The Netflix stop-motion animation Rilakkuma and Kaoru is about the daily life of a young woman and her lazy roommate. The character Rilakkuma means “relaxing bear,” and everyone thought it was, well, just a bear. In this show, apparently, it’s not. As the clip, via Anime Anime, points out, Rilakkuma is actually someone in a…
Would you like to work on Hayao Miyazaki’s new movie? Well, you can certainly apply if you live in Japan, know Japanese and have digital paint skills. Previously, a job listing was posted back in 2017. Now, a new one has been made in 2019! According to the listing on Studio Ghibli’s official site, the…
Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution is the first full-CG animated Pokémon feature film. We’ve already seen how the computer graphic versions of the classic trainers looked. Let’s now see how scenes from the anime stack up. Recently, a new Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution trailer was released. Via 2ch, here’s how scenes in it compare with their…
Onigiri is usually translated as “rice ball,” because the food is often shaped like, well, a ball of rice. For centuries, the triangular onigiri has been a meal that one eats. Until now. Behold “Nomu Onigiri” or “Drinkable Rice Ball.” Packed with 200 kilocalories, this rice ball beverage type thing is made from skipjack tuna…
Yesterday, instant noodle maker Nissin announced it was temporarily halting sales of its miso-flavored Cup Noodle. According to Nari Nari, the reason was that sales of Cup Noodle Miso had gone up drastically and can’t meet demand. It will resume sales once things have stabilized. Nissin is also canceling planned special releases of Seafood and…
In February 2017, it was announced that former Tales producer Hideo Baba was heading up a new studio at Square Enix called Studio Istolia. Last month, however, Baba and Square Enix parted aways. Prior to joining Square Enix, Baba produced Tales games at Namco Bandai. Studio Istolia was working on a completely new IP called…
The Japanese government has announced that the new imperial era is Reiwa (令和). It has several meanings, but the official English translation is “Beautiful Harmony.” It’s also the name of an erotic game theme. As Otakomu points out, when the official English translation was announced, singer Yui Sakakibara pointed out that “Beautiful Harmony” was the…
A 25-year-old nursing care worker has been arrested after allegedly emailing Square Enix, threatening to kill staff. According to Livedoor News, the man is accused of sending an email on February 5 to Square Enix’s Tokyo office that read, “Hey staff tomorrow I’m going to kill you get ready [for your punishment]” [SIC]. In Japanese,…
Back in 2005, Tomoyuki Inui was the best Dead or Alive Ultimate player in the world. Now 33 years 0ld, he was recently arrested for alleged theft. Playing under the name Katuninken, Inui represented Japan in Singapore at the 2005 World Cyber Games, where he was crowned Dead or Alive Ultimate world champ. Inui continued…
Today, the Japanese government announced the name of the new imperial era: Reiwa (令和). It will replace Heisei, the name of the current imperial era. Heisei (平成) literally means “become peace,” and the era began in 1989 when the current Emperor took to the throne. Thus, the year Heisei 1 is 1989, Heisei 2 is…
Going out for yakiniku (literally, “grilled meat”) is always a treat in Japan. At the Ushisuke chain of restaurants in Tokyo and Yokohama, you not only get to grill delicious meat for yourself but also for your dog. Pets can sit at the table and order Then, they watch patiently as the food is cooked…
After actor and musician Pierre Taki was arrested for alleged cocaine use, Sega decided to stop selling PS4 game Judgment. In a recent livestream, Toshihiro Nagoshi discussed the decision Currently Sega’s Chief Creative Officer, Nagoshi is credited with launching the Yakuza series and now works as Executive Producer on the games and their spin-offs. Nagoshi…
After 13 years, Senran Kagura creator Kenichiro Takaki is leaving Marvelous. Last December, Takaki discussed how making the curvy ninja Senran Kagura games has become more complicated. “Recently, regulation of sexual depictions has gotten stronger globally and taking that into account, it’s been said [games] need to be made so that they don’t cause misunderstandings,”…
Maho Yamaguchi is a member of Niigata-based idol group NGT48, a sister group of AKB48. Two men have been arrested for allegedly assaulting her. Yet tonight, it was Yamaguchi who apologized. Update Jan. 15 – 6:30 am: On Monday, an AKS official for NGT48’s parent company apologized this week, saying that the reason why it…
An official Pokémon baby brand called Monpoké is launching in Japan with Pokémon themed goods for infant and parents, including maternity clothes and baby gifts. The designs are simple, tasteful and refined.
Twitter user Kenta Shinohara makes excellent stop-motion animation clips using game and anime figures. Case in point, this one of Ryu beating the crap out of a Red Bull can. Here is how the made the stop motion clip Here is more of Shinohara’s work:
It’s become expected that the disc release of an anime will go back and fix any spotty animation that the show let slide during the broadcast. That’s not always the case! As pointed out on 2ch, Japan’s largest bulletin board, the Blu-ray release of The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotoubun no Hanayome) didn’t exactly clean up some…
A nearly one-to-one scale Duel Disk is going on sale in Japan. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, the Duel Disk is a piece of dueling hardware for card-carrying Duelists. Priced at 21,600 yen ($195), this realistic Duel Disk has light up effects, and it can play four Yu-Gi-Oh songs and forty different Yu-Gi-Oh catchphrases. It was released on…
Sega is making a new Yakuza game for PS4 that will star Ichiban Kasuga, who made his debut in Yakuza Online. Sega is holding auditions for one of the game’s female co-stars.
Last year, Taiwan’s Chen San-yuan went viral with his bicycle contraption to which nine phones were affixed so he could play Pokémon Go around Taipei. Now, he has more phones and a new gig: ambassador for Asus ZenFone smartphones. As Apple Today recently reports, Chen now has a whopping twenty-two smartphones rigged up to his…
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