Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
Attack on Titan (Page 13)
Say what you will about Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, he’s nothing if not outspoken. Previously, we covered Tomino’s somewhat incendiary remarks about kids addicted to video games, and he’s well known in Japan for being less than enthusiastic about rival mecha manga and anime.
Now he’s crossed genres to take aim at Japan’s most recent pop culture export, Attack on Titan – which we suppose defies genres as an alternate universe story about weird giant people attacking towns.
A Taiwanese film production group has released their short film Attack on Railgun, which merges two popular anime series into an incredibly well made and high quality homage. The short combines the worlds and characters from Attack on Titan and A Certain Scientific Railgun to create an exciting new story in the live action movie. Japanese fans of the anime series have been impressed with the CGI, the plot line and especially the fact that all of the actors speak Japanese in the short film!
This year’s breakout anime hit Attack on Titan snuck up on a lot of people. Sure, previews for the TV series made it look like a fun adventure, but is wasn’t until sometime after it premiered that the franchise became the international success it is today, despite the comic it’s based on having been around since 2009.
Why didn’t more people, from the very beginning, realize just how much entertainment Attack on Titan has to offer? Maybe the story’s antagonists, naked giants who look like anatomy textbook illustrations, were just too repugnantly grotesque. Maybe, being creator Hajime Isayama’s first serial, the artwork on its heroes was a little too rough around the edges. How much more immediately accessible would Attack on Titan have been if they had all been replaced with a more traditionally pleasing aesthetic, like a bunch of cute cats?
Thanks to this feline-infused recreation of the show’s opening animation, now we know.
What’s better than a ripoff of a top-selling game? A ripoff of a top-selling game featuring characters ripped off a top-selling anime!
If you own a smartphone and occasionally (or heavily) dabble in mobile games, you should have come across Puzzle & Dragons, one of the top grossing puzzle games available on both iOS and Android platforms. The Japanese developed mobile game’s tremendous success worldwide has led to many envious game developers producing “inspired” games of a similar genre.
Now, it is almost common knowledge that the Chinese are geniuses at creating imitations of anything and everything, so everyone would have expected them to make a pirated version of the monster-battling puzzle game eventually, but they have yet again managed to exceed expectations, incorporating characters and themed events based on one of the year’s hottest anime, Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan.
Japanese fans can’t get enough of Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan. It wasn’t enough just to watch the anime and read the manga. Next they wanted to dress like a Titan and drink like a Titan. Now they’re taking it one step further so that they can even smell like a Titan! Preorders are now available for a new line of Attack on Titan aroma frangrances!
On September 1, fans flocked to the Utsunomiya branch of Animate to attend an autograph event for Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan‘s author, Hajime Isayama. During his Shinkansen train ride to Tochigi Prefecture, the artist doodled up some ideas for pictures to draw along with his signature when meeting with his fans. He took a snapshot that quickly spread through the Twittersphere of what everyone assumed would be a superb work of art…
For the most part, people in Japan take pride in being well-groomed. Skin care gets particular priority, and individuals especially concerned about looking their best carry around packs of oil-blotting papers called abura torigami. When you don’t want to wait until you get home to wash a day’s worth of grime off your face, they’re handy little things, and we mean that literally.
Abura torigami tend to be pretty small, so much so that you’ll usually see people stretching them out with both hands to get the maximum use out of the precious surface area each one offers. Granted, this looks dainty and adorable when a cute girl does it. Other people, though, such as the RocketNews24 male writing team, are far too ruggedly handsome to ever be considered “cute.” Are there no larger abura torigami for the rest of us?
Indeed there are, thanks to a tie-up with anime smash hit Attack on Titan.
How cool would it be to be able to change into a towering giant at will? How many Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan fans have been wishing they could turn into a massive Titan, just like the series’ main character, Eren Yeager? Well Cospa, the online anime apparel and merchandise site, is here to help you transform into the wall-crushing, man-eating beast of your dreams with the newest addition to their Titan cosplay lineup!
*Super-strength and speed sold separately.
Green tea simply not manly enough for you? Worried that everyone in the office will think you’ve gone soft if you break out a pack of barley tea instead of filling your cup with the communal coffee? Then add a touch of terror to tea-time with this awesome, limited edition Attack on Titan mug and chakoshi tea strainer set.
Japanese company, Movic, is adding another in their line of nerd-fashion print stockings! This time it’s in honor of the smash hit anime and manga series, Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan. Starting this October, these one-size-fits-all patterned leggings will be available on their online store. You can choose between the sexy strappy garb of a scouting soldier, or the muscly sinew of a giant destroyer of humanity! They’re the perfect socks to fill a Christmas stocking!
That’s right, Kodansha’s super popular manga series Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan has teamed up with Yahoo! Japan to bring Japanese smart phone users a terrifying titan-themed search engine!
Imagine the world overrun with enormous humanoid monsters whose sole purpose seems to be extinguishing the human race. What can anyone do to stop the carnage? The answer to that question is what the remaining humans on the planet have to find out in Hajime Isayama’s manga-turned-anime series, Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan.
There have been reports in the Taiwan media this week of a naked man walking and occasionally jogging along the street on a busy afternoon. Passersby caught the event on their phone cameras at various points along his journey.
In a strange twist, however, thanks to the blurry resolution of these cameras the man looks exactly like a real-life titan from the manga/anime series Attack on Titan. The following video illustrates just how eerily close a comparison the man makes with a titan.
In the world of popular manga and anime series, Attack on Titan, making it into the Recon Corps is difficult. For some it means training from a very early age. So one mother, hoping to enlist her 5-month-old daughter, has started by fashioning an authentic-looking Recon Corps uniform from scratch.
She outlined the process in a video titled: [Attack on Titan] Mother tries sewing Recon Corps uniform for daughter which has drawn over 1,800 comments on NicoNico, 1,000 of which are “kaawaaiiiiii!”
The hit anime and manga title Attack on Titan (Shingeki No Kyojin) has grabbed readers and viewers with its combination of high-flying action and surprisingly disturbing giants.
More than just being violent, something about the titans in this series strikes the creepy chord perfectly in people. So when figure maker Kaiyodo released four capsule toys based on the series they wanted to make sure that feeling came through.
And come through it did. Be warned that some of these figures depict scenes of violence and gore.
More than just fleshy tones, solid colors, and basic patterns, Japan has found a major fad with women’s tights that look like tattoos featuring popular Disney characters and the like. You may have seen our article earlier this month regarding the onion tights on sale at this year’s Niconico Chokaigi. Now, tights are taking an even more nerdy turn with popular anime and game references. Just take a look at these leggy designs in the works! Read More
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
The oldest tunnel in Japan is believed to be haunted, and strange things happen when we go there
Starbucks reopens at Shibuya Scramble Crossing with new look and design concept
Tokyo’s most famous arcade announces price increase, fans don’t seem to mind at all
Arrest proves a common Japanese saying about apologies and police
Randomly running into a great sushi lunch like this is one of the best things about eating in Tokyo
Our reporter takes her 71-year-old mother to a visual kei concert for the first time
Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in Tokyo
Is the new Shinkansen Train Desk ticket worth it?Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in Tokyo
We try out “Chan Ramen”, an underground type of ramen popular in the ramen community
Foreign English teachers in Japan pick their favorite Japanese-language phrases【Survey】
Beautiful new Final Fantasy T-shirt collection on the way from Uniqlo【Photos】
There’s a park inside Japan where you can also see Japan inside the park
New Studio Ghibli bedding sets are cool in all senses of the word
Japanese convenience store packs a whole bento into an onigiri rice ball
Hanton rice — a delicious regional food even most Japanese people don’t know about, but more should
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutions
Hamburg and Hamburg Shibuya: A Japanese restaurant you need to put on your Tokyo itinerary
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
Japan’s bone-breaking and record-breaking roller coaster is permanently shutting down
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Foreign passenger shoves conductor on one of the last full runs for Japan’s Thunderbird train
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Kyoto bans tourists from geisha alleys in Gion, with fines for those who don’t follow rules
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour Totoro
Domino’s Japan now sells…pizza ears?
New Japanese KitKat flavour stars Sanrio characters, including Hello Kitty
Kyoto creates new for-tourist buses to address overtourism with higher prices, faster rides
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Studio Ghibli’s new desktop Howl’s Moving Castle will take your stationery on an adventure
Arrest proves a common Japanese saying about apologies and police
Randomly running into a great sushi lunch like this is one of the best things about eating in Tokyo
Our reporter takes her 71-year-old mother to a visual kei concert for the first time
Disney princesses get official manga makeovers for Manga Princess Cafe opening in Tokyo
Is the new Shinkansen Train Desk ticket worth it?
“Half-naked men only in loincloths” drum battle returns to Hida festival for first time in five years
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Historical race horse schoolgirl lesbian idol singers, all in one new Japanese video game【Video】
New book teaches Japanese people English to help out foreign travelers
W.T.F. Japan: Top 5 most difficult Japanese tongue twisters (with videos!) 【Weird Top Five】
Dogs now allowed on Catbus! Ghibli Park vehicles revise service animal policy
Fried sandwiches arrive in Tokyo, become hot topic on social media