A special edition of Hatsune Miku’s legendary Nendoroid incarnation has been released much to the detriment of fan wallets, behold Snow Miku:

She is available internationally now.

Miku to you:

“Colour variations, event variations, limited edition variations, I’ll keep putting them out!

Buy them all!!“

Japan’s undeserved reputation for being a nation where anything and everything can bought from its omnipresent vending machines might be slightly less undeserved than previously thought if 2ch’s collection of vending machine aberrations is anything to go by:

The recently released Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu movie attained the #7 spot in the Japanese nation-wide box office during its opening weekend, an exceedingly impressive figure for an otaku oriented anime film, although not nearly as high as last year’s incredible Evangelion 2.0’s debut at #1.

What makes Shoushitsu’s ranking especially notable is the number of theatres in which it was shown in comparison to the other “normal” films making an appearance on the Top 10 for the last weekend’s Box Office receipts:

Japan Box Office Ranking Feb 6 – 7

Ranking / Movie Title / # of Theatres

1. Avatar (365)

2. Oceans (302)

3. Otouto (303)

4. Invictus (320)

5. Golden Slumber (308)

6. Samurai Sentai Shinkenger vs. Go-onger: GinmakuBang!! (140)

7. Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu (24)

8. The Lovely Bones (305)

9. Sayonara Itsuka (184)

10. Paranormal Activity (160)

For comparison, the two other best performing otaku films since last summer were Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari no Utahime~ with a debut at #9 at 30 theatres in September, and the all-conquering Evangelion 2.0 juggernaut with a lofty #1 debut at 120 theatres in June.

It should be noted that while these figures are impressive enough in and of themselves, such anime films lie far behind the numbers reached by mainstream fare such as the monolithic Miyazaki’s offerings or even child-oriented anime movies such as Pokémon – indeed, last year’s Pokémon Arceus outsold even Evangelion 2.0’s annual ticket proceeds by ¥4.4 billion to Eva’s ¥3.6.

Nonetheless, the fact that titles so heavily marketed towards otaku such as Evangelion, Haruhi and Macross can rub shoulders alongside traditional Hollywood hits high ontop Japan’s Box Office should stand testament to the reach of Akiba.

Via Movie Walker.

Eco-terrorist group Sea Shepherd has announced it intends to attack boats fishing for Northern Bluefin Tuna, a species for which most demand comes from Japan.

In an interview with the terrorist group’s leader, Sankei was told that the group’s next target is the Mediterranean tuna fishing industry, acting in protection of the Northern Bluefin Tuna (“Kuromaguro”), stocks of which are low.

Sankei notes that 80% of the global catch of this species finds its way to Japan, where it is highly prized, indicating the group is deliberately targeting Japan.

In other comments the group continues to assert its recently lost vessel was rammed by whalers in an act of piratical terrorism, and brags of having $7,000,000 with which to make good its losses and attack the Mediterranean tuna fishing industry.

2ch is increasingly unhappy about all this:

So they were just an anti-Japanese group after all.

Just a bunch of racists.

Why don’t they take a look at their own abattoirs…

What? Wouldn’t they be European vessels in the Mediterranean?

No, Japanese boats ply those waters too.

So, will they be attacking French boats too?

They only ever attack Japanese.

If they start messing with non-Japanese ships there’ll be warships coming to greet them…

Everyone eats tuna, hardly anyone eats whale. Now even the Japanese who supported them will be turned against them.

Nobody cares about whalemeat, but don’t get between the Japanese and their tuna!

Tuna boats aren’t going to be half-baked in their response like whalers. If they board one, they’ll be beaten off the boat.

Do these guys think the men on those boats will just stand by like the gentle folk on those whaling ships? They won’t get off lightly.

In Japan, working a tuna boat means becoming a dead man. Challenging men who’ve thrown away their lives like that…

Do something about these terrorists.

Code Geass’ pizza munching heroine C.C. is here alluringly cosplayed by Tatsuya, although some will doubtless be wondering why she chose not to order from Pizza Hut despite being accompanied by Cheese-kun…

Ohigetan, 尾髭丹, is an artist whose erotic illustrations can succinctly be summarised as “voluptuous girls having meaty, juicy sex,” a genre sure to incite much interest among some circles, although for non-fans of the genre he may take things a little far.

It seems some K-ON! otaku are irredeemably gripped by Tsumugi-mania – here one can be seen compulsively buying Mugi Takuan, with at least 100 packets visible and two boxes at the top of the frame.

And yet this is but the latest in a long line of such afflictions…

Mugi-CD:

Boxes of “Mugicha” (Mugi-tea, a pun based on the Japanese word for roasted barley tea, mugicha):

Possibly slightly more disturbing than the equivalent in Mio-mania.

Yoko Littner is cosplayed here with volume and verisimilitude in her usual skimpy ensemble, for once managing to outdo the 2D version in colourfulness.

Demonstrating perhaps that overenthusiastic Photoshop usage is not just the preserve of Japanese cosplayers and their photographer minions. Perhaps an occasion to thankful no originals are included.

The creator’s DeviantArt profile.

Lolicon mascot Pedobear (or Kuma in his original 2ch incarnation) has been dubbed the 2010 Vancouver Olympic mascot by one factually challenged newspaper.

The Polish rag apparently swiped the first image displayed on Google Image Search to illustrate its article, little realising that Pedobear had seamlessly infiltrated himself into the picture, looking practically normal amongst the freakish trio of genuine mascots.

At least they weren’t writing about iconic Canadian landmarks.

A business article on the burst of the moe bubble explains the trials the industry faces, with an anime industry figure woefully admitting that he could sell anything he dumped on consumers at the boom’s height.

The article, translated from the pages of top Japanese business rag Weekly Toyo Keizai:

Even the representative of the Japanese content industry, the anime industry, is at its wits end over struggling DVD sales.

The management at an anime production company holds forth on the subject:

“In hard times people keep a tight reign on their purse strings. 2-3 years ago, if it was a moe or robot anime, we could sell absolutely anything, but now things have become selective.”

Over 50% of broadcast anime occupies late night slots, but the production costs for one episode alone are from 10-13 million yen ($100,000-130,000).

Publishers have to buy up slots from TV stations [at something like 500,000-3,000,000 each episode for late night broadcasts on typical stations], and most of their revenues come from DVD sales.

Illegal distribution online is an issue, as are business conditions.

With late night anime being a niche market, if revenues are assured even a potential hit won’t secure funding – just making each title is becoming more difficult.

One TV station’s management gloomily expresses their concern: “The number of projects we are seeing is close to half that of last year.”

Selling late night slots, which otherwise cost money to programme for, to anime publishers is a good earner for these stations. Reduced DVD sales thus also harm the stations. Some have reduced prices on their slots, but the effect remains unclear.

Amidst these shrinking DVD sales, some are pinning their hopes on Blu-ray.

But the anime producer interviewed is sceptical:

“The impact is nothing like the move from VHS to DVD. The market’s not going to grow with just the switch from DVD to BD.”

The audiovisual content industry still appears to be facing a harsh future indeed.

Many are now saying the industry is justly reaping what it has sown, with the market collapsing after being saturated with innumerable derivative works of questionable quality.

And the expected scathing 2ch response:

“And what’s left is just ero-moe anime.”

“Who the hell’d watch a bunch of ridiculously censored anime anyway.”

“They’re practically all the same pictures anyway, it’s like playing a visual novel.”

“Just stop making anime for God’s sake!”

“The DVDs aren’t selling because they’re overpriced. You can rent them at Geo for 100 so I’m even less likely to buy.”

“Most anime otaku are downloading rather than buying. They’d be better off just making children’s anime.”

“It’s hard to believe anyone even buys these BDs at 3000 per episode.”

“It’s the middle of a recession so what do they expect?”

“I think it’d be best if they decrease output even more. There’s too many irredeemable anime out there still.

I don’t mean to say ero-anime is no good, but it’d be best if they didn’t bother making drivel like Sora no Otoshimono into anime in the first place.”

“In the eighties it was the anime movie boom, in the nineties the OVA boom. They all end the same.”

“’The issue of illegal distribution on video sharing sites’

Isn’t this free publicity? Otaku in the regions or overseas can decide to buy the DVDs. If they want to expand their audience there’s nothing for it but to harness the Internet.”

“Illegal distribution doesn’t promote them.

Haruhi may have ended up like that overseas, but most of them are just freeloading scum happy at whatever they can get for free. People in the regions can just rent them cheaply, and foreigners hardly buy them at all.

If it promotes them why aren’t they all distributing online?”

“’freeloading scum happy at whatever they can get for free’

How does this differ to people watching for free on TV but not buying?”

“It’s all because most of their anime was trash.

It goes: 2-3 cute girls come on, show us their pantsu, and then give some half-baked loli dialogue.

How the hell can do they expect to expand their customer base with this stuff?”

A Figma version of Touhou’s famous witch Kirisame Marisa promises to allow Touhou fans the long awaited opportunity of privately posing the witch astride her broom (or almost – it seems this crucial pose has been omitted).

The not-action-figure is set to be released by Max Factory in April 2010.

Marisa Kirisame’s Figma edition is available now.

Commercial Touhou figures now seem to be arriving thick and fast…

Nippon Ichi has posted a 97.5% decrease in operating profits, and trading in its shares has temporarily been suspended due to their value plummeting 19.34% in a single day.

According to their own financial statements, the company’s performance has been dire:

In the second half of the year, titles like Antiphona and La Pucelle performed drastically worse than anticipated.

Orders for 5 titles last quarter were poor.

As a result, planned development of two titles for release next term has been suspended.

We intend to announce a careful focus on a few select titles.

Due to these results, [and the down-valuing of titles in development by ¥82,000,000] operating profit is now ¥4,806,000, a 97.5% reduction on the same term last year.

Whilst still not making an actual loss (barely), market confidence in the company’s recovery is evidently not high.

With the company reduced to recycling old games onto the PSP and producing risible PS1 era games on the PS3, the future does not seem bright for the once esteemed Nippon Ichi.

Wonder Festival, the unquestionably preeminent figure and garage kit event in Japan, held its Winter 2010 event yesterday on February 7.

As always, the event provided a ravishing amount of otaku eye-candy, running the gamut from pre-painted PVC figures from companies such as Alter, Good Smile and Kotobukiya to a vast assortment of resin garage kits from tiny doujin circles…

Matataku, 瞬く, is an artist few will be familiar with, much to their detriment if they happen to like his idiosyncratic choice of subject matter and essential grasp of the importance of cats.

Tony’s latest publication is his Tony Works Ciel Chronicle, a 144 page “complete” collection of his illustrations from various eroge titles published under the Ciel brand, including many hitherto seen only on limited edition items such as phone cards.

More can be seen below:

The book can be ordered internationally now.

Via Moeyo. More of Tony on the Channel.

The Liberal Democratic Party, Japan’s former rulers, have confirmed the candidacy of Miyako Aso, a former idol and actress noted for appearing completely nude in a variety of sex scenes and gravure publications.

Final Fantasy XIII protagonist Lightning has been given a particularly spectacular rendition by famed illustrator Noizi Ito, legendary for creating the designs of Haruhi and Shana amongst others.

The huge version.

Troubled blockbuster corridor marathon Final Fantasy XIII is now the subject of humiliating ¥1,980 sales, whilst its sales figures have dropped to record lows.

The sale in question, for new copies of the game:

Presumably the store in question found itself completely unable to shift its stock.

Second-hand, as reported the game is now being bought by stores for ¥1,500-2,500, although some stores are apparently no longer willing to buy. Second-hand stores are routinely offering the game for as little as ¥3,500.

More ominously, the sales figures for Final Fantasy XIII, whilst initially healthy enough, have plummeted to levels far lower than previous titles in the series.

(Columns: weeks 1-8, total sales, percentage of sales concentrated in week 1)

The PV for the latest pro-quality Touhou music video from doujin circle Kinema Kan has come online to promote the full DVD’s release at the next Touhou-only Reitaisai event in March.

As with their previous release, the quality is superb and is a must see for any Touhou fans.

ゆっくりみていってね！！！

The video just came out overnight from Kinema Kan; according to their website the doujin animation will be available at March 14th’s Reitaisai, truly one of the most important days of the year for any Touhou fan.

The Reitaisai website should also be a useful source of information for anyone planning / hoping / dreaming of attending the 7th convention.

The denizens of 2ch share their love for animals with a spontaneous outburst of “suzume” images, suzume referring to the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Passer Montanus, particularly its Japanese variation.

Ayanami Rei appears to have taken a break from piloting giant robots and gratuitously taking her top off in order to promote tourism to Hakone, a region of Shizuoka prefecture renowned for its hot springs.

Just what Rei has to do with the 17 hot springs or the Great Boiling Valley is not clear, but this has never stopped opportunistic character marketing before – doubtless Hakone will be experiencing a surge of otaku visitors such as to make it reconsider the wisdom of the campaign.

Those looking to visit the 17 onsen can find out more at the official site.

The much anticipated Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) theatrical film debuted yesterday, hot on the heels of last week’s big anime movie release, Nanoha the 1st.

Reviews for Shoushitsu  so far seem to be excellent, and ever reliable throngs of otaku (see above image) turned out on the movie’s opening day, even forming a reportedly 500-man line outside Ikebukuro’s premiere theatre before 8AM.

The line outside the Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro was definitely helped by the presence of the SOS-Dan’s seiyuu for a “meet and greet” event, much like the similar seiyuu event at last week’s Nanoha premiere:

Another shot of the Cinema Sunshine’s audience posing with the SOS-Dan. Note the plushie usamimi Nagato in the back!

This hideously tiny low-res image comes from newspaper Mainichi, which had the following to say:

“Popular anime “Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu”’s theatrical release “Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu” opened to the public on the 6th, with about 500 enthusiastic fans forming a line outside Ikebukuro’s Cinema Sunshine theatre even before the first screening at 8AM…”

A photo diary of the day’s events ala last week’s Nanoha article is not yet possible, as it is still less than a day since the movie premiered and not as much material has found its way online, save for a few:

This picture above, from Earl Box, is the Nagato pamphlet spotted in the earlier Haruhi Movie Goods piece.

If the thought of 2 anime movies playing concurrently at the same cinema is a thrill, then the above image from the Dai Enjou blog should be electrifying – Haruhi is in the middle with all of the day’s tickets sold-out, Nanoha is at the bottom with the day’s first three airings still sold-out even after being out for a week.

The always fun Dai Enjoy blogger also gives us this shot with a small Nagato memo pad in the middle, and quite a substantial stack  made entirely of copies of the Shoushitsu manga, which he arranged like so to celebrate the movie’s release:

It might take a few moments to decipher at first, but it reads 消失 / Shoushitsu!

As for the movie itself, a good majority of those who have seen it and reported their opinions online seem enthused by the movie, with many a proclamation along the lines of “It’s awesome!” and “Go see it!!”. Apparently the film adaptation covers practically the entire story of the book, as should be expected given its hefty length.

One amusing line comes from a 2channel denizen, obviously still reveling in the movie’s afterglow:

“I cried. I really cried!! All of this year’s tears are exhausted. Shoushitsu was wonderful !!! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~ It was so much fun!!!”

The most common nitpick about the film seems to be thoughts about the overall tempo and pacing of the storyline, perhaps a problem related to the movie’s epic 2 and a half hour length.

Much easier to understand the 2ch commentary above, at least to Japanese speakers, the review pages at Karu Nikki (in both spoiler and non-spoiler versions) make up the most cogent review of the movie so far.

See more at Dengeki Online, Mainichi, Dai Enjou and Cinema Today.

On a personal note, I (Quen) would’ve liked to have covered this premiere in person, but the airline ticket I purchased purely so I could go see an anime movie (!!) is for a flight still a few days away. The lure of a moe Nagato on the big screen was too much for this otaku to bear, and even if I am a few days late, at least my otaku power level will become unquestionable…

Luckily, next week still be a wonderful time to raid the cinemas, with movies such as Fate, Macross, Nanoha and Haruhi airing on Tokyo screens.

Pakistani lawyers have banded together to prevent the prosecution of one of their number accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl, a Christian, going so far as to issue death threats to anyone participating in the case, and physically preventing access to the court.

The case in question concerns the murder of a 12-year-old girl who worked as a maid at the Lahore household of a family of a prominent lawyer. The girl was a member of Pakistan’s frequently persecuted Christian minority.

Police judged the girl to have been beaten to death, and a local hospital reported she had received a broken arm and jaw, and that she had suffered fatal wounds to her genitals.

The family claimed she died falling down the stairs, although doctors found her corpse was already days old when first reported.

After police took members of the alleged murderer’s family into custody, the city’s lawyers banded together under the auspices of the Lahore Bar Association in order to oppose the prosecution, which they claim is a media witchhunt. The head of the accused family is a former president of this body.

The city’s lawyers attempted to stop court proceedings by forming a mob outside the court and physically restraining anyone from entering, including the girl’s family and journalists.

So intimidating were their actions that no legal counsel has dared come forth to prosecute. One Christian group reports that the lawyers even threatened to “burn alive” anyone involved in the prosecution.

Police were said to be supportive of the lawyers, even as they abused journalists, human rights organisations, minority parties and bishops.

National politicians have condemned the murder and called for justice, though apparently stopping short of intervening.

Via The News and AsiaNews.it.

Seikon no Qwaser’s uncensored broadcasts continue to become lewder and lewder, with the fourth episode going so far as to include what is presumably the next logical step up from breast sucking…

The obligatory gif.

Compared with the censored version (top):

The Amazon sales rank for the past week indicates just what effect this is all having on the sales of the anime: