Some anime series have complex plotlines, but when it comes to successful character-based franchises, it doesn’t matter so much what the animated cast is doing as long as fans get to enjoy their cute or attractive designs. Really, they could be doing just about anything: hanging out in their school club meeting room after class, eating strawberry parfaits, or even vomiting strips of paper, like at this theater in Korea.
Korea (Page 9)
The beach is, for obvious reasons, one of the most popular leisure destinations during summer. There’s so much to enjoy at the beach during the hotter months: the sun, the sea breeze, the refreshing water… and of course it’s bikinis and guys with well-sculpted bods galore.
But this summer in South Korea, it’s not just the beach babes and hunks who are strutting around in their skimpy swimwear. Even the world-famous probiotic beverage Yakult is showing off its shapely body in a variety of swimsuits! Check out the designs after the break!
Who doesn’t love a birthday? And while usually the best thing about birthdays is all the cool stuff you get, Starbucks Coffee is instead celebrating 16 years in Korea by giving things away.
To mark this special occasion, the coffee house chain has released a special range of merchandise including an anniversary mug, thermos and, very cool glass tumbler which changes colour as the temperature drops. The color-changing tumbler takes us back to when we were kids and Hypercolor T-shirts were all the rage.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that North and South Korea used to be the same country. On the one hand, you have South Korea, plastic surgery and cute baby capital of the world, and on the other hand you have North Korea, which is apparently constantly on fire, possibly due to “gasoline clams.”
However, many would love to see the two Koreas reunited once again, among them South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye. In a speech that she gave at a recent meeting, she said that the two Koreas might even be reunited as soon as 2016.
This of course set off a chain of reactions from South Koreans online, some praising the idea of immediate unification while others criticized it – and not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but that seems to be more of a guideline than a prescription for any and all maladies, and eventually we all find ourselves in the waiting room of a clinic or a hospital for a check-up or to get our head stapled back together.
Medical staff are well aware that clinics and hospitals aren’t exactly the kinds of places that make patients feel at home, so many medical facilities have tried improving their drab décor and entertainment options to help patrons feel more comfortable about their visit.
One clinic in Japan, however, appears to have gone a little overboard in the interior design department, and is making many of its patients feel like they’ve walked straight into a psychedelic nightmare instead.
It’s no secret that South Korea has something of a fondness for cosmetic surgery. We’ve published countless articles about how woman and men are flocking to the clinics to enlarge their eyes, tuck in their chins and shape their noses. The results are startling and the “before and after” images are definitely impressive, but now, sadly, pets are also finding themselves on the receiving end of the worrying craze.
An unusual hair-styling trend known as “haato gata” (heart shape) or “haata appu mori” (heart up-set) has become the talk of the interwebs here in Japan recently.
The curious coiffure, which first sprouted in South Korea, is just what it sounds like: girls carefully style their fringe (or bangs to the rest of you) into the shape of a heart, strike a cute pose and then take a picture.
Sadly, to many of us, that’s not what the finished result it looks like…
While Korea these days tends to have more of a reputation for plastic surgery than skilful makeup application (we reckon Japan’s got that cornered), there are still many who think that Korean women’s makeup skills are kind of out of this world. So this Korean makeup brand decided to shoot a model into zero gravity in order to show just how easy their new “IOPE” foundation palette is to apply.
The results are about as ridiculous as you’re probably expecting, but still somehow totally entertaining…
American tech giant Microsoft apparently has some explaining to do to Korean Windows users.
That’s because a television commercial announcing the recent release of Microsoft Windows 10, the latest and blessedly less-infuriating edition of the company’s flagship operating system, apparently commits an unwritten faux pas by way of a text font displayed in the ad.
And if you’re as baffled as we initially were about how a simple, commonly used font could be so offensive, well, let us tell you a little story about Japan-Korea relations…
They say the most expressive part of your face is the eyes. The rest of the face might be saying “happy times”, but if you focus on the eyes, you might see “sad times,” or vice versa.
Purikura machines, or sticker picture machines, have long had an eye enhancement option, so it only makes sense for an application on your phone to have one as well. Many of them can even be used on everyday objects that have people’s faces on them, like the money resting in your wallet. But how do the respected and historical figures on cash look when you manipulate the size of their eyes? Is some secret emotion going to be revealed? Let’s find out after the jump.
Does anyone out there still adhere to the low-carb diet? You know, the one where you have to give up all sorts of bread-y goodness under the presumption that carbohydrates make you fat, and that upping the protein in your diet would somehow help you to lose weight? Well, if you’re in to that sort of torture, fast food chain KFC may have something for you, as stores worldwide have put out various twists on old favorites by replacing burger and hot dog buns with chicken, and now KFCs in the Philippines are upping the game with their new, extremely limited crustless chicken pizza.
And sorry, low-carbers, we lied. As breaded, deep-fried chicken isn’t exactly a proper alternative, you may want to turn away now to avoid temptation. Everyone else, you may proceed to the wonder that is the “Chizza“.
On 5 July, Korean chicken restaurant Mexicana Chicken unveiled their new selection of “Stoplight Chicken” which are small pieces of boneless chicken coated in flavored powders colored red, yellow, and green.
Apparently emboldened by the previous success of chicken nuggets coated in cheese powder, Mexicana has decided to go all out and add strawberry, banana, and melon to the available flavors for their fried chicken. However, according to online reaction, the result is not great.
Attack on Titan and K-pop are both making huge cultural waves in Japan right now. Attack on Titan, presumably, because of its inherent badassness (plus its currently screening and upcoming movies), and K-pop because men and women alike find the melodies extremely catchy and, let’s face it, the girls and guys in the videos extremely pleasing to the eye.
So it was, of course, only a matter of time before these two pop cultural, ahem, titans clashed in one way or another. And while we were expecting, eventually, some kind of official collaboration between the anime franchise and, say, KARA – the K-pop band largely credited with kicking off Japan’s current K-pop boom – it turns out the first piece of Internet ephemera to, accidentally, hilariously, combine the two is just so, so much better.
If you’re a driver, chances are at some point you’ve been behind a slow-moving truck or semi-trailer, trying to overtake but unable to see if there is traffic coming in the opposite direction. This can be frustrating, but it can also be deadly if you pull around at the wrong moment.
South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung may have found a solution to this problem with their prototype Safety Truck, however. It uses a wireless camera and outdoor screens to give drivers following the trucks a view around them.
“Roadside stations,” or michi no eki, are centers in Japan where you can find local agricultural products and restaurants serving up regional fare. For Japanese drivers, these areas serve as both a local tourism spot and a place to relax.
You can find michi no eki all across the country that provide a peek into local Japanese culture, but one center located in Yamagata Prefecture is rumored to make visitors feel right at home in Korea.
Not knowing if the rumor was true or why, one of our Japanese reporters felt compelled to see the center for himself and embarked on a trip up north that led him to Tozawa Village.
As you may have heard, there’s an epidemic in South Korea. Since last month, more than 150 people have contracted the deadly MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, among whom 19 have died.
As a result, foreign tourists in South Korea have been leaving the country in droves, and the usually-thriving tourism industry has been suffering. To try and help alleviate matters, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has made a somewhat unusual decision: they will pay tourists US$3,000 if they contract MERS while in South Korea.
If you are looking for some Korean food while in Tokyo, the place to go is Shin-Okubo. The famed “Korea Town” in the middle of the metropolitan Tokyo area has served as a gathering place for fans of Korean TV dramas, K-pop music and Korean cuisine. Sadly, though, what was once was a bustling consumer zone for people who loved all things Korean, though, has seen its fortunes decline in recent years, and there are a number of theories as to why.
In the boring and often mildly terrifying world of being a competent adult, there comes a time when you have to start eating healthily or face the horrible consequences. Junk food somehow seems less appealing when you have to factor in the inevitable side effects such as bloating, stomach cramps, and bad skin.
So we’re always looking for new things to eat that have added beauty benefits, and recently a secret super recipe has come to our attention which involves adding a dollop of yogurt and kimchi to our rice bowls.
As a guy, sometimes knowing the difference between what looks good and what doesn’t can be a challenge. I know that I personally value functionality over fashion: why should I buy new shoes when my three-year-old ones still fit fine? They only have a couple of holes in them. And what’s wrong with my fanny pack? It’s perfecting for holding all my trading cards!
Thankfully for us guys, Niconico News recently put out the results of a survey given to 200 women, asking them to rate the worst clothing/accessories for men. Does your wardrobe get off scot-free, or are you a proud owner of everything on the list? Find out after the jump!
Samsung is reportedly developing a new phone that will have two screens, according to blog Sam Mobile, which has a solid track record for reporting leaked information about upcoming Samsung products.
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