Animanga in the News: 2/17/11

Here you will find a run down of today's anime and manga news! If anything sent waves through the anime and manga world today, you'll find it in this post! By the way, I'm saladesu, one of the translator-moderators of MH, and I'll be posting a post like this every day (as much as possible, anyway). Look forward to them ;)

If you would like to help in finding and translating news of this nature, please contact saladesu via PM ^^ Feel free to PM me any interesting bits of anime or manga news you find floating around the internet, too.




Trains decked out in Oda Eiichirou's "ONE PIECE" manga panels made its debut on the Tokyo Yamanote Line on the 17th. All 11 carriages of trains plying the line have "ONE PIECE" plastered all over them, from the exterior to hanging posters within the train itself, as well as all screens. These trains will run for a limited period, until the 1st of March.

As part of the celebratory campaign for "ONE PIECE" selling over 200 million copies, this project is entitled "Gomunote Line" (literally Rubber Hand Line, a on the original Yamanote Line). The first and last carriages have posters of when "ONE PIECE" hijacked Shibuya, Tokyo in early February. The remaining carriages are each dedicated to each member of the Strawhat Pirates and is decorated with them as the theme. The carriages go in the order: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook. Publisher Shueisha said, "We'd like fans to be polite when enjoying them."

original source





One Piece, Gintama, Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Sket Dance, Jin and Shiki fill out the rest of the top 10. One Piece takes 8 spots out of the top 30, including the top spot for the second week running. All 3 volumes of Shingeki no Kyojin fall out of the top 30 after 6-week streak.


original source





SHARP and BANDAI announced on the 17th that they would begin selling calculators with designs from popular anime "Evangelion" and "K-ON!!" as well as popular manga "Shima Kousaku". There will be 6 different designs featuring characters from the 3 series, and the calculators go on sale on the 11th of March.

With the rise in the number of people using the calculator functions built into their mobile phones, the calculator industry has suffered a dip in sakes. SHARP expressed their hopes for the project, saying, "Using this design, we hope to open up new markets such as anime fans."

The calculators will cost approximately ¥3,500, and come with a strap for portability.

original source