The Panda In A Box Coin Bank by Itazura is an adorable way to help the mini geeks, and yourself, to save money. Coins may not seem very valuable, but over time, you can build up quite a stash of money just from extra change that you have lying around or that you got after ordering those five Taco Bell tacos with a twenty dollar bill. Of course, I would never recommend ordering five tacos just for the change – that’s ...
Panda In A Box Coin Bank By Itazura is a post from: Cool Gizmo Toys
Panda In A Box Coin Bank By Itazura is a post by Jack Kieffer on Cool Gizmo Toys.
As a learner of the Japanese language, I know that many Japanese learning aids can be dull which does not do much to encourage the user to learn or remember. I want to change that and am going to have Mirai Suenaga and co help me starting with hiragana flash cards which I'm calling "Moekana" [もえかな] - the term created from "moe" [萌え] and "kana" [仮名].
So many people gain interest in learning Japanese through enjoying anime and manga so it makes sense to marry 2D culture with Japanese language learning.
Its been nearly a year since I started to develop this product and am over the moon to announce that the pack of 50 cards will be available for pre-order later today. The cards are manufactured under the Culture Japan brand and Good Smile Company will be handling the worldwide distribution - the detail page is now up on the official Good Smile Company site - details plucked from the product page below.
The pack of 50 different moekana cards feature cute kawaii illustrations by the Japanese artist Ikkyuu - the adorable artwork alone is enough to help learners learn hiragana but there are many ways one can also use the cards to start learning Japanese.
Moekana should be available for pre-order at the following online retailers and more. My bothan spies tell me that some of these retailers will discount the retaill price further.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10179407
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGD2-26174&page=top
http://www.hobbystock.jp/item/view/hby-ccg-00016232
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007HY3SUQ/mitsu-104-22/
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/amiami/cgd2-26174/
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/amiami/cgd2-26174.html
http://www.happinetonline.com/NASApp/mnas/MxMProduct?Action=prd_detail&KIND=0&SHOP_ID=1&PRODUCT_ID=4571368440051
http://ow.ly/9wHdR (Animate)
https://www.chara-ani.com/details.aspx?prdid=B12308838
Update - moekana is now ranked 11 in the best selling anime product on Amazon Japan!
At last! the detail page up at Good Smile.
These are just development samples printed on our home printer - the actual product is being printed in Japan by a huge printing firm ^o^
The moekana cards will be exactly the same size, thickness and feel as the Bushiroad Weiss Schwarz series so they will be compatible with all TCG sleeves and boxes too. Another manufacturer in Japan has approached me and is making some Mirai Suenaga TCG sleeves as we speak ^o^
There are 50 cards in total - 46 are of the hiragana, 3 character cards and 1 explanation card all illustrated by the Japanese artist Ikkyuu-san. The character cards feature new illustrations by DMYO-sensei.
The design in the top left corner is what the back of the cards look like. One can also use moekana to learn Japanese through games like Concentration (Memory), Shiritori, House of Cards and Karuta.
You will need to have at least 1 friend and 2 sets of cards to play though ^^;
I plan to have tournament games with moekana at a few anime events that take place around the world - you will obviously need your own pack to participate ^^;
I've printed a limited amount of tournament prize cards too which winners can take home after a match.
Here is the full pack of the 50 moekana. As you can see, I chose as many aspects of Japanese Culture that I could think of like Onigiri, Katana, Kimono, Kendo, Sakura, Shiro, Sushi, Sento, Soba and more - learn hiragana, words and Japanese culture at the same time.
Folks who watched Season 2 of Culture Japan would have seen all the illustrations in the ED together with the credits. The final set of Moekana is slightly different with a few cards swapped out.
You can forward to the 27 min mark in the video below to see the credits - alternatively watch the whole thing - its Episode 7 of the second season - my fave episode!
Design for the front of the box.
Kanata has a complex.
Yes - Mirai-chan can play Taiko no Tatsujin with her eyes closed.
"Chi" is different that the one in the ED - I love this one!
The previous "to" [と] was "Tokyo Tower" but apparently I would have had licensing issues if I used that ><
But glad we came up with this instead - my wifey's fave moekana card!
This is kind of a tarot card because it tells the future ^o^
Mirai and Kanata setup shop.
Kanata in a festive mood.
The folks at Japanese immigration always mention how they love this design on my T-Shirt.
Wifey said that this years goal is to climb Fujisan.
Mirai-chan ready for battle.
So sweet! ><
My favorite Japanese garment is of the Miko.
Gah - I love them all ^^;
I miss my Mirai Itasha ;-;
Another new one for the final product. Ikkyuu-san is such a talented guy!
And the first one to be illustrated was Akumakko.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy moekana as much as I enjoyed making them and do look forward to many more Japanese learning products from Culture Japan which will include anime and game licenses too!
Update! The official site for moekana is up!
I'm working my way through every episode of every show of Star Trek and can I just tell you that Next Generation is even better than I remembered it as a kid. I'm still a Kirk guy, but I can feel myself moving closer to Picard with every episode. What does this have to do with the recap? Pretty much nothing. I'm guessing random thoughts are going to the be the soup du jour for this sucker.
I'll try to make it connect though. Please enjoy the posts from this federation of sites. Their prime directive is to keep you informed and entertained. Eh? Eh? Yea, I shouldn't quite my day job, should I?
Flixist
The ten most anticipated films of SXSW. Flixist's SXSW coverage kicks off.
Theatrical release of Casablanca coming. The chance to see this on the big screen should not be missed.
All three Star Wars prequels edited down into one 85 minute film. By Topher Grace no less.
Destructoid
New iPad announced. I don't even have an old iPad.
New Sim City is on the way. Now you can destroy your city with even better graphics.
Rumored PS4 visuals. Graphics are everything as we all know.
Japanator
Annotated Anime. Catch up on your anime because there's just too much to watch on your own.
Tokyo Sky Tree opening in May. It's the second tallest thing in the world and you can buy tickets.
Babes dressed as ice cream. Yum.
Players: 1-4 players
Requirement: 2 packs of Moekana
Difficulty Level: Lesser Ninja
Setup
Players: 2 players, 1 judge
Requirement: 2 packs of Moekana
Difficulty Level: Ninja
Setup
Players: 2-4 players
Requirement: 1 pack of Moekana
Difficulty Level: Greater Ninja
Setup
Players: Any
Requirement: Camera, and lots of Moekana cards
Difficulty Level: Infinite Ninja
Setup
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10179407
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=CGD2-26174&page=top
http://www.hobbystock.jp/item/view/hby-ccg-00016232
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007HY3SUQ/mitsu-104-22/
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/amiami/cgd2-26174/
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/amiami/cgd2-26174.html
http://www.happinetonline.com/NASApp/mnas/MxMProduct?Action=prd_detail&KIND=0&SHOP_ID=1&PRODUCT_ID=4571368440051
http://ow.ly/9wHdR (Animate)
https://www.chara-ani.com/details.aspx?prdid=B12308838
