News

Japan's Anime, Game Studios Celebrate April Fool's Day (Update 7)

It was April 1 in Japan, and the anime and software studios have been marking the occasion with a slew of April Fool's spoofs and jokes. With updates throughout the day, here are some of those that have cropped up this year:


• The Yahoo! Japan website has "announced" on its front page that the Evangelion anime will get a live-action drama adaptation. There will be updates throughout the day on Yahoo! Japan's page for the "project."

Update 1:
• The Nico Nico Douga video website now runs all non-corporate videos throuh a beta "high-speed player" — but all the player does is scroll Nico's user comments in red at unreadable speeds. Thanks, samuelp.

• The personal website of Hetalia - Axis Powers creator Hidekaz Himaruya has been taken over by Hetalia's Prussia character, with new "Ore-sama Blog" entries throughout the day. Thanks, mirax.


Update 2:
• School Days game and anime creator Overflow revealed its new "super masterpiece gem," KotonohasamaDays, complete with a video via Nico Nico Douga streaming or Windows Media download. According to Overflow's characteristic English subtitle for anime film that will open on "51st month of '08," "the fairy called Kotonohasama was spending a calm life. However, because the world had vanished, her calm life was destroyed. The fifty-one hundred eight seals were released. And Kotonohasama awoke." Overflow has a real adult game called Cross Days that is shipping this year. (Thanks to bayoab for the date correction.)

• The official website of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni game and anime franchise has been transformed into the April 1 edition of the "Hinamizawa-Sports" tabloid newspaper. The headline claims that the recently dredged statue of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain's Colonel Sanders mascot ("Kenta-kun") is actually a prop for a "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sei" film. The spoof references the long-lost Colonel Sanders statue that was dredged from an Osaka river in March. The statue had been dumped during the 1985 Japanese baseball championship celebration — allegedly dooming the local Hanshin Tigers team to bad luck ever since. Thanks, Macron One.

• The software and anime creator Type-Moon announced "Necoarc Evolution," a spoof of both Tsukhime's Arcueid character and the live-action Dragonball Evolution film. The "creator Necoarc" even wrote a message to describe her confusion over the "'new Necarc' of a different dimension," spoofing the comment that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama wrote about Dragonball Evolution. More film spoofs are listed on a Now Showing page. Thanks, MBF.

Update 3:
• Enterbrain's Weekly Famitsu game magazine announced that it will go daily.

• Asanon, the blogger of the toy and figure maker Goodsmile Company, will star in a live-action "Nendoroid-Deka The Movie", a spoof on Shinji Wada's long-running Sukeban Deka mystery action manga and television franchise. Fellow blogger Danny Choo notes the story: "During the summer of 200X, young boys and girls started to go missing. Under the command of the dark boss, the special mission detective called "Nendoro-Iko" appeared on the scene to sort things out." Thanks, agr964.

• The software start-up Dande-lion announced that an anime adaptation of its Chōgenyūki Mugenfinity project has been green-lit.

• The game maker White Cyc announced that the Natsu-iro Straight -The animation- #Rin version of its Natsu-iro Straight adult bishōjo game has been green-lit for airing on "Cyc TV" this summer

Update 4:
• The official blog of the Ichijinsha Bunko imprint's editors has announced that a Sakura Familia -con amabilita- spinoff and anime adaptation of its Sakura Familia light novels have been green-lit.

• The Kara no Kyoukai - the Garden of sinners anime movie series will get a new chapter: Mirai Fukuin recalled out summer.

• The anime adaptation of Ricotta's Princess Lover! game has been replaced by Isshin Lover! (Wholehearted Lover!), so the cast is now full of guys instead of girls.

Update 5:
• Like Street Fighter, the Queen's Blade game books (and upcoming anime) will get a American live-action film: Queen's Blade: The Legend of Menas. It will not open in Japan until April 2010, but it already earned awards at the "Vannes Film Festival" and a glowing review from "Tine Magazine."

• A Magical Teia anime spinoff of Gamania Digital Entertainment's Lucent Heart online game has been green-lit for distribution on the LCN Anime Channel this May.

• Google Maps Japan has appointed Gachapin, a green dinosaur from Fuji TV's Hirake! Ponkiki children's program, as an advisor. He appears in Google Maps when the user goes into Street View mode.

Update 6:
• Suneo, a friend of the Doraemon robotic cat's master, has taken over the Doraemon Channel website and renamed it the Suneo Channel. Instead of showing the trailer for the current Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Uchū Kaitakushi (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's How Space Was Won, New Edition) anime film, it now shows the trailer for Shin Honegawa Suneo no Uchū Kaitakushi (Suneo Honegawa's How Space Was Won, New Edition).

• Similarly, the Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Nendororo~n Dai-Henshin! game website is now taped over with "Masao-kun."

• On April 1, the popular Melon Books chain of manga and character goods stores is opening a Neo Hong Kong branch with 70 above-ground floors and 10 underground floors.

Update 7:
• A summary of the story thus far for Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō devolves into a spoof of Dragon Ball's Freeza Saga.

• The multimedia studio Nitroplus reorganizes itself into a agricultural company.

• The official Cyborg 009 website "opens the forbidden door" with an announcement of a new series combining the science-fiction hero Cyborg 009 with the bumbling middle-aged father Tensai Bakabon.