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A Cold Creepy GeGeGe no Kitaro Treat
So I found myself at my local Asian grocery store and looking in the corner of the ice cream section I spotted a pile of GeGeGe no Kitaro ices. I went ahead and tried the iced bar and after doing a bit of research it seems that it was actually “milk flavored” — although it wasn’t ice cream, but more like an Italian ice. It also turns out that in Japan there is a soda flavored version as well. Here is the entire package design: Read more… The Official One Piece Headpiece
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 28, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Tacky Cartoon Jammies of the 80s
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 27, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
What you’re looking at is page 48 from the 1987 JCPenny catalog which showcases many popular cartoons from the era! The first two on the top are characters from Brave Starr (Marshall and Tex-Hex), in the middle row we’ve got Thundercats and on the bottom are the Transformers. And the the robes on the right all glow in the dark! Nope it doesn’t get any more tacky than this… Read more… Take a Stab With Kotobukiya’s Samurai Sword Themed Chopsticks
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 21, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Feast your eyes on these wicked new chopsticks from Kotobukiya. Fans of the Sengoku Basara anime series, as well as Japanese history buffs like myself, might recognize the designs. Believe it or not, they’re actually fashioned after the swords and blades supposedly carried by the likes of Masamune Date, Keiji Meada and Yukimura Sanada — warriors who fought during Japan’s Sengoku era — with some amount of historical accuracy. I’ve always had a fascination with Samurais, so these are right up my alley. The chopsticks, estimated to cost about $9 a pair, won’t be hitting stores and online retailers until sometime in July. For more information, check out Kotobukiya’s US website. Read more… The Chewing Gum of Haruhi Suzumiya
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 12, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
For Lotte’s latest commercial for their ACUO brand of gum they’re featuring an animated Haruhi Suzumiya (and her friends) interacting with live action actor Toma Ikuta. As much as I love Haruhi I think the cutest part of the advert is when he runs out side and the three street cats that are looking at him transform into cat girls: Read more… Headphone Amps with an Anime Groove
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 11, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
At long last there’s an answer to the classic problem is that you’re an aspiring j-pop guitar player but you don’t want to disturb your neighbors. VOX is introducing a line of K-on! themed headphone guitar amplifiers so you can practice your chords in private. These goodies will be hitting music stores in japan in late April and come in three editions — one for Yui Hirasawa, another for Azuka Nakano and a bass guitar one for Mio Akiyama. Read more… Anime Cosplay in Orbit!
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi (seen on the left) grew up watching Space Battleship Yamato which is well known to American fans as Star Blazers. And here he is on International Space Station making us Earth bound retro anime fans very proud. Here’s the official caption for the photo from NASA which sadly omits the fanboy reference: Read more… A Matsumoto Rhapsody
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 10, 2010 in Animation
Rail thin blond ladies and killer mecha, yup we got that! This beautiful fan made video from Japan combines Leiji Matsumoto animation with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. My thanks to Evan Minto of Ani-Gamers for finding this gem! Hang Out With Go Nagai and Then Bring This Mazinger Z Home With You
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 5, 2010 in Animation, Comic Books
If you’re lucky enough to be in Japan on April 25th there will be an amazing handshake session with Go Nagai at the Go Nagai Wonderland Museum. The day starts off with a Talk Show which traces the career of Go Nagai and then is followed up with the pre-release of the Soul of Chogokin Mazinger Z GX-45C color comic version collectable shown above and below. The collectable robot will be released in a limited edition of 100 and will set you back 6,800 yen: Read more… Young Ace Honors Evangelion
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 4, 2010 in Animation, Comic Books
Magazine publishers in the United States could learn some real lessons from the Japanese: The May issue of Young Ace magazine features a nice illustration of Evangelion. Apparently the cover is honoring the recent release of a twelve volume manga collection. However the cool thing is that the issue is packed with other Evangelion goodies including a desk calendar. It’s those little extra things like that which make Japanese printed publications so much more lively than what you see here. Doraemon Museum Set to Open in 2011
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 31, 2010 in Animation, Comic Books
A museum in honor of Fujiko F. Fujio (pen name for Hiroshi Fujimoto) is set to open in Japan on September 3, 2011. Hiroshi Fujimoto was half of the duo known as Fujiko Fujio who created the Doraemon manga which is one of the most popular franchises in Japan — although sadly the robotic blue cat has never quite caught on in America. Fujimoto passed away in 1996, and as a tribute to his fans his widow helped bring the museum to life as a “way of giving back”. In addition to the many interactive exhibits the museum will include Fujimoto’s drawing table, his personal beret and his pipe. Read more… Please Toei: Don’t Turn Captain Harlock into Howard Stern
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 31, 2010 in Animation
Ben 10 in Front of My Bodega: Ghetto Gashapon Goodness
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 29, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
As much as it’s loved by kids everywhere I’ve got to say that Ben 10 has never really won me over, there’s something very generic feeling about the show to me. However recently while wondering around my hood in Brooklyn I came across an amazing set of eight capsule Ben 10 toys that blew me away. I tend not to expect much from American gashapon when put next to what the Japanese produce — however the level of detail on this collection of monsters and robots was quite good: Read more… Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010: Snapshots from the Show
Linda Yau was very kind to share these snapshots with us straight from the floor of the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010: Read more… The Cutest Little Black Rock Shooter
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 27, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
With the anime series set to launch in April the folks behind the Nendoroids have decided to introduce a Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter. Sculpted by master craftsman Abe Masato this Nendoroid features extra hair parts based upon the illustrations of HUKE. Here’s a preview of the anime series to give you a taste of the show: Read more… Kenichi Matsuyama: The Dainty Side of Death Note
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 27, 2010 in Animation
It took me a while to recognize the actor gazing into the mirror on the cover of Cookie issue #5. After a bat I realized that it was none other than Kenichi Matsuyama who is best known for playing the character L in the live action Death Note films in addition to being a voice actor in the animated series. The mirror concept in this cover reminds me a great deal of the amazing 80s music video Take On Me which was directed by Steve Barron: Read more… A Timeless Leiji Matsumoto Timepiece
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
If you grew up on Star Blazers, Galaxy Expresss 999 and Captain Harlock you may want to think of sporting the Leiji Matsumoto Romantic Collection Watch on your wrist. I have to say that this beautiful timepiece really captures the look of Matsumoto mecha — it looks like a spare widget from the bridge of the Yamato or the Arcadia. Of course you may need to be a rocket scientist to actually read the watch as it features “quadrants have been demarcated with lines along with more minute lines which delineate the seconds”: Read more… A Highly Animated Anime Conversation with Helen McCarthy
I was recently very privileged to be part of an Anime 3000 podcast with legendary anime author Helen McCarthy who has written so many vital reference books like The Anime Encyclopedia (with Jonathan Clements) and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. Also on the podcast were Tim Maughan and of course Sean Russell who’s really done a great job creating a podcast with the who’s who of anime. The conversation covers everything from Yona Yona Penguin to iPads and is also available on iTunes. Read more… The Return of the Revenge of the House of the Bride of the Son of the Daughter of Tom Stathes’ Cartoon Carnival
Posted by Joe Strike on Mar 24, 2010 in Animation
Tom Stathes’ latest Cartoon Carnival, number five to be exact, was presented at a storefront venue known as Vaudeville Park, and hosted by Cinebeasts, a local film society. Not only were the cartoons time-warp material; the twenty-somethings who’d organized the evening were dressed for the occasion in bowties, bowler hats and suspenders, a pianist was playing Fats Waller tunes, the SRO audience consisted of everyone from college kids to retirees, and never mind the open bar – they were handing out free popcorn! Read more… A Heavenly Shrine Priestess Figurine from Inuyasha
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 23, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Kikyo was cuter. Much cuter! It’s hard for me to believe it but to many anime fans Inuyasha is thought of as old school anime at this point — the show went on the air almost ten years ago in October of 2000. So for me it was a pleasant surprise to see this wonderful figurine of Kikyo which is produced by the BOME modeling house. From what I can gather from my source article is that this figurine first came out in 2009 as a limited edition but will be re-issued in June. Read more… Megamind: A Menial Mental Achievement from Dreamworks
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 19, 2010 in Animation
Dreamworks has a very solid business plan: Churn out as many second rate Pixar looking films as you can. Megamind perfectly embodies this tired formula by having well known comedy stars do the voiceovers to poorly done 3D animation that looks like everything else you’ve already seen before, and then add a soundtrack of songs that were all hits from twenty plus years ago. The irony of this is that I love Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt and Tina Fey — but while two of them are A+ comedy actors none of them are talented voice actors. And things like that which tell you that Dreamworks really has no respect for the art of animation. Read more… Domokun Travels Back in Time to Give Birth to Modern Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 19, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Domokun has many adventures — and for this set of goodies he’s joined the cast of the Japanese costume drama show Ryomaden. The story is based upon the life of Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬) who lived in the 19th Century and played a key role in keeping Japan united while allowing for the creation of a modern government which will allow it to avoid be colonized by foreign powers. Ryōma was very much in love with technology, so I think he’d love the idea of westerners learning about his life story via the internet (although I’m not sure how he’d feel about Domo). Read more… Tim Burton’s MoMA Nightmare
I haven’t been to NYC’s Museum of Modern Art since their admission price hit a serious $20. (Sure you can get info free Friday evenings courtesy of Target – if you don’t mind standing on line for two hours.) I take that back; I’ve been there once or twice since, but gratis, wearing my fedora with the ‘PRESS’ pass tucked in the brim. Read more… Touched by Romantic Retro Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 18, 2010 in Animation, Japanese TV
Touch is a manga that ran in Japan from 1981 until 1986 in Weekly Shone Sunday, along with Urusei Yatsura it was on of the most popular comics in that magazine during the early 80s. The manga which became an anime series in 1985 was a combination of baseball with romanic comedy. What’s cool about this commercial is that you can see the wide range of merchandise the show inspired — from a musical album to a “Happy Bag” of goodies that was sold through the Japanese drug store chain Lawson. I love the added touch of having the two characters from the show standing outside an anime version of the drugstore in the last shot. Read more… |
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