Kotaku East Archives - Page 226 of 501

This App Will Help You Improve Your Japanese

I’ve mentioned a few games in the past to help you improve your Japanese language ability. However, when it comes to learning all aspects of Japanese, KanjiBox is the best study tool I have found. KanjiBox is an iOS app designed to teach Japanese Kanji and Kana (letters) as well as vocabulary. Moreover, it is…

By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 28, 2014

Kotaku East

Porco Rosso Sunglasses, Yours for $480

Studio Ghibli is teaming up with Japan’s Washin Optical for official Porco Rosso sunglasses. They’re kind of expensive. The glasses come in two variations. There is the “Period Piece Model,” which is made like sunglasses were in the 1920s and 30s, which is when the anime takes place. The lenses are made from glass, while…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 28, 2014

Kotaku East

Japan Has Crepe Vending Machines

The vast majority of vending machines in Japan have drinks or cigarettes. But some of them offer other items. This one, for example, has crepes. That’s right. Crepes. Spotted in Kagoshima by blog Kansaitei Kyushu, this refrigerated vending machine offers different crepes, from mixed fruit and chocolate banana to plain chocolate sauce and caramel pudding.…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

35-Year-Old Man Screws Up His Neck by Playing With His Phone in Bed

Swiping, checking your phone, and playing games in bed seem like a good idea, that is until you hear about the middle-aged man who’s now got the neck of a 70-year-old. Taiwanese media, and Chinese media, report that a 35-year-old man in Taichung, Taiwan is now suffering from neck problems after spending about 3 hours…

By Eric Jou Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Olaf from Frozen Hanging Out in Tokyo

Like anyone else in the teeming metropolis, Olaf spent the other night taking trains, meeting friends, and getting something to eat. What else do you expect him to do? Build a freakin’ snowman? Obviously, this costume is for Halloween, which now gets a lengthy celebration in Japan (there were Halloween parades this past weekend, for…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Father Goes Berserk In Net Cafe

A father in Xinyu, Jiangxi province has been arrested and detained by Chinese police after going on a rampage in an Internet cafe,Tencent news reports. The detained, Mr. Lin, was celebrating his wife’s birthday when he noticed his eldest son was missing. Apparently, Lin knew that his son had a penchant for Internet gaming and…

By Eric Jou Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Naruto Fans Recreate Ninja Exams

The long-running Japanese manga, Naruto, is coming to an end later this year. To celebrate its extensive run, a few college students in China’s Guangdong province have recreated one of series’ best story school-related story arcs! Tencent’s QQ Games news reports that at least 30 students got together to take part in the cosplay recreation.…

By Eric Jou Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Final Fantasy VII Comes To Life in Glorious Plastic

Square Enix doesn’t just make video games. It also makes toys. Cool toys. Like these. The company’s Play Arts line is bringing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children to life with Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, and Red XIII The Cloud figure is 12,960 yen (US$120), while the others are 10,584 yen ($98). Red XIII…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

The Reality and Fantasy of Cosplay

Making good costumes isn’t easy and neither is taking good cosplayphotos. Like a fashion or a movie shoot, there is behind-the-scenes magic that goes into bringing the cosplay to life. As pointed out by Japanese site Kinisoku, recently some cosplayers have been sharing peeks at how they brought their pics to life. For example, cosplayer…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Beat Takeshi Hates Anime and That’s Okay

Famed comedian, actor, director and television personality Beat Takeshi does not like anime. In particular, he mentioned the anime of Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. But don’t think for a second he doesn’t recognize anime’s importance. He does. During the Tokyo International Film Festival, Takeshi was asked about the sort of things that are important…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014

Kotaku East

Tokyo Ghoul Builds an Emotional World of Horror and Violence

This past summer’s anime Tokyo Ghoul may ostensibly be a dark and twisted horror story about superpowered monsters who feed upon humanity; but beneath its surface, it’s so much more. Good – Ghoul Society Tokyo Ghoul takes place in a world quite similar to our own but with one major difference: Humanity is not at…

By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 24, 2014

Kotaku East

A Good, Horrible Look at Korea KFC’s Double Down

In South Korea, KFC’s take on the Double Down is, well, something else. You might have seen the promotional pics. Let’s have a look at pics of the actual sandwich. While the Double Down that was launched in 2010 in the U.S., it was two pieces of fried chicken with cheese, sauce, and bacon. KFC…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 24, 2014

Kotaku East

Why These Chinese Sanitation Workers Dress Like Spider-Man

You might think this is just some gimmick. But it’s more than that. Much more. The Spider-Man outfits are a reminder these two men are risking their lives. Website Zhangjiakou Online and ShanghaiIst are reporting that sanitation workers Liu Jiancheng and Zhang Chengqing have recently changed uniforms from this: To this: Not just because Spider-Man…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 24, 2014

Kotaku East

Let’s Rank Fatal Frame, Best to Worst

The Fatal Frame series is one of the creepiest survival-horror game series out there and certainly my personal favorite of the genre. But as with all series, some games are better than others. So let’s rank them, shall we? A few notes before we start. These are not Kotaku‘s picks for the pecking order of…

By Richard Eisenbeis Published October 24, 2014

Kotaku East

Cartoon Dog Cafe Will Rot Your Teeth with Sweetness

This is cute. Really, really cute. Is too much? Probably! But golly, Japanese cafes don’t get much more adorable than this. You are looking at the Pom Pom Purin Cafe, which opened its doors this week in Tokyo’s Harajuku. This is the first of its kind in the country. If you are not familiar with…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 24, 2014

Kotaku East

Metallic Iron Man Figures Are the Best Iron Man Figures

I’ve been waiting a year for this. (cue the Black Sabbath music) Since the announcement of Hong Kong collectible toy company’s ambitious new Movie Masterpiece Diecast line of figures – figures that use actual metal parts – I’ve spent countless hours oogling over the images of theIron Man 3 Mark XLII suit. I almost immediately…

By Toshi Nakamura Published October 23, 2014

Kotaku East

Sword Art Online, Now With Flying

Japan’s popular series about life inside video games is getting another game. It lets you fly. Sword Art Online is a story with multiple arcs, perhaps the most famous being its initial story involving a game of death where players are trapped inside an MMO and dying in the game means dying in real life.…

By Toshi Nakamura Published October 23, 2014

Kotaku East

Bootleg Console Maker Blatantly Copies the iPhone 6

The Chinese company best known for making knock-off Super Nintendo consoles is back again, this time with a mighty fine looking phone. 97973.com, the mobile-centric version of Chinese gaming news site 17173.com, reports the once console maker, Subor, is now making iPhone clones under its Little Tyrant brand. Back in the early days of console…

By Eric Jou Published October 23, 2014

Kotaku East

You Can Adjust “Bounce” in the New Dead or Alive

For their upcoming fighting game, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, the developers at Tecmo Koei have created a new engine to bring their characters to life. Called the “Yawaraka Engine” (やわらかエンジン) or “Softness Engine,” it is the result of attempting to up the visual realism of character skin in order to make characters look…

By Toshi Nakamura Published October 23, 2014

Kotaku East

The Anime Art Meme You Can Pinch for Real

The latest meme to come out of Japan has people drawing anime (or manga) style characters on the back of their hands. And? Pinch them The above photo was uploaded by Twitter user sakunyan3939 shows a back-of-the-hand getting a good cheek pinch. Cute stuff. The image was retweeted 17,000 times and spawned other photos. Here…

By Brian Ashcraft Published October 23, 2014