Interest

Interactive Web Manga Shows Off Power of Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Sony is partnering with the music manga Shiori Experience: Jimi na Watashi to Hen na Ojisan ("Plain Me and the Strange Man") by Yūkō Osada and Kazuya Machida to advertise its wireless noise-cancelling stereo headphones, the MDR-XB950N1. It's taking a unique approach to doing so: by incorporating voice acting, music, and sound effects to a prologue to the story, "Exp.0: Noise," available online.

The manga follows 27-year-old high school English teacher Shiori Honda and her experiences with the Afro-coiffed ghost of the world's greatest guitarist. The prologue delves into her backstory: she started a rock band, Beni Koala-dan, in high school with two classmates, and they were all set to perform at the cultural festival when her dad angrily smashes her guitar. She reunites with her old mates — one now a busy interior designer, the other an equally busy mother of three — and struggles to tell them what she really wants: to reform their old band. But an unexpected encounter on a busy street might just give them that chance. At two points in the story, readers can choose which character(s) to follow, heightening the interactivity element. There are also episodes that take place in noisy areas where the music can be heard clearly through, of course, noise-cancelling headphones.

Yatchin puts her headphones to good use on the bus.

The manga can be read here (Japanese only). For more shorts about Japanese high school girls exploring the joys of rock, check out Hikari Matsuda's "High School Girls Shop for a --" web anime series.

Source: Comic Natalie