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Kotaku East
Unique Japanese Mail Boxes Are Wonderful in Rain or Shine
Japan Post mail collection boxes tend to look the same: They’re either large and red or large and orange-red. Boring! But then, there are some that are truly works of art. Here’s what post boxes look like in Japan. These are the Japan Post’s equivalent of those iconic blue U.S. Postal Service boxes. These are…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 31, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Devil Survivor 2 Is Much Better Than I Expected
Devil Survivor 2:The Animation is an anime based on the 2011 DS game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2. A few months back, I called it one of the anime you’d be okay skipping last season because of its first half being rather cliché and boring. And while its second half wasn’t amazing enough to…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Let’s Look at the Big Name Titles Playable on Oculus Rift
A month or so back, I got to spend an hour with the Oculus Rift VR headset—most of which I spent swooning over Portal 2. Ever since that time I’ve been dying to get the Rift wrapped around my head for a larger chunk of time. And when that dream turns to reality, the question…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku EastUpcoming Saint Seiya Fighting Game Gets A Shiny But Confusing Trailer
This here is Saint Seiya Brave Soldiers. The game will cover three story arcs from Masami Kurumada’s original Saint Seiya manga while also featuring over fifty playable characters. Bonus points if you can actually tell what’s going on in that trailer (I couldn’t). Brave Soldiers is coming to the PS3 in November.
By András Neltz Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku EastYou Don’t Want To Get In This Chinese Swimming Pool
No, really. You do not. This isn’t just a swimming pool in Sichuan province, it’s a sea of people. Website Beijing Cream points out that crowded Chinese swimming pools are famous (infamous?), and if you’d like to see more, there are numerous photos online. This particular video was recently uploaded to Chinese video site Youku,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Life-Sized Mario Can Be Yours for Nearly $3,000
It’sa him, Mario! Witha you, person who just spent almost three grand. As New Launches points out, this 150 cm (4.9 ft) Mario statue is available on Amazon Japan. It was launched a few years back and is priced at 285,000 yen, which is around US$2,900. This seems like something designed for retail displays—or people…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku East
After a Bad Experience, Former Konami Employee Had To Fight Depression
In an interview with the Asahi News, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, a forty-something year-old man recalled his time at Konami and an alleged unfortunate experience which led to bouts of severe depression. Asahi reports that the man worked at Konami in game development. However, in late 2010, apparently the man’s boss abruptly told him…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku EastThere’s a Macross Game on the Oculus Rift
When I was a kid, I had a poster of an F-14 Tomcat hanging on my wall. It was my favorite airplane. Then I watched Robotech and saw my favorite plane transform into a giant robot as well. I dreamed about flying one. Now, two decades later, Oculus Rift has helped me get as close…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku East
How a Japanese Radish Became an Internet Hero
Last fall, a most unusual radish was unearthed in Japan. The vegetable walked—no, raced—from that farm and into our hearts. The result was TV appearances, a calendar, toys, and even a photo book. Behold the world’s most successful radish. If you are not familiar with daikon radish, they are rather large and look like this:…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Mid-Summer Cosplay Was Wonderful This Weekend in Japan
At its heart, Wonder Festival is an event in Japan for toy models and sculptures. But wherever there are nerds, there are people dressing up! Here’s a look at some of the standout cosplay from this weekend’s Wonder Festival. Many of these outfits (such as the Kamen Rider Wizard and the Raiden outfits, above) look…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku EastA Most Unusual Pokemon Peripheral for the 3DS
This is Pokemon Tretta Lab for Nintendo 3DS. The app is a free download, but the hardware costs 3,800 yen (around $38). In Japan, there are coin-operated Pokemon games that use chipped plastic pucks. Players put the pucks on a mat on the machine, and the mat “reads” the pucks. So, for example, if you…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku EastAnd Now, Here’s Gintama’s Sakata Gintoki Beating The Crap Out Of Goku
Also featuring: many other popular anime and manga characters beating the crap out of each other, courtesy of J-Stars Victory VS, the upcoming PS3/Vita crossover fighting game that’s just received a nice gameplay trailer. Sadly, there’s no word on a Western release.
By András Neltz Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Geeks, Games, and Extremely Bored Booth Companions at China Joy 2013
For the last 11 years, the yearly China Digital Entertainment Expo has been “entertaining” China and the world’s gamers. Commonly known as China Joy, the show is usually known more for its booth companions—in fact, this year’s China Joy was more about the gamers and geeks taking photos of young women. Over 200,000 people attended…
By Eric Jou Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Japanese University Makes Special “Forever Alone” Dining Tables
One of Japan’s most prestigious institutions, Kyoto University, has installed new lunchroom seats for students who don’t want others to watch them while they eat. Alone. The seats are called “bocchi seki” (ぼっち席), with “bocchi” meaning “alone” in Japanese. According to Asahi News, Kyoto University first installed the “lonely seats” last spring at its engineering school…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Man Opens Nazi Cafe, Baffled that It Pisses People Off
Who would have thought that a cafe packed with Nazi memorabilia would make people incredibly angry? Henry Mulyana, that’s who. Back in 2011, the Indonesian businessman opened SoldatenKaffee (“Soldier’s Cafe”), a restaurant filled with Nazi emblazoned decor. After the English-language media recently discovered his cafe, Mulyana received death threats and temporarily closed the establishment. According…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku East
For Some Reason, Lightning Returns Has Boob Jiggling
One of the best things about Final Fantasy heroines is that, generally speaking, they’ve tended to be strong females and haven’t really relied on fan service. Until now, that is. At a recent Q&A session with Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s developers, the following question was asked: “Is it true that Lightning went from a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 29, 2013 -
Kotaku East
One Piece‘s Creator Still Sidelined Amid Concerns
Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, skipped the deadline for several issues of his popular manga earlier this spring due to illness. It seems he is still recovering. According to the latest issue of Shonen Jump, One Piece will once again be missing an issue. Originally, Oda was hospitalized in May for a tonsil…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2013 -
Kotaku EastLet’s Spend Some Hands-On Time with Dragon’s Crown
While the release of Dragon’s Crown in North America is still a few weeks away, Vanillaware’s newest title hit Japanese shelves yesterday—a copy of which has already found a new home in my PlayStation 3. So click the video above and let’s sit down together and look at Dragon’s Crown‘s single player and online multiplayer…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 26, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Giant Mobile Battle Suits Overrun Hong Kong
Starting this week, if you head down to Hong Kong’s Time Square Shopping Center, you’ll see more than chic retailers. You’ll see giant mecha. The “Gundam Docks at Hong Kong” exhibit kicked off on July 26 and will run until the beginning of September. In front of the Time Square Shopping Center, you can see…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2013 -
Kotaku East
Valvrave Mixes an Over-the-Top Premise with Real World Consequences
Back in the middle of the spring anime season, I called Valvrave: The Liberator one of the five anime you should be watching. Now that all the episodes have aired, I can understand that it may not be for everyone; but for me, it was one of the most crazy and utterly enjoyable anime of…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published July 26, 2013