Interest
Get Money Advice From Tokyo Tarareba Girls AI Characters
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Akiko Higashimura's Tokyo Tarareba Girls manga opened an exhibit in the Yurakucho Marui department store on April 5 to celebrate the launch of the "season 2" manga in Kodansha's Kiss magazine on April 25.
The exhibit has manga panels and drafts from Tokyo Tarareba Girls and photo spots, but one of the big draws is that it has an AI version of two characters from the manga: Tara and Reba. The two characters, which take the form of a cod and liver respectively, extol the virtues of money in the AI corner.
The AI service takes the form of a "chat story", where Tara, Reba, and the manga's protagonist Rinko explain to you why money is essential to happiness. Alternatively, Tara and Reba can explain to you how to use money wisely. All the lingo is supervised by the Tokyo Stock Exchange Literacy Support Group.
The AI was created by Project Samantha, a collaborative project by Sony Music Entertainment and AI developer emotivE. The project was also supported by the Marui Group. Senior executive officer Masahisa Aoki said at a press conference for the exhibit on April 4 that the reason he supports the project is because he thinks it's a good initiative to get young people to learn more about money. He said that he decided to collaborate with Tokyo Tarareba Girls because it was through the Marui Group's anime division that he came to realize that many anime fans had deep concerns about the future. The female staffers at the anime division suggested doing a collaboration with Tokyo Tarareba Girls, and Aoki thought it was a good idea because the manga also reflects the anxieties of young people.
"In the manga, the characters have anxieties about the future but still face it brightly. We thought that this matched Marui's own stance, so we gave Higashimura the offer," he said.
Tara and Reba also showed up at the press conference to give their seal of approval and show off a demo simulation.
Higashimura launched Tokyo Tarareba Girls in Kiss in March 2014 and ended it in April 2017. Kodansha Comics is releasing the original manga digitally in English under the title Tokyo Tarareba Girls, and it describes the manga:
"I spent all my time wondering 'what if,' then one day I woke up and I was 33." She's not that bad-looking, but before she knew it, Rinko was thirty-something and single. She wants to be married by the time the Tokyo Olympics roll around in six years, but...that might be easier said than done! The new series by Akiko Higashimura erupts with sharp opinions on girls and tons of laughs!!
The Tokyo Tarareba Girls exhibit will run from April 5 to 21 at Yurakucho Marui's event space.
Source: Comic Natalie, Marui Group
