TV in Japan

This is how you protect your teeth. By creating a robot that will withstand the pain caused by clumsy dentists. Who will soon become skilled dentists. On TV. In Japan.

Via Pink Tentacle!

This is how you’re going to show who you are. When you “pwn” some “noobs” in the “future”. On TV. In Japan.

This is how you celebrate Christmas. If you’re a giant mammal. Forced to engage in celebration of a holiday you don’t recognize. While waiting for your moment. To escape. On TV. In Japan.

As with many nerds my age, The Computer Chronicles was one of my favorite show growing up. I learned many things and shared them with my nerdy friends. Fun was had.
However, I don’t remember the episode below and I’m probably better for it. I think I might’ve exploded. This is pure mid-80s robot bliss. Not [...]

Just a week or so before the Tokyo Auto Show, Nissan decided to bring their new GT-R out to play on Japanese TV. And while I’m not a total gearhead, I certainly wouldn’t kick it out of bed.
NOTE: The double picture-in-picture is a nice effect. Especially as it’s used to show the reactions of the [...]

This is how you create the ultimate sense of vertigo. With a head mounted cam. Inside a giant ball. That is also a giant mirror. With no edges. On TV. In Japan.
NOTE: I’m pretty sure explaining this whole thing requires some sort of rule involving optics. As the deepest I ever got into the very [...]

This is how you shock a nation of amphibians. By showing them that they can be replaced. By robots. On TV. In Japan.

More info at Digital World Tokyo.

Japanese TV station Television Kanagawa decided to pull the final episode of the popular anime ‘School Days’ from its scheduled airing last night due to an alleged murder committed by a sixteen year-old Japanese student against her police officer father.
The anime is based on a popular adventure game which has been criticized for its violent [...]

This is a pretty interesting look at how Japanese TV changes (some might say repurposes) Western TV.

Here’s some of the things that are interesting to me:
1. The laugh track. It very much changes my experience of watching this show. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make it better but I’m not completely convinced it makes [...]

You know you’ve got a really high percentage of geek in your high culture when you can even conceive of creating something like this:

Standing just 13 centimeters tall, this Platinum Gundam figure feat. a .15 carat diamond is truly only for the discerning Otaku. Unfortunately, it’s not currently for sale but I’m sure if enough [...]

According to the Times Online, the Nintendo Wii is really taking a dent out of Japanese TV ratings.
Can it be true? Is the Wii making this big a dent in the viewing habits of Japanese families?
If so, maybe it’s because of games like this:

This is Endless Ocean for the Wii. You scuba dive and listen [...]

Ichiro Suzuki is a fantastic baseball player.
He has also achieved near god-like status in Japan due to his international fame.
I was in Tokyo a couple years ago when he set the all-time single season hits record and it was literally the first story on every news site for weeks.
So you can imagine that [...]

I got a chance to spend some one-on-one time with this game today and I was very happy.
Super Mario 64 happy.
If you get where I’m going with that. Which you should.

Can’t be at E3 but want an awesome Mario toy to make up for the hole in your heart?
Check out this very [...]

It has begun. E3 2007 stuff is beginning to dribble out into the world and some really exciting things are about to happen, which are vaguely related to things Japanese and TV.
Therefore, I shall cover them in this blog. If you could care less about games, please feel free to ignore these posts and [...]

This is how you perform a stakeout. And, in doing so, out some of the ugliest counterfeit iPhones of all time. On TV. In Japan.