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Fans of AKB’s Haruka Shimazaki despair over freaky Sailor Moon makeover

It really warms your heart to see more Japanese celebrities show their support for cosplay. It’s one of the flashier hobbies that anime fans can boast and is getting more popular by the day. Cosplay websites abound with fashion tips and suggestions for various costumes styles, poses, and makeup options for just about every conceivable costume on the market.

But AKB48 star, Haruka Shimazaki, might want to do a bit of rethinking before offering up her own anime makeup (AniMake for short) suggestions, as her most recent attempts caused a despairing cry to ring out from among her adoring fans…

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Now that’s what we call a close one! Massive boulder nearly crushes car【Video】

We don’t know about you, but while driving around mountainside roads, we always ignore those “danger falling rocks” signs with their comical little circles sliding down a triangle. Sure, those signs are there for a reason, but we’ve never actually seen a “falling rock”…that is until now.

A recent video taken in Taiwan shows a massive boulder rolling down a mountainside and nearly flattening a car and his presumably screaming driver. Thank goodness for onboard cameras because if the vehicle in front hadn’t been equipped with one, the world would never witness this extremely close call.

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ATM mysteriously withdraws itself and explodes in China

China is increasingly becoming a real-life Maximum Overdrive with machines and items such as mobile phones, toilets, bus windows, buses, cans of cola, and cigarettes have all lashed out at their fleshy masters.

And now, at around 2:00 a.m. in Fujian Province, the automated teller machine of a credit union exploded blowing out nearby windows but injuring none. It would appear the joke was on this machine as it didn’t know most people sleep at that time of day.

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Would you drink hot ginger ale from a can? Coca Cola thinks you will

Fall is right around the corner, and winter is around the corner after that, and after that… wait, back up, you’re just going to end up in the same place you started. Let’s focus on fall.

Fall in Japan, like every season in Japan, is a chance for companies to come up with new seasonal convenience store items with fancy color-coded packages. And in summer’s case, tons and tons of salt. In the fall, especially, manufacturers gear up with all kinds of crazy concoctions because it’s (probably) a verifiable fact that everybody eats like a damn starved pig in the fall and they know you’ll eat or drink just about anything if they put some pretty fall leaves on the package.

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Astronomer warns of major earthquake in Kansai as early as next week

After last month’s false alarm of a large earthquake over our mobile phones, Nara and surrounding area residents’ blood pressures are finally getting back to normal. Well, don’t put away those paper bags yet. Now there’s another reason to worry. Research out of Yatsugadake Nanroku Observatory is suggests that we can expect a major earthquake of at least magnitude 7 to hit somewhere in the Kansai area from next week.

Earthquake-prone Japan is no stranger to proclamations of doom so it’s hard to get too worked up. However, the head of the observatory, Yoshio Kushida has made this prediction with a truly unique method that if correct could revolutionize earthquake prediction. Rather than looking down at the ground, Kushida suspects we can detect earthquakes better by watching the skies.

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Artist amazes with Mario and Yoshi water sculptures

It’s one thing to look up into the clouds and see the vague shape of some video game character you recognize or maybe a dinosaur or something. After all, clouds are slow moving and amorphous; you’re bound to see some sort of Rorschach-esque pattern in there. But would you believe that a splash of water might, just for one instant, contain something as awesome as Mario and Yoshi?

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Larger than life Doraemon doll will delight fans, terrify pets and small children

This day, 99 years from now, was (will be?) Doraemon’s birthday! And to celebrate, Bandai has decided to loose this behemoth Doraemon doll on the world to delight fellow Doraemon fans and send small children screaming out of the room and directly to the therapist. Especially after you explain to them that, don’t worry, it’s just a time-traveling robot cat with magic powers. He’s basically an adorable anime Terminator!

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Man accidentally morphs into Dragon Ball’s Piccolo, seeks professional help

For those of you who are fans of Dragon Ball, what would you call Piccolo’s most defining feature: the turban, the heavy-set brow line, or perhaps the long, pointy ears? If you ask us, the first thing to register when staring at a screen shot of the awesome alien warrior is his undeniable Hulk-like greenness.

Late last month, a man from Western China managed to achieve this startling shade of green skin, though not of his own volition and not without consequence, either. And what was the cause of his seemingly alien ailment? Snails.

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That’s a nice mouse you have there. Be a shame for something to…happen to it…

The best and worst part about having siblings is the practical jokes. Or, to put it another way, the best thing about having siblings is getting revenge! Judging from the blurred picture above, can you guess what sort of fun an older brother had at his younger sibling’s expense?

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Language of the otaku has infiltrated our Internet forums

I’m sure that many of our readers are acquainted with the Japanese word otaku and its assimilation into English. For those that aren’t, it is a special label given to people who are especially obsessed with what might be considered nerdy hobbies, particularly those related to Japanese anime and manga. In Japanese, it can refer to any person with an obsession, whether it be half-naked figurines or interior design, but it almost always carries the negative connotation of being obsessed to the point of anti-social behavior. In the Western world, however, being an otaku is a badge of honor for many. People who like Japanese manga, anime, and games will often self-identify as otaku and join together with others of like interests over the Internet and other social outlets.

For better or worse, this circle of online anime fanatics has adapted a small vocabulary of Japanese words, creating a sub-set of Internet slang that bridges the language gap between these two similar cultures. Japanese pop culture enthusiasts worldwide cling to words like baka, moe, hentai, and more. But is this particular aspect of otaku culture a healthy thing to have spread? For example, there’s also the potentially disillusioned concept of “mai waifu.”

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Footage of rare tornado touchdown in urban Japan appears online

At around 2 p.m. on Monday, September 2, a rare sight filled the skies of Tokyo’s neighbour to the north, Saitama Prefecture. From a layer of thick, dark cloud, a twisting grey finger reached down and made contact with the city itself and the word tatsumaki could be heard all around: there was a tornado in the city.

The twister tore through some 14 kilometres of the prefecture within just a few minutes, taking out power lines, ripping the roofs from a number of houses and leaving as many as 33,000 residences across the Kanto region without power. Soon after, dozens of videos appeared online showing the tornado rumbling across the land.

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Pass the sick bucket! Could you stomach this ultra-realistic Pokémon cake?

You can find pretty much anything on self-styled “front page of the Internet” Reddit, which means from time to time you’ll probably stumble across something you’d rather un-see. One poster in a Pokémon subreddit uploaded this gem, sharing a cake her boyfriend had made for her. Make sure you have a strong stomach before reading on…

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The Nintendo family is expecting! Too bad Twitter knew about the 2DS since 2011

Following its announcement last week, Nintendo’s newest hardware, the 2DS, has been causing quite a stir among gaming fans worldwide. Opinions have been flying left and right, some positive and some negative, for this kid-friendly device. Is it a waste of time and energy making a product that’s a downgrade from that which already exists? Or is this a good solution for parents who want to buy their young children an affordable, portable gadget?

But before all this domestic kerfuffle, one gifted Twitter user can now say that he predicted this very predicament a full two years before the new hardware was even a twinkle in the eye of its developer.

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Allegedly abusive passenger judo-thrown by female station worker

It’s an old stereotype that all East Asians know martial arts and one that’s far from the truth. However, you never know when someone you least expect is going to pop out some taekwondo, karate, judo, or, in the words of James Brown, ka-razy.

Hiroshi Ebina learned that the hard way when a 21-year-old female station attendant he got mixed up with took him down in one move having good old-fashioned judo under her presumably black belt.

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Why it’s so important for Japanese celebrities to star in commercials

Even if you can’t understand what’s being said on Japanese TV, it’s difficult to miss the fact that nearly every TV spot and, for that matter, a good chunk of print ads, feature Japanese celebrities shucking various products.

To the Western eye, this can be a little baffling. Sure, sometimes commercials in English-speaking countries will fall back on (mostly) has-been stars to lend credibility to this or that used car dealership or diet product, but most of the time Western commercials star everyday folks. Most surmise this is so the consumer – his/herself most likely an everyman/woman – feels an emotional connection with the ad.

On the other hand, Japanese ad agencies hire TV and movie stars much, if not most, of the time. So prevalent is the practice that Western stars aren’t above traveling to Japan Lost in Translation-style for a week or so of juggling live human beings and shouting broken-English catchphrases for a round of Japanese ads ending in a big payday.

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Rodin’s “The Thinker” goes thoughtless in Japan

This fall, Takara Tomy Arts is releasing a new line of funny figurines inspired by one of the world’s most well-known statues, “The Thinker.” Only in this case, the chiseled man appears much too preoccupied to be thinking much of anything, turning this thinker into The Thoughtless.

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15-year-old girl tries to scam adult out of $40,000 – gets caught dressed like a businessman

What is with the kids these days? First, it was high school students committing gruesome murders and now it’s middle school students getting involved in telephone scams.

It’s enough to make you shout, “Are the kids alright??”

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3DS games popping out and running away? Cyber Gadget has the solution!

Apparently, there’s a bit of a problem with some Nintendo 3DS and 3DS LL consoles: Game cards are literally popping out of the portable devices without warning.

This can be a pretty serious problem, too. It can result in the loss of unsaved progress, or even the game card itself zooming off and going missing or being damaged. But fear not! Cyber Gadget has a solution.

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Thanks to the wonder of the internet, unlike in the past when we had to make do with what our local retailer had in stock or pay extortionate amounts for specialist items, with just a few clicks we have access an array of products from all over the world. As a result, many consumers are willing to try new and unusual things, and are using the net to get their hands on the products that they can’t get in their home country. Today we’d like to introduce you to a heartwarming story of internet shopping, great customer care, and of course sweet, delicious chocolate.

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Eight-year-old girl astounds world with guitar technique

Guthrie Govan stands among the best guitar players in the world. He is able to play in a variety of styles gracefully like few others can. His song “Fives” in particular showcases how well he can use the entire fret board effortlessly to make a deeply complex, sophisticated yet catchy guitar jam.

With that, here’s eight-year-old Risa-X to perform this extremely intricate piece written by the 1993 Guitarist of the Year on her guitar!

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