By Fernando Ramos

“This ain't a laughing matter, guys! You're gonna die!” Filming had just started. Action director Eiji Kamikura's first shot of the day would be the obligatory crowd running from monster shot – a crowd just shy of a dozen people in casual wear, but a crowd nonetheless. The crew double as extras, but the first take didn't go so well. The smiles and laughter from the supposedly terrified masses ...

By Joseph Luster

Documentary of AKB48 kicks off in a bright, sunny restaurant, where a small fraction of the pop idol collective sits enjoying a meal and some friendly, scattered chit-chat. The scenario promises an intimate portrait of the day-to-day lives of the girls who comprise teams A, K, and B of AKB48, and that's precisely what you get with to be continued . Nothing more, nothing less; if it's one-on-on...

By Mike Dent

The live-action Tekken will go down in my book as a firm reminder of how filmmakers, if not people in general, aren’t taking chances any more. The much-hyped big screen take on the popular Namco fighting game franchise had the opportunity to do something to trounce its predecessors by delivering what most of the other fighting game movies should have, while bearing an actual likeness to the so...

By Joseph Luster

By now you've either gotten the Vocaloid bug bad, or at least know someone who's been bitten by its ear-worming fangs. Japanese pop group Ryo (Supercell) is helping contribute to its ever-increasing spread across North America thanks to the release of their EP, Sekiranun Graffiti , a followup to the group's full-length. That album, Supercell Featuring Hatsune Miku , topped the iTunes World Mus...

By Joseph Luster

What would you do if, moments after what you took to be your dying breath, you found yourself in an eerily sterile room surrounded by complete strangers… and one large, menacing black ball? Gantz may not explicitly ask that question of the viewer, but it's one they'll no doubt be mulling over throughout the film, just as one would while reading Hiroya Oku's long-running manga or watching the 2...

By Fernando Ramos

If you see a Western, English-speaking foreigner in Japan, chances are pretty good that they are  an English teacher. There are no shortage of blogs, forums and website spin-offs of anime magazines where people while away their free time talking about the peculiarities of the Japanese English educational system between shots of soothing beverages. The curriculum is designed around passing...

By Joseph Luster

The 2011 J-Pop Summit Festival  will be held in San Francisco's Japantown this Saturday and Sunday, August 27 and 28. Along with a variety of interactive activities, panels, DJ dance parties and live performances is the appearance of Vocaloid creative team ZANEEDS . The group produces the work of several virtual pop idols, including Kagamine Rin, Megurine Luka and superstar Hatsune Miku. ...