Kotaku East

You Cannot Stop This Manga Artist with Threats of Death and Destruction

For months now, Japanese manga artist Tadatoshi Fujimaki has been dealing with repeated threats. There is a vendetta against him, which has produced numerous threatening letters containing suspicious chemicals. As previously detailed, the threats are apparently from one angry individual who seems intent on stopping Fujimaki from promoting his manga Kuroko’s Basketball. The threats are…

Unicorn Lair in North Korea? Surely, the Communist Government Is Kidding, Right?

Unicorns are the stuff of, I dunno, unicorns. They’re fantasy! This isn’t the 1600s, and we know better. But in North Korea, which sometimes seems like it’s stuck in the 1600s, the government’s central news agency is running a story about a unicorn lair. That’s correct, a lair where a unicorn lived. Here is the…

The Lightning Returns Logo Took a Very Long Time to Design

Some things can be finished quickly. Some things take time. The Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII logo, it seems, took time. A lot of time. On the game’s official Twitter, someone from the Square Enix publicity department said “it took an exceedingly amount of time to arrive at the design”. Creating it was a long…

One Piece Is Still One Cruel Mistress

Eiichiro Oda writes and draws the biggest selling manga of all time, One Piece. Oda didn’t do that by sitting around on his ass. Well, actually he did, because he works from a desk. But he sure didn’t make One Piece so successful by lollygagging around. In a recent manga interview, Oda was asked about…

Forget the Haters, Japan *Hearts* Call of Duty

The conventional wisdom has always been Japan loves role-playing games and dislikes first-person shooters. First-person shooters, pundits said, were popular only with Western gamers. The pundits and conventional wisdom, it seems, are wrong. In its debut week, Call of Duty: Black Ops II on the PS3 is the second best selling game in Japan, moving…

Square Enix’s Mecha Lady Game Knocked Offline, Hacking Feared

Smartphone game Galaxy Dungeon is Square Enix’s attempt to mix card-based action with role-playing game elements. The mecha heroines caught the attention of some gamers, and there was some fanfare when it was recently released. Things seemed to be going well for Galaxy Dungeon. Then, there was a bug—a bug that now looks like it…

Here’s Why The New Evangelion Movie Is Surprisingly Realistic

For those of you who saw the first 6 minutes and 38 seconds of the new Evangelion movie, you were treated to scenes of a space battle involving giant biological humanoid… things (the creators at Gainax have emphatically stated that Evas are NOT robots or mechs and should not be called as such). The whole…

Yakuza 5 Is The Most User-Friendly Yakuza Yet

Yakuza 5 is scheduled for release in Japan next week and the developers at Sega are in full PR mode. Executive producer Toshihiro Nagoshi and producer Masayoshi Yokoyama spoke to Weekly Famitsu in a pre-release interview to talk about the latest in the Yakuza franchise. As the 5th numbered Yakuza game, the development has had…

This Gundam Model Looks Right Out Of The Anime. Literally.

Model making is a hobby for all ages. In Japan, the most prominent genre of models is Gundam models, otherwise known in Japan as Gunpla (GUNdam + PLAstic models). Most model builders usually try to make their creations as realistic as possible, sometimes complete with realistic environments to create fantastic dioramas. Others sometimes go the…

Lazy People Can Play Real Arcade Games and Win Real Prizes in Real Time

Claw games, crane games, U.F.O. Catchers—whatever you want to call them—are iconic arcade machines. Unlike many other arcade games, claw games don’t get ported. They do now. Netch or “Net Catcher” is an online claw game that isn’t only real time, it’s real. On the site, there are a couple different crane games offering different…

Soon, You Can Eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Japan Airlines

Airplane food sucks, especially in coach. Even when it’s good, it’s so bad. No wonder Japanese air carrier JAL is looking beyond traditional sky meals. JAL wants its meals to be finger lickin’ good. Literally. From December to next February, JAL is collaborating with KFC for what it’s calling “AIR Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Clever! Japanese…

When Your Love of Plastic Beauty Is Mega

The MegaHobby Expo recently rolled through Tokyo, showing off an array of colorful sculptures and statues. This is pure geek heroin. On display, there were upcoming statues from a variety of games, anime, and manga. Japanese site Moeyo was on hand to check things out. Have a look and start filling out your wish list.…

Interested in interning for Kotaku East? Live in Asia? Read This

This Vendetta Against a Popular Japanese Comic Is Utterly Terrifying

Kuroko’s Basketball seems innocent enough. It’s a popular basketball manga that debuted in 2008 and was turned into an anime earlier this year. You wouldn’t think it would incite threats of revenge, letters mailed with strange substances, and a rash of Kuroko’s Basketball cancellations. But it did. Since October, threatening letters have been mailed to…

There’s Now Darth Vader “Energy Cola” Pepsi in Japan

Like everyone, Japan loves Star Wars. It also loves Darth Vader, who has sold everything from smartphones phones to pachinko on Japanese TV. Japan also loves energy drinks. And so, we have this: Pepsi Energy Cola with Vader’s face plastered all over it. The Dark Lord of the Sith actually wants you to “Give yourself…

You’ll Never Guess How Long Making the Agni’s Philosophy Demo Took

Jaws were on the floor when Square Enix showed the three minute Agni’s Philosophy demo earlier this year in Los Angeles. They were on the floor this weekend when Square Enix once again showed off the tech. To dazzle like that takes time. A lot of time. While showing off the mind-blowing demo this weekend,…

PSP picture game Photo Kano is getting a PS Vita version and a TV anime, says Famitsu

Erotic Game Company Parodies Nintendo Honcho

“Iwata Asks” is a regular online feature in which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata interviews developers. Some of the game creators are in-house and some work for outside companies. All of their games appear on Nintendo hardware. None of them feature hardcore pornography. Instead of “Iwata Asks”, Osaka-based erotic PC game company SoftPal launched a “Shacho…

Link Is So Pissed, So Effing Pissed

Bet he’s dealing with Mothula in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I can see it on his angry, tortured face. (We’ve all been there!) This is Link’s “Angry Face” from Figma’s new Skyward Sword figurine (read the Kotaku review). Please, let’s make Angry Face Link a meme. Surely, there are more…

Just a friendly reminder! In Japan, Nintendo said its TVii streaming service hits December 8.