Twentythree

Toei or not Toei? That is the question.

Earlier this week, long-established film producer Toei, the company behind classic films such as The Street Fighter, Black Rain, Battle Royale, and Tora! Tora! Tora!, made a surprise announcement that they were launching Toei Games, a new division specializing in video game production.

▼ The Toei logo is a classic on par with the MGM lion.

Part of the reason many were surprised was that, in addition to feature films, Toei also has very popular youth programming, such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Meanwhile, Toei Animation has released some of the most popular series ever made, such as Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Pretty Cure, to name only a very few. And since many of these properties already have game adaptations, some thought that perhaps Toei was going to take control of their associated game franchises going forward.

However, Toei was clear in saying that Toei Games will release completely original games rather than base them on other Toei divisions’ films and programs. On 24 April, they gave everyone a look at three of these titles, all set for release on the PC via Steam.

▼ The Toei production logo was faithfully recreated in pixel art by the masters at Kairosoft.

First up is Killa: Kill the La, a dark fantasy game by Black Tangerine in which you assume the role of Valhalla, a young woman whose orphanage was burned down and mentor was killed, his last words to her being: “Kill the La.”

▼ The game is done in a very unique and eerie puppetry style.

Valhalla then makes her way to a mysterious island where she meets nine people named La, and has to use her powers of resonance to unlock their pasts and discover who her mentor was talking about.

Also, presented in stylish black ink artwork is Hino from UnGloomStudio. This game follows Hino and her Moni-Moni skeleton companion as they try to find a safe place in a world of darkness.

The gameplay involves overcoming highly unsettling monsters and eluding traps, while at the same time unravelling why you are even in this world and reaching one of the game’s multiple endings.

And on the brighter side of games, Toei is set to release, there’s also Debug Nephemee from Nephemee Studio. This game pits you against the entire world of Nepherum that is glitching all over the place in a bright pixel art style.

It’s inhabited by Nephemee, who are also suffering from bugs and will attack. The key to debugging them is understanding their unique personalities and responding accordingly. Rescuing them also involves playing four mini games at the same time, perfect for anyone who loves multitasking.

It’s a bit of a surprising move for a company that has released some of the biggest names in Japanese film, television, and anime to lead with a lineup of titles from indie game developers. Some comments online lauded their ambition and independence, while others felt disappointed Toei didn’t do more with what they had to work with.

“Toei Games… are a lot different from what I was expecting.”
“I thought they were just going to make games from their own stuff, but this is much more aspirational.”
“Killa is coming to Toei Games? Cool!”
“I’m really looking forward to Hino.”
“I don’t see the point in making these Toei productions. I wasted my time getting my hopes up.”
“All the titles sound so gloomy, though.”
“It feels beneath Toei to release indie games.”
“They said they weren’t going to use Toei IP, and the pixel art logo was a pretty good indication of where they were going. I don’t know why anyone is surprised.”

The simplest path to some easy cash would have been for Toei Games to start off with a bunch of Spider-Man, Dragon Ball, and Pretty Cure games, but video game rights to those series are tied up in deals with Bandai Namco and Sony. Instead, Toei Games is clearly planning to forge its own path from the ground up. Despite the risks, it’s an ultimately healthier way to establish an identity of the company’s own, and, if successful, could pay off very well in the long run.

It seems like a good start for now, with an interesting starting lineup of games, putting a cinematic focus on deep storylines and artistic presentation. Their release dates haven’t been determined yet, but they all look like they’re well worth the wait and can be wishlisted on Steam.

Related: Killa: Kill the La, Hino, Debug Nephemee Steam pages
Source: PR Times, Hachima Kiko
Images: PR Times
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Optimus kawaii.

Takara Tomy is the maker of the Tomica, Japan’s favorite brand of toy cars, basically the country’s version of Hot Wheels. However, while Tomica’s bread and butter is detailed recreations of real-world vehicles, they also indulge in the occasional side dish of whimsical fantasy transportation through their Dream Tomica line, which has taken inspiration from the anime of Studio Ghibli and Dragon Ball.

So it’s not a huge shock to see that Takara Tomy’s newest toy truck has a Sanrio theme, with “Hello Kitty Express” written on the side of its cargo compartment.

However, this isn’t part of the Dream Tomica line. There’s a hint to its true nature in the Japanese text accompanying the above preview image, アーマービークル, which translates to “armored vehicle,” because this Hello Kitty delivery truck…

…is also a transforming robot!?!

That’s because the Hello Kitty Express Truck actually hails from Takara Tomy’s Jobraver line of Transformer-style toys, in which work vehicles transform into awesome mecha.

▼ SUDDEN LINGUISTIC TANGENT!
Jobraver is a mashup of “job” and “braver,” with “braver” being an attempt to convey the idea of “person who is brave” in order to form a connection with the Japanese word for “hero,” yusha, which translates literally as “brave person.” Jobraver is not meant to be a combination of “job” and “raver,” as raves tend to be terrible places at which to try to get any work done.

So what kind of powerful mecha equipment does the Tomika Jobraver Carry Braver Hello Kitty Express Truck come with?

Attaching to its back is the ribbon-shaped Ribon Drone K-ET, and as delivery people in Japan are expected to wear white gloves as part of their work uniform, shielding the robot’s hands are a pair of GT Glove Type 3-LOs, which Kitty-chan uses to fire the Happy Shower, a series of heart-shaped energy blasts that do…something, presumably positive, to anyone in their path.

▼ SUDDEN LINGUISTICS TANGENT PART TWO!
K-ET, obviously, is meant to bring to mind the word “cute,” but 3-LO is a pun too. The number 3 in Japanese is san, and because of the languages lack of a native L, Ls are often pronounced like Rs, so 3-LO is a tip of the hat to “Sanrio.”

Included with the Hello Kitty mecha truck is a Ribbon, one of the Jobraver lore’s worker robots, decked out in a special Hello Kitty Express cap.

The Tomika Jobraver Carry Braver Hello Kitty Express Truck is priced at 4,180 yen (US$27) and will be available in July, with preorders scheduled to start on May 29.

Source: Takara Tomy via Japaaan
Top image: Takara Tomy
Insert images: Takara Tomu, Pakutaso (1, 2)
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As onigiri prices continue to rise everywhere else, Lawson Store 100 stays true to its name.

There’s perhaps no better example of the frustrating inflation that’s taking place in Japan than what’s happened to convenience store onigiri (rice balls). It wasn’t all that long ago that you could get simple varieties for not all that much more than 100 yen (US$0.65), but they’ve become pretty much impossible to find at that price point. Even at Lawson Store 100, the budget-friendly sub-brand of the Lawson convenience store chain where most items are priced at 100 yen, onigiri prices had been raised to start at 120 yen.

This month, though, Lawson Store 100 apparently took another look at the name on their doors and decided to reduce the price of five types of onigiri, salmon, tuna mayo, kombu (kelp), mentaiko (spicy cod roe), and beef mayo, back down to 100 yen.

This isn’t a temporary sale or promotional campaign, either, but the new standard price for those five varieties. Always thankful for any company trying to save customers some cash in these tight economic times, we headed out to see if the quality of these 100-yen onigiri holds up.

We rolled into our local branch after 11 a.m. but before noon, and with lunchtime looming, they had sold out of their current stock of 100-yen mentaiko and beef rice balls. There were still salmon, kombu, and tuna mayo available, though, so we snagged one of each for taste-testing purposes.

We noticed two things right away. First, these onigiri have no nori (seaweed) wrapping. Though nori isn’t something you’ll find on all onigiri, it is a pretty common ingredient, and its absence here could be considered a cost-cutting measure. On the other hand, nori isn’t really the main attraction, even among passionate onigiri fans, and the unpredictable ways the seaweed can crack or tear as you bite through it often results in little bits of it falling and making a mess, or managing to get stuck in your teeth in places where it’s practically impossible to trace the path they took to get there, and equally difficult to dislodge.

As such, we’re willing to give Lawson Store 100’s 100-yen rice balls a pass for their lack of seaweed. Our bigger concern was that, because of how the stickers on the wrappers are placed, we couldn’t tell how generous, or skimpy, the fillings were going to be prior to opening one up.

Thankfully, it turns out they have a respectable quantity inside. These aren’t particularly hearty onigiri, but neither are they disappointingly light on ingredients. If we’re buying a convenience store’s baseline onigiri, this is pretty much the amount of filling we expect, so we’ve got no complaints on this front.

We started our taste test with the salmon onigiri, and were immediately rewarded with a perfectly satisfying mix of robust fish and salt in the flavor profile. The rice was nice and fluffy too, and if anything the lack of seaweed gave more room for the rice and salmon to dance on our taste buds for a crisp, invigorating sensation.

Next up was the kombu onigiri, which was just as impressive, with a decent amount of filling and an enjoyably rich flavor.

Two stages into our taste test, Lawson Store 100’s 100-yen onigiri weren’t just good when taking their price into consideration, they were just as satisfying as their counterparts from more expensive convenience store chains. Eager to see if they could go three-for-three, we opened up the tuna mayo…

…and not only was this as good as what rival chains offer, it’s arguably even better! The balance here is on the creamy side, and if that’s your preference, this is an onigiri worth recommending even completely disregarding its low price.

With convenience store onigiri having gotten so expensive that they’ve disappeared from many people’s thought process when their stomachs start growling, it’s great to have a chain that’s working to bring them closer to what they used to be, and we’re definitely going to have to try the remaining two varieties of Lawson Store 100 100-yen rice balls when we come across them.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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If you’ve ever felt irritated around this part of Tokyo, this might be the reason why. 

The area around Shibuya Station is one of the busiest places in all of Tokyo, and right now it’s a nightmare to visit. That’s because the so-called “once in a lifetime” construction project currently taking place around the station – work is scheduled to continue right up to fiscal 2031 – is impeding foot traffic, funneling crowds through narrow walkways that were never designed to act as major thoroughfares.

While navigating the crowds is enough to give you a headache, there’s another, less obvious element at play: mosquito noise. This high-pitched frequency, similar to the buzz of a mosquito, has become a topic of discussion online in Japan, with some people saying children and young people are particularly bothered by it, as it’s more audible to them than those in middle-age.

Our roving reporter Mr Sato, who’s in his 50s, was surprised when even he could hear the loud buzz on a recent visit to Shibuya. Admittedly, he does usually listen to music with earbuds while out and about, but this time, when keeping an ear out for high-pitched frequencies, he could hear the buzz from the moment he stepped off the train and onto the Ginza Line platform at the station.

Even as he walked around the Mark City building and the JR Hachiko Exit, the noise seemed to follow him wherever he went, and when he walked over to Miyashita Park, where a lot of people say the noise is the loudest, he could clearly hear the high-pitched, ringing sound. With so little background noise, he now knew he wasn’t imagining it – it was a constant uninterrupted ringing. 

Then, outside the front of the Seibu Shibuya department store, the sound was even louder than before. Here, it reached unpleasant levels, bordering on unbearable.

The sound was now stuck in his head and not going anywhere. In an effort to escape the ringing, he wondered if the busy Centre Gai thoroughfare might drown out the noise.

▼ Nope. Even in front of the Udagawa-cho police box, the ringing was still there.

He eventually felt that the sound dimmed a little around Tokyu Hands, but then he could hear it again in front of Abema Towers.

Now he was far away from the station, and in a relatively quieter area of the neighbourhood too, in front of the NHK Broadcasting Center.

The incessant ringing followed him still, and could even be heard near the entrances and exits of Yoyogi National Stadium. Was the high-pitched sound always this loud? It was now so pronounced he thought it was strange that he’d never noticed it before.

At this rate, he was almost near Harajuku and he was beginning to wonder if it would follow him all the way there too. But that’s when, remarkably, the noise suddenly stopped, around the area where the advertising trucks were parked in the photo below.

According to Mr Sato, the mosquito noise could be heard all along the route below, from Shibuya Station at the bottom through to Yoyogi National Stadium at the top.

During the journey, Mr Sato pressed record on his smartphone in the hopes that he could find a way to analyse the noise. He was so desperate to get to the bottom of it all that he put the data into Gemini Pro, which revealed that a sound resembling a mosquito buzz was present at the Shibuya Station Ginza Line platform…

▼ …in front of Miyashita Park…

▼ …and in front of Seibu Shibuya.

The frequencies were determined to be 17086Hz, 17097Hz and 17915Hz respectively, and when he plotted the relationship between frequency range and volume on a graph, he could indeed see a response at 17-18 kHz, and even higher frequencies.

To verify Gemini’s results, Mr Sato used Audacity, an audio editing software that provides detailed frequency analysis, to visualise the sound’s frequency components. He also performed a spectrogram analysis, which revealed even more interesting findings. In each image below, the arrows indicate the 17 kHz frequency band associated with the mosquito tone.

On the Ginza Line platform, a faint 17 kHz signal is visible as a thin horizontal band. It is extremely quiet compared to the surrounding noise and would not be noticeable unless you are specifically listening for it.

Next, in front of Miyashita Park, there are two thin lines running horizontally between 15kHz and 20kHz. This indicates that a sound of the same pitch is continuously ringing, so you should be able to hear the mosquito tone more clearly than at the Ginza Line platform.

Finally, in front of Seibu Shibuya (above), a clear, thick line appeared horizontally in the 20kHz frequency band. This indicates that the sound was incomparably louder than at the previous two locations.

This may have been due to the sound reflecting and amplifying between the two buildings around Seibu Shibuya, making it more noticeable there than in other areas. But there may be another reason for the noise – frequencies of around 17 kHz to 18 kHz are used to deter pests such as rats.

In an area so rife with vermin it’s sometimes referred to as “rat land”, it wouldn’t be surprising if the high-pitched noise has been utilised for this purpose. However, with rats commonly seen on the streets of Shibuya after dark, if the sound is meant to be a deterrent, it doesn’t appear to be working.

Either way, what’s undeniable is the fact that the mosquito noise isn’t an urban myth as we were able to confirm that it really does exist. So if you ever start to feel annoyed around Shibuya, there really might be a reason for it, and it might be fixed by popping in some earbuds.

Photos © SoraNews24
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No Face, Catbus and Totoro come to life as unique puppets for your feet. 

Studio Ghibli is world-famous for its creativity, which isn’t just limited to its stable of animated movies, but its range of official merchandise as well. That talent is clearly evident in the studio’s latest release, a cute sock collection that’s being sold through specialty retail chain Donguri Kyowakoku.

Known as “Puppet Socks“, these cleverly designed pieces of apparel can be used in the traditional way, as covers for your feet, but they also double as hand puppets. Ideal for young children who might need a bit of friendly puppetry to help them stay still while getting dressed, these socks are also ideal for adult fans of the studio, and so the socks come in adult and children’s sizes.

The series pays homage to a number of characters, and has already seen Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service and the Totoros from My Neighbour Totoro being released previously. Now, though, there are all-new additions being made to the range, with the Catbus and No Face joining the collection.

▼ The Catbus socks come in three different sizes, using Japan’s traditional centimetre measurements.

▼ The smallest, at 9-14 centimetres, is ideal for young children.

▼ This size comes with a non-slip surface for added safety, important for toddlers.

▼ Going up a size, the next Catbus, for older children, is for feet measuring 13-19 centimetres. 

▼ And finally, we have the 23-25 centimetre size, which is aimed at women. 

▼ Next up, we have No Face from Spirited Away. 

▼ The smallest size available at the moment is 13-19 centimetres…. 

Followed by the 23-25 centimetre adult size.

Slip No Face on your hand and your thumb and little finger will slot perfectly behind the character’s arms, allowing you to animate it. While that might seem cute for adults, it might be terrifying for young children, and if that’s the case, you can opt for a sweeter puppet, with the Totoro variety.

Three of the above socks were released previously at Donguri Kyowakoku, but now the family is complete with a new size available, in 25-27 centimetres, which is suited to men.

Whether you wear them on your hands or wiggle them on your toes, these characters will bring a smile to your face wherever you go. Priced at 550 yen (US$3.47) each, they can be purchased at the Donguri Kyowakoku store and online (links below) while stocks last.

Source, images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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