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.

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...

Singing & Dancing Peko-chan Robot

Fujiya Co, Japan's nationwide chain of confectionary stores, has unveiled a singing and dancing Peko-chan robot. She's able to converese with people and is able to speak 357 and have 2 million different dialogues. Not only does she reply to your questions, she also ask quizzes, sing and dance, though it seems to be limited to shaking her head and arm swinging. She'll be hanging around Fujiya Ginza Building, Tokyo, from now till 21st Nov.

PS: Couldn't find a bigger image of the robot.

Via: Yahoo! Japan

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

ComiPo! Manga Creator! (Video)

It's not easy to draw manga - it takes LOADS of practice and time just to make one, to the point of just giving up at times. But for those who just don't want to go through the lengthy hassle of drawing one, there's always ComiPo!.

ComiPo! is a manga sequencer that uses preinstalled templates such as characters, their hairstyle, clothes,  background, effects and many other things that can be seen in a manga. It uses 3D modeling and you can even insert your own images, which you'll see later, in a demo video, after the break!

Android Robot - It's Alive! Alive!!!

Google's mobile OS, Android, comes to life (not really 'alive') thanks to Japanese companies RT Corporation and Brilliant Service. It can be controlled using Android smartphones, and includes movable limbs. It can even open its mouth and was revealed at Google Developers Conference Tokyo.


Watch this cute green robot in action after the break!

Project Love Plus for 3DS (Video)

Japan, I'll tip my hats off to you with your ever crazy inventions. Konami has just released their promotion video for their upcoming girl dating sim - in 3D: Project Love Plus for the Nintendo 3DS. Jump over the break for PV!

How to Apologize the Japanese Way

I'm sure if you've watched anime or J-Drama you would have seen or notice some of the ways the Japanese apologize which might be too dramatized for some of us that we might even think those fakes. Now here's an interesting clip on the many unique ways how the Japanese apologize which includes some of the uncommon ones we've never even seen before.

Evangelion:World Grand Opening - Watch it LIVE!

Those who wanted to go but can't go due to various reason can watch it LIVE from USTREAM! Live video after the break!

Latest Black★ Shooter PV! (Video)

Black Rock Shooter will be aired this coming Thursday July 24th!! So mark your calendars everyone! Read on for PV!

Life-Size Evangelion Unveiled to Reporters (Video)

Moment every EVA fan is waiting for; the unveiling of Evangelion! Too bad it's reporters only...

Love Plus Homepage Cheat - A classic!

I'm baffled, seriously, I am. I not a fan of Love Plus, and didn't even play it but I do have to commend KONAMI for this unique trick. Head down to Love Plus HP and press - up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A - on your keyboard. Now notice that these cheat commands appears many times in KONAMI's games? Anyways, the flash screen will blink for a second and either Rinko, Manaka or Nene will appear at random saying 大好き (I love you.) and give you a kiss!

Via: NERD@AKIHABARA

iDOLM@STER 2 Freaky CM

 何だこれは！？

I can't help myself but spill my drink when I saw this ad for the upcoming iDOLM@STER 2. The game is mainly about you, a producer, that manages would-be female superstars. This ad seemed to have reversed the idea...

Sweet Haruhi Juice for the Summer

Suzumiya Haruhi no Kajuu (or The Fruit Juice of Suzumiya Haruhi) has been released by Pokka to commemorate its 25th anniversary in collaboration with Newtype. I'm sure if you're walking around Akihabara under the scorching summer heat, you'd sure be delighted to find it outside of Gamers at 194 yen each. A bit tad expansive for a can of lemonade, but hey, who knows if Haruhi willed it to be some random juice after the next sip? More images after the break!

Life Sized Gundam Standing Tall at Shizuoka (Video)

The RX-78-2 Gundam can be seen again in Shizuoka with upgrades! Read on for images and video!

Life-Size Evangelion To Be Built

Great news for all Eva fans out there. Japan's Fuji-Q HighLand amusement park is planning to open a new pavilion for Eva-01 on 23rd July. The unit will be caged like you see in the series and there's a live size cockpit.

You could go in there for an extra price and have feel of it and have your photos taken except you won't be in a pool of LCL. Sounds good? There is a catch though...the live size unit will only be built chest up so no, you won't be able to see its legs.

Via: ANN

Assistant Inspector - I didn't know it was illegal

A police officer, Yoshinori Okada, 46, was arrested on Wednesday for carrying a model gun. The model gun was determined to be able to wound someone as it had been modified to shoot metal bullets. The officer from Fukuoka is suspected of violating the Firearms and Swords control law after an illegal model gun was found at his home on April 15.

When interrogated, he actually claimed he didn't know it was illegal. Now here's the insider - he's an assistant inspector. Which means he should know the law since his position requires some understanding of it. Well, the police are now investigating other model guns he have in his home. Tough luck I say!

Via: JapanToday

Cute but Evil - Raccoons Vs Temple

Phoenix Hall of Kyoto's Byodoin Temple found themselves having cute little visitors. And oh, the guy up there, ate up one of the 'C'.

Student beaten by teachers for dyed hair

Teachers beat a second year student for 30 minutes just for having his hair dyed for Kyoto trip last July.

Haruhi Gum CM. I want one!

This little advert has been going around youtube that it gathered more than 320,000 viewers in 3 days.