Fuji TV, hearing about Hugh Jackman’s love of sushi, decided to take him on a tour of Tsukiji’s famous sushi restaurants. Sound familiar? That’s because NTV did the same thing a few days ago. Hugh was polite and friendly as always.
Of course, these little Tsukiji trips give hope to Hugh’s thousands of fans; they now realize that if they work hard, stay in school, star in an international blockbuster, and are voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive, then they too can get free sushi.
–Via Japan Probe
With it’s fifth and final episode airing earlier today, the Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya arc (episodes 20-24 of the Haruhi re-airing, and episodes 10-14 of the “second season”) has come to an end. This arc’s claim to fame (or lack thereof) was how unremarkable it was, at least compared to the huge storm of controversy that Endless Eight generated. Fortunately, Sighs has been well-received by the fans; especially in the case of the last two episodes where, by all accounts, the art improved to “near season-1 levels”.
Select screenshots from the episode are posted below.
On a recent trip to Japan to promote his new film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman took the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture by visiting a shrine, a calligraphy shop and a few of Tsukiji’s famous sushi restaurants.
–Via Japan Probe
Breakfast of Champions!
Picture this: You’re a sumo wrestler, in the throes of a mighty Mega Mac Attack. You hunger for the succulent taste of a McDonald’s hamburger… but all the seats and booths at your local restaurant are too small to support your excessive girth. What do you do?
Well, if you live in Ryogoku, Tokyo, you’re in luck. The local McDonald’s has just installed special sumo seats for its plus-sized clients. Now Japan’s most powerful and respected athletes can have a burger with the rest of us.
Today we have this nifty little AMV created by Rei, set to Fude Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~. I think it does a great job of profiling K-On!’s prevalent mise en scène. Enjoy!
What Japan Thinks recently posted the results of a survey of Japanese men, which asked them about their favorite “secret fetish”. The top result, unsuprisingly, was zettai ryouiki, which is Japanese for “absolute territory”; in other words, that glorious bit of flesh between the top of a girl’s thigh-high socks and the bottom of her skirt. I must say, the Japanese have fine taste.
Now, purely for the purposes of scientific analysis, I’ve included some examples of thigh-high-wearing women below.
It’s no secret that the fan reaction to Endless Eight has been highly negative. A Project Haruhi poll found that 69% of our readers hold a negative opinion of E8 (with 16% classifying it as “an absolute disaster” and 24% saying they didn’t even bother to finish watching the arc). Fans were further disappointed by E8’s ludicrously exorbitant DVD releases, which were priced at ¥6,930 (approximately $72 USD) apiece upon release. As a result of this atrocious marketing strategy, the E8 DVD releases all have very low user ratings on Amazon Japan, averaging around 1.5 stars. Now, Kadokawa seems to be acknowledging that fans may be hesitant to spend hundreds of dollars to purchase a substandard Haruhi filler arc. The following text comes from an interview between Men’s Cyzo and an employee of the “Kadokawa Media Bureau”.
“Even in the company hardly anyone knows why it took eight repeated episodes spread across 4 DVDs with two episodes each in order to unravel the mystery thoroughly. We are aware of the fan reaction, but…”
When asked if the E8 DVD sales could match those of Season 1:
“Well… All that can be said is that it would be nice if they sell, wouldn’t it?”
Given that E8 aired late at night (which ensured low ratings and less advertising revenue), the fiscal success of the new Haruhi season likely rests on these DVD sales. Unfortunately, it seems even Kadokawa does not think their prospects are very good.
A figure of Hachune Miku (the chibi version of Hatsune Miku) is set to be launched in a rocket later this month. The rocket, built by the Social Media Satellite Development Project (SOMESAT) will be taking part in the eXtreme Performance Rocket Ships challenge. XPRS, closely linked to AERO-PAC, involves a group of amateur rocketeers who frequently meet in the Nevada Desert and attempt to win one of several rocket launching contests. Entries into the event are varied, covering everything from minature replica Patriot missiles to Astro Boy.
In the half-year since it first premiered on television, K-On! has produced a bewildering variety of single and album music releases, many of which have topped the Oricon charts. So, from this massive miscellany of music, which song is your favorite? Vote in our poll below, then tell us why in the forums.
If you get this parody, you are officially old.
Just kidding. Still, this video does bring back memories of the old-school anime days… like when Cowboy Bebop aired on Toonami. Remember that?
Hmm, I wonder how long it will be before somebody makes a K-On!/Sailor Moon crossover.