Since the July 6 release of the “Pokemon Go” app for the iOS and Android devices, millions of users have downloaded the game to catch the popular Japanese video game monsters. The game has become a social phenomenon as cnet.com reports users have, on a daily average, spent more time on the app over Facebook […]
Pop Culture
Monster hunters descend upon California’s Japantowns with ‘Pokemon Go’
July 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Gangnam Style video upends crossover success myths
October 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Anthropologists and linguists no doubt are having a field day trying to chronicle and dissect how, in the early autumn of 2012, “Gangnam Style” became an American idiomatic expression. It stands for something along the lines of a brash, flamboyant way of doing things, clownishness, or an act of in-your-face spoofing that is both original […]
Hunger Games v. Battle Royale: Deja vu in simplification
April 3, 2012 by 1 Comment
No. No, no, no, no, no. For once, I will step out of my normal realm of being ironic and trite to give a solid argument on something that has been bothering me for the past few weeks. Hunger Games v. Battle Royale “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and “Battle Royale” By Koushun Takami […]
Falling birth rates and infantile otaku culture
March 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I’m more of a Western gamer when it comes to my video gaming habits. I guess I just never got into the Moe-blob romance and tsundere masochism my friends have enjoyed (though I did play a few dating sims in my day). If I had to choose, I’m much more an “action games” person. That, […]
Battle Royale Adapted for Live Theater in the Philippines
March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch’feature=player_embedded&v=dtfYaOEXNlA Now no matter what they do with the American remake, we’ll always at least have this. I seriously have to remember to check Twitch much, much more often. From their site: “Filipino theater troupe Sipat Lawin Ensemble have teamed up with Australian playwrights David Finnigan, Jordan Prosser, Sam Burns-Warr, and Georgie McAuley to create […]
Aziz Ansari Tour Dates Announced
March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Tickets for Ansari’s “Buried Alive” standup tour can be purchased here.
The Best Films of 2011: An Alternate to the Oscars
February 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Every year, to coincide with the Academy Awards, I try to roughly rank all the films I saw in the previous year. I do this, instead of picking out a top five or 10, because I think those lists are inherently flawed — I think it’s important for the reader to know that I didn’t […]
Is the Non-existent Lin/Kardashian Date a Problem?
February 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
So Asian America collectively shuddered the other day at rumors that Jeremy Lin and Kim Kardashian might go on a date. (Interestingly, if you Google “jeremy lin,” “jeremy lin kim kardashian” comes up as the first autocomplete result.) I guess it’s since been debunked, but I feel like I’m a little alone in thinking that […]
Buying American, Japan bashing in the post-industrial
January 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
UPDATE: It appears I was mistaken, and this was all just a clever ruse. I rescind my offer and reactionary knee jerk reaction. What? Something wrong happened on the Internet? Well LOOK OUT BLOGOSPHERE BECAUSE I’M A SHARK AND I JUST CAUGHT THE SCENT OF BLOOD. No, I’m not talking about SOPA or PIPA, which are […]
Reflecting on diversity in video games through the LA Riots
Editor’s Note: An edited version of this post was published in the May 4, 2012 issue of the Nichi Bei Weekly. Who here remembers the Los Angeles Riots of ‘92? I certainly don’t. I was 4 (and now you feel old). LA burned following the acquittal of the four police officers charged in the beating […]