Kotaku East

The Lady with the Bug-Filled Hair is Back

It’s summer! In Japan, that means watermelon, trips to the beach, and Shoko Nakagawa covered with insect shells. Note: Some readers might find this objectionable. Because, well, it’s kinda gross. In late July and early August, you can hear cicada (セミ or semi) chirping in Japan. And each summer for the past several years, celeb…

Eagerly Anticipated Anime Spawns Amusing Water Meme

Kantai Collection, which Kotaku first covered in June 2013, is getting an anime series next year. And the trailer for it has already spawned an amusing meme. Let’s have a look. In one part of the anime trailer (which you can see below), the character Akagi glides across the face of the water, firing an…

Hello Kitty Leads a Moment of Prayer

The scion of all things pink and cute, Hello Kitty is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. In Taiwan, where they love all things Hello Kitty, a celebration for the silent cat’s birthday turned into a more somber affair. Last week, multiple explosions from a gas leak killed at least 26 people and injured 267…

Teacher Warns Parents: Anime Leads to Bad Grades

Chinese students, like students across the world, have summer break: a time when they’re free to pursue non-scholarly activities. Unfortunately for a group of students, their interest in anime and comics have been hindered by an overzealous teacher. Sina Games reports that earlier this week, a text message went viral on China’s twitter-like Weibo. The…

In Japan, Buy an $18,000 Evangelion Statue from 7-Eleven

Attention Neon Genesis Evangelion fans! Make that, Eva fans with lots and lots of money to spend. 7-Eleven if offering a limited edition statue for a large amount of money. According to 7-Eleven, the Evangelion Unit-01 statue measures around two meters tall and is priced at 1.836 million yen (or US$17,892). It’s limited to 25…

Alleged Toy Thief Threatened with Internet Shame

Besides anime and manga, retail chain Mandarake also specializes in retro toys. One of the rarest was apparently stolen earlier this week. Mandarake says it captured the alleged thief on a security camera and now it wants the toy back. Or else. The missing toy in question is a Tetsujin tin wind-up toy made by…

Resident Evil Is Getting an HD Remaster

And it’s coming to the PlayStation 3, the PS4, the Xbox 360, the Xbox One, and PC in glorious high definition. According to Famitsu, this is an HD remastering of the 2002 remake, with the goal of keeping the game’s sheer terror. Capcom assures that it isn’t making any unnecessary changes to the game that…

Brynhildr in the Darkness Plays with Clichés to Make a Thrilling Story

Take all those overused rom-com anime clichés, throw them into a sci-fi thriller with dark themes and a liberal helping of ultra-violence, and you get one of the most entertaining and well-written anime of this year’s spring season Good – A Sci-Fi Suspense Thriller Murakami is a high schooler studying to become an astronomer with…

On This TV Program, a Woman Gets Pissed at You. That’s It.

For those who like being yelled at, well, here’s a short television program just for you. The name of the program is I Want Risa Yoshiki to Get Angry at Me. The show is only five minutes long, and it’s broadcasted at around 1am this month only. So, it’s not a mainstream show! But the…

This JRPG’s Facial Recognition System Could Be Better

Much like the Miis on the Nintendo 3DS, the new JRPG Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines allows you to create a character by taking a picture of yourself with the Vita’s camera. Of course, why limit it to being based on your face when there are so many pictures of famous people out there? Thus, I picked…

Call Your Mom, Thank Her Right Now

Firstborn children aren’t the only ones that turn one. So do new mothers. Here’s a beautiful expression of gratitude. About three months ago, my wife gave birth to our third son. Maybe because I was there in the delivery room, and maybe because we still have a little baby at home, this commercial really hit…

SNK Playmore confirmed to Siliconera that a new 3D King of Fighters game is in development. The company didn’t provide any further details, and they are currently in the process of “large scale developer hiring” for the new game.

Nothing Says Summer Like Japanese Jock Itch Commercials

Each summer, dermatology company Ikeda Mohando rolls out a new series of jock itch medicine commercials. They are… unforgettable. The Delicare M’s cream commercials really make the best of a rather unpleasant topic (sweaty balls!). They’re playful and funny, with earlier ads getting attention online a few years back. And yes, these ads are broadcasted…

Report: Studio Ghibli Will Be Taken Over [UPDATE: Debunked]

According to Japanese news site ZakZak, Studio Ghibli is apparently set to be purchased by Japanese online entertainment company Dwango. This news comes as Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki recently said the studio needed a “short rest” and that they were considering “making a big change to the larger view of Studio Ghibli.” Dwango runs…

Who Knew Surgical Masks Made Awesome Transformers Cosplay?

I didn’t! Then again, I’ve never really thought about it. Zawachin is a makeup artist and internet celebrity who became famous for impersonating famous Japanese stars…while they are wearing sickness masks. That’s her thing! The vast majority Japanese people wear masks when they are sick, worried about getting sick, or have pollen allergies. However, more…

The Second Kenshin Film is Just as Good as the First

Two years ago, classic 90s anime/manga Rurouni Kenshin made its way to the big screen. It was an excellent live-action adaptation—easily one of the best I have ever seen. The second film, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, is equally as well done—something even more impressive given the amount of story it has to cover. Good –…

Studio Ghibli Is Not Dead Yet

Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki recently saidthat his studio’s demise was “inevitable.” Today, there are quotes from Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki that are causing people to freak out, believing that the beloved animation house has decided to stop making films. People, stop freaking out. For now. Last night, Suzuki was profiled on MBS program Jounetsu Tairiku…

Eggs and Plastic Bottles Thrown at Japanese Porn Star in China

While politicians bickered, one thing China and Japan could always find common ground on was anime. And, uh, pornography. Which is why this recent incident was all the more surprising. Japanese adult video stars Emiri Okazaki and Anjyu Kitagawa were guests at the Dalian International Adult Expo, an adult goods convention in Dalian, China. [Photo:…

This Pokémon Bread Looks Like Crap. Literally.

Pocket Monster Dedenne just got its own Pokémon bread. Congrats! Too bad the snack looks like… Shit. [Photo: fla_mofu] Above, you can see an image posted by Twitter user fla_mofu, who wondered if it was alright that Dedenne’s bread looks like poop. Pokémon bread (ポケモンパン or Pokémon pan) is a long-standing snack food, with each…

Japan Wants To Create A Space Force

The Mainichi Shimbun is reporting that Japan plans to create a “space force” within its existing Self Defence Force, hoping to have it operational by 2019. Took them long enough. Its role will be to monitor “dangerous debris floating in Earth’s orbit”, as well as “protecting satellites from collisions with such debris”. The force will…