Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
One Piece (Page 10)
Anime and manga fans will soon have even more reason to visit the country that offers the opportunity to eat Pikachu-themed meals at the Pokémon restaurant or gaze up in awe at an 18-foot tall giant Gundam. The long-awaited world’s first One Piece amusement park will be arriving on March 13 2015 in Tokyo!
Between the huge success the One Piece franchise has found in comics, animation, video games, and associated merchandising, you wouldn’t think there’d be too many more avenues for it to expand into. And honestly, it doesn’t have to, as Eiichiro Oda’s manga, the starting point of the tales of pirates, treasure hunting, and friendship, is still going strong, with its 76th collected volume being released later this month.
But just like the Straw Hat Pirates don’t have to embark on grand adventures, but choose to do so anyway, One Piece is about to head into uncharted waters, as the anime and manga franchise is set to become a kabuki play.
While the gigantic robots and gratuitous nudity were certainly eye-catching, when I first started watching Japanese animation, one of the things that surprised me the most was the fact that anime characters could, well, die. Sure, American cartoons from Tom and Jerry to G.I. Joe were filled with explosions and gunplay, but while the violence was abundant, injuries were conspicuously absent.
Anime tales, though, have no qualms about knocking off their players. As a matter of fact, characters shake off this mortal coil so frequently that a recent poll ranked the 20 most memorable anime deaths.
Heads up! While animation sometimes allows for the miracle of resurrection, be aware that since this is a list of deaths, it contains spoilers for the following series: Clannad, Code Geass, Death Note, Dragon Ball, Fist of the North Star, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gintama, Hakuoki, Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure, Naruto, Neon Genesis Evangelion, One Piece, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, School Days, and Tengen Toppa Guren Lagan.
Fans of the increasingly wacky and complex pirate world of One Piece will surely be either thrilled or horrified to know that there will be an all-new, super extra special New Year’s Eve broadcast of a One Piece animated film in Japan. As a fan, whether you fall into the thrilled or horrified category will probably depend on whether or not you currently reside in Japan, as the special is apparently set for just one single broadcast in the anime’s native country only.
If you’re a gamer who’s too young to remember when Sega made consoles or having six buttons on a controller was a big deal, you might look back on 8-bit video game artwork and chuckle. With everything made out of blocky pixels, it’s impossible to create the sort of fine details that modern hardware easily renders to differentiate one character from another, isn’t it?
Maybe not, as one fan has put his old-school pixel art skills to use to recreate 50 different famous manga heroes, all in the style of the original Mega Man.
Very few Japanese homes have installed carpeting. Older houses and apartments often have tatami reed mats, and in newer places you’ll usually find tile, wood, or rubberized flooring.
That’s not to say people in Japan can’t appreciate a nice bit of soft fuzziness between their toes, though. Even without permanent carpeting, many people will toss a carpeted mat on the floor to make their living or bedroom extra comfy, especially during the colder part of the year.
Of course, cold weather also means spending more time indoors, with extra time on your hands, and sometimes that patch of carpeting becomes a canvas for some seriously cool fan art.
This year’s 50th issue of Shueisha‘s Shonen Jump magazine is a legendary one with the final twochapters of its mega-hit series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. In this issue, the 766th chapter (“Smile”) of Eiichiro Oda‘s One Piece manga seems rather normal. However, fans have found a secret message embedded into the One Piece chapter’s title page.
With the huge volume of anime that Japan produces, the medium has its own archetypes that each generation of creators adds new entries to. In the cute mascot character category, you’ll find Totoro, Magic Knight Rayearth’s Mokona, and Pokémon’s Pikachu. Looking for giant robots? Let us direct you to the full line of Gundam, Evangelion, and Ingram variants.
But Japanese animation isn’t just cuddly adorableness and cool technology. It’s also filled with raging hormones and irrepressible libidos, as shown in this list of anime’s perviest male characters.
Every couple of months, a situation will crop up where the legal rights holder to an anime comes in and quashes some sort of unauthorized derivative work. Fans don’t always let the letter of the law stand in the way of how they express their passion for their favorite shows, though, and defenders often assert that no harm is actually being done, so long as the rights holder wasn’t already producing the same product. There’s no need to shut down an unlicensed T-shirt operation, the argument goes, if the company isn’t actively producing shirts itself.
Maybe that was going through the head of one Nagoya resident when he noticed a glaring oversight in the marketing machine behind hit anime One Piece, and decided to start selling one-dollar bills with copied stickers of the series’ band of pirates.
While the Japanese economy is powered by numerous exports and industries, from cars to computers, perhaps one of its largest, if not most visible, industries is that of entertainment content such as anime, manga and video games. While we all love good content–it is, after all, king–not everyone is necessarily willing or able to pay for it. While in days of yore that mostly meant simply going without the latest publication of your favorite manga, today’s high-speed Internet has made, shall we say acquiring content easier than ever.
While countries around the world debate the issues of online piracy, free speech, and copyright law, Japan is taking a somewhat more aggressive stance (anti-piracy even has its own figures in Japan!). Nevertheless, stopping piracy completely is an exercise in futility, which is probably why the M.A.G. (Manga-Anime Guardians) Project is aimed more at changing hearts and minds than using legal action to stop those pesky pirates. In fact, they’ll even give you a special-edition illustration if you join!
Fans of Japanese animation are quick to point out that it’s not just for kids, with less of the stigma that’s attached to its Western counterpart. Still, even anime tends to be heavily youth-oriented, and fan favorites can quickly fade into obscurity.
For a quick example, ask an anime enthusiast about Bubblegum Crisis. Depending on their age you’ll get a description of either the 1987 direct-to-video series, the 1997 TV reboot, or directions to the closest convenience store where you can buy a pack of Bazooka.
As further proof, in a recent poll people in Japan revealed which shows turned them into lovers of anime, with completely different top five lists for fans in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
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…
If we accept the premise that nobody’s perfect, being in a happy romantic relationship is all about learning to take the good with the bad. For example, your boyfriend might like going to the horse track regularly, but if he’s an otherwise financially responsible and emotionally considerate person, you might be able to live with him playing the ponies. Likewise, my wife puts up with my numerous shortcomings as a human being in light of my many redeeming qualities, such as…umm…
But hey, we’re not here to talk about me! We’re here to talk about a woman whose boyfriend was obsessed with his anime crush, and wasn’t quite able to make up for it by calling his girlfriend a lazy pig.
If you’re a fan of the hit manga and anime series One Piece, chances are you’ve at least fantasized at some point about getting your hands on one of the mystical Devil Fruits that can give you great magical powers. Well, since a real Devil Fruit is, shall we say, not exactly easy to come by in the world we live in, Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai has come up with the next best thing — a realistic looking figure of one of the magical fruits. Yes, you can now own your very own Flame-Flame Fruit, or Flare-Flare Fruit, as the Devil Fruit is sometimes known, and for a toy figure, we think it looks pretty awesome!
Anime fan? Disneyland to sickly sweet for you? Then you may want to plan a trip to Tokyo early next year…
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!
Although most manga artists have a team of assistants backing them up, compared to live-action films, comics allow for a much more direct transmission of the creator’s vision. Movie and TV programming are by nature a collaborative effort, and you can’t really watch a scene go from concept to finished version in real-time.
With manga, though, you can give a talented artist a pen, and within minutes see him or her transform the emptiness of a blank sheet of paper into a character that will inspire and entertain countless fans, like in this video featuring some of Japan’s most popular manga artists and characters.
Luffy’s Gomu-gomu powers have gotten him into quite a few awkwardly shaped situations. Being made of rubber means that you can become pretty malleable when you’re in tight space, but does that make it any more comfortable? Well, Bandai’s latest line of gashapon toys delve into that idea, not just for Luffy, but for several other members of the Straw Hat crew. Presenting, the One Piece Hasamare Straps!
Silicone testicle covers banned from Japanese sauna following cups being left behind and on shelves
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Studio Ghibli now sells Ursula’s backpack from Kiki’s Delivery Service at its anime shop in Japan
One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world ocean
The best Hobonichi diaries, covers and stationery for 2026
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Eight Ways You Really, Really Shouldn’t Use a Japanese Toilet
A whole new way to eat katsu: Cold katsu soba【Taste test】
Latest Japan cherry blossom forecast pushes Tokyo date back, sakura now expected first elsewhere
How to do Japanese karaoke the right way: Six tips for newbies, mic hogs and nervous singersStarbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Is Tokyo Station’s startlingly expensive wagyu bento boxed lunch worth its high price?[Taste test]One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world ocean
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Live-action One Piece’s Luffy teaches Sesame Street’s Elmo a Japanese word for friendship[Video]
Sakura Festival in Chiyoda mixes illuminations, boats, music, and Rilakkuma in the heart of Tokyo
Japan’s craziest burger chain takes menchi katsu to new extreme levels
Viral Japanese cheesecake from Osaka has a lesser known rival called Aunt Wanda
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your homeJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Eight Ways You Really, Really Shouldn’t Use a Japanese Toilet
A whole new way to eat katsu: Cold katsu soba【Taste test】
Latest Japan cherry blossom forecast pushes Tokyo date back, sakura now expected first elsewhere
How to do Japanese karaoke the right way: Six tips for newbies, mic hogs and nervous singers
A nearly 400-year-old Kyoto temple ordinarily closed to public is accepting visitors this summer
Cherry blossom forecasts map shows Japan’s OTHER sakura season is starting right now
7-Eleven Japan now sells bagels…cooked in bamboo steamers
Studio Ghibli releases new Ursula’s blanket from Kiki’s Delivery Service
Is Tokyo Station’s startlingly expensive wagyu bento boxed lunch worth its high price?[Taste test]
Japan asked to vote on what to officially call insanely hot days
Starbucks Japan adds new sakura Frappuccino and cherry blossom drinks to the menu
Japan’s craziest burger chain takes menchi katsu to new extreme levels
