Brian Ashcraft

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z takes place in the world of Ninja Gaiden, but it’s not canon, says Team Ninja’s leader.

This Isn’t Cosplay. It’s Theater!

Those battling Ikki Tousen girls are bringing their torn clothes and short skirts to the Tokyo stage. The manga turned video game and anime series is getting a theatrical adaptation. Known as Battle Vixens in the West, Ikki Tousen is the latest anime/game property to be turned in a stage production, following in the footsteps…

Square Enix, COD‘s Japanese publisher, announced that Call of Duty Elite won’t support Japanese—no plans, either.

The Biggest Anime of the Year Steamrolls Japan

Late last night, two things happened in Japan: the first six minutes of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Q 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and that movie’s midnight premiere. This wasn’t just the first screening of a big time anime. It was a party. An event. Japanese website Gigazine was on hand at the midnight screening in…

This FPS Controller Will Shoot You in the Face

Two big shooters fired out this fall: Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. If you are into shooters (I mean, really into shooters), maybe you are looking for an edge. That’s exactly what Japanese peripheral maker Hori hopes it can offer with its controller designed especially for FPS games on consoles. But…

“Help! My Wife Won’t Stop Playing Animal Crossing.”

The plea appeared on Yahoo! Japan’s Q&A section. It began: “My wife won’t return from Animal Crossing.” The latest AC game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, was recently released in Japan. The Animal Crossing games are hugely popular in Japan. According to the husband, after his wife downloaded her copy of New Leaf in the middle…

Some Chinese Dude Made an iPhone Replica OUT OF STEEL

Okay, it’s not a working iPhone 5. But still, it’s the same size as an iPhone 5, and, it’s handcrafted out of a piece of steel Recently, a do-it-yourself type took a 140mm long, 60mm wide, and 6mm thick steel plate, and he turned it into an iPhone 5 replica. The gentleman documented the entire…

Pepsi Special Is a Special Cola, But Not a Special Tasting Cola

Out of the unique flavors Pepsi has released in Japan, Pepsi Special might have the most boring taste. However, it could be one of the most revolutionary. In Japan, Pepsi regularly releases an array of, how should I say, unique flavors. Some of them, such as Salty Watermelon Pepsi, are not as bad as you…

Report: Japanese Employees Vent Online About Square Enix

Last year, there were unconfirmed reports that Square Enix’s Tokyo headquarters was a dark place to work. This latest report doesn’t sound nearly as bad as those. Doesn’t sound like rainbows and sunshine, either. NicoNico News points to comments made on Japanese employment site Career Connection. The site aims to help jobseekers find out more…

According to Sony, the PS3 has sold 70 million units worldwide, and the PS Move has sold 15 million. That’s…a lot!

How Victoria’s Secret Bewildered a Japanese Animation Giant

Last week, Victoria’s Secret held a big fashion show in New York City with a bevy of models and Justin Bieber. There was the typical parade of silk and lace. And then, there was something unexpected: model Jourdan Dunn strutted down the catwalk in bodysuit, straight out of Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. You weren’t…

Take a Good Look at This “Real Life Kirby”

In Nintendo games, Kirby is round, pink, and cute. In real life, Kirby is apparently round, white, and, well… Japanese doll sculptor Honoka created the work, putting this photo up on Twitter. The reaction has varied from people calling the sculpture “frightening” or “creepy”, to others praising the artistry that went into creating the piece.…

Japan’s Most Wanted Criminal Is One Slippery Troll

Above is a small Madoka Kaname figurine. The character is well known to Japanese anime fans, and now, the entire country. The reason, however, is not the anime she stars in, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It’s for a computer virus and a suicide threat. A photo of this character was sent to various Japanese news…

Japanese Guy Creates Amazing “Pop-Up” LEGO, Blows Minds

Japanese LEGO builder Talapz specializes in two things: recreating famous Japanese structures in LEGO, and turning those brick recreations into pop-up books. It’s as if Talapz didn’t think building was hard enough. He had to make things trickier Above, Talapz does a Todai-ji in LEGO—he even provides a how-to at the end, so get out…

Here’s How Metal Gear 2 Predicted the Future

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was released way back in 1990. Yet, the game was set in the late 1990s, when a major oil crisis impacted the world economy. Okay, that’s fiction. But one element of the game’s plot—namely a fuel producing algae that’s an alternative energy source—is not. This week in the San Francisco…

Screw Homework! There’s One Piece To Draw.

These Japanese kids covered their school’s chalkboard with this truly epic One Piece art. It took these three students about a week, drawing each day after class to complete the work. And hot damn, was it ever worth it. The drawing is from the last chapter of the One Piece manga arc* “Vivi’s Adventure”, in…

Nintendo Shows Off its Latest Club Nintendo Goodies for Japan

Today, Nintendo unveiled its latest collection of Club Nintendo goodies for Platinum Members in The Land of the Rising Sun. There’s a Pikmin bag, “Premium Mario Playing Cards”, a calendar, and a DSi game called Nintendoji. A Club Nintendo Exclusive, this downloadable game is a dungeon-based role-playing game with card elements. My favorite thing about…

If Cats Watched Porn, I Guess They’d Watch This

Cats and porn. These are two of the biggest juggernauts on the internet. And a Japanese company called Soft On Nyanko has figured out how to bring them together, like never before. The Soft On Nyanko movies feature an array of cats, doing all kinds of things, like playing with cat toys, stretching, sitting in…

Nintendo Explains the Wii U’s Storage Options In The Strangest Way Possible

The Wii U will finally let Nintendo users download full-size games to a Nintendo console (legally!) but today we learned about the pros and cons of how Nintendo will let people do this. There are some catches that you probably want to know about if you think there’s any chance you’d be downloading the next…

BlazBlue Made Small and Cute (Again!)

Arc System Works, the folks behind fighting series BlazBlue, are doing another cute reworking of the universe. It’s called BlayzeBloo: Clone Phantasma and is slated for a winter download release in Japan on the 3DS. Clone Phantasma is an action game, and it features ten characters, seven stages, a story mode, and cuteness. Did I…