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New Year's Greetings — Anime Style (Update 16)

posted on by Egan Loo
Greetings from 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 40 42 45 73 74 82 anime/manga groups, creators

For generations, people in Japan have celebrated New Year's Day by sending specially designed cards — nengajō — to each other. As part of the tradition, postal workers store all the nengajō that are mailed in the final weeks of the old year, and then deliver every single one on New Year's Day. Many nengajō mark the Chinese Zodiac by depicting the animal of the year. (In 2008, that animal is the rat.) Here are some holiday greetings from the folks that will be bringing you anime and manga in the new year.

Mitsuru Adachi

Illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi

Bang Zoom! Entertainment

© 2007 Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Inc.

Broccoli International USA


Detroit Metal City (Young Animal)

Illustrated by Kiminori Wakasugi
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Detroit Metal City © Kiminori Wakasugi/Hakusensha (Young Animal)

Digital Manga Publishing

Illustrated by Saiko Takaki
© 2007 Hideyuki Kikuchi/Digital Manga, Inc.

Doraemon Channel

(In the linked page, select the Doraemon snow globe and drag it around vigorously to "shake" it. If you shake it hard enough, Doraemon gets dizzy. If you "push" it up and then let go…well, you'll see.)
© Fujiko Production, ShoPro

Dragon Age Pure

Illustrated by Taishi Miyake
Courtesy of Moon Phase

Flex Comix Inc.

Illustrated by 27 of Flex Comix's artists, including Galaxy Angel's Kanan (link)
(In the linked page, select any of the 27 thumbnail images to download the full-sized image of the nengajō for free until January 31.)
Courtesy of Ultimatum

Fujimi Shobo

Illustrated by 16 of Fujimi Shobo's artists, including Seito-kai no Ichizon's Sekina Aoi and Kira Inugami (link), Kamen no Maid Guy's Maruboro Akai (link), Hiiro no Luciferase's Itsuki Itō and KeG (link), Karin's Yuna Kagesaki (link), Swordworld's Group SNE (link), Highschool of the Dead's Daisuke Satō and Shōji Satō (link), Otaku no Musume-san's Sutahiro (link), and Crimson Grave's Taishi Miyake (link)
(In the linked page, select any of the 16 thumbnail images to see that artist's greeting.)
Courtesy of Moon Phase

Tomo Hirokawa and Ichiro Sakaki (Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica: Cardinal Crimson)

Illustrated by Tomo Hirokawa
Original creator: Ichiro Sakaki
(The full-sized image of this nengajō is free for downloading until January 31.)
© 2007 Ichiro Sakaki © 2007 ocelot © 2007 Tomo Hirakawa/Flex Comix Inc.

Kanan (Galaxy Angel)

Illustrated by Kanan
(The full-sized image of this nengajō is free for downloading until January 31.)
© Broccoli

Studio Ghibli

Courtesy of GhibliWorld.com

Ghibli Museum

Illustrated by Goro Miyazaki

Go! Comi

Illustrated by Japan Ai creator Aimee Major Steinberger

H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~

© 2008 H20 Production Committee

Kenjirou Hata

Illustrated by Kenjirou Hata
(In the third picture, the caption pointing to Nagi's hair says, "There's rats inside.")

Megumi Hayashibara

(In the linked page, select the second line of green text. After a new window opens, select the righthand line of green text to see the New Year's greetings that Hayashibara's friends have sent her.)

Himitsu -Top Secret (Melody)

Illustrated by Reiko Shimizu
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Himitsu -Top Secret © Reiko Shimizu/Hakusensha (Melody)

Production I.G

Illustrated by Naoyoshi Shiotani, Fumiko Tanikawa
© 2007 Production I.G/Project Tokyo Marble Chocolate
© Avex Entertainment Inc., Production I.G, Inc.

Joi no Tamago (Silky)

Illustrated by Kobato Uchida
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Joi no Tamago © Kobato Uchida/Hakusensha (Silky)

Kyoto Animation

Illustrated by Yukiko Horiguchi

Patrick Macias


MangaCast

Ed Chavez also posted the nengajō from the Morning manga magazine's editorial staff.

Shiba-wanko no Wa no Kokoro (Moe)

Illustrated by Yoshie Kawaura
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Shiba-wanko no Wa no Kokoro © Yoshie Kawaura/Hakusensha (Moe)

ASOS Brigade (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

(OK, so it's not a nengajō….)
Illustrated by Shoko Ikeda
© 2006 Nagaru Tanigawa / Noizi Ito / member of SOS

Metrocon

"Merry Christmas from METROCON!"
Illustrated by Roy Harms

Shoko Nakagawa


Organic Hobby, Inc.


Ō-sama ni Kiss! (Shōsetsu Hanamaru)

Illustrated by Sera
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Ō-sama ni Kiss! © Sera/Hakusensha (Shōsetsu Hanamaru)

Otomen (Bessatsu Hana to Yume)

Illustrated by Aya Kanno
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Otomen © Aya Kanno/Hakusensha (Bessatsu Hana to Yume)

Maaya Sakamoto

Illustrated by Maaya Sakamoto
(In the linked page, select the "I.D." logo.)

Sanrio


Seventh Expansion


Takashi Shiina (Zettai Karen Children)

Illustrated by Takashi Shiina
© Takashi Shiina 2007

Spice and Wolf

Illustrated by Jū Ayakura
© Isuna Hasekura, MediaWorks/Spice and Wolf Production Committee

The Story of Saiunkoku Second Series

(This picture also doubles as a calendar wallpaper for the first two months of the year.)
Courtesy of Saishin Anime Jōhō
© Sai Yukino, Kadokawa Shoten/NHK, Sogo Vision

True Tears

Illustrated by Kanami Sekiguchi
(A full-sized downloadable image of this New Year's greeting wallpaper is available in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 sizes.)
© 2008 True Tears Production Committee

Type-Moon

Thank you to HockeyKamen for the tip!

V.B. Rose (Hana to Yume)

Illustrated by Banri Hidaka
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
V.B. Rose © Banri Hidaka/Hakusensha (Hana to Yume)

Vampire Knight (LaLa)

Illustrated by Matsuri Hino
(In the linked page, fill out the Japanese survey to download any of the eight Hakusensha magazines' New Year's wallpaper for free.)
Vampire Knight © Matsuri Hino/Hakusensha (LaLa)

Nao Yazawa

Illustrated by Nao Yazawa (English website)
Thank you to Rebecca Rudeen for the tip!

Yayoi Watanabe

Illustrated by Yayoi Watanabe

Mine Yoshizaki

Illustrated by Mine Yoshizaki
(The model's built by Yoshizaki, too.)

There are many more anime/manga nengajō out there, so if you know of one we've missed, feel free to let us know in our forums or by email (newsroom040;animenewsnetwork.com at newsroom040;animenewsnetwork.com). Akemashite Omedetō Gozaimasu!


Illustrated by Robin Sevakis

Yuki image © 2003 Natsuki Takaya/HAKUSENSHA • TV TOKYO • NAS • Fruba Project. Licensed by FUNimation® Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Update: Mitsuru Adachi added.

Update 2: Takashi Shiina added.

Update 3: Mine Yoshizaki added.

Update 4: Spice and Wolf added. Also, don't forget to "shake" the Doraemon snow globe.

Update 5: H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~ and additional pictures from Kenjirou Hata added.

Update 6: Nao Yazawa added. Also, what would Japanese New Year's Day be without Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket?

Update 7: Bang Zoom! Entertainment added. Also, we added our own holiday greeting!

Update 8: Digital Manga Publishing added.

Update 9: Shuchung posted a link to drag11's comprehensive listing (mirror site) of New Year's greetings from Japanese computer-graphics artists. Start from the fifth red link, and work down the list.

Update 10: Shoko Nakagawa added. Also, we added more info on the Doraemon snow globe.

Update 11: In this huge update, we add Go! Comi, Dragon Age Pure, and practically the entire Fujimi Shobo stable of artists. Go! Comi's Audry Taylor points out Mick Takeuchi's 2007 greeting, as well as You Higuri's seasonal blog header and an earlier holiday image for her ongoing Crown manga. Also, we also clarified what to do with the Doraemon snow globe. (Thanks, b4k4ni04.)

Update 12: Metrocon and True Tears added. Also, we're hosting a full-sized image of Organic Hobby's greeting.

Update 13: MangaCast, Type-Moon, and two more greetings from Production I.G. added. Also, Akiba Blog posts the New Year's posters and greetings from UniSonshift, Circus, minori, D.C.II S.S. ~Da Capo II Second Season~, and many of the shops and locales in Tokyo's otaku shopping district of Akihabara, while MangaCast's Ed Chavez posts the nengajō from the Morning manga magazine's editorial staff.

Update 14: Broccoli International USA and 27 Flex Comix artists added. The full-sized images of all nengajō from the Flex Comix artists are free for downloading until January 31!

Update 15: The Story of Saiunkoku Second Series added. Also Akiba Blog shows what it considers to be the worst New Year's greeting seen at Tokyo's Akihabara otaku shopping district.

Update 16: Pictures from eight Hakusensha magazines — Detroit Metal City (Young Animal), Himitsu -Top Secret (Melody), Joi no Tamago (Silky), Shiba Wanko no Wa no Kokoro (Moe), Ō-Sama ni Kiss! (ShŌsetsu Hanamaru), Otomen (Bessatsu Hana yo Yume), V.B. Rose (Hana To Yume), Vampire Knight (LaLa) — added. These pictures are downloadable as wallpaper from Hakusensensha's website, if you fill out a Japanese survey. Also, the True Tears website has posted a full-sized downloadable image of its New Year's greeting wallpaper in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 sizes.


This article has a follow-up: New Year's Greetings — Anime Style (Update 16) (2008-01-08 21:56)
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