According to Mangaoh, an OVA of Highschool of the Dead  will be bundled with the manga volume 7. The 20 min extra episode “Drifters of the Dead” in Blu-ray will be released next Spring.

I think it is a good idea due to the fact of its popularity and the shortness of the TV series. I wonder what´s going to happen in the OVA?

Source: Mangaoh via MAL

In a country as obsessed with kawaii (cute) as Japan, the creation of official characters is serious business. So the fact that the police precinct of Seya, a homey suburb of Yokohama, debuted a pair of brand new mascots this month shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

What is surprising, however, is just how curvaceous these particular mascots are.

“As far as I know,” laughs officer Tanaka of the Seya Police Department, “these are the most cutting-edge police mascot characters in existence.”

Most official characters take the form of unassuming little animals or creatures to appeal to the broadest possible demographic (the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Disney-esque Pepo-kun being a classic example).

But Seya’s dynamic duo of “Seyano Ajisai” and “Seyano Keyaki” take a different approach: they look like they stepped right out of the pages of a comic book or anime show.

“We used to have an outreach website without any mascots, but nobody read it,” explains Tanaka. “So we established a committee to make a new one, and they decided that using a manga style would be the best way to reach the most people.”

The result fuses a laundry list of town symbols — the owl, the ajisai hydrangea, the keyaki tree — with a slew of stereotypically “otaku” images.

Seyano Ajisai, the female of the pair, features an ample bust, curvaceous hips, and a coquettish pair of anime-style eyeglasses. Meanwhile, her twin brother Seyano Keyaki sports a determined grimace, a proud stance, and a pair of eyes straight out of a Dragonball cartoon.

In concert with the requisite police-wear, the effect is decidedly less “cop” and more “cosplay,” less “the Man” than it is “moé” — that fetishization of girlish innocence and naiveté so popular among anime fans these days.

At first blush, it would be tempting to accuse Seya of using borderline pedophilia as a PR tool, but the reality is more complicated. In Japan, mascots are most definitely not kids stuff.

They are de rigeur for any government agency that deals with the public, be it the waterworks, the post office, or the fire and police departments. Even the Self-Defense Forces sport their own cute mascot characters.

The point isn’t condescension or infantilization, but rather reflecting the tastes of society.

“These mascots were designed to appeal to everyone, mainly teens and young adults,” says Tanaka. And for better or worse, the tastes of citizens have shifted towards doe-eyed moé characters like Seyano Ajisai and Keyaki — which says more about society at large than it does about the aesthetic choices of a suburban police department.

And it appears they may have indeed hit a sweet spot. Representative of the local Twitter buzz surrounding the launch of the police mascots were the comments of 25-year-old translator Hiroyuki Ochiai: “They feel so wrong, yet so right!”

Source: CNN / Seya Police Department Website

Anime and Cute characters seems to be the right tool for PR for almost everything…How long this trend will last?

Nagato, Nagato…We are going to buy the BD!…and you?
Nagato: I need some money!

There is a good chance that you have to cash at least 500 hundred bucks for both! You have plenty of time to save that amount of cash until November for the complete Haruhi series on Bluray and December for the Dissapearance movie! How I plan to buy it?

I need to save at least $100.00 each month until the end of this year to buy it…and I dont even have a Bluray Player! I am planning only for now.

Please Kyon…I need money to buy all of this!

Take this poll to see how much people a.k.a Haruhists plan to buy this monstrous set AND / OR The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi!

For Me, I am going to buy only The Disappearance…but that could change, if I get enough yens!

Put aside serious political issues like the disputed northern territories off Hokkaido for now. The Japanese Embassy in Russia has published the first issue of a Russian-language magazine featuring Japanese pop culture, hoping to broaden pro-Japanese sentiment in the country.

The quarterly magazine, mainly targeting young Russians, is far from a serious ordinary “government publication,” but rather pop and cool.

The opening page of the first issue of Yaponiya (meaning Japan in Russian) includes an interview with Hayao Miyazaki, in which the movie director said he decided to become an anime creator after being moved by the expressiveness of the Soviet-era animated feature film, “The Snow Queen” (1957). The movie, he said, was “like a prophecy from heaven” that he should pursue his vocation.

On the fashion page, a Russian writer reports on street fashion in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, which the writer describes as “the only place in the world in praise of eccentric outfits.”

The magazine is edited by fashion mode magazine designers and top editors in the field to be fashionable enough for young people to want to pick it up.

The new magazine differs greatly from previous publications, which focused more on traditional Japanese culture and the latest technology.

In contrast to Japan’s often stern feelings toward Russia, many Russians like Japan. According to an opinion poll in March, 50 percent of respondents said they were at least moderately interested in Japan. Meanwhile, the interest of Russians tends to lean heavily either toward Japanese cuisine or automobiles.

An embassy official in charge of the project said: “The latest information about Japan that young Russians want to know is very limited here. We hope the magazine can convey the material in a sophisticated way.”

Source: Yomiuri / Image Source

One thing that brought to my attention was Miyazaki´s comments about his inspiration to become one of the greatest anime directors in the world.  Also, one question surfaces…Where I can get that magazine?

Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age by drawing young men and their virtual girlfriends.

One recent sweltering summer’s day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.

The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami.

The focus of the men’s attention—and of their smartphone cameras—was a tiny black and white square, a two-dimensional barcode that, thanks to “augmented reality” (AR) software, brought to life the object of their desire.

“Look, it’s like I’m in a snapshot with her,” said Shu Watanabe, 23, as he showed off his iPhone display, featuring himself next to the image of a doe-eyed cartoon character named Rinko, a smiling high school girl.

Rinko may only be digital, but try telling that to Watanabe or the legions of other fans of “Love Plus,” a dating sim or simulation game that is played on handheld Nintendo DS consoles and also boasts AR applications for iPhones.

Its creators, Konami Digital Entertainment, have long thrilled young men obsessed with high-tech, manga, and anime, known as “otaku,” by letting them chase virtual girls in the alternative universe of their digital dreams.

The hit videogame made headlines when a 27-year-old Japanese man known only as “Sal 9000″ staged a tuxedo wedding late last year, which was watched by thousands online, with his favorite cartoon girl, Nene Anegasaki.

But in the latest edition, game makers have gone a step further and teamed up with the very real city of Atami, an onsen or hot spring town 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the Japanese capital.

They have selected 13 romantic locations which can be overlaid with images of Rinko or her teenage friends Manaka and Nene, who have all swapped their usual sailor-style school uniforms for casual summer wear.

Local souvenir shops in the resort town have caught on and capitalized on the love-struck new clientele, selling Love Plus-themed souvenirs, from good-luck charms to steamed buns and fish sausages.

The local Ohnoya hotel even offers traditional rooms to the unusual couples, which feature two sets of futon beds and another barcode panel that allows the men to visualise their girlfriends in a flattering summer kimono.

Love Plus, released only on the Japanese market, has become the country’s most popular dating game since its release last September, selling nearly 430,000 copies, according to research firm Enterbrain.

The secret is that the dating game goes a step beyond the genre’s usual boy-meets-girl script and asks players to build long-term relationships.

“In conventional love games, you went up stages to make a virtual girl fall in love with you, so that she would accept you as a boyfriend or express her love for you,” said Konami spokesman Kunio Ishihara.

“But players of Love Plus are in a scenario where they are a high school boy who is already dating one of the virtual girls. The goal is to see how good you can be to her and to build a relationship.”

Love Plus is an open-ended “communication game” with basic voice recognition software and a screen clock that keeps real time to make players feel like they are really sharing their life with a girlfriend, Ishihara said.

That means that the girl can get moody when neglected by a player who is not sufficiently committed, and that she demands attention when she feels unwell.

If players want to go on a summer trip with their girlfriends, they have to convince her and plan ahead through virtual communication, Ishihara said.

The fans milling about town clearly enjoyed the challenge.

“With earlier love simulation games, we only scored girls, as bad as that sounds, and that was it,” said Naoyuki Sakazaki, aged in his 40s, after taking iPhone shots before the bronze statue in Atami.

“Love Plus is fun because the relationship continues forever.”

The popularity of Love Plus has been a welcome shot in the arm for Atami, which has seen visitors decline some 40 percent since its 1970s heyday.

More than 200 Love Plus fans have stayed at the Ohnoya hotel alone, while well over 2,000 have visited the resort town for the campaign, which kicked off on July 10 and runs until the end of August.

Young men have come from as far as South Korea and Taiwan, say locals.

Atami’s business association was at first hesitant and puzzled by the story line, in which a high school girl spends a night at a resort hotel with a man.

“Some people were opposed to taking part in this campaign, saying the game is immoral,” said association member Saiki Ota.

“We also didn’t expect it would sell that much.”

But they eventually realised the economic impact of the project, he added.

Konami’s Ishihara stressed that the game has no sexual content.

“The virtual girls can kiss you as a way of communication, but nothing happens when she sleeps
next to you at the hotel,” he said. “We have no intention of trying to sell a product with pornographic elements.

“I think Love Plus fans would get offended if somebody tried to disrespect his girlfriend like that.”

Source: The Inquirer Global Nation

It could be good for the City of Atami, but I think it is a really bad thing for Japan´s declining birth rate, don´t you think so?

Legions of Asuka / Ushijima fans!

She looks hot right?

Sexy pose!

Anta Baka?

Are you talking to Me?

Nice Plugsuit…and body!

Now, Thats cool isnt it?

For Rei fans, She does not let you down!

Hope you enjoyed Iiniku Ushijima Cosplay…She does the job portraying Asuka and Rei…Where is Mari now??…

According to animator Murata Toshiharu’s blog, animator Yamauchi Toshio passed away on August 24th. Director Daichi Akitaroh looked back over Yamauchi’s contributions to Ojarumaru and cried all the night through. Director Hirakawa Tetsuo tweeted that the deaths of Kon Satoshi and Yamauchi Toshio have changed the history of anime.

Yamauchi Toshio’s major works:
Lupin III (key animation)
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (key animation)
Future Boy Conan (key animation)
Ojarumaru (graphic director)
Spoon Oba-San (graphic director)
Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (key animation)
Grave of the Fireflies (key animation)
Kiteretsu (general graphic director)
Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo (general graphic director)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (key animation)

Source: Murata’s blog, Daichi’s tweet, Hirakawa’s tweet via MAL / Generación Ghibli

Condolences for his family, friends and fans. First Satoshi Kon and now Shojuro Yamauchi…This are definitely bad news for the Anime industry!

A man charged with torching his home in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, admitted Tuesday he did it out of anger because his mother threw away some of his plastic figures from the “Gundam” animation franchise.

“Plastic figures of Gundam are like my life partners. I thought I would rather burn to death with them than have them thrown away,” said Yoshifumi Takabe, 30, who pleaded guilty as his trial began at the Kobe District Court. Nobody was injured in the blaze.

Takabe told the court he piled 200 to 300 boxes of Gundam plastic figures up to near the ceiling in his room.

He is accused of setting fire to the wooden two-story house where he lived with his mother, grandmother and younger brother, at around 2:10 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2009.

His mother was in the house but escaped without injury.

Source: Japan Times

Good thing that no one got hurt in the incident….except perhaps, the Gundams!

I took an actual picture to show that it’s true and I didn’t alter a screen capture. The listing states the release date as 12/18/2010, but that date itself is unconfirmed. It’s a link to a page Amazon had made back in June for the Blu-Ray edition of the movie. The listing states that Amazon is giving away a limited “Nagato Steel Book” with the LE Blu-Ray edition of the movie.

Kadokawa also posted an announcement PV for the Taniguchi Goes! Special DVD out on 9/24.

Finally, HMV was kind enough to post the cover art for the Haruhi BD Box coming out in November!

Whoa! It’s been a hectic 16 hours for Haruhi video news. As soon as I hear a confirmation on the release date for the movie’s home version, it’ll be posted!

The Shizuoka Hobby Fair, with its 18-meter-tall “life size” statue of the Gundam robot from a popular animation series, welcomed its 500,000th visitor Tuesday.

The visitor was Takeshi Masuno, 45, who visited the fair with his family on the 32nd day of the event. His sons — Yuki, 10, and Tomoya, 6 — received plastic models of Gundam and fighter planes as commemorative gifts.

“I came here to show the Gundam robot to my children as a memory of their summer break,” Masuno from Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, said. “I was surprised (to become the 500,000th visitor).”

The event through March 27 next year is being held to mark the 30th anniversary of the first Gundam plastic model kit’s release.

Source: Kyodo via BreitBart / Photo

Congrats for being the 500,000th visitor…Lets see what the 1,000,000th visitor will receive!