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Bumblebee Goes Chibi in Pop Team Epic Creator's Art
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Transformers' Bumblebee continues his tour in Japan with new chibi-fied versions of the robot by Pop Team Epic's Bkub Okawa and animator Yuzo Yamamoto. Okawa drew artwork of Bumblebee with the film's stars Hailee Steinfeld (Charlie), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Guillermo), and John Cena (Jack Burns). The art shows the adorable Bumblebee appealing to Jack with big doe eyes.
Regarding the live-action film, Okawa said "It is a very cute and cool movie! As for American movies? America? When you say America, it's the America where John Cena is, right?"
Yamamoto directed an animated short starring a different deformed Bumblebee. The video was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday and briefly runs down the premise of the live-action film. Voice actor Ryōhei Kimura returns from the film's Japanese dub to voice the Transformer while also filling the role of Charlie and the narrator.
The video is just the first episode in the short flash anime.
The Transformers film franchise prequel stars Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson, a girl who comes into possession of the Bumblebee autobot in 1987. The alien robot has lost his voice and has his memory bank damaged before taking the form of an old Volkswagen Beetle and going into hiding. When teenager Charlie Watson gets the Beetle for her birthday, she discovers it to be the mute and amnesiac B-127 and names him "Bumblebee", but his presence triggers the arrival of Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick, who receive assistance from Sector 7 to hunt him down.
The film opened in the U.S. in December. It will premiere in theaters in Japan on March 22. A life-size replica of Bumblebee is currently on display at Odaiba Zepp Tokyo plaza's Festival Square until the end of March.
Source: Animate Times, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
