Revered as “The God of Manga,” the late Osamu Tezuka is simultaneously Japan’s most revered and prolific comic artist. More than 700 manga series sprang from the mind of the tireless Tezuka, but even with that busy schedule, he still found time to draw his version of Japan’s most famous cat, Hello Kitty, combining her with one of his most-used characters.
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If you’re feeling under the weather or just wanting to relax after a hard day, there are two things that can certainly pick you up and remind you of the bright side of life again: a Hollywood musical from the golden era, and a good animated cartoon from Japan. It’s amazing how warm, animated tones and catchy tunes can capture your senses and hug you like an old friend just when you need it the most.
Now, a Japanese animator has melded the two feel-good genres with a short, two and a half-minute animation that pays homage to a Gene Kelly tap dance routine from the 1952 american musical Singin’ in the Rain. It’s proving to be so cute that it’s attracting attention from around the world. We take a look at the video and see why this cute girl is gathering so many admirers.
One Piece is the hugely successful comic book and animation series about a team of friends who go in search of the famous treasure of the same name. When the writer and illustrator, Eichiro Oda, recently revealed that many of the One Piece characters are based on real-life public figures and celebrities, he created a different type of treasure hunt for his legions of fans. Who was which character? Where did he draw inspiration from? After what must’ve been hours of research, one fan came up with this concise gallery.
But some of these pictures show way more than a passing resemblance. It’s almost as if he sketched every detail of the real-life figure into his One-Piece character, from their pose to their jewellery and accessories. The inspiration for Paulie is even wearing an identical shirt and jacket! Twitter users are now arguing over the fine line between homage and rip-off. What do you think? Check out the characters in more detail below…
The University of Tokyo Newspaper posted an interview with Shintarō Kawakubo, the editor of the Attack on Titan manga, on Wednesday. In the interview, he discusses the popularity of the series, “The serialization is slated to end in three to four years, but Attack on Titan is a work that will be passed down from generation to generation for a decade — no, five decades.”
They might appear cute and doe-eyed in the original Japanese animated series, but we all know Sailor Moon girls are bad-ass. From a girl who throws flames to a chick with the power to annihilate an entire planet or star system, this is definitely a group you don’t want to mess with.
Fans are now taking the warrior characters out of the Japanese school yard and re-designing them with costumes, expressions and rendered environments that portray them as alternative, post-feminist, pop culture heroes. Take a look at the team as you’ve never seen them before – bruised after a battle or hanging out in cyber worlds, these are girls who fight, love and never run away.
In Japan, the easy access to anime and manga, coupled with the rapid speed at which new content is produced, means fans tend to have short memories. For most series, even relative hits, once they wrap up there’s only about a year, or at most two, until they fade into obscurity.
Which is why it’s all the more impressive when a once-loved series returns after a long hiatus. Last year, boys of all ages got a special treat with a new Dragon Ball Z movie, and this month brings a little something for the ladies, with the first new volume of girls’ comic classic The Rose of Versailles to be released in more than 40 years.
Usually when I think of pork, I think of a delicious salty-yet-sweet meat that will one day lead to my first and third heart attacks. I never really took the time to think about the elegant back story that goes on around the slaughterhouses… Excuse me, how gauche; abattoirs of Japan.
Luckily, Japan’s Silky Pork is bringing all the drama and intrigue of the pork product industry to the forefront in a sexy new online manga series. Titled Four Men of Pigs: The Silky Porco Story, it’s kind of like popular soap Dynasty, only with pork, the legendary Pig of Happiness, and a discernible lack of any female characters.
Sailor Moon owes a lot of its success to the way the franchise blended earnest drama and self-knowing comedy, plus its generous injection of action into the magical girl formula, but a large part of its appeal also comes from its strong ensemble cast. Because of this, it was a little puzzling that this year merchandiser Bandai has released high-quality pens for its entire group of heroines except Sailor Moon’s first four companions.
So while Bandai had you covered if you were a fan of the titular character herself, if you instead respected Sailor Mercury’s intelligence, Sailor Mars’ fiery determination, Sailor Venus’ air of sophistication, or just had the well-developed taste to realize what an all-round great gal Sailor Jupiter was, you were out of luck. Until now, that is, as Bandai has thankfully filled this hole in its product lineup with a new set of pens that fully represents the Inner Sailor Senshi.
There are a lot of things people love about runaway anime and manga hit Attack on Titan. Aside from the iconic and unsettling Titans themselves, the series has a unique setting, unpredictable plot, and bouts of intensely visceral action.
Just about the only thing fans don’t gush over is, oddly enough, the main character. Sure, protagonist Eren may have the tragic back story, pure heart, and burning sense of justice that are required of male action anime leads, but in terms of popularity, he ranks far, far behind the coolly efficient Levi.
Whereas Attack on Titan’s narrative often slows down as Eren struggles under the weight of his role as protector of humanity, pretty much every second Levi appears on screen is dedicated to showing what a badass he is. Levi is so awesome, you wonder why he isn’t the star of his own anime. Well, soon enough, he will be.
Now that you’ve been acquainted with kabe-don, the most talked about romantic situation in Japan at the moment, and the ways to fend off unwanted kabe-don, here’s the latest variation to the wall-pounding approach – mata-don.
“Mata” refers to the crotch, and similar to kabe-don, mata-don involves one person sandwiching another between themselves and a wall, but this time with an additional move of putting their knee or foot between the other’s thighs. We can already imagine some guys cringing at this nerve-wracking pose. If your heart is still feeling fine, read on to get a glimpse of what mata-don commonly looks like!
The first time I went apartment hunting in Japan, I was shocked by how bare-bones some of them are. The lack of centralized air conditioning means often you have to go to the appliance store and buy your own AC unit, and oftentimes lighting and even a cooking range aren’t included either.
As a result, it’s always a relief to find an apartment that has any sort of amenities already included. And while a mini fridge or ceiling lamp is a nice freebie, neither one is anywhere near as cool as an apartment that comes pre-stocked with a library of manga.
As we’ve talked about before, kabe-don is the trendy new way for Japanese bad boys to soft sexually assault their crush. It consists of a guy approaching a girl he (presumably) has a thing for, who is ideally leaning against a wall, then suddenly smacking the wall with their palm and getting in reaaaaalllly close so the girl can smell his garlic breath.
Oddly enough, a lot of Japanese girls go absolutely wild for the idea of the kabe-don, in the same way guys love the idea of owning a Weird Science-esque sexbot; It’s sexy and cool on paper, frightening and creepy in real life.
Luckily for any girls who find themselves the unwilling recipient of an ill-advised kabe-don, someone has created an illustrated self-defense guide:
It appears fans of the hit manga and anime Death Note may now have something exciting to look forward to, and apparently it’s going to involve some singing and maybe dancing as well. Yes, while it may not be what you would expect from the visually stunning yet dark-themed series, the world of Death Note will be recreated on stage next year as a musical! Although the popular manga has already been brought to us in several forms, including a TV anime and multiple live action feature-length films, seeing the characters, especially the completely non-human looking shinigami (death gods), come to life and sing on stage should definitely prove interesting.
Pokémon fans recently got some good news when word came that Pikachu will soon be taking over the city of Yokohama. It’s not just cute and cuddly anime icons running rampant in Japan this summer, though.
Next month, Lawson convenience stores across Japan are going to be invaded by the remorseless and/or skinless cast of Attack on Titan, and they’re bringing a staggering amount of merchandise with them..
When it comes to hobby devotion, no one seems to take it to the limit more often than the Japanese. RocketNews24 has brought you stories about super-fans decorating their cars, vans and bikes in honor of their favorite characters and animation series. A company is now making it easier to take that devotion into your apartment, and especially into your bedroom! Buckle up folks, the following images are as disturbing as you are imagining!
Back in May, we reported to you about how we would be getting our first Japanese Disney hero in the upcoming film Big Hero 6 based on the Marvel comic of the same title. Since then, we’ve found out that the film will be titled Baymax in Japan, after the protagonist Hiro Hamada’s white fluffy companion robot. We’ve also learned from a recent announcement that Disney will be getting involved in a highly unique crossover for Big Hero 6 that’s never been done one with any of their other movies before — in advance of the movie release, Big Hero 6 will be serialized as a manga here in Japan starting in the beginning of next month, and there will even be a prequel manga published as well! Now, that’s a piece of news we’re certainly excited to hear!
Famous Japanese confectioner Glico has been bringing us iconic Japanese sweets like Pretz and Pocky for decades. Now they have a real treat in store for us, thanks to an extra-special line-up to celebrate the upcoming 3-D movie, Stand By Me Doraemon.
The new specially marked packs include a hidden secret: 3-D moving images of Doraemon that come to life in your home. But these aren’t just any images. They’re created by you, with your very own colours and designs transformed into unbelievable, moving images, each with Doraemon acting out a fun scene before your very eyes! Check out all the different designs after the jump.
Seoul, South Korea’s War Museum announced on Thursday that it has cancelled a planned exhibition centered around Eiichiro Oda‘s One Piece manga due to protests of the Japanese flag appearing in art being displayed, among other reasons.
Heads up, One Piece fans – there’s a new, extra-special anniversary episode coming your way that’ll fill in some of the blanks from the time jump!
Good Smile Company, the figure powerhouse behind the popular figma and Nendoroid lines, decided to hold its third figure creation contest for its employees. The entries are impressive, but what do you expect from professional figure makers?
You can check out all the entries at the company’s blog, but here are some of our favorites.
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