Kotaku East

Snow Pikachu Evolves into a Macho Hunk

Aw, snow Pikachu is so cute! So small. And now, let’s see what he looks like in his evolved snow type. Yikes! This muscle-bound Pikamacho comes courtesy of Japanese Twitter user Haadoken. So, thank him for that. I guess? Here are some more strapping snow sculptures from Haadoken: ハードケン [HK2899] To contact the author of…

Let’s Overdose on Plastic Collectibles

Last weekend, the twice yearly Wonder Festival got underway in Chiba, outside Tokyo. There were tons of figurines and statues! You love those, right? Some of these collectibles will be mass produced when they go on sale. Others are super limited edition items. They’re all pretty cool. Have a look (photos courtesy of Senaka Blog,…

Cat Heads Make Gay Anime Love Scene Hilarious

Late last year, the people over at Manga Entertainment started putting out a series of animated shorts where they take a clip of an anime and replace the characters’ heads (and sometimes bodies) with those of cats. The latest of these “ANIMEOW” videos uses footage from homosexual love story anime Junjo Romantica—and really makes for…

Nipple Fortune Telling Exists, It Seems

If we are going to get technical, it’s not nipple fortune telling. Rather, it’s reading areolas, the area around the nipple. Yes, this actually exists in Japan. Note: This article contains content some readers might find objectionable. In Japanese, “areola fortune telling” is called “nyuurin uranai” (乳輪占い). A few years back, magician Eri Koizumi* (pictured,…

Which is better, Power Rangers or its Japanese counterpart? Tofugu.com compares the American series we all know and love to the Japanese super sentai series which served as inspiration to the original ’93 show, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. A great read for any Power Rangers fan.

Nothing Says “Love” Like an Ad That Pressures Women To Marry

True love? Perfect match? Whatever! A commercial for a Chinese dating and matchmaking site thinks you need to stop being so darn picky and marry to please your family. Obviously, people think this is messed up. According to ChinaSmack, the recently aired television commercial for Baihe.com uses the catch phrase “Because of Love, Do Not…

The Upside of Japan’s Snow Storm? Wonderful Snow Sculptures.

This past weekend, Japan was hit with a snow storm. And like in 2013, people took to the street and created some wonderful snow sculptures. As The Japan Times reports, the heavy snow was the worst Tokyo has seen in 45 years Over a thousand were injured during the storm, and unfortunately, it claimed 11…

China’s Mount Rushmore Has Green Leafy Hair

Somebody please cut George Washington’s leafy locks! He’s in need of a trim. That is, before things get out of hand. This is the Mount Rushmore replica in Shaping Park in Chongqing, China. The park has been around for years now, and according to website Dale in China, it’s apparently dedicated to the Americans who…

The Statue of Liberty, Doing Whatever The Hell She Pleases

What happens when a symbol of freedom is portrayed in the most liberated way possible? This, apparently. In Japanese, The Statue of Liberty is known as “Jiyuu no Megami Zou” (自由の女神像) or literally “The Statue of the Liberty Goddess.” As in English, the word “jiyuu” (自由) can also refer to “unrestricted” or “as one pleases.”…

Cup Noodles Shoveling Snow Is Heart Melting

And if that wasn’t enough, shoveling snow in front of the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. Over the weekend, Japan was hit with a heavy snow storm. Traffic came to a halt. It was hard to get around. Even instant noodles were affected. The above photo was taken over the weekend by Twitter user Kyazupon_z,…

Multiplayer Like You’ve Never Seen Before

There is a battlefield. And tanks. The multiplayer is local, and you use a wheel controller, a headset, and a monitor. But this is unlike anything else you might’ve seen before. Welcome to the world of real-time remote controlled tank warfare. RC tank battles are held all over the world, but the Panzer Warriors RC…

Kirby: Triple Deluxe Makes Me Want to Play the Rest of the Series

Confession time: I have never played a Kirby game before now. But if they are even half as well done as Kirby: Triple Deluxe, I really need to do the entire back catalog. Good – Power-ups Galore Kirby’s trademark attack is inhaling his opponents and then copying their powers. Kirby has 26 different powers he…

The Story of the Cat Lady with Over 10,000 Cat Items

Junko Suzuki loves cats. For the past forty years, she’s owned feline friends and collected cat memorabilia. She has so many cat-related items that she’s actually turned her Tokyo house into a cat museum. There’s even an entrance fee. Dubbed “Nyanyamoan” (にゃにゃもあん), the museum opened in 2012 and is located on the second floor of…

Valvrave’s Second Season Is a Fun Yet Disturbing Twist on Gundam

I’ve watched a lot of Gundam in my time. As a franchise, it is built around using the same story formula again and again with subtle twists. Valvrave is what happens when you stop being subtle and intersperse Gundam clichés with horrible consequences. [Note: This is a review of the second season of Valvrave. Go…

Live-Action Patlabor Looks… Pretty Great, Actually!

Iconic manga and anime franchise Patlabor is getting a series of live-action shorts and a feature film. Here’s the trailer for the first short. It looks great. 「THE NEXT GENERATION パトレイバー」第１章 予告 [The Next Generation Patlabor@YouTube] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is…

Check Out Thailand’s Samurai Robot Restaurant

This isn’t the only restaurant with robots. We‘ve seen that However, this Japanese restaurant in Thailand has samurai garb wearing robots. With two locations in Thailand, Hajime features booths with touch-screen displays, which customers use to place their orders. Then robots glide along a track in the middle of the restaurant and bring the food…

Stabbing at Tokyo Game Studio

This morning, at the Tokyo offices of game developer GeePlus, two employees were injured in a knife attack. Their attacker was a 32 year-old temp worker at the same company. According to NHK, one of the employees was seriously hurt in the shoulder and the side, while the other experienced a minor finger cut. The…

In this Arcade Game, You Battle Zombie… Schoolgirls

It’s schoolgirls in sailor suits. Make that zombie schoolgirls in sailor suits. Oh, did I mention there’s dancing, too? There is. Namco Bandai’s newest arcade game is called Sailor Zombie: AKB48 Arcade Edition and stars Japan’s biggest girl group AKB48. Gpara reports that the game features seven members, including Yuko Oshima, Mayu Watanabe, and Yuki…

When Murderous, Rampaging Animals Are Fake and Look Goofy

Animals are dangerous, especially wild animals. You do not want to mess with them. This, however, is not a wild animal. Today, at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, an animal escape drill was held. As Twitter users in Japan were quick to point out: The escaped gorilla does not look like a gorilla! It doesn’t…

Resident Evil‘s Creator Got a Copy of Willow For Joining Capcom

You know him as the director of the original Resident Evil and the man behind the upcoming horror game, The Evil Within, but back before he joined Capcom, when he was a starry-eyed youth, Shinji Mikami just wanted the free food… and ended up with a free copy of Willow “When I was a student,…