As an anime fanboy I think one of my most bitter lessons one year was waiting until the last minute to order my new year’s calendar — sadly every one was grabbed up. Part of the reason for this is that often the Japanese fans will grab them quite a bit in advance leaving the sad crumbs for poor gaijin otaku like myself. Well I learned my lesson and I started to plan my wall decor well in advance. Shown here are my top suggested picks for 2011 starting with the beautiful Bleach (B) 2011 Calendar shown above. Here are my other favorites: Read more…
I’m in a total state of shock: It seems like just yesterday that I was watching every episode of Bleach — so I was blown away to just read the it’s almost the 10th anniversary of the franchise. Of course that marks the 10th anniversary of the manga which was first published in August of 2001 and is now up to 48 volumes and over 300 episodes of the anime series which went on the air in 2004. Shown here are a set of coasters which have been created for the occasion in Japan which feature illustrations by Noriaki “Tite” Kubo: Read more…
Last week I posted some of the character sheets from the upcoming Supernatural anime. While I liked the designs, I wasn’t quite sure how well they’d translate to the animation. Thankfully, there’s a short trailer that’ll illustrate it for us. Again, the series will be covering the first two seasons of its American live-action counterpart, and follows the story of two brothers bent on revenge against the demon responsible for their mother’s death. While the trailer has me a little worried — the animation certainly isn’t the best I’ve seen — they seem to have hit everything else about the show on the mark. Needless to say, I’m still excited and I’m looking forward to seeing what Madhouse and Warner Brothers have in store for us when the series hits shelves next year.
It’s been months since this was officially announced, but I recently stumbled across what appears to be some of the original character sketches from the upcoming anime based on the hit show Supernatural. Like the series, the anime will feature the story of the Winchester brothers and will consist of twenty four episodes which will feature the same story arcs from the first two seasons — namely their quest to find their father and avenge the death of their late mother. The first twelve episodes will go on sale in Japan in early January, and while there’s been no word on if Supernatural: The Animation will be licensed for distribution stateside, I imagine it won’t be long before someone does — if not Warner Brothers themselves.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2010 in Animation
Asahi.com has reported that Yoshinobu Nishizaki has passed away. Nishizaki was the producer of Space Cruiser Yamato which was known as Star Blazers in the United States — a franchise that played a pivotal role in the history of anime. What’s very sad about this was that after years of legal troubles a live action version of the cherished retro anime series is getting a great deal of positive feedback from those who have seen the first sneak previews of the film. Had he lived the triumph of that film would have been a great personal victory to Nishizaki. Read more…
I’m not sure if I could ever forgive Hollywood for their shlock epic Dragonball Evolution which nearly ruined the franchise for me! However these authentic Dragon Ball denim jeans might make might up for it. These jeans will be released by Cospa in late December just in time Christmas. Sadly overweight otaku need not apply as the jeans will range from a 30 to 36 inch waste size, but this is a martial arts anime series after all so we’d expect you to be in good shape: Read more…
Do you want to look like Fujiko Mine from Lupin III? Well here’s your chance: Bandai will be rolling out a line of cosmetics that are based on the beloved anime series by Monkey Punch. I love the fact how some of the items in the line are shaped like bullets — although I’m surprised that Bandai isn’t doing a line of jewelry given Lupin’s occupation. Read more…
The amount of loving detail on this Sailor Moon bento box is mind numbing! While the box features all the major characters my favorite touch is the inclusion of Luna the cat: Read more…
The popular chain Lawson in Japan will be taking orders for Evangelion Chocolate Cakes which will be shipped right before Christmas! The cake (shown above) also comes packed with an Rei Ayanami figurine holding the “Spear of Longinus” (which as it turns out is a reference to the holy lance in the Bible). The cake is being produced by Bandi which apparently has quite a large business making anime themed cake and candy. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 12, 2010 in Animation
Wanting too much of a good thing is a very American trait — we eat too much fast food, consume way too much oil to drive automobiles that are way too big and our tastes in entertainment slouch towards mental comfort food. If we like a TV show chances are that the creators will ignore their better instincts and run the show into the ground. Such was the case with Happy Days and thus the phrase “Jumping the Shark” was born. So this is clearly a uniquely American bad habit? Wrong! Anime is suffering from the very same sin of more and more of the same. Read more…
Yes I know on the surface that this USB Oshaberi Talking Chopper seems like a typical superficial useless office toy — but the reality is that it’s highly educational linguistic device! This talking Tony Tony Chopper can not only blink his eyes and move his cheeks but he can also speak up to 70 lines (in japanese of course) from One Piece. Read more…
Only children are supposed to be able to see Totoro, Miyazaki’s friendly furry forest spirit, but it looks like exceptions are made when he’s crafted of fondant. Carolyn Lengel made these adorable cupcakes with her daughter Harriet to celebrate Harriet’s 11th birthday. Seeing all eleven together will likely make you use the word “cute” several hundred times, and you might even want one for yourself, but alas — you can’t have your Totoros and eat them too.Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 30, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
We wasted many hours trolling the net to find interesting and amusing anime inspired images so that you don’t have to! Most of these images were found via Twitter although the above screen shot is from this Japanese blog. My personal favorite is the parody below which makes fun of the typical charts that showcase what new anime shows we can expect to see in the new season: Read more…
Over the last couple of years, the pop culture exchange between America and Japan has blended together more than any other time in recent memory. American studios have been more than happy to take anime to turn into terrible movies and in exchange we’ve begun to give them anime based on super heroes, video games and TV shows. Now that we seem firmly locked in this trade off though, I was left thinking about all of the great shows from American TV history that is being left completely untouched and as a favor to the American studios out there wondering what should be the next title to export east, here are a few suggestions: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 25, 2010 in Animation
This wonderful late 70s Japanese commercial features a Space Battleship Yamato bicycle — a show which was known to early day anime fans as Star Blazers. What I love about this bike is that it seems to have included a faux wave motion gun and came with its own uniform too: Read more…
The character designs in One Piece are already quite cute to start with however these PansonWorks keychains really take kawaii quality of the manga up to the next level. There are ten designs in all with this series including Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Zorro, Ace, Shanks, Nami and Sanji. I really love the fact that they have two poses for Luffy and Chopper: Read more…
Posted by Guest Author on Aug 13, 2010 in Animation
You can talk all you want about what you think is the biggest anime surprise to occur in the last year. For me, that debate starts and ends with the popularity of Hinako. Produced by Primastea and launched in the spring of 2009, Training with Hinako became a hit with fans for reasons I’ve chosen not to think about too much. A few months later the sequel, Sleeping with Hinako, became another surprise hit. It’s now being reported that the studio is going to strike while the iron is still hot and release a third Hinako feature for fans to enjoy privately. Read more…
If you’re a Clamp fan and are lucky enough to be in japan this August you may be able to get your hands on this very cute Kobato Hanato figurine from the manga (and anime) series Kobato (こばと。). Also included in the package is the blue stuffed dog Yogisanmo and a handy traveling bag which will set you back 1890 yen: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 10, 2010 in Animation
Yes I know that the furthest thing from your mind is celebrating a happy new year — but for hardcore otaku in Japan it’s the season to start thinking about which anime calendar to select for 2011! Shown here are a preview of a few of the calendars which will be available for pre-orders in Japan on September 26th. Shown above is One Piece and below is Naruto: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 31, 2010 in Animation
This very cute short film by Hiroki Mori should serve as proof to many a fanboy that anime doesn’t always have to look like anime (or feature ladies running around in maid outfits chasing giant robots). This film also illustrates what I love about animation itself which is that for really good animation you don’t need a translation as what’s going on the screen quickly communicates the story. Read more…
Last year, Marvel Animation discussed their upcoming forays into the realm of Japanese animation by debuting several concept trailers featuring two of their most popular characters, Wolverine and Iron Man. I had enjoyed the trailers, but we were left wanting more, and there had been no updates regarding either series — that was, until last weekend. We have yet to hear more regarding Wolverine, but Marvel debuted the first official teaser trailer for their upcoming Iron Man anime, which will debut on G4HD next year. In it, we briefly see a mid-air battle between Iron Man and his government owned counterpart War Machine. There are still no details regarding the plot of the series, but I imagine we’ll learn more in the months to come. Read more…
Of course you can safely assume that as an anime fanboy I’m impressed with anything with One Piece artwork on it — but what impresses me about this is that it’s the first time that I’m seeing really accessories for the iPad start to emerge from Japan! This One Piece Hard Shell Jacket for the iPad protects your Apple gizmo from scratches with illustrations of Luffy, Chopper, Nico Robin and many more: Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on Jul 19, 2010 in Animation, Fandom
Mechacon was held this past weekend in New Orleans and we captured some of the best cosplay going down in the big easy! While there were many sexy cosplayers (see above) this young lady below in the Lucky Star outfit wins our award for cutest cosplayer: Read more…
You can talk all you want about what you think is the biggest anime surprise to occur in the last year. For me, that debate starts and ends with the popularity of Hinako. Produced by Primastea and launched in the spring of 2009, Training with Hinako became a hit with fans for reasons I’ve chosen not to think about too much. A few months later the sequel, Sleeping with Hinako, became another surprise hit. 
