Gundam guards Tokyo

(Photo by Remo Camerota, July 11, 2009)

For a story on the Gundam robot creation at Odaiba go here. For a story on Gundam’s creator, Sunshine Animation’s Yoshiyuki Tomino, go here.

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Gundam director likens giant robot replica to Statue of Liberty

TOKYO (TR) – Yoshiyuki Tomino, the director of the popular robot anime television series “Mobile Suit Gundam” believes that the 30th anniversary commemorative statue erected on Tokyo’s man-made peninsula of Odaiba will become a symbol of hope in these uncertain times.

Tomino was overwhelmed by the eighteen-meter giant robot during a visit prior to the opening of the Green Tokyo Gundam Project on Saturday. “I felt tremendous strength and power,” he said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan last week. “I believe that the Odaiba Gundam will serve the same purpose as the Statue of Liberty — something to instill hope and inspiration in people.” Read more

Giant Gundam gives Tokyo ‘green’ ally

TOKYO (TR) – Starting tomorrow prominent Tokyo landmarks — with their fixed steel columns and beams — will likely be feeling a bit inadequate as a new, mobile player is set to rise up and illuminate the capital’s skyline.

Near the Rainbow Bridge, on the man-made peninsula of Odaiba, a “life size” rendition of a Gundam robot will stand guard as a representative member of the influential “Mobile Suit Gundam” television series, which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The eighteen-meter-high armored figure, replicated right down to its double-nozzle jet pack, sits as the centerpiece of the Green Tokyo Gundam Project, an event that intends to raise funds for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s push for a more environmentally friendly future. Read more

Guide to Japan’s ghouls

TOKYO – Toho film veterans Godzilla and Mothra are well known to followers of Japanese pop culture. Less famous — but equally fearsome — are the yokai, a group of Japanese mythic monsters and humanoids.

Certainly they were less widely known until last year’s publication of “Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide,” a tongue-in-cheek field guide to some of these imaginary beasts, which roamed Japan’s forests, canyons and villages centuries ago — at least via fables and lore — and have found their way into aspects of modern society.

“Each character has a basis in a Japanese folktale,” says American co-author Matt Alt, 35, who, along with his Japanese wife, Hiroko Yoda, 37, assembled the list of 42 yokai, including the Kappa, a green, reptile-like amphibian with a sizeable beak found in rivers, and Onibaba, an elderly hag who preys on pregnant women in order to collect the livers of their unborn children, In all, the illustrated 191-page book reads like a who’s who of nightmarish characters. Read more

Oscar-winning animator bemoans prime minister, state of Japan

TOKYO – At a press luncheon last week, Japan’s most successful contemporary filmmaker expressed great displeasure with Prime Minister Taro Aso and concern for the future of the nation’s children.

Animation director Hayao Miyazaki, whose smash “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” this year topped the box office over the summer, said that rather than raising children in an environment filled with nationalist ideals young people should be taught crucial skills, such as building fires, climbing trees and using knives and ropes, before learning to read and write.

“Instead of looking for ways to stimulate domestic demand by building bridges or roads,” said Miyazaki at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Thursday, “we should have the proper environment in place for our future generation.” Read more

Hentai manga to take the world

TOKYO – Toshio Maeda is doing some touch-up work on a drawing of a female athlete possessing muscular arms and perky breasts that bulge from around her tight-fitting blue bikini. He begins on her face and scrolls down his 2-in-1 computer screen and digital drawing tablet, making small additions to her already highly detailed form.

Just before he advances the drawing stylus down to work on her lower half, the bespectacled 49-year old explains that most of his fans don’t like looking at simply a muscled woman. He then grins and taps the stylus once more. The screen regenerates with a large phallic protrusion from her crotch area. “So I like doing something different,” he says. Read more

Shochiku adds animation

TOKYO – Readying more robots for battle.

Japanese film giants Toei and Toho probably cast nervous looks over their backs in September, when film-distribution and kabuki-theater conglomerate Shochiku established an animation division to increase its share of Japan’s $18 billion annual animation market.

“We now have the ability to expand our animation business,” says division general manager Ichiro Seki.

Shochiku, which has animation experience with the “Gundam” robots and “Ultraman,” will now have the increased flexibility needed to commission a larger selection of features and provide unique marketing options. Read more

‘The Sky Crawlers’ to compete at Venice

TOKYO – Japanese animation studio Production I.G announced this week that its animated feature “The Sky Crawlers” will compete for the Golden Lion Award at the 65th Venice Film Festival.

Directed by Mamoru Oshii (“Ghost in the Shell”) and based on the best-selling novel by Hiroshi Mori (800,000 copies in print in Japan), the film tells the story of a fantasy world in which children living in perpetual adolescence are enlisted to pilot fighter planes for the public’s entertainment. Read more

Toei Animation looks back after fifty years

TOKYO – After a half-century in the cartoon business, in which it produced such television classics as “Sailor Moon” and “Dragonball Z,” Toei Animation is returning to its roots.

“Our television animations are currently going all around the world,” says Hiroyuki Kinoshita, director of the cartoon studio’s corporate strategy. “Now we are thinking back to the origin of our company, which was focused on feature films.” Read more

Fads fuel cosplay boom

TOKYO – This shop is the stuff of dreams.

Resting on a wall rack are two different kinds of medieval-era swords; one is of plastic, the other of darkened wood. Just across the aisle hang olive officer uniforms with red trim. Beyond them in the next row are pink nurse outfits carefully wrapped in plastic and complete with matching headpieces. Spearheads and daggers sit on shelves just below; makeup and black stockings are nearby, too. Read more

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