Brian Ashcraft

Larry Page Shows Bill Gates How It’s Done in South Korea

Last week, Bill Gates caused a brouhaha in South Korea because of the way he shook hands with President Geun Hye Park. In the wake of that, Google co-founder Larry Page schooled Gates on Korean manners. Page was in South Korea late last week to visit Samsung’s OLED factory for about an hour and have…

A new Dead or Alive 5 project is “coming soon” to the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Yosuke Hayashi, Team Ninja’s leader, recently announced that the “newest work” (最新作) for Dead or Alive 5 was “currently in development” and showed a very brief trailer. It sounds like a stand-alone title, so it might be a…

How to Make Piccolo from Dragon Ball Look “Ordinary”

Piccolo is a character in Dragon Ball. He’s green! But what if he wasn’t green? And didn’t look like a bad guy, but a bald guy? On 2ch, Japan’s largest online forum, drawings of Piccolo with light-colored skin were posted, with the uploader apologizing in jest. (You can use these Piccolo images as masks, if…

Japan’s Leader Appeals to Geeks with a Military Tank

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ticked off people in South Korea and China. This weekend, he hung out with nerds and got in a tank. NicoNico Douga, Japan’s popular video channel, hosted a big meet up this past Saturday and Sunday, celebrating the country’s internet and geek culture. It seemed like an unlikely…

Blame Photoshop for Korea’s Beauty Queen “Clones”?

This week, photos of Korean contestants surfaced online. The photos all seemed eerily similar. Plastic surgery was blamed for these “clone contestants”. If only it were that simple. It was aJapanese blog, which specializes in translating Korean news, that was one of the first to upload the images. However, when said images reached English cyberspace…

Even Snape from Harry Potter Can Be “Cute”

Alan Rickman, the actor who plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, is one handsome man. He isn’t, however, what I would call “cute”. But what if he wants to be cute? Well, there’s an app for that. In Japan (and other places, too, I imagine), there are smartphone apps that make your eyes…

South Korea Got an Official Iron Man 3 Cake

Iron Man 3 is out in South Korea. And the country has an official Iron Man 3 cake to prove it. The official cake is from chain Paris Baguette, and the box also doubles as an Iron Man face mask. How marvellous! This once again proves that everything should get its own cake. Eat [wingspig…

Final Fantasy Tactics S, a new Final Fantasy Tactics social game, was just announced for Japan. “S”? Social? Geddit?

You’ll Never Forget Japan’s Tomato Hairdo

Japan loves hair salons and fancy hair. For centuries, the country has been obsessed with various coiffures. Today is no different. This hairstyle, however, is. The style is called “Ripe Tomato” (“kanjuku tomato” or 完熟トマト). It was done by a stylist named “Hiro” at an Osaka salon called “Trick Store”, which is located the city’s…

That New “Niche” JRPG Brand Doesn’t Have Niche Talent

Galapagos RPG, a new “niche” Japanese game brand, teased its first project. Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame, Nobuo Uematsu (and his band the Earthbound Papas) of Final Fantasy music fame, and the Hyperdimension Neptunia team are all listed as participating. More details, including the game’s name, will be revealed in a future issue of…

Conference or Not, We’ll Cherish These E3 Nintendo Memes Forever

Nintendo is not holding a big time E3 press conference this year. Bummer! Know why that’s a bummer? The memes and the memories, that’s why. In the past, Nintendo’s E3 press conferences have given birth to some of the best gaming memes the internet has seen. Thus, this summer could see a huge hole in…

U.S. Ambassador: Stop Pirating Game of Thrones, Australia!

Jeffrey Bleich, the U.S. Ambassador to Australia, has sent out warning. It’s a matter of foreign policy. Serious stuff! Bleich doesn’t want Australians to pirate Game of Thrones. On his official Facebook page, the one that actually says “Ambassador Bleich”, there is a post titled “Stopping the Game of Clones”. I have taken a screen-cap…

Another Japanese Schoolgirl Photo Meme to Sweep the Internet

It all started with Japanese schoolgirls doing Dragon Ball attacks. That spread to people doing Street Fighter and Star Wars moves. And Japanese schoolboys playing fake Quidditch. Where to go from here? A little after the schoolgirl Dragon Ball meme first blew up this spring, the below photo popped up online in Japan. It shows…

Parents Ask Vladmir Putin To Ban Death Note in Russia

This past February, a fifteen year-old girl jumped to her death in Yekaterinburg, Russia. In her room, four copies of the wildly popular Japanese manga Death Note were discovered along with a suicide note that read, “I don’t want to live anymore”. Some blamed the comic for the girl’s death, and now a group of…

Japan Has a Giant Godzilla You Can Play With

Kurihama Flower Park is not safe! Actually, it is. The giant Godzilla that towers above the play area doesn’t breathe fire. Heck, it doesn’t even move. But, the kaiju does have an unusual secret. This nine meter tall, five ton Godzilla is actually playground equipment. The monster’s tail doubles as a slide for children. However,…

At a recent meeting, Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata said (via Reuters Japan and Business Week) that Nintendo isn’t currently planning on lowering the Wii U’s price to improve sales.

That Huge Anime Inspired Hamburger Looks Gross

Today in Japan, fast food chain Lotteria launched its ridiculous nine-patty hamburger, which was inspired by anime Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. While the promotional photo showed a proud hamburger, the real deal is…yeah Dubbed the “Q-Story Cheese Burger”, it’s priced at the equivalent of US$12.86. Here are various pics collected via Twitter: まいく,…

An Iron Man 3 Poster You Will Never Forget

In Taiwan, Iron Man 3 isn’t the only super hero movie debuting this spring. There’s another one. HK: Hentai Kamen is opening soon in Taiwan. This is why, according to Wow! News, internet users in Taiwan have whipped up this unforgettable Iron Man 3 and HK collaboration by combining movie posters as a gesture of…support.…

The Most Expensive Wii U System On Sale in Japan

A good rule of thumb is that if something needs to be wheeled in, it’s probably expensive. This is the JoySound Festa. It’s an on-demand karaoke system from Xing, a Japanese karaoke company (no, it’s not from Nintendo per se!). According to Sankei, the set-up uses the Wii U’s software, the Wii U GamePad, and…

In Japan, Saying “Thanks” with Mustard Is Possible But Not Recommended

Let’s say you eat out in Japan. And let’s say, the food is really good. Ditto for the service. How do you express your gratitude? Well, there’s always mustard… The phrase “Mustard Thanks” (“masutaado sankusu” or マスタードサンクス) started popping up increasingly online in Japan this past February and March. It supposedly refers to writing a…