Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
“’Weather Girls’ is an ongoing daily segment by Taiwanese animated news network NMATV where a group of cute young Taiwanese girls dance to the day’s weather forecast for Taiwan and the United States.” Yes, that about sums it up. Amazingly cute Taiwanese girls jump around in Japanese school uniforms (and other outfits) reporting the weather in Taiwan and the U.S. in the most sugary-sweet voices imaginable. And sometimes they speak English, and sometimes they speak Japanese, and most of the time their dancing and allure is probably so distracting that most straight male viewers have no idea what language these girls are speaking in the first place. Well, that was one reaction we, uh, noted. Anyway, you can get distracted yourself at the link, which offers eight video samples of Weather Girl reports from last December through June 12th. And each Weather Girl has a name, while each month has a theme, which explains why the girls wear different types of outfits depending on the time of year. We kind of liked Eco Month; but once you get past the very different approach to women on TV the Weather Girls represent, you’ll probably find you have a favorite girl and monthly theme of your own. (Rocket News 24 – Taiwan’s Super Cute Weather Girls)
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“It wouldn’t be a Japanese toy show without its fair share of Anpanman, Disney, Hello Kitty and all the other character favorites with their own games, toys and digital fluffiness.” Sadly, the International Tokyo Toy Show, which was held last weekend, is over. Happily, we can bring you a couple of links which highlight some of the more interesting and innovative toys and gadgets featured at the show. One of the more nifty categories of toy-slash-gadget product is the iPhone/iPad pet app category. These are apps which are more than apps, because when you buy one and activate it, your virtual pet will complain of cold and discomfort until you wrap your iPhone or iPad in a warm, fuzzy app-specific accessory. And the accessories, of course, are additional purchases, so you can immediately see the clever yet predictable business model for this type of product. Another product we want to try (which is unfairly aimed only at kids, of course) is Takara Tomy’s foaming green bubble bath slime. It’s designed to turn your average Japanese kid’s bath tub into a big, foaming, slimy experiment, which will hopefully stimulate an interest in science as well as get all those human nooks and crannies clean. It will be interesting to see how long it takes some of these products to reach the U.S. and Europe, if they ever do. But we’re really hoping we can get the green bath slime at the local Long’s or Walgreens pretty soon (CNNGo – Best of Tokyo Toys) Japan Trends has a little more coverage and lists a few more product highlights – Japan Trends Toy Report.
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“’Drama in the Delta’ is a non-profit, educational 3D role-playing video game that puts the player into the experiences of two Arkansas concentration camps where the U.S. government interned 15,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II.” If there is an internet rule that says you can make a video game out of any topic or scenario, this certainly qualifies. Collaborators from the University of San Diego’s Department of Theatre and Dance and the San Diego Supercomputer Center are developing a video game called “Drama in the Delta”, which is intended to be an immersive first-player role-playing experience recreating what it was like to be an internee at the Rohwer and Jerome Relocation Centers in Arkansas in 1944. When the game is completed in 2013, you’ll be able to play as a number of characters, including one of four teenaged Nisei girls. In our estimation, this is a pretty daring, ambitious and touchy construct for a video game. But you can actually judge for yourself, as the 292MB prototype is available right now for Windows-only download. In fact, we’d be interested to know what internees themselves think about this project and actual game play. (Chronicle of Higher Education – Arkansas Nisei RPG) And here is the official website: Drama in the Delta.
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“In honor of the summer solstice – the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – Google has tapped a guest Doodler, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, to create a special anime flavored kawaii logo for Google’s home page.” (Search Engine Watch)
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More than 50,000 people were there to see it, but I think it’s still worth sharing that U2 would dedicate “Walk On” to Aung San Suu Kyi at the Big A. No one loves the camera more than Bono–who is equally comfortable on stadium Jumbotrons or Oprah’s couch–but I think it’s rad that he isn’t afraid to use the big stage as a soapbox. On Saturday night, he used the democratically elected, unjustly jailed, and somewhat recently released leader of Burma as an example how involvement with an organization like Amnesty International can make a difference. But it wasn’t all politics. There’s more beer-drinking than activism going on at U2 shows, and this one had two and a half-hours of old and new hits. It’s crazy how some of the younger fans seemed to know all the words to “Beautiful Day” (introduced by astronaut Mark Kelly to his recovering wife, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords) but not “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (which was dedicated to Quincy Jones). U2 has churned out a crazy and constant amount of hits while most of their Band-Aid peers have become trivia question answers, and despite all the names that were dropped (Tom Brady, Gisele, and other ONE supporters) the nearly two-and-a-half-hour show was clearly focused on the four guys onstage, their music, and their progressive, positive message. There might have been a little downtime when the Claw lowered, you couldn’t even see the band, and the drum machines warmed up, but U2 is unstoppable even in the biggest of venues. Critics and cynics will point to the band’s massive profits but I can’t think of another band that has elevated its ideals at the same time as its business model. From garage band to stadium band, from “I Will Follow” to “We will make giving a shit and getting involved cool” on individual, corporate, and national levels. And then end the encore with a tribute to fallen E Street Band sax player and friend Clarence Clemons to make it personal again. The funny thing is I never cared for U2 much back in high school when War came out or even college when The Joshua Tree took over. I was (and still am) more of a fan of The Clash. I am convinced that the band from Ireland was (and never will be) as cool as Joe, Mick, and Paul, but I have to admit that they still manage to matter.
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