Category Archives: Otaku

Spiritual dwellers of Akihabara

Hinomoto Oniko

Posted on October 31, 2010 by DarkMirage

日本鬼子 (ri ben gui zi) is a common disparaging term in China for Japanese, dating back to the Sino-Japanese War(s). After the recent Diaoyu/Senkaku geo-political drama, the term has seen a resurgence in popularity in China, where the anti-Japanese movement comes back in fashion every so often.

Some creative Japanese folks noticed that 日本鬼子 can easily be parsed as a female Japanese name “Hinomoto Oniko” and the moé-fication began. Continue reading →

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Torrent the whole Geocities

Posted on October 30, 2010 by DarkMirage

We have won one or two Internets before in our lifetime and now we can finally claim our hitherto figurative prize. The entire hosted content of the defunct Geocities free hosting service will be released as a 900-gigabyte torrent file … Continue reading →

Posted in Tech | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Google v Major Networks

Posted on October 24, 2010 by DarkMirage

I’ve long been a keen observer in the growing war of opinions over the future of intellectual property rights. Just a few days ago, ABC, NBC and CBS decided to block Google TV devices from streaming from their websites, joining … Continue reading →

Posted in Tech | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright

Posted on October 20, 2010 by DarkMirage

Two of the NDS’ top selling franchises decide to get into bed together. I suppose this makes one compelling reason to get an overpriced Nintendo 3DS.

Posted in Games | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt — Episode 1

Posted on October 5, 2010 by DarkMirage

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the final evolution of Gainax. The transformational journey from Gunbuster to Evangelion to FLCL to Diebuster to Gurren Lagann has finally ended with the release of the first epsiode of Panty & Stocking with … Continue reading →

Posted in Anime | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

The State of PS3 Jailbreak

Posted on September 26, 2010 by DarkMirage

It’s been just over a month since the sudden debut of the world’s first PS3 mod device. The original release was purely commercial and overpriced (around 150 USD for what is essentially a simple USB development board in a casing), … Continue reading →

Posted in Tech | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Golden Boy (Manga)

Posted on September 19, 2010 by DarkMirage

A long time ago, I stumbled upon the Golden Boy OVA series on Nico Nico Douga and thought it was an odd and unique piece of work. It left a bit of an impression but I didn’t think much more … Continue reading →

Posted in Manga, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

AFA X — Press Conference (The Important Bits)

Posted on September 13, 2010 by DarkMirage

AFA X, the third Anime Festival Asia, will be held on 13 and 14 November at its usual venue at Suntec Convention Centre. As per usual, a small press conference was held this morning to announce some of the details. … Continue reading →

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Natsu no Zenjitsu

Posted on September 2, 2010 by DarkMirage

Due to the dearth of anime that interests me, I have been spending more time on manga these days. During a recent frolic in the forest of books that is Kinokuniya, I bought the first volume of Natsu no Zenjitsu … Continue reading →

Posted in Manga | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

The Legend of Koizumi

Posted on August 31, 2010 by DarkMirage

I was just given YouTube links to what may possibly be the most incredible videos I have ever seen. I realize that this is a claim that I often make, but this time it’s different. Really. Videos are embedded after … Continue reading →

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Final Fantasy XIII – First Impressions

Posted on August 22, 2010 by DarkMirage

So, I caved and bought a second-hand PS3 Slim for S$300 (about 220 USD), partly because the PS3 has finally been successfully modded with a hacked debugging dongle reminiscent of PSP’s Pandora battery. (I am a cheapskate…) The awesome part … Continue reading →

Posted in Games | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Highschool of the Dead

Posted on August 7, 2010 by DarkMirage

Highschool of the Dead (HOTD) is a surprising winner once you get pass the campy title reminiscent of last-century B-grade horror movies. Despite a story set-up that is pretty generic in the zombie apocalypse genre, the series manages to mix … Continue reading →

Posted in Anime, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments