Brian Ashcraft

The Anime Art Meme You Can Pinch for Real

The latest meme to come out of Japan has people drawing anime (or manga) style characters on the back of their hands. And? Pinch them The above photo was uploaded by Twitter user sakunyan3939 shows a back-of-the-hand getting a good cheek pinch. Cute stuff. The image was retweeted 17,000 times and spawned other photos. Here…

Don’t Use Real Rabbits as Your Smartphone Case

Earlier this month, a Twitter user in Japan uploaded a photo of a “bunny smartphone case.” The image was retweeted over 37,000 times and, of course, has spawned a meme. Of course! Here is the pic that started it all. [Photo: ryooneokrock1] But hey, these are real animals. And they have feelings. They’re not smartphone…

Japan Is Even Censoring The Evil Within‘s “Uncensored” Version

The Japanese version of The Evil Within has filtered gore. So while the game is certainly creepy, it’s just not as bloody as it is in the West. Good thing there’s a download for an uncensored version. Shame this DLC doesn’t actually do that, though. As our colleagues at Kotaku UK previously pointed out, the…

High Fashion Is Best When It Looks like Anime

It really is! Take this this outfit created by fashion designer Junya Watanabe. It looks like Bobobo from the manga and anime series Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. The similarity was noted by Twitter user Hound_7, who wrote, “This appears to be clothing designed by a famous fashion designer, but sorry, it looks like Bobobo.” The images have…

Turn Your Cat into an RPG Character

If you’ve ever dreamed of being able to play a cutesy RPG with a character based on your cat, good news. Your dreams are apparently reality. Slated for smartphones, the game, titled Neko Mimi Sabaibaa! (or Cat Ear Survivor!), has players to take photos of their cat with the “Nyanko Camera” function, which creates an…

Making Anime Faces Is Hard in Real-Life

You know sometimes the expressions you see in anime are incredibly exaggerated? They look hard to pull off in real life. Turns out, they are. This is Sekaichizu Kinoshita, whom Kotaku first introduced this past spring. Kinoshita has been trying to make a name for himself as the guy who imitates the various twisty facial…

Mario Kart 8 DLC Adds a Classic Stage

Initially, Mario Kart 8 DLC looked like it was going to be yucky. But now it seems like it could be quite good, with Link, Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach. But there’s more, including Yoshi Circuit from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! In this trailer, you can see how the course looks for Mario Kart 8.…

How About Some Delicious Gundam Cake?

Sure, I mean, why not? Because this is green tea flavored cake modeled after the MS-06 Zaku II mobile suit. It’s not the first Zaku Gundam cake from Bandai, and it probably won’t be the last. The sponge cake is made with of coffee flavored mousse layered on a green tea mousse. The Beam Saber…

Oh Hi, Terrifying Toilet Paper

I’m not sure what I’d do if I opened the stall door and saw this. Perhaps shut it and back out of the restroom slowly? “I found something shocking in the bathroom,” tweeted Mea. She sure did. And she doesn’t appear to be the only one who thinks so. These “toilet paper art” photos have…

The New 3DS Is the Portable Nintendo Should’ve Released Years Ago

I’m not saying the original 3DS is bad. I’m not saying that at all. What I’m saying is that the New Nintendo 3DS seems so good. It would’ve been nice to have this from the get go. But, wait, you say, what is this? What’s so damn new about it? The New Nintendo 3DS is…

How Japan Makes Winter Food Very, Very Cute

You’ve seen what creative people in Japan have done with bentos, right? Well, imagine the same thing with hot stews. It’s fall! Soon it will be winter. And in late fall and especially during winter, people in Japan traditionally make hot-pots, called “nabemono” (鍋物) or simply, “nabe” (鍋). And now, some folks are making them…

You Can Buy Replica One Piece Swords for Nearly $1,000

Calling all One Piece fans! (With money to burn.) Now, you can buy some of the most famous swords from the famed manga and anime series. Toho Animation is teaming up with Japanese sword craftsmen for a series of four replica One Piece blades. These are expensive replicas that are built-to-order and are not mass…

Japanese TV Is Actually Pretty Dull, But This Show Looks Interesting

Online in Japan, people are calling new children’s show Dxuntsukupa: Music Time, well, “odd,” “awful,” and even “very interesting.” When foreigners visit Japan, one of the first things they say is that the country’s television is unusual. Generally speaking, I don’t think it’s too peculiar. Most shows are just people eating stuff or talk shows…

This Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET, Nintendo is holding a Wii U live-stream event to showcase fifty new things in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Fifty new things in the Wii U version, huh? One of them better not be the title!

Pizza Hut Unleashes a Cranberry Crust Pizza on South Korea

And it’s in a cream cheese-filling. I dunno, I’m hip. I’ll try it! Dubbed the “Star Edge Pizza” (due to its shape), the 13-incher is covered with bacon, beef, sausages, calamari, shrimp, broccoli, and, yes, cheese. As Korea Realtime adds, you can either get cranberry cream cheese stuffed in the crust or apple cinnamon cream…

A 21-year-old man was arrested in Tokyo’s geek and gaming district Akihabara for allegedly robbing a maid cafe. Before committing the robbery, the suspect apparently got his photo taken with a maid.

Ridiculous Burger Tower Looks “Worse” in Real-Life

Today in Japan and today only, fastfood chain Lotteria is bringing back its five-patty Tower Cheese Burger for a mere 500 yen (US$4.66). That’s a good deal for all the burger—and cheese—you get. Online in Japan, net users were quick to point out that Tower Burger’s reality, of course, didn’t look like Lotteria’s promotional material.…

The Great Nintendo 3DS Race. Which One Is Fastest?

Last week, Kotaku did an unscientific speed test with the New Nintendo 3DS and the regular Nintendo 3DS. This week, you can see all 3DS consoles, including the NN3DS XL, face off. Let’s see which one is the quickest. The above speed test shows how long it takes to boot up Super Smash Bros. for…

This Is How Cats Will Rise Up and Destroy Us All

Which, you know, might not be a bad thing. This is Momotaro, whose owner is telling the feline to “stand.” In the video, you can hear the owner praise the cat, saying, “You look like a human.” Of course, this isn’t the only standing cat on the internet (this one right here might be the…

Handheld Gaming Continues To Rule in Japan

So last week, the New Nintendo 3DS was released in Japan as was Monster Hunter 4G. Both highlight the obvious: Handheld gaming is still very big in the country. Let’s be honest, home consoles still aren’t really doing spectacular in Japan. But they’re not dying by a damn sight. According to Media Create, Sony sold…