Otaku Crave

When actress Erika Sawajiri recently attended the premiere of her new movie, “Closed Note,” she appeared on stage before the screening, looking pissed off at something. She stood still, arms folded, and uttered only three sentences the whole time. Her behavior immediately earned her the ire of tabloids and TV variety show panelists. Veteran singer Akiko Wada called her behavior unprofessional. Two days later, Sawajiri, 21, made an apology on her website. “It’s all my fault, and I must take responsibility for my actions. I really apologize for disappointing my fans and betraying their trust. As a professional actress, my actions were not appropriate. I promise to learn from this experience.”

As the fallout continued, her agent and Toho (the film’s distributor) announced that Sawajiri had canceled her attendance at a film festival in South Korea. The official website of the film had to be closed as a result of the massive number of comments by online visitors. Toho offered the explanation that Sawajiri had been exhausted from doing more than 100 media interviews to promote the film. It didn’t help: Sawajiri is still being referred to in the media as a movie queen brat.

Sawajiri made her breakthrough in 2005 with the TV melodrama “1 Littoru no Namida” (1 Liter of Tears). Last year at the Tokyo International Film Festival, she strutted the red carpet as if she was doing everyone a favor by showing up. In the month prior to the “Closed Note” event, she changed her appearance two or three times. One theory is that she has had work done on her teeth; hence the reluctance to smile. Another theory is she just didn’t like the clothes her stylist made her wear for the occasion. As some observers wittily remarked, she looked like a cavewoman.

Sawajiri’s case is an example of what happens when idols in Japan go off the rails. Amid Japan’s culture of shame, when a talent transgresses, he/she has to practice “jishuku” (self restraint). This starts with a public apology, often in the form of a deep bow with the manager at a press conference (or in Sawajiri’s case, online), followed by a self-imposed break from public appearances. It is very different from the U.S. (think Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, for example), where the practice is to deny, spin and, when all else fails, try rehab, or go to jail, after which they go on Jay Leno to show how they have changed.

Sawajiri’s management has gone into full damage control mode because she is a goldmine for the company. Besides her movies, she has appeared in 24 TV commercials this year. Unlike in the U.S., Japanese celebrities are employees of their management companies. They are paid a salary — the opposite of the U.S. where stars pay their agents a percentage and hire an army of publicists and lawyers to do damage control when necessary. In Japan, the production companies recruit their stars at a young age, train them and then supply them to the media, movies and events. A talent’s “shelf life” may depend on how scandal-free he or she remains. Big companies like Oscar Promotion, for example, teach their talents how to hold their alcohol, spend money wisely and be careful where they go and who they are with.

This doesn’t mean Japanese celebrities don’t have their share of scandals. They happen every week, and not just to younger talents. In recent months, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei, 45, was fined for assaulting a colleague over “musical differences.” He apologized on his website. Cynics might say it’s much easier to apologize on a website when you don’t really feel sorry than it is to do the fake bow in public. Comedian Hidekazu Nagai, 37, a married man, had nothing to laugh about when he was fleeced in a badger game in the Philippines after he and a friend picked up a couple of local girls. Nagai’s agency announced that he is going to New York for a year to study English.

Women are expected to be more contrite than men, however. Former news anchor Mona Yamamoto, 31, lost her plum job on “News23″ after just a week when her affair with Diet member Goshi Hosono came to light in September 2006. She stayed out of the spotlight for a couple of months before restarting her career with the support of Beat Takeshi on Jan 1. She has slowly been making appearances on the variety show circuit.

Japan’s entertainment world is a tightly knit relationship between the production agencies and the media. Companies like Oscar, Johnny’s and Yellow Cab have tremendous power when it comes to their talents. The production companies are money-making machines that work very hard to create and protect an image that sells. Once the fallen stars are rehabilitated, they are farmed out to variety shows for their comeback. The production companies basically dictate to the networks who to use — that’s how powerful they are.

If Sawajiri turns out to be just another skyrocket (someone who goes up, burns real bright and then falls to earth), she will quickly be replaced in the firmament. The industry is like a revolving sushi restaurant: there is a never-ending selection to pick from.

Popularity: 16% [?]

AZN TV announced that it will air the Saiyuki Reload Gunlock anime series every Monday through Wednesday starting on October 29. The fantasy adventure is the third television anime series based on Kazuya Minekura’s Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload manga series, which in turn are loosely based on the classical Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West. The Anime Network aired the original Saiyuki anime series, and Encore Action aired the first sequel, Saiyuki Reload.

Popularity: 8% [?]

This sounds like a great pre-order item!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, Suntory and Square Enix have collaborated to re-create “Potion,” an item that appears in the ever popular RPG. It replicates the item in every detail and just like in the game, it is intended for recovery use, blending dolomite, royal jelly and vitamin B into the drink. It comes with a book that can only be acquired with the drink. The item is limited to 77,777 units.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Could someone please get this for me?

Sometimes — well, usually — gadgets are too complicated for their own good and are nothing but trouble for most folks, which is why it’s a pleasure to see something marketed with an emphasis on its simplicity.The Ecolong MP3/WMA player from NHC Japan contains just 1GB of memory, requires no fancy computer software, and can run for 85 hours on a single AA battery (it’s been a good month for batteries).According to NHC, most commuters can go two months between battery pit stops, which is good for both the wallet and the environment.

Popularity: 7% [?]

This is just pure awesomeness!

Nissan’s new robotic vehicle Pivo 2 can drive sideways and has a small robot to assist with navigation or calm down angry drivers. It is equipped with in-wheel electric motors to drive all wheels independently and to pivot its cabin. It will be exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show from Oct 27.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Viz Media has announced that they’ve made brand new limited edition Bleach shoes to go on sale at their official Bleach online store. They’re being priced at $65 & are not even scheduled to come out until February 20 of 2008, but you might want to consider pre-ordering these. According to Viz, only 360 pairs were made in all. So once they’re gone, they’re gone for good. If you really want these, you’d better act quickly. They also provided a little detail about the creation of these shoes:

Created by T.U.K. exclusively for the VIZ Media Bleach online store, these kicks feature black and white smooth leather upper with distressed-look Shinigami print. Outside features white raised print Shinigami logo (print and heat sealed), sewn on blue and red nylon stripes, and plastic sole with textured tread and Bleach logo insert. Inner lining is a black fabric mesh. Includes two sets of laces and Bleach sticker.

Popularity: 30% [?]

NEW TWIST IN MUSIC PLAYERS

Since 1984, Transformers has proven an immensely enduring toy brand, spawning a hugely popular TV series (which in turn spawned even more spinoff TV series), a couple of movies and ever more toys, right up to the present day. In fact, the toys have their roots in the 1970s Japanese toy lines Microman and Diaclone, which were bought and developed in the U.S. by toy maker Hasbro. The concept is simple enough: robots in disguise; visitors from the planet Cybertron, hiding on Earth as everyday vehicles and objects, fighting a war between good and evil. What kid wouldn’t fall in love with that?

Optimus Prime transforms from a gun-wielding robot into a truck cab toting an iPod and speakers, while Soundwave is a real music player at last.

In the new live-action movie of the same name, director Michael Bay drops a few select characters into a convoluted and confusing story that nonetheless offers a fun couple of hours’ diversion, thanks largely to its convincing CGI and, well, having a bunch of bloody great robots smashing each other up on the big screen.

The giants in the movie barely resemble those we played with in the 1980s, but toy maker Takara Tomy has taken a different tack with its Transformers Music Label products, sticking closely to the original character designs to create functional toys that hit the nostalgia bone hard.

So what we have here is, ostensibly, an MP3 player, a set of iPod speakers and a pair of headphones. But is there more to them than meets the eye?

Soundwave was always the coolest Transformer. A spy for the evil Decepticons, he transformed from a giant robot into a tiny tape deck, speaking in ice-cool vocoded monotone and dispensing microcassette robots that he carried kangaroolike in the tape tray in his chest.

But time has been unkind to Soundwave. Tapes were made obsolete by CDs, MiniDiscs and DAT, with MP3 ultimately proving the format of choice for music fans on the move. In the new movie, Soundwave changed utterly, both in form (he is now a boom box) and function (he clunks around and squeals far too noisily to be a convincing spy, and seems to have graduated from the Jar Jar Binks school of subtlety). A relief, then, that this toy recaptures those 1980s glory days.

Available both in his original blue color and an iPod-inspired white makeover, this Soundwave figure looks just like the one you had all those years ago, but with one crucial difference: It actually works as a music player.

Popularity: 20% [?]

More new titles targeted at female gamers during Tokyo Game Show

Imagine your typical video gamer. Male, aged 18-35, right?

A businesswoman in her early 20s doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype — but that’s the untapped market that game-makers are now going after.

At Tokyo Game Show at the end of September, a handful of titles targeted at women were mixed in with the standard fare: role-playing games, first-person shooters and sports titles. It’s not that women are just starting to play games, but that game-makers are now creating titles specifically for women.

“Developers are now working in an environment where it’s perfectly acceptable to cater to a non-gamer audience, something which was probably not encouraged or frowned upon previously,” says Hiroshi Kamide, a game-industry analyst for KBC Securities Japan. “The key factor is that this market segment can be very commercially worthwhile, but has been relatively untapped to date.”

The past year has already seen a slew of titles targeted directly at women, with retailers clearing out shelf space specifically for them. These aren’t games directed at pre-teens, ‘tweens or teens, but adults. And what’s more, games for girl does not necessarily mean “girly games” — most are less like traditional games and more like self-help magazine articles.

Take game-developer Taito’s “My Happy Manner Book,” which covers pressing concerns such as which is the “best” seat for single women in a traditional Japanese room, or what type of kimono is most appropriate to wear. The title presents different social situations from “Personal Interaction” to “Ceremonial Occasions” and helps you learn important etiquette, such as the proper way to write an address on an envelope or what to do with your napkin in fancy restaurants. Kiss embarrassing losses of face sayonara.

The title “DS Therapy” by developer Dimple Entertainment offers multiple-choice questions about love, work, daily life and the future. Users create a diary and track their progress through daily kokorobics (a Japanese wordplay on the words for heart and aerobics). Waifish anime therapists discuss your responses and dish up diagnoses based on psychological research.

Former male model-turned-walking guru Duke Saraie has even thrown his sporty beret into the ring with “Duke Saraie’s Healthy Walking Navi: Let’s Become Beautiful,” a DS game that teaches users how to shape up their bodies and posture through walking.

And women’s fashion magazine An-An has released the game “Female Power Emergency Up! DS,” which encourages ladies to improve themselves over a three-month period through a series of quizzes and questions concerning romance and their bodies. What’s better than reading women’s mags? Playing them, it seems.

A Tokyo Game Show demonstration of “Dokodemo Yoga” for the Nitendo DS, one of two new titles specifically for women from publisher Konami.

At Tokyo Game Show, Tokyo-based publisher Konami showed off two new titles specifically for women. First was “Dokodemo Yoga” for the popular Nintendo DS portable console. Players call up various yoga positions on the hand-held and track their progress through a daily in-game diary. The positions are fairly basic and the emphasis here is on relaxation rather than sticking your foot around the back of your head.

A Konami employee demonstrates the “Dream Skincare” title for Nintendo DS portable conole.

“Dream Skincare” was another new Konami title at the show. The software features real-life beauty adviser Chizu Saeki, who appears in the game to give pointers on skincare. In order to give users the best advice, individuals enter their daily body temperature and keep track of their hormonal balance and other factors which affect their skin’s condition. It’s possible to keep a record for up to a year.

“I wanted to create a fun title with which women can keep track of their hormone balance on the DS,” says the game’s director Hitomi Nozawa. “For women, keeping track of their body temperature will help them to understand the physical and mental health conditions that are tied to their hormone balance.”

Since Nintendo introduced the DS in 2005, it has done a lot to expand the concept of what a video game is, first of all when it released a series of “brain-training games” that were a smash hit with casual players. The games consisted of logic and math problems that are supposed to make players smarter, or at least exercise their minds. What was novel about these games was that they tracked progress and featured mini-tests to provide a sense of accomplishment.

Earlier this year, Nintendo tried another angle with a “face-training” gamefor the DS titled “Otona no DS Kao Training,” which came bundled with a camera. The TV ad featured a woman practicing various expressions, and the pitch was that working on the muscles in the face would create a more beautiful smile. These facial exercises (facercises, anyone?) have given us the Japanese-English word “facening” and work out parts of the body such as the jaw, cheek muscles and eyelids. Who knew eyelids need a workout?

These titles are more about achieving some personal best than winning any kind of competition. This allows them to dispense with the complex system of buttons, triggers and direction pads that video games traditionally rely on and which can often seem unnecessarily complicated to the casual gamer.

To the chagrin of some groups of hardcore gamers, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii have simplified gaming interfaces — DS by using a stylus and touch-sensitive screen and the Wii with its remote control that you only need to wave about.

“The DS has brought more female gamers into the market as the barriers to entry for casual gaming are non-existent compared to conventional games,” says KBC’s Kamide.

Is it working? Nintendo’s sales have mushroomed, and the company currently boasts the second most valuable Japanese stock behind Toyota.

“Over 18 million Nintendo DS units have been sold in Japan,” says Konami’s Nozawa. “This means that roughly 1 in every 7 Japanese have a Nintendo DS.”

According to Meijin Takahashi, an executive at Sapporo-based game-developer and longtime Nintendo partner Hudson Soft, the biggest sector of the marketplace no longer belongs to the die-hard gamers anymore, but to casual players. At Tokyo Game Show, Hudson had on display an upcoming Nintendo Wii game, “Deca Sporta,” which features a series of sports mini-games that use the Wii remote’s motion controls. While Takahashi says that Microsoft and Sony continue to pursue more traditional gamers, his company is going after the larger, casual market. And a big chunk of that market is female.

Is this only happening in Japan? Currently, yes, though, at a recent game convention in Germany, a localized English version of “Dokodemo Yoga” (retitled “Let’s Yoga”) popped up. The game should be out in Western markets either later this year or in 2008.

As more of these female-friendly titles get released in Japan and abroad, perhaps we can expect the stereotype of gamers to change from the eternal teenage male to women aged 18 to 35.

Who’s in the game?

Is the stereotype of the average gamer even true anymore? According to an online study by U.S. advertising agency JWT, it’s not. In the “Denizens of Digitivity” survey, from Sept. 7-11, 1,000 individuals in the United States were polled as to whether they owned a video-game console (the survey did not mention PC gaming). The results:
* 44 percent of women said they owned a Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation or Microsoft Xbox, while 39 percent of men said they owned one of the three consoles.

As to what’s causing this, JWT’s trend spotters believe that it’s the Nintendo Wii. While traditional game controllers require managing a complex set of buttons, the Wii has a motion-sensing controller that requires little pushing of buttons. The simple interface has opened up console gaming to the more casual player.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Following the massive success of Ramen kan, literally ramen in a can, which went on sale in April and sold 2 million cans ever since, Umai has followed it up with Udon kan. Just like the ramen, konjac is used to prevent sogginess. There are two versions: “kitsune,” which comes with deep-fried been curd, and curry. And just like Ramen kan, once you open the can, it is ready to serve. It will be sold in convenience stores and vending machines for 300 yen for “kitsune” and 350 yen for curry.

Now, if only they could release some of this stuff over in the states!

Popularity: 9% [?]

This may be aimed at kids aged between 3 and 8, but it sure is entertaining for everyone else. Bandai’s pajamas display an illuminated image once in dark. The specially coated print cannot be seen in the light. There are six variations of designs from “Geki Ranger” to “Kamen Rider.”

Popularity: 10% [?]