Although the 2008 New York Anime Festival has passed, we are very pleased to have shared such enjoyable memories with you all. With the help of our devoted readers, we were able to sort through hundreds of cosplay photos naming three as our winners one of which is David Santiago (third place). From our interview with him, we learned that David has an interesting sense of humor and great cosplaying style. His point of view is one of pure engagement that is a truly inspirational take on cosplaying and enjoying what you love most.

Q: Was this your first time cosplaying? A: No I’m not a cosplay virgin lol I believe once in 2002 i cosplayed once, but in 2006 i came back cosplaying, first con at baff in the marriot hotel in midtown then i came back and cosplayed in otakon 2006 from there on i’ve been on a role

Q: What first inspired you to cosplay? A: It’s fun to cosplay and join in with your fellow otaku in a experience that you share with a couple of thousand others like yourself. It’s the one time you can dress as some one you like in a anime or video game and then on the plus act like them unless your character is a perv then maybe not More »

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Written and created by SevenSense Inc. and the creative team of “JUMP“, “Break Out” has played all over the world, from India to Malaysia to Bangkok to Laos, and even at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the UK. The Seoul production of “Break Out” is still playing to sold out crowds back in Korea.

“Break Out” is one quarter story and three quarters a high-energy breakdance spectacle featuring some of Korea’s leading B-Boys from internationally winning crews such as Drifters Crew (Battle of the Year 2006 Finalists), Gamblers Crew (Battle of the Year 2005 Finalists) and Maximum Crew. More »

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I’ve got one too many turbos in my car to be seen as eco-friendly, but even punk drivers like me feel the burn on their wallets at the gas station. The energy crisis is affecting everyone, and while gas prices are somewhat subsidized by the government in China, there will come a time when our oil wells dry up. As China is poised to take over the US as the largest consumer of oil, the race for alternative energy is now hotter than a bowl of bi bim bap swimming in Blair’s 16 Million. More »

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Tila Tequila, Bai Ling and Rain should all rejoice at this news. I have found a new target to rip apart. He (or should we say “she”) is a contestant of MTV’s thrashy reality show Paris Hilton My New BFF. Seriously, anyone who wants to be a close pal of that wonky eyed bitch is fucked up in his/her head. But none is perhaps more fucked up than Onch, a contestant of that show whose favorite color is the “rainbow”. When I first saw him being ridiculed by Joel McHale on The Soup, I thought he was a chick. But no, he actually has a peen. Bitch also claims that he’s a bisexual. Yeah right, I can see why women would want to do it with him. To prove to you that Onch is indeed a manly kind of man, please watch this clip. I am sure it will arouse every sexually active woman and make them want to have a little piece, and I emphasize the word “little”, of this man-girl.

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Paris Hilton has gone through best friends just like she goes clothes so now she’s in search of a new one in her MTV reality tv series, Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.

In the most recent episode, Paris flies off to Tokyo, Japan taking 4 of the contestants with her and leaving the remaining 8 behind. While she’s in Tokyo, the 8 left behind get into a little cat fight: one of the contestants, Onch (Asian male), offered to give one of the other girls a pedicure who then asked if he could really do pedis. Corrie butts in and states in a matter of fact tone “He is Taiwanese“. Talk about being racist. The other girls ended up ganging up on her telling her she was wrong and that racism is so gone. It did get a little out of control and Zui even threatened to stab her. Gg?

Throughout the entire time, Corrie never admitted she was wrong and kept saying that “Asians do nails“. Honestly if she admitted she was wrong it could have been avoided. Now I hope Paris eliminates her, not that she had a chance anyways. If you’ve been keeping up, she’s quite slutty.

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It’s finally the weekend although that doesn’t stop the workload. Development has been working on something big (hint hint wink wink) so please check back for updates.

Also, there’s a new blogger if you didn’t know. His name is Jerry Chen and he’s an anime, jpop, basketball and game expert. Finally another gamer to join us! I felt a bit nerdy being the only one so far.

I somewhat enjoyed this weeks more than others in the past because most of the songs were pretty good (3 out of 5). Always a good sign right? As always enjoy this batch. I really do like finding these music videos every week for you guys so I hope you do too. More »

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One of Asia’s biggest stars is ready to take on America. After over a month of waiting and a couple delays, BoA’s new music video for her debut US single “Eat You Up” has finally been released. In this post I’ve included the Asia version of the music video, which will be used to promote the single all over Asia. The song was produced by Bloodshy and Avant, while the choreography was done by famous choreographers Misha Gabriel and Nick Bass. While the song is nothing amazing, (In my opinion, she needs to work on her English a little more.) the video is just perfect. It’s one of her best videos in a long, long time.

Now, BoA is going to need as much help as she can get on October 21, 2008 when the single is released on various American online music services, such as iTunes. If you enjoy this, please support her! The physical single will be released on November 11, 2008 in entertainment stores nationwide, with her full length debut album coming out a few months later in early 2009. More »

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“I never thought that my relationship with food would result in me opening a restaurant,” says Sung Kang, acclaimed American actor and co-owner of Saketini in Brentwood, CA. But he gives credit where it’s due—to the special ladies in his life. Here’s a more introspective side of Sung Kang’s dinner table.

Sung Kang has developed a reputation for playing bad guys…most recently, he appeared as a car-racing thug on NBC’s Knight Rider. Click to watch the full episode.

But in real life, he talks softly and carries a big wok. Check out this video interview with journalist Sara Sohn: More »

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You know that hikko guy that has watched every episode of Lucky Star at least 10 times? Yea, that’s me. That all-too-spirited guy in 1st year Japanese that knows words like kakushigo but still can’t order cold soba from the joshikousei waitress? That’s me too. That 7′6″ dude on the Rockets who routinely puts up 20 and 10? Naw, that’s Yao, but hanging out with T-Mac on Jimmy Kimmel sounds pretty fun.

What’s up Ningin, I’m Jerry Chen, the new blogger from San Francisco. I’m big on anime and games and basketball and jpop, most to an obsessive degree. I think last night I had a dream where I was just chillin at the neighborhood shouten, then some girl cradling a bag of taiyaki ran into me then dragged me into some restau… wait… never mind. I tell ya, too much anime and you start wishing those anime eye contacts would come standard with every girl~ More »

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Ok, get ready to scream bitches. Your idol, Bae Yong Jun (BYJ) is getting an award for looking like you. Ok I lied. He’s not getting an award for looking like a chick. He is actually getting the 2008 Culture Medal from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korea. The Culture Medal is a government award given to Koreans who have made a cultural impact through various fields. Miss thing here has been chosen as this year’s medal recipient for bringing Korean popular culture to the world through the popular sob fest, Winter Sonata. Didn’t that drama come out six years ago? I guess it took the Korean officials this long to realize his feminine charm and the undying love and following that it has generated among the crazy ajummas out there.

Last year’s Culture Medal recipient was Korean actress Lee Young Ae. If you ask me, I think she is much prettier than BYJ.

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Last week, New York Times bestselling author Dan H. Pink held a fantastic lecture on Manga at Japan Society in New York City. Dan’s writing credits include inspirational-allocutions for Vice President Al Gore and contributions to The New York Times. While at Japan Society, he discussed his Manga epiphany and consequent study of Manga while in Japan.

According to Dan, there are key business lessons to be learned from Japan’s manga industry. Manga occupies a very different role in Japan than comic books do in the US. He goes on to point out that in the US, comics are marketed for teens and Otaku. However in Japan, manga is read by everyone. To affirm just how ubiquitous manga is, Dan tried to see how far he could walk in Tokyo before he encountered any sort of manga. He didn’t make it more than a block. He saw store signs, merchandise, piles of manga at convenience stores, billboards, retail spaces with manga-designed decor, people reading manga on the train, while eating lunch, waiting at bus stops, even while walking. More »

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In this final part to Fanship Phenomenon you will read about the fan and antifan groups that have effected their peers. Many times the receiving end of obsessive fan behavior is celebrities, but it can and has spiraled to harm fellow fans. We would find it very normal to think that people with common interests would bond, but in some cases it sparks a sick version of competition. This imaginary contest to protect a celebrity or do due harm to a celebrity has lead to harassment, stalking, assault and for some worse. More »

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This drool-worthy picture next to this paragraph is some dessert waffle dish called the “Giant Brown Apple Thunder” thingamagie. Last month, my friend “Stella” and I went to The Waffle Factory around Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu. That night, I was merely introduced to the waffles. Then we went to this one coffee shop/bar in the same vicinity called “The Library” for a drink or two.

Couple weeks ago, I told “Seungee” that we should both try the restaurant because the waffles that I did try a bit last time was delicious. Both of us are breakfast food fans, and we believe that breakfast foods are meant to be eaten during all times of the day. Unfortunately, finding good American-style breakfast is a bit of a pain in Seoul since we are either limited to the US military bases or at places that “Koreanises” the food. Thankfully, we lucked out! The Waffle Factory really do serve great breakfast food, in Seoul, all day long, and at a fairly reasonable price. We spent about 31 bucks at this place for two dishes and two drinks. Let’s move on and let the “blog-entation” begin! With pictures, naturally. More »

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Learning Chinese Through Tone & Color presents a visual system for English speakers learning Mandarin. The book is currently in the Top 40 at Amazon.com for Asian language instruction. We got a hold of linguist and author Nathan Dummitt to talk about his new book.

Ningin: What’s your linguistic background? How many languages can you speak?

Nathan: I first realized that I had an intense interest in languages relatively late in life - after I finished college and was teaching English at a high school in Japan in my early 20s. Since then I’ve dabbled in a few languages, all for varying lengths of time and with varying degrees of success, including: Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Korean, French and Russian. I’m really only comfortable in the first three, due largely to the fact that my wife is Japanese and we live in a Chinatown (New York City). I am finishing my master’s degree in Linguistics at the CUNY Graduate Center this spring. More »

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Hong Kong actress/model, Maggie Q has starred in several Hollywood movies like Mission Impossible III and Live Free or Die Hard alongside mega stars like Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis. She has also starred in the comedy Balls of Fury that was released last year. Just when Asians like me attribute her success of getting these roles to her half-Caucasian features, the 29-year-old biracial beauty, whose full name is Maggie Quigley, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that good Hollywood roles are still very rare for Asians and that 90 percent of the scripts she receives are written for white female characters.

Maggie said casting directors in Hollywood are often confused by her biracial background. Maggie was born in Hawaii to an American father of Polish-Irish descent and a Vietnamese mother.  “They think, ‘Wow, what is this? There’s this girl. She’s Asian, but she’s not. … They’re really not sure where to put me,” Maggie quips.

Note to Maggie, if you want to get a part in Hollywood, you need two attitudinal/physical traits. The first one is intense bitchiness (see Lucy Liu). The second one is a pair of squinty eyes (see also Lucy Liu). Playing a kung fu chick all the time is not going to get you anywhere. 

I immediately took a liking to Maggie when I saw this clip. It’s obvious that we both hold a high standard for Asian fashion icons. We also have the elegance that no one can rival… well no one except for our goddess Faye Wong. 

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While it may be presumptuous to say that I am 100% bilingual, it is safe to say that I am bilingual, only not 100%. Unlike a lot of my peers who had mixed families, where one of the parents was Korean, I was lucky enough to have a mother who spoke her native language to me 95% of the time. Of course, I’m sure living in Korea gave me an advantage over my peers who lived in the states for the most part, but I’m thinking about the ones who have lived here most of the time instead.

It’s funny. At work, my Korean ahjumma co-workers keep praising me at how I’m so lucky to speak English and Korean well. Even the other day, when I went to do my hair, I was a translator for my friend, and the stylist told me that he’s jealous that I am fortunate to speak both languages. Even my mother, gets praises from her peers, saying that she’s lucky to have a daughter who speaks Korean and English instead of just the latter. I admit, being bilingual really is a useful skill, but I will admit that my Korean’s pretty weak. Sure, I can speak, read, and write Hangeul, but my speaking skills are at the level of an eight-year old, and my reading and writing skills are of those belonging to a seven-year old. More »

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In my previous article, I touched base on how fans and antifans effect the lives of celebrities. Whether we file these actions under the Fan or AntiFan label, sometimes the outcome can be one in the same. In this article you will read how the constant obsessive behavior has led to greater expense and even cost some people their lives…

Cruelness does seem like a waste of effort for many, yet for some of these antifans it seems to be the only thing on their agenda. Rapper Jang Woo Hyuk (from H.O.T. / J.T.L) as well as singer Lee Minwoo (from Shinwha) both had antifans reserve tickets to performances. Therefore making them unavailable for purchase and subsequently the concerts were cancelled to poor attendee numbers. Singer ChaeYeon & Suju Member Heechul had to fight rumors that they were dating. No matter how Heechul openly denied and defended Chae Yeon it only seemed to energize more rumors and attacks. Couplings seem to fuel the best scandal. Several years ago Rain & Hyori were rumored to be sleeping together. Their closeness was linked to the many performances they were working on during award ceremony season. Yet people note Danny Ahn’s radio show when Kim Tae Woo asked Rain via phone convo if they were together. The rumor is JYPE studios covered up the radio broadcast by paying a member another band to expose himself on live TV, but Rain/JYPE filed a lawsuit against the people who kept printing these rumor and won in court. More »

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Wonder Girls fan in New York City? Well, this Friday October 17th, Swerve and BaseNYC will have an album release party for the Wonder Girls latest release - “The Wonder Years - Trilogy“. At the party you will find autographed CDs, posters, and random other promotional goodies will be given out - all for free. The Wonder Girls will not appear at the event, although there will be a special message from them just for the event. DJ Ko will be the guest DJ at the party. It’s a shame I’m not 21. I’d kill for the autographed CD or even poster. More info about the event is included below.

Location: Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel 88 9th Ave. (Between 16th and 17th Street) New York City Dress Code: Wear your very best, since dress code is strictly monitored. Undershirts, boots, jeans, baggy jeans, or sneakers are not permitted. Groups of gentlemen must be accompanied by women. Contact: info@basenyc.com - Reserve your very own V.I.P. area. guestlist@basenyc.com - $15 guest list ends at 11:30PM / doors open at 10:00 PM Other Info: Ages 21 and over. Preferential line treatment will be given to ladies, gentlemen accompanied by them, and table reservations.

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Tora-san arrived on the screen when anything was possible if you worked hard enough, and people were forward-thinking and full of energy… A penniless, comic anti-hero, Tora-san lacked good looks and smarts and remained oblivious to the country’s modernization, living solely to bring happiness to those he loved. –Yoji Yamada, Director

It’s a busy month for Japan Society in New York City! They spent an entire weekend at the New York Anime Festival, then invited us in for a private advance look at the new gallery exhibition New Bamboo. Then we dropped by to sit it on Dan Pink’s Adventures in Manga lecture. Now Monthly Classics begins again with Best of Tora-san on Friday, October 17, at 7:30pm!

Last year the Japan Society Film Program launched the highly successful Monthly Classics film series. A classic Japanese film was screened once a month as part of a curated series that ran for over several months. Last year’s series was the classic Nikkatsu films that defined the modern yakuza genre. The term Nikatsu came from Nikkatsu studio, Japan’s oldest film studio that produced many of the most popular yakuza films of the 1960s and 70s.

This year Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (Otoko wa tsuraiyo), the movie that introduced Tora-san to the world in 1969, kicks off the Best of Tora-san film series. More »

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Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki is in Shanghai for six days for a concert and a music video shoot. When Ayumi arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport this past Sunday, bitch was greeted by more than a hundred of her fans. They pushed and shoved just to catch a glimpse of their idol. One fan was lucky enough to get the diva’s autograph, and probably her diamond ring too.  See, Ayumi claimed that she lost her diamond ring at the airport and is now urging anyone who happened to have picked it up contact her via email. Good luck, Ayumi. The ring is probably sitting pretty in the black market of Timbuktu now.  Better yet, go on eBay China and see if it’s listed for sale. Try to haggle with the seller on the “Buy it Now” price. It’s the Chinese. You should bargain for everything before you seal the deal.

Since Ayumi’s chances of recovering that ring are almost none, my advice to her is to forget about it and spend a tiny fraction of her annual earnings to buy a new one. Like the U.S’ economy, Asia’s economy is sucking ass big time so I am all for her buying some high ticket items to help revive it.

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