Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann recognized four students from the Punahou School Anime Club for designing the Honolulu Police Department's new bicycle safety message. Punahou seniors Amy Yamasaki, Arlynne Criste, Michael Fujita and junior Analia Hermosillo, along with club advisor Anna Liem, received certificates of recognition from the Mayor.

HPD is distributing 36,000 flyers and 700 posters with the club's design to elementary school-aged students statewide, and to neighborhood boards, doctors' offices and hospitals. The six-paneled anime-inspired story traces a young girl's introduction to bike safety with bold lines and colors.

In January, HPD invited the club to design a new safety poster. "This was a first for us as a division to work with students in illustrating a traffic message," said Captain Evan Ching of HPD's Traffic Division. He said that anime's popularity with young kids kicked off the idea. The department was more than happy with the results. "We were blown away by the students' creativity," Ching said.

"I'm delighted that the Punahou students in the Anime Club have had the opportunity to share their talents with our Honolulu Police Department," Mayor Hannemann said. "The posters and flyers they've helped to create will help us get the word out about the importance of bicycle safety."

Speaking after meeting with the Mayor, Arlynne Criste said she was delighted with unexpected reach of the project. "We're so happy that we got to do something that will benefit so many students."