News items from Otaku Times

Hot girls on billboards sell products - a fact for which I am personally very grateful ^^. In this article I have compiled a set of images of some of the girls appearing on poster/billboard advertisements from my recent trip to Tokyo. Click each image to be taken to its Flickr page, which has a higher quality version available.

Horikita Maki, the popular J-Dorama actress, was by far the most noticeable of the girls that appeared. A big reason for this is that NTT Docomo, the Japanese telecom giant, are currently running a huge advertising campaign with Maki-chan as the main celebrity pushing their wares.

Next up is Aoi Miyazaki, another popular young actress, who is currently mainly appearing on ads promoting safety on the Tokyo metro. ‘Do! More Safety’, love it.

There were also lots of posters promoting her upcoming movie, Shonen Merikensack. Aoi Miyazaki (who is known for being extremely kawaii) as a punk rocker is certainly going to be interesting!

The ever popular actress Yukie Nakama, especially well known for her role in the drama Gokusen, also appeared on a number of ads. Here is one of her promoting a product (fiber optic broadband according to the katakana) from mobile phone operator ‘au’.

Next up we have our favourite AV girl, Mihiro Taniguchi, promoting condoms for the Harajuku branch of the condom shop ‘Condomania’ (seriously).

Saori Hara (presumably also an AV girl?) was doing her part in promoting safe sex too, featuring on billboards with the message ‘STOP! STD’. The campaign website can be found here.

Whilst in Tokyo’s Narita Airport I saw a poster of Japanese idol Aki Hoshino advertising something to do with passports (or passports themselves?), so I did the logical thing and took a photo.

2D anime girls were also well represented, with huge Evangelion posters appearing outside of seemingly every pachinko parlour in Tokyo (which there are a lot of!!). Even after all these years, Rei Ayanami still seems to be the number one anime girl, and rightfully so. Asuka Langley, Rei’s fellow Eva pilot, is usually not far away too.

There are more photos, however I feel this post is getting pretty big, so I will leave it here for today. I might make a part 2 if anyone is interested?

Your favourite Japanese actress?

• Horikita Maki
• Nakama Yuki
• Inoue Mao
• Aoi Miyazaki
• Other (please name)

View Results

Calls have been mounting in Japan for Google to remove its street view feature after images taken by Google of couples entering/leaving love hotels appeared appeared on the service [1]. Shibuya’s ‘Love Hotel Hill’ district, as the name would suggest, is famous for such hotels, so I assume this is where the images in question were taken.

The group demanding the removal, ‘Campaign Against a Surveillance Society’, is being led by Sophia University law professor Yasuhiko Tajima, who had this to say about the case: “The widespread circulation of large amounts of private data in perpetuity constitutes a serious violation of human rights” [2].

Google on the other hand (naturally) doesn’t have a problem with the images, and on their website posted the following statement: “Street View only features photographs taken on public property and the imagery is no different from what a person can readily see or capture walking down a street” [3].

Below are some images I found on street view (with added, imaginary, captions ^^) of Love Hotel Hill:

Since I’m sure lots of you are eager to take a look yourself, here are some links which will take you directly to some key parts of Love Hotel Hill on Google Street View:

(Note: give Street View a few seconds to load after the map appears)

Love Hotel location 01 on Street View
Love Hotel location 02 on Street View
Love Hotel location 03 on Street View

Expect some first person snaps of Love Hotel Hill shortly; it was one of the places I visited whilst in Shibuya :P.

Should Google drop Street View?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe?

View Results

The Otaku Times would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Hopefully you get lots of otaku goodies (or money ^^).

To celebrate, here are a few photos I took of the Christmas decorations in Tokyo on my recent trip, mainly whilst visiting Tokyo Dome City and Tokyo Midtown:

Introduction to trip

For about the past 7-8 years one of the top things I had been wanting to do was to visit Japan, and Asia in general (I live in Europe). Having recently finished university, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make the wish a reality, so I called up some friends in the relevant countries, booked some tickets, and made it happen.

The trip roughly proceeded as follows:

London –> China (Shanghai+Beijing+Xi’an) –> Hong Kong (+Macau) –> Japan (Tokyo)

Since you are on this site, the one you are probably interested in is my stay in Tokyo, so that what I will be writing about here!

Notes:

The purpose of this post is to summarize the areas/sights I visited on my recent trip to Tokyo. When I get around to writing a full article (with lots of original photos) for a particular sight I will link it from the relevant bulleted item below.

Items preceded by a ‘>’ represent significant attractions in a particular area, each of which may or may not be given its own article separate from the parent area’s article.

Day 1

• Narita Airport
• Asakusabashi
• Akihabara (by night)

As mentioned, prior to my trip to Tokyo I had been staying in Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific, a local HK airline, were running a special offer on flights to Tokyo (still pretty expensive!!), so I flew with them from Hong Kong Airport to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, arriving in Japan at around 3:30PM.

I opted to stay in a hostel whilst in Tokyo, as my trip to Hong Kong (and China beforehand) had pretty much drained my bank balance. The particular hostel I chose, found through a site recommended by a Japanese friend (hihostels.com), was located in Asakusabashi and cost around 3000 Yen per night. Tokyo’s transport network is very comprehensive, and this meant that I was able to travel by train (with one change) directly to Asakusabashi station – 5 minutes walk from the hostel - in about 70 minutes.

After dropping my luggage off at the hostel as quickly as possible, I then went out to explore. Akihabara (anime/manga/gaming geek Mecca) was conveniently only about fifteen minutes walk from my hostel (I genuinely didn’t know when I booked it), so this is where I headed! [ Full post on Akihabra shortly ]. By the time I had explored Akihabara it was getting late, and I also hadn’t slept for about 24 hours, so I decided to end my first day here and go back to the hostel to crash.

Day 2

• Akihabara (by day)
• Roppongi
• > Roppongi Hills
• > Tokyo Midtown
• Tokyo Tower
• Zōjō-ji Temple
• Shinbashi

[ More details shortly ]

Day 3

• Akihabara (it was close to my hostel, ok :P)
• Ueno Park
• Tokyo National Museum
• Tokyo University
• Tokyo Dome City
• Hibiya Park
• National Diet Building (from the outside)

[ More details shortly ]

Day 4

• Harajuku
• > Meiji Jingu Shrine
• > Jingu-Bashi Bridge (where cosplayers amass on Sundays)
• Shinjuku
• > Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
• > Tokyo Mode Gakuen Coccoon Tower
• > Kabukichō

[ More details shortly ]

Day 5

• Shibuya
• > Hachikō Statue
• > Love Hotel Hill (only for humour, unfortunately)
• Ginza
• Shinbashi
• Roppongi

[ More details shortly ]

Day 6

• Odaiba
• > Fuji TV Headquarters
• > Tokyo Big Sight
• > Mirai Jikan
• Imperial Palace East Garden
• Akihabara (souvenir shopping)
• Narita Airport (END)

[ More details shortly ]

—–

Is there anywhere on the list that you are particularly interested in? If so I will try and prioritize writing the full article for that particular attraction.

Until I’m done with the full article, here are some teaser photos taken in Akihabara:

AnimeNation reports that an article on the popular Japanese website LiveDoor has been published expressing concern over the advance reception that Dragonball Evolution (the official name for the new live-action movie) has been receiving from the international community.

The article states that 70% of international comments posted about the movie have been negative. Critical comments of the recent trailer have originated from users all over the place, amongst others, countries include: the US, the UK, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and South Africa.

Considering all the negative comments about the movie that have been made on this very blog, the news hardly comes as a shock to us here at the Otaku Times. What I’m more curious about though is how the Japanese themselves feel about the movie based upon one of their best loved series (probably the same as everyone else?).

Viz has announced that starting January 15th it will begin streaming subbed Naruto episodes for free. What is significant about this is that the episodes will be available for streaming within a week of the Japanese broadcast.

Upon looking at the official Naruto webpage I see that some episodes are already available for streaming, with the tagline ‘never before seen in the US episodes’. I believe these episodes are from the first Naruto series, as I don’t see any mention of ‘Shippuden’ yet.

A major negative point is that all episodes currently available are hosted on Hulu, and as such are not available to users outside of the US, and unfortunately I suspect that will will be the case for the episodes appearing in January too.

Source: Yuku Anime Reviews

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The blog is now back online after being down for the last week (or more?), there are two reasons for the downtime:

• Our webhosting account was suspended; either due to the fact that we were using an outdated version of Wordpress, or due to a load of people hotlinking our images.
• I have been on holiday for the last month, my reward to myself for graduating from university with First Class Honours (the name for an A in the UK), and as such haven’t been online much.

With regards to the last point, the places I visited were: China, Hong Kong, Macau, and….. Japan!! So expect a load of original posts regarding the last one of those destinations shortly.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already seen it, here is the official trailer for the upcoming Dragonball Live-Action Movie for you viewing pleasure (pain? ^^):

Don, a reader of the website Ain’t it Cool News, has supposedly sent in a complete review of the upcoming Dragonball live-action movie after watching a early version of the movie - without the additional scenes and with some unfinished special effects. Supposedly, at least according to Don, the movie doesn’t suck, which will be a big surprise to many.

Here is the introduction from his review:

Hello to all of you,

I am a huge fan of your site and constantly visit here but this will be my first time emailing you about something. I love geek movies because there is nothing better than a well made geek movie. Well after watching the 95-100 minutes (excluding credits) of the movie i say this movie was solid. Ya you heard that right. I simply love the anime but I was very very nervous about it being made by fox. After all the studio has been making nothing but shit lately. Another reason why I was worried about this movie is that the director is James Wong who made final destination 1 & 3 and The one starring Jet Li. What I watched had unfinished sfx and with no scoring done yet. Also… they will be adding one or two scenes which will be shot sometime end of october.

Don then goes over a big list of the positive and negative aspects of the movie, which I won’t list here because there are some spoilers. Check out the full review here. Remember that this isn’t an official review though, so could just be someone trying to screw with people.

Had everyone else already seen the screenshot I included with this post? Take a look at master Roshi’s shirt, f**k yeah!

ANN [via Variety] reports Warner Brothers, along with Appian Way (A production company owned by Leonardo DiCaprio), have acquired the rights to produce a Live-Action adaption of Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll from Madhouse.

Alex Tse, writer of films such as Watchmen and The Illustrated Man, is slated to write script for the live-action adaption. Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Mike Ireland of Appian Way will produce the film in cooperation with Madhouse.

Warner Bros. and Appian Way have already acquired the rights to produce two live-action Akira films. Killoran also plans to produce that film.

Artist Chad Lakkis was apparently feeling rather anxious at the lack of news in regards to the upcoming Gears of War movie. While this film has had relatively no news, and a cast has not been chosen, what’s wrong with having a bit of fun? Taking up the role of The “Cole Train” is Lester Speight, who happens to be the voice of August Cole. Rounding out the cast is Val Kilmer as Damon Baird. Of course, what’s a film based on a shooter without Sarge himself, Dwayne Johnson as Dominic Santiago. Joining them as well is pro-wrestler David Bautista as Marcus Fenix and does he look the part. Full sized poster after the jump.

With the release of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe coming, Midway has been fighting hard for a T rating. Unfortunately, that means one of the best Fatalities to ever exist… Will be toned down… Seriously. First up, for those who haven’t seen it, here is the video.

Sadly, that will not be the final product. Instead, we will still get the “BANG” prank gun, but we will not get to witness the final head shot. That will instead occur off-screen now.

Additionally, Kitana’s Double Blade-Fan’s fatality will also be toned down. Apparently, a blade fan in the torso was “A-Oh Kay” for the ESRB when preparing for a T rating. Unfortunately, the second blade fan to the head was a big no-no and equals M. As a result, the animation will now be two blades to the chest instead.

Apparently someone at FOX had a panic attack over the response, or rather lack thereof, to the trailer for the live action Dragon Ball film. The film is shipping back off for more reshoots. Good.

Let’s start with getting Piccolo Daimaō some color. The guy looks sick, and that’s not a good thing. I mean, he really looks sick. This guy needs to be green. Very Green. I mean, dark green. How about some Antennae as well? The guy is a Namekian, after all. io9 reports on this story and also has a list of suggestions for FOX.

Did the overwhelmingly “meh” reaction to the leaked Dragonball trailer cause some panic among the movie’s producers? Maybe so, because the movie is going back for some reshoots, and let’s hope they fix the pasty-white Lord Piccolo and weak fight scenes along the way. Here’s our list of suggestions for maximum DB improvement.

First and foremost, green up Lord Piccolo. I don’t care if you have to spend every single minute on the computer physically painting on CG greenness with your mouse, — fix it.

Goku’s hair — did we need it to be that much of a literal translation? I would have been ok with just a mussy up-do for Goku, this nest is a little much. How did this go through and not a green Piccolo?

And then there are the fight scenes. After watching the trailer, I’m a bit nervous that the fight scenes look kind of haphazard. Yes, yes this is a crazy out there movie where the characters should be able to stand in mid air for hours talking about life, but I still want it to look real. A few of the moments seemed a little “suspended in the wobbly harness” for me, and they’re not leaking enough energy. I’m not sure how the fight scenes will play out, but this may be a big obstacle for live-action anime. I say embrace the fist swooping close ups, power lines careening from the characters and the double takes, but just make it look intentional — not like the main character got stuck in his special effects rig.

According to Actors Status, the reshoots for Dragonball start on October 30th and they’re seeking Tibetan- and Nepalese-speaking actors. I hope everyone takes this as an opportunity to make some much-needed changes.