KWEH!
You know what is a good read for the weekend? Your dose of weekend Japanese pop culture news!
New Godzilla Movie Is Filming
If you had not known that there will be a new Godzilla movie, you now know that it is being filmed. No, not the Hollywood one, but the new TOHO studio movie. It is directed by Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame.
Designing The First Super Mario Bros Game
Legendary game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, explained in a video how the team went about designing the Super Mario Bros. game. It is a little bit of game and level design inspiration and teachings. For those of you who picked up the new Super Mario Maker, this video may get you started on designing a great level.
Akira Yamaoka To Perform Live This Halloween
Fans of the Silent Hill series may want to get spooked by Akira Yamaoka performing live. The famed composer of the horror game is touring the UK. According to Siliconera, his band will be performing in London, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, and Southampton.
Karaoke Contest for Foreign Students
The Japan News reported about the International Student Karaoke Contest held at the esteemed Waseda University. The contest happened at the end of June and was judged by qualified staff. It is a great testament to how music, singing, and having fun can bridge nationalities and cultures.
TV Streaming Services Are Gaining Ground In Japan
The North American readers are familiar with streaming services such as Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. However, these kinds of services seem to be rather new in Japan. Japan Today listed and compared the different services available in Japan. Among them, Netflix is one of the newest in the market.
Crystal Kay Ft. Namie Amuro’s Promo Music Video
Something great is bound to happen when two great Japanese R&B singers collaborate. Crystal Kay and Namie Amuro have released a promo video for their small album. Dive into this link at Sync Music Japan to learn more and view the short.
Gackt’s World Tour
Gackt, the vampire rock star, has teased on his Facebook page that he will be doing a world tour next year. Fingers are crossed that he will be coming to the Northeast US. Performing in the Big Apple perhaps?
Persona Special Stage at Tokyo Game Show 2015
Siliconera caught a bit of news about the Persona Special Stage event that will be held during the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Maybe Atlus will also announce more things related to Persona 5?
Attack on Titan: Junior High Anime Second Trailer
Here is a new trailer for the Attack on Titan: Junior High anime. It focuses more on the humor side of the new series. I do not see how the titans play any part in this. Perhaps we will get more definitive news soon enough?
Pizza With Japanese Toppings
Admittedly this is an unusual bit of news, but RocketNews24 wrote an article about a pizza place in Japan that is serving unusual pies. Aoki’s Pizza is serving pizza topped with ramen and natto okonomiyaki. Yes, they are available in Small, Medium, and Large sizes. I would try them!
Love Live! Sunshine!! Unit Aqours’ Debut Song Is Here
Crunchyroll’s news correspondent wrote that the new idol/artiste unit Aqours has posted their debut song. This is a new group from the Love Live! project and the new song will be on sale on October 7 in Japan.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Fashion Collaboration
These are some cute fashion pieces! The infamous magical girl anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica has teamed up with a fashion brand LIZ LISA for a line of pretty dresses and tops.
Final Fantasy V Mobile Will be Coming to PC
Square-Enix will be bringing the mobile version of Final Fantasy V to Steam (Windows PC) soon. There is also a discount for those who pre-order it before its launch on September 24.
Shigeru Miyamoto Answers Mario Myths and Questions
Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer for Super Mario Bros., was answering some myths and quirky questions about the game. Some of the answers (and myths) may surprise you.
Haruki Murakami’s Influence in a Point-and-Click Adventure Game
Japanese author Haruki Murakami is known as a prolific writer with his own surrealist style. That style has influenced an Iranian game developer named Sahand Saedi. Saedi has created a point-and-click style game named Memoranda. In the linked article, Siliconera interviewed the designer and about Murakami’s influence.
Augmented Reality Pokemon Game
Soon you will be able to catch a Pokemon in real world with the new augmented reality game by Niantic. Pokemon GO is a new game being developed for iOS and Android devices.
Final Fantasy XIV By Numbers
The massively popular Final Fantasy XIV has just released insightful statistics about the players. The data is compiled from the Japan, USA, and EU servers.
That should be plenty for you to chew on. We will see you next week with more juicy news!
Big thank you to our supporters
From their continous support, we are able to pay our team for their time and hard work on the site.
We have a Thank-You page dedicated to those who help us continue the work that we’ve been doing.
See our thank you page
