PopAsia – Retrenders

ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D from FanimeCon

March 23, 2014 by Johnny Moreno Leave a Comment

“The Eddie” from Ramen and a Half interviews Rookies is Punk’d at Fanimecon. ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D is a Japanese punk rock band from Shibuya, Japan, that was formed in 2005.
They’re very well known in their home country and have spread a niche of fans in cities of Asia countries and in the US. They’re hoping to go places and share what they have to offer to the music world.

This was an interview done last year. We apologize for the rough interview package because we had audio issues, but we decided to pull it out of the vault and put it together as best we can for the fans.

The majority of their Official Website ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D is in Japanese, but you can google them and find plenty of information.

They will also be at AnimeNEXT in June 6-8th, 2014. You can still Pre-Register.

Filed Under: Culture, Entertainment, Interviews, PopAsia, Ramen and a Half, Series, Shows, Videos Tagged With: Band, Japanese, punk, rock

KIds Logic KidsNations Optimus Prime

March 11, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

The Kids Logic Optimus Prime figure is a hot seller and especially in Hong Kong. The diecast big-head action figure is selling upwards north of $90.00USD and when you buy the action figure, you also get a smaller version – the KidsNations Optimus Prime.

Filed Under: Collectibles, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: Autobot, hasbro, HK, Hong Kong, Kids Logic, KidsNations, Optimus, Prime, Transformers

Toy Box Break!

March 10, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

This past weekend we had a fun Retrenders box break! Since we have buddies living in Japan and Hong Kong, we had them doing some “Toy Hunting”, specifically Transformers and Tomica toys.

Filed Under: Otakudom, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: Hong Kong, Hot Toys, Hypercity, Japan, Masterpiece, Tomica, toys, Transformers

LEGO Hong Kong Photos by Ric Tse

March 6, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Photographer Ric Tse takes snapshots of Hong Kong news by re-imagining the scenes with LEGO bricks.

Filed Under: Art, Photos, PopAsia Tagged With: history, HK, Hong Kong, Lego, news, political, Ric Tse

Hong Kong: Hot Toys Secret Base

February 24, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

What makes a great “Brick and Mortar” store? Of course the brand, cool products, location and customer service, but also style and creating a cool atmosphere like Apple stores. Hong Kong toy company Hot Toys known for making incredible realistic 1/6 scale action figures also has a retail store, the Hot Toys Secret Base. One part collectible museum and part retail shop.

Filed Under: Collectibles, Featured, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: 1/6 scale, action figures, Avengers, Batman, DC Comics, HK, Hong Kong, Hot Toys, Marvel Comics

South Korean Eating Voyeurism

February 3, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

In South Korea, the hot trend is watching people eat online. Park Seo-Yeon aka The Diva has several thousand viewers tuning-in to watch her eat delicious yummy meals and she reportedly makes around $9,000USD a month. Am I in the wrong business.

Filed Under: Food, PopAsia Tagged With: eating, Korean, Park Seo-Yeon, restaurants, South Korea, The Diva, Voyeurism

Bandai’s 40th Anniversary Mecha Hello Kitty!

January 20, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

If the Revoltech Hello Kitty action figure wasn’t enough, Sanrio has teamed-up with Bandai to make a special mecha Hello Kitty action figure.

Filed Under: Collectibles, Otakudom, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: action figure, Bandai, Chogokin, diecast metal, Hello Kitty, Japan, mecha, Sanrio, Super Alloy, Tamashii

Frankie’s Garage: Tokyo Auto Salon 2014

January 13, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

2014 automobile shows are already in full effect and this past weekend the Tokyo Auto Salon 2014 took place in Chiba, Japan. More than 400 foreign and domestic companies were on-hand and 800-plus cars were on showcase from car manufacturers and tuners.

Filed Under: AutoStyle, PopAsia Tagged With: Auto Salon, automobiles, Car Show, Chiba, Japan, JDM, models, race queens, Tokyo

Freestyle Breaking Session with Project Prepix Asia

January 2, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Like Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Master” flicks, this international break crew Project Prepix Asia gets their drink on and shows-off some hip-breaking moves:

Filed Under: Music, PopAsia Tagged With: Asia, B-boy, break dancing, breakin', crew, Dance, Korea, Mike Song, Project Prepix Asia

Live-Action Kiki’s Delivery Service!

December 10, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

We get a first look of the live-action film Kiki’s Delivery Service in this mini-teaser trailer.

Filed Under: Movies, Otakudom, PopAsia Tagged With: anime, Fuka Koshiba, Hayao Miyazaki, Kiki, live action, Studio Ghibli, Takashi Shimizu, the Grudge, witch

Medicom Toy x BAPE x Milo x Star Wars

November 25, 2013 by Stephen Jang 1 Comment

If you’re a fan of cute vinyl collectible figures then this 2-piece collection might be for you. Medicom Toy known for their BE@RBRICK figures teams up with fashion apparel brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) for a Milo and Star Wars collab.

This first piece is Star Wars x Baby Milo VCD Darth Vader figure with removable mask.

Filed Under: Collectibles, Otakudom, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: A Bathing Ape, Baby Milo, BAPE, Bearbricks, Darth Vader, Japan, Medicom Toy, milo, Star Wars, Stormtrooper, vinyl figure

The History of the Legendary Streetwear Brand: BAPE

November 19, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Iconic streetwear brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. This video takes us on a journey of 20 years of BAPE and where many streetwear brands and labels are fallen by the wayside, BAPE is still here kicking it and rocking the fashion industry.

Filed Under: Art, Design, Fashion, PopAsia Tagged With: A Bathing Ape, BAPE, graphic tees, Hoodies, Japan, Nigo, skate, sneakers, streetwear, urban fashion

Japan: Hello Kitty Econo-Box

October 29, 2013 by Stephen Jang 3 Comments

It’s a tuned JDM Mitsubishi Evo GSR … oh, wait a minute … it’s an econo-box base Mirage with Hello Kitty stickers. This limited edition Mirage will be tuned by Sanrio to kick-off Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday.

Filed Under: AutoStyle, Otakudom, PopAsia Tagged With: EVO, Hello Kitty, Japan, Lancer, Mirage, Mitsubishi, Sanrio

Sights, Sounds and Music Thru Tokyo

October 23, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Take in the sights and visuals of Tokyo with music and sounds remixed by musician and video artist Kutiman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QekSE3NBf7s

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Music, PopAsia, Videos Tagged With: DJ, Japan, Kutiman, music video, PBS, Public Broadcasting System, remix, Tokyo

Kidbreakers from Japan: Kyushu Danji Jr

October 15, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in breakdancing, we get to see something crazy and innovative by these kid breakers from Japan. They call themselves Kyushu Danji Jr and they look to take on the world!

Filed Under: Culture, PopAsia Tagged With: Asia Pacific Finals, bboys, BC One, breakdance, breaking, Dance, Japan, Kyushu Danji Jr, Red Bull, Strife TV

Japan Only: Butt Pudding (Crayon Shin-Can)

September 26, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

From the Japanese manga series by Yoshito Usui comes the Crayon Shin-Can butt-shaped edible pudding. The dessert kit comes with DIY instructions and when you’re done you can eat Shin-Can’s twerking butt.

Filed Under: Food, Otakudom, PopAsia Tagged With: Crayon, dessert, Japan, manga, pudding, Shin Can, twerk, Yoshito Usui

Drink: Hello Kitty beer

September 16, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Sanrio surely has licensed Hello Kitty on everything and anything, now a limited edition batch of Hello Kitty beer. This fruity alcoholic concoction has 6 tropical flavors like Lemon Lime, Peach and Banana. The beer is produced by Taiwanese beer maker Long Quan.

Filed Under: Drink, Otakudom, PopAsia Tagged With: beer, China, drink, fruit, Hello Kitty, Japan, Sanrio

Giant Gundams drop by Hong Kong’s Times Square

August 21, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

gundam hk times square

Image via Gundam.Info – Gundam Docks at Hong Kong

This past summer 2013 Bandai H.K. and Times Square presented Gundam Docks at Hong Kong Exhibition. This is one of biggest Gundam showcases outside of Japan. The Gundam Exhibtion runs through September 1st, 2013. So, if you’re on the Hong Kong island side, stop by Times Square to see the large diorama. Take the MTR and stop at Causeway Bay station!

Filed Under: Geeky, Otakudom, PopAsia, Toys Tagged With: anime, Bandai, Causeway Bay, exhibtion, Gundam, Hong Kong, Japan, MTR, robots, Times Square, Zaku

K-Picks: Crayon Pop 크레용팝 빠빠빠 (Bar Bar Bar)

August 20, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

According to my friend in South Korea, this is the latest and hottest girl group on the Kpop charts – Crayon Pop with “Bar Bar Bar”! The song went viral and straight to Number 1 on the Kpop Billboard charts. The 5 members are: Baek Bo-Ram, Kim Min-Young, Heo Min-Jin, Heo Min-Seon, Park Hye-Kyeong and Sekine Arisa.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Music, PopAsia, Videos Tagged With: Bar Bar Bar, Billboard, Crayon Pop, girl group, Kpop, pop band

Ramen and a Half @ Jpop Summit 2013 SF

August 2, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Jpop Summit 2013 was held in San Francisco’s Japantown and Union Square districts simultaneously on July 27-28, 2013. The Ramen crew was there to check out this thriving event. We also see Eddie hyped up for Jpop superstar singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Ramon tasting some drinks and having a frightening fun interview with “The Killer Wolf.”

Filed Under: Culture, Featured, Music, Otakudom, PopAsia, Ramen and a Half Tagged With: Japantown, jpop summit, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, San Francisco, Union Square

AX 2013 – Alodia! Porno Graffitti! CARAT!

July 10, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

This past weekend one of the biggest anime conventions here in the States – Anime Expo took place in SoCal, the LA Convention Center. Our team was ushered in and out of press conferences asking questions and taking pictures with Anime Expo’s special guests – world famous cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao, Jrock band Porno Graffitti and Jpop girl group CARAT.

Filed Under: Culture, Geeky, Otakudom, PopAsia, Ramen and a Half Tagged With: Alodia, Anime Expo, AX, CARAT, Cosplay, Jpop, manga, Porno Graffitti, rock

SPAM Carry Bag

June 20, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a fashionably cool bag to carry all your nifty tech gadgets like tablets, headphones, USB cables and stuff? If you’re in Asia, you can pick up this neat organizer bag – the SPAM from The Coop Idea LTD.

Filed Under: Fashion, Geeky, PopAsia Tagged With: big SPAM, born nifty, HK, little SPAM, smartphones, SPAM, tablets, the coop idea, USB

RETRENDERS highlight trailer for Big Wow Comicfest & FanimeCon

June 2, 2013 by Johnny Moreno 1 Comment

Continue to check back with RETRENDERS for upcoming segments from Big Wow ComicFest and FanimeCon!

Filed Under: Art, Collectibles, Culture, Entertainment, Otakudom, PopAsia, Ramen and a Half, Shows Tagged With: Big Wow! Comicfest, Chapulin, Comic-Con, ComicCon, Cosplay, FanimeCon, San Jose Convention Center

Ramen Burger

May 14, 2013 by Stephen Jang 1 Comment

Fast food Japanese burger spot LOTTERIA with the help of ramen restaurant Menya Musashi will introduce the ramen burger for a limited time. The burger contains ramen noodles of course, BBQ pork in a brown sauce, hamburger buns and fish sauce. If you’re in Japan, this ramen burger will be on sale until June 2013.

Filed Under: Food, PopAsia Tagged With: fast food, hamburger, instant ramen, Japan, Lotteria, Menya Musashi, noodles, ramen burger

3D Musical Mapping of Tokyo Rocks

May 9, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

This art project features great combination of art and music – Tokyo City Symphony.

Filed Under: Art, Design, PopAsia, Videos Tagged With: " "Rock City, " piano, "Futuristic City, "LOVE TOKYO", 10th, 3D, 3D mapping, City, Japan, miniature model, Roppongi Hills, symphony, Tokyo