Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, dressed up as Super Mario, makes an appearance during the closing ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Aug. 21, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images/ Kyodo News)
The 2020 Olympics is just around the corner and everyone is expecting to see anime characters throughout the event. The forthcoming annual worldwide event is set to take place in Tokyo and items featuring the most popular characters in the world anime are already up for grabs in Japan.
Anime fans all over the world are in anticipation of the products to be sold during the event. According to Comicbook, the Tokyo 2020 Official Online shop has already started taking orders for some of the new clothing items that were recently unveiled, featuring anime characters that will definitely surprise anime lovers.
While the Character Design Series features the most popular fictional characters from the country, the list does not include characters from Nintendo. This came as a surprise for anime lovers, especially considering the role of the high-profile Kyoto-based video game developer in the closing ceremony for Rio de Janeiro's iteration of the Olympics, where Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emerged dressed like video game character Super Mario.
Aside from the Italian plumber Super Mario, the Electric-type Pokemon Pikachu will also reportedly not make an appearance at the event despite the worldwide phenomenon that the augmented reality game Pokemon Go has been.
As reported by Japan Today, the Japanese merchandise unveiled recently mostly includes hats and shirts that feature a huge collection of anime characters, including Astro Boy, Sailor Moon, "Dragon Ball's" Son Goku, "One Piece's" Luffy, Naruto, two magical girls from "Pretty Cure," Crayon Shin-Chan, and "Yo Kai Watch's" Jibanyan. All the items feature the characters standing in front of a wall of text ending with "Ganbare Nippon," which means "Go for it, Japan," the country's standard rallying cry during international sports competitions.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games recently confirmed that 31-year-old otaku idol Shoko Nakagawa, also known as Shokotan, will be included in the lineup of the Mascot Selection Examination Council. The council is tasked to discuss the selection process for the official mascot that will represent the
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Olympics teaser here:
