new Boa Hancock figure.

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Fans replace Dragon Ball Z’s animation with finger puppets, keep the awesome fighting 【Video】

Many Japanese animation fans, after having their hopes dashed and their hearts broken one too many times, come to accept the truism that it’s just not possible to make a good live-action version of their favorite anime. Right now, it’s Attack on Titan’s turn in the hot seat, as its two recently released movies have been roundly roasted by fans of the original work and critics alike, and years ago Dragonball Evolution had far more people groaning than cheering as their left theaters.

But maybe it’s not so much that anime has to stay hand-drawn, but just that it can’t be replicated by human actors. We’ve seen Attack on Titan look cool in stop-motion and sheep sub for the cast of Dragon Ball. As a matter of fact, maybe you can even show part of a human actor, just not the whole person, like in this epic and funny battle between two of Dragon Ball’s mightiest martial artists…as played by a pair of finger puppets.

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We check out the spooky snacks of the ghost-themed GeGeGe no Kitaro cafe

Maybe you’re familiar with the popular video game and anime franchise Yokai Watch. It’s a series that combines the addictive qualities of Pokemon with the traditional ghostly lore of Japanese yokai monster stories.

But maybe you didn’t realize the “real OG,” if you will, when it comes to cutesy renditions of traditional Japanese ghosts is the manga and anime franchise GeGeGe no Kitaro. Going strong since the 1960s, Kitaro is a beloved series in Japan that tells the tale of a ghostly boy fighting for peace between humans and ghouls, like a Japanese ghost-flavored X-Men.

The series is especially cherished in the author’s hometown in Tottori, but Kitaro mania extends as far as Tokyo proper, where a Kitaro-themed cafe exists. Of course, our ghost-obsessed Japanese writer felt compelled to make a pilgrimage recently.

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Adidas’ Attack on Titan fitness wear is perfect for exercise, fighting giants

Compared to most other action anime, the cast of Attack on Titan has a pretty low-survival rate. This could be because their opponents are remorseless man-eating giants, but is another key factor that fact that the Survey Corps’ uniforms are poorly suited for the duties the heroes perform? Sure, those cloaks look dramatically stylish, but they’re also bulky and movement-limiting, so maybe it’s about time Eren and his pals changed into some official Attack on Titan exercise wear from Adidas.

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Director of Ghost in the Shell shares his favorite Hayao Miyazaki movie and scene

Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii are two of the most successful and influential anime directors in the history of the medium, but their films couldn’t be more different in tone and appearance. The soft-edged natural environments of Miyazaki’s anime are bathed in a nostalgic glow, while Oshii’s animation, such as Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers, is filled with shadowy ruinscapes and turns its sharpest focus inwards to the human mind and consciousness.

Miyazaki and Oshii are such fundamentally different people that they even communicate with their production teams in completely opposite styles. But that’s not to say that one can’t find things to admire in the works of the other, as Oshii has shared his favorite film and even scene in a Miyazaki anime.

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Sword Art Online anime movie announced, will feature all-new storyline from creator Reki Kawahara

Japanese fans of the Sword Art Online light novel series know all about the importance of attending the seasonal Dengeki Bunko festivals in Tokyo. This is the main stage on which Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works and its Dengeki Bunko imprint make all their big announcements regarding the series, and it was no different at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival held in Akihabara on Sunday, where it was revealed that Sword Art Online will be made into a new anime movie, with an all-new storyline from its creator Reki Kawahara.

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New Evangelion lingerie and roomwear range features five favourite characters and a penguin!

The world of intimate apparel has taken an animated turn recently, with online fashion retailer SuperGroupies creating bra and panty sets inspired by the female pilots’ plugsuits from Neon Genesis Evangelion and popular lingerie and women’s apparel brand Peach John releasing Sailor Moon lingerie.

Now Peach John is coming out with its own Eva-inspired line of roomwear and intimates, featuring matching bras and panties with gorgeous Evangelion details, a nightie and even a Pen Pen onesie to lounge about the house in.

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Everyone could use a little extra money in their pocket as we head towards the end of the year. Maybe you’ve got a long Christmas shopping list, made fancy New Year’s Eve plans, or just want to take a trip back home to visit family and friends during winter vacation.

As such, you might find yourself looking for a part-time job to help fill your coffers, and while you could go with such traditional choices as picking up a shift working in a restaurant or a shop at the mall, your options now also include a micro-stint as an editor for two of Japan’s most popular manga anthologies.

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Evangelion Shinkansen service takes off on November 7 with life-sized Eva cockpit on board

As far as joint collaborations go, the Shinkansen Evangelion Project is set to go down in the annals of history, with Japan Rail West joining up with the hit anime franchise to make our wildest dreams a reality, by bringing out a special Eva-themed bullet train to shuttle customers from Osaka to Fukuoka and back on the Sanyō Shinkansen line.

Since the announcement of the project, we’ve been waiting on the edge of our seats for more details, and finally JR West has come through with news of the launch date, along with never-before-seen images of the train’s interior, which includes Eva-themed seats and window blinds, and a designated “cockpit room”.

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You don’t want to meet these Dragon Ball Z villains in a dark alley at night

There are plenty of horror movie villains that scare us so bad we can’t sleep at night. These include the classics like Freddy Kruger, Jason, and Chucky as well as some newer terrors like Pennywise, Sadako, and Ghostface. Well, isn’t it about time to expand the roster of baddies that keep you up at night? They might not be household screamfest names yet, but what about Freeza, Cell and Evil Majin Buu?

Yes…the Dragon Ball Z villains. We are not pulling your leg (nor ripping it off painfully), but one artist has rendered these two-dimensional anime characters into truly terrifying creatures of the night. So, hide your kids and hide your wives, because it’s about to get super scary.

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Japan’s urban landscape is dotted with giant TV monitors mounted on the sides of skyscrapers. Despite what you might expect, though, from watching science fiction anime or young adult-literature-sourced movies depicting dystopian futures, they aren’t constantly broadcasting information about where citizens should evacuate to during the current alien invasion or directives from the Office of the Supreme Leader.

No, usually they’re just devoted to ad loops. But this weekend, public big screens across Japan will be showing something a little more exciting: The entire first episode of anime hit Evangelion.

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Even if you’re not ordinarily a very artistic person, we bet you get a spark of inspiration when you’ve got a pancake on your plate. Who hasn’t drawn a doodle or sketched a smiley face in maple syrup, or at least initialed their flapjacks with the sticky, tasty condiment?

After all, tasty as they may be, pancakes look pretty dull if you don’t add any decoration…unless you’re dining at this restaurant in Japan where the pancakes come pre-decorated with images of Pikachu, Mario, and dozens of other anime and video game characters.

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Fullmetal Alchemist shoes are here to complete fashionable anime fans’ footwear collections

When making her professional debut, manga creator Hiromi Arakawa decided to work under the masculine-sounding pen name Hiromu Arakawa. The choice was probably made under the logic that a male author would be more easily accepted by the predicted male fanbase of the action-adventure stories Arakawa was crafting.

In the end, though, all of that worrying was probably unnecessary. Male readers have no issue with Arakawa’s gender because she can produce awesome adventure stories, and her series have enjoyed broad crossover appeal with female manga readers as well. As a matter of fact, so many of Arakawa’s fans are women that there are now two pairs of pumps inspired by her most successful series, Fullmetal Alchemist.

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Encounter with Japanese anime changes the life of foreigner

Japanese animation is much-loved around the world. China is no exception, and anime has a massive following in the country. Many young people in China are enamored with anime for its creative story lines and artistic animation. It has the ability to uplift, motivate and entertain us, and allows us to momentarily escape reality, and for many foreigners, it does more than just that. It can shape our lives.

Here is one heartwarming story from China of a life-changing encounter with anime.

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Third season announced for Sailor Moon Crystal, Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn on their way

For long-time fans of Sailor Moon, the anime’s recent remake, Sailor Moon Crystal, was an unexpected opportunity to bask in the nostalgia of seeing many of their favorite characters from the series once again. We say “many of their favorites,” though because fan loyalty is divided pretty evenly among the franchise’s numerous celestial-themed heroines, and there just hasn’t been time in the 26 episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal to introduce all of them.

So if you’ve been waiting patiently for Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn to show up, you’ll be happy to know that production has begun on a third season of Sailor Moon Crystal that will finally bring together the full complement of all 10 Sailor Senshi.

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Mobile Suit Toyota – Japanese automaker makes awesome anime ad for new Gundam-themed car

We’re sure everyone’s first choice for mode of transportation would be giant robot, but there are times when you need something more practical to get from Point A to Point B. Being behind the wheel of a four-door hatchback doesn’t mean you have to give up your mecha jock daydreams, though, thanks to the newest collaboration between Toyota and anime franchise Gundam.

The automaker has just released not only a special model inspired by charismatic anime villain Char Aznable, but also an awesome anime commercial for it that has higher production values than the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series.

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