Four fictional employees of Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), the K.R.T. Girls, have helped the company achieve revenue of NT$2 million (US$61,041) in the first seven months of the year and drawn interest from a local game firm and a Japanese publisher, the company said.
The four fictional female employees are station attendant Hsiao Chung (小穹), customer service employee Nai Nai (耐耐), train driver Emilia and maintenance engineer Chieh Er (婕兒).
They were created via a joint initiative by KRTC and a team of animation artists in November last year and are used to promote the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.
Photo: CNA
Products such as shopping bags, backpacks, fans, postcards, bookmarks and badges displaying images of the K.R.T. Girls were designed and produced through cooperation between KRTC and the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
KRTC said sales of the products could reach NT$4 million this year.
A Kaohsiung MRT carriage decorated with the fictional characters is operating on the MRT’s Orange Line until Nov. 1 and has attracted the attention of many cosplay fans, including visitors from Japan.
The K.R.T. Girls have also drawn the interest of a local game company and Japanese publisher GA Bunko, which want to use the characters to promote new products, KRTC Department of Public Affairs head Shih Yao-cheng (石耀誠) said.
A Japanese light novel series centered on the K.R.T. Girls is to be published online by GA Bunko beginning next month, with the paperback version to be published by the end of the year, Japanese media reported earlier this month.
The Kaohsiung MRT system has two lines, the Orange Line and the Red Line, and 37 stations, spanning 42.7km.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS