Last September, the Japanese toy company Bandai began selling electronic keychains that simulate the sound and feel of popping bubbles in plastic wrap. The ? Puti Puti (Mugen Puchi Puchi or Infinite Pop-Pop) keychains became a hit among obsessive-compulsives who wanted an everlasting, portable supply of virtual bubbles to pop. Bandai announced on February 7 that it will launch a spinoff line: ? Puti Puti Petit Moe four new bubble-popping keychains that will also feature different moe voices by Rie Kugimiya (Fullmetal Alchemist’s Al, Gintama’s Kagura, Hayate the Combat Butler’s Nagi, Shakugan no Shana’s title character, Zero no Tsukaima’s Louise).
After you pop 50 virtual bubbles on one of these keychains, it will “talk back” in four different voices that cater to specific moe obsessions: im?to (little sister), maid, tsundere (initially domineering, abrasive personality), and osananajimi (childhood friend). For example, the im?to version might say “Oniichan!” (”Big Brother!”), the maid version might say “Okaerinasaimase, Go-shujin-sama” (”Welcome home, Master”), the tsundere version might say “Sawan nai de yo!” (”Don’t touch that!”), and the osananajimi version might say “Zutto, suki datta no…” (”I’ve always loved you…”). If you stop popping “bubbles” for 15 seconds, the keychain will pester you to keep going. Bandai has also posted a website with virtual blogs, profiles, and wallpaper for each moe type. The keychains will start shipping on March 8, and the 300,000-unit limited edition will stop selling in June.
Hitoshi Iuraaki, the manga creator of Histone and Parasyte (Kiseiju), has published a one-shot horror manga called Me o Mite Hanase in this year’s fourth issue (released on February 5) of Kadokawa Shoten’s omic Charge magazine.The story’s 46 pages follow a businessman’s seeming boring life (”same old workplace, same old lover”), except something is not quite right. The short story has never been published in a compiled volume before, and the magazine’s previous issues made no announcement that this manga would be published. Del Rey has been publishing the Parasyte manga after Toykopop let its earlier license expire.
Volume 38 of the Ichijinsha publisher’s email newsletter has officially confirmed on February 5 that Eri Takenashi’s Kannag: Crazy Shrine Maidens manga will be animated for television. The story begins when an art student named Jin Mikuriya carves a statue from the wood of the Kannagi tree — only to have the statue come to life. The original tree happened to be possessed by a goddess, who has now taken over the statue. Jin finds himself being dragged around as “Nagi” goes around taking care of the duties of a goddess.
Takenashi first became well-known among manga fans through short stories in various comic anthologies dedicated to Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night and other visual novel software from the developer Type Moon . Kannagi is currently running in Comic Rex magazine. Three compiled volumes have been published, and the fourth will ship on February 9, the same day as the next issue of Comic Rex.
Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: Suntory, a Japanese beverage company, is airing a commercial (15 second and 30 second version) in which American actor Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, Men in Black, No Country for Old Men) discovers cosplayers, moe, and maid cafes in Tokyo’s otaku’s shopping district of Akihabara. (The Suntory site’s videos require Microsoft Windows Media Player.) The commercial is the latest in a series designed to promote Suntory’s Boss brand of canned coffee. Since April of 2006, Jones has been playing “Alien Jones,” an extraterrestrial character who has taken on the human form to conduct an undercover survey of Earth. Suntory is the same company for whom Bill Murray’s character makes a whisky commercial in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film, Lost in Translation.
This year’s 11th issue (on sale on February 11) of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine will publish a special standalone short story for Tsugumi Ooba and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note manga in Japan. The announcement was made in the current issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, which was released on Monday. The 44-page story with color insert will describe an event after the end of the original series — specifically, the case of a new Kira. The return of the Death Note manga will mark the February 9 opening of L Change The World, the spinoff based on the two Death Note live-action films. The original run of the manga lasted from December of 2003 to May of 2006 in Japan, and Viz Media has released all twelve volumes in North America.
Episode Synopsis: In this episode of our podcast series, we review the animated film Perfect Blue, discuss the status of the current U.S. anime industry, and speak about our favorite anime genres. Enjoy.
The ICv2 retailer news website reports that ADV Films has chosen the Blu-ray Disc format and plans to release titles on the high-definition format as soon as this spring. According to ICv2’s source, the company will first concentrate on bringing out Blu-ray versions of some of its most recent licenses, rather than any back catalog titles. Since high-definition transfers of some anime may have to be prepared, this decision may cause some release date delays. The news comes in light of the company’s reported short-term issues with the distribution of various anime titles.
Sony, the primary backer of the Blu-ray Disc format, released Tekkonkinkreet and Paprika on the format last September. At first, Warner Brothers committed to Blu-ray and HD DVD and will release Appleseed: Ex Machina in both competing formats, but it announced before last month’s Consumer Electronics Show that it will dedicate itself to the Blu-ray format only after May. Bandai Visual USA has released Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise and Freedom on HD DVD, but it also released Honneamise and SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next on Blu-ray Disc and plans Yukikaze on Blu-ray only. Funimation has been releasing selected Dragon Ball Z movies on Blu-ray, starting with last November’s Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan and Broly the Second Coming.
The Walt Disney Company has committed to Blu-ray, although it has not announced an anime title on the format except for the Ghibli no E-Shokunin: Oga Kazuo Ten: Totoro no Mori no Kita Hito (The Artisan of Ghibli: Kazuo Oga Exhibition: The Man Who Drew Totoro’s Forest) Art exhibition collection in Japan.
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