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Kotaku EastJapanThe Internet Celebrates The Game Boy’s Birthday
On April 21, 1989, the Game Boy first went on sale in Japan. This year marks the handheld’s thirtieth anniversary. And this weekend, the internet was more than happy to celebrate. The Game Boy went on to spawn several iterations including the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance and the Game Boy Micro. It…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 22, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanManga Suffers Second Great Loss This Month, Kazuo Koike Is Dead
Earlier this month, Lupin III creator Kazuhiko Kato passed away. This week, Kazuo Koike, who created such landmark manga as Lone Wolf and Club and Lady Snowblood, has died. The Lone Wolf and Club manga was adapted into movies that made a cinematic superstar of Tomisaburo Wakayama and the film version of the Lady Snowblood…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanThe Sega Genesis Mini, A Size Comparison
We know the Sega Genesis Mini is small, but I don’t believe we have seen it side-by-side with the original console. That is, until now. During today’s Famitsu livestream, the actual hardware was shown off to give a better idea of the machine’s size. Like other mini consoles, it’s small! This is obviously the Mega…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 18, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanThe Creator of Lupin The Third Has Died
Manga artist Kazuhiko Kato, better known by his pen name Monkey Punch, has passed away. According to Mantan Web, Kato died from pneumonia on April 11. He was 81 years old. Kato took the name Monkey Punch at a manga editor’s recommendation during the mid-1960s. In 1967, when Lupin III debuted, the moniker stuck. Lupin…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 17, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanNetflix’s Cute Stop-Motion Animation Points Out That Rilakkuma Is Wearing A Kigurumi Onesie
The Netflix stop-motion animation Rilakkuma and Kaoru is about the daily life of a young woman and her lazy roommate. The character Rilakkuma means “relaxing bear,” and everyone thought it was, well, just a bear. In this show, apparently, it’s not. As the clip, via Anime Anime, points out, Rilakkuma is actually someone in a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanHayao Miyazaki’s New Anime Film Is Still Hiring
Would you like to work on Hayao Miyazaki’s new movie? Well, you can certainly apply if you live in Japan, know Japanese and have digital paint skills. Previously, a job listing was posted back in 2017. Now, a new one has been made in 2019! According to the listing on Studio Ghibli’s official site, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 16, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanAnime Pokémon Compared With The New CG Movie Version
Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution is the first full-CG animated Pokémon feature film. We’ve already seen how the computer graphic versions of the classic trainers looked. Let’s now see how scenes from the anime stack up. Recently, a new Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution trailer was released. Via 2ch, here’s how scenes in it compare with their…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 15, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanDrinkable Rice Balls Sure Look Nasty
Onigiri is usually translated as “rice ball,” because the food is often shaped like, well, a ball of rice. For centuries, the triangular onigiri has been a meal that one eats. Until now. Behold “Nomu Onigiri” or “Drinkable Rice Ball.” Packed with 200 kilocalories, this rice ball beverage type thing is made from skipjack tuna…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 15, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanVirtual Girl Might Be Responsible For Cup Noodle Demand
Yesterday, instant noodle maker Nissin announced it was temporarily halting sales of its miso-flavored Cup Noodle. According to Nari Nari, the reason was that sales of Cup Noodle Miso had gone up drastically and can’t meet demand. It will resume sales once things have stabilized. Nissin is also canceling planned special releases of Seafood and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Cherry Blossom Ending
It’s springtime in Korea, and that means one thing: a resurgence in the nation’s collective obsession with cherry blossoms. In fairness, cherry blossoms are ridiculously pretty. Their longevity in Korean popular psyche can be traced not only with this perennial 2012 hit, but several others: IU and HIGH4’s Not Spring, Love, Or Cherry Blossoms is…
By Seung Park Published April 12, 2019 -
Kotaku EastHuge Japanese Food Portion Sizes
There’s a stereotype that only American food is jumbo-sized. That stereotype is wrong Japan also has its own super-sized helpings—known as oomori (大盛り) or “large serving.” On 2ch, Japan’s largest web forum, images of “mega oomori” and meals were “baku oomori” (爆盛り or “bursting large serving”) uploaded online. Here’s a look at those, along with…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 11, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Galaxy
Bolbbalgan Puberty’s 2016 release, Galaxy, is a vertical slice of everything that I like in Korean indie: soothing vocals, acoustic instrumentals, and a general happy-go-lucky vibe, all wrapped up in colorful, springtime-esque visuals. Galaxy’s Korean title actually translates closer to I’ll Give You The Galaxy, but considering we just had a whole discussion about loss…
By Seung Park Published April 11, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Lazy
Something that I appreciate about the Korean language is its tendency to assign playful words to nuanced definitions of common thoughts and objects, and Son Ah Reum’s Lazy is a great example of that. The word “lazy”, directly translated, most often comes out as 게으름 (gae-euh-reum). However, the original title of the song in Korean…
By Seung Park Published April 10, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Very Very Very
When I brought up Mnet’s Produce and IZ*ONE last week, it led me down a rabbit hole to taking another look at IZ*ONE’s predecessors, I.O.I. I.O.I (no, not the bad guys from Ready Player One) was the first project group to come out of the Produce series, and Very Very Very came near the tail…
By Seung Park Published April 9, 2019 -
Kotaku EastChinaAnime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Changed Slightly In China As Not To Offend
When the first episode of anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba recently aired, those who watch it on Bilibili, China’s number one anime streaming service, will see a slightly different version. For China, demon slayer Tanjiro Kamado’s earrings have been altered from their original design. As News Gamme points out, its Rising Sun style elements…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 8, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanFormer Tales Producer Hideo Baba Has Now Left Square Enix
In February 2017, it was announced that former Tales producer Hideo Baba was heading up a new studio at Square Enix called Studio Istolia. Last month, however, Baba and Square Enix parted aways. Prior to joining Square Enix, Baba produced Tales games at Namco Bandai. Studio Istolia was working on a completely new IP called…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 5, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Violeta
IZ*ONE is an absolutely massive Korean/Japanese girl group (12 members!) formed with the finalists from the latest season of Mnet’s Produce series of survival audition television shows. The premise of Produce is simple: dozens of idol hopefuls compete against each other to survive as long as they can, on the backs of public voting after…
By Seung Park Published April 5, 2019 -
Kotaku EastJapanThe Official Translation Of Japan’s New Imperial Era Is Also An Erotic Game Song
The Japanese government has announced that the new imperial era is Reiwa (令和). It has several meanings, but the official English translation is “Beautiful Harmony.” It’s also the name of an erotic game theme. As Otakomu points out, when the official English translation was announced, singer Yui Sakakibara pointed out that “Beautiful Harmony” was the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 4, 2019 -
Kotaku EastOfficial Naruto Ramen Restaurant Is Now Opened
Naruto’s favorite noodle joint is Ramen Ichiraku. There is now a licensed one in Shanghai, filled with Naruto stuff and serving up ramen. It’s the first official Naruto ramen restaurant in the world. The in-manga and in-anime counterpart is based on a real place called Ichiraku Ramen in Fukuoka where it’s said Naruto creator Masashi…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 4, 2019 -
Kotaku EastK-Pop Pick Of The Day: Some
Some was the sleeper hit of 2014, beating out many big idol group comebacks to become one of the most representative songs of the year. As a collaboration between veteran hip-hopper Junggigo and Sistar vocalist Soyou, Some gathered a bit of pre-release hype, but no one could’ve expected the song to blow up as big…
By Seung Park Published April 4, 2019