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
trailerfor
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.