KanCole superfan upgrades his regular bathtub to an ita-bathtub.
Kantai Collection
”Clear files” aren’t really clear, which is what makes this optical alteration possible.
Cardigans may not match armor plating in protective capabilities, but they’re definitely the warmer, cuter option.
Looks like KanColle is a big hit in one of Japan’s oldest navy towns.
Taiwanese otaku recently greeted Tsai Ing-wen with shouts of “Kirishima!”, which is causing problems for some dojinshi artists.
Many fans choose to wear T-shirts plastered with pictures of their favorite anime or video game characters, therein letting them broadcast their love for the fictional figures to everyone they pass by. Of course, if want to get that message of devotion to even more people, you can always turn your car into an itasha, a vehicle covered with anime stickers.
But even a coupe or sedan only gives you so much sheet metal to work with. That’s why one fan decided he needed an even bigger canvas, and created an itasha like we’ve never seen before: an ita-flatbed truck with some gigantic artwork of his 2-D muses.
We’ve written many times before about the phenomenon that is Kantai Collection, or Kancolle. The free-to-play online game featuring battleships anthropomorphized as cute girls has spawned an anime, mountains of merchandise, and limitless sexy fanart, cosplay, and doujinshi.
Since Kancolle is still most famous as a game, with over 3 million registered players, it had a strong presence at this year’s Tokyo Game Show at the DMM.com booth. They had an impressive display of detailed figures available, faithfully recreating the 2D moe battleship girls in glorious 3D. And we got photos of some of the best!
While some may find the idea of locking themselves in their room for months or even years at a time horrifying, for some that’s just their daily life. And if you’re one of those people who much prefer their bed to the sun, this special competition sponsored by DMM may be just what you’re looking for. If you’re chosen, you’ll get free room-and-board for a week, along with all-you-can-play games — but you won’t be allowed to go outside even once.
If that sounds like a great summer vacation to you, read on to find out more.
If the Internet isn’t about showing off your own original skills and talent, then it’s for parodying what’s already well-known and liked. The constant stream of anime and games from Japan is a gold mine of parodies just waiting to be made.
The Kusarine Project has had an active YouTube channel since 2009 where they’ve taken some of the world’s favorite anime and video game openings and turned them into live-action works of “art”. Their 17th and newest cover tackles the KanColle opening, with their signature masked men taking on the role of the anthropomorphized battleships turned school girls. Were you expecting anything else?
Last weekend it was time for Wonder Festival, the garage kit and model extravaganza held in Chiba Prefecture’s Makuhari Messe. But while the plastic and resin replicas of anime and video game icons may be the ostensible reason for the event, there’s also plenty of flesh and blood (and cloth) passion for the industries’ hottest franchises as cosplayers converge on the convention to show off their costumes and pose for the cameras.
One of those cameras happened to be ours.
This month Kantai Con, ‘the anime convention on an aircraft carrier’, was held aboard the USS Yorktown in South Carolina, and attracted some fabulous cosplayers dressed up as the hottest warships in town.
It’s that time of the year again! Comiket, the world’s largest dōjinshi fair that’s held twice per year, is currently in full swing again at Tokyo Big Sight on Odaiba, the artificial island located in Tokyo Bay. Manga fans from around the world are lining up in droves and enduring hour-long waits in the hot sun just to get into the exhibition rooms that are jam-packed with merchandise.
Naturally, a comic festival as big as Comiket draws a ton of cosplayers, and while there are some truly impressive costumes out there, there are some other, shall we say, more unusual sights to be seen. Take the above picture, for example–what on earth is happening here??
Snowboarding is fairly popular in Japan and there’s no doubt that anime and manga are deeply ingrained in the psyche of many people across the nation. So we suppose this ita-board, or “painfully nerdy snowboard” event isn’t too much of a surprise considering the constant appearance of ita-sha (painful cars), ita-suit (painful suit), and even ita-heli (painful helicopters). What did surprise us is the national association dedicated to nerdy snowboards and the annual event that hosts them.
As the weather starts to cool down, there’s nothing better than cozying up with a nice hot cup of tea. But sometimes that plain old tea cup and bag isn’t enough to lift your spirits on a particularly gloomy day. That’s where this darling DIY tea bag design comes in. With a relaxed expression that seems to say “Aww, that’s the stuff,” this little tea cup bather will keep you company and warm your spirits on even the grayest of days.
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