Titles from Final Fantasy and Attack on Titan franchises also on list in wake of deaths thought to have stemmed from online bullying.
C Asia
In Iran, women are forbidden from stadiums, but for fans of soccer, drastic times call for drastic measures.
Three major bookstore chains in Japan stop selling CoroCoro Comic after an image defacing the ancient ruler was published.
Following their conquest of Japan, the high school idols of hit anime Love Live! have their eyes set on the rest of the world, with an international release for their first theatrical feature. But even that might not be a big enough stage for the animated vocalists. They’re now on their way to taking over the skies as well, since you can now watch Love Live! anime on selected flights on, of all carriers, Qatar Airways.
There’s nothing that says a good-looking woman can’t be a successful politician or accomplished shogi player. However, there’s no reason to expect a greater-than-average ratio of beauties in those walks of life either, so when a particularly pretty individual makes an appearance, she tends to get a lot of attention.
On the other hand, it seems like there should be a lot of overlap between the demographics of “professional athlete” and “attractive person.” Being among the best at the sport you play requires plenty of practice, and all that exercise generally results in a toned body and bright aura of healthy vitality. Still, it’s not like there’s any concrete corollary between athletic prowess and practically perfectly balanced facial features or luxuriously flowing, seemingly never out-of-place hair. That’s why this recent addition to a Japanese professional team is being called “the most beautiful volleyball player in the world.”
The giant stone Buddhas at Bamiyan were the tallest in the world at 55 and 38 meters (180 and 125 feet) in height. From their cliffside alcove, they watched a millennium and a half pass in Afghanistan, resisting the degenerative influence of time and the introduction of Islam, until religious fanaticism in the form of the Taliban and a great deal of explosives finally brought them down.
Their loss was a cultural and artistic tragedy, but this week the Buddhas were reborn through the magic of 3-D projection mapping and the efforts of a civilian Chinese couple.
Need a little laugh to help ease yourself into the week?
In the past, we’ve featured some photo fun from Asia, 35 signs you might be in Asia, as well as 39 looks at the lighter side of Asia. This time, we’re bringing you 36 more bizarre, comical, and downright nonsensical scenes from around Asia!
The continent of Asia itself contains over half of the world’s population. Looking solely at the numbers, this means that there’s a much higher chance for something crazy to go down here than in other parts of the world.
So when you see pictures of people like the woman above, you might get the sense that a lot of Asians are a little bit out-there, but actually for the most part they’re just as plain as you, me or my buddy Kenji who dresses up like a panda at his local zoo and pretends to mate with another panda-dressed co-worker to encourage the real pandas to get it on.
So please keep people like Kenji in mind when viewing these 14 photos of strange occurrences around our lovely continent.
Take a quick look at the picture above. Notice anything strange? Perceptive readers may have spotted something out-of-place right away. If you didn’t, well, no worries, but you’ll probably want to facepalm yourself when you take a second look.
Like this Chinese “7-Twelve,” there are a number of fake, localized versions of popular convenience store 7-Eleven scattered throughout the Asian continent. They may think they can slip through the cracks, but perhaps it’s only a matter of time before a lawyer comes knocking at their doors. We have to hand it to them, though–they score high on creativity for coming up with some amusing names.
A 20-year-old Afghan man is being described as “the reincarnation of Bruce Lee” after photos and videos of him striking iconic poses and wielding nunchucks were posted online.
Abbas Alizada, who goes by the name of Afghan Bruce Lee due to his striking resemblance to the star, hopes to show another side to his war-torn country. “The only news that comes from Afghanistan is about war,” he said in a recent interview.
As you’re probably well aware, we at RocketNews24 strive to tackle only the most serious issues of the day. Whether we’re breaking down the complexities of the TPP and its effects on soy bean subsidies, or providing in-depth analysis on how modern Japanese silk arts have deviated from their traditional routes, we never stop thinking about important matters. Even though we cover these topics with deadly seriousness, however, we have been known to let our hair down once a year or so.
With that in mind, today we’d like to bring you a collection of photos which pretty much no point or underlying theme aside from the fact they all come out of Asia and are really weird. Don’t worry though, we’ll be back to our usual coverage of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of Japan soon enough. For now just sit back and enjoy these little pieces of Novocaine for the mind.
Asian consumers are in love with the iPhone 6 Plus, according to a report published Thursday by AppLovin, a mobile ad network.
AppLovin looked at data from the more than 25 ad requests it processes every day, and found that the global split between iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users is about 80/20 right now.
But in some Asian countries, the 6 Plus is much more popular.
Japanese female net users were pleasantly surprised when they stumbled upon some photos of attractive men on an online forum.
While there’s nothing unusual about that statement, seeing as the world is full of handsome dudes (our own RocketNews24 staff lineup included), the reason for the women’s surprise stems from the fact that they were looking at pictures of several hunky Chinese ethnic minority men, some of whom look quite different from the typical mental image of the Han Chinese ethnic group. Join us after the jump for both a mini anthropology lesson and a look at some of the attractive men in question!
As with any business venture, the key to running a successful restaurant is to differentiate your establishment from its competitors. Earlier this month, for example, we talked about a pub in Kyushu called Sacrifice that accomplished this by filling its interior with creepy mannequins and props that would be right at home in any horror movie.
But for those of you who take issue with the inauthenticity of Sacrifice’s fake corpses and skeletons, might we offer this alternative: a restaurant in India where diners sit among coffins with centuries-old bodies inside.
If you’ve ever travelled light for an extended amount of time, you’ve probably been surprised at just how little we really need to get by. While it’s easy to get carried away on the waves of consumerism and caught up in the throes of the technological age, it’s just clothes, some food and a roof over our head that’s really on our list of basic needs for survival.
One photographer in China has been challenging people to consider their own lifestyles and necessities with a thought-provoking series of photos of Chinese households. By photographing people surrounded by their belongings, these pictures seem to ask the question, “What do you need to survive?” and “What makes for a happier household: some company and the basic essentials or a modern lifestyle full of slick and shiny extras?”
We here at RocketNews24 know there’s a lot to love about Asia. With unique traditions, fascinating people and awe-inspiring landscapes, there’s a certain atmosphere and sense of beauty that has us hooked.
While it’s not always easy to translate the magic onto film, one photographer from Thailand is leading the way with an amazing collection of stunning photos and an open invitation for others to join him on his photo travels across the Asian continent. From Myanmar’s mist-shrouded temples to the quiet rivers of China and India, these photos will simply take your breath away.
Microsoft’s forthcoming Xbox One console will not be released in Asia until late 2014, despite the fact that it will launch in the West in November this year, it was revealed last night.
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