Brian Ashcraft

The Batmobile, Totally Geeked Out

Hong Kong toy company Hot Toys recently held an “itasha” competition to see who could cover its Batmobile/Tumbler model in nerd cool the best in hopes of winning Batman figurines. In Japanese, the slang “itasha” (痛車) literally means “painmobile”. These sticker-covered cars have become a way for Japanese geeks to show their nerd pride while…

Aliens: This Time It’s an Amazing Ice Sculpture

Fish and animals are typical ice sculpture fodder. This isn’t your typical ice sculpture. It isn’t that at all. According to Obvious Winner, Japanese ice artist Koji Kareki and Ottawa’s Kei Sakugawa carved this Queen from Aliens for the annual Winterlude winter festival in Canada. Very impressive! If you dig their work (and really, why…

A Superhero Movie Unlike Anything You’ve Ever Seen

Bare man ass. Panty mask. Spinning crotch attacks. WTF? The newly released trailer for HK is really unlike any other superhero movie you’ll ever see. Scratch that, it’s like anything you’ll see. Ever. First teased this past fall, HK is short for Hentai Kamen (“Masked Pervert”), a parody manga featuring a sexed up superhero, who…

This Child’s X-Men Valentine Is Just the Most Adorable Thing

Happy Valentine’s Day, Kotaku! May you have a lovely, romantic, and very red February 14. FranklyMyDearest at Reddit uploaded this cute Cyclops drawing. Wish I could have gotten a valentine like this… [FranklyMyDearest@Reddit]

Latest Dead or Alive 5 Patch Brings Enhanced Boob Control

Just because Team Ninja, the developers behind Dead or Alive, are all out of fucks to give about releasing hyper-sexualized games, that doesn’t mean they’re not updating Dead or Alive 5. The latest update sneaks in, wait for it, a breast jiggling Easter Egg. Shocking! Spotted by GameFAQS, patch 1.03A for the PS3 version gives…

Ys and The Legend of the Heroes developer Falcom is opening a new smartphone and tablets studio.

Asians Taking a Test To Tell Asians Apart

Who looks Japanese? Can you distinguish between Korean and Chinese people? Website AllLookSame.com tests people’s facial recognition ability. This week, the website’s test has been appearing on numerous popular Japanese blogs, such as Rocket News. How are people in Asia doing with recognizing people from other nationalities? The “average” score is seven out of 18.…

Yes, The PlayStation’s Startup Music Is Still Orgasmic

Remember when the original PlayStation came out? Better yet, remember how incredibly amazing the system’s start up music was? Holy smoke, that was good—and it’s even amazing all these years later. With Sony getting ready to announce the future of the PlayStation on February 20, now is as good a time as any to look…

Two Dudes Making a Little Girl Wait To Play an Arcade Game That’s… for Little Girls

At most arcades in Japan, there’s a section for kids. The kiddy games are often card (or plastic puck) based. There are kiddy arcade games aimed at little boys and ones aimed at little girls. Sounds like these two clowns didn’t get the message. This photo was snapped at a Sega arcade in Japan. Two…

Blame Japan’s Perverted Superhero for This Panty Insanity

Hentai Kamen, “the abnormal super hero”, is getting his own movie. The flick was teased last fall, and a live-action film called HK is slated for an April release in Japan. This post has content some readers might find unsuitable. Hentai Kamen is a manga that followed a mankini-wearing hero who got superpowers from wearing…

Lineage Cosplay Needs Fancy Outfits and Giant Swords

In Asia, especially South Korea, the Lineage games are quite popular. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t fans in the West. That doesn’t mean that at all. In fact, some of Lineage‘s biggest fans in the West love showing their appreciation of the massive multiplayer online role-playing game the best way they know how: by…

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is getting an online FPS next year, Famitsu reports

Yes, This Is Bruce Willis Made Out of Chocolate

As part of a promotion for A Good Day to Die Hard, a life-sized chocolate statue of John McClane (née Bruce Willis) was wheeled out for a press conference this evening in Japan. The flick opens on February 14, which is Valentine’s Day—hence the chocolate. Shame the statue doesn’t really look like Bruce Willis. But…

This Modern Japanese Ruin Would Make a Fascinating Computer Game

“Haikyo” (廃墟) means “ruins” or “abandoned building” in English. Previously, a haikyo and the story it told provided inspiration for an indie game. This latest discovery could, too. Website Tokyo Times explored a huge abandoned house that belonged to a wealthy Japanese politician. The house was built from concrete in 1928. Two years later, the…

This Man Really Loves Ramen Noodle Soup

Meet Steven Jo. The guy loves ramen noodle soup. So. Damn. Much. Check out more of Steven Jo’s music on his YouTube channel Ramen Noodle Soup! [StevenJoTV@YouTube via BuzzFeed] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from…

Japanese Politicians Make the Best Zombies

Zombies make everything better. They really do. Even Japanese politics. Spotted at the recent Wonder Festival figure event, here is a collection of “Zombie Politician Busts.” The small statues are of Japanese political bigwigs, former PMs Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, power broker Ichiro Ozawa, and politician Azuma Koshiishi The busts are an interesting commentary…

How a PS3 Game Launched Japan’s Newest Sex Symbol

These days, it seems like you cannot turn on the TV in Japan without seeing her. Her name is Mitsu Dan. She’s currently Japan’s biggest sex symbol, appearing in racy TV shows and even racier movies and photo spreads. But before rocketing to fame last fall, she was just another pin-up model, and her biggest…

Beware of Fake Pokémon Scans

This Pokémon trainer art does resemble the male trainer in very real Pokémon X/Y screens. But it is not a real Japanese magazine scan. It looks like one, but it’s so fake. Here’s why. For example, here it gives “atarashishii” as the reading for the Japanese word for “new”, which is “atarashii” (新しい). This mistake…

Watch North Korean TV Announce The Nuclear Test

Earlier today in Asia, North Korea carried out its third nuclear test. The country’s central news station in Pyongyang announced the news. As ShanghaiIst points out, the anchor isn’t nearly as excited as the one telling us about last December’s rocket launch broadcast. Maybe because it’s their third nuclear test rodeo. For more coverage, check…

In Hungry Oni, Your Meals Are Color-Coded

As far as sharp looking iOS games go, Hungry Oni must be one of the most dazzling I’ve seen all year. And yes, I know it’s only February. (It is only February.) The game is the work of Andrzej Zamoyski, a former Lionhead Studios developer who moved to Japan to make video games. This is…