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Plier Mascot Ultimate Nipako Now Available as GPS Guide
posted on by Eric Stimson
The Japanese toolmaker God Hand has a cute girl mascot for its pliers, the Ultimate Nipper, designed especially for model kits: Ultimate Nipako. With her massive blue twintails, she looks about like what a pair of pliers might look like if they came to life. Nipako fans can now hear her guide them via the GPS app Maplus+.
Maplus+ is a navigation service for iOS and Android systems that works with both cars and pedestrians. The voices provided are all those of a group of high school girls that form a racing club in the 2030s, along with their driving support AI. Their stories are told in a light novel, Pit!, available for reading on the app's website.
The characters of Pit!
Ultimate Nipako's lines are provided by Rumi Ookubo (Chinatsu in Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily, Hinako in Long Riders!, Nobunaga Oda in Sengoku Collection); they include "Hurry and wake up, I'm bored!," "Nippanippanii! This road is fun!" and "Nipaa! Receiving GPS data from the planet Kōgu [Tool]!" Maplus+ is also running a Twitter campaign: retweet the tweet below (pinned on the app's Twitter page) and you could win one of three illustrated boards autographed by Ookubo. The campaign lasts until May 4 and the results will be announced on May 8.
MAPLUS+「ニパ子」キャラチェンジセット配信記念キャンペーンを実施します!@maplus_naviをフォローして、このツイートをRTして頂いた方の中から、抽選で3名様に大久保瑠美さんの直筆サイン色紙をプレゼントします! #MAPLUS #大久保瑠美 #ニパ子 pic.twitter.com/fufHtZ6MxJ
— MAPLUS+広報担当(公式) (@maplus_navi) April 20, 2017
Maplus+ also includes voices from Steins;Gate (Rintarō, Mayuri and Kurisu) and Super Sonico. Nipako has also been used to sell sake.
Sources: Maplus+ (2), Google Play and moca
