From Rekuru:

To begin on a serious note, I was among those who cheered the news that Japan’s entrenched, right-wing “Liberal” Democratic Party was finally giving somebody else a chance to run the country. Yet we may pause to shed a tear for the man whose incompetence helped bringed about this change, Taro Aso; for he was, after all, one of us. I hereby present a salute to the man we hate to love, Japan’s late and (debatably) great Otaku Prime Minister (that’s him in the lower right-hand corner). More »

Last week I wrote about the wonderful world of bento food coloring. This week I’m going to step it up a notch by talking about bentos for the holiday season. I’m not talking about “turkey” or “pumpkin” filled bentos, I’m talking about making bentos that look like a turkey or a pumpkin and are filled with rice. More »

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From Wirebot:

What’s the difference between a ninja and a samurai? A samurai’s main concern was honor: they would tell you exactly why they are killing you before they kill you. The ninja’s main concern was survival: the only sound you’d hear from a ninja would be the sound of a knife entering your back. The ninja is legendary. So many video games are based on this legendary black-clad assassin. Some are true to the ways of the ninja. Others are… well… utter failures as ninjas. More »

From Wirebot:

Although Alexa already mentioned this new piece of hardware, I again wanted to draw attention to something that is both a blessing and a curse to the world of gaming. 1up.com has posted a gallery of them comparing the new Nintendo DSi XL to other portable devices. More »

From Rekuru:

Who could forget the 80’s? The clothes, the hair….the ninjas? You may not associate the 80’s with ninjas but upon closer inspection, you’ll find that this decade more than any other was THE period of ninja revival. Don’t believe me? Read on. More »

Need to kill some time? Here are seven of the funniest ninja-related videos I could find on YouTube. More »

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It’s kinda crazy but I knew nothing about Boom Boom Satellites (BBS) before last night. The experience of hearing them play live was similar to having chocolate or Breyers Vanilla ice cream for the first time. In other words, it was a “where have you been all my life” kind of experience. It was that good! More »

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A manga titled, “The World Only God Knows” is about a high school student who is known as a god on the internet for being able to capture the hearts of any 2-D girl. Later on he meets a demon who is on a mission to capture evil spirits. These evil spirits reside in other people and so he learns to apply his dating sim skills to unlock their hearts and release the spirits.

This is a pretty funny manga with a unique main character and one I can really relate to. I spend all my time playing video games too. Too bad I can’t get good grades like him. OH WELL. The main character’s personality really reminds me of Lelouch from Code Geass + Light from Death Note. Its worth reading just to see him in action, doing what he does best. Seducing girls.

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From Wirebot:

You know, with cultures influencing many games, the Japanese and their Ninja influence is hardly an exception. Many popular video games that might not come straight to mind nowadays include some form of a ninja! Whether it be simple classic ninjas with their katana and shuriken draped in dark colors, or even a turtle with a staff, ninjas are almost everywhere. But the conception of the classic ninja has evolved into so many different kinds of ninjas, and today I am going to run through with you five major totally different games and the type of ninjas in each, and how close they are to the archetypal ninja. More »

From Girlybubble: Leave it to me to have a serious girl boner on the one member of a Korean pop (Kpop) boyband who isn’t Korean. Of course, this doesn’t matter really. Thai American Nichkhun, or more lovingly known as Kun, runs with a pack of cute Korean boy band members called 2PM who can sing and dance well. Through Ningin, the other site I manage, I was able to see them live earlier this year, stateside. From then I knew it was all over. This girl boner would never go away. More »

Even though Hello Kitty is 35 years old, she keeps going like she was only 18. As part of the 35th Anniversary craze, Japanese online fashion mall Zozo Town has put together heaps of special ‘Limited Edition’ gear. Oh you know you want to buy them. More »

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From Wirebot:

It’s a fact: most video game to movie adaptations suck. Luckily, there’s anime.

Dealing with drawings and animations gives creators the freedom to make the characters look exactly like they’re supposed to, unlike when actors are involved (I’m thinking the new Dragonball Z movie, in which all the characters are white. It’s just… wrong). Some games have been adapted into animes that are just as good, and which can stand alone as fantastic shows. The following 5 are my own personal favorites. More »

From Rekuru:

Women aren’t the first thing you think of when someone says ninja. More often than not, your mind jumps to men with dirty glares in black outfits. What you may or may not know, is that women played an integral role in ninja clans of the past. More »

From Rekuru:

So we’ve been calling each other baka and kawaii since june of nineteen eighty-five. Perhaps it’s time to take things to the next level, if only to decipher incomprehensible messageboard arguments on 4-chan.* Here are eight more esoteric Japanese terms commonly encountered in anime and the discussion thereof; and as someone who considers anime the most legitimate of art forms, I think it’s time some of them entered our broader cultural discourse. After all our artists, it seems, have known about tsundere for years. More »

From Wirebot:

With the release of Ninja Assassin, we are delivered a dose of awesome ninja badassary(i just made that word up right now, roll with it) that quenches the thirst of every action movie fan out there. I mean really, How could you not like this movie? The main character, Raizo, uses two blades attached to a chain and swings them around slicing other ninjas up who betrayed him (Kratos with ninjas?). Amazing.

On another plane of existence but within the same month, us video game players got a helping dose of extreme military simulated violence More »

Tsunderes are a character archetype that you can’t resist loving. A relatively recent well known example for a tsundere would be Suzumiya Haruhi. J.C Staff is also obviously addicted with tsunderes, Shakugan no Shana, Zero no Tsukaima, To Aru Majutsu no Index all contain tsunderes. Rie Kugumiya is also well known as a voice actor for tsunderes. More »

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From Rekuru:

It’s a fact: Ninjas are sly, sneaky devils. They’re full of all kinds of tricks and will go to great lengths to complete their mission. In this article we look at some of those tactics and tricks employed by ninjas, showing you just how clever these paid assassins are. More »

One of the best TV quotes ever comes from my favorite Asian American actor/writer, Mindy Kaling. Kaling as The Office’s Kelly Kapoor is best known for saying, “I like Beyoncé, pink the color, Pink the person, hot dogs, basically anything that is awesome, snowcones… “ And just like Kelly Kapoor, I love Beyonce. A lot. Even if I’m not Japanese, I was ever so pleased to find that one of her Videophone music video ensembles featured a Land of the Rising Sun-inspired leotard. More »

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Rain, who’s identified spirit element like Bruce Lee, is water. He has shown that he can be formless, shapeless and train hard enough to become a convincing Ninja. But there is a role, that only one man was able to fill to ease the mind of fans. Can Rain Awaken the Dragon and remake Enter the Dragon? More »

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From Wirebot:

Believe it! I’m on a mission to find the ten sexiest Japanese Video Game ladies of all time, and on that mission I totally went. More »