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The Pokémon Company, U.K. artist create world’s largest Pokémon trading card mosaic

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Japanese director alleges that beloved children’s anime Doraemon is “banned” in France

France-based Japanese composer, writer and director Hitonari Suji recently revealed that broadcasts of the much-loved anime Doraemon are “banned” in France for fears it would stunt children’s emotional growth.

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Once again, boobs block the path between Japan and the West.

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When life presents you with a moral dilemma, ask yourself, “What would Mewtwo do?”

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Japan’s most famous anime production house is back in the animation saddle, with a European director holding the reins.

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Yo-kai Watch’s Western debut is upon us, but have the Yokai already become lost in translation?

We’ve been telling our fine readers for literally years now about Yo-kai Watch, the Pokémon-esque game/manga/anime series that’s full of adorable yet mischievous collectible yokai monsters. And now that the series has been newly localised and adapted for the West, you’re finally going to see for yourselves what’s been driving Japanese kids to ritually torch bonfires of old Pokémon goods in favour of worshipping the new yokai overlords. Okay, we’re exaggerating, but only a little bit.

Of course, the success of any Japanese import into the Western market hinges on a heartfelt and thorough localisation process. It happened to Pokémon—Satoshi became Ash Ketchum, and many Pokémon were entirely renamed—and now it’s happening to Yo-kai Watch, too.

But is the very Japanese charm of the new franchise about to be seriously lost in translation?

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Virtual reality Totoro? Project Morpheus team looking for artist with “Studio Ghibli” style

After more than a year since the last film from anime production house Studio Ghibli, the paint is rapidly drying on the writing on the wall. At the very least, it looks like animation fans are in for a long wait before the next Ghibli movie, and it may turn out that When Marnie Was There ends up being the last theatrical feature we ever see from the company co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki.

Still, that doesn’t mean that other artists, perhaps working in other mediums, won’t carry on the beloved anime studio’s spirit. As a matter of fact, if you’ve got the necessary video game production skills, that someone could be you, as a U.K.-based Project Morpheus team is looking for an artist to help add a Ghibli-like aesthetic to its game.

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Every now and again, some outspoken fan of Japanese animation, distraught over what he sees as a decline in quality among the art form’s offerings, will hold up the shining example of some new title that shows promise, billing it as “the show that will save anime.” But if this tweet is to be believed, it’s too late. Anime is already dead, as proven by a mysterious, Ghibli-like carcass that washed up on the beach.

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Anime fans around the world were disappointed in February when The Tale of Princess Kaguya, which all signs point to being the final directorial effort from veteran filmmaker Isao Takahata, failed to capture the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Still, it’s unlikely the low-key Takahata himself got too worked up over the result, given the many accolades he’s received over his almost 50-year career. Besides, this week Takahata had another honor bestowed upon him, as he was given the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government.

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Norwegian rocker with insane vocal range covers anime songs and more【Videos】

PelleK is a Norwegian rock and metal singer who doesn’t just limit himself to screaming about death and darkness, and uses his amazing vocal talents to cover anime songs and more, uploading them to YouTube for everyone to enjoy. Check out his awesome voice and performances in the videos below.

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Artist paints Totoro, classic Japanese artwork, and more, all on pregnant women’s stomachs

In Japan, there’s a long, proud tradition of drunken men drawing faces on their bellies, then contorting in order to make them appear to talk or sing. Wait, did we say proud? We mean embarrassing.

This doesn’t mean all abdominal art is automatically silly and repulsive however, as one artist is helping enhance the radiance of pregnancy by painting beautiful works of art on the stomachs of mothers-to-be.

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That awkward moment when anime becomes reality

Here at RocketNews24 we’re always on the lookout for cases where life meets art, whether it’s characters from video games spliced into real-life falling-over gifs, or animals hanging out with giant fluffy figures at Disneyland. So when we saw this video that’s been dubbed “the anime fall in real life”, we knew it was the one for us.

These two handball players ended up in an awkward position when they collided on the court. Unfortunately for them, the moment – as well as their amused reaction – was captured and replayed in slow motion all over the internet, giving teenage boys the world over plenty to think about and anime fans reason to believe that their preferred medium of entertainment isn’t quite so removed from reality after all…

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Norwegian metal singer covers Japanese pop songs galore

It’s nice to share some Japan-related news coming out of Scandinavia for a change!

Norway, along with its neighbors, is no stranger to the metal music scene. The northern European countries together constitute one of the world’s major strongholds for the various subgenres of metal music. But what do you get when you combine the vocal talents of a Norwegian symphonic metal singer with the catchy tunes of J-Pop?

Just listen to PelleK’s cover versions of the following anime songs to find out for yourself!

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From Frozen to Gandalf, Madrid’s cosplayers find inspiration in unlikely places【Photos】

The Japan Chibi Weekend, held in February in Madrid, is a relatively small player in the anime convention world. Entry costs just 7 euros (US$10),  and its name even means “mini” in Japanese. That doesn’t stop anime and manga fans having a blast though, with a great mix of Japanese and western characters on show in the cosplay competition and around the convention.

Although the two-day event focuses on manga, anime and Japanese culture, the competitors’ handmade costumes included an impressive line-up of Disney and Dreamworks characters, too! Let’s take a look at what was on offer in the Spanish capital at this year’s event.

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Senpai Club, Swedish-made, anime-inspired, Japanese-speaking animation, is back! 【Video】

Last month we laughed along with the Swedish animators Olivia Bergstrom and Eric Bradford as we watched the first scenes of their anime-inspired creation Senpai Club. Now the pair, collectively known as makebabi.es, is back for another round of parody featuring dangerously pointy anime chins, ostensibly handsome upperclassmen, and just maybe even more stealthy bilingual gags with Senpai Club Episode 1 Part 2.

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Swedish-produced Senpai Club is so anime-like its characters speak Japanese【Video】

Years ago, when I was a freshly-minted anime fan, the most popular daydream in the fandom was to one day create your own animated show. And not some run of the mill Western cartoon, but something that unabashedly drew from the influences of Japanese animation.

Sadly, anime was still too unfamiliar to have mainstream appeal, and while the ranks of enthusiastic Japanese animation fans were growing, their numbers at the time were far too few, and the potential market far too small, to justify the investments necessary to complete their personal castles in the sky.

Fast forward to today, though, and anime has a firmly established presence the world over. What’s more, the ability to produce and display your creation digitally means that with enough gumption, all it takes is a few passionate individuals to realize your anime-inspired vision. As proof, we present the initial episode of Senpai Club, which comes to us not from Japan, but from Sweden.

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Mercedes-Benz Creates Anime Series or Commercial… or Both

Mercedes-Benz seems to be pulling out all the stops to advertise their 2013 model of A-Class car, the A 180.  In fact they have created a six-minute animated feature starring the A 180, in a rollicking race for the ultimate prize titled Next A Class.

Luckily, I grew up in the era of advertisements thinly veiled as cartoons. All the Noids or Cavity Creeps in the world couldn’t sway my purchasing preferences.  Years of Chester Cheetah and Fido Dido have hardened my mind to the subliminal messages animations can carry.

So although this anime short was well made and entertaining, it in no way swayed my opinion of this sleek new A 180 that perfectly combines the high performance of a sports car with the economic sensibility of a compact.

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  • Jul 22, 2012

What Happened With These DVD Packages? They Don’t Look Anything Like the Anime We’re Familiar With!

Fans of Japanese anime may be familiar with the popular animated film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (Kaze No Tani No Naushika), created by successful anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Since its initial release in 1984 (gosh, has it really been 28 years?), the film has been much loved by the Japanese public, both the young and old alike. The anime, which touches on timeless topics such as non-violence and humanity’s struggle to coexist with nature, has become a Japanese classic, and even today, it holds strong appeal and is broadcast in Japan from time to time on prime-time television. Read More

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