Bandai Renews Transforming Kanji Toys With Battle Line

The Japanese conglomerate Bandai began selling a new set of Chōhenkan!! Moji-Bake-ru toys on Monday. The Chōhenkan Taisen Moji-Bake-ru G battle line toys transform from Japanese kanji characters into creatures and cost 158 yen (about US$2) each.

Unlike previous lines, every toy in this series transforms into a monster instead of a real-life animal. A collectible card bundles with each toy that buyers can use to play a battle game. The new set also includes five golden parts that collectors can combine into a special sei (sacred) kanji toy.

The five new monster designs (clockwise, starting at the top left) are:

  • Baku (explosive)
  • (bewitched)
  • Zan (slashing)
  • Ja (wicked)
  • Yami (dark)

The Chōhenkan Taisen Moji-Bake-ru G line toys are available in three colors with a piece of gum in each package. Shogakukan’s Coro Coro Comics Special magazine is also publishing a tie-in manga inspired by the toy and game series.

The first Chōhenkan!! Moji-Bake-ru toys shipped in May 2010, and Bandai released the second animal line in November 2010. Including the release of the fourth series last November, more than 4 million total transforming toys have shipped. Bandai also plans to unveil the Chōhenkan!! Moji-Bake-ru 5 line in April.

The series’ 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 began streaming a 15-second television commercial and a 5-minute promotional video for the new toys and game last month.

 

 

These are toys are am dying to own !!!

Tiger and Bunny SH arts from winter 2011 show

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/22243-/23-noscale.jpg

 

I’ve posted images of Tiger and Bunny before and I can’t wait to get my hands on them.

So, what the hell is the plot?

The series takes place in the year “NC 1978” in a fictional, re-imagined version of New York City called Sternbild City, where 45 years before, superpowered individuals known as “NEXT” started appearing and some of them became superheroes. Each of the city’s most famous superheroes work for a sponsor company and their uniforms also contain advertising for real-life companies. Their heroic activity is broadcast on the popular television show “Hero TV”, where they accumulate points for each heroic feat accomplished (arresting criminals or saving civilians, for example) and the best ranked hero of the season is crowned “King of Heroes”.

The story mainly focuses on veteran hero Kotetsu T. Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger who is assigned with a new partner, a young man named Barnaby Brooks Jr. However, Barnaby and Kotetsu usually have trouble working together as they have conflicting opinions on how a superhero should act while at the same time trying to crack the mystery of the murder of Barnaby’s parents. In addition, the appearance of a homicidal vigilante NEXT named “Lunatic” stirs up the public and makes them question the meaning of heroes.