anime (Page 197)

What’s the difference between a “good” otaku and a “bad” otaku?

The word otaku has a long and complicated history in Japan. Originally, it was strictly a pejorative, a label used to mark those with an unhealthily intense interest in anime and other bits of minutiae-heavy hobbies. But while there are many who still use the word in that scathing sense, “otaku” has slowly built up another image as a badge of pride worn by those with a strong and enduring passion for the specific niches of art or technology that appeal to them.

That means that Japanese society, for arguably the first time, is starting to accept that being an otaku can be either a positive or a negative force in a person’ life. But what’s the difference between a good otaku and a bad otaku? One Japanese educator has an answer.

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Japanese employment site reimagines web developers, accountants, and more as anime RPG heroes

Career arcs in Japan used to be simple. You finished school, got a job, and worked there until it was time to retire. Along the way, you were paid a salary calculated strictly on the basis of how long you’d been with the company.

That’s not necessarily the case anymore, and as more and more Japanese switch employers, and even industries, they need a baseline from which to evaluate the pay of potential posts, which is where Japanese website Kyuryo Bank comes in. Yes, Kyuryo Bank has all the salary-related numerical data and progression charts you’d expect, but it also has something truly unique: awesome anime-style illustrations of professions ranging from public accountant and lawyer to web designer, pro blogger, and yes, even “chicken sexer.”

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One Piece manga creator’s work schedule is absolutely insane

Man, being a professional manga artist must be a great life, right? For passionate and artistic individuals, it’s hard to imagine a sweeter deal than making a living just by dreaming and drawing, thinking up new worlds and bringing them to life.

And things must be even better if you’re the creator of a hit series, since not only are you bringing joy to thousands, or even millions, of fans, you’re also getting paid handsomely to do it. But even if you’re convinced you’ve got the skills to make it as a manga pro, before you go quitting your desk job you might want to check out the insane schedule of the most successful artist working in the industry today, One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda.

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New art book “Illustration 2016” gathers 150 of today’s best pro and amateur illustrators

If you love art and illustration, you’re probably aware of plenty of non-professional, up-and-coming artists who showcase their work on sites like Tumblr and Twitter. In fact, fan art can be of such a high quality as to surpass the original work, and now there’s a new art book on sale in Japan which aims to “capture” the entire illustration scene at the present moment, showcasing work both amateur and professional by some of today’s most influential artists.

Illustration 2016 features work by 150 artists of different backgrounds and is the perfect guide for those who are into fan art and illustration of all kinds.

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Taiwanese parody of Attack on Titan explores larger than life possibilities, hilarity ensues

Fictional characters can get away with just about anything, especially if they dwell in a fantasy setting where superhuman abilities exist and extraordinary events occur. But even in such fictional worlds where anything is possible, many creators design their characters and settings with a certain amount of realism, perhaps to keep things relatively convincing and logical.

Take the characters of Attack on Titan for example. It is shown that the members of the Training Corps go through rigorous training in order to become official members of the military, so it’s understandable that they are physically fit and athletic. A Taiwanese variety program made a parody of the series, though, that proved exactly why the titan-slaying heroes and heroines have to keep their well-toned physique. Watch the clip after the break!

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The top five Ghibli sequels that Japanese moviegoers would like to see

It’s been 30 years since Studio Ghibli began producing the adorable characters, inspiring storylines and amazing animated scenes that we all know and love. The warmth of the animation house’s distinctive style has created worlds so captivating it’s almost as if our favourite characters might continue on their journey after the credits finish rolling to live in an alternate animated Ghibli universe alongside our own.

So what if there were a way to catch up with all our Ghibli friends to see how they’ve been getting along? Which stories would fans like to explore further, decades after they were originally created? If semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki ever needed a reason to come back to making movies full-time, he might like to consider the following list of five Ghibli sequels Japanese moviegoers would most like to see.

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Turn your smartphone into a magical girl with two new Sailor Moon iPhone cases

As of last month, the line of Sailor Moon lingerie is back on sale again, helping fans of the series unleash their inner Sailor Senshi with some anime-themed innerwear. Now that you’ve got your intimate apparel needs filled, if you’re troubled by your smartphone being completely naked there’s a similar solution in the form of these Sailor Moon costume iPhone cases!

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Tiny characters and cuties to hold up your smart phone 【Photos】

Having a handheld device that tells us how to get places, allows us to check our E-mail, and browse the Internet has been one of the greatest inventions of this century. Plus with video streaming services like Netflix and others on our phones, we are carrying around a library of entertainment. The problem with using our phones like a mini-TV, though, is that it’s difficult to prop them up at the right angle with the myriad objects that fill our homes.

While we’ve brought our readers an inexpensive solution to that problem in the past, some of us want to do it in the cutest and most fashionable way possible. Thankfully, gachapon capsule toy machines are dispensing prizes that feature famous characters and other eclectic figures that are designed to hold up phones for our viewing pleasure. You’ve never seen a phone held up with such panache before.

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Last month, we got our first in-costume look at the cast of the upcoming live-action TV adaptation of manga and anime Prison School. But while the production’s casting directors, stylists, and costumers have done a commendable job making the real-life performers look like their 2-D inspirations, fans have been wondering if the live-action Prison School will still feel like its source material.

After all, it’s not uncommon for there to be a major shift in tone when anime goes live-action, and a lot of the outlandishly pervy stuff that goes on in the animated Prison School ostensibly gets a pass from censors because it’s not being done by real people. Still, it doesn’t look like the live-action Prison School is looking to change the formula that worked for both the anime and the manga, as its two preview videos show it’s still perfectly happy to bask in its ludicrous lewdness, as well as repeatedly ask the question “Do you prefer butts or breasts?”

Heads-up! Depending on how accepting your workplace environment is of ludicrous lewdness, you might want to save these videos for after you get home.

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These fan-drawn fused Pokémon are so cool we wish they were really in the game

When Pokémon graced our tiny Game Boy screens back in 1996 (or, depending on where you’re from,  1998 or 1999), we all thought that nothing could be better than these beautifully crafted 151 animal-like Pocket Monsters. But then a second generation of games came out and suddenly we were graced with 100 new Pokémon who pledged their loyalty and undying love to us, their trainers. Now in 2015, there are 721 different Poké-friends to collect and train and we couldn’t be happier with them…unless we could take two of our favorites and fuse them together, that is!

The concept may have been done before, but each artist brings their own personal fliar and the results are always fascinating. What makes the following combinations unique is that sometimes there are not two but three Pokémon fused together!

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Buildings transform into giant robots in Japanese real estate company’s anime commercial【Video】

When was the last time you sat down to watch a YouTube video by a real estate company? We’re going to assume never, because who even knew that real estate companies had YouTube accounts?

Japan’s Mitsui Real Estate Residential, however, not only has a YouTube account, but their recently posted video is becoming wildly popular. The company managed to combine their housing expertise with the fail-safe giant robot genre to create a short animated series about apartment buildings that transform into giant robots!

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The success of One Piece really is amazing. Not only does it remain a perpetual favorite among its target demographic of young boys, the manga and anime franchise has managed to retain a surprisingly large amount of its original fanbase some 18 years after its first issue was published.

Since One Piece has held the attention of fans for so long after drawing them in as children, there must be something to creator Eiichiro Oda’s pirate tale that appeals to adult men as strongly, or maybe even more strongly, than to children. Maybe it’s the series’ core theme of long-term friendship, which grown-ups can more acutely understand. Maybe the way the stakes keeps getting higher for Luffy and his crew strikes a chord with fans who see it as a parallel to the way life throws more responsibilities and pressures at you as you get older.

Or maybe guys just like Oda’s penchant for drawing ridiculously stacked female characters which are then immortalized in plastic, as with this new Boa Hancock figure.

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Fans replace Dragon Ball Z’s animation with finger puppets, keep the awesome fighting 【Video】

Many Japanese animation fans, after having their hopes dashed and their hearts broken one too many times, come to accept the truism that it’s just not possible to make a good live-action version of their favorite anime. Right now, it’s Attack on Titan’s turn in the hot seat, as its two recently released movies have been roundly roasted by fans of the original work and critics alike, and years ago Dragonball Evolution had far more people groaning than cheering as their left theaters.

But maybe it’s not so much that anime has to stay hand-drawn, but just that it can’t be replicated by human actors. We’ve seen Attack on Titan look cool in stop-motion and sheep sub for the cast of Dragon Ball. As a matter of fact, maybe you can even show part of a human actor, just not the whole person, like in this epic and funny battle between two of Dragon Ball’s mightiest martial artists…as played by a pair of finger puppets.

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We check out the spooky snacks of the ghost-themed GeGeGe no Kitaro cafe

Maybe you’re familiar with the popular video game and anime franchise Yokai Watch. It’s a series that combines the addictive qualities of Pokemon with the traditional ghostly lore of Japanese yokai monster stories.

But maybe you didn’t realize the “real OG,” if you will, when it comes to cutesy renditions of traditional Japanese ghosts is the manga and anime franchise GeGeGe no KitaroGoing strong since the 1960s, Kitaro is a beloved series in Japan that tells the tale of a ghostly boy fighting for peace between humans and ghouls, like a Japanese ghost-flavored X-Men.

The series is especially cherished in the author’s hometown in Tottori, but Kitaro mania extends as far as Tokyo proper, where a Kitaro-themed cafe exists. Of course, our ghost-obsessed Japanese writer felt compelled to make a pilgrimage recently.

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Adidas’ Attack on Titan fitness wear is perfect for exercise, fighting giants

Compared to most other action anime, the cast of Attack on Titan has a pretty low-survival rate. This could be because their opponents are remorseless man-eating giants, but is another key factor that fact that the Survey Corps’ uniforms are poorly suited for the duties the heroes perform? Sure, those cloaks look dramatically stylish, but they’re also bulky and movement-limiting, so maybe it’s about time Eren and his pals changed into some official Attack on Titan exercise wear from Adidas.

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Director of Ghost in the Shell shares his favorite Hayao Miyazaki movie and scene

Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii are two of the most successful and influential anime directors in the history of the medium, but their films couldn’t be more different in tone and appearance. The soft-edged natural environments of Miyazaki’s anime are bathed in a nostalgic glow, while Oshii’s animation, such as Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers, is filled with shadowy ruinscapes and turns its sharpest focus inwards to the human mind and consciousness.

Miyazaki and Oshii are such fundamentally different people that they even communicate with their production teams in completely opposite styles. But that’s not to say that one can’t find things to admire in the works of the other, as Oshii has shared his favorite film and even scene in a Miyazaki anime.

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Kimutaku to star in Blade of the Immortal live-action film directed by Takashi Miike

When one of Japan’s most controversial directors teams up with one of its sexiest actors to make a film about the manga world’s most cursed samurai, the ripples of excitement that usually surround a live-action movie announcement turn into a veritable tidal wave.

The upcoming film adaptation of Hiroaki Samura’s manga Blade of the Immortal is set to be one of the most anticipated films of 2017. Until then, fans of the original manga series will have to wait to see what lies in store when 42-year-old boy band member and heart-throb actor Kimutaku takes on the role of a masterless samurai living in an immortal body.

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Sword Art Online anime movie announced, will feature all-new storyline from creator Reki Kawahara

Japanese fans of the Sword Art Online light novel series know all about the importance of attending the seasonal Dengeki Bunko festivals in Tokyo. This is the main stage on which Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works and its Dengeki Bunko imprint make all their big announcements regarding the series, and it was no different at the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival held in Akihabara on Sunday, where it was revealed that Sword Art Online will be made into a new anime movie, with an all-new storyline from its creator Reki Kawahara.

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New Evangelion lingerie and roomwear range features five favourite characters and a penguin!

The world of intimate apparel has taken an animated turn recently, with online fashion retailer SuperGroupies creating bra and panty sets inspired by the female pilots’ plugsuits from Neon Genesis Evangelion and popular lingerie and women’s apparel brand Peach John releasing Sailor Moon lingerie.

Now Peach John is coming out with its own Eva-inspired line of roomwear and intimates, featuring matching bras and panties with gorgeous Evangelion details, a nightie and even a Pen Pen onesie to lounge about the house in.

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Need work? Two of Japan’s biggest manga magazines hiring one-day editors, no experience necessary

Everyone could use a little extra money in their pocket as we head towards the end of the year. Maybe you’ve got a long Christmas shopping list, made fancy New Year’s Eve plans, or just want to take a trip back home to visit family and friends during winter vacation.

As such, you might find yourself looking for a part-time job to help fill your coffers, and while you could go with such traditional choices as picking up a shift working in a restaurant or a shop at the mall, your options now also include a micro-stint as an editor for two of Japan’s most popular manga anthologies.

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