Here we go again - Japan’s ministry of health has ordered its retailers to stop distribution of all frozen beans imported from China, after a woman fell ill eating beans with 34,500 times the legal limit of pesticides. The woman is fine - she checked in to the hospital after vomiting and feeling “numbness in her mouth” after eating a dish made with the beans, and was released following an overnight stay, but given the recent milk powder debacle, the ministry of health wanted to take no chances.

Tests by the Tokyo government revealed the high pesticide content of the beans, which were manufactured by Yantai Beihai Foodstuff in Shandong Province in eastern China. Investigation results showed no problems in the manufacturing process, as the detected pesticide (dichlorvos) has never even been used by the company, deeming the contaminated batch of beans an isolated incident.

Here’s where the story gets even weirder - a pinprick was found in the package, suggesting that the beans may have been sabotaged after leaving the manufacturer. It’s unlikely that the pesticides would have remained in such high concentration had it been a manufacturing error, as the beans are washed and boiled before being frozen, which would have likely diluted any residual pesticides.

Is somebody deliberately trying to soil China’s reputation? While the government has cleared Yantai of any wrongdoing, the damage has already been done, in the wake of toxic toys, deadly dumplings, and the malignant milk powder. It’s clear that Chinese manufacturers need to get their act together and prioritize the safety of their products over the extra bit of profit margin, but deliberate acts of culinary terrorism isn’t helping the cause.

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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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Okay so they’ve finally casted the lead female for Hana Yori Dango, unfortunately it’s not some sexy boy toy who can pass off as a girl. It’s Gu Hye Seon.

Never seen her in anything before but she’s won a few big awards: 2007 SBS Acting Awards (New Star Award) and 2006 KBS Acting Awards (New Actress Award). Not only that but she’s sang the theme song for her drama Pure 19 and been in a few music videos. She’s got to be good right?

Honestly she’s a little too mature looking for me. While she does embody the innocent girl look, she’s not quite the perfect fit for me. I would have definitely gone for a bigger star or at least a cuter one like Kim Tae Hee. If you’ve seen the Japanese Hana Yori Dango, Kim Tae Hee and Mao Inoue might as well be twins.

Again I’m disappointed with the cast but hopefully the show will still be good. I’m still praying for them to boot Gu Hye Seon for a boy toy.

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TVXQ has officially released their fourth album, Mirotic, only a few days ago but even before then it has hit number 1 on the charts. I’m glad they’re back in Korea again so they can put these fake talentless boy bands to shame.

The new album is title Mirotic which is the combination of a coined Korean word “miro” and the English word “tic”. The word “miro” means “lost or maze” which has lead people to believe the definition is the feeling of being wrapped in love with no way out.

Listening to the entire album, I was more of a fan of the slow songs (especially Jae Joong’s solo) over the upbeat ones although “Wrong Number” and “Crazy Love” were one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the entire album with its techno pop feel; definitely a hit for a comeback album. More »

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Like any great Anime character, Peter Tatara (a live human) had this supernatural potential, to reach an amazing heights, in a creative career. Even while he was studying at Ithaca College (in Ithaca, NY), he ran its local Anime club and interned with Central Park Media a company based here in NY that is responsible for releasing Anime/Manga. These are the guys behind Utena, Grave of the Fireflies, Full House (Manhwa), Lodoss War, MD Geist, Project A-Ko, and many other well known titles.

Still all the while studying at Ithaca, he managed to organize mini-type cons or meet-ups for about 50+ people all for the love Anime. His early side projects include movie making, which he still does today. He independently filmed “Johnny Robo”, a series lasted 8 episodes; which was made in tribute to tokusatsu (special effect) superhero shows, like Kamen Rider or the better U.S. known Power Rangers. More »

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One thing I liked about growing up in Seoul was the fact that there were so much Japanese animes being broadcast on Korean televisions. I definitely took advantage of that and watched many, many animes in my elementary school days. However, I decided around sixth grade that I was “too old” to watch these “cartoons” and simply stopped watching them. I regret doing that, but thankfully my friends bought me back into the anime world in ninth grade with Slayers.

Once I got back into the wonderful world of animes, in the last ten years or so, I’ve been trying my hardest to reconnect myself to all my favourite animes from my childhood. To be honest, it proved to be a rather frustrating task. See, the animes that were shown on Korean televisions were all dubbed into Korean, Japanese titles were changed into Korean ones, and even the names of characters were changed to Korean names! Needless to say I had a fun time searching the American or Japanese titles for Tekuu no Escaflowne or Fushigi Yuugi. But the one that took me a while to find and had a pain of a time looking for due to it not being popular in Japan happened to be Mado King Granzort. More »

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Since the rise of anime during the 1980s and 1990s, we have not only seen the creation of some great series, but also have witness the growth of a very strong and united anime community. While we may not all agree on what is the best series ever created, we do share the love of great anime. The anime community plays a crucial role in success of the anime industries both here in America as well as in Japan.

While the American and Japanese anime industries share a lot of similarities, the advantage that the Japanese anime industry possesses is that they have had longer to mature. Anime has been on American shores long before the 1990s. However, it wasn’t till around that time till we saw the explosive growth that we are still witnessing today. The 1990s brought us many great anime series like Evangelion and the rise of Dragonball Z here in America. Japan on the other hand, had their anime surge almost 20 years earlier in the 1970s and 1980s. What this boils down to is that the Japanese anime community is not only larger, but also older. Fans have more disposable income to keep the anime industry strong, and have been doing so a lot longer. Sadly, America isn’t as lucky.

The 1990s also brought us the Internet. Fledging anime companies in America had a new tool to help advertise their stores and products. They were also presented with a very tough problem that no one could have predicted. While I am sure everyone is aware of the piracy problem that plagues the entire anime industry in the states and abroad, I don’t want to spend time debating that. What’s interesting about the problem is how it affects both America and Japan differently. More »

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Ningin has always had a lot of visitors from South Korea and other Asian countries. We’re quite proud of that actually because it means we’re transcending national and cultural boundaries. It doesn’t matter who or where you are, if you’re interested in Asian media, we’re happy to have you here! So to better serve our international members (and really everyone in general) allow me to introduce Tara Popp, our newest blogger from South Korea:

차렷, 경래, 안녕하세요! (Cha-lyut, gyung-lae, ahnyoung-ha-sae-yo! = Attention! Bow and say hello!) Well that is one way to say hello in South Korea, especially at an institute, I suppose. More »

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The long awaited Korean version of drama hit series Hana Yori Dango will air on KBS 2TV in the last week of December. Finally! Honestly, I can’t believe I had to wait so damn long for Korea to catch up. Aren’t they the melodrama gods?

So far there’s been a lot of hype for the show as it is one of the most popular series in all of Asian due to predecessors Meteor Garden (Taiwan) and Hana Yori Dango (Japan; creator of the series). With so much pressure, they’ve gathered some big names to help record the mini series like renowned director Jeon Gi-Sang (Sassy Girl Chuhyang, My Girl) and writer Yoon Ji-Ryeon (Sharp #3). However, they’ve got Group 8 to produce the film even though they failed with Goong S. More »

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I just saw one of the best, most dramatic and meaningful baseball games in a long time this morning, South Korea vs. Cuba in the gold medal match of the Beijing Olympics. Let me try to setup the stage for you. Cuba is to international baseball like Brazil is to World Cup soccer, perennial powerhouse. The three favorites to medal were Japan, Cuba, and the United States, so South Korea according to odds makers, wasn’t even suppose to medal. Somehow, South Korea improbably won 8 straight games including defeating Japan in the semi-finals one day prior. Cuba defeated the United States in the semis losing only once to South Korea in regular play and looking to avenge their loss. And Cuba easily has the best hitters in the game, some good enough for the Major Leagues, but South Korea has dominant pitching, especially today’s champ and Korean Ace, Ryu Hyun-jin. (more on Ryu later)

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