×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

News
Bandai Reveals Heybot! Children's TV Anime for Fall Premiere

posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Franchise about robots who compete in joke battles also gets toy, free Nintendo 3DS game

Bandai revealed at the Tokyo Toy Show 2016 event on Thursday that it will debut a Heybot! television anime series intended for elementary school-aged children this fall.

The anime takes place on the screw-shaped island country of Nejigajima ("neji" means screw in Japanese). The anime will follow the two "Bokyabots" Hebotto and the Yurui Prince Nejiru as they collect different "Bokya Neji" screws. When the Bokyabots wear the Bokya Neji screws on their heads, they're able to compete in "Bokya Battles," battles for who can think up and tell the best jokes.

Bandai will also sell a "DX Hebotto!" communication robot toy modeled after the show's protagonist beginning in mid-September. When users put a "Bokya Neji" screw into the head of the robot, it talks. When users combine three screws, the robot enters a "Bokya Battle Mode" where it makes jokes. The robot will also feature other modes, including a "game communication mode" that allows users to play with the robot with a free-to-play Nintendo 3DS game. "DX Hebotto!" will bundle one screw but users can purchase up to 12 other screws separately for 250 yen (about US$2.30) each. The robot itself will retail for 4,500 yen (about US$42).

Bandai Namco Pictures registered four trademarks on March 31 for "Heybot!" for animation, games, home console games, trading card games, board games, music, as well as merchandise like food, drinks, posters, and stationary and other paper products.

Bandai Namco Pictures officially launched last April. The company handles Sunrise's intellectual property aimed at children and family, such as the Aikatsu! anime. The company previously registered the "Aikatsu Stars!" trademark in February that was later revealed as a television anime and an anime film. Bandai Namco Pictures also produced the MILPOM stop-motion shorts.

Source and image: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web

Update: Heybot! title spelling updated.


discuss this in the forum (1 post) |
bookmark/share with: short url

this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history

News homepage / archives