“My Lonesome Cowboy”, a figure created by Japanese pop artist 村上隆 / Takashi Murakami, was auctioned off at $15 million in a New York auction, vastly exceeding the expected price of $3-4 million.
The 254cm high figure (including his ejaculation, otherwise roughly life size), which might thus also be called a statue, depicts a naked man engaged in an act of fantastic onanism, in the style of a shonen manga. It was created using steel, acrylic and fiberglass in 1998.
According to Sotheby’s, the highest price previously fetched by Murakami’s work was “Panda”, at a positively meager $3 million, so this represents something of a triumph for him. The identity of the buyer will likely remain a closely guarded secret for reasons we can only guess at.
More detail of this outstanding artwork is below, as well as another fine work along the same lines. See here for an interview with the great artist explaining the work. Here is an English language report on the auction.
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A mangaka who has certainly succeeded in making an impression since his debut some years ago is 如月群真 / Kisaragi Gunma (or “gumma”), and anyone who sees his superb art will doubtless want to see more. Whilst the strength of his art is undeniable, it must however be said that his mastery is incomplete, as in terms of story and themes covered he shows some limitations. This is not to deny that he deserves recognition as a first rank ero-mangaka, as you can judge for yourself by reading on. Read the rest of this entry »
With Metal Gear Solid 4 complete, all the details regarding the marketing arrangements in the game have come to light. It seems the game will be a vehicle for product placement on an unprecedented scale for an A-List title, with 10 product “collaborations” evident; but it is not so much the number as the prominence and lack of consideration for fit which stand out. Read on for the full details.
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Japanese recording industry mafia JASRAC reports that 2007 royalty collections for music licensing are ranked as follows:
1: 『Flavor Of Life』 宇多田ヒカル – Flavor Of Life, Utada Hikaru (Hana Yori Dango)
2: 『エヴァンゲリオンBGM』– Evangelion BGM
3: 『LOVERS AGAIN』 EXILE
4: 『ドラゴンボールZ BGM（TV）』– Dragon Ball Z BGM (TV)
5: 『涙そうそう』 夏川りみ、BEGIN、森山良子
Total proceeds increased 4.1% over the previous year to ¥115 billion, about $1.1 billion, with cable television said to be a primary factor in the revenue growth.
Flavor of Life from is from one of the many Hana Yori Dango adaptations, and the Eva and DBZ titles need no introduction (apparently international airing of DBZ contributed heavily). With even more Eva related sales on the cards it is likely the strong showing will persist.
It seems an interesting development for their sales to apparently be moving away from direct sales via CD and the like towards indirect licensing ventures. From the JASRAC fiscal reports, digested by AnimeAnime.
Any ardent fan of the excellent Tales series of RPGs will already know about the magnificent looking テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア / Tales of Vesperia, the latest and next generation incarnation of the series, but there has been something of an upset over the bizarre decision to release the game first on the Xbox360, with a PS3 release not even confirmed yet – whilst no denials, and the eminent logic of releasing the game to its main market on the PS3, as well as prior precedents in porting this series and others, all tend to suggest the PS3 release is all but inevitable, no official announcement has been forthcoming, until now… sort of.
It seems some observant soul managed to spot buried in a Bandai Namco financial presentation an entry (now amended) for ToV listed as due for release later in the year for both Xbox360 and PS3, however no sooner had the news got out than the document was amended to refer only to the Xbox360 release; the original page is mirrored below.
Just what kind of mistake this was may only be revealed by the passage of time, but most Tales fans can but hope it represents accidental confirmation of the PS3 release, and hopefully for this year and not next.
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Asahi reports that a Tokyo area student has been arrested on suspicion of unauthorised copying of Elf All-stars Strip Mahjong 3 (the ignominy – not even arrested over a decent game), amongst many others, but ardent P2P users can, for once, relax as this idiot was not arrested over P2P usage, as other unfortunates have been lately, but for loading the games (some 180, it is claimed) onto HDD and selling them in online auctions.
Apparently he managed a modest profit, selling a hundred drives over a year, and netting himself ¥3,000,000 (for study expenses, he pleas), though as you can see, the risk/reward ratio ultimately was hardly favourable. It seems he downloaded the software from a Chinese P2P service, presumably a torrent forum.
One of the more innovative, and possibly unintended, uses of Yahoo.co.jp’s “Certification for Everyone” interfaces, a simple set of tools which allow users to create scored tests, is provided by ToLOVEる☆LOVE, namely a test to identify To Love-Ru characters by their pantsu, and their nipples (you will likely need to familiar with the manga compilation’s more liberal usage of nipples to gain the coveted rank of master here).
If you failed dismally, as did I, you will be heartened to know that the pass rate is a mere 36%, so your inadequate pants discrimination skill is not so shameful.
Sankaku Complex has reached what seems to be taken as one of the traditional first landmarks in a site’s history – 10,000 hits, according to Google Analytics, having been reached from the site going live some 24 days ago.
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In an interesting development for CG anime, Sunrise has just announced the release date of a new 3D computer rendered Gundam anime OVA, 機動戦士ガンダム ＭＳイグルー2 重力戦線 / Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Jūryoku Sensen, “Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo 2 Gravity Front”, with the first disc to be released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on the 24th of September. The story is said to be an original side story set during the One Year War.
It certainly seems to me that the subject matter (giant robots) lends itself well to CG animation, and the success of Appleseed and the previous MS Igloo demonstrates that this can be done well, so it may be interesting to see how it turns out.
According to the official announcement, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is now completed, so all that remains is to wait for the release. Whilst a variety of dubious marketing endeavours are underway (placing Regain into the game seems positively tawdry), the biggest change this brings is the opening of the official site, filled with movie based quizzes which you can “complete” for “Digital Download Points”, exchangeable for a variety of wallpapers and the like – how very original. Still the game movies are interesting enough.
Hideo Kojima may have put his foot in his mouth recently, and again just now if you read the drivel he spouts in the press conference comparing SCE to space pioneers, but this hardly has any bearing on what will doubtless prove to be the biggest PS3 release to date; it will certainly be interesting to see how well the PS3 fairs with the upcoming releases of its major titles – my guess is well.
Here is a superior artist producing colour dojinshi of an amazing quality. It is none other than 石恵 / Ishikei, who may also be familiar to you as 偽MIDI泥の会 / NiseMIDIDoroNoKai. Not only does he produce colour CG work of rather shockingly good quality, he also tends to work with the most popular titles, such as Lucky Star, Haruhi, etc. If you have not already had the pleasure of viewing his work, then you may wish to rectify matters promptly, easily accomplished by reading on.
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You may be familiar with ニコニコ動画 / Nico Nico Douga, (“Smile Video”, though Miku Miku Douga would be a more appropriate name), the popular Japanese YouTube-a-like with the significant innovation of allowing users to comment onto the actual video itself – there is an excellent English explanation of the phenomenon here.
Now, just as there is YouPorn & PornoTube to the prudish YouTube, there is イクイク動画 / Iku Iku Douga (“ComeCome Video”) as an AV counterpart to Nico Nico. I can’t confess to having any interest at all in watching unseemly JAV strumpets squeal away under an enormous mosaic, much preferring the two-dimensional artistic and creative media so well developed in Japan, but maybe there are some to whom this is appealing (the huge AV industry is testament to this).
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Top 10 Anime of February, According to NewType
Fap Support JK “Satisfactory Customer Service!”
Yandere Simulator “Could Be Renamed”
Studio FOW Short Totally Tentacular
Phantom World Stretching Expectations
Charming Futaba Nendoroid
How You Wish KyoAni Made Phantom World…
Togijo no Senhime: Another Story Unexpectedly Gory
Coming of Age Day Illustrations Quite Formal
Atelier Shallie Plus Trailers Unbearably Cute
Pyramid Head’s Great Knife Replicated
Mortal Kombat X DLC More Gruesome Than Ever
Top 10 Most Anticipated Anime of Winter 2016
Splatoon “Super Play Time” Absolutely Cringe-worthy
Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut “Dragons & Mechs?”
Monster Hunter X Megaman Event Profusely Blue
Love Live! Sunshine!! MV “Will Brighten Up Your Day!”
Top 10 Best Anime Girls of 2015
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar “Has Oppai!”
Picking Up Japan Express Vol. 36 Worth a Pickup
Dimension W Out Of This World
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir PV Certainly Nostalgic
One-Punch Man Soundtrack PV Packs A Wallop
XmasTrickStar “A White Christmas Indeed…”
Wo-Class Carrier Ero-MMD In Dire Straights
Voice Translation Tool Promotional Video “Inexcusable!”
Luck & Logic Far From Lucky
Yandere Simulator Possibly Headed to Kickstarter
Skimpy Elf Bikini Cosplay by Saku Supremely Sexy
Gothic Lolita Hatsune Miku Cosplay Busts Out
Delectable Dizzy Cosplay by Lechat
Dark Elf Cosplay by Non Very Dark Indeed
Titillating Tamako Cosplay Perfectly Pink
Goddess of 2ch: “Full of Lust & Urges (& Also Videos)!”
Raunchy Reisen Inaba Cosplay by Tsuyato
Haruhi Bunny Girl Cosplay Rocks Out
Youmu Ero-Cosplay by Madoka Adachi Deadly Sexy
Comiket 89 Cosplay Sickeningly Sweet
Comiket 89 Cosplay A Guilty Pleasure
Comiket 89 Cosplay Ceaselessly Sexy
Comiket 89 Cosplay Scorching Hot
Comiket 89 Cosplay Bottoms Out
Comiket 89 Cosplay Constantly Charming
Comiket 89 Cosplay Continues To Impress