What a visionary anime!

I've just finished the awesomness Denno Coil anime, only 26 episodes, an epic end. Everyone out there working on HCI should give it a try, it's not just about wearing VR glasses and having a secret child's world, it is about fusion between anime culture, with a tiny revolution: girls use their brain quite inventively, and a vision of a digital world merging physical, microscopic illegals that needs special encodes, kids collecting metabugs to gain more credit, with a digital police that can also be hacked. O well, I had fun watching these!!

A "trailer" with a soundtrack I never heard before!

The Den Den Mushi

Have you ever thought of inventing a new fruit? The type of fruits you find in anime can be inspiring. Slugs, insects, monsters can also be a source of inspiration for new design objects. I remember loving the Den Den Mushi, the Transponder Snail Phone, a snail that works as a portable phone in One Piece.


A physical representation of the One Piece "den den mushi" - Photo by MJ Reyes

Well not far from these electro-snail ideas, designer Peter d'Alessandro invented a fruit, sketched a cannibal one, a fruit that cooks another fruit by working as a solar oven. This is particularly self-contained and sustainable!


The plant cooks the fruit by working as a solar oven


Posted by Cati Vaucelle
♥ Architectradure
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A sponsored post of my favorite Japanese animes!

Akira

Anime are usually perceived either for children, teenagers or pervert adults. In fact, a lot of them are really good: cinematographically inspiring, with rich character development and epics stories. Each of them is a wellspring of interaction design ideas for innovative products. I find them refreshing. From Akira, Ghost in the Shell, to Blood: The Last Vampire. I cannot wait to watch Karas! A few manga series maintain these high standards with similar qualities.

It has been now a year that I started watching Bleach, a manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. In Bleach, a high school student, Ichigo, has the ability to see ghosts and interact with shinigami or death God. I absolutely adore the soul society made of handsome and complicated post-human characters.


The Quincy in Bleach.

I watched Death Note, an anime written by Tsugumi Ohba. A high school student decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it. The shinigamis in Death Note resemble apocalyptic Goths. What strikes me in these anime is the ability the characters have, good and bad, to stick proudly to their initial moral values.


L, my favorite character in Death Note

I adored Noein, a short science fiction anime television series directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda. Two timespaces fight with one another: La'cryma, a possible future of our own universe, and Shangri'la, a dimension intent on the destruction of all space and time. The “dragon Torque”, the child version of a character from the future, is the key to stop Shangri'la's invasion.


Karasu in Noein

One Piece presents the adventures of “the Straw Hat Pirates”, formed and led by a captain named Monkey D. Luffy. The characters try to obtain the world's ultimate treasure, One Piece. With each character’s back-story, the adventures become entwined with one another.


One Piece

I am an anime fan. I saw fans gathering at conferences with splendid anime costumes. The Halloween Costumes' web site proposes a selection of characters costumes. I must say, I was disappointed by some of them, mainly by the feminine outfits. The Nico Robbin costume looks kind of tacky while she always appear to wear the latest couture piece in the anime!

On the contrary, the Bleach’s simple shinigami costumes are quite good. I had a good laugh at the execution ground outfit for Ichigo (from Bleach). Who would want to wear a broken arm outfit while he/she could enact the bankai form!

By Architectradure