Retail listings for the Japanese Delivery Service Partner edition of the upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 operating system have revealed two new moe mascot characters. The DSP edition of Windows 8 Pro 64bit will be available on October 26 in a launch pack with two character versions: Madobe Yū and Madobe Ai. Both versions will include theme pack wallpaper, event sounds in the respective character's voice, and a Microsoft Wedge touch Mouse with the Windows 8 logo. The packs will retail at 19,980 yen (about US$255) each.

In addition, Limited Akihabara Editions of both versions will be offered in Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district with additional exclusive voice samples. The bundled mouse in each Limited Akihabara Edition will have an illustration of its respective character.



Asuka Nishi voices the short-haired Yū, while Nao Tamura voices the long-haired Ai. Microsoft did not officially announce these characters, nor has it revealed their connection to the previous Windows mascot, Madobe Nanami.

Nanami was the mascot character for the DSP edition of Windows 7 in 2009, and she was aimed at owners of build-it-yourself custom personal computers. Played by voice actress/singer Nana Mizuki , she eventually inspired her own anime commercial and browser mini-game. Microsoft Japan also created a Cloud Girl - Mado to Kumo to Aoi Sora- manga to explain the Windows Azure cloud services system, while Microsoft Taiwan created still another moe mascot character, Hikaru Aizawa, for the Microsoft Silverlight application framework.

The name "Nanami Madobe" can be interpreted as a wordplay on Nana Mizuki 's name, as well as on the Japanese words madobe ("by the window") and nana ("seven"). Similarly, Yū and Ai are homonyms of the English words "you" and "I."

Source: Akiba PC Hotline! (Impress Watch) via Hachima Kikō