Kotaku East

Man Arrested for Being King of All the (Fake) Pirates

Tokyo police arrested a 21 year-old Chinese man for violating Japanese copyright law. The man, a student at a Japanese vocational school, was taken into custody for selling phony One Piece figurines. Since February 2011, the man allegedly sold approximately 1,300 fake One Piece figures via online auctions, earning ¥5 million (US$63,000). The man got…

Retired School Principal Inspires Other Retirees To Save Internet-Addicted Youth

Playing hooky is pretty common. I did it, and I’m sure some of you have too. Interestingly enough in China, one 84 year-old retired middle school principal has actually made a hobby out of catching students cutting class. Retired junior high school teacher and principal Xu Dezheng has been visiting internet cafes over the last…

This Awesome Robot Art Was Built With Broken Toys and Old Electronics

Andrea Petrachi is a sculptor. He doesn’t use clay or marble. Instead, he creates with broken toys and discarded electronics, from electric shavers and audio connectors to old doll heads and figurine parts. His work is a mishmash of plastic and metal, joined in their common bond: they’ve been tossed aside for trash. His work…

China, You Are Allowed To Make TV Shows Based On Video Games.

Earlier this month, we reported that the Chinese State Administration for Film, Radio and Television (SARFT) came out with six guidelines that could affect the future of Chinese television. Those six guidelines included a ban on the creation of TV dramas based on online video games. Now it appears that SARFT has come out and…

And Now, Sleeping Dogs Will Perform a Magic Trick

Kotaku likes Sleeping Dogs very much. Kotaku also likes magic. You, hopefully, like Sleeping Dogs and magic, too. Have you seen the trick that Sleeping Dogs protagonist Wei Shen can pull off? Watch and marvel. Wei the MagiShen Debuts His Newest Trick! [YouTube Thanks, Praxic!] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing…

Why Video Game Gambling Machines Were Destroyed In China

Last week, we posted some pictures that appeared on WIRED of Chinese cops burning and destroying gambling machines that look like arcade cabinets. Gambling is illegal in China, and it is constantly being cracked down on. Video game arcades as well as internet cafes are often covers for gambling. Just this weekend, 30-plus people were…

New Japanese Manga Allegedly Rips Off Super Popular Anime [Update]

K-On! originally debuted as a manga, and it then went on to spawn an anime, a feature film, and a video game. It’s a pretty popular series, so when it’s copied, people tend to notice! The latest issue of Jump Next features up and coming manga. New comic “Ooedo Punk”, which did get some good…

After getting battered online for being hideous, the China’s newly erected, large Aspara statue has been taken down

Kill Bill‘s Most Violent Scene Required Blood, Wires, and Close Haircuts

It’s been nearly a decade since Kill Bill Vol. 1 was released. Yet, the film’s most complex and most gruesome scene, the House of Blue Leaves showdown, is still burned in viewers’ minds. The House of Blue Leaves was based on Tokyo’s Gonpachi—and the fight itself was a tribute to blood soaked masters of Asian…

Arcade game Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan this October.

Which of These Final Fantasy VII Logos Is Best?

Final Fantasy games have a look. The characters seem like they belong in a Final Fantasy game, and so do their iconic logos. Let’s talk about those logos—namely, the Final Fantasy VII logo. Online in Japan, someone created a whole host of FFVII logos, using the color shades from other FF games as well as…

Do Japanese and Westerners Have Different Taste in Men? This Game Thinks So.

The Japanese love simulator Be My Princess just got a re-release. The game now looks different. Very, very different. Be My Princess, which is for Android and iOS, brands itself as a “royal romance”. Here’s the title’s description: You, a normal university student, have an unexpected encounter with a prince on a street corner. He…

Oh, the Meat Bun Horror. The Cute Meat Bun Horror.

You are looking at a meat bun of virtual idol Hatsune Miku. This isn’t the horror part. The horror has not yet started. Oh no. This gets worse—much worse. The above photo (taken by Otalab) shows a fresh Hatsune Miku meat bun. But what happens when the Miku buns are left in their Family Mart…

Large Internet Outcry Over Jumbo Chinese Statue

This summer, Japan isn’t the only country with enormous ladies. China is getting in on the act in a big way. The reaction in China, however, has been a huge letdown. The above sculpture, which went up in Xinjiang province, depicts an Aspara, a celestial maiden for the clouds and water in Buddhism and Hinduism.…

Assassin’s Creed 3 Director Says Japanese Games Get a Free Pass

Alex Hutchinson, the creative director of Assassin’s Creed 3, thinks he knows why Nintendo can get away with releasing new versions of old franchises. It might not be the answer you expect. After Hutchinson compared AC to other well known franchises, Mario and Resident Evil, website CVG asked the creative director why Nintendo can release…

Sometimes, Bowing Is Very, Very Tricky

In Japan, bowing is important. There are various ways to bow and various meanings for bowing. When newscasters sign off, they always bow. Recently, anchorwoman Yuuko Aoki’s hair got caught in a desk mic while bowing on television. The YouTube has gone viral in Japan, with nearly half a million views.

Developer: “Some Company in China Stole My Game”

That was the alert from Reddit user Fragsworth. It seems that China’s Tencent gaming platform Pengyou and the Tencent app store have what looks like an exact copy of his indie game Cloudstone. According to Fragsworth: It’s pretty clear that they blatantly, seriously ripped us off. They took our files, reverse-engineered the server, and hosted…

If You’re Confused By the Resident Evil Movies, Watch This

Next month, Resident Evil: Retribution hits theaters. Not everyone has been keeping up with the Resident Evil flicks. Heck, even those who have seen them might not know what the hell is going on. Here’s a two-and-a-half minute digest that should bring you up to speed. Hopefully! If you don’t have two minutes, here’s my…

Can This Superstition Determine Your Fate? Probably Not!

John F. Kennedy. Marilyn Monroe. James Dean. These icons share more than an untimely fate. According to a Japanese author and macrobiotic diet guru George Ohsawa, they shared the same kind of eyes—”sanpaku” (三白) eyes. Because of that, Ohsawa implied, they met similar fates and died early deaths. Literally, “sanpaku-gan” (三白眼) translates to “three whites…

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Beta Scheduled For Winter. No Hardware Upgrades Necessary

Square Enix’s new/remade MMORG, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was shown at Gamescom 2012 in Germany yesterday. During the stage event, producer/director Naoki Yoshida stood on stage to show what has been developed so far. As can be seen from screenshots, FFXIV: A Realm Reborn has some pretty spectacular graphics. Yoshida proudly announced that…