K-On! Fans Stole From Sakuragaoka High School

Two teens were arrested after stealing Yui's, Mio's and Azusa's guitars and K-On! figures from a real life model of Sakuragaoka High School.

To Aru Majutsu no Ikamusume-tan

I've wrote about Ika Musume invading Index a month back. Well, it looks like the creators decided to officially mux them both...check out the video after the break!

Hirasawa Yui's Model Home (Video)

Fans of Hirasawa Yui, rejoice! Here's a video clip of Hirasawa Yui's home being built. It's inspired from this 3D model and it's pretty quite well made. Next, we might be able to see a life size model of her house...Read on for video!

Kamijou Touma no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

I wasn't really expecting this crossover but I was sure surprised when saw it. This short clip shows what happens when Kamijou Touma becomes Kousaka Kirino's big brother...did I mention Biribiri makes a special guest appearance? Read on for clip!

No more...anime!?

It actually took me a while, no a couple of hours after reading that article from SanCom actually, for it to sink in my head. If you're interested, here's the whole article from SanCom Below.

Tokyo’s ban on anime, manga and games featuring “virtual crimes” or which are “likely to interfere with the healthy development of youth” has passed after the DPJ agreed to support it.

The DPJ’s only addition to the critical portion of the law was a short rider which requests “prudent application of the law in light of any artistic, social, scientific or satirical merits the work might express” – it does not however add any legal obligation to consider these, or establish any clear or indepdently enforced criteria for judging whether a work can be declared “harmful” or not.

Even more bizarrely, the final draft actually removed a passage that imposed “a duty not to possess [photographic] child pornography” on Tokyo residents, whilst leaving the section banning erotic manga and anime (and explicitly excluding photographic materials) all but unchanged – that the bill is intended exclusively as an “anti-otaku” law seems to be beyond doubt.

It is very difficult to objectively assess the scope of the law – along with vague and subjective terms like “interfere with the healthy development of youth,” the law also includes “etc.” on the end of most of its examples, leaving it quite unclear, for example, whether the “improper glorification of illegal sexual activity, etc.” applies to only virtual sex crimes, or all crimes in general – presumably the interpretation adopted will be whichever is convenient to censors.

Similarly, the ban’s mention of “rape and other sexual acts which violate societal norms” seems inevitably to point to a ban on depictions of homosexuality, considering who was behind the law.

The generally expected form the law will take is that of a “amakudari” (a pervasive system of sinecures for retired bureaucrats) body which will inspect all anime, manga and games, with only those titles receiving approval as “healthy” able to be sold regularly in Tokyo shops – the rest will be relegated to the “adult corner.”

The most immediate and direct effect of the law will almost certainly be to see ecchi manga such as To Love-Ru, bishoujo titles such as Champion Red and most BL manga, as well as any seinen manga with especially mature themes, banned from general sales – presumably most will then be cancelled due to a lack of suitable magazine or tankobon distribution channels, with a few perhaps being resurrected as 18+ ero-manga.

As has already been seen, publishers will also likely be purging future anime, manga and games of any content liable to fall foul of the law, and removing older titles from distribution.

The law probably also spells the end of most late night anime in Tokyo (and by extension, everywhere else), which it would appear to ban under its distribution clause; given the vague wording of the current season alone it seems Ore no Imouto, Panty & Stocking, Yosuga, Sora no Otoshimono, Milky Holmes and others would all fall foul of its various stipulations.

There is also some doubt as to whether Comiket will be able to be held under the new regulations – if not, its cancellation or removal to another prefecture seems likely, although a lack of sufficiently large spaces may severely complicate this.

The law is expected to be signed into law on the 15th after an additional vote and then come into effect in July of 2011, so with magazine, tankobon, anime and game release schedules being what they are, it seems likely its effects will be felt much sooner; in a genuinely democratic state there might be scope to overturn it before then, but from what has been seen so far it seems unlikely publishers have the guts or savvy to do anything about it.

Sounds like dooms day to me. Really, why are they cutting their own wrists and bleed themselves to death? After all, the anime, manga and gaming industry is one of those that brings money to Japan and with this new law, I have this inkling feeling that many publishing companies to close down and having more people on the streets with no jobs, as opposed to what their government is hoping for. Really, this feels like you're living in the manga "20th Century Boys" where everything is banned!

I seriously am unable to think of ToLoveRu or better yet, Milky Holmes being an 18+ manga found in the adult section...it's feels so...just so wrong.

For now, I'm praying that law will be rejected. If it were to pass, wow, I can imagine otakus in Japan taking arms and doing thing guerilla style...

Hatsune Miku in English confirmed!

I think Miku fans around the world should have known this by now that she might get an English version, only if her facebook gets a certain number of fans and it did. Now, it looks like it's no longer under consideration and is has become official! Here's a quote from her facebook:

♪Official information of English Miku♪
Regarding "English Miku" project, we've already done a brief recording
last week.
Now we are checking the pronunciation etc.
Those voices are very kawaii you should like them!
...I hope we'll show you a demo soon.
But please understand it takes time.
I'll keep you informedanything new for this project.
Thanks for supporting us.

 Great news no? Can't wait to hear the demo!

Double Invasion! Ika Musume vs Index crossover (Video)

Not sure why Nico Nico Douga failed me for a few weeks but it looks like I can access it again! Anyways, I've been watching Shinryaku! Ika Musume and Index Season 2 and noticed they look pretty similar after watching two episodes (I'm sure lots of us has by now). Being curious and all, I searched Nico Nico and Youtube, and found some interesting crossovers of the two...

Politician's Mio-fied Tweet

While Meg Whitman is running for California, Sarah Pompei, her spokesperson forgot to copy over a single letter from the generated bit.ly address and when that link was tweeted over to her followers, strange things happens...the video from the truncated bit.ly link...after the break!

Star Driver Kiraboshi Campaign - I dare you!

Head down to the nearest  DVD store if you're in Japan and strike the above pose to a clerk wearing a red Star Driver apron (pictured below) - I dare you!

It's a campaign for the anime Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto and by doing the Kiraboshi pose (above) you'll get a wallpaper for your cellphone. The image below will tell you all.

Then again...I'd be too embarrassed to that...

Via: Nerd@Akihabara

Eva-Ange-Choco-Cake!

The First Impact is coming! In a form of a chocolate cake!

Bandai previously made the NERV HQ cake and decided, 'Why not have the Angels invade christmas in a form of cake as well?' Each cakes costs 3,950 yen at Lawson conbini  and comes with Rei holding the Spear of Longinus. Cheap eh?

Bandai, now we need an Eva cake!!

K-ON! Movie Announced!! (Video)

With the airing of the last and final episode of K-ON!!, KyoAni decided to add in a final surprise at the last episode by announcing the K-ON! Movie. Clip in question after the break!

Gallery - Halloween Pumpkins!

So Halloween is around the corner, and some of us at home will be busy carving out Jack-o-lanterns back home. But wait, before giving that pumpkin its new look, why not make some unique designs for it? Here's my list of top-15 pumpkin carvings!

Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge Rocking Trailer

I really loved the first season of Arakawa Under the Bridge, I mean, who wouldn't? Strange people living under one bridge with their out of the ordinary antics. Rick's oh-so-sharp tsukkomi and the rest of the gang's hilarious and weird way of everyday life strangely attracts me to the series. I'm glad a second season will be out in a month's time with a new name Arakawa Under the Bridge × Bridge (or Bridge x 2, your choice).

Well, here's a trailer of Hoshi playing the guitar, with his signature "ORE NO T-SHIRT"...t-shirt. The trailer in itself is not animated and would make one think it's a trailer for a Live Action version. And Hoshi's mask seemed to be well made, even though it's unable to show the wearer's expression or turn soft like it did in the series. Well, at least enjoy the trailer after the jump for now!

Hayate no Gotoku! Live-Action Announced!

Gaia TV, a Taiwanese production and broadcasting company has announced it's making a live-action adaptation of the debt-ridden butler manga, Hayate no Gotoku! It feels weird having a 20-year-old Korean, Shin-Hye Park, playing as Nagi and 28-year-old George Hu as Hayate, as the characters in the manga itself are much more younger, with Nagi being 13 and Hayate 16. Age difference aside, it's a wonder if the Taiwanese live-action will resemble the manga, especially the exaggerated scenes and a talking white tiger.

Via: SGCafe
Source: ANN

NERV HQ Chocolatey Goodness!

Hungry for cake? Here's a chocolate cake replica of NERV headquarters from Evangelion sized 11cm x 11cm x 8cm. It comes together with a figure of Ayanami Rei and the stainless steel Spear of Longinus, which is intended to be used as a fork, all in a price of 3990yen. There's no mention of the weight of the cake though. Hover over the break for more pictures!

Kon Satoshi has passed away

 Kon Satoshi, 12th Oct 1963 - 24th Aug 2010

Kon Satoshi, 47, who directed famous works like Paranoia Agent, Paprika, Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers has passed away. It was written by Maruyama Masao on his twitter account someone has passed away, though he did not name who at that time. Takeda Yasuhiro read Satoshi's obituary on mixi and tweeted about it later at about 2:30am (Japan time) today. It really is a great loss of a great director. He will be missed.

Koe de Oshigoto! Anime PV! (video)

A couple of months back, I've mentioned Koe de Oshigoto! is getting an anime. Now here's a short update; it's getting an OVA adaptation! There'll be two episodes, which will be released on 17th November 2010 and 16th March 2011 respectively via DVD and Blu-Ray. Jump over the break for the PV!

K-ON!! - No, Thank You! Second Ending Single

NO, Thank You! is the second ending single for moe moe kyun anime K-ON!! Like all past ending singles, it's sung by Akiyama Mio's seiyuu, Hikasa Youko and has a more deep and serious lyrics than the first ending, Listen!!. I'd dare say this single is much much better than the first single!

angela - Aoi Haru

angela's latest single, Aoi Haru is a big surprise. I've been following them for some 2 years and I really enjoy their dark and gothic styled music which isn't present in Aoi Haru. Their new single is much more fast paced and definitely catchy but it's still fun to listen to!

Black★ Shooter Metal Charms!

Heck, I didn't know these were actually around! I was searching for Black Rock Shooter DVD (or Blue Ray) when the first results yields the Rock Cannon and Dead Scythe metal charms. I was surprised as I didn't know they even existed! Rock Cannon is Black Rock Shooter's signature's weapon while Dead Scythe belongs to Dead Master. Both accessories looks really cool that I had a hard time choosing one. In the end, I ended getting both since their release dates are different, 28th September for Rock Cannon and 28th October for Dead Scythe.

Both metal charms are made of brass and from what I know, it's quite limited. I was quite lucky I found it today, as tomorrow, 17th August, is the pre-order deadline. Would I recommend it? Yes if you're a hard core fan or into accessories!