From Tech Crunch by Serkan Toto - In Japan, girls are crazy over virtual boyfriends. Webkare (Web Boyfriend in Japanese), a mix between a social network and dating simulation site, is Nippon’s newest web sensation. Geared exclusively towards girls, the site attracted over 10,000 members just 5 days after its release on September 10, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame.

The site is a huge hit over here. Girls sign up and become members of a social network but also users of a dating simulation in cartoon style. They have to try to hook up with one of four male Anime characters (who are the “stars” of the site) through “conversations” and must collaborate with other Webkare members in order to move on in the game. Eventually they conquer the heart of the chosen cartoon boy.

It’s pretty weird but clever. Dating simulations have been popular in Japan for quite a while now, but Webkare marks the first time the concept has been brought online and combined with social networking functionality.

Girls choose between one of four different male cartoon characters they want to hook up with upon registration. They can then “communicate” with their digital crush in cartoon-like sequences to try to win over his heart over the course of the game. It’s also possible to meet other boys later in the story, which uses a virtual high school as the main setting.

Interaction is quite limited, as users themselves can neither type text nor “speak” to the characters. Instead, Webkare will display a short cartoon clip if you click on the boy you like (some of the clips include voice samples such as “What’s up?”, “Do you always stay in the class room until dark?” “Leave me alone!” etc.), driving the love story forward step by step.

Read the rest of the story at Tech Crunch

From The New York Times by Martin Fackler - On a narrow Tokyo street, near a beef bowl restaurant and a pachinko parlor, Aya Tsukioka demonstrated new clothing designs that she hopes will ease Japan’s growing fears of crime.

Deftly, Ms. Tsukioka, a 29-year-old experimental fashion designer, lifted a flap on her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers — by disguising herself as a vending machine.

The wearer hides behind the sheet, printed with an actual-size photo of a vending machine. Ms. Tsukioka’s clothing is still in development, but she already has several versions, including one that unfolds from a kimono and a deluxe model with four sides for more complete camouflaging.

These elaborate defenses are coming at a time when crime rates are actually declining in Japan. But the Japanese, sensitive to the slightest signs of social fraying, say they feel growing anxiety about safety, fanned by sensationalist news media. Instead of pepper spray, though, they are devising a variety of novel solutions, some high-tech, others quirky, but all reflecting a peculiarly Japanese sensibility.

Take the “manhole bag,” a purse that can hide valuables by unfolding to look like a sewer cover. Lay it on the street with your wallet inside, and unwitting thieves are supposed to walk right by. There is also a line of knife-proof high school uniforms made with the same material as Kevlar, and a book with tips on how to dress even the nerdiest children like “pseudohoodlums” to fend off schoolyard bullies.

There are pastel-colored cellphones for children that parents can track, and a chip for backpacks that signals when children enter and leave school.

The devices’ creators admit that some of their ideas may seem far-fetched, especially to crime-hardened Americans. And even some Japanese find some of them a tad naïve, possibly reflecting the nation’s relative lack of experience with actual street crime. Despite media attention on a few sensational cases, the rate of violent crime remains just one-seventh of America’s.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Friends of Anime Unite!From Something Awful - This is an emergency newsletter, but before I begin with the unpleasantness, I must tell you that our meeting held on July 17 was a huge success! While we haven’t yet solidified the recruitment process and accompanying multiple-choice quiz and essay questions, we got the word out and had several hundred walk-in visitors who could have potentially asked us questions, or even joined the club!. Steven: Great idea to hold the meeting in the lobby of a hotel! Though next time, let’s make arrangements with the hotel staff so we can stay longer than 25 minutes or so.

Now, onto business: A great terror has befallen our peaceful high school anime club. Our High Chancellor of Manga, Lieutenant of Giant Mech Suits, Female Android Specialist, Master Sergeant of Cosplay, and Designated Keeper of All Original Copies, Greg, has forcibly lost possession of approximately 85% of the club’s anime holdings. Friends of Anime– this is a call to arms!

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the modest Greg must currently reside with his mother and new bullshit stepdad, Jeff, for approximately the next 3 to 4 years. Greg’s mother has no opinion of anime, but his stepfather does not approve. On the evening of July 20, whilst out amongst the local Hogwarts elite, Greg’s room was invaded by a certain stepfather’s bulldog, which found the stock of anime and destroyed a great deal of it. The humble collection of mainly VHS tapes was inside a wicker storage box and placed under Greg’s bed, yet suspiciously, the bullshit stepdog was able to find and chew up many titles. My friends, this was no accident.

Read the rest of the story at Something Awful, it’s hysterical!

From Rare Mono Shop - This heat which continues still. Especially, because the white-collar worker has done the necktie, the wind being difficult to enter in the body, all the more it is hot, it is, don’t you think?.

Such a time, just a little it is introduction of the cool item. Because the USB necktie cooler, when you connect with USB of the personal computer, the fan of built-in turning, sends the air facing toward the neck origin, it makes cool slightly, it is.

With this, pass also while working to be cool the ?? it is comfortably!

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan, already toping Amazon
Japan’s “Best Seller” list due to pre-release sales. By Dennis “Corin Tucker’s Stalker” Farrell, from Something Awful - The problem with witches is that they look like ordinary 13 year olds, which gives Japanese men no choice but to corner and feel up every young girl they come across.

In the newly released Nintendo DS game Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (which was surprisingly developed in Japan and not in Germany as the name implies), you play the part of a modern day witch hunter. Instead of employing antiquated methods of witch finding such as drowning, burning, or asking someone if they’re a witch, you use the touch screen to grope underage girls to determine their witchiness, then grope them some more to disable their magic powers.

This is causing something of an uproar in the U.S. for the obvious reason that our culture is woefully ignorant of the looming witch threat. For far too long these magical broads have gone unburned, avoiding detection for so long that their very existence is mistakenly considered a fable, much like dragons and the deaf.

Even if we did accept the presence of witches in the modern world, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan still wouldn’t go over very well in the U.S. because the ability to uncover them through touching is an ability that’s unique to the Japanese. While our tactile senses do little beyond reporting pain and pleasure and cardboard to our brains, a Japanese person can determine absolutely everything there is to know about an object by merely touching or fondling it. No one knows how this physiological phenomenon came about, but it has been the basis of many DS games thanks to the handheld’s touch screen interface.

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan english website