Happy (4 days after) Valentines Day! For those of you who have not had enough chocolate and other sweets this week, we are happy to bring you a tasty selection of sugary sweet Flipnotes from around the world.
On Valentine's Day in Japan, women typically give chocolates or other sweets to men. There is another holiday on March 14 (one month after Valentine's Day) called "White Day" where men then give back some sweets to the people who gave them a gift on Valentine's Day. (Of course, some men do give gifts to women on Valentine's Day too!)
This week one of the Hatena staff baked a batch of cookies with the logos for the various Hatena services on them for all of us to enjoy on Valentine's Day. The cookies were truly delicious, and we had a great time eating them.
For the coming week we have a new topic that is not based on food, and is a topic that you should take some time to reflect upon before you get started.
Thanks for checking out the news and we're looking forward to seeing your Flipnote creations!
Flipnote of the Week
This week's winner of the Flipnote of the Week award is Fred (id:blankenburg) from the Americas region.
★ Fred made this bizarre and wonderful 150 frame animation titled "Melting Man" with the Nintendo DSi Camera application and Flipnote Studio. We like to see people try new things with Flipnote Studio, and Fred never ceases to surprise us with the fun variety of stuff that he posts.
The best of last week's topic: "Sweets"
We've selected some of the sweetest Flipnotes posted from around the world that we hope you'll enjoy. Don't forget to bring a hearty appetite, and remember to brush your teeth before you go to sleep.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
"Sweets" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ We really enjoyed "Berry Dipped in Chocolate" by Pep (id:Parasite), which has nice flowing animation and simple sound effects.
★ Zach (id:Hyrule-villager) created this heartwarming story about a grandfather offering a sweet to his grandchild.
★ We like the upbeat soundtrack and cute story of this Valentine themed Flipnote by SnowyOwl (id:BurrowingOwl208).
★ Sweet thoughts turn into reality in this nicely animated Flipnote by RoXas (id:CCsprint).
★ We really liked this Flipnote by Juanita (id:jalapenoflower) about an elderly couple remembering Valentine's Days they enjoyed in the past, and enjoying the present too.
★ cosmasque (id:cosmasque) made this funny Flipnote titled "Candyllusion" about a boy who just can't get enough of sweets.
"Sweets" Flipnotes from Japan
★ This Flipnote titled "Sweets Battle" by Gurantokuroru (id:gorirago) features two characters engaged in a sugary fight to the finish.
★ A young girl has sweet dreams in this cute Flipnote by Rie (id:fbkinbyzk9116).
★ This beautifully illustrated Flipnote titled "Sweets Memory" by Fu-min (id:wrbyno10) is about memories that a woman has as she enjoys a piece of cake.
★ This Flipnote by Churipapu (id:churi-pap) titled "Factory Visit" shows some children learning about how cakes are made in a sweets factory.
★ We really enjoyed this Valentine themed Flipnote by A85 (id:a200v), that is titled "Having Everything Sweet In Your Life Is Not Interesting".
★ kana (id:kana-04_15) made this excellent Flipnote about a young woman making some handmade sweets for a special friend on Valentine's Day.
"Sweets" Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region
★ Enjoy some bubble gum in this Flipnote by mrjohn (id:mrjohn) that combines hand drawn and photographed animation.
★ We liked this Flipnote by Louisa (id:louziewoo) about a bittersweet problem on Valentine's Day.
★ Mr.Gurgles (id:J-dude) posted this strange and wonderful Flipnote titled "Toby Vs. Candy" that will make you smile.
★ A young girl prepares a Valentine gift for a friend in this nicely drawn Flipnote by KiWi =_= (id:AlasKamilla).
★ Two characters enjoy sharing some bubble gum in this cute Flipnote by ※ Imbest ※ (id:imbest).
★ A character embraces his sweetheart in this short and sweet Flipnote by Spongebob (id:witzig).
This week's topic: "Mirror" (Feb. 18, 2011 - Feb. 24, 2011)
This week we would like to create Flipnotes that somehow feature mirrors. Think of topics such as people looking at themselves in the mirror in the morning, an alternate world that exists inside of mirrors, funhouses and trick mirrors, or mirrored images. See where your creativity takes you. (Please be careful not to break any mirrors in your Flipnotes or you may have seven years of bad luck.)
We are looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones in the next edition of Flipnote Hatena Weekly News. Post the Flipnotes you create to the channel below from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
Also, please do not use copyrighted music in your Flipnotes if you want them to be featured here.
You can see all of the Flipnotes currently posted about this week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
Please note that you will need to submit your weekly topic Flipnotes by February 24, 2011 (Thursday).
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created two new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details about the new themes.
★ This theme features some sketchbooks decorated with the Flipnote frog, and are available in blue and green text versions. (5 color stars each)
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo or illustration featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog please post them on Hatena Haiku and we might feature it here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
★ This is a nice line drawing of a frog posted to Hatena Haiku by id:Gabtraf
Please let us know what you think about the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog by posting any comments you might have in the box below. Thanks!
★ You can also see comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the comments for the Flipnote below:
