One recent sweltering summer’s day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.
The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami.
The focus of the men’s attention—and of their smartphone cameras—was a tiny black and white square, a two-dimensional barcode that, …

These images are from the first day of racing of Run’a Entertainment’s “Evangelion RT-01 apr Corolla” team in the Super GT300-class grand touring championship series.
The Team’s Toyota Corolla Axio was painted in homage to the anime’s Evangelion EVA-01 unit and the uniforms of drivers Koki Saga and Kosuke Matsuura were designed after the plug suit of the anime’s main character Shinji Ikari. The “race queen” models Noa Mizutani and Yuuna Chiba wore outfits inspired by the characters Rei and Asuka.
On this day of racing the Evangelion RT-01 apr Corolla team …

The renowned and awed anime director Satoshi Kon passed away from pancreatic cancer the day before yesterday at the age of 46 just short of his 47th birthday.

Kon started his career as a manga artist and editor at Young Magazine, and then made his screenwriting debut with “Magnetic Rose”, a section of the anthology film Memories.
Kon though is most known for his work as a film director. He made his directorial debut film, Perfect Blue, in 1997, followed by Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika and the television series Paranoia …

An 18-meter-tall "life-size" statue of Gundam, a giant robot featured in the classic Japanese sci-fi animation series, made a fresh appearance Saturday at an event in Shizuoka City to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Gundam plastic model kit.
The statue was erected at the Shizuoka Hobby Fair outside JR Higashi- Shizuoka Station in the city’s Aoi Ward after first appearing in the Odaiba waterfront area in Tokyo last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the broadcasting of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series, which started …

The Toronto Star has released a new series focusing on the G20 and the world’s problems and most interestingly the World Bank’s focus for a solution. With a stronger banking system, the European debt crisis and maternal health will all be tackled by the G20 in Toronto. But devoting resources to one group — girls — could lead to gains in all three areas. So suggests the World Bank, among others, observing that countries that don’t invest in girls have slower growth and reduced income. It’s not just the …

It has been officially announced, the Giant RX-78 Gundam Statue/Model will make a comeback this year, but this time it will be located in Shizuoka City, 125 miles west of Tokyo. A Bandai spokesperson said Gundam will come to life once more in June, at the East Higashi-Shizuoka Station near the local Bandai factory in which there is a guided tour(with previous reservation) that could complete a touristic itinerary.
Originally this incredible real scale statue was erected in Tokyo’s artificial island Odaiba, to commemorate the 30th aniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam. …

Anime Expo 2010 recently announced another musical guest of honor. Singer MELL will perform in concert on July 2 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, as well as participate in panels and autograph sessions.
Known for being the vocalist of the I’ve Sound collective, she launched her solo career in 2006, and has since then continued singing songs for multiple animated series.
Anime Expo is being held on July 1-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The convention previously announced that SOPHIA and AKB48 will also be performing concerts this year.

Model and actress Karina has been cast as the heroine in the upcoming “Ashita no Joe” movie adaptation, starring NEWS member Tomohisa Yamashita as the boxer Joe Yabuki.
Karina will play the character of Yoko Shiraki, the daughter of the head of a wealthy corporate group who backs Yabuki’s rival, Tohru Rikiishi (Yusuke Iseya). The cast also includes Teruyuki Kagawa as Joe’s mentor, Danpei Tange.
“Ashita no Joe” is scheduled for release in spring 2011.

About 200 people lined up on Saturday for the early-morning opening of the first official “Gundam”-themed cafe, based on the popular sci-fi animation series. Female staff members dressed as characters from the series greeted customers to the cafe in Tokyo’s Akihabara district when its doors opened at 8.30 a.m on Saturday.

The long-running anime series “Nintama Rantaro” is being adapted as a live-action film, directed by Takashi Miike. This will be the first lead role for child actor Seishiro Kato (8), who plays the titular young ninja.
“Nintama Rantaro” is based on the gag manga “Rakudai Ninja Rantaro” by Soubee Amako. Set during the Sengoku era, the story follows the adventures of a young boy named Rantaro, who is born into a ninja family. He enrolls in the elite ninja school Ninjutsu Gakuen, where the young apprentices are known as “nintamas” (derived …