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Bandai's Transforming Kanji Toys Moji-Bake-ru Get Promo Anime
posted on by Egan Loo
Bandai began streaming a promotional anime for Ijigen Gattai Moji-Bake-ru Z (literally, Alternate Letter Dimension Moji-Bake-ru Zeta), the latest in its Moji-Bake-ru line of transforming kanji toys, on Monday.
The anime outlines the story premise: Kanji are characters imbued with immense energy. This kanji energy awakens the Moji-Bake-ru creatures.
The anime first debuted on a special limited anime DVD that Bandai gave away to attendees of this past weekend's "Jisedai World Hobby Fair '14 Summer" event.
The first Chōhenkan!! Moji-Bake-ru toys shipped in May 2010, and Bandai released the second animal line in November 2010. Bandai shipped more than 4 million of these transforming toys in its first two years alone.
The franchise's name, which roughly translates as "Super Transformation!! Character-Altering," is a worldplay on mojibake — the Japanese computer term for characters that have been garbled while being sent or stored.
Bandai is also streaming a television commercial and promotional video for Ijigen Gattai Moji-Bake-ru Z. Not only can these new kanji toys transform into creatures, but they can also combine together into different forms.
