Central Park Media has announced the April release of the live action film Legend of the Doll (MSRP $19.95), the first film in the Akihabara trilogy. The 68-minute, unrated comedy/fantasy follows the adventures of Ryouta, an action-figure collecting, model-making otaku, who is on the verge of completing his collection of rare action figures when a gang of toughs seize the rare figure he has just purchased at a shop in Akihabara. Disconsolate, he wanders the streets of the 'otaku' district until he finds a bizarre, back alley shop where he purchases a model of Airu another rare figure. When Ryouta puts this model together Airu turns into a real girl.
Written by the producer of Shall We Dance and Gamera, Legend of the Doll is a prime live action example of the 'robot girlfriend' genre that is popular in both manga and anime (Chobits, Video Girl Ai, DearS etc.).