An arson case that took place during this weekend’s Anime Los Angeles convention ended up spreading from a single car to seven, leading to scorched vehicles in the Azure Hotel and Suites parking lot. Video surveillance supposedly showed a man dumping two cans of gasoline …Read more »
Two men were recently arrested for an alleged assault on Maho Yamaguchi, a member of AKB48 sister group NGT48. The men allegedly attacked her at the entrance of her home on December 8, an event which Yamaguchi has since painfully recounted to the public in …Read more »
Amendments have been made to Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Law, leading to updated rules that could land console modders in seriously hot water. According to Japan’s Association of Copyright for Computer Software, the acts of modding consoles and game save data violate the Unfair Competition …Read more »
Everyone has their own New Year’s traditions, and one of Japan’s involves eating a stretchy mochi rice cake known as ozoni. The metaphor behind it has to do with the promise of a long life, but those who don’t take the proper precautions during their …Read more »
This weekend in Numazu, Japan, a female pedestrian was hit and knocked over by a car, which then sped off. The driver didn’t get far, though, because his car was, shall we say, distinct: it was painted with a character from Love Live Sunshine. The …Read more »
Last year we reported on MariCar, a Go-kart tour service in Japan which rents Mario Kart-themed cosplay to customers as they are lead on a driving tour around Tokyo. In characteristic fashion, Nintendo felt the need to protect their IP from damage and began a …Read more »
Melonpan is a Swiss otaku who’s built an internet following over the last several years publicizing his “perverted” antics. Posing with his anime merch in his underwear (or bare-ass) for selfie tweets is a regular thing for him. In 2013 he filmed himself licking nearly …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 Love Live! Sunshine!! manhole covers in Numazu, Japan are the gift that keeps on giving… just not in the way they were intended. The mere fact that sewer entrances would be used as place to un-ironically celebrate idol anime was weird enough to make …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 »
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 »
It sounds like a bad joke; a disgruntled otaku still living with his parents into middle age, who becomes so frustrated with their nagging about his lifestyle that he snaps. Unfortunately, what might otherwise be a hypothetical situation or some kind of nasty stereotype has …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 »
What’s with all the Love Live! hate? First it’s vandalized manhole covers in Nuzamu, now this. A third-year high school student has been arrested for allegedly making bomb threats against a series of Love Live! Sunshine!! concerts that took place this past weekend in Saitama. …Read more »
Bright summer weather here in Japan—but no sunshine for the denizens of Numazu, Japan, who are walking around with manhole-sized holes in their hearts. Last week, we reported on a few maniacal Love Live! anti-fans vandalizing Numazu’s Sunshine!!-themed manhole covers—or at least pretending to. But …Read more »
Joseph Luster
Matt Schley
Julian Gnam
