tobeASIAN - your daily dose of Asian life.

First Trailer of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Movie

Sukai — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:08:29 +0000

A moment most have been waiting for. The first full trailer of the epic Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann movie.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the Movie: Crimson Chapter will open in Japan on September 6. The trailer itself doesn’t have any new cut-scenes from the movie. Is Gainax doing this to create a bigger hype? or maybe the movie itself will just be a repeat of the anime series?

Here’s the trailer!

The official site of the trailer can be viewed here.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Source:
ANN

Japan Joins Red Alert 3

Sukai — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:41:28 +0000

The empire of the rising sun is joining the ever so popular RTS, Red Alert 3 in their next instalment. Not surprising, the Japanese gets some badass gear, like mechas and macross-like transforming planes.

I’m not sure why Red Alert 3 decided to add these new kickass features in the game, possibly they realise there is a huge untapped Otaku market or maybe the guys behind Red Alert at EA are just closet otakus to begin with? One thing is for sure though - Mecha-lovers and Otakus alike will be enjoying this new release!

Here’s the E3 Trailer:

You can visit Red Alert 3’s site here for more information.

To be honest, I grew out of Red Alert after the 1st instalment (started playing C&C Generals), but with these new features, I’m sure I willl be getting my hands on one very soon.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Source:
Japanator

Inspiring Chinese woman

Sukai — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:14:29 +0000

Today’s post is somewhat inspirational and a change of the usual posts we see on tba. Today’s post is about a Chinese woman who resides in Shan Dong Province, China. Not ruining the video for you folks, I will explain the rest after you watch it below. (The video is in Cantonese/Mandarin, but the main point of the video can be understood beyond the language barrier)

Here’s the video:

Translating the main points, the armless woman is named Ren Ji Mei. She was born armless and her mother wanted to dump her into the sea, but her father decided to keep her as a ‘pet dog’ (I’m not sure what to say about this part). But as you can see, her disability has not stopped her from enjoying life. She is able to use her feet so well for so many things that some people with arms can not do. Quite a remarkable and inspiring woman indeed.

Judging from the video’s quality, it would seem that it happened quite some time ago. If anyone knows the exact date, please do tell!

Why Japan and the Japanese are great

Sukai — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:58:08 +0000

What Japan Thinks have compiled a survey of 20 reasons of what is great about Japan or the Japanese.

The official questions asked was:

What do you think is great about Japan or the Japanese?

The results was:

1 Feeling the four seasons
2 Diligent
3 Kind
4 Rich food culture
5 Creating leading-edge techniques
6 Courteous
7 Strong sense of duty
8 Considerate
9 Flexibly adopting new cultures
10 Good with hands
11 Awareness of wastefulness
12 Conservative
13 Subtle
14 Express things vaguely
15 Reliable
16 Look young
17 Can distinguish subtle differences in taste
18 Nice hair
19 Ladylike
20 Table manners

It’s astonishing that Anime, Akihabara or even Mt. Fuji did not make it on to the list. Maybe the survey participants were just not the otaku crowd. Some of the reasons are quite interesting to read.

I would love to hear what are your opinions! Go ahead and post it! (Or try out our poll XD)

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Source:
What Japan Thinks
Picture courtesy of wallpaper.diq.ru

Gurren Lagann 3rd Parallel Work

Sukai — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:28:58 +0000

The 3rd instalment of Gurren Lagann’s parallel work is one that focus less on ‘fighting the powah’ and more on artistic side of things. If you’re a fan of fine art then you will most definitely appreciate this video. As Japanator said, it does sort of remind me of Samurai Champloo.

This one is directed by Hirokazu Kojima (Coyote Ragtime Show). Impressive video, that’s as much as I can say.

Here it is:

Source:
Japanator

5 Minute Trailer of Japanese-Animated Batman

Sukai — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:21:27 +0000

Marking a significant milestone is Batman: Gotham Knight, a Japanese animated anime/cartoon (which ever you prefer) of a great American comic book hero.

Batman: Gotham Knight is set between the live-action Batman Begins and The Dark Knight films. From looking at this 5 minute segment, you can all tell that this six episode series will be dark and violent. Overall, it will be more targeted towards the older generation of comic book fans and even otakus.

This series will most certainly receive great reception on both sides of the pacific ocean.

Here’s the 5 minute trailer:

The series is also supported with awesome animators and writers including the co-write of Batman begins, David Goyer. You can also visit the official site here.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Source:
mtv via ANN
Picture courtesy of DCuniverse and warnervideo

New Domo-kun Short Videos on Veoh

Sukai — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:42:43 +0000

For those that find themselves to be a tad otaku, then you should know about our oddly coloured and shaped friend who always seem to be having a good time - Domo-kun. For those that don’t, well you better thank me for introducing you into a world of great fun and laughter.

Domo-kun is the mascot for the Japanese television station, NHK. It achieved tremendous amount of fame for being so adorable while looking similar to something else…

Anyways! Over at Veoh, there have released new domo-kun Short videos which is bound to make you laugh like you were a toddler.

Here’s one of the video’s which I found was great (And it’s dubbed!):

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Here is the link to watch more of this cute little brown fur ball.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
Source:
AnimeNation

tba Highlights: June 23 2008

Sukai — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:15:54 +0000

Flying saucer no longer spotted, but created! via newlaunches
China is developing flying saucers, the only down-side is that it can’t carry a person yet. The Harbin Smart Special Aircraft uses propellers that runs on methanol. It can climb up to 1,000 yards and at a speed of 50 mph and can fly for 40 minutes.

Funny Thai Ad: Your Love, Hero or …? via AsianOffbeat
A funny Thai commercial that’s definitely worth watching (C’mon! it’s on the tba Highlights!).

World’s Largest Working Cell Phone? via WAN
This Chinese has apparently build the world’s biggest mobile phone. It’s 621 times bigger than his own, which he used as a reference. and measures at 36 x 17 x 6.5 inches and weighs around 48.5 pounds.

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2

Sukai — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:58:21 +0000

Here’s the second parallel works video on Gurren Lagann.

This time, the Gurren Lagann crew uses their spiral power for a cause much lesser than saving the universe - to play Pachinko. For those that aren’t aware of what Pachinko is; it’s a Japanese pin ball-like game mixed with a video slot machine basically.

Anyway, this time, you get to see Kamina, Viral, Yoko and Simon put their skills to the ultimate test by playing a Pachinko Gunman using their own Gunman.

Here you have it:

Source:
Japanator

Chinese Farmer Builds Home-Made Glider

Sukai — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:13:17 +0000

Here’s a video that’s been circulating the internet which shows a Chinese farmer (I’m not sure how they know he’s a farmer since we can’t even see his face in the video) taking off, flying and landing his home-made glider (or plane, if you want to make it sound awesome).

Whoever this farmer is, he is damn resourceful, plus takes a lot of guts to fly a glider you built yourself, not knowing if it can fly or not. From the video, you can see, he only has a seatbelt for safety which is not much when you’re that high up in the air.

Nonetheless, you need to give him credit for his piloting skills, he landed pretty well and I’m not sure if he even learnt how to fly before!

Here’s the video:

Amazing stuff right?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Source:
IfGoGo via Asianoffbeat