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 in April 1979.

Read the rest of the story: 18-meter-tall Gundam statue makes appearance in Shizuoka fair.

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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 developing world where girls get shortchanged: This week, the Troonto Star will tell the stories of girls from G20 countries struggling with sex, sexism and cruelty and happen to be starting with the girls of Harajuku and Shibuya.

They’ve mesmerized every tourist who has done Tokyo: young girls in big pink hair, huge frilly dresses and theatrical makeup.

On the pedestrian malls at Harajuku and Shibuya subway stations, they move among the crowds like animated cartoon characters — which is precisely the point. The girls have modelled themselves on them, after all.

It’s all part of the extended manga (comics) and anime (animation) culture that continues to captivate Japanese youth, especially girls.

Showing up in anime guise is a social activity, something to do with friends.

But it can also be a powerful means of self-expression and even defiance for girls, especially in a conservative society that has tightly drawn expectations of them.

Read the rest of the story: G20 Girls: Japan’s girls break out of the mould

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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. The statue was dismantled last September, but it was so successful (4 million visitors approximately) that the people from Bandai decided to bring it back to life again.

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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.

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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.

Accessible from the JR Station at the “Denkigai Exit” and just below the Yamanote line, Bandai Gundam Café is the ultimate stop for Gundam fans. The cafe is filled with Gundam memorabilia, TVs showing Gundam episodes, and even serves Gundam-shaped cookies, commonly called Taiyaki (waffle-like pastries often filled with red bean paste).

Check out the official website.

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Seishiro Kato

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 from “ninja” and “tamago”).

Although Miike was once best known for ultra-violent films such as “Ichi the Killer,” he has also directed more mainstream hits such as the spaghetti western “Sukiyaki Western Django” and the live-action “Yatterman” movie.

The anime has been on the air since 1993. An animated film was released in 1996. No release date has been announced yet for the live-action film.

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A group of cartoonists including Tetsuya Chiba, illustrator of popular manga series “Ashita no Joe” (Tomorrow’s Joe), voiced their opposition Monday in Tokyo to a proposed ordinance revision aimed at regulating sexual imagery in comics and animations.

Arriving at the Tokyo metropolitan government, the cartoonists voiced concerns over the proposal, to be put before a vote Friday, which calls for restricting comics and animations that contain sexualized depictions of “nonexistent minors” — a controversial concept described in the draft regulation, referring to characters that people would assume to be minors.

Read the rest of the story: Cartoonists oppose new regulation on sexual expressions in comics

See also: Tokyo’s Youth Protection and Nurturing Ordinance and it’s possible effect on Anime & Manga

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The “Youth Nurturing and Protection Ordinance,” is a proposal to essentially censor images of “childlike” characters in media. It is set to enter committee on March 18th. Should the bill move through it will be placed before the Diet for a vote on March 30th, and will be taking effect as early as October.

In a country where comics and animation are entrenched in the culture and mainstream media, the effect on Japan would be astounding.

Read more about this proposal at welcome datacomp, where a more detailed explanation of the proposal is given.

See also: Japanese cartoonists voice opposition to new regulation in comics and anime

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Kirsten Dunst is eating up Akihabara in a new video which covers the Vapor’s “Turning Japanese.” See the original video on itunes here.

The pictures of her taken a few months back in cosplay no doubt were part of the shoot. “Akihabara Majokko Princess” is the accumulated final result. The famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami produced the video.

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