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Japan's Anime, Manga, Game Creators Celebrate April Fool's Day: Part I
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
April 1 marked by Accel World, Arika, Blue Exorcist, Coa Kumono, Daily Lives of High School Boys, Dragon Quest, Fate/Zero, Final Fantasy XI, Gundam, Nyarko-san
It's April 1 in Japan, and the anime, manga, and software studios have been marking the occasion with a slew of April Fool's spoofs and jokes. Here are some of those that have cropped up this year — click on the thumbnail images to see the original!
Accel World
The main webpage for the spring anime Accel World replaced its website with an 8-Bit version.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50270/arika_top.jpg)
Arika
The game maker re-imagines itself as an annual shōnen manga magazine.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/news_large_aoex_web0401.jpg)
Blue Exorcist
The official website posted four minutes of "special footage" from the upcoming film — but it was actually a video of the characters from Jigoku no Misawa's Kakko-Kawaii Sengen! gag comedy manga in the setting of Blue Exorcist.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/1_20120401010217.jpg)
CloudCore
Inspired by Microsoft Taiwan's Silverlight mascot Hikaru Aizawa, CloudCore hosting services introduced its mascot "Coa Kumono."![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/03_20120401004727s.jpg)
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Square Enix's Gangan Online Magazine announced a live-action Hollywood adaptation of Daily Lives of High School Boys featuring "Hopper" as Tadakuni, "Jack" as Hidenori and "Malkovich" as Yoshitake.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/20120401005432e17.jpg)
Dragon Quest/Google Maps
The Dragon Quest website updated with a message from Dragonlord Alefgard claiming world conquest in conjunction with Google Maps. In Bōken (Adventure/Quest) mode, the Google Map website now displays the entire world in 8-Bit. Check out Area 51, Google's headquarters, Square Enix's headquarters, White House, and other famous locales.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/ds_20120401010102.png.jpg)
Fate/Zero
Animation production company ufotable announced the film Tankman: A True Tank Story featuring Rider and Waver Velvet from Fate/Zero under the name ufochair cinema. "Tankman/Sensha Otoko" is a spoof of the Densha Otoko ("Train Man") story and live-action film.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50270/073_snap01175.jpg)
Final Fantasy XI
The next version update will offer a new job: gymnast.![](/thumbnails/fit300x300/cms/interest/50258/20120331192842-90003.jpg)
Gundam
Gundam.info announced that the life-size statue of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed anime's Blitz Gundam will rise up from Odaiba Shiokaze Park, the park that hosted the life-size statue of the first Gundam anime's original RX-78-2 Gundam. Blitz Gundam happens to have cloaking technology ….![](/thumbnails/fit400x400/cms/interest/50258/nyaruko.png.jpg)
Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos
The main webpage for the upcoming spring anime updated with a spooky flash animation.There are many more anime/manga/game April Fool's Day celebrations out there, so if you know of one we've missed, feel free to let us know in our forums or by email (newsroom at animenewsnetwork.com).
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