Inside a Japanese Maid Cafe

Shown above a Japanese news reader pays a visit to a maid cafe. I had no idea that a guy could get a manicure at a Japanese maid cafe! I love how the maids are willing to go on tv but those poor otaku customers don’t want to be seen on camera. By the way I’m not 100% sure but I think the cafe they are showing is the Nagomi cafe, you can read their blog here (if you know Japanese):

blog.home-maid.bz

Gottu Five Rangers

Show above is episode one of Gottu Five Rangers was a Japanese TV comedy program from back in 1990’s. They make fun of the Power Rangers called Goranger (Go means 5), but what I love about the comedy here is that you don’t need to be a Power Rangers expert or even speak Japanese to get a kick out of the humor here.

Read more…

Cute Korean Tigers

I found the above video via Japan Probe:

“A group of bengal tiger cubs recently born at a zoo in Seoul have made TV news in Japan (for being cute). Don’t worry folks, they still aren’t old enough to eat meat, so those little chicks aren’t going to be eaten!”

…I feel so cheated about my childhood when I watch that video! How come I never got to play with baby tigers when I was growing up? Just look at those kids, when they grow up they’ll think that it’s perfectly normal to play with baby tigers. The closest I got to that as a child was watching the Adventures of Waldo Kitty.

Mode Gakuen Goes Goth

I love the creepy goth look of the animated commercial above which features a nice contrasting upbeat pop tune underneath it. The commercials is for Mode Gakuen which is a vocational school in Japan for fashion, makeup, hair, graphic, and interior design. I wonder if they have courses in designing goth lolita couture?

Read more…

Lucky Star Sells Pocky

Shown above is a commercial for Pocky which features characters from the anime show Raki Suta (Lucky Star). Pretty catchy tune, no?

Aliens Invade India

Shown above is funny ad produced in India for Fevicol, which is a well known local glue product.

Found via Masala Time.

Radio Controlled Dalek

The Dr. Who fanboy in me (the Tom Baker years of course) loves this little item! For just $60 you can terrorize your co-workers at meetings with your own radio controlled Dalek from ThinkGeek:

Radio Controlled Daleks

“Finally you too can act out your Dalek fantasies with these detailed R/C replicas. Each R/C Dalek stands 12 inches high and is happiest when gliding around your home shouting “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” and hunting for the Doctor. Complete with tank-like controls and digitized grating dalek voices you’ll feel just like you’re in your own low-budget BBC telly show.”

Rodriguez to Direct Land of the Lost & the Jetsons

I have to admit that a live action Jetsons movie doesn’t get me excited, but on the other hand the idea of Rodriguez taking on Land of the Lost is a great idea! Of course I’d like to see them use the sort A+ writers like they had on the old 70s TV series:

Future or past for Rodriguez?

“Grindhouse might have taken a drubbing at the boxoffice, but director Robert Rodriguez is very much in demand. He is in talks to direct a live-action feature version of futuristic 1960s cartoon “The Jetsons” for Warner Bros. Pictures, being produced by Denise Di Novi and Donald De Line.

At the same time, the helmer has met with Will Ferrell and Universal execs for helming duties on “Land of the Lost,” based on the 1970s Sid and Marty Krofft fantasy TV series to which Ferrell is attached to star. While no offers have been made, sources say “Jetsons” has the edge because its script, whose latest draft is by Adam Goldberg (“Fanboys”), is further along.”

A Bit of Cheesecake from Japan

A slice of cheesecake heaven from Japan:

The commercial stars Yuko Takeuchi who got her big break in 1999 with NHK’s television series Asuka. She also starred in Heaven’s Bookstore a 2004 film about a struggling classical pianist who is sent to heaven to work in a bookstore. Here’s her official website:

stardust.co.jp/rooms/yuko/

A Japanese Kill Bill Parody

I got a kick out of seeing the guy dressed up as Tarantino!

Found via JapanProbe.com.

Sci Fi Channel Set to Ruin Flash Gordon

Setting to prove that there is no intelligent life in the universe (or no new ideas) the Sci Fi channel will be doing it’s take on Flash Gordon. Now let me be clear on something, Flash Gordon has has always been a silly pulp concept. However the orginal film serials from the 1930s starring Buster Crabbe are beloved classics in their own campy way.

The last time someone tried to update the series was with the 1980 film which was produced by Dino De Laurentiis. I was never a big fan of this film, but in many ways it was sort of so bad it was good! The acting was slightly worse than a porno movie, but the costumes and theme song by Queen made up for it.

But now I’ve just read that the Scoi Fi channel filled with their Galactica gusto is set to ruin Flash Gordon:

Johnson rockets with Sci Fi ‘Flash’

“Smallville alum Eric Johnson has landed the title role in Sci Fi Channel’s upcoming series “Flash Gordon.” The 22-hour series, a contemporary take on the popular comic strip franchise, is slated for an August premiere. It will feature Johnson as space traveler Flash Gordon embarking on all-new adventures.

Peter Hume penned the first two episodes, which will be directed by Rick Rosenthal (“Smallville”). Production is to begin May 1 in Vancouver. “Flash” is being produced by Reunion Pictures under an agreement with property owner King Features Syndicate. RHI Entertainment is distributing the series internationally. RHI’s Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr., who recently worked with Sci Fi on the miniseries “Legend of Earthsea,” are executive producing, with Hume also expected to exec produce. Casting is under way for the other roles, including Flash Gordon’s fellow space travelers Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov.”

…well to bring you campers back to the good old days of the early 80s here’s a neat poster I found that’s from the Japanese release of the Dino De Laurentiis film:

Designing a Mobile Suit Gundam Model

The above video from Japanese TV is a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into designing a plastic Mobile Suit Gundam model.

Found via JapanProbe.com.

Doctor Who and the Beatles

A clip from the 1965 episode ‘The Chase’ where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki watch the Beatles play ‘Ticket to Ride’ on the Time/Space Visualiser:

…by the way the Beatles were suppose to be on the episode as themselves wearing “aging” makeup representing themselves in the future, however sadly this never came to be due to a schedule conflict.

Jun Natsukawa Pachinko Machine Commercial

Meow! Jun Natsukawa (Kanji: 夏川純, Hiragana: なつかわ じゅん Natsukawa Jun – born September 19, 1980) is a Japanese gravure idol from Hiroshima, Japan. Above is a commercial for Kyoraku, which is a company that seems to have something to do with all sorts of interesting pachinko machines (including a series of Ultraman themed pachinko machines!).

Found via japansugoi.com.

Akihabara48: An Army of J-Pop

Akihabara48 (often shortened to AKB48) is an idol girl group produced by Akimoto Yasushi. Though their name implies they have 48 members, they started in December 2005 with only 20 girls. Currently, AKB48 has 53 members divided into 3 teams: Team A, Team K and Team B.

Right now DoCoMo mobile phone in Japan has an American Idol style commercial which features A48:

Read more…

Tags: AKB48

The Idols of Pocky

This latest Pocky commercial features the talents of Aya Matsuura, Yukie Nakama, Ishihara Satomi, and Kou Shibasaki:

Kuso Kuso: Comedy from Tiawan

Kuso Kuso is a new comedy tv show from Taiwan. Comedian Zhang Shao Wei is the host who is dressed in drag and he has seven cute girls in the cast that he calls his “daughters”. Here’s a clip of the show with a pet theme:

Read more…

Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit

Why just settle for watching Battlestar Galactica when you can star in your own episode? Taking a page from the Star Wars Kid the Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit allows you to create your own four minute sci fi epic. And a lucky few fanboys (or perhaps fangurls) will have their video broadbast on an upcoming episode of Galactica:

scifi.com/battlestar/videomaker

Japanese Milk Commercials

Here are some silly milk commercials from Japan, I love the lion wrestling in the first one:

Here are translations of the commercials:

Commercial 1:
Boy 1: Wow, you really like milk, don’t you?
Boy 2: Milk makes you strong dude.
Boy 1: Makes you strong…[Begins to fantasize]

Commercial 2:
Girl 1: Wow, you sure are drinking a lot of milk.
Girl 2: Milk makes you beautiful
Girl 1: Makes you beautiful…(start]

Commercial 3:
Same, but “milk improves your concentration”
Last line: Why don’t we get on with the class?

Found via Adrift In the Happy Hills.

Shiina Ringo

This new funky goth lolita commercial stars Japanese singer/songwriter Ringo Shiina and is for a health drink called “Kibun Tounyuu”:

Here’s some background info on Shiina:

“Shiina Ringo (alternately Sheena Ringo and similar spellings) somehow steps around the industry archetypes. In fact, it’s hard to say who Shiina Ringo is. We’ve seen her as a lost teenager going against the grain, a racy nurse with an interest in her female patients, a bride with a smile as bright as the pistol she holds to her head, even a jazz-hungry flapper. With a wink and a flash of skin, Shiina Ringo has proven to be many things, but it always comes down to her incredible music.

There is no way to classify Shiina Ringo’s work other than that it is her own. She flits between and merges together genres in ways never thought possible, so much that she really has a genre all of her own. It doesn’t matter if it’s jazz, rock, or some bizarre combination of the two, she will make it work and you will like it. She experiments with her music and her voice; she whispers, rasps, coos, and screeches her way through playful lyrics and arrangements in a way only Shiina Ringo can.”

Read more…

The Double Deckers

This music filled title sequence is from a 1970 British kids themed show called “The Double Deckers”:

I never heard of this show before, but the cast has every cliched character that you can think of, there’s a smart kid called “Brains”, a drum player called “Sticks”, and of course an sad overweight child whose taunting nickname is “Doughnut”. And of course no show would be complete without a little girl called “Tiger” who has (you guessed it) a pet tiger doll also named “Tiger”.

The plot of the show is that “The Double Deckers” are a group of seven young adults (aged 9 to 16) living in London who hang out and play together in a converted doubledecker bus. The bus serves as a club house for the kids. The token American character is the drum player Sticks, and the lone adult regular was Albert, a street cleaner.

Read more…

Yui Aragaki Commercials

This is a cute series of commercials from Japan for a recruiting service which stars Yui Aragaki:

Here’s some background info on Yui Aragaki from Wikipedia:

“Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣 Aragaki Yui, born June 11, 1988) is a Ryukyuan Japanese model, actress and seiyu. Born in Naha, Okinawa, she was nicknamed Gakky in 2001 by Ayako Enomoto. After seeing an audition notice for the junior fashion magazine nicola, Yui applied and won the Grand Prix award for the audition. After that, she became a nicomo (nicola model) and because of her fashion sense and logical personality, gained many fans. In 2004 she put her modeling in nicola on hold to expand her current career into gravure, appearing on variety shows, and acting. In 2005 she officially graduated from the magazine. The same year, she was in the TBS drama Dragon Zakura. This began her entrance into the acting world and she has gone on to appear in other shows since. Even though she has graduated from nicola, she still appears in the magazine occasionally.”

Read more…

Cute Cat Commercial for Contacts

Oh sure all the other website keep showing that same video from YouTube with that cat who can play the piano! But for some reason I found this commercial from Japan (directed by Ochiai Makito) to be much cuter:

The commercial is for a company (eyecity.jp) that seems to be selling contact eye lens services.

Shimura Zoo: Sloth Dinner Date

This episode of “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en” (aka Genius! Shimura Zoo) features a Sloth, which is cuter looking than I expected:

Read more…