From Rekuru:

As Kamikaze Girls (Tetsuya Nakashima, 2004) [orig. "Shimotsuma Story," based on the excellent book by Novala Takemoto] opens, its heroine Momoko, wearing a frilly dress while speeding along on a motor scooter, is struck by an oncoming produce truck. The End. But to understand how things came to this pass, it’s necessary to back up a little–to Rococo-era France. More »

From Rekuru:

Inspired by the recollection that Ninja Scroll made us doubt the mental health of a whole nation, it’s time to take a hard look at anime that’s just danged creepy. I’m sure there are those of you who actually like hentai (I won’t judge you), but I suspect that most of us, if we don’t actively avoid the creepy stuff, are embarrassed enough that we don’t lend Schoolgirl Confinement Vol. III to friends we’re trying to evangelize, but rather hide it under our Collected Works of Plato when they come over. More »

From Rekuru:

One thing that can be said about the pillows is, they take themselves seriously. Avoiding two genres into which Japanese music often breaks down–bubblegum power-pop on the one hand, hyper-macho posturing on the other–the pillows have been crafting quality rock records since 1991. Which is not to say they don’t have a sense of humor, but no one could dismiss them as a novelty act; they remind me of one of my favorite Western bands, Oasis, and indeed, I always think the bridge of One Life is about to break into Don’t Look Back in Anger. More »

From Rekuru:

This isn’t the place to discuss being a foreigner in Japan: a quick search will turn up a million blogs (possibly even my own) started up by foreign exchange students, drifters and playboys who discovered to their amazement that (gasp!) the experience is pretty strange. I’m more interested in how Japanese view foreigners, and–supporting my thesis that it is a great way to learn about Japan–anime provides some striking examples. More »

From Rekuru:

Here it is. When the cultural bomb of Ninja Scroll (Yoshiaki Kawajiri, 1993) hit American shores, the Japanese entertainment industry could assure itself of two things:

1) Its national role as tastemaker to the West was assured for one hundred years. 2) Its image as a sedate and refined nation was ruined for one hundred years. More »

From Rekuru:

It will sometimes happen that I post about bands I don’t listen to myself, but there are so big I figure people should know about them. A drunken middle-aged man in a bar once told me that I would never understand Japan until I could list all the members of SMAP, and perhaps he was right (though I still can’t). One such group is the boy-band Arashi. More »

From Wirebot:

Welcome back to another exciting installment of Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of. This week (in honor of the release of Ninja Assassin) we take a look at some horrible ninja, assassin, and samurai games, from the world of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. More »

From Rekuru:

It’s important to answer the literal question first: in a fight, of course, ninja would win. No matter how skilled a swordsman, your samurai can’t be awake every moment of the day, and no ninja worth his (or her) salt will be dumb enough to charge their foe head-on in broad daylight. But since these two warrior archetypes are so often juxtaposed, it seems worthwhile to ask: how are they related, and what do they represent? Sure, ninja, unlike samurai, “have no honor,” but isn’t the truth (as usual) more complex? More »

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 »

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 »

Chuseok has past and we are left again this year with beautiful mouthwatering eye-candy of our favourite Korean stars. They don their traditional costume, the hanbok to celebrate Chuseok (Harvest Moon Festival), a yearly event that celebrates the harvest and is also known as the Korean Thanksgiving. In honor of next week’s American Thanksgiving, consider the following pictures, pictures we’re definitely thankful for. More »

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From Blitznation:

Well anytime TMZ starts covering players from the NFL, you know it probably isn’t the best of news. Of course, you all remember back a few months ago when Tila Tequila accused Shawne Merriman of choking her and abusing her. Well, nothing really ever happened with that, but Tequila is now filing a lawsuit against him. More »

From Wirebot:

Castlevania just not enough? Still haunted by the nightmares Vampire Rain(*shivers*) ingrained into you? So bummed that you have to wait months to see the stackhouse family? Well, we have just the remedy for your blues!

Mixr Media has just launched a brand new site called Swan Diary, and Wirebot is proud to announce our 5 part gaming special, highlighting our favorite undead within video game culture. Come get glamoured by our awesome posts everyday for the next five days, where we will walk the line between gaming and Vampire! More »

From Wirebot:

Go ahead, put down your m16 for a second. Its ok. There you go. Don’t worry, he’s not going anywhere.

Now that I have your attention, and before I lose you to the “best game ever“, I would just like to take this opportunity to let you know about the release of Sega’s Phantasy Star Zero for the DS. More »

From Wirebot:

They’re everywhere. Every console has them. Many RPG’s have them. Yes, I’m talking about long haired villains. More »

From Wirebot: Just two days after Japanese business newspaper Nikkei Shimbun published a rumour that Nintendo will update their current DSi with a larger 4 inch screen, Nintendo announced the DSi LL. This update was planned after customers wanted a larger screen. More »

From Wirebot: The popular online game by Square Enix, Final Fantasy XI, will now be released with all seven expansion packs and add-on scenarios. Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection will be released on November 12 for PC and Xbox 360 for just $20. After the free 30-day trial, it will cost $13/month. More »

From Wirebot: The promotion team behind Final Fantasy XIII are having no trouble coming up with ideas. As announced previously in Tokyo, Square Enix and Suntory (the guys who brought us the Final Fantasy Potion for FFXII) are teaming up to produce Final Fantasy XIII “Elixirs”. Sixteen different designs will be on each can of beverage and they will also come with one of six mini-figurines of the main characters: Lightning, Vanille, Snow, Fang, Sazh and Hope. Sadly, this product will only be available in Japan. Suntory will start distributing them in December. More »

From Wirebot: Hironobu Sakaguchi, the man who created Final Fantasy, has hinted that his Mistwalker studio has nearly completed a new game. Sakaguchi resigned from Square Enix and founded Mistwalker in 2004. One of the games developed by Mistwalker is the 2007 Xbox 360 title, Lost Odyssey. This new game is yet to be confirmed. More »

From Wirebot: In an interview for GAME Watch at the Tokyo Game Show, Final Fantasy XIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Director Nobuaki Komoto revealed that the beta will initially be for Windows only. At the moment, the game is said to be around 50% completed and developed for PCs and ported to PS3. The team is currently working on separate graphics for the two platforms and support for newer and higher-end (multi-core, 64-bit, Windows 7) computers is provided. More »