Tacos

For years I’ve thought nothing could ever beat the Japanese’s Zelda 3 Dance commercial. Not even the greatness of a Bill & Ted knock-off Game Genie commercial could outdo the music and theatrics of (female) Link trying to save Zelda from Ganon. As of this week, we have a true challenger for the throne:

Check out the full length music video after the jump. Sir Mix-A-Lot is back!
(more…)

D3Publisher’s hit bikini babe zombie slasher game Onechanbara spawned several sequel games across multiple console platforms in Japan. Now the movie based on the game is getting the same benefit with Chanbara Beauty: vorteX the Movie. A trailer with hints of bikinis, blood, and more of the living dead is already online to enjoy. Despite a short indie film festival run in North America last year, the first Onechanbara film has yet to come to DVD officially for U.S. fans needing a fix of bikinis, babes, and blood.

Japan – maker of big & bigger robots of the toy and animated variety — wants to place a two-legged robot on the moon.

Japan hopes to have a two-legged robot walk on the moon by around 2020, with a joint mission involving astronauts and robots to follow, according to a plan laid out Friday by a government group.

Specifics of the plan, including what new technologies will be required and the size of the project’s budget, are to be decided within the next two years, according to Japan’s Strategic Headquarters for Space Development, a Cabinet-level working group.

Development of a lunar robot is part of a broad framework outlined by the group, which is charged with plotting a new course for Japan’s space strategy. As a next step, joint exploration of the moon involving robots and astronauts will be considered.

The framework is to be finalized late next month, after the public has a chance to comment on the proposals.

The group also recommended promoting research into military satellites, such as an early warning system for detecting ballistic missile launches and systems to detect and analyze radio waves sent in space.

Other recommendations by the group include using space research as a tool to foster diplomacy with other countries and developing an advanced satellite to predict and monitor natural disasters.

The Strategic Headquarters was established last year by a law passed to advance Japan’s space technology and exploration. It allows the country, which has a largely peaceful constitution, to use space for military defense.

You know what this means. First it’s a simple, little unmanned robot. Then they develop larger, manned robots under the codename: Gundam. A technological revolution begins thanks to the International Space Station which allows mankind to build giant orbital space station colonies that sit in the Lagrange points of Earth. Finally, judgement day.

Bandai Channel has posted an official trailer online for Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. The trailer first popped up on YouTube and other sites a couple of weeks ago when a convention attendee taped it off of a monitor. Now you can watch it without convention noise, light glare, or the fact that no one is ever skilled enough to hold a camera steady while recording — I speak from personal experience on that last one. The movie will be in Japanese theaters June 27th, 2009. The first updated Evangelion film is currently licensed by FUNimation in the U.S. (more…)

I swore my friend was kidding me, but it’s really true: the Japanese have combined the ideas of Webkinz and look of Littlest Pet Shop to create: Jewelpet. You buy a plushie, get a code to take care of a virtual version, and sooner or later the company finds a way to get you to spend even more whether it be buying more “friends” or just buying virtual toys for your pet. Hey, it’s worked for Neopets and Gaia Online for years. Now we have a animated series popping up to get you to watch, play, and buy even more. How toyetic* can it get?

(*Note: Yes, I’m a big fan of Freakazoid. Freakzoid: Season 2 comes to DVD on April 21st!)

It may not be as epic as Princess Nine or even with a big name team in the main league, but 17 year-old Eri Yoshida has made history as Japan’s first female professional baseball player.

OSAKA, Japan (AP)—Japan’s first female professional baseball player made her debut Friday, striking out one batter in the ninth inning.

Eri Yoshida, a 17-year-old who throws a sidearm knuckleball, took the mound during Kobe 9 Cruise’s 5-0 season-opening win over the Osaka Gold Villicanes in the newly formed Kansai Independent League.

The 5-foot, 114-pounder walked the first batter leading off the inning on four pitches and allowed a stolen base before striking out the next batter swinging at Osaka Dome. She was then replaced after facing two batters.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything other than just going out there and giving it my all,” said Yoshida, who is hoping to stick with the Kobe team. “I think this was a bad result but the stadium is great and the fans were really cheering me on. I want to be able to pitch more innings and become a pitcher who can be relied upon.”

Yoshida created a stir when she signed a contract in December. Some speculated the move was more of a publicity stunt to generate interest in the new league. There were 11,592 fans in the 45,000-seat stadium Friday.

Yoshida started playing baseball when she was in second grade and hopes to emulate Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Until now, no woman had played against men in Japan. A women’s professional baseball federation was established in 1950 but it stopped after two seasons.

The Cruise and the other three teams in the Kansai league are more like farm teams and are a far cry from Japan’s mainstream pro teams.

Following up on our story about Apocalypse Meow (aka Cat Shit One in Japan) getting an animated series, the first trailer out of Studio Anima has hit YouTube to check out the CG rabbits with guns action. The footage was first shown at TAF 2009 last week and now you can decide if you’re ready for the 12 planned episodes of Cat Shit One: The Animated Series.

The Akihabara district has given us many things over the years: shops, maid cafes, and a trilogy of movies proving true otaku have no clue what to do with a woman. (Seriously, go read the reviews if you don’t believe me. There are people with even stronger morals than Hank Hill out there.) Now Akihabara has unleashed its strongest challenger yet combining English lessons and cosplay to create: Cosplish! No, I’m not kidding.

The target audience for this school is not only geeks (otaku in Japanese) but also a more general clientele, said Suzuki — and even though the teachers all wear costumes, it is not mandatory for students to do so as well.

Cosplish mainly sets out to teach “practical” English, including slang, and also features two unique courses described as Otaku Eiken (geeky English proficiency) and Moeng (“cute English,” derived from the Japanese “geekspeak” word moe, a variant on kawaii, the “pure” form of “cute”). “We don’t intend to say we will provide an education that enables students to go to Harvard,” said Suzuki, adding that he wants to provide a space where people can have fun, talk about their interests and learn practical English — and hopefully “spread Akihabara culture far and wide.”

A glimpse of his vision was on show during free trial sessions held on Feb. 24 at the school in Akihabara, where a casual and cordial atmosphere reigned supreme.

“Welcome to Maxima Broken English,” Cosplish teacher Mimmi Schwalbe kicked off the dummy lesson, wearing a pink spaceship-crewlike costume modeled on outfits sported by the character Sayla Mass in the extremely popular anime “Gundam.”

The beginning of the trial that featured three sessions was just like a regular school, with Schwalbe asking each student their name and occupation.

However, not many teachers would follow that by asking: “What’s your favorite anime or manga?”

Don’t expect this to catch on in America any time soon. Universities haven’t really grasped the anime-related course ideas fully yet and ADV would just turn it into a Spanish class.

In Thailand, a firefighter resorted to a creative way to save a child when an autistic 8-year-old found his way to a ledge three-stories up.

Despite teachers’ efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son’s love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.

The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.

“I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous,” Somchai told local television.

The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer’s arms, police said.

Somchai said he keeps the Spider-Man costume and an outfit of Japanese television character Ultraman at the station in order to liven up school fire drills.

Just remember folks: Everybody gets one. Thankfully, Ultraman isn’t as picky about this rule.

Motofumi Kobayashi’s three volume manga series Cat Shit One took a look at the Vietnam War from the American soldier’s perspective on the ground with an animal twist. Not unlike Art Spiegelman’s epic Maus graphic novel, soldiers take on a more cutesy form with rabbits for Americans, cats for the Vietnamese, and a handful of other animals representing the other countries involved during the war. The series managed to make it to the American shore through ADV Manga’s short life as Apocalypse Meow.

Now Studio Anima, who typically animates CG scenes for video games, is bringing back the series with an updated storyline. Cat Shit One: The Animated Series moves the rabbits’ struggles from the American soldier in Vietnam to the private contract soldier fighting in Iraq. If URDA: The Third Reich can manage to get licensed, adorable bunnies with guns should be a shoe in.