Kotaku East

More Cool, Amazing, and Totally Odd Japanese Cosplayers

Last weekend, Osaka’s Den-Den Town, the city’s geek district, held a street festival. Previously, Kotaku showcased some of the unusual cosplay on display during the event. There was more. Much more. Here are some of the other wonderful and wonderfully strange outfits on display. Some of them are based on Japanese internet memes. Some, obviously,…

In Soviet Russia, There Was an Arcade Game That Quizzed People on…Road Signs

Back in 2009, a museum dedicated to Soviet arcade games opened in Moscow, Russia. Recently, Japanese site Osoroshian.com took a tour of the museum, snapping loads of photos in the process. The museum houses over forty arcade games that were licensed for manufacture in the USSR during the 70s and 80s. Many of the arcade…

Latest Japanese Schoolgirl Trend: Fake Dragon Ball Attacks

As covered on Kotaku yesterday, photos of schoolgirls doing faux manga style martial arts moves have been popping up on forums and threads in Japan. Those photos, however, are just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous Japanese teens, it seems, are uploading photos of themselves doing the Kamehameha attack from popular manga and anime series…

Own the Mouse That Kim Jong-Un Wants to Destroy the World With

North Korea is one scary place! Kim Jong-un is one scary young man! Recently, the country’s state media released this photo of The Great Successor sitting at a computer. Make that, a super computer. In a large metal box. Just look at those military officers gathered around. And look at how Kim Jong-un is sitting…

How To Make Hannibal Lecter Even More Terrifying

Forget Hannibal the Cannibal and eating human liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. That’s nothing compared to the sheer terror in the above clip. Silence of the… [Everdraed@YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning…

Robotics;Notes‘ Second Half is Tons of Fun (If You Don’t Stop and Think About It)

Robotics;Notes is a near future tale of a high school robotics club trying to build a giant robot and save their club from getting axed. It is also a story with A.I. ghosts, super powers, an apocalyptic prophecy, mysterious murders, and an international conspiracy. In other words, it is a ton of fun. Of course,…

Western Earthbound Fans Spam the Japanese Mother 2 MiiVerse Demanding a Western Release

This Sunday, I spent about an hour delving through the past 24 hours of messages on the Mother 2 MiiVerse page that went live last week as part of the Mother 2 (Earthbound) re-release on the Japanese Wii U virtual console. And what surprised me as I looked through the message board was the amount…

Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises), the latest Studio Ghibli film, will be out July 20 in Japan, it was announced today. [IT Media]

It’s Face-Off For Real, And Goodness, It’s So Creepy

“The RealFace” (yes, the) is a highly realistic mask. Its maker, Japan-based Real-f, says the mask can be a “memorial portrait” for friends and family. What do I say? It’s creepy. It’s creepy because The RealFace is so damn realistic-looking. The mask is made by taking facial impressions and photos. From that, Real-f can reproduce…

Earthbound Invades the Japanese Wii U with Tons of Little Extras

As part of the Famicon’s (Nintendo Entertainment System’s) 30th anniversary in Japan, Nintendo has been releasing various retro titles on the Wii U for the insanely low price of 30 yen ($0.32) The first title released this way was the NES classic Balloon Fighter. The following game was Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo, the first…

Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada Is Stepping Down [Update]

Today, it was announced that Square Enix president Yoichi Wada is stepping down. He will no longer be serving as Square Enix’s Representative Director. Yousuke Matsuda, who joined Square in 2001, will take over Wada’s role in running the company. The reason given for Wada’s demotion was “a management reorganization”. According to Japanese website 4Gamer,…

Japanese Schoolgirls Bring Manga Style Martial Arts To Life for Fun

What looks like a Japanese manga come to life is really a bunch of schoolgirls having fun with friends. Or is it? Dun dun dun. These photos recently appeared on 2ch, Japan’s largest bulletin board, under the heading, “Schoolgirls Nowadays lol”. While some 2ch users humorously pointed out that this was the martial art technique…

Songstress Donna Burke, who has an array of game and anime themes on her resume, is holding a concert in Tokyo on April 13. More info here.

Chinese Teen Pretends Life Is League Of Legends, Jumps Out of Bush Screaming “For Demacia”

Video games are great for relieving tension and stress; sometimes playing is like an escape from reality. However, for some people, it’s hard to return to reality after a long gaming session. One young man in China took his love for League of Legends a little too far. It’s unknown when this story was first…

Chinese Audience Unimpressed By Resident Evil: Retribution

Resident Evil: Retribution was released in the US late last year. The movie, shot completely in 3D and in 4K resolution had some pretty awesome special effects. It made a decent amount of money in most of its release markets but despite all the money it made, Chinese moviegoers seem to be unhappy with the…

Akira-Meets-The-Simpsons Gets a Full Cast. It Might Surprise You.

When I look at iconic manga and anime Akira, I don’t immediately think of Bart Simpson and Milhouse. Cartoonist James Harvey does. Harvey is spearheading the “Bartkira” project. It’s a group project that consists of over three hundred artists, all working in their own styles. Below you can see the cast of characters: As noted…

Tecmo Koei Just Sliced Up Team Ninja

In Japan, everything changes in the spring. And this April 1, Tecmo Koei, from the sound of it, is making some big changes. At least, on paper. According to a new press release, Tecmo Koei is reorganizing its corporate structure. Meh, right? That sounds rather boring and insidery, but the relevant info is how it…

A Collection of Wonderful, Odd, and Unforgettable Cosplay

Over the weekend in Osaka’s Den-Den Town, the city’s geek district, a street fair called Nipponbashi Festa was held with oodles of cosplayers. As with last year’s Nipponbashi Festa, many of the cosplayers preferred to go with rather peculiar outfits—along with more traditional choices. The results were interesting, creative, and totally wonderful. Below, have a…

Life After Final Fantasy Sure Seems Normal for This Character

You know the story: Rough, wild individual settles down. Gets a job. And turns into a boring member of society. It doesn’t just happen to regular people. It also apparently happens to Japanese role-playing characters. You have to grow up and move on! You can’t be in Japanese role-playing games forever! (Technically you can.) With…

The Second Half of Psycho Pass Isn’t Perfect, But it’s Still Worth a Watch

Psycho Pass is a cyberpunk police story in the same vein as Ghost in the Shell. But instead of being centered on the theme of cybernetics, Psycho Pass explores the concept of a society where your mental health is constantly scanned as a matter of public safety. Those with even the slightest case of mental…