Kotaku East Archives - Page 55 of 501

How Star Wars Might’ve Had a Different Darth Vader

This is the Darth Vader we all know. But the character might not have been the same if famous Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune had taken the role. The Japanese influence in Star Wars is no accident. George Lucas’ hero is acclaimed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, and he was inspired by the Japanese director’s films, such as…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 17, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

Japan Getting Kingdom Hearts Themed Hotel Rooms

Starting this March, the Disney Ambassador Hotel at the Tokyo Disney Resort is rolling out special Kingdom Hearts themed rooms. And yes, you can open the door with a Keyblade shaped key. The rooms are limited to three adults and come with two regular sized beds and one trundle bed. Prices are from 46,100 yen…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 16, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

The Booklover’s Guide To Marie Kondo Hate

The new Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is a reality-show version of tidying guru’s best-selling book. Something as innocuous as reducing clutter finds itself at the center of a backlash from booklovers As our colleagues at Jezebel pointed out in 2015, the backlash against Marie Kondo and decluttering is not new. Years later,…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 15, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Curious

Clazziquai Project is one of the leading band names in Korean electronic pop, with over a decade of activity spanning multiple full albums, remixes, and collaborations. While the band officially consists of four members—Alex, Horan, Christina and DJ Clazzi—not all of them participate in every song, which leads to a bit of confusion in which…

By Seung Park Published January 15, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Days Gone By

For their latest release, Day6 decided to go retro (yes!!) with hints of Japanese city pop (yes!!!!!). Day6 is JYP Entertainment’s resident band-style boy group, analogous to Trax from SM Entertainment or CNBLUE from FNC. Bands aren’t very well represented in mainstream K-Pop, which does tend to prefer more traditional performance-style acts. In fact, I…

By Seung Park Published January 11, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Written In The Stars

I really need to start paying better attention to what SM Entertainment is doing with their STATION brand, because I totally slept on this amazing collaboration between John Legend and Red Velvet’s Wendy—for almost three months, it seems. I’m also ashamed to report that I had never heard a single John Legend song until I…

By Seung Park Published January 10, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

Pokémon Studio Criticized After Visiting Controversial Shrine

When Japanese politicians visit the Yasukuni Shrine, the country’s most controversial Shinto shrine, it causes an international incident. The same is true for Pokémon developers. In Japanese, the first Shinto shrine visit of the year is called hatsumode. People visit Shinto shrines that are close to either where they live, or if they are going…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Butterfly

Do you need some inspiration to get off your lazy butt and do something productive? Here’s the perfect song for the occasion. Loveholics’ history is somewhat convoluted; the band actually started off as Loveholic (singular) in 2003 but underwent a name change in 2008 after some member shuffles. Butterfly, released as a digital single in…

By Seung Park Published January 9, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

TV Series 24 Is Getting A Japanese Remake

Titled 24 Japan, it’s set for broadcast during the 2020 fiscal year. The drama will be a remake of season 1 but adapted for its new setting. Livedoor is reporting that TV Asahi is handling the remake, which will follow the same real-time format of the American series. TV Asahi negotiated with 20th Century Fox…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 8, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Snow

We’re in the thick of winter, so it only seems fitting to feature a track that embodies the season like few other songs do. SURL (설) is a Korean indie band that just released their first extended play last December, of which Snow is its title track. The band consists of four members: Seol Ho…

By Seung Park Published January 8, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

Game Console Modding Illegal In Japan, Punishable By Prison And Fines

It is illegal to mod game save data and game consoles in Japan. Both are punishable by up to five years in prison and fines up to 5 million yen ($46,000). According to the official site for Japan’s Association of Copyright for Computer Software, modding game save data and game consoles violates the country’s Unfair…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 7, 2019

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Snail Mail

Younha is back! Snail Mail is only a single, but her fans—myself included—will take whatever we can get. Within her fandom, Younha is (in)famous for spreading out her music to near comedic levels. Among her full album releases, her most recent album came out in 2017, following her Supersonic album, which released in… 2012. Five…

By Seung Park Published January 4, 2019

Kotaku EastSouth Korea

South Korea’s Biggest Gaming Giant Is Suddenly Up For Sale

In 1994, Kim Jung-ju founded Nexon, South Korea’s largest gaming juggernaut. He now owns NXC, Nexon’s holding company, and is putting up 98.64 percent of the stocks up for sale, worth an estimated ten billion dollars. Nexon made its name with wildly popular online games like Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds and KartRider. When…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

Inside Hong Kong’s One Piece Restaurant

If you like One Piece and are ever in Hong Kong, you might want to swing by this One Piece-themed eatery. Fittingly, it’s located in the city’s Whampoa area, a former dockyard. Not only is the decor One Piece themed, but so are the food and drink. While not the world’s only One Piece restaurant…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 2, 2019

Kotaku EastJapan

The Year That Was In Kotaku East

It’s late December. Let’s take a moment and look back at some of the Kotaku East stories from over the past year. Have a look below! Also, let me take this moment to tip my hat to our own Seung Park, who tirelessly chronicles K-pop with fascinating and in-depth daily music picks. Catch up with…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 28, 2018

Kotaku EastJapan

In The Resident Evil 2 Remake, Leon’s Backstory Has Been Cleaned Up

The remake’s official Japanese Twitter account tweeted out the character’s backstory for the new Resident Evil 2 remake. It is rather dull. It reads, “New officer Leon S. Kennedy was assigned to Raccoon City. Before going on duty, Kennedy was at home on standby, waiting for his orders. After no one contacted him and feeling…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 28, 2018

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Love Love Love

It’s still the holiday season, right? Right??? I’ve yet to encounter a song and music video that is as good-cheer-spreadable like After School’s 2010 end-of-year holiday track, Love Love Love. This Christmas-themed song is also a window back to a time before Pledis Entertainment’s current crop of artists like Seventeen, NU’EST and Pristin dominated the…

By Seung Park Published December 28, 2018

Kotaku EastJapan

In Japan, Dragon Ball Z Blu-ray Edits Out Obscene Hand Gesture

In the original Japanese release of Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly, Trunks flips Bio-Broly the bird. However, in the recently released Blu-ray version, he does not. As pointed out by Twitter user Nappasan, here’s how the edited version differs: The edited version is on the left and the original one is on the right. Below is…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 17, 2018

Kotaku East

K-Pop Pick Of The Day: Sometimes I Want To Hug You Like Crazy

Autumn Vacation is a two-member Korean indie group active since 2009, and Sometimes I Want To Hug You Like Crazy (that might be the longest-ever title in the history of this column) is from their first eponymous album. The vocalist absolutely makes this track; her name is Im Soo Jin (stage name Cinnamon), and prior…

By Seung Park Published December 14, 2018

Kotaku EastSouth Korea

Epic Games Korea Apologies To Fortnite Fans For Sea Of Japan Kerfuffle

In much of the world, the body of water between Japan and the Koreas, China, and Russia is known as the Sea of Japan. In South Korea, it is not. Russia calls it “Japanese Sea” (Yapónskoye móre) and China calls it “Sea of Japan” (日本海, literally “Japan Sea,” using the same characters as Japan). However,…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 13, 2018