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Vexing Videos: Metal Gear Miku Edition
by Jon Snyder, 03/21/2010
Vexing Videos: Metal Gear Miku Edition photo

INCOMING CALL

Otacon: Snaaaake! SNAAAAAAKE!

Snake: What?

Otacon: Well... you see... I was browsing YouTube...

Snake: YouTube?

Otacon: It's a website where people can upload videos. Usually they're stupid, but there are some funny ones too.

Snake: So, why were you wasting time there? Don't you have a keycard to program or something?

Otacon: That's not important right now. I've found a video that provides new intel on Raiden. It seems his new cybernetic form is... well, he's a girl now.

Snake: Girl?

Otacon: Yes, in a very short skirt... and with twintails. Apparently, this new form is called "Vocaloid."

Snake: Vocaloid?

Otacon: Will you stop repeating what I say?!

Snake: Repeating?

Otacon: Dammit, Snake! Anyway, I've embedded the video below the break. I suggest you watch it before you go on your next mission.

[Special thanks to Dustin and MarcDaniel for contributing to this post. If you have a video you'd like to see featured here, send it to our tip line with the subject line "Vexing Videos". ]


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  1 comments Latest by syphonicsniper
"I'll be waiting for my internets in the mail. :)"...read more



 Japanator Recommends: Mai Mai Miracle
by Jeff Chuang, 03/20/2010
Japanator Recommends: Mai Mai Miracle photo

In the era of moe moe kyuniliciousness, screening through the hundreds of new titles annually is a chore. Still from time to time I would come across something that makes the assault on my sanity worth the while.

Mai Mai Miracle is precisely that sort of thing. 

This Madhouse film captures something innocent and precious, and I'm not sure how to react to it. It's also by some definition a film opposite of Summer Wars, yet also very similar. Click on to find out what's exactly magical about Shinko and her thousand-year magic.


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  1 comments Latest by The-Excel
"Kyuniliciousness? That's what they're calling it now?"...read more

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Details about Bakuman anime emerge, needs more gags
by Ben Huber, 03/20/2010
Details about Bakuman anime emerge, needs more gags photo

In the 16th volume of Shueinsha's Shonen Jump's Bakuman we got official paper confirmation of what we've been expecting for a while now, a Bakuman anime. The official site went up some months ago, but now more details have emerged: the studio creating the show will be J.C. STAFF. The directors will be Kasai Kenichi (Nodame Cantabile, Toradora!, Honey & Clover) and Akitaya Noriaki and character design is being handled by Shimotani Tomoyuki (Toradora!, Hatsukoi Limited). Also of note: overseeing the scripting will be Yoshida Reiko (K-On!, Maria Watches Over Us).

In the article, Takeshi Obata said, "Focusing the show solely on Saiko and Shuujin would feel strange," and Tsugumi Ohba was quoted as saying "If the heroes develop through the anime adaptation of the manga, I think we may be able to capitalize on shrewd methods of the original work." The show will begin airing this Fall on the NHK-Educational channel.

Needs more gags!

[via Natalie.mu, thanks Raz!]


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  4 comments Latest by DMNT
"LOL, I honestly thought that said Bakugan..."...read more



 Wait, pirates! That Cross Days download is a trap!
by Josh Tolentino, 03/20/2010
Wait, pirates! That Cross Days download is a trap! photo

Well, more of a trap than the actual game, really. That's saying a lot, since the protagonist of Cross Days (from 0verflow, developers of School Days and Summer Days) is a male cross-dresser who gets himself into situations on both sides of the swinging arc, if you know what I mean.

No, this trap is more meta, and potentially more dangerous. Apparently a trojan/virus has been released alongside copies of Cross Days flowing through the Japanese P2P networks, disguised as a fake installer. When activated, the program gathers data from the computer and pretends to take a survey of players, including asking for personal information. Once it's done, everything gets uploaded to a public website, alongside a screenshot of their desktop.

Once discovered, users can ask for their data to be deleted, but must first click a button acknowledging that they have illegally downloaded Cross Days. Better yet, the whole scheme is revealed in the fake installer's terms of service agreement, something no one reads.

It seems that public shaming is now a weapon being wielded in the war against warez, though obviously the implications for identity theft and blackmail mark this particular stunt as somewhat dangerous in its own right. You can visit this page for some detail on the virus, as well as collected screenshots of the offending players' desktops. View for yourself the daily activities of day traders, otaku, readers of ero fanfiction and normal people who tried to score themselves Cross Days for free.

Truly though, the real lesson of this escapade is to be very careful about what programs you try to open when picking up your software from shady places. 

[Thanks to Ko for the tip!]

 

  9 comments Latest by DMNT
"Now this, is complete 0wnage."...read more



 Show us your rock'n'roll face, win Chatmonchy stuff
by Zac Bentz, 03/20/2010
Show us your rock'n'roll face, win Chatmonchy stuff photo

Chatmonchy, an all girl rock and roll trio from Japan, is currently making their way across America as part of the Japan Nite tour. They are also making some extra appearances on their own along the way. It's a show that's sure to rock the faces off of music fans everywhere.

As you should probably know by now, Japanator knows how to rock. But do you? Do you think you have what it takes to prove your ultimate rocking out skills? Well then, here's your chance!

Japanator has a pretty sweet pile of Chatmonchy goods here, including a guitar pick, drum sticks and a t-shirt. All you have to do to make them yours is post a comment below with a photo (or a link to your photo) of your best rock'n'roll face and/or pose. Throw up some devil horns, smash a guitar, pour a beer over your head, whatever you think says "rock!!!!!!!" the best. Everyone who comments with a totally rockin' pic will be entered into a random drawing to get all of that sweet Chatmonchy swag. There will be only one winner, so make it perfect. The winner will be chosen March 27th, the date of the band's final show on the tour.

While you're working on that, hit the jump for all the dates on the Chatmonchy tour, as well as some video. Then get out to a show and rock out!  


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 Mona Yamamoto has issues with protesting mangaka
by Josh Tolentino, 03/20/2010
Mona Yamamoto has issues with protesting mangaka photo

If you've been following development in the war against lolis, you'd know that the latest attempt by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to censor the appearance of lolis in most forms of 2-D media has been delayed for further deliberation, after a veritable host of high-profile manga creators came out in protest.

Local presenter Mona Yamamoto has some issues with their flying the banner of Freedom of Expression, and voiced some of them over a talk radio podcast. Our own Raz Rauf translated some excerpts of the conversation, and you can check them below. But the gist of it mostly amounts to the commonly raised argument that "Freedom of Expression is nice and all, but why protect this nasty stuff?"

Her concerns are certainly valid, but the problem in this case isn't that obscene material exists, but that the laws being proposed read so vaguely that they could be applied to everything from hardcore Comiket doujinshi to Sazae-san. Laws that general would simply cause harm and be effectively unenforceable. 

She was also concerned about the open sale of porn in areas children and women are known to visit, such as most bookstores, convenience stores. If nothing else, that's a measure I can get behind. While porn is sold in stores in America, too, most mags are found on the top shelf, in those telltale black bags that obscure the covers. In Japan many are open for shelf browsing, which is creepy.

 "How is this news," you ask? Saturday, that's how.

[Thanks to Raz for the translation and tip!] 


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  22 comments Latest by Ivan M.
"A verbatim transcription of my only dating-related skirmish with this repressive attitude evidenced by Mona Yamamoto, for your pleasure ... MS. CRABBY PANTS: "You have porn here." ME: "I'm qu..."...read more



 Calorie Breath? WTF?
by Dale North, 03/20/2010
Calorie Breath? WTF? photo

Have you ever decided a product was total bullsh*t solely from the advertisement? This is definitely the case for me with Japanese product Calorie Breath. If the above image doesn't blow your mind, wait into you see all the pseudo-scientific crap on this webpage.

You're supposed to cram this mouthpiece in your pie hole and inhale/exhale 30 times in a five-minute session each day. This is supposed to work your stomach and make you thinner. Right. I breathe all the time. 

If you thought this was funny, you should see the product packaging! At JapanTrends, you'll see that there's a blob of a woman in orange to show you what might happen if you don't start rocking the Calorie Breath. 


  7 comments Latest by FhnuZoag
"I think this product might actually work. (Put that as a promotional quote on the box!) I saw a device working by a similar principle being used to train olympic athletes. The idea is to simulat..."...read more



 Does New Anime Suck...? Maybe there's just more to hate?
by SourGr8pes, 03/20/2010
Does New Anime Suck...? Maybe there's just more to hate? photo

[Editors Note: This is a promoted Community Blog, written by one of our readers in response to March's Monthly Musing topic. If you would like to see your own Cblog on the front page, warm up your keyboard and write something awesome! ~Jon Snyder]

Does the new stuff REALLY suck? And is that picture really relevant?

That seems to be the hot potato as of lately, separating anime fandom into multiple factions, if you will. In one corner, we have the grizzled vets with their cries of "Starblazers or Death!", and others enjoy cute-girls-doing-cute-things (Or watching girls sleep, but that's another story), and then there's probably you, who is reading this blog thinking "Didn't every era of anime have shitty titles?"

And therein lies my point.


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  13 comments Latest by Nihon Freak
"Stuff used to just be impossible to get. My friend Jared had dozens of VHS tapes lovingly [read: slowly] hand-fansubbed and copied one slow play at a time between multiple VCRs. The rest were cop..."...read more

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Momohime's thigh perfectly realized in this Muramasa fig
by Josh Tolentino, 03/19/2010
Momohime's thigh perfectly realized in this Muramasa fig photo

Everyone knows that Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the Wii isn't about a Demon Blade or sword-slicing action. It's about the achingly beautiful artwork of Vanillaware and George Kamitani, and seeing a kind of alternate gaming universe in which 3D graphics never took off.

That's what Muramasa is about. Oh, and about its female lead Momohime's delicious thighs. While they're easily enjoyable on a screen, those who'd like to have such goodness in a more tangible form are invited to preorder this wonderful Momohime figurine by Alter.

HHHNNNGGG DAT THIGH


  14 comments Latest by Hen na Otoko
"I'm not really into figurines but I must say that this one looks quite well done."...read more

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Tokimeki Memorial game stuffed on biggest DS cart ever
by Josh Tolentino, 03/19/2010
Tokimeki Memorial game stuffed on biggest DS cart ever photo

It's not often when you hear about girls getting good service in the quest for virtual love, so it's really rather grand to hear good things about visual novels for the ladies getting some love and attention.

That's certainly the case with Tokimeki Memorial: Girls' Side: 3rd Story, the next girl-oriented spinoff of Konami's legendary dating sim franchise. It's so big, apparently, that the developers were forced to cram it into the near-mythical four-gigabit DS cartridge.

Only one other game so far has that level bigness, and it's Level-5's RPG Ni no Kuni. So now it's a race. Which game will lay claim to the title of "First Maximimum-Size DS Title?" A game that brings hot 2-D men to the ladies, or a game whose visuals were designed by Studio Ghibli? 

It's on.


  5 comments Latest by mana
"@mihochan9 never? Tokimeki will probably never get released here due to the market not demanding such an expensive game to get localized. Ni no Kuni will probably get a release if Nintendo pub..."...read more

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