TOKYOMANGO

Get your hand-printed limited edition TokyoMango t-shirt now (2 weeks only)

My friend Ben and I made a test run of TokyoMango t-shirts on Saturday. They're really nice, do you want one? If so, you can buy one here. Below are the details:

- All shirts are 100% cotton.
- Each t-shirt will be hand-silk screened by me and Ben on his Yudu machine. The shirt logo was custom-designed by Ben. Mango design courtesy of my web designer James.
- The Women's tees come in a t-shirt style (pistacio and white) and a spaghetti strap ribbed tank (yellow).
- The Men's tees come in orange and white. In the pic above, Ben is actually accidentally wearing a girl's tee, but you get the idea... the sleeves will be more manly on the one you get.
- You can choose a custom colored tee for $25. Just shoot me an email with your preference after you place the order.
- The sizes tend to run a little big (except for the tanktops). They might shrink in the wash.
- Some of you will receive a free surprise Japanese toy or gadget with your t-shirt! I'm just gonna randomly stick them into bags, so keep an eye out.
- We're taking orders over the next two weeks only, at least for this first printing. They'll ship at the end of those two weeks, when Ben & I will silkscreen them by hand.
- Last day to order is Monday, October 5th.

UPDATE: T-shirts are no longer for sale. Maybe we'll do another round sometime!

Crayon Shin-chan author dead from a cliff fall

The body of Yoshito Usui, the author of the hugely popular comedic manga and anime called Crayon Shin-chan, was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Gunma Prefecture on Saturday. It appeared to have been an accident — his backpack full of hiking gear was found about 50 yards away, and it was near a hiking trail with no rails. His camera, found with his belongings, had a photo that looked like it was taken right by the cliff. He was 51. According to his wife, he left the house on the morning of September 11th and never returned.

Crayon Shin-chan was a hit among all age groups; he's an adorable little goofy boy whose dialogue and obsession with pretty girls are reminiscent of a dirty old man. It started as a manga in 1990 and became an anime in 1992. I didn't know this, but Usui had still bee creating new segments every month. Here's a short clip from an episode in which Shin-chan's dad loses his keys.

Rest in peace, Mr. Usui.

Link

How to recreate a scene from Zelda in your lunchbox

There's a wonderful cookbook in bookstores & on Amazon now called Face Food:The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes. It's a bento book that teaches you how to make delicious, nutritious meals that resemble your favorite anime, video game, or zoo animal. The art is simply amazing — here are Astro Boy and Zelda.

Face Food:The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes by Christopher Salyers

More book reviews & recommendations on TokyoMango

Picture from a Gundam-themed wedding

Shibuya246 has some great photos of the Gundam-themed wedding that just took place in Odaiba, under the life-sized Gundam statue. The groom dressed up as the protagonist Amuro, and the director of the anime series even showed up to give them a special plaque.

Related stories:
Man burns down house after loss of Gundam toys
Giant Gundam rehearses for his big launch day
Life-sized, moving Gundam on display in Odaiba this summer
Gundam-inspired upper house election poster
Gundam decked out in pink jewels

Man burns down house after loss of Gundam toys

This past weekend, a 29-year old man named Yoshifumi Takabe burned down the large two-story house in Kobe that he shared with his mom. It was a suspected suicide & murder attempt based on the fact that his mother had thrown away his collection of Gundam figurines. At least that's what he told police when he was arrested on Sunday.

via Anime News Network

Bandai to release real Doraemon robot toy in September

Great news. On September 3, Bandai is releasing a new toy called My Doraemon &mdash it's a real Doraemon-shaped robot that has motion, light, heat, and sound sensors that let it react to its environment and say Doraemon-esque phrases according to the situation it's in. The toy does not have a real four-dimensional pocket that can spew out toys that will let you travel through time and space, make people fall in love with you, or chase bullies away, but just having this wonderful legendary companion bot in your house is just pure awesomeness.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Related posts:
Roundup of Doraemon gadgets on BBG
Doraemon voice-activated air pistol remote control
If Doraemon was a real cat...
Doraemon Japanese history board game
Takecopter tour with Doraemon

Sixth volume of Tezuka's Black Jack to publish this month

On July 28th, Vertical Inc will release volume six of Black Jack, the amazing manga about a mercenary genius doctor by Osamu Tezuka. I just got my preview copy, and it's awesome.

Black Jack, Vol. 6 by Osamu Tezuka (If you want the entire collection, you can already buy Vol 1-5 and pre-order 6-8.)

Related stories:
Black Jack on MangoBot
Tezuka's Phoenix now available on DS
60s SciFi anime by Osamu Tezuka

Gundam decked out in pink jewels

Wow. Someone in China made a blinged out pink girly Gundam with bejeweled armor and glittery flowers on his legs for the robot anime's 30th anniversary.

Link (Japanese)

ANTM finalist is Creepy-chan, a 4chan web meme

If you've ever talked television with me, you know that I'm a big fan of America's Next Top Model. Cycle 12 just ended this week, and one of the finalists was a girl named Allison Harvard. As I do with every ANTM cycle, I googled the contestants—and found out that Allison used to be a web meme on 4chan, the image bulletin board started by my buddy Moot that is notorious for anime porn. Allison used to be known as Creepy-chan, and she posted all these crazy photos of herself looking like a strange bird.

Tyra does not know this (or maybe she does) but this season, thanks to Creepy-chan, her show transcended the closet-girly-girl-guilty-pleasure audience and gave web geeks something to get excited over every week. One more really creepy photo and a photo from ANTM after the jump.

Roundup of Doraemon gadgets on BBG

On Boing Boing Gadgets, I wrote an article about some of the best Doraemon gadgets from 1970-1980 that either exist now or probably will exist soon. I heart Doraemon. Please give it a quick read!

Also, we're celebrating Asian Heritage Month on BBG so take a visit to check out all the posts.

6 gadgets of the future from Doraemon [BBG]

Tetsuwan Atomu is making his Hollywood debut

The Hollywood version of Astro Boy comes out this October. My guess is that it will be highly entertaining but that a lot of the charm of the old Tezuka series will be lost. I posted the Hollywood trailer on BBG. See it here.

BMW decked out in anime

If you want your car to have serious cred among otaku, then turn it into an itasha. It's exactly what it looks like—a car decked out in manga, anime, and video game art, removable (thank god) and often depicting cutsey 2D girls. This one has the animated vocaloid Hatsune Miku all over it, and doubles as a major publicity stint for Crypton, Nico Nico Douga, Good Smile, and I guess for BMW too.

Oden curry from your little manga sister

Yummy, oden curry offered by a cute little manga girl who calls you "big brother." It's a uniquely Akiba-ish fetish that I can't really explain in a blog post...

New robot TV series features ultimate 12-man transformer

Engine Oh G12 is a new transformer TV series that's super hot in Japan right now. In this clip, a dozen normal-sized motor vehicle robots transform into an indestructible giant mecha with a 12-man cockpit. Even if you can't understand what they're saying, the visuals are amazing. Engine Oh G12 is actually part of a series called Engine Sentai Go-onger, and premiered on TV Asahi last February.

(Thanks, Matsuu!)

Guy Imitating the Bony Rapyuta Bot

Remember the cute bony robot soldier in Hayao Miyazaki's classic anime Rapyuta: Castle in the Sky? Well there's a dude in Japan who can do a perfect imitation of him without even wearing a robot suit. His name is Masaaki Okuyama, and he's a 28-year old salaryman at a cell phone company in Tokyo. Funny guy! This is a clip from a TV show in which people with quirky talents come on stage and are judged with a tower of lights by a panel of celebrities.

via Gizmodo Japan

If Doraemon was a Real Cat...

If Doraemon was a real cat and not a robot, he'd look like this. What happened to this cat's ears?

60s Sci-Fi Anime by Tezuka Osamu

When Osamu Tezuka, the father of manga, died in 1989, nobody had a full archive of his works—at least not in English. But his genius was certainly recognized. Back in 1965, Stanley Kubrick even asked him to art direct 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Tezuka, a known workaholic, turned down the opportunity because he couldn't leave his studio for too long.) What was so important that he couldn't leave his studio for Kubrick?

Continue reading...

Peeking Into Pikachu's Privates

Ever wonder what a Pokemon looks like inside? Crawl in and take a peek!

Link

The Figurine That Poses Like A Woman

Figurine-lovers had something to be extra excited about in 2007—this year marked the debut of the Revoltech line of female toys that can bend and pose like a girly girl. By modifying the limb structures of standard, ordinarily-robotic figurines, the company is quickly developing low-cost, high-output girly figurine collectibles so that anime-obsessed otaku have yet another inanimate object genre to ogle over.

The one pictured above if Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion. You can buy it here (Japan only).

New York City's First Anime Fair Starts This Weekend

The Javits Center is holding NYC's first annual Anime Festival this weekend. It's gonna be chock full of excitement for anime fans—free screenings, pop music, speaker panels, even an on-the-spot voice acting contest. Be there.

Limited Edition Softbank Gacchaman Cell Phones

Check out these limited edition cell phone designs based on the popular manga/anime series, Gacchaman. In addition to these beautifully designed shells, all the icons and notifications on-screen are themed. More pics after the jump...

Afro Samurai Debut in Japan

After a successful run on SpikeTV and Adult Swim earlier this year, GONZO Animations' Afro Samurai is finally going to show in theaters across Japan this month. It's an anime series based on a dojinshi by Takashi Okazaki, with music by RZA and voice overs by Samuel L. Jackson.

Afro Samurai Main Page

Body Pillows With Bikini-Clad Anime Girls

 

I used to have a body pillow in college, but it didn't have a hot anime girl in a bikini painted onto it. Apparently, it's a new trend. I wonder what kind of people buy it, and what they do with it. This particular one pictured here comes as a special gift to the first 5000 people who buy Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball in Japan. Since Xbox isn't doing so hot there, this is just one way in which they're motivating anime lovers and pillow-huggers to convert.

 

For more deets, check out Chris Kohler's Wired.com article.

Semi-Erotic Gas Tank Fuel Manga Girls

Comiket, the  biannual dojinshi convention, is like the ultimate geek mecca. The last one was held in mid-August. You can tell just by looking at the cars that roll up in the parking lot that these people are seriously serious about their love for manga. Senaka Blog has a couple of great photo galleries of them; I like this one, where the girl on the fuel door is saying "Please be gentle." As in, please be gentle when inserting your gas pump snake in my fuel tank hole. There are many more funny fuel doors translated into English here.

Senaka Blog (via Pink Tentacle)

Animated Bulletproof Breasts and Penis Tentacles

Check out this superbly written article by Wired senior editor and TV star Adam Rogers about xxx-rated weirdness and gender roles in Japanese animation. It starts like this:

Imagine if the centaurs in Fantasia abandoned their chaste little picnic and erupted into a wild orgy. The younger, more girlish colts might not be as into it, so they'd get tied up. Then a 1,000-foot high robot in samurai armor locked in battle with an equally huge demon that squirts fire out of tentacles shaped like penises might crash into the scene, killing all the centaurs.

This article was actually written a decade ago—I found it while surfing the web for blog ideas. I work with Adam at Wired, but had no idea he was an anime/sex/gender expert. (Now he has a wife and a baby and edits stories about science, politics, and law enforcement.) The guy's full of surprises! Just goes to show that you just never know where your editors have been—or what they've been imagining.

 

Read the article

Genius Party, Collection of Manga Genius Shorts, Coming Soon

Genius Party, the much-anticipated series of short mangas produced by animation group Studio 4°C, debuts in Japan on July 7th. To create this anthology—which will be released as two separate feature-length films (the second one comes out in early 2008), is a collection of works by 14 manga "geniuses"—animators, writers, directors, etc. Each was given the theme ENERGY, and pretty  much everything else was left to the producers' discretion.

Link

A Game For Booby-Lovers: Billboard Has Real Breasts

Check out this human-sized ad for a new video game that features a 2-dimensional anime girl with 3-dimensional, soft, touchable breasts. What a great way to advertise for a game! The red lettering on the side says: "Bigger is better...isn't it?" The sign below her bust says: "Touch her boobies as much as you want, as freely as you want." And then there's an illo of an excited little man with both hands fondling breasts. The game being advertised is called OPPAI BAKA (Crazy for boobies), and I think it's a PC game about feeling boobies, or something X-rated like that. If anyone has played it, please report back and let me know how it is. I doubt it's as titillating as its ad.

Link

Made in Japan Virtual Worlds Coming This Winter

This winter, expect to see the Japanese population in online worlds multiply as some of the country's greatest animators collaborate on projects to create virtual Tokyos that combine anime-grade visuals, creative freedom, and virtual real estate.

Here's what we know so far:

Studio 4°C—a collaboration of the genius minds behind classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service—is designing a world called "Cyber Megacity: Tokyo's 0th Ward." The press release promises many surprises ahead as the best animators in the world experiment with new media.

Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) and Studio Pierrot (Naruto) are collaborating with gaming companies and news organizations to create "meet me," a metaverse catered specifically toward a Japanese audience. Smart idea—if you know anything about the conception of user-friendly in Japan vs. the US, it's totally different. Plus, with the kinds of creative minds working on this thing, meet-me could just kick Second Life out of cyberspace.

I'll keep you guys posted as I find out more.

Anime News Network (via Jean Snow)

Little Red Riding Hood Wanders Into Surreal Japanese CM World

This bizarre yet awesome animation by Bill Sneed features a Russian Little Red Riding Hood who wanders into some trippy Japanese commercial. I love it! Even the parts I don't really understand.

Link (Thanks, John !)

Joe is Japanese: Anime on Being a Half-Breed

Joe is Japanese, a new anime about a half-Japanese guy living in Tokyo, reminds me of my childhood. Yeah, I know, I'm not a guy, and my last name is Katayama, not McCunney. But many of the problems the protagonist runs into are familiar to me and other kids growing up on the fringes of Japanese society.

I love how he mixes Japanese words in English sentences and makes English words into Japanese words just as they seem most naturally fit in a dialogue. That's kinda how I talk when I'm in my element. I like it I like it I like it! Will someone please let me know when this show airs?

Watch the trailer

Man Trapped In Comic Girl's Body

Here's a picture of a real life anime girl trapped in a white man's body. Look how happy he looks! Plus if you want to read his fortune, you have the perfect palm shot to do it with. This is actually Chris, one of my editors at Wired, who knows more about Japan than I do, even though he's from Texas and I'm from Tokyo.

This is the same genre of old school Japanese kids' toys as the Ultraman mask I posted last week. Very plastic, very by-the-manga masks that tie behind your head with a rubber band. They used to have all these different kinds, like you could be Doraemon and your friend could be Nobita-kun, and you could run around your 'hood causing trouble and then solving it with tools from the future. 

Shakespeare, The Yakuza Manga Series

Check out London publishing house Metro Media's new Shakespeare manga series. The company collected some of the best manga artists in town and collaborated their efforts into the release of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, both adapted to take place in modern-day Tokyo.

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's most famous love story, unfurls in a dramatic manga setting, in which Verona becomes a street in the highly fashionable Shibuya district of Tokyo. The star-crossed lovers, touching in their youth and innocence, are caught up in a bitter feud between two Yakuza families (Japan's 'mafia') whose rivalry erupts into violence and killing on the streets. Romeo, a rock star, is a Montague who falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet. They defy their parents and consummate their passion in secret. This is a story of love, revenge, violence and tragedy.

Pretty awesome, huh? It's part of an effort to teach kids about classic literature so they actually enjoy it. Just released this month.

Anime Fair Gallery

Check out this photo gallery I put together for Wired on the Tokyo Anime Fair, which took place last weekend. The intro text I wrote got omitted (they never seem to get any of the stories completely right) so here it is:

Anime is one of Japan's biggest exports (besides Corollas and Vaios). The city government of Tokyo, recognizing the importance and profitability of anime in Japanese pop culture and around the world, joined with local studios to hold the first International Anime Fair in 2002. This year's event, which ended Sunday, was a four-day spectacle attracting more than 100,000 people. They saw nearly 300 exhibitor booths, special symposiums, performances of anime theme songs and the coveted Anime Award.

Unlike ComicCon, San Diego's comic book fan convention, the first two days of the Tokyo Anime Fair are for business only, and showing up in costume is strictly forbidden. This year's theme explored how animation robots -- from Astro Boy and Gundam to the tripods in The War of the Worlds -- have influenced modern robotics technology. Here are some of the highlights and character cameos from the weekend.

See the gallery (Wired News)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a really cool anime movie based on an adult novel from the 60s. I just watched it this weekend at the SF Int'l Asian American Film Festival. The director adapted the original story by 1. making the main character of his film the actual niece of the original girl who leapt through time; and 2. changing details (she's superfast at text messaging on her cell phone, for example) to make it more applicable to modern-day Tokyo.

Besides the fact that happy, time-traveling Japanese fictional characters (think Doraemon, or Hiro from Heroes) have the awesomest adventures ever, this girl is just sooo likable. She's lazy--always late to school, spends way too much time in the bathtub, groans when she has to get up to answer the phone--and a total tomboy, but is also the biggest sweetheart. She spends a whole bunch of her time-traveling power trying to get couples together, for example, or not hurting someone's feelings, just trying to set things right. It's cute.

I don't know where it's showing next, but I highly recommend it.

Naked Anime Girl

Someone sent me this picture of a naked girl wearing nothing but a painted anime girl. Whoever made this did a super good job!I love how she's prancing in a meadow amidst a bunch of picnicking people. Makes me think that she probably is 1) not in Japan and 2) not even Japanese. I am just speculating, though, based on the abundance of green grass and trees, the way the sunlight is hitting the ground, the way the people in the background are white, and the way the girl is shamelessly naked in public. Seems very un-Japanese to me.

Anyway, I love how the arms are actually the character's hair. It's cute-ish.

My Sexual Harassment, Part III

This medley of awkward moments in boys love comics features several man-on-man anime couples who are about to make out for the first time. The first clip is called "My Sexual Harassment, Part III." The submissive boy (because there's always one submissive, and one dominant) is saying, "yes, i bring pajamas on overnight trips because I'm too skinny for hotel robes, and besides, I move around a lot in my sleep..." and then the bigger, dominant guy throws off his robe, revealing his full nude. "Mochizuki, come!" He commands. "....yes..." Submissive Boy says as the romantic mood music kicks in.

I know you're thinking, I'm not into gay comic books! But whatever. It's an important part of Japanese pop culture in 2007, and the least you can do is check out this clip.

Prince Pickles' Cute Army Marches On

Japan's armed forces have come a long way since the Imperial Army days so aptly portrayed in Letters From Iwo Jima. No more kamikaze suicide fighters, no more scary, serious, nationalistic fervor. Cuteness has extended beyond the streets of Tokyo to the war zones in Iraq in the form of a little mascot named Prince Pickles.

In this symbolic official cartoon from the Defense Ministry, Pickles is tugging charmingly on the sleeve of an Iraqi official. I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that he's either asking him if he could bring him some tea, or recruiting him for a game of hopscotch.

"Prince Pickles is our image character because he's very endearing, which is what Japan's military stands for," a Defense Ministry official told the Japan Times. Not exactly what you expect to hear from one of the world's superpowers, but then again, we are in the age of American hegemony, and Japan is arguably its most loyal pet. And pets are supposed to be endearing and cute.

Creator Of Scooby Doo Dies

I didn't know that a Japanese-American guy created Scooby Doo until I read his obituary in the NY Times today. Iwao Takamoto was 81 when he died of a heart attack last Monday. He learned animation from some film studio art directors while they were all being detained at the Manzanar Internment Camp in the early 40s. This was after he finished high school at age 15. Super smart guy, obviously. And then when he got out, he got a job at Disney and then Hanna-Barbera, where he imagined and brought Scooby to life.

Sexy Comic Girls Milk Commercial

This Japanese milk commercial is bound to sell more milk to dirty old businessmen and otakus than the Got Milk? multi-billion dollar celebrity-endorsed ads in the US ever did. And all they did was draw a bunch of bikini-clad manga girls dressed in cow bikinis.

You'll love it. Check it out.

[via Kokorozaeega]

Biggest Anime Clock Ever

Studio Ghibli and Nippon Television collaborated to unveil this gigantic clock--designed by legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki--in front of the TV station's headquarters last week.

Miyazaki is the man behind the magic of Spirited Away, which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2003. And all his other films are fucking awesome too.

The clock is themed after the one we saw in Howl's Moving Castle.

Doraemon Japanese history board game.

School was okay, but I was really bad at Japanese history. I know that the Meiji Revolution was in 1868 and that Shinzo Abe became prime minister in 2006, but everything else has escaped me over time. That's why Japanese toy company Epoch invented this Doraemon Japanese History board game. It's to help all of us who are learners by association. And who better to associate dates and names of old Japanese dudes with than a cartoon robotic cat from the future that revolutionized the imagination of every kid in the country?

Available for 3,210 yen here.

Kamen Rider superhero transformation belt.

The Japanese didn't create Spiderman or Superman, but Kamen Rider, the grasshopper-like superhero, is a local favorite. Spawned from the annals of manga-maker Shotaro Ishinomori's imagination, Kamen Rider rides a motorcycle called a Cyclone and beats up terrorists who call themselves Shockers (Sacred Hegemony Of Cycle Kindred Evolutional Realm).

Now, for just 4000 yen, you too can transform into a Kamen Rider with this transformation belt. It is so close to the real thing that you won't even know the difference. It even makes all the right noises and light flashes for Rider Kicks and Cast-Offs.

Amuro is going! And everyone is cheering.

Tokyo Game Show was this weekend. I didn't go, and if you didn't either, you can live vicariously through these one thousand identical Japanese ladies in red shoes and capris, who--obviously--were there, and got to see Toru Furuya, an original Gundam voice actor, stand in front of a crowd of 160,000 super geeks and say, "Amuro Ikimasu!" (Famous Gundam tag line, apparently. Means "Amuro is going!")