Toei Animation is entering a new entertainment dimension with ONN’ON STUDIOS (onnon-studios.com): a virtual space within VRChat made up of multiple worlds conceived by the anime powerhouse. Launched as an immersive archive and user communication hub, the label’s first project was a scale model of the original Toei Doga Studio, ToeiDogaStudio1956. Now, Toei is recapturing the late 20th century otaku experience with Nostalgia1999.
Created and presented in collaboration with Sony, Nostalgia1999 is modeled on a six-tatami Japanese room, in July of 1999. The unorganized dwelling of an “otaku” (obsessive anime fan) is filled with Sony products and anime merchandise of the time, creating a nostalgic virtual playground.
“Many people in their 30s to late 40s enjoyed Toei Animation’s works in the ’90s. Those works have become memories from their youth. Sony’s audio and visual products of that time colored their everyday life as a dream tool to enjoy animated films and music. Now, in partnership with Sony which provided the actual products and documents, the virtual space could realistically reproduce their bitter-sweet memories,” said Sony Music Solutions’ Tsuneyuki Matsudeira, who produced the project.
“We hope that this room will become a place where visitors would talk about animated works that they enjoyed in the past. Events might also be held in the near future. There are many attractions in the room, too. We want visitors to enjoy a mysterious feeling as if they are exploring the past.”
In the experience, users can shrink down to take an up close look at the memory-sparking items in the room. Some items will move when they are “held”. Toei and Sony also plan to build in a feature that will allow users to enjoy their favorite anime together in the space through the CRT-based Trinitron color television in the room, like a virtual cinema.
Fans can access Nostalgia1999 for free on VRChat, world name Onnon_Nostalgia1999.
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