Brian Ashcraft

Japanese Vending Machines Tell People To Wear A Mask, Wash Their Hands And Gargle

This week, new vending machines that tell customers to fight the coronavirus were unveiled in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As NHK reports, the samurai-themed machines have a pre-recorded message that states, “Fight the coronavirus! Wear a mask, wash your hands, and gargle.” When people get their drink, the message adds, “Well done! Always be prepared.” The…

Teenager Arrested In Japan After Kicking Arcade Machine

At many arcades in Japan there is often an amusement cabinet called a punching machine that measures how hard one can punch. A sixteen-year-old has been arrested after kicking one. Here is a YouTube clip from 2012 showing a punching machine in action: According to Kobe Shimbun Next, a sixteen-year-old resident of Kakogawa city, was…

Track: Ghost | Artist: Hitsujibungaku | Album: Powers

Things Are Horrible For Japanese Arcades Right Now

No doubt, the pandemic is bad for lots of businesses. But in Japan, it’s especially awful for arcades. Because Japan is currently under a state of emergency due to covid-19, nightspots have been ordered to close early. If they don’t, they risk fines. As AFP News reports, bars and restaurants get compensation from the government…

Japanese Animator Gets Four Months In Prison For Driving Without A License

This week at a Tokyo District Court, animator Shiro Kudaka has been sentenced to four months in prison for driving without a license and violating Japan’s Road Traffic Act. Kudaka has provided animation—including earning key animator credits—for a number of popular TV series, including Lupin III, Naruto, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. He has also worked…

McDonald’s Pokémon Card Packs Are Selling Out

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pocket Monsters, McDonald’s is including Pokémon card packs in Happy Meals. It seemed like a good idea! Others thought so, too. Included are four random cards out of a 50-card set, Inven reports. The rarest or most valuable cards are, as ever, the shiny versions. Some collectors and YouTubers…

Track: Shimanchu nu Takara | Artist: Begin | Album: Begin no Shimauta: Omoto Takeo 2 

The Original Voice of Studio Ghibli’s Porco Rosso Has Died At 86 Years Old

Shuichiro Moriyama, known for his acting and voice work, has passed away after entering a hospital in Saitama, Japan for pneumonia. He was 86. Moriyama had a long, varied career. Not only did he appear in Japanese theater, live-action TV shows, and feature films like 1996’s Shall We Dance?, he also did a range of…

The Pokémon Company Screwed Up A Plushie And Is Sorry

Official Pokémon retail shops released a Magnemite plushie featuring a pretty significant mistake. Many people might not even spot the error at first glance, but those who are drawn to the electric steel Pokémon certainly will. Compare the official art (above) with the plush toy mistake (below). Can you spot the snafu? Surely the big…

CD Projekt Red Hit By Cyber Attack, Source Code For Cyberpunk 2077 And Witcher 3 Held For Ransom

CD Projekt Red is the latest game company to be hit by a cyber attack. The company released a statement on Twitter this morning saying an “unidentified actor” has hacked some of its systems, and included a screenshot of the ransom note. Accessed data includes source code for some of the studio’s games, alongside internal…

Decades Later, Sailor Saturn’s Transformation Scene Appears In Anime

For well over two decades, we haven’t seen the henshin shiin (変身シーン) or “transformation scene” from Sailor Moon’s Sailor Saturn in an anime. That is, it seems, until now. The upcoming feature film Sailor Moon Eternal will apparently feature the on-screen transformation of Hotaru Tomoe into Sailor Saturn. Parts of the sequence appear in the…

Track: Mitainakoto | Artist: Yonige | Album: Kenzen Na Shakai

Sony will finally release the PlayStation 5 in mainland China during the next quarter. As analyst Daniel Ahmad points out, players in the country have already been importing the console from abroad. 

Japanese Politicians Are Sorry For Ripping Off Anime Logo

Anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is box office smash in Japan. One politician was hoping some of its popularity would rub off, it seems, and borrowed the logo for a campaign poster. Demon Slayer, of course, is a massively successful anime and manga. Fukuoka politician Makoto Oniki (鬼木誠) copied the logo, substituting his name…

Promised Neverland Fans Aren’t Thrilled With Season 2

If you’ve read The Promised Neverland manga, you might have noticed something missing in the anime’s second season Warning: This article has spoilers. In anime’s second season has omitted the Goldy Pond arc, ditching all these chapters, and skipping ahead in the storyline. For many readers of the original manga, this arc is among their…

Track: Discreet Music (Remastered 2004) | Artist: Brian Eno | Album: Discreet Music

The rebooted Resident Evil movie is slated for release on September 3, 2021. As Slash Film notes, it’s unclear if the movie will be released in theaters or streaming. Kotaku previously reported that Constantin Film is working with writer-director Johannes Roberts on the reboot. 

Let’s See How Judgment On PS5 Looks Compared To The PS4 Version

Judgment originally debuted as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2018. It looked great! As announced this week, the game is going multiplatform and bound for the PlayStation 5. The game stars Japanese superstar Takuya Kimura as sleuth Takayuki Yagami as he tries to find a serial killer in Kamurocho, a fictionalized version of Shinjuku’s entertainment…

Track: Design as Reduction | Artist: Brian Eno | Album: Film Music Europa

Man Arrested After Selling A Hacked Sobble From Pokémon Sword and Shield

People in Aichi Prefecture, Japan have arrested a 23-year-old man for violating the country’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act. According to Asahi News, the suspect is accused of selling a modded Sobble. Last April, the suspect, an unemployed Nagoya resident, allegedly hacked the character via computer and sold it to a Kyoto man for 4,400 yen…