ANIME NEWS: 'Doraemon' celebrates 40th anniversary with DVD specials at Lawson stores

This year happens to be the 40th anniversary of Doraemon's first appearance in magazines for children. Various events are being planned to celebrate the special year for the popular blue cat robot from the future.

One is an anniversary campaign launched by the Lawson convenience store chain that focuses on characters created by Fujiko F. Fujio, the renowned manga artist who created Doraemon. The stores will sell works by the artist, as well as related products.

A DVD product hit the shelves on June 15. Titled "Fujiko F. Fujio Anime Kyarakuta Daishugo!!" (Assembly of Fujiko F. Fujio anime characters), the three-volume DVD series brings together representative episodes of different anime works for the first time.

The first volume contains a total of five episodes from "Doraemon," "Paman" and "Chimpui." Volume 2 features "Doraemon," "Esper Mami" and "21-emon;" while Volume 3 contains installments from "Doraemon," "Kiteretsu Daihyakka," "Pokonyan" and "Mojako." Most are well-known episodes and are expected to draw attention.

The price of each DVD--five episodes at 1,000 yen including tax--is also a bargain. Each episode costs no more than 200 yen. This is the lowest price ever for collected works by Fujiko F. Fujio and is being offered only as part of the anniversary year celebrations.

In addition to the regular five episodes, each DVD comes with links for five to eight pay-per-view episodes, each costing 105 yen. A customer buys a password via mobile phone for each episode, viewable for a week. Fans who want more besides the DVDs will be sure to enjoy this.

和約

ドラえもんは雑誌で登場してから４０周年をむかえる。これを祝ってローソンなどはキャンペーンを行う予定だ。そしてお得なDVDも発売される。ファンはこれをとても楽しみにしている。

感想　

ドラえもんの人気にビックリしました。

単語

shelve 延期する

renown 名声

June 10

Protein may help treat allergie

The discovery of a protein that suppresses allergic reactions may lead to new "fundamental" treatments for hay fever, atopic dermatitis and other allergic conditions.
A team of researchers at the University of Tsukuba found that stimulating a protein called Allergin-1 in laboratory mice curbed the release of allergy-causing chemicals such as histamine.
Since humans have a similar protein, the findings could lead to "development of a fundamental treatment for the onset of all kinds of allergic diseases," according to Akira Shibuya, the professor of immunobiology who led the research.
Allergic reactions happen when allergens such as pollen bind to antibodies and are attached to mast cell surfaces, causing the cells to release chemicals. The Allergin-1 protein is a receptor found on the surface of the mast cells and was found to inhibit the transmission of the signals that activated the mast cells.
Mice deficient in Allergin-1 showed enhanced allergic reactions, the team reported in the June 6 online edition of the U.S. journal Nature Immunology.

和訳

タンパク質は、アレルギーを治療するのを助けるかもしれません

アレルギー反応を抑制するタンパク質の発見は、花粉症、アトピー性皮膚炎と他のアレルギーの状況の新しい「基本的な」治療につながるかもしれません。
筑波大学の一連の研究者は、研究所マウスのAllergin-1と呼ばれているタンパク質を刺激することがヒスタミンのようなアレルギーを引き起こしている化学製品の放出を抑制するとわかりました。
人間が類似したタンパク質を持っているので、渋谷彰（研究を導いた免疫生物学の教授）によると、発見は「ありとあらゆるアレルギー疾患の発症のための基本的な処置の発達」につながることができました。
花粉のようなアレルゲンが抗体と結合して、肥満細胞面に付けられるとき、アレルギー反応は起こります。そして、細胞が化学製品を放出する原因になります。
Allergin-1タンパク質が、肥満細胞の表面で見つかるレセプターで、肥満細胞を起動させた信号の伝送を禁止するとわかりました。
Allergin-1に欠けたマウスは強化されたアレルギー反応を示したと、チームが米国のジャーナルネイチャーImmunologyの6月6日のオンライン版で報告しました。

私の兄もアレルギーを持っているので調べました。アレルギーがなくなると、多くの人がつらい思いをしないで済むので、早くアレルギーがなくなった世界が来るといいです。

allergic アレルギー
hay fever　　　　　　　花粉症
atopic dermatitis　　アトピー性皮膚炎
treatment　　治療
research　研究

June 2

Manga publisher targets Kindle, iPad

NTT Solmare Corp., the country's largest distributor of comics for cellphone users, will reach out to manga fans overseas by releasing titles for Amazon.com's Kindle electronic book reader and Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer.
According to an NTT Solmare announcement last week, the firm has four current titles for Kindle in English, including "Itsumo Soba ni Iru" (Always by Your Side) and "Zutto Dakishimete" (Hold Me Always), at a cost of $1 to $2 per episode.
For iPad, the company distributes three titles: "Itsumo Soba ni Iru" both in Japanese and English, "Salaryman Kintaro" in Japanese and "Eleven" in Japanese.
It charges 115 yen ($1.26) to 450 yen per volume, including tax. Viewers abroad can purchase them for download using their local currency.

和訳　
NTT Solmare社はアマゾンの電子BOOK読者とアップル社のipadタブレットコンピュータのためにタイトルを発表することによって、海外の漫画ファンに接触しようとしています。現在４つのタイトルがありiPadのために同社は３つのタイトルを配信します。そして海外の読者は彼らの現地通貨を使ってそれらの漫画をダウンロードすることができる。

感想
iPadの影響力はすごいですね。

単語
distributor 配給
currency　　通貨