This is what Internet Explorer looks like as an anime character. Meet Inori Aizawa

By Sam Sabri
last updated

Internet Explorer is a fantastic browser on both your Windows PC, your Windows Phone device, and even your Xbox 360. Sure, we wish we’d get some cool extensions like the Reddit Enhancement Suite, but its lack of extensions is the only mark against it. The Windows Phone community may be on board with IE, but how do you get the general tech population to change its perception and sour taste left by IE6? With an anime of course. Check out the latest ad from Microsoft after the break.

What did you just watch? You watched a pretty cool new ad for IE from Microsoft. We’ve got a new character named Inori, who is now the anime personification of Internet Explorer. At least that’s what we learn when we click through to the new Facebook page for Inori Aizawa. It’s a pretty epic fight between her and a bunch of unsavory websites and viruses that you might find while surfing the web.

Be sure to visit www.internetexplorertan.com/home/ to see the “Inori” version of Internet Explorer. If you visit in Chrome you’ll see her crying, but visit in IE and you’ll get the full experience.

Source: YouTube, Facebook Page, Via: The Verge

Sam Sabri
Sam Sabri
83 Comments
  • Awesome. just hope desktop n metro mode is unified on its latter version :)
  • Woooooooooooowwwwwwwww.. kawai na .. I still use Madobe Nanami theme for my Windows 7!
  • Kakkoii desu ne
  • Wtf
  • So cool!
  • Woah!
  • Woah won't suffice. Woaaaaaaaah is better.
  • +2520
  • They need to put a theme store for windows phone and windows 8 and let people make themes for windows 8 and future windows 8 variants and they could and her as a theme! Too
  • +920
  • Now this IS cool! I want to see Surface in anime form too...maybe a slick looking mecha taking down trolls and goons.
  • LOL
  • You mean this? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN5aW9AAIjQ
  • Woah!! Awesome
  • Impressive O_O
  • Double True.  They really should expand the concept to cover all their various brands. Surfacetan, Bingtan, Windows Phonetan, Xbox Onetan, etc.   They could form a team, and the marketing possibilities are endless.  Video games, action figures, plushies . . . there own animated television series . . . yeah, I just went there.  Yep.  This is the kind of marketing campaign, that would just keep on giving . . . and mentioning giving, fan service please.
  • Kawai! (even though I don't know what it means but all my anime friends say that a lot)
  • Kawaii just means, that something is cute and stuff like that. ^^
  • Simply means cute.
  • Luffy would one hit ie 11.
  • "lack of extensions is the only mark against it"? JavaScript performance is not as good as the competition. That's another according to everyone everywhere. Though I still prefer IE :)
  • I need to browse the internet! My country needs me.
  • Another cool anime ad from Microsoft, even though I don't like the IE so much because of its lack of customizability... and because of some odd css interpreting.... ^^
    But cool ad, ms should make more anime ads for their products. ^^
  • Wow. IE is hot. Who knew?
  • Please make this a movie!
  • AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Is this a good idea? I see a lot of Inori hentai mashups in Microsoft's future..
  • Well...sex always sells...so putting MS products on porn may not be the worst of ideas...lol
  • It seems very possible, but at least I have seem something really unexpected.
  • Just wait till Google gets their tentacles on her :-o
  • Video is awesome but too bad I am on Mac OSX Mavericks :P also would rather not use IE anyways. Safari on my Mac, Chrome on my PC.
  • I'm on Maverick (dual booting with Windows 8 Enterprise on Bootcamp). Using firefox on Maverick and IE/Firefox combo on Windows 8 :)
  • There's Madobe Nanami as Windows 7, and there also a Windows 7 Madobe Nanami theme with custom media center. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yeMPbUYJCA0 There's Windows 7's Madobe Nanami, Windows 8's Madobe Yu and Madobe Ai, Claudia for the Azure technology
  • IE on Xbox is not nice, uts next to useless.
  • Oh, and it doesn't work on WP IE as intended on the IE certified Webb place. That's ironic.
  • I don't understand anime at all :-|
  • You are not alone. I still don't get Pokemon.
  • LOL i have a 920 on a charging pad and the new sculpt ergo keyboard just like in that picture!
  • Ok... I did know that Windows 7 got a anime add too... But IE? I still stunned... lol?
  • This reminds me of BB (RIM) try with the superheroes fiasco... well, I hope that this get IE to somewhat better position.
  • LOL this is so random that it's funny! I doubt it would bring over a wave of users, but nevertheless, the trailer was entertaining hahaha
  • its not as random as you think. Microsoft created Yu & Ai Madobe for Windows 8/RT, Claudia for Azure, and the silverlight girls, as well as used Nanami Madobe for 7, and before that there were fan made "tans" for a while. Search "os-tans"
  • Azure got too? That corner of the world...
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydJinL8Ln3Q
  • Windows & Azure's character is from the Japan branch.
    Silverlight's character is made by the Taiwan branch. Probably this one is from Taiwan too, judging by the character's name and assuming the Japan branch won't bother making English language website. *load the website and welcomed by a crying girl*
    WTH ? Can't handle the sudden load ?
  • 1.) Never mentioned who made them, just was naming the different Official os-tans. 2.) If you mean Inoris homepage, crying means you're either using something other than IE, or its IE8 or below.
  • IE6 AND IE10 left a sour taste. IE10 broke so many sites that were otherwise perfect in all other browsers. Compatibility view helps, but most clients expect it to work without that. It was costly for clients as it was in their contracts that only browsers released at the time of building it are supported (up to IE9 at the time). Some clients simply haven't bothered and their sites still have issues. I have a "this probably won't work in IE6" clause in the contracts too haha. Even IE8 is relegated to "it'll work, maybe not perfectly though"
  • IE6 was awful but 10 wasn't that bad for web design. I can see if sites ran into problems if they coded with specific browsers in mind versus coding using the standards set out by the 3WC. Too many designers use webkit specific features and that's the fastest way to break a site in IE. Same goes for designers who keep wanting to use obsolete lines of script to force IE to render a site certain way. It's pretty standards compliant last I checked.
  • Omg best commercial for a browser ever
  • MS should show how a professional draw that animation using Surface Pro 2
  • Once opera releases its browser in stores...i am never using IE
  • Yuck... I tried using it last year. It had a few nice features, but would crash out and lose all my tabs. Sometimes it would recover them, but I got in the habit of saving all tabs (a great feature). But it's far too unreliable, so I gave up and probably will never use it again, except for testing websites
  • That was a bit bizarre and it's not apparent why that would suggest to someone who isn't using Internet Explorer to use Internet Explorer. Also, what's with the reto-Windows logo colours? That's so 2012.
  • That's not the Windows logo. That's the Microsoft as a whole logo.
  • Am I the only one here with a Daughter young enough to recognize the complete rippoff of Sailer Moon? Only the Windows Tramp Stamp on the skirt was original, but even that, as the Barenaked Ladies said "makes me think the wrong thing" :D
  • It's more of a homage to popular anime shows, e.g. Sailor Moon. I have a feeling a mecha version of the Surface is coming soon, maybe inspired by Gundam :P    
  • Search "os-tans". Not a ripoff of sailor moon.
  • More Nanoha style than Sailor Moon ...
  • As an anime fan myself, I can name tons of titles that are far closer to this animation than Sailor Moon.
    The magical girl thing didn't start with Sailor Moon, and it didn't stop there too, there are at least 5 titles every year with the same trope... though admitedly Sailor Moon is one of the most commonly known titles overall among fans and non-fans.
    But no, it's not a ripoff... I'd say it's a trope, common genre, often reproduced concept though. You could equate it to something like "noir" or "police investigation" scenarios for american series, for instance.
  • I wasn't hating, just LMAO at the whole transformation sequence, which is almost frame for frame Sailor Moon. Regardless, its fun and my Daughter thought it was cool!
  • Idk, to me, it doesn't really look like a Sailor Moon type tranformation sequence, maybe because the girls in Sailor Moon hardly move. They just do a twirl or two, and the outfit goes right on theme without moving that much xD.   
  • I actually just thought she was the great, great, great granddaughter of Sailor Moon.  Considering all the futuristic displays.  That, I would love to see.  The directors of Sailor Moon buying the copyrights to this Inori Aizawa and adding it to the Sailor Moon future productions.
  • Nice ad MS. Like it.! Love IE. So pls, will the IE Team make more faster updates for WP + PC + Xbox.?! IE Update Team is too slow and too far in between.
  • I really enjoyed the clip. Can't wait to see her crashing that machine at the end. ^.^
  • Look, I know there are lots of Microsoft fans here, and I know that most of the bad rep of IE comes from previous versions...
    Some tests even put IE as the fastest browser among all (sometime ago, dunno how it is now).
    And you know, pretty cool from Microsoft to acknowledge the OS-tan memebase and do something of their own... BUT
    No plugins, no sync, still some garbled pages. That's just not cool.
    I'd kill to have Chrome with my bookmarks on my Windows Phone 8, period. Though honestly, I don't browse that much on the phone.
    Honestly, it's still the last browser of choice for me. Chrome>Firefox>Opera(though Opera is now technicaly Chrome too)>Safari>IE. Not considering other browsers which mostly uses some of the known engines in it's roots, like Maxthon, Mercury, Dolphin, Puffin, Atomic, Diigo, etc etc.
    I'm just hoping Microsoft get's the integration and plugins part up to speed, consolidating the Windows experience through platforms.
  • If you'd rather see the official HD version (up to 1080p) it's here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHTUlF7NA2o
  • I don't even... How about less anime and more mobile sync / extensions?
  • So, so awesome! >.
  • Internet Explore in Windows Phone 8 doesn't as good as good compared to Chrome or Firefox. No forward and back like them, can't download universal files like UC Browser. Even I experienced 2 times force closed writing comment in this title before. How do you compete with Google or Firefox if the system can't do better compared Android?
  • Windows Phone is still on IE10. Im sure IE11 mobile will bring new enhancements and features. Also, it does have back (using the hardware button) but no forward, and downloads is more to do with how the OS handles files (IE will store the file in the designated app's storage instead of a pooled storage that is managed by the browser.)
  • I just wish you would get rid of of this fanboyism - IE is very good on the phone, but on desktop it cannot match Google or Firefox.
  • it matches more than you think. IE so far is more standards compliant, as well as more secure, than most browsers. It also provides a best in class touch experience.
  • One more thing - why oh WHY cannot IE get the 'Open in background tab' option??? Or am I missing something?
  • In modern IE, open in new tab functions as open in background tab.
  • Who else thinks Microsoft should make a video game spin off this  for xbox one it would their own little DBZ
  • Breaking News:"100% of population in Japan downloaded Internet Explorer"
  • Breaking News:"A Hentai version of this video will be out in 5 min" lololo
  • hahaha!! It's so ridiculous An anime character as a web browser (a very bad web browser)?? seriously?? Soon they will be use a chicken as a developer tool.    
  • 1) This is a phenominon that is popular in japan and parts of asia known as "os-tans" 2) IE11 is one of the fastest and most secire browsers. its also more compliant to web standards than other browsers
  • If you were talking about IE9 or older, I'd agree with you, but IE10 and up are phenomenal. I think there's just a little bit too much scathing leftover hate from older versions of IE. It's improved a lot, and people like you should probably either A) try it out and then say it's bad, or B) get over it and realize you're talking about older IE.
  • I like how she has an Xbox One, Lumia on a charging plate and a Surface on her desk.
  • Apparently there was inspiration from Evangelion in this...
  • W3C exam tips lol... Anyway, unexpected but good news :)