Heavy on the metal and the makeup TOKYO (majirox news) — A new force has arrived on the Japanese visual kei scene, a genre among J-rock musicians characterized by elaborate make-up, extreme hairstyles, flashy costumes and sometimes an androgynous look. It has its own particular sound related to glam, rock, punk and heavy metal....
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Anime Classic Lupin III Turns 40 – and a new series marks the anniversary TOKYO (majirox news) — Take a master criminal, throw in his loyal sidekicks, a love interest who continues to baffle and defeat the villain’s gang, and an Interpol detective who spends his life chasing them, and you have Lupin III....
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TOKYO (majirox news) — Japan’s best-known baseball comic, Kyojin no Hoshi, is trying to crack the Indian anime market. The only problem is that they don’t play baseball in India. They play cricket. Kodansha, one of Japan’s largest publishers, said, “We’ll be adapting the story of Kyojin no Hoshi (Star of the Giants) to...
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TOKYO (majirox news) — Nissan Motors collaborated with Production I.G. to design robots for the new TV anime Rinne no Lagrange (The Cycle of Reincarnation). Nissan won the competition out of 60 designers. Nissan Designer Oosuda Takashi’s rendering was chosen as the protagonist robot. The other robots will be designed by Nissan designers. Shiro...
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TOKYO (majirox news) — Japan’s first ever anime DJ bar, which will play mainly hits from anime and games, has opened in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, the hallowed ground of the country’s otaku culture. Alchemist opened Sept. 29 with a promise to play music and video from old anime, current anime, game songs, vocaloid songs...
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Japanese craftsmanship is behind anime’s global force. “Japanese anime is still largely a hand-crafted art,” said Yoshio Mukainakano, successful manga artist and owner of Studio Zaendo in Tokyo. “It’s the attention to detail that only hand-drawn work can give that makes Japanese anime as good as it is, and ultimately as successful as it...
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TOKYO (majirox news) — Some of heavy metal’s biggest names have formed a supergroup dedicated to playing theme songs from Japanese anime. News of Animetal USA, the brand new supergroup and its self-titled debut album due for release Oct. 12, is spreading through Twitterspace, blogs and Web sites. “Animetal USA is a dream team...
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TOKYO (majirox news) – This week, One Piece, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, was Japan’s best-selling manga series, according to Torico, operator of the Mangazenkan.com Web site. One Piece topped the best-sellers list for the first half of 2011. One Piece has a huge following not only in Japan, but also among international...
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TOKYO (majirox news) – Gothic rock band Lancer>>Bee’s music and endless jams are being heard on the Internet as well as by fans crammed into the dim and lively basement at Ryogoku Sunrize in Tokyo. The band is connecting the capital’s underground music scene to fans of Japanese music in foreign countries through an...
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TOKYO (majirox news) – All-girl band exist†trace’s screaming, growling, heavy guitars and pounding drums have caused a wave of excitement in Japan’s male-dominated visual kei music world. The sub-culture of visual kei among Japanese (jrock) musicians is distinguished by the use of striking make-up, intricate and flamboyant costumes, elaborate hairstyles and an androgynous look....
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