Japanese politicians sometimes use otaku references to please the crowds, but in America politics and anime typically don’t mix. That changed this month when Representative Paul Gosar, a Republican in Arizona, shared a video using Attack on Titan. According to Rep. Gosar, the video was meant …Read more »
Remember earlier this year we when reported on an Australian senator calling for a review of all anime and manga sold in the country, which he described as containing “child abuse material”? Well, looks like that actually happened—and as a result, three novels in the …Read more »
Last year, we reported that Ufotable, the studio behind anime like the Fate franchise and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, was being investigated for tax evasion. Now the results of that investigation are out, and the official accusation is in. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau …Read more »
If you love cosplay so much you’re considering moving to Japan and entering into a fake marriage in order to obtain residency, well, you might want to think again. Canadian cosplayer Shannon Daniel Wong, who did just that, was just busted by the Tokyo Metropolitan …Read more »
The Saudi General Commission for Audio-Visual Media announced on Monday that it’s prohibiting 47 games in connection with the deaths of a 13 year old girl and 12 year old boy. The list of banned games includes such titles as Yo-kai Watch, Okami, One Piece: …Read more »
According to a programming schedule released earlier this week, Disney XD’s U.S. broadcast of Pokémon Sun and Moon will jump directly from episode 63 to 65. This is curious, since the last time any Pokémon episode went un-aired in the United States was in 2002, …Read more »
Doki Doki Literature Club is a visual novel released on Steam last year by American developer Team Salvato, and its polished graphics by freelance artist Satchely are almost indistinguishable from actual Japanese visual novels. While the genre tends to be overlooked in the West, Doki …Read more »
In Japan it’s typical for manga authors to leave a message for readers on the inside cover of new volumes of popular series. Usually it’s a ‘thank you’ to the fans, or a comment about the process of working on the manga. For volume 89 …Read more »
Game over. Four video game bar managers in Kyoto and Kobe have been arrested for alleged copyright violations, Mainichi reported June 13. Specifically, the managers are “suspected of renting video game software and allowing customers to play them in April without obtaining the permission of …Read more »
An exhibition centered around the theme of lesbian love, which was set to take place in Tokyo, has been canceled, it was reported yesterday. Titled simply “Lesbian Love Exhibition,” the event was to take place at department store Ikebukuro Marui. But retailer Village Vanguard canceled …Read more »
Chengxi Huang is living the dream: the skilled animator, who hails from China, is living and working in Tokyo, where he works on the Naruto franchise, of which he’s a self-proclaimed giant fan. That’s why we’re sure the animator had nothing but good intentions when he posted a …Read more »
If you’ve been wondering where the director of the original Ghost in the Shell comes down on the whole live-action whitewashing debate, let it be known he is definitively on team ScarJo. That’s the word from an IGN interview with Mamoru Oshii, in which he …Read more »
If you’ve been watching anime for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed a mysterious entity called DR Movie keeps popping up in the credits. This is not a human named Movie who has completed a doctorate (though that would be pretty awesome), but a …Read more »
For anyone who doesn’t know the deal, a super-brief summary: the upcoming live-action Ghost in the Shell film stars Scarlett Johansson, a decidedly non-Asian actor, as Ghost in the Shell ’s heretofore Asian main character. Cue controversy. Controversy that the principals behind the live-action adaptation …Read more »
Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (actually, ex-producer, as he made sure to point out in his apology) kicked up a ruckus last month when he declared that women are “realistic” as compared to “idealistic” men, making the former unsuitable for directing Ghibli films. Never mind …Read more »
Danica Davidson
Matt Schley
Julian Gnam
