Kotaku East

Square Enix Cannot Quit Final Fantasy XIII

With Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix has closed the Final Fantasy XIII chapter and is moving on. Just kidding, of course it isn’t. Hope you like reading and words and stuff! Much like with the Final Fantasy X series that got a 30 minute audio drama after-story, the Final Fantasy XIII series now…

Final Fantasy III Art Keeps Insects Away

Twitter user Rurue0111 recreated the Final Fantasy III job classes in miniature on a screen door. 8-bit has never been so good at not letting mosquitos in the house! Each square on the screen represented one pixel, and Rurue0111 used stain glass window paint, using a toothpick to color in the characters. Via Togech and…

Sony boss Kaz Hirai was heckled at the recent investors meeting in Tokyo over Sony’s poor performance, AP reports. One investor, for example, asked how Sony had lost its glory and expressed disappointment in Hirai.

CNN Wonders Why Anime Child Porn Isn’t Banned in Japan

This week, it was announced that Japan finally outlawed child pornography. The ban does not cover 2D sexualized representations of children in manga and video games. CNN International wonders why. On Twitter, CNN International posed the following question: Note that, at the time of writing, Kotaku has attempted to select responses that show the variety…

Behold, the Forever Alone Pod

Sometimes you like being with others. Other times, you want to be alone with your hobbies and diversions. For those times, there’s this. Dubbed a “relation room for men and women,” this cozy room is a forever alone pod that lets you get away and relax, work or study, watch movies and play video games,…

You Can Almost Steal Clothes from This Japanese Store

The folks behind Uniqlo are unveiling a new concept in Tokyo: Customers can try on clothes and then leave the store to see how they look in public. Casual wear chain GU, which is run by the company behind Uniqlo, is opening a new shop in Tokyo’s Shibuya today. Until the end of the month,…

Bullying Is Bad News and So Are These Giant Anime Eyes

For a while now, giant eyes have been a thing in Japanese anime. We should be used to them. But damn, they sure are distracting when learning about bullying. Creepy, even. This is the work of manga artist Kaoru Igarashi, who created a manga series called Ijime (いじめ) or “bullying.” This is an important issue,…

Hello Kitty Wants Your Blood. No, Really.

Recently, a Hello Kitty bus rolled up in Shanghai, China with one thing in mind: Blood. Of course, what’s apparently the world’s first Hello Kitty blood donation vehicle is all for a good cause as there is nothing in the least bit sinister about Hello Kitty. Nothing. Nothing at all. Kidding! Sorta! As reported by…

Watch Us Play Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Have you been wondering what a game filled with cute versions of your favorite Persona 3 and 4 characters plays like? Well wonder no longer. We’ve got you covered. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is a spinoff Persona RPG that plays a lot like the Etrian Odyssey series of games—which is no surprise as…

How to Identify Anime and Manga Genres

We’ve looked at the basic types of anime out there but now it’s time to look at the specific genres. Of course, I assume everyone knows what “fantasy” and “romance” are, but what about those genres that don’t really exist in the West outside of anime and manga—or those that don’t even use English words?…

Chinese Students Delight the Internet with Graduation Photos

New grads at Shandong University in China decided they wanted to do something fun and memorable. They most certainly did. The students shared their graduation Photoshops on Weibo, China’s microblogging service. The images have recently spread to sites like NetEase—and now, all throughout Chinese cyberspace. Popular Chinese and foreign movies, video games, and television shows…

Persona Q‘s Battle Music Refuses to Leave My Head

I played a lot of Persona Q this past weekend, but let me say, I loved every moment I spent in battle—though not because of the (perfectly adequate) battle system. What I really loved was the game’s awesome battle theme. The song, “Light the Fire Up in the Night,” has everything I want in a…

Real-Life Sword Art Online Blade Cuts Watermelons, Not Bosses

Sword Art Online is a smart anime about people trapped in an MMORPG. Now, MMORPGs have swords. Elaborate, pretty, deadly swords. Like the Elucidator, which blacksmith Tony Swatton was kind enough to bring into our world. Kirito’s unique obsidian blade was then, as it is customary, used to slash apart all kinds of items from…

​Amazon Japan Has Doubled Its Goats

Last summer, Amazon Japan hired a stable of goats to manicure its lawn. This year, it is hiring even more. According to Hatena News, Amazon has hired double its goat capacity—now, there are between thirty and forty of them. The goats wear employee i.d. cards while working, which consists of grazing all day. The goats…

Best New Sport: Throwing $5,000 Computers

Throwing the hammer or the javelin might have made sense in ancient times, but we don’t live in ancient times. We live in the modern times with modern things to chuck around. You know, like computer servers. Recently, tech company Speedlink Japan held its Engineer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The point of the competition is…

Destiny Is a PlayStation Exclusive in Japan

In the West, upcoming shooter Destiny is a multiplatform game. In Japan, it’s not. It’s a PlayStation exclusive, Sony announced today. Instead of getting an Xbox 360 and Xbox One release like it will abroad, the game is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and the PS4 when it’s released in Japan on September 11. It’s…

China’s Personal Bodyguard Training Seems Ridiculously Intense

Bodyguards, the often terrible henchmen found in video games and movies, are very important in real life. These men and women protect their charges with the utmost severity. In China, professional bodyguards take their jobs seriously. Just take a look at their intense training! Originally published on China News’ photo page, these images of would-be…

The Sex Lube Olympics Sure Looks Slippery

This weekend, the Sex Lube Grand Atheletic Meet was held in Tokyo. Covered in lotion, folks competed in a handful of events. The competition looked rather stiff! According to blogger Dutch, who participated in this year’s meet, over a hundred people participated in this subculture event. In Japanese, sex lube is called “lotion” (ローション or…

Nintendo Takes Over South Korea With Their… McDonald’s Toys

PC gaming rules South Korea. It has for years now, and that doesn’t look like it will change. But as of this week, there’s one arena where Nintendo rules South Korea: Happy Meal toys. Via tipster Sang, here are numerous pics of folks in South Korea lining up early this morning for the second wave…

Chinese Police Department Should Star In A Hong Kong Crime Film

Chinese police love to put up propaganda posters showing the public who they are and what they do. One police department in East China may have gone a little too far with their publicity shots. Published on People’s Daily, the communist mouthpiece, the photos feature East China’s Huangyang police department. Located in Zhejiang province’s Taizhou…