Vocaloid mascot Hatsune Miku put on her first live performance at Animelo Summer Live 2009. She appeared on screen and was accompanied by a live band during her set. It is a little disheartening that a computer program stole the thunder of actual performers but I guess that proves that Japan’s Otaku and Technophiles are on an entirely different level compared to fans in the United States. Not that I wouldn’t have gone if I could….

Animelo Summer Live is Japan’s biggest annual anime themed concert and has been held ever summer since 2005.

According to Sankaku Complex

Tatsuya Ishihara, director of Haruhi, has hinted that if a Haruhi movie were to be made the Endless Eight arc is a definite possibility.

“There are a lot of episodes from the novels which have not been animated. We’d love to hear which of those you would like to make into a movie.”

Ishihara: “Endless Eight… Can’t we do that again, adding some new extras, try some film tricks out? Or is it too much? ”

The interviews questions were, thankfully, completely hypothetical.

The shows that I’m probably going to picked up right at the start of the season are the sequel to Darker Than Black, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the sequel to White Album.

Darker Than Black was a great show that suffered from an ending that, while climactic, answered none of the mysteries that the series had opened. Hopefully the sequel will pick up and carry the story to a satisfying conclusion.

Any video game enthusiast should know about Romance of the Three Kingdoms. If not from the classic Koei series of the same name then from the insanely popular Dynasty Warrior series it is hard to avoid being exposed to an adaptation of the classic novel. As a fan of all those games and the story itself I can’t wait to see this modern Anime adaptation. The show is a joint project with Japanese and Chinese studios. That fact should keep the Chinese authentic feel of the story intact.

While I was lukewarm on White Album it was a pretty entertaining story that had characters which I need to see finish their stories.

I’ll be checking out other shows in the Fall season but those three are the ones that I can’t avoid.

K-On!’s official website has announced that the 7th Blu-Ray/DVD of the series will include a brand new episode. The new episode has been greenlit and is going into production to be released with the limited edition run of the final volume  on January 20th 2010.

I like that the production companies are giving the consumer more incentive to purchase DVDs. But to only include it in a special edition, which I can only assume will be very expensive and possess an extreme resale value. With one hand the publishers are rewarding the fans and with the other they are punishing them. I’m still going to buy it, of course.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

Japan, while already popular for its massive army of blood thirsty robots, isn’t going to sit idly by and allow the rest of the world to catch up. Honda has developed an interface that allows a human to control their Asimo robot just by thinking. While this technology is still experimental Honda hopes to use it in some of their consumer products in the future.

I find it odd that we don’t see many robotics advances in the United States except for military application. I wonder what kind of social aspect of the USA is blocking industrial robots from taking control of our factories. Could it be a fear that the industrial worker will have to leave their job at Ford and find work more relevant to the modern era? Perhaps our leaders in the pentagon have just watched Terminator a few too many times and are keeping a closer eye on robots than their fictional counterpart.

Whatever happens to the future of robots I just hope to see more advances from the United States very soon. Before they fall completely behind. There already is no way that the US car companies are going to catch up to a car that the driver controls with their mind.

A sketch of Lucky Star’s Kagami by illustrator Naru Nanao went for 1,311,000 Yen (or about $14,000) at a Yahoo! Japan auction. The Sketch was given away for free in a random drawing among readers of the magazine COMPTIQ. Nanao made the drawing to celebrate the end of the Lucky Star anime even though Nanao wasn’t involved with the series.

While it is a rare sketch I think paying so much for a drawing is a little extreme in the digital age. I don’t think anything would make me pay so much for a picture…. or anything short of a house. Even the car I want cost under $13,000….new!

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

The most “advanced dating sim” to hit the Nintendo DS, Love Plus uses the DS’s touch screen to enable you to interact with your brand new Girlfriend. Starting out as a normal dating Sim the game gives you three girls from which the player has to choose one to fall in love with. Once you win the heart of your one true love that’s when the game gets interesting. You can touch her using the touchscreen, talk to you using the built in microphone, email her, or study together.

The player can set how their new girlfriend to address them, gets to know the players likes and dislikes, and change the way she speaks using the games 5,000 scripts, 150 CG events and 25,000 voice expressions.

At last Japanese men can take their virtual girlfriends with them in their pockets. No longer will their advanced dating sims be limited to their lonely apartments.

Source: Kotaku

The golden age of Evangelion merchandise continues. This time Japanese fast food restaurant Lotteria is releasing Evangelion themed coasters and reusable drink cups. This is the kind of news that makes me wish that I lived in Japan. Sure in the United States we get Star Trek and Pokemon at Burger King. But getting a cup with Rei in a sexy pose is a completely different experience.

The full set of coasters:

Hit the jump for more images.

Evangelion 01 coaster:

Asuka coaster

Three fully assembled cups:

The cup comes apart easily for washing:

Petit-Eva illustration:

Rei Ayanami:

Evangelion Unit-01 checked pattern:

Source: Gigazine Via Yahoo & Lotteria

I think this trailer has been terribly miscast. Haruhi should be Neo. As a living God able to alter reality at will she is the only character in the anime that can be compared to Neo who is an “Admin” in the Matrix’s digital world. But other than that small complaint this fan trailer is very well made and syncs up well to the original 1999 movie trailer.

One of the most important aspect about being an Otaku is the figure collection. If you don’t have an impressive collection of colored molded plastic. Here are two upcoming overpriced figures that will (hopefully) soon adorn my shelf. Both of these figures are going to be priced at $75.

Taiga, from the Fall season show Toradora, stands confident in her school uniform holding her Bokken.

Horo sits on the side of Lawrence’s wagon enjoying her favorite food.

Hit the jump for more pictures of both these adorable figures.