Metal Gear Solid Artist Opens Exhibit in France

Metal Gear and Zone of Enders character designer Yoji Shinkawa is bringing the art of Metal Gear Solid to France. The exhibit includes 10 pieces of art from the Metal Gear series of video games. The art at the exhibit is also for sale and each piece will fetch about 350 euros (~$482). The first twelve buyers will receive a signed copy of their Certificate of Authenticity by Hideo Kojima and Shinkawa.

The Art

Ground Zeroes

A-1 Pictures Makes 100th Anniversary Anime for Tokyo Train Station

Animation studio A-1 Pictures is producing a special "Toki wa Meguru ~ TOKYO STATION" (Time Flows ~ Tokyo Station) anime to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tokyo Station City train station. A 30-second promotional video is currently streaming and features the theme song "Toki wa Meguru" (Time Flows) by Yū Sakai (Nodame Cantabile: Finale). The full-length anime will premiere in the Spring.

Bandai Rolls Out Capsule Figure Cans To Counter Tax Increase

Other companies plan for tax hike with Hello Kitty promotions.

Starting April 1, for the first time since 1997, Japanese consumers are facing a rise in the national sales tax, increasing from 5 percent to 8 percent. While many retailers are worried about the slump in business, some companies have been busy finding ways to counter drops in sales.

Bandai is planning on introducing new Gashapon machines designed to dispense higher value toys in larger, can-shaped packages. According to Bandai executive officer Keisuke Okada, "we want to overcome the headwind of the tax hike by selling valuable items [at higher prices]."

Moe Mascots To Be Celebrated at National Moe Character Festival

April 6th will mark this year's National Moe Character Festival in the Gifu Prefecture city of Ogaki. The celebration will be a creative attempt at attracting people from all over, put on by the Ogata shopping district. The event will be a celebration of various moecharacters, many of which are mascots of various Japanese companies, and take place in front of Ogata's train station.

Invigorate Your Gameplay With iDOLM@STER PS3 Controllers

The IDOLM@STER: One for All, the latest entry in Bandai Namco's popular idol group production simulation games, is set to release for the PlayStation 3 on May 15 in Japan. On the same date, Hori, a video game accessory maker, will release three different PS3 controllers, all of them themed after different iDOLM@STER characters (specifically, their clothing patterns).

Lantis Posts First Episode of Drama Starring Voice Actress Kanae Itō

Production company Lantis posted the first eight-minute episode of the 5-Mai de Tsunagaru 5-Shūnen Gekijō drama series starring voice actress Kanae Itō. The series celebrates five years since Ito debuted as an artist. The episode titled "Happy Garland" is the first of five planned episodes and takes its name from Itō's recently released CD.

Singapore Cosplayer Gets an IKEA Bedroom Makeover

IKEA Singapore recently posted a bedroom makeover video featuring a cosplayer named Frank, whose hobby was starting to clutter his space.

Check out his story below, which features several of his costumes.

Tokyo Plans to Build Statues Honoring Gundam and Zaku

Statues based off of the RX-78 Gundam and the Zaku II to be constructed in front of Inagi-Naganuma Station.

The city of Inagi has announced their plans to build a statue in honor of the original RX-78 Gundam to stand outside of the Inagi-Naganuma Station.

Japanese Fans Rank Most Anticipated Spring 2014 Anime

The ranking website Charapedia held a survey asking Japanese anime fans which Spring premiere they are most looking forward to this year. The survey was held from February 26 to March 2 and received a total of 1,386 responses. Respondents were 67.1 percent male, 32.9 percent female and most were in their teens and twenties (79 percent).