Every Anime Opening Ever Made

They're all the same! They're always running somewhere! Where are they going?

How many movies can you name?

Sailor Moon re-runs on HK television

Source: chinaSMACK

A commercial for a live action television show of the anime “Sailor Moon” is thoroughly criticized by Chinese netizens who find it horrifying and shocking. The TV show, appearing on Hong Kong’s J2 TVB network, appears to be a re-imagining of the Sailor Moon characters having matured into middle age with familial responsibilities. Chinese take offense at the ages of the actors as well as the weight of one of them.



[script from the video； scene occurs in the summer of 2010]

Mother: [to child] Remember, when attending class study hard!

Woman: Serena (Usagi Tsukino)， Mr. Wong wanted you to have this.

Mother, now identified as Serena (Sailor Moon): Ami? Rei?

Serena: Moon prism power!

Ami Mizuno: Mercury power!

Rei Hino: Mars power!

All together: Uniform change!

Female announcer: Sailor Moon, premiering this Friday, broadcasting from Monday to Friday, 6 P.M. Let [Hong Kong television station] J2 accompany you on all of your little girl dreams!

Waiter: It’s been a long time since I last last saw you three; is discounted dim sum alright?

I did some further investigation and in fact they are not creating a live-action Sailor Moon show but in fact they are just re-broadcasting the old anime for the newer generation today. The commercial itself is trying to show how the typical Sailor Moon fan is older today and this re-airing of the show will being out the old Sailor Moon in them.

I kind of like the commercial but I do understand how all you Sailor Mars fans got scared for a second there!

Kid torches his own house, OVER GUNDAM

Source: Yahoo

A Japanese man has admitted to burning down his family home after his mother threw away some of his favourite robot toys from the "Gundam" animation series.

Yoshifumi Takabe, aged 30 and living with his mother, said he had become suicidal after she dumped some of the robots, of which he had enough to fill 300 boxes stacked to the ceiling, the Sports Nippon said Wednesday.

The blaze on August 9 last year completely destroyed their two-storey wooden house in Kasai, Hyogo prefecture, but no one was injured.

"The Gundam figures are like the partners I spend my life with," he reportedly said after pleading guilty at western Kobe's District Court. "I wanted to die with them in a fire if they were to be thrown out."

The Mobile Suit Gundam series, based on an animation TV series which started in the late 1970s, is about space wars fought by gigantic robots.

I won't totally blame the kid here. Parents just can't just ignore things and let it get out of control. 300 boxes! Obviously he like Gundam! Perhaps mom should have said something at 50 boxes? 100 boxes? If it's a concern, put a stop to it. It's been 30 years! At this point, it's too late and drastic actions will result in drastic responses.

Astroboy Poster

A large Astroboy poster overlooks a Japanese salaryman waiting for a train at the local train station

Evangelion Water Body Bottles

Squeezable!

Source: Japanorama

Curvy bottle shapes are nothing new, as Coca-cola's classic "coke-bottle" has demonstrated for decades but few other beverage companies have gone for that ergonomic yet obviously female form - until now.

Displayed prominently at the recent Foodex Japan 2010 show in Tokyo were a pair of Evangelion Water Body bottles certain to warm any anime lovers heart... and soothe their thirst in the bargain.

The bottles are not only voluptuously curved, but sport futuristic red and white bodysuits that reference those worn by characters Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami in the mega-successful Neon Genesis Evangelion series of manga, movies and games.

The bodacious bodysuited bottles are set to be released to retail outlets on May 26, 2010, to coincide with the release of "Evangelion: Destruction" on Blu-ray and DVD. The estimated cost per each 280ml (9.5 oz) bottle is 368 yen or about $4

These look pretty cool. I guess it could open the market for any other character that could be put into a bottle. They could make sports drinks with Maria Sharapova figured bottles or something.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Sets Guinness Record

Source: Anime News Network

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced on Friday that Guinness World Records has recognized Yu-Gi-Oh! as the best-selling trading card game to date with over 22,587,728,173 cards sold as of April 2009. The game entered the record books on July 7. The official announcement was made at the 7th annual Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game World Championship in Tokyo. Kazuki Takahashi drew the original manga from 1996 to 2004, and the card game first shipped in 1999 and eventually spread to over 45 countries. Konami had applied for the record back in 2006, when "only" 15.8 billion cards had been sold.

That's alot of cards. I have some old ones lying around I think. From when I bought them for my niece. I wonder if they're worth anything :)

Hong Kong: Ani-Com and Games

Source: Calgary Herald

Young fans of anime and comics pose in their costumes during the Ani-Com and Games Hong Kong (ACGHK) fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 31, 2009. Cosplay, which combines costume and roleplay based on characterisations in Japanese manga, graphic novels and video games, is popular among youngsters in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

Once a year Hong Kong kids get together to go crazy on the latest in the world of comics and plastic figurines at the Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong. The kids with fertile imaginations let them run riot in the (mostly Japanese-inspired) world of super heroes and cartoon characters, whether that be in 'graphic novels' or computer games, or both. Looks like any other anime convention. I need to get my ass to Calgary's Otafest one of these years. I went like 10 years ago and am still a little scarred.

CARS: Japanese Itasha Trend

Source: The Wonderous

Japanese always try to have new, unique and wonderful trends. Itasha is a trend to decorate car bodies with fictional characters of anime, manga, or video games. These characters are predominately “cute” female. The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers. Automobiles are called Itasha, while similar motorcycles and bicycles are called itansha and itachari respectively. Check out here what they have done with their vehicles.

WOW! That looks really pretty. Not sure I'd ride in such a car but one had to admire all the artwork. Anime fans really are one of the most loyal fanbases around!







See all the pictures HERE!

Japan's anime in recession

Source: CNN

Given the magnitude of Japan's recession, it should perhaps come as little surprise that the fantasy-obsessed animation industry has received a hard dose of reality.

Yasuo Yamaguchi, executive director of the Association of Japanese Animators, said the industry has been rocked by the country's deepest recession since World War II.

"The spread of free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect," he said.

Japanese animation is roughly a $2 billion-a-year industry. Revenues peaked in 2006 but have since fallen off, as lower advertising revenues lead to fewer new programs.

Yamaguchi said the animation industry is important to Japan's economy and that the government should be helping it through these tough times with subsidies.

Unlike some big screen animated features from the United States that rely almost completely on computer animation, in Japan, almost all features are drawn by hand -- a labor-intensive craft practiced by thousands of young artists each year.

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I disagree with the comment that says piracy is a big problem. I find anime fans to be the most loyal and will go buy alot of things at stores and conventions. They even buy the costumes to dress up at their favourite characters! Sure piracy does happen but not to the extent of tv shows and music.

And if you are pirating anime, think of the poor guy drawing one page at a time in his tiny un-air-conditioned room!

Animated Short: Water Brain

A Cartoon produced by students of Guangzhou (Canton) Academy of Art, about how Chinese middle school students suffer from the work load. In our six years of middle school studies, we study Chinese, maths, English, geography, physics, politics, history, chemistry and biology (not including PE, music and other subsidiary subjects), all of which are mandatory. We can not choose what we are interested in. Also, the studies are memory based and test oriented, which means we have to remember tons of theories, concepts, terms in order to pass exams.

Youtube Link


Youtube Link

Doesn't this remind us all of our school days? Late nights studying, runny noses, heavy books, paper airplanes. All that to become the office rats we are today :P

I really enjoyed it. The art work is cool and I especially liked the musical score attached to it

Japanese Falling For Pillows

That's just a sad sad sight

Source: New York Times

Nisan didn’t mean to fall in love with Nemutan. Their first encounter — at a comic-book convention that Nisan’s gaming friends dragged him to in Tokyo — was serendipitous. Nisan was wandering aimlessly around the crowded exhibition hall when he suddenly found himself staring into Nemutan’s bright blue eyes. In the beginning, they were just friends. Then, when Nisan got his driver’s license a few months later, he invited Nemutan for a ride around town in his beat-up Toyota. They went to a beach, not far from the home he shares with his parents in a suburb of Tokyo. It was the first of many road trips they would take together. As they got to know each other, they traveled hundreds of miles west — to Kyoto, Osaka and Nara, sleeping in his car or crashing on friends’ couches to save money. They took touristy pictures under cherry trees, frolicked like children on merry-go-rounds and slurped noodles on street corners. Now, after three years together, they are virtually inseparable. “I’ve experienced so many amazing things because of her,” Nisan told me, rubbing Nemutan’s leg warmly. “She has really changed my life.”

Nemutan doesn’t really have a leg. She’s a stuffed pillowcase — a 2-D depiction of a character, Nemu, from an X-rated version of a PC video game called Da Capo, printed on synthetic fabric. In the game, which is less a game than an interactive visual novel about a schoolyard romance, Nemu is the loudmouthed little sister of the main character, whom she calls nisan, or “big brother,” a nickname Nisan adopted as his own when he met Nemu. When I joined the couple for lunch at their favorite all-you-can-eat salad bar in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, he insisted on being called only by this new nickname, addressing his body-pillow girlfriend using the suffix “tan” to show how much he adored her. Nemutan is 10, maybe 12 years old and wears a little blue bikini and gold ribbons in her hair. Nisan knows she’s not real, but that hasn’t stopped him from loving her just the same. “Of course she’s my girlfriend,” he said, widening his eyes as if shocked by the question. “I have real feelings for her.”

According to many who study the phenomenon, the rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life. According to a government survey, more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan do not have friends of the opposite sex. One of the biggest best sellers in the country last year was “Health and Physical Education for Over Thirty,” a six-chapter, manga-illustrated guidebook that holds the reader’s hand from the first meeting to sex to marriage.

.....rest of the story

As discussed before in previous post, Japan has the oldest population in the world. Nearly 50% of it's population is over 60. Why is it that young Japanese have so much trouble navigating romantic life? There's a bazillion Japanese over there, just match up? There must be something fundamentally wrong with a society where men charish a pillow more than a girl. I know the older Japanese generation is upset about Otaku. How does a macho samurai sake-drinking society turn into this?

A declining birthrate is one thing. Alot of Western societies have less kids for various reasons, financial, daycare, women in their careers etccc. But people are still getting married have having a great social life. How can a country have so many single people? Is it the guys who think the girls are needy? It is the girls who think the guys are jerks? Must be something!

Panties That Clean Your Glasses

Source: dannychoo

You is being wearing glasses? You is being in need of wiping your glasses with something more stylist to stand out from the crowd? Well how about some glasses-wiping pantsu?

These pantsu have been made especially to wipe your glasses - now you can ensure that you gain a lot of attention when standing in that crowd.

The blue bit is designed to be the part that picks up the dirt and wipes the mucky stuff from your glasses.

Wow. Panties that clean your glasses. Would you buy one? Would you use it in public? :)

Women and Anime

Here's an interesting interview about women and anime. I never thought it was such a big deal. Girls often dress up as insane anime characters at conventions. They look pretty hot!

Source: Examiner.com

Women and their portrayal in anime has been a hot topic on the mind of Deanna Jackson, a Ph.D. student in experimental psychology, who is currently teaching social psychology. She is currently researching gender identity in adults. As a feminist and an anime fan for over 13 years, I interviewed her to see what she thought about the anime of today and older anime, and how images of women in shows differed and their impact on society.

Examiner: What got you interested in Women and Anime?
D.J.: Really, it all started because of CLAMP. I was thinking about whether I thought their shows were more shoujo or shounen, and when I realized…they're shoujo, I started questioning why I didn't think they were for Girls. Especially X. Such a: "you'd think this would be a dude show" amount of violence and serious themes. It's only gotten worse as I've seen more and more anime and learned more and more about gender.

Examiner: How do you feel women are portrayed in Anime?
D.J.: Now that's a tough question. In general, I would say women are usually limited in how they're portrayed. I would say there are a variety of portrayals out there, but usually are very archetypal. Mostly, this is probably just because anime is usually targeting a male audience. Each different type of anime has its own stereotypical female characters, or lack thereof, and it depends on a lot of what market the anime is geared towards as to what portrayals it uses. Wouldn't say they portrayed negatively or positively, overall. I would say that they are often objectified.

Examiner: Is Anime a realistic look at how the creators see women in real life in your opinion?
D.J.: I seriously, seriously doubt it. It's a form of entertainment that needs viewers to make money. Marketability drives a lot of what gets portrayed, and the writers themselves are thinking about a story. And I doubt anyone's fantasy life is an accurate reflection of how they see the world they live in. for example, the objectification often happens because sex sells. A good story, now with ass shots and panties and fan service!

.....more

How do find the portrayal of women in anime?

Fondling Boobs At Your Fingertips

Source: Japanorama

Etsu Japan has partnered with CARNELIAN Sensei
and TONY Sensei to create these magnificent hand-painted keyboards. The artwork displays the manga masters' keen eye and vivid imagination to best advantage but you may wonder... why use a computer keyboard for a canvas?

The only answer I can think of is that your average anime otaku geek would do just about anything to get his hands on one of the cute cuties depicted... and for just 10,000 yen (about $105) each, they can!

.....more

If I walked into a boy's room and saw anime posters all over the walls, I'd leave. However I think this keyboard is pretty cool so I might stay :P

And what happens when the keyboard is dirty? We've all had crumbs and dirt in our keyboard. Do we just pick it up and shake her boobs?

Where was lesbian manga when I was young?

Source: After Ellen

Strawberry Panic! is the story of Aoi Nagisa, a transfer student who comes to Astrea Hill, a campus that houses three elite girls' schools: St. Miator; St. Spica and St. LuLim.

Amid spring sunshine and the cherry blossoms swirling in the wind, Nagisa meets and is seduced by charismatic playgirl Hanazono Shizuma.

Shizuma is the current Etoile ("star") — the elected figurehead of the three schools.

Meanwhile, another transfer student, the angelic Kotohana Hikari, has managed to do what no one else has ever done, by capturing the heart of Ohtori Amane, known as the "Prince" of St. Spica.

In the grand tradition of Japanese Girls Love literature, the students of all three schools are caught up in a dance around these two transfer students as the election for the campus's new Etoile approaches.

The story follows Nagisa as she is captivated, teased by, and ultimately falls in love with Shizuma, who has a reputation for loving and leaving her women. Nagisa struggles with the difficulty of being a transfer student who has gained the attention of the Etoile, trying to avoid becoming the most recent in a long line of hearts that Shizuma has wooed and broken.

.....more

Woo! A lesbian love triangle in high school. That's a bit young to involved in stuff like this no? I always wondered if gay and lesbian issues were taboo in Japan. Seems suitable for kids in Japan to be reading this. I'm not sure a manga/comic like this would be allowed in the US with the looney right wing having as much power as it does.

Strawberry Panic

Phillipines: House wants to ban pornographic cartoon

Source: House of Representatives

Hentai, the Japanese pornographic cartoon that depicts children in explicit sexual activity, is considered child pornography material and one may be severely penalized by just mere possession of it.

A bill banning this pornographic cartoon was approved recently by the Joint House Committees on Justice and Welfare of Children chaired by Rep. Matias Defensor (3rd District, Quezon City) and Rep. Monica Prieto-Teodoro (1st District, Tarlac), respectively.

Prieto-Teodoro, one of the authors of the measure, said the bill penalizes the offenders who sell, offer, advertise, and promote child pornography; and have been found to possess, download, purchase, reproduce, or make available child pornography materials with the intent of selling or distributing them.

Prieto-Teodoro said child pornography material refers to the means and methods in which a child carries out pornography.

"It can be in forms of visual depiction, audio representation and written text or materials that advocate explicit sexual activity with a child," Prieto-Teodoro said.

She explained that the said images of real and indistinguishable children in films, digital images or computer images, whether made or produced electronically or mechanically; drawings, cartoons, sculptures or paintings depicting children in an explicit sexual activity are just some of the visual depictions considered as child pornography materials.

Prieto-Teodoro said there is a need for a legislative measure to address this disturbing social phenomena considering that the provisions of RA7160 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act are mainly related to child prostitution and do not provide adequate protection to victims of other forms of sexual exploitation particularly child pornography.

The bill provides that the mere possession of drawings, cartoons, digital images, computer-generated images -- even if it is indistinguishable from that of real children engaging in an explicit sexual activity – may be penalized with 6 to 12 years imprisonment and a fine of not more than P500,000.

The measure also imposes 12 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of not more than P2 million to violators who have been found guilty of committing unlawful acts such as hiring, employing, using, persuading, inducing, or coercing a child to perform in the production of child pornography, including its production people.

Wow, I'm sure that will REALLY protect children from abuse! We all know that all these types of laws do is drive whatever is illegal into the underground market making it even harder to control. Unless you're a person who owns thousands of videos, nobody is going to bother you. Are the police going to look in everyone house? Like piracy laws, this never works.

Otaku Bedrooms

Source: dannychoo.com

Over at dannychoo.com, they ran an otaku bedroom contest. Whoever had the nicest bedroom won. Some of the entries are very impressive. Here are some of the ones I liked.







You can see all the entries and results at dannychoo.com

I actually do admire these guys for their devotion of manga/anime and their massive collections. I don't collect anything so my room is pretty plain. However I could never date any of these guys cause there no way I could ever have sex in a room like that!

Hollywood Grabs Ninja Scroll & Full Metal Panic

Source: comicbookmovie.com

Two major anime titles, Ninja Scroll and Full Metal Panic, are set for live action adaptations and are nearing pre-production.

Ninja Scroll is to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio (and Warner Brothers) headed company Appian Ways, whilst Mandalay Pictures has acquired the rights to Full Metal Panic.

Reports suggest DiCaprio is considering casting famous male group SMAP as the leads in the live action Ninja Scroll. He is said to be intent to “cast with Japanese people” in the adaptation, which he acquired the rights to last year.

Appian Ways also holds the rights for another legendary anime movie, Akira, though no details on this were given.

DiCaprio, said to be a great fan of both movies, has stated that filming won’t start until everyone involved is satisfied with the script.

SMAP’s agency was not forthcoming in a recent statement to Nikkan Sports: “We have nothing to say yet, but if it does come true, we would certainly like to talk about it further.”

Additionally, news that Mandalay Pictures has successfully acquired the rights to a live action adaptation of the Full Metal Panic! series also surfaced.

In what could be the the news that makes or breaks the movie, actor Zac Efron is apparently set to play Japanese born (but Afghan raised) lead Sousuke Sagara.

It is not clear whether the character will be changed to fit the casting of a non-Japanese actor, but this seems far from improbable

All this anime turning into live action. Very difficult to be successful. One reason is because of trying to fit the story into a Hollywood script (basically you're trying to shrink hundreds of episodes into two hours). Another reason is that you have to spend time on intro for new viewers which will not make the diehards happy.

I always wondered why comic books can be successfully made into live-action movies but anime/manga cannot? It is because of the images? Are anime images not transferable to the big screen?

What do you guys think?

Ghibli's Ponyo Dated for August 14 in U.S. Theaters

Source: ANN

Walt Disney Pictures has announced that Ponyo, the latest film from Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro), will open in American theaters on August 14. The story follows an ordinary boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) and his friendship with Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), a goldfish who wishes to be human. The other castmembers include Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White.

Ponyo is the English release name for Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which Studio Ghibli and TOHO released in Japan on July 19 of last year. It became Japan's highest grossing film of 2009. Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Steve Alpert are producing the English-language dub, while Miyazaki himself and John Lasseter (Pixar's Toy Story, Cars) are executive producers.

Here is the Ponyo song. Apologies in advance if the song gets stuck on your head!

Blood: The Last Vampire Teaser Trailer

Youtube Link

A 31-second teaser for Chris Nahon and Pathé's live-action film adaptation of Mamoru Oshii and Hiroyuki Kitakubo's Blood: The Last Vampire anime. The screenplay is credited to the Production I.G anime's Kenji Kamiyama and Hong Kong's Ronny Yu. South Korea's Jeon Ji-hyun (under the credited name of Gianna Jun) plays the main character Saya, a 16-year-old sword-wielding girl hunting down supernatural creatures. Japanese actress Koyuki plays her opponent Onigen.

The film will open in Japan on May 29 (under the title Last Blood), in the United Kingdom on June 12, and then in France on June 17. No American release plans for the movie have been officially announced yet.