9 Anime with Iconic Snow Scenery

Winter brings cold winds and beautiful snow. Have you been lucky (or unlucky) enough to get snow? If not, you can always admire the snow scenes from anime. They always look so idyllic!

1. 5 Centimeters Per Second

2. Nisekoi

3. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

4. Nana

5. Nagi no Asukara

6. Wolf Children

7. Kyoukai no Kanata

8. Your Lie in April

9. Love Live!

7 Times Microsoft Turned Their Products into Anime Girls

The internet has been personifying objects since the beginning of time. It's just what we do. One of the most well known of these practices is the OS-tan, which personifies software as cute anime girls.

While the majority of the creations are fan made, Microsoft has actually dabbled into the practice themselves as a way to market their products to Asian consumers. Here are a few of their most well known mascots.

1. Nanami Madobe - Windows 7

Nanami was one of Microsoft's earliest attempts at personifying their products for Japanese consumers. While not the first mascot, Nanami was the first one to receive an anime video, which is a basic guide on building a PC.

2. Claudia Madobe - Microsoft Azure

Claudia is Microsoft's most popular mascots. She was created to help teach developers about Microsoft's Azure platform. The character has an active Twitter account, a series of web comics, and even a figurine.

3. Unnamed Character - Microsoft Virtualization

This unnamed character is on the Japanese page for Microsoft Virtualization. I guess she was not good enough to make Bill Gate's waifu list ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

4. Hikaru Aizawa - Microsoft Silverlight

Hikaru was created by Microsoft Taiwan to teach people about the Silverlight development tool. The characters has starred in a series of web games and seasonal wallpapers. 

5. Madobe Yū and Madobe Ai - Microsoft 8 and Surface RT

The twin sisters to promote Windows 8 and, at the time, Microsoft's latest tablet. The characters had a line of official products to celebrate the launch of both products.

6. Inori Aizawa - Internet Explorer

Inori was created in an attempt to boost mass appeal for Internet Explorer. The character was popular enough to have social media accounts, an anime short, and an official anime version of Internet Explorer. Too bad it's now Edge.

7. Tōko Madobe - Windows 10

Tōko is Microsoft's latest mascot. Not much has been done outside of wallpapers, but she did have a marketing push before her release.