Kotaku East

A New Robotech Series Is Coming

Today at Anime Expo 2014, Harmony Gold announced their plans to bring back classic 80s anime Robotech via Kickstarter In 2008, Robotech creator Carl Macek (i.e., the man who took three completely unrelated anime and turned them into a single, coherent, multi-generational sci-fi epic) came up with the idea for a new Robotech animated series:…

Today, We Remember the Most “American” Game Ever Made

Every July 4th, I like to reflect on the most American game ever made—so American, in fact, that it could only be made in Japan. I’m speaking of Metal Wolf Chaos—a game which opens with the President of the United States exploding out of the oval office in a mecha suit, sporting more guns than…

Oculus Stops Sales of Rift in China, Because People Are Reselling Them

Sales of the new Oculus Rift DK2 model have been suspended in China following “extreme” reselling, an Oculus representative has explained on Reddit. Pre-orders in the region have been cancelled, too. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK “We need to make sure that we are doing what we can to make sure that resellers…

Thailand’s Toilet Signs Really Need to Pee

There are universal markers for the restrooms. There is also a universal sign for when you really, really need to take a leak. Sometimes, Thailand gets both in toilet signs. Earlier today, the photo department for respected Japanese newspaper Nikkei tweeted out the above image from Bangkok restrooms, noting that the signs look “terribly…urgent.” Over…

Pokémon Art Academy Will Teach You How to Draw Pokémon

So, you like Pokémon? Are you looking to learn how to draw or to improve your drawing? Well, Pokémon Art Academy can help you with that—as long as you’re drawing on the 3DS anyway. Good – Teaching By Doing It is no secret that I am just abysmal at drawing. In truth, I’m barely competent…

Armless Man Pulled Over, Discovered Driving with His Feet

After a 45 year-old man surnamed Guo was pulled over in Hubei, China, it was discovered he was was driving without a license. He was, however, driving with his feet. As reported by Xinhuanet and ShanghaiIst, Mr. Guo lost his arms at the age of seven after accidentally touching a high-voltage cable. He’s learned how…

Manga Trope Appears in Noodle Commercial, Confuses Some People

You know in manga and anime, how sometimes characters corner their love interests by putting their arm on the wall? That’s called “kabe don” (壁ドン). Its recent appearance in an instant noodle commercial is bewildering some people online in Japan. In simplest terms, “kabe” (壁) means “wall,” and “don” (ドン) is a loud noise. So,…

After Vicious Attack, Japanese Pop Group Gets Airport-Style Security

Fans of Japanese pop group AKB48 will be subjected to airport-style security should they attend the group’s upcoming handshaking event. There’s good reason for the increased security. In late May, two members of the group were slashed by an attacker at one of the group’s handshaking events. Thankfully, the members survived the incident. The group…

Japanese Children Climb into a Giant Toilet for Science

This week, a new exhibit opened at a Tokyo science museum. It looks so crappy. Dubbed “Toilet!? Human Waste & Earth’s Future,” the exhibit centers around toilets and poop. Makes sense! The exhibit shows different kinds of animal dookie as well as various shapes of human turds. As Excite News reports, there is a section…

Pac-Man Almost Got Into Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The next Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, will be featuring newcomers like Mega Man, the Wii-fit exercise instructor, and the latest announcement from E3, Pac-Man. But, much like the newly announced Mii Warrior, this wasn’t the first opportunity for him to join the Smash Bros. cast. In his semi-weekly column…

Final Fantasy‘s Creator Almost Made a Ballet Dancing Game

The father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, is working on a new smartphone game called Terra Battle. It’s an RPG. It could have been a ballet dancing game. Sakaguchi revealed some vague details about his new game, Terra Battle, in this week’s Weekly Famitsu. He’s got a lotta good talent working on it, with several…

The Xbox One with Kinect bundle sure is pricy in South Korea! Today, it was listed at 598,000 Korean won ($592), but that’s slightly cheaper than what was listed earlier this month. The console’s set to arrive “this year” in South Korea, but we can probably expect a firm release date soon. [Thanks for tip,…

One Thing We Know About This New Sega Game: Porn Stars

Sega is making a new Yakuza game! Pretty much all we know is that it’s a Yakuza game, and it’s for the PS3 and PS4. You know what else we know? Porn stars. Yakuza is one of the biggest PlayStation exclusive franchises in Japan. These games are incredibly popular and feature big-name talent. More importantly,…

Police Van Crash Is Like a Real-Life Video Game Glitch

You know how when you’re playing a game, and it bugs out, and you get stuck in a truly odd place? Well, a real life version of that recently happened in Weihai, China. As reported on Xinhuanet and ShanghaiIst, a police van got stuck between two building on the way back to station. The police,…

Japan Is Getting One Piece Airplanes. They Kind of Suck!

At least the flight attendants will apparently wear straw hats just like One Piece character Luffy. I guess. According to Naver and Excite, five of Japanese carrier Skymark’s Boeing 737s will get a One Piece decal. This isn’t a complete decal wrapping or paint job like the Pokémon jet. Here is All Nippon Airway’s Pokémon…

What Little We Know About The Next Yakuza Game

The next Yakuza game won’t be a spin-off like Yakuza Ishin! or Yakuza: Dead Souls, but the creators won’t commit to it being a numbered game. So, what the hell is it? Apparently, it’s for men. Ever-tan Yakuza series creator and executive director Toshihiro Nagoshi and series producer Masayoshi Yokowama spoke in vague terms in…

​Inside a Chinese Internet Addiction Boot Camp

You like the internet, right? Why not spend your summer in camo, learning to ween yourself from it. As CRI reports, there are around 250 military-style internet addiction camps in China. In recent years, the Chinese government has been trying to “fix” internet addiction, something that is officially recognized in the country as a psychological…

The Anime Poster That’s So Popular, People Are Stealing It

There’s a new Saint Seiya movie. And a new movie means a new movie poster. Well, two new movie posters, one of which apparently keeps getting swiped. Here is the standard Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary poster. [Photo: HiroKobaP] Pretty cool! And here is the special Legend of Sanctuary poster, with a background drawn by…

Japanese Politician Freaks Out, Spawns Internet Memes

Yesterday, Japanese politician Ryutaro Nonomura, a member of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly that represents areas like Kobe, held a press conference after being accused of allegedly abusing government funds. Make that, he freaked out and started crying. Last year, Nonomura racked up travel expenditures with tax payers’ money in excess of 3 million yen (around…

Those Foxconn suicides a few years back? Company president Terry Gou says they weren’t caused by poor working conditions, but rather by “personal problems and family disputes.”