Brian Ashcraft

This Miss Universe Contestant Is a Giant Comic Book Nerd

Meet Yukimi Matsuo. She is representing Japan in the Miss Universe competition. And she not only loves manga, she also draws it. Yesterday, Matsuo was named Miss Universe Japan and will represent the country in the upcoming Miss Universe Pageant. The 25 year-old’s desire to compete is perhaps different from other contestants: “The reason why…

Watch a Shirtless Man Get Tased By the ‘Taser Sword’

Someone over on Reddit uploaded this video of his buddy’s “Taser Sword,” which is a double bladed sword wrapped in electrical tape with a taser built in. It’s truly terrifying. That same someone has created a video showing what it’s like to be stunned with the Taser Sword as well as how you can sword…

One of Japan’s Greatest (and Oldest) Manga Artists, Eating a McDonald’s Hamburger.

Shigeru Mizuki is best known as the creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro. Before becoming a famous manga artist, he survived serving in World War II, catching malaria and having his arm blown off. Now at a spritely 90 years old, he’s eating burgers. Good for him! Usually, greasy fast food might be rough on elderly…

Behold, Some of Japan’s Dirtiest Rooms

There’s a stereotype that all Japanese people are very clean and neat. This stereotype is just not true. Some folks in Japan keep a clean house, but some roost in pigsties. And, yes, many of those folks are female. See, in Japan, that’s the other stereotype: that guys’ rooms are usually messy, with discarded instant…

The developers behind Dynasty Warriors 8 apologized for all the game’s bugs and are investigating.

This Japanese Sword Will Amaze You

Last summer, a Japanese sword exhibit that featured Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired blades was held in Okayama Prefecture. This weekend on Twitter, a friend of one of the traditional craftsmen who participated in the event apparently said he created a short sword to leave something behind, whether it’s this Asuka carving or whatever, so that it…

Report: Shenmue Creator Still Wants To Do Shenmue III

Back in 2010, Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki said he wanted to do Shenmue III. Now, in 2013, he reportedly told a French journalist that he still wants to do Shenmue III. But this time, he’s apparently thinking about doing a Kickstarter for the game. Progress! According to Sebastien-Abdelhamid at Canal Street, Suzuki is also keen…

If You’re Going to Deface Your School Books, Do It Well. Like This.

Doodling in your text books is bad! I do not recommend it. At all. However, let’s say you have to doodle in your text—like, if you don’t, you get in trouble. Then, by all means, please deface the book in the most entertaining way possible. Above, you can see Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen getting the…

This Must Be the Coolest University Graduation Ceremony on Earth

Think your graduation was cool? Maybe it was. Maybe it was totally gnarly. But, I’ll tell you what, I’m pretty damn sure Sailor Moon didn’t roll in and a red Pikmin didn’t stroll up on stage. Oh, and there probably wasn’t a large Wii Remote, nor was there a large Xperia phone. Call it a…

This Japanese Schoolgirl Trend Is Messy, Wasteful, and Maybe Delicious

Over the years, Japanese schoolgirls have spearheaded an array of trends. They’ve set the agenda. From tech to fashion, they’ve been innovators, dictating to the nation what’s cool and what’s not. This latest trend is anything but cool. Disgusting? Perhaps. Wasteful? Definitely. Yummy? Well, it does involve cream puffs. In Japanese, cream puffs are called…

You Had One Job, and You Screwed Up “Naruto”

It’s “Naruto”. Not “Nartuo”. N-A-R-U-T-O. Naruto This was noticed earlier this week by Rich at IGN, and as far as embarrassing box art misspellings go, “Nartuo” tops Resident Evil: Revelaitons Revelations Someone at Namco Bandai had one job to do! Only one! At least they got “Shippuden” right. And “Powerful,” for that matter. Namco is…

Man Accidentally Bumps Dude Playing a Video Game, Leads to Argument and Slashing

Tokyo seems super safe. For the most part, it is. But be careful, there are some dangerous folks out there: NHK is reporting that this week in Tokyo, a 39 year-old man accidentally bumped the arm of a fellow portable game-playing passenger while riding the Sobu train line. That escalated into an argument, and when…

Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Sure Looks Pretty with Makeup

Cloud Strife is one good looking video game character. He really is. Dude’s got spiky hair, piercing eyes, and nice threads. But what if he wore cosmetics? What would he look like? On Twitter, a FFVII diehard answered that question by applying makeup to the swordsman’s face, noting that the character looked very feminine. Male…

Why Kids Keep Crapping in Public in China

Every week, it seems like photos of someone, often little kids, crapping in public appear online in China. This usually creates all kinds of havoc, often with people criticizing the parents (or grandparents) for letting the kids do their business in a public place. But why does it keep happening? Note: this story contains a…

Batman and The Pope: sister site Jalopnik makes a comparison

Something’s Starting Up with Final Fantasy XI

How mysterious! A tweet from the official Final Fantasy XI account read, “The heck is this… Is something starting up…?!” Included was the above image. Back in 2011, former Final Fantasy XI Hiromichi Tanaka mentioned that Square Enix was considering a straight port of FFXI to the PS Vita. But at that time, it was…

Hong Kong watchdog group says some Apple suppliers in China treat employees “like slaves”. More on MIC

What Is The Most Popular Sushi in Japan? Let’s Find Out.

Sushi is delicious. There’s a variety of different kinds, but certainly everyone has his or her favorite. And if you do the math, you should be able to deduce the most popular kind of sushi in Japan. So let’s do that. Math. Nari Nari reports that Asahi polled 830 people across Japan (443 men and…

Sorry China, This Pig-Faced Fish Is Not Real

I’m no marine biologist, but I’m pretty dang sure that fish don’t have pig faces. There are hogfish and pigfish. But little pig eyes? Pointy pig ears? Nah. That’s bunk. Call it a hunch. Yet, this photo has become a hot topic on uber popular Chinese bulletin board, TT.mop. With river pollution a serious problem,…

Ninja Boobies and a Price Cut Help the PS Vita in Japan

The PS Vita isn’t dead in Japan. Yet. Kidding! (Well, sorta.) Earlier today, the PS Vita’s Japan-only price cut went into effect. Along with the cheaper portable, Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus (and its limited edition pack) also went on sale. Thus, there was a line at the Yodobashi in Tokyo’s Akihabara. Granted, this doesn’t mean…