Nagata Ward, in the port city of Kobe, Japan - which was flattened in 1995 by a devastating earthquake - wants an image makeover. The town plans on tapping into the POWER OF ANIME™ to revitalize the region - plans include an 18-meter statue of mecha-hero Tetsujin-28 and a museum dedicated to Kobe-born manga-ka Mitsuteru Yokoyama.

Local merchants plan to revitalize the area using Yokoyama’s popular comic series as their inspiration. In the envisioned museum, visitors will be able to dress up in costumes of warlords such as Liu Bei and Cao Cao, characters in his Sangokushi.

In the new buildings, they aim to nurture young, talented cartoonists by providing workrooms and opportunities for them to publish their work.

The merchants also plan to invite shops to sell items related to popular cartoons and comics as well as figurines of popular anime characters.

The city government included the anime town project in its revitalization plan in May. The central government decided in July to provide financial support for the plan, and the merchants intend to cover the cost of the project by seeking donations from corporations and citizens in addition to the government subsidy.

Yokoyama was born in Suma Ward, which is east of Nagata Ward. He began drawing cartoons when he was studying at Suma High School and made his name with “Gigantor,” which was serialized in a boy’s magazine from 1956. He died in 2004.

His other highly popular works include “Mahotsukai Sari” and “Iga no Kagemaru.” “Sangokushi” was published in 1972.

“Many elderly people and people from Vietnam and South Korea live in Nagata. We thought ‘Sangokushi’ would be the best cartoon–one that anybody can enjoy, and one that can attract people from rural areas,” said Kenji Masaoka, director of Kobe Tetsujin Project, a nonprofit organization working on the project.

I thought this was supposed to be taken offline at the end of July, but Hulu still has the whole thing - and now you can watch all three parts in one big fell swoop. Or a non-fell swoop, if that takes your fancy. Regular swoops are fine.

I know everybody’s all pumped-up for the impending release of Capcom’s Street Fighter IV, but the brawler I’d most love to play is Capcom’s other project, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Of course, as cool as it is, the general consensus is that TvC will never appear outside of Japan. Which makes Baby Jesus cry.

I hope Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion is tucked away in there somewhere. I’ve been wanting to beat his whiny ass to a pulp for about ten years now.