Topic: Other
Category: Product of the Week
Technorati: Linking Blogs

Anime fans were this week treated to the announcement of an iPod just for them.

Where's my ALF edition iPod?

Product Name 
Neon Genesis Evangelion edition iPod

Product Image(s) 


Product Code
?

Vendor
Bandai Networks

Release Date
Orders to begin on December 22nd, 2004

Price
47,250 yen

Overview
Only 2,000 models of the "Neon Genesis Evangelion edition iPod" will ever be sold -- it's a shame, too, because there are plenty of anime fans outside of Japan who would jump at such an opportunity. Clearly inspired by the series, the Eva iPod features the "NERV" logo throughout, such as being engraved on the casing, being featured on the included screen protector, and even being etched into the included headphones. There's more, too; the Eva iPod also includes a specially fashioned enamel case designed to resemble the plug suit of Ayanami Rei, one of the show's characters.
Inside the unit, however, it's the same old iPod -- still 20GB, still the same Appleness that everyone seems to love.

Reasoning
What better choice for a product of the week than a limited edition "anime version" of a seemingly normal product? It's not so much that we like the Eva iPod, but it does represent many of the differences between the Japanese market and the rest of the world's market. The fact that a company can sell a specially branded product from a show created over 10 years ago goes to show the depth of Japanese fandom. Sure America has its share of blatant product promotion, but certainly not to the extent that there would be a market for a show popular so many years ago.

Official Product Site 
http://lalabitmarket.channel.or.jp/ipod_eva.html

Related TechJapan Coverage
iPod: Neon Genesis Evangelion edition (December 15th, 2004)