Kotaku East

The Game and Anime Characters Are The Best Part of This Fighter

Nitroplus is a studio popular for its visual novels—and the anime and manga it has collaborated on. Nitro+ Blasterz is what happens when you take the heroines from these works and make them duke it out in a crossover fighting game. As a fighter, it’s a rather simple one. The face buttons on the controller…

Kylo Ren Hates Losing at Arcade Games

Pro-tip: If you are playing Taiko no Tatsujin with Kylo Ren, let him win. Via Twitter user RugusuLee, here is a glimpse of what happens when you don’t. [Photo: RugusuLee] [Photo: RugusuLee] [Photo: RugusuLee] Top image: RugusuLee To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is…

Kiyomizu-dera. Kyoto, Japan. By NeubDetat. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

The Up-All-Night Stream Plays Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem [Stream Over]

What happens when you cross Shin Megami Tensei with Fire Emblem? Come join me and find out! Update: The stream is over but you can watch all four hours of it here! Part 1 Part 2 Genei Ibun Roku #FE (Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem) was released in Japan for the Nintendo Wii U…

A backyard in Shinjuku Tokyo, Japan. By Herr Breuer. Taken on October 24, 2015. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Yo-Kai Watch Is Different Because Its Hero Is So Damn Normal 

Yo-kai Watch follows the adventures of a young boy, a magical watch, and a whole lot of yokai. Magical items are not new. Yokai are Japan’s traditional ghouls and goblins. So what makes Yo-Kai so different? Its hero. Originally posted 01/01/06 In the original Japanese version, the 5th grade boy protagonist is called Keita, while…

The Five Best Anime of 2015

There have been more than a few great anime this past winter, spring, summer, and fall. But now, as the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back one last time and pick the five best anime series of 2015. [This post originally ran on December 29, 2015] First, some rules: 1) The…

Biting a Leather Sofa on Japanese TV To See If It’s Chocolate

It’s that time again! Time for Japanese New Year’s television to have a panel of celebrity guests bite into things to see if they are made of chocolate or candy. In Japanese, these are “sokkuri sweets” (そっくりスイーツ), with “sokkuri” meaning “looks like” or “spitting image.” So, is this a leather chair or a chocolate chair?…

Shinjuku Gyoen National Park. Tokyo, Japan. By Colin Laycock. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Just a friendly reminder that Capcom’s Dark Souls-eque game Deep Down is still M.I.A. There’s no real news last year since the spring and the official Twitter account hasn’t been active since March 2015! The game was announced in 2013 and is slated for the PS4.

Listen up, King of Fighters fans. SNK exec Yutaka Noguchi tells Famitsu that many former SNK devs have returned to the company since it has refocused on gaming and left the pachinko business. Noguchi also added that devs who were working on pachinko-slot machines have been switched back to games. This all sounds promising.

Japan Says Goodbye to 2015 with Cosplay

And that just might be the best way to say it. This year’s winter Comic Market has drawn to a close. It’s the last big otaku (geek) event of the year and the last chance for all the cosplayers to gather in a major way and strut their stuff. Let’s have a look at some…

The McDonald’s Of The Future Opens In Hong Kong

Hong Kong is now home to the newest and neatest McDonald’s around. Say hello to McDonald’s Next, the McDonald’s of the future. According to Trend Hunter, Contemporist, and Hong Kong Navi, design firm Landini Associates joined forces with the fast food chain to create this oh-so slick McDonald’s in Hong Kong, located near Admiralty Station.…

In 2015, Konami Had A Very Strange Year

Throughout 2015, just when you thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre for Konami, they did. Let’s take a look back at the weirdness that was Konami in 2015. I’ve been working at Kotaku for a long, long time. I’ve never seen a company have a year like Konami just had. While publishing one of…

4Gamer asked 147 of the biggest names in Japanese gaming which title from 2015 they admired the most. Coming in at number one was Splatoon with 27 game creators saying they admired that most, followed by Bloodborne, Super Mario Maker, and Fallout 4.

Old Doctor Yellow Nagoya, Japan. By Christopher Broughton. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

The Year in Kotaku East

Here we are again. It’s December. It’s time to look back at the year in Kotaku East that was. You ready? I know I sure am. Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting Japan Going to Japan? Have questions? Perhaps, we have answers. Why Ash from Pokémon Isn’t Dead Yet There is a good reason. You know,…

First Look at the New Berserk Anime

This “new animation project” is currently in production and slated for 2016. Here is the anime’s first teaser. The Berserk manga debuted back in 1989, and there has already been an animated series and several movies. Well, what do you think of this upcoming effort? To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com…

This is how you cosplay Zangief in December. Spotted by Twitter user Sol_Getnews (via Afternoon News) at this year’s winter Comic Market in Japan. Glorious.

The Anime That’s Beating Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Japan

Star Wars is very, very popular in Japan. Guess this means, though, that Yo-Kai Watch is more popular? For the second weekend in a row, the new Yo-Kai Watch animated feature film, Yo-Kai Watch the Movie 2: King Enma and the 5 Stories, has topped Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the Japanese box office.…