If you saw a recent story on Last Week Night with John Oliver on HBO, you know that Japan loves its mascots. Today, Microsoft's Japanese offices revealed the look of its Windows 10 mascot and will launch a campaign to officially name her in June.
Yes, Microsoft's mascot is a cute 17-year old anime girl who comes from 100 years in the future, works part-time in the gadget-heavy city in Akihabara and, of course, she loves to play online games. Her voice will be handled by anime voice-over actress Ai Nonaka.
Microsoft will start its public campaign to name the Windows 10 mascot on June 19, and people who enter will be eligible to win some prizes, including five grand prizes that will be autographed by Nonaka. This is nothing new for Microsoft; the company has had similar mascots in Japan for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Internet Explorer.
Source: Microsoft; Via: Crunchyroll; Thanks, Christopher, for the tip!
Reader comments
Windows 10 is getting a Japanese anime mascot, but it still needs a name
I seriously hope there'll be a way to add her into the US versions
So kawaii :)
I knew that they had anime’ mascots before but I didn’t know that they created a new one for each OS.
I've got a name for her: Ball-Mer-CHIUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!! trololol
She looks like one of the cartoon characters from Pokemon. Interestingly, this one is from the future.
Is this for the misogynist or paedophile edition of windows?
Winetai?
It'll work because she has a high skirt.
She would look good with her ankles up round her ears
Woohoo the anime fan in me is excited!
No no no, the Crunchyroll source is WRONG. This is NOT an official Windows mascot! And the Japanese link is NOT Microsoft! (It's run by a company call Techno-Allience which is a solutions consultant company!).
Characters like Madobe Nana etc are "Promotion mascot for system builders" - they are created by a group of large PC parts shops to promote the sales of new PC hardware when a new version of Windows comes out (because when people buy OEM Windows license, they usually buy new PC parts to build a new PC, and vice versa) to share the cost but also maximize the effect of a large scale promotion which cannot be done by a single individual shop. This also allows the tagging on of exclusive shop goodies (ie think how if you reserve a game at EB you get different goodies than reserving at Gamestop etc). This entire campaign is like, say, Newegg and Geek.com and Amazon's PR department all siting together to create one massive PR campaign to promote W10 and then each gets its own unique exclusive presents to give away if you buy only at their shop, but make no mistake MS has NOTHING to do with it, and the mascot is not officially recognised by MS either!
The only officially recognised anime mascot by Microsoft Japan is currently Claudia for Azure, all the others are unofficial and there are NO official Windows anime cutegirl mascot endorsed by Microsoft Japan.
Wow you sure are well informed! Cheers :)
I guess she like hamburgers. lol
Anyways, this is pretty normal in Microsoft Japan. Windows 7 and 8 have one. Microsoft Azure and Internet Explorer too. Next is Cortana and Microsoft Edge for sure.
Waifu
"This is nothing new for Microsoft"
I wasn't even aware Windows 7 and 8 had one, much less Windows 10!
Japan I a country that ride on any hype, and an example of the most recent one is a breast support ribbon :p maybe that's what a mascot need to become a hype? "uniqueness"? This character is good, that's not wrong, but I can only think of her as another "idol" character.
Saki Fujita
Am I missing something or does the screenshot have nothing to do with the article
Nibles
Winnie? Win-tan? Win-ten?
Ten-tan!
Jyu-Chwan XD
I thought it was for Cortana
Something that includes the Japanese translation for "ten".
That would be Jyu, right?
Now we need to put something there. Maybe "Power of Ten?"
I wonder what Inori Aizawa thinks of her.
She actually introduced her in her FB page.
Really? I'll check it later
Not bad
great Idea!
This is pretty cool. Can't wait to find out the name.
Oooo
Cortana chan
I'd do her.
My hand can't hold all this friction!
i'll put hard money on MS naming her Madoka
And make her carry the burden of the world? :)
What the fuck is Microsoft thinking by using this anime bullshit
Probably thinking that a cute anime character will sell Windows better in certain parts of the world than either a set of squares of even a person from a game that barely sold outside of the US.
I'm not sure this is entirely on Microsoft. I'm not kidding when I say fanartists and the like have made anime-style mascots for pretty much every OS, game console, car.....probably even toasters at this point.
I love anime!! Lol.
I still have the desktop theme from the last mascot, Inori Aizawa. Hopefully we'll get another with this one
Not enough tentacles to be successful in Japan.
Love the Windows hair clip.
Its a toy, Call it Pikachu and keep it moving.
All these sexual in nature comments about how the mascot looks are disturbing.
It's a cartoon you sickos.
So I take it you're one of those people that likes to judge people for what they find attractive? Or are you saying that she isn't a human-looking character?
Oh please. It gets on my nerves when people confuse anime with cartoon. There are differences, you see?
True, anime has its own depth to it. Especially with it character development and its uniqueness... One cartoon I can came up with which has similar feel to it is only Avatar, the legend of Aang.
What child didn't have a strange fascination with Penelope Pussycat and her Le Mews and Le Purrrs? All voice acted by Mel Blanc.
Jailbait.
Windows Phone still needs mainstream promotion in Japan. As of now, Microsoft still has no plans of bringing Lumia phones there although 2 companies had committed to launch WP units there which are Freetel and Mouse Computer.
The Freetel Ninja is a rebrand of the BLU Win HD LTE for the Japanese market and it is to be released on June.
Mouse Computer has the MADOSMA phone http://www.mouse-jp.co.jp/phone/madosma/
There was a Windows Phone 7 device called the IS12T from a few years ago. It was on Japan's au network and was manufactured by Fujitsu-Toshiba. It was then followed by the T-01E running Windows Phone 8.
Fujitsu-Toshiba's T-01E didn't push through. Same goes the planned Samsung "Omnia" WP8 phone and a NK-01E (a Lumia variant, I suppose) which makes IS12T the only Windows Phone launched in Japan.
Plus, au had announced before that they will no longer support Windows Phone.
Cortanuuu
No tentacle sidekick?
Inori?
I know this is offtopic, but where is your display from. I've seen a couple of strips but never the name of the comic :P
Why not just use cortana
Why not Mikasa??
Misaki*
Nah... If it use popular anime character... The name already attached to it. Just like Sakura to Naruto and etc.
Hentai?
Hentai is anime, but not all anime is hentai. -_-
Hentai is Rated X anime
Rule 34 to the rescue!
I know that IE is personified by Inori in Japan, why not branch her out to the entire OS instead?
Inori wasn't Japan (I want to say she was Microsoft Taiwan), and they have made -tans for each version since Windows 7 (technically though 7's, Nanami, was adopted)
So weird. The comments here are definitely creepy.
Yeah... seriously...
((I wonder what Zune would look like in Anime...))
So where is the Octopus?
I wonder if she has a cute fox pet named Foxkeh? No... she has a cat named Edge XD
If it was to follow previous -tans, she would have a cat representing the Command Prompt and Windows' DOS roots.
Windows 10 gets its own "OS-Tan" I guess its a tradition going back all the way to win 3 or 95 i am not so sure.
Tradition yes, but MS has embraced the concept since Windows 7 officially.
Name: Tina
All this hassle to please 1 culture, same thing they did with Cortana, why they can't accept it like everyone else I do not know.
I am sorry if it offends anyone, but its the truth.
All that hassle, created by that culture, is no hassle at all. It's hard not to be envious of such a thriving culture.
How much hassle do you think it was to make that? o_O
Seriously. Looks like every female anime character ever. Probably took 5 minutes.
Pretty much.
Looks like the old IE anime mascot from (I think) the IE8 release.
Lol, she has a tie with tiles
やっぱり！
Kotana
Just call her Cortana geeze. Why is it so hard
This is moronic and creepy. Was Claudia (mascot for MS cloub-based services) a success in Japan?
Very creepy.
Very creepy indeed. They're just going to fap over it anyway.
10/10 would install.
when for android and iOS? Sincerely a frustrated windows phone user...
LoL
Good to know that Windows 10 will be alive and well in 100 years.
Looks like a last version indeed!
I'm just hoping to see the Anime version of W10 available in the US. I mean, anime is definitely on the rise here.
I agree.
I'd download that too! :P
Cortina?
Like
That's Spanish for "curtains"...
Are her legs attached?
Gah, I hate anime. But if it helps sell windows, I can't complain xD
cortana for japan confirmed "in a way" ???
There's nothing worse than Anime in this world. NOTHING.
Burn Amaterasu......
Don't hate ;-)
I agree, anime is the worst.
There's nothing worse than anime haters.
Anime is perfect for porn. :$
Nothing worse than people who hate on anime for no reason. You people have your tv shows AMD football to watch, I have my anime.
Totally agreed. People have different tastes. It makes no sense to hate on something you don't watch.
What if someone doesn't like tv shows, sports neither anime?
Firstly.... U can FuK Yourself and THEN you must go and Watch DEATH NOTE and Then STEINS;GATE or u can proceed to DBZ, NARUTO , ONE PIECE OR FAIRY TAIL [If u don't have that much Brain to Take on the Forner two]
And Don't forget to FuK urself first and start afresh......
And Tokyo Ghoul and Sword Art Online...
And there's the reason people hate anime and it's fandom.
Hitler and paper cuts are both worse then anime, and a whole bunch of other stuff in between.
Congrats, only thing missing here was Godwin's law.
What is wrong with even wanting to be the very best like no one ever was?!
(I know Pokémon doesn't count as an anime but it is in my book!)
Why is Pokemon isn't count as an anime? When its made by a Japanese studio and aired in Japan?
There's nothing worse than American TV in this world.
Anime personifications of operating systems have a name they're called "OS-tan". Bing it if you're interested to see a history of them.
There is even a wiki for OS-tans: https://www.ostan-collections.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Microsoft Azure even have one.
http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/828a05baca82423fdb2213b4725af6c31353526326_full.png
And does Hyper-V.
http://asiajin.com/blog/2011/07/21/microsoft-japan-introduces-another-anime-girl-for-small-and-medium-business/
Kawaii!
Cortana-Chan!
Yeah. I was thinking the same thing.
When Cortana is available to Japan, sure there will be.
Well, it didn't take long for this comment section to get really weird and creepy...
Right lol
I approve this =_=
Yeah, I saw sparks fly
From the corner, of my eyeeee
And when I turned (whoo)
It was love at first sight
I said please excuse me
I didn't catch your name (whoa)
It'd be a shame
Not to see you again
And just when I thought
She was coming to my door
She whispered sweet
And brought me to the floor
She said...
I'm only seventeeeen (seventeeeeeen)
She would look quite regal riding a fire breathing unicorn. Then again, she would bring a glimmer to any eye in even the most mundane of settings or situations.
Very clever lyrics there xD
Kip Winger is a clever guy.
Haha I just looked up the song, reminds me of def leopard
Nice.
I, want a Hentai,
Girl for me,
To make me happy,
I want her so I can,
Stop using my hand,
Every single day,
Of watching anime,
I'd pull her from my screen,
Just like in my dreams,
I want to feel her touch,
Mainly on my crotch,
I want my own Hentai girl.
And there goes "Best Hentai Poem of the Year" award, lol!
S3RL! :)
That is his song called MTC in case you didn't get the reference.
Cool, I want a full wallpaper version of this.
Very cool. Excellent mascot, I wonder why we don't get cool mascots in the UK. Sakura is always a popular animé/manga name
Hmm... Actually Sakura isn't really a popular name in anime... I can't really remember one except of course, from Naruto.
Google
Clipette?
(reddit) /r/onetrueclip
That's my cup of tea
Android 18 please.
That would actually be awesome if only "Android" wasn't a part of her name.
DBZ reference? XD
Yup. She should be like a fusion of Chi chi, bulma and Android 18.
Hmm... Fusion. Lemme think...
Chi chi + Bulma + Android 18 = Chilma 18? Lol!
Not to ignore the fact she'd be an absolute bombshell. Mate, I get a funny feeling that heaps of people will be lured to Windows 10 just like that.
Yeah, I see that. If only MS could do it right T_T
I just finished rewatching DBZ last month! Never gets old :)
Hahaha good old memories, yeah.
I'm currently watching Tokyo Ghoul (Root A). Awesome series!
Or 10/10 lol
When I saw the word "Anime", I knew the character would look good and when I see this person, wow! She is HOT! Definitely a good mascot! God, I really want her to be my girlfriend!
Only 17? Dang it...
I am! But I'm going 18 in 2 months. But, still, I would love her to be real!
I'm 16 so im allowed to say anything I want xD, well except be racist, but I choose not to do that anyway.
I am 13 so hope she ain't real
Whatever she is cute!!!
The Internet Explorer mascot was cuter, lol.
Now we need mascot for Microsoft Edge. lol
Also I wonder what would be Cortana looked like. I don't think it will be like Halo but something else I guess.
So 17 years old from 100 hundred years in the future *carry the one and...* she would currently be -87. So anyone feeling creepy about liking a 17 year old future anime girl can rest well knowing that they are fawning over what would undoubtedly break down to be their child's granddaughter's granddaughter's embryo. So not weird at all :P
On the topic of mascots, does this actually work in Japan? And, when do you think we'll see Cortana evolve into a fully formed being in North America. My guess on the latter is roughly around the time she breaks beta status in Canada. Win 10 for the win.
-83*