Photographic evidence that the fourth and final new Evangelion anime movie has started production

Director and voice cast of groundbreaking, long-stalled anime franchise gather for formal ceremony.

The Evangelion anime franchise started with a pretty breakneck pace, with 26-episodes in 1995 and ’96 plus a pair of movies, Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, in 1997. At the time, everyone thought that the second film was the last we’d see of director Hideaki Anno’s groundbreaking anime (“end of Evangelion is right there in the title, after all), but then in 2007, Eva returned to the big screen with the first installment of Rebuild of Evangelion, a movies series that’s either a reboot, sequel, or some combination of the two.

A second Rebuild film came in 2009, and the wait was just a little longer for the third, which was released in 2012. As for the fourth, and supposedly final, Rebuild of Evangelion movie? Well, fans are still waiting…but at least there’s now photographic evidence that the staff feels it’s entered actual production.

Studio Khara, Evangelion’s current rights-holder, recently tweeted a photo from its company shinnenkai, or start of the new year party. But what’s more important is what comes after the plus sign in that banner, which translates as “New Evangelion Movie:||: Start of Production” (:||, a musical notation mark meaning “repeat,” is currently an official part of the movie’s title, because nothing in Evangelion is ever simple or direct).

Among those in attendance were Anno, sporting a brown blazer, and several members of the anime’s voice cast.

▼ Megumi Ogata, voice of Eva protagonist Shinji, clinks glasses with Anno while standing between the director and legendary voice actress Megumi Hayashibara, who portrays the stoic Rei.

“It’s the beginning of the end,” tweeted Ogata, and if the wait has been excruciating for fans, it hasn’t been easy for her either. “[Evangelion is] a project where I feel, where I have to feel, ‘I want to go on living until I can record my final performance for it,’ and I’m so happy to be involved with such an anime. I will survive, until my final recording, no matter what.”

▼ Anno addresses the attendees and leads a group clap as the party comes to a close.

Other members of the all-star cast who showed up included Sailor Moon herself, Kotono Mitsuishi, who voices Misasto…

…and Fumihiko Tachiki, who, like his character Gendo, sports glasses and some impressive chin hair.

▼ Though it looks like in real-life he’s not as cold and stern as the character he plays, and who’s frequently cited as being the worst dad in all of anime.

However, despite Ogata’s surging enthusiasm to get back in the booth, the voice actress says that vocal recording sessions for the fourth Rebuild of Evangelion movie are still a ways off. “I’ll do my best, and hope it will be a movie everyone will enjoy,” she says, and odds are that she, just like the rest if us, is keeping her fingers crossed that Khara sticks to the 2020 release date it promised in the gorgeous teaser trailer for the long-awaited anime.

Source: Twitter/@Megumi_Ogata via Jin
Featured image: Twitter/@Megumi_Ogata



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Japanese Twitter invites you to run the adorable Snoopy marathon hiding in Tokyo

One of the coolest points is the identity of the real-world location that forms Snoopy’s ear.

We’ve always known that Tokyo is home to some bizarre hidden sights, from this terrifying ad to a very special milk vending machine. But we didn’t know that one of the world’s most beloved characters, Snoopy of Peanuts fame, has also been hiding in plain sight all along right in the heart of the city!

▼ Japan is wild about Snoopy. He and his pal Woodstock can be found everywhere from stationery to the Peanuts Hotel in Kobe to this creative roll cake!

The cute discovery was shared via Twitter by anime director and lyricist Akitaro Daichi (known for his work on Fruits Basket (2001 version), Ojarumaru, and Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran) where it promptly blew up:

“Someone I know asked if I wanted to do the Snoopy Marathon. I was wondering what that was until I found this. It’s really incredible! My family also couldn’t get enough of it. I’ve borrowed the picture.” 

The resemblance to good old Snoopy is uncanny, and the fact that Woodstock can be found seated on his head adds to the charm.

Akitaro then posted a follow-up message detailing the length of the course, which clocks in at around 35 kilometers (21.7 miles):

“A lot of people seem curious about the distance, so I’ve put the trimmed part up with permission of the creator. The GPS wasn’t stopped while waiting at traffic lights, so it should be about two kilometers (1.2 miles) shorter than it appears. I’m also tagging @yuka_co, the one who made this course. Apparently the Woodstock part didn’t exist last year!”

A quick jump to @yuka_co‘s account displays her passion for running and cycling. She also elaborated on her creative process for making the Snoopy course in a separate post:

“How the first Snoopy running course was completed:

1st photo: I roughly outlined the main points (Oh no! The head is squished)

2nd photo: I touched up the fine details (I tried changing the eye but then it wasn’t cute anymore. Gah! The head was still like a sharp cliff)

3rd photo: I added the finishing touches to the eye and foot lengths and the shape of the head (I think it’s cute now)!” 

She also shared another running course in honor of the Year of the Boar:

“I’m happy that the Snoopy course was so popular! Here’s another one that I ran with friends to celebrate the Year of the Boar. In total it was 28 kilometers. She’s kind of chubby but a cutey!”

Net users were tickled by her creations, leaving comments such as the following:

“It’s amazing to think that she was able to create this run, including the Woodstock part, in one continuous line!”
“Please, please share this publicly on Google Maps!”
“I wonder where the best place to start is…”
“I love how the ear segment loops perfectly around the Imperial Palace and its gardens.”
“I definitely don’t have the stamina to finish this course. LOL”

What would Charlie Brown say if he knew his beloved beagle was a world marathon course? We can think of one likely response: “Good grief!”

Source: Twitter/@yuka_co via Twitter/@akitaroh
Featured image: Twitter/@akitaroh



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Japanese beer giant Asahi buys British London Pride brewery; U.K. writer hopping mad

Would a London Pride beer brewed in the same location under Japanese management still taste as patriotic? Both sides weigh in.

If you say “Japanese beer”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably Asahi – one of the most emblematic beers of the country, known for being super dry and not to be confused with the British fashion line that its catchphrase inspired.

Well, now it’s Asahi’s turn to pay Britain back. In a 250,000,000 pound deal (US$326,725,000) the drink conglomerate swooped in to buy the U.K.’s Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC, and all the brands and distributions of soft drinks, beers and ciders that go along with it. Most notable in the acquisition is Fuller’s London Pride beer, the brewery’s flagship beer since 1958.

With balanced levels of malt and hops, the London Pride is a pleasant pale ale with a medium strength. Asahi Beer has promised to continue brewing the ale out of the Fuller’s famous Griffin brewery in Chiswick, first established in 1845. Regardless of whether the taste changes or stays the same, there’s something else at risk: the drink’s image of national pride, which is mixed into the drink’s very name and branding.

Alex Brummer, in a distressed article for the Daily Mail, claimed that the buyout was a case of “yet another foreign predator” stripping the assets of home-grown British corporations. Describing Asahi as “acquisitive” and implying it to be one of many “big, characterless, mass-market brewers”, Brummer bemoaned the shrinking number of British breweries and implored Asahi to maintain the quality expected of Fuller’s so that Britain could “remain a land of long shadows on county cricket grounds, invincible green suburbs and warm beer.”

Upon hearing the backlash from homegrown news outlets, commenters in Japan had all manner of reactions.

“I’ve literally never heard of London Pride in my life.”
“They should be thanking them! It’s a good thing a Japanese company bought them up! What, they’d rather it be a German or Chinese company? If a Japanese company didn’t buy them, I can’t imagine they’d end up doing anything but go bankrupt.”
“They’re gonna make it so dry.”
“I kind of understand their shock. If some foreign conglomerate bought up a classic, established Japanese sake brewery we’d all be upset, too. But I feel like we’d forgive a German company for doing it, while we might feel resentful if it were a Chinese company. I wonder how the British feel about a Japanese company…? Is it more like our attitude towards Germany or China…?”
“I kinda wanna try this beer now.”

For what it’s worth, many Japanese people have a genuine interest in authentic British cuisine and culture, so it really is in Asahi’s best interest to preserve the traditional brewing technique for future generations. The greatest change seems to be that they’ll now be selling their own beers via Asahi Europe in places where Fuller’s beers, ciders and soft beverages are currently sold in the U.K. Sadly, it’s still very unlikely we’ll see any of Asahi’s more niche soft drinks make the trip with them.

Source: Yurukuyaru via My Game News Flash, Daily Mail Online
Featured image: Twitter/@London_Pride



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Film about Japanese-Russian POW romance gets crowdfunding project for screening in Russia

In an age fraught with international tensions, a new movie co-produced by Russia and Japan sends a powerful message that love transcends language and borders.

A beautiful yet tragic love story has always been as good a way as any to tug at audiences’ hearts, and it looks like a collaborative creative effort between Russia and Japan has produced just such a movie. The film, titled Sorokin no Mita Sakura (“The Sakura that Sorokin Saw”), is a love story set in the city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on the Japanese island of Shikoku against the historical backdrop of the Russo-Japanese War.

▼ Trialer for The Sakura that Sorokin Saw

The movie is centered around the romance between a Russian soldier and a Japanese nurse who find themselves on opposing sides of the war (yes, the premise may be a bit clichéd, but we’re sure it still works more than well enough as a tear-jerker), and the film has been described as a “Romeo and Juliet story of the Russo-Japanese War”.

The star-crossed lovers are portrayed by Japanese actress Junko Abe, who plays the nurse Yui, and Russian actor Rodion Galyuchenko, who plays the Russian soldier Sorokin who meets Yui as a POW at a camp in Matsuyama City.

▼ Junko Abe looks beautiful as Yui, who works as a nurse at a POW camp for Russian soldiers.

▼ Rodion Galyuchenko is the Russian soldier Sorokin who is placed in the POW camp and finds himself deeply touched by Yui’s compassionate care.

The story is told as a piece of history uncovered by one of Yui’s modern-day descendants, a young TV director named Sakurako, who is also played by Junko Abe. What makes the movie particularly interesting is its historical setting. The Russo-Japanese War, which took place from 1904 to 1905, came at a time when Japan was trying to turn itself into a “modern” nation, and during the war, Japan made efforts to treat Russian POWs humanely. Nearly 70,000 Russian POWs were reportedly brought to Japan during this time and placed in close to 30 camps across Japan.

The city of Matsuyama, where Yui and Sorokin’s story takes place, is actually where the first of such Russian POW camps was established in Japan, and while the love story is fiction, it is indeed historically true that the prisoners there were treated relatively well. The Russian prisoners received decent food and were allowed a good amount of freedom including taking baths in hot springs or buying alcohol at local stores. They were also provided at times with entertainment such as sumo wrestling and bicycle racing and, in some cases, educational opportunities as well. As a result, there was significant interaction between the Russian prisoners and the local population of Matsuyama, and the city even experienced a small economic boom during the period.

▼ The movie promises some magnificent views of the sakura trees in bloom.

The movie is slated for release in Japan on March 22 (March 16 in Ehime Prefecture, where Matsuyama is located), just in time for the cherry blossom season. With all the unrest and uncertainty in the world today, now feels as good a time as any for a movie portraying good will and love between people from opposing countries.

What’s even more exciting is that a crowdfunding project has been set up to show the movie in Russia as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The project is currently near its finishing date and is very close to reaching its goal amount of 2,000,000 yen (US$18,300) but fortunately int this case, it’s already been pledged that the film will be screened in Russia regardless of whether the goal amount is reached.

▼ Here’s a tweet announcing the crowdfunding project:

From what we can tell, the movie seems to be an ambitious piece of work that combines dramatic entertainment with a bit of history to send a powerful message that love and compassion can persevere even under the most trying of circumstances. Hopefully the screening in Russia is a success and the movie is well-received, because if a movie can entertain and also generate international good will at the same time, then it’s definitely a winner in our books!

Source: Sorokin no Mita Sakura official website, Mirai Shopping crowdfunding site
Top image: YouTube/HEISEIPROJECT
Insert images: Sorokin no Mita Sakura official website, Mirai Shopping crowdfunding site



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Let’s make some French cuisine using two bucks worth of junk food from the convenience store!

This dish made with a cheese stick and Pringles pairs well with a nice Auvergne red.

Jagariko is a beloved Japanese snack food made of reconstituted potatoes formed into delicious little crispy sticks. But cheap and easy snacking is apparently just one part of what makes Jagariko great.

According to a tweet by culinary YouTuber and author Ryuji (@ore825), it can be used to easily create the French dish known as Aligot. Aligot is a cross between mashed potatoes and cheese fondue originating in the south of France. It might sound overwhelming to some, but Ryuji assures all that it couldn’t be easier to create what he has dubbed “Jaga-Aligot.”

To start all you need is a cup of Jagariko and a mozzarella stick, both of which can be bought from most convenience stores for around 149 yen (US$1.36) and 113 yen ($1) respectively. Ryuji’s pictures used cheese-flavored Jagariko so I did the same, but other kinds might work too.

The first step is to peel the cheese stick and spread it over the potato sticks. To be honest, this was surprisingly a bit of a hassle and got me wondering if making actual mashed potatoes would take the same amount of effort.

Next, I added some hot water. Ryuji doesn’t say it needs to be boiling and told another Twitter user that microwaved water ought to work. As for me, I just used some hot water out of the office water cooler.

Ryuji says to add 150 milliliters (five ounces), but I couldn’t be bothered to find a measuring cup and just eye-balled it. If I may be frank, I’m something of an expert at cooking.

▼ Stand back. Gastronomist at work.

However, just after pouring, tragedy struck. In my excitement I forgot to get a fork, spoon, or chopstick for mixing it all together. It took me about a minute to find one and rinse it off before going onto the next step.

This might have proved fatal, because by the time I returned, the cheese seemed to have congealed into a big ball.

Nevertheless I moved on, but it wasn’t long before I noticed that the whole mixture was way too wet. It was more like a soup than creamy mashed potatoes and cheese.

At this point I was panicking, worried that I screwed the whole thing up. However, I kept my cool and immediately began bailing out water.

▼ No prob. Got this all under control.

I went back to the mix which now seemed to have a better consistency, but that solid wad of cheese remained. It was going to take some hard stirring to blend that in so I lifted my elbow and really went to town on it.

When the dust had settled, it actually looked okay!

The cheese was a little hard, but the Jagariko had broken down into a convincing copy of mashed potatoes.

Even better, the closer I got to the bottom the more like real mashed potatoes it tasted. It had a surprising buttery flavor that mixed with the cheese in a delectable way. Ryuji, you magnificent bastard, you’ve done it!

So, Jaga-Aligot was a success, if not without a few crises along the way. If you try this as well, I recommend measuring out the water more carefully and breaking the mozzarella stick into smaller bits before adding water (using a knife would probably help speed that up).

This is all well and good for those living in Japan, but Jagariko might be hard to come by in other countries, so is there another way?

To find out, I also purchased a small can of Pringles. This was to be a dangerous mission because Pring-Aligot has never been attempted before, and because eating too many Pringles has been known to give me a wicked tummy-ache.

They didn’t have cheese flavored so I got Sour Cream, and also went with a smoky flavored cheese stick this time around too. The amount of potato in the Pringles seemed roughly the same, so I pretty much went with the same quantity of cheese and water again.

▼ That can size is quite misleading, but luckily this was just the right amount of chips for this particular experiment

▼ It also gave me plenty of room to add the cheese comfortably

Now, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson and gotten a measuring cup, but no…and I have no excuses for this behavior.

▼ I told you all to stand back.

A powerful waft of sour cream aroma emerged and I began stirring vigorously right away to avoid having the cheese reassimilate like last time. It seemed to work and the cheese was much smoother and more evenly spread throughout.

The Pringles, on the other hand, appeared to be slightly more resilient to breaking down and little chunks remained no matter how much I stirred.

After about three minutes I said to hell with it, and started eating. Luckily, the lumps were more visual than textural, and the Pringles tasted very creamy. Actually, it was as if the chips had disappeared, almost completely merging with the cheese.

I think this was closer to the consistency of real aligot, whether that had to do with the Pringles or my improved timing isn’t clear though. At any rate, it seems as if this dish can be concocted with either Jagariko or Pringles, but Jagariko seemed to result in a more fluffy and potatoey aligot, whereas Pringles led to a cheesier creation.

Regardless of the way you make it, Jaga-Aligot is a rousing success and sure to be a perfect addition to that next romantic dinner you have planned.

Source: Twitter/@ore825
Photos ©SoraNews24



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The Super Bowl Isn't About Football

Who are these buff men running about during my celebration of capitalism? They're not even doing anything funny!

The Super Bowl Isn't About Football


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