Every now and again, some outspoken fan of Japanese animation, distraught over what he sees as a decline in quality among the art form’s offerings, will hold up the shining example of some new title that shows promise, billing it as “the show that will save anime.” But if this tweet is to be believed, it’s too late. Anime is already dead, as proven by a mysterious, Ghibli-like carcass that washed up on the beach.
May, 2015 (Page 2)
You might have heard that we experienced a magnitude-5.6 earthquake last week, which got everyone in the area a little shaken up (except for this super chill gorilla, of course). While Japan experiences earthquakes incredibly frequently, this one was a little bigger than usual, and had many in Japan diving for cover.
Oh, no, wait, they dived for their smartphones instead…
Somebody really wanted to get ahold of Nintendo’s Splatoon game for Wii U.
Ars Technica reports that a truck full of copies of the shooter game was stolen while on its way from Nintendo’s European warehouse to deliver the games to video game chain Game.
Quick! What do Jackie Chan, Lee Min-ho and Akira Kamiya have in common? They have all played Ryo Saeba, the main character of action/comedy series City Hunter. What better way to celebrate the acclaimed manga by Tsukasa Hojo than a 30th Anniversary Edition of the City Hunter comic along with a brand new original animation DVD to go along with it?
Fans should break out their wallets, though, because it’s not going to be as easy as walking into the shop and buying the disc.
Depicting the horrors of hell through art is a tradition in Buddhism that goes back at least 1,000 years in Japan. By depicting the suffering in store for sinners, the artworks were supposed to scare people onto the straight and narrow.
But if that’s what this late 19th century scroll was for, it might have had the opposite effect. We’ve never seen such a cute hellscape!
Have you ever wondered what life as one of the “pretty guardians” in the hit manga/anime series Sailor Moon might be like? Well, the lovely Sailor Soldiers may be fictional creations, but toy maker Bandai is coming out with a line of delightful miniatures that give us a glimpse into their everyday lives. Yes, from the precious transformation pens to more mundane school items, objects from the Sailor Soldiers’ world will be recreated in miniature, and judging from the pictures, the miniatures are incredibly detailed, not to mention utterly adorable!
Ever heard of SNH48, AKB48’s second sister group outside of Japan? Based in Shanghai, China, the idol unit has been active since 2012, releasing a total of eight singles to date. These singles are all Chinese-language covers of previous AKB48 singles, including their latest release on May 15–the Chinese version of “Manatsu no Sounds Good!” (盛夏好声音).
Now, I’m not someone easily swayed by the cutesy “charms” of idol singers, but a female writer on our Japanese sister site recently wrote a piece expressing her opinion that SNH48 could possibly be–dare I write it–even cuter than the veritable goddesses of the original AKB48.
Take a moment to watch their latest music video and decide who you think is the cutest!
When you start learning another language, like, say, Japanese, it’s common to come across certain words that sound like English words, but aren’t. For example, the Japanese word “hai” which means yes, sounds a lot like the greeting “hi” in English. Another example might be that “ohayou” meaning good morning sounds a lot like the US state of Ohio.
But, naturally, this goes both ways. There are also plenty of examples of Japanese speakers finding “Japanese” meaning in English words that a native English speaker would never think of…
Hello, Rocketeers! Have our recent posts on cute Taiwanese girls, guys and pets gotten you wanderlusting for the fascinating lands of Taiwan? Well, if the language barrier is a concern, we have some exciting information!
Taipei’s city government has been working with the leading local taxi companies to roll out some city tour packages and 24-hour interpretation services to make travelling around Taipei easier for foreign tourists. All the details after the break!
Summer is almost upon us, and that means it’s time to get out your yukata and head to the local festival or fireworks display. Of course, with everyone else wearing a yukata, it can be hard to find something that really pops and stands out. Thankfully, Tsukikageya, a Tokyo-based specialty yukata shop, has just what you need to look as baller as you feel.
We stopped by the store one cloudy afternoon to take a look around and talk with Natsuki, owner and designer, about her unique yukata designs and inspiration. Check out our chat and photos below!
Earlier this week, we took a look at some very gourmet blue chocolate ice cream. But what if you like your snacks sweet, blue, and Japanese in origin? Then you, adventurous/hard-to-please eater, need to get your hands on one of these aqua-colored sweet bean dorayaki cakes, with a flavor as unique as their vibrant hue.
The beef bowl is essentially Japan’s equivalent to the American hamburger. Offered by inexpensive restaurants across the nation, the beef bowl, or gyudon, as it’s called in Japanese, is a tasty, hot meal that’ll give you all the protein and carbs you’re craving without costing you much money or time.
But while you’re usually never far from a beef bowl joint in Japan, what if you live in a town or country that doesn’t have a Yoshinoya, Matsuya, or, most tragically of all, a mouth-watering Sukiya? No problem, because with this amazingly simple recipe, you can make your own Japanese-style beef bowl in just five minutes!
Cat lovers may want to sit down for this.
South Korean police arrested a 54-year-old man on suspicion of catching up to 600 stray cats around his neighborhood, boiling them alive, skinning and gutting the carcasses and then selling the meat to locals for use in a special medicinal soup.
If you are unemployed and living in Japan, we may have found a perfect job for you. No experience is necessary, it’s a pretty safe gig and you won’t have to do anything too difficult. You will, however, be a savior, a hero, and a knight in shining armor for one overworked, stressed-out, and understaffed, 7-Eleven store manager in Tokyo.
Japan and most of the rest of the developed world don’t exactly see eye to eye on whaling. Sure, Japan has a couple of mammal-fishing buddies in Norway and Iceland, but most other nations with a comparable scientific and economic footing take a dim view of Japan’s professedly research-based whaling expeditions, especially in light of how you’re much more likely to come across a restaurant in Japan serving whale meat than a significant biological discovery about whales coming from one of the country’s scientists.
One of the most outspoken opponents has been Australia, which is particularly upset about Japanese whalers hunting the creatures in the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica, an area much closer to Australia than Japan. Now, though, some Japanese Internet commenters are launching snide jabs right back at their critics from Down Under in regards to the Australian government’s consideration of a plan to kill off a portion of its koala population.
It’s already a well-known fact that terrible, nonsensical English (or Engrish, as the phenomenon is known) is found everywhere in Japan. For the most part, Engrish happens because many people just like the look that English print gives to their outfit and accessories, and really don’t give a second thought as to what it means.
But those from western countries are really not much better, choosing clothes or tattoos with kanji characters simply because they look cool, without really giving thought to what the characters themselves might mean. This unfortunately ends with poor souls who forever have the word “kitchen” inked on their arm, or a t-shirt that proudly proclaims the wearer is a beautiful fish.
Now, another western brand is stepping up to add to garbled Japanese to their threads with a fall line apparently dedicated to “bad squirrels”…
Sekai no Owari is one of the most popular groups in Japan right now. The clown-faced, top hat-wearing rock band is managing to thrive in a Japanese music industry saturated with seemingly endless three-letter-48-style girl groups.
So what better to combine with one of the most popular music groups than one of the most popular manga/anime, Attack on Titan? It was just recently announced that the upcoming live-action Attack on Titan movies will feature two original Sekai no Owari songs produced specially as theme songs for the films.
This is hands down (or up, in this case), the most fun you can have at a games arcade in Japan.
The maimai music game cabinet by entertainment giant Sega may look like a front-loading washing machine, but rest assured it is actually way more entertaining. In a game that’s a cross between a whack-a-mole and Dance Dance Revolution, players follow a sequence of hand movements in time with a frantic beat.
Some, however, do it better than others…
You don’t have to look far these days to find something related to Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and her Sailor Scouts. It’s so popular that you can find just about any kind of merchandise you could ever want.
Despite the ubiquitous image of the Sailor Scouts, one photographer snapped what he thinks is the true representation of Sailor Moon, but his shot is causing an uproar on the Internet.
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