Kickstarter (Page 2)

Boys’ love manga company now raising funds to make a Japanese textbook

Anyone who has ever studied Japanese as a second language can tell you that it’s a difficult language to learn, and the textbooks currently available on the market don’t make it any easier. Japanese textbooks are largely outdated, not to mention sleep inducing. Not even the most dedicated language students find joy in flipping open the dry and uninteresting pages of their workbooks or assaulting their ears with the drone of their practice CDs.

Luckily, that could all change, thanks to the ingenious writing of Yumiko Akeba and the online manga distributer, Otome’s Way. This start-up company specializes in “boys’ love” manga and is hoping to bring the appeal of Asian pretty boys to the learning field by creating a series of Japanese textbooks that use everyone’s favorite manga tropes as effective teaching tools. They call it A Fujoshi’s Guide to Japanese.

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Akihabara-based magazine blasts past Kickstarter goal, aims to bring otaku culture to the world

The word “otaku” in the Japanese language is a general term for anyone who is passionate about a hobby. But in English, “otaku” has become a term that refers to people who are obsessed with Japanese culture, particularly anime and manga. But the world of the otaku is sometimes misunderstood. That’s where JH Lab, a group of “otaku of the highest caliber” comes in, hoping to demystify the world of anime and manga fans and bring the culture of Akihabara to people everywhere.

To do this, JH Lab has created Akiba Anime Art (AAA), “a brand new pop-culture magazine from Akihabara, featuring cool OTAKUs, advanced technologies, kawaii-cosplays, Dojins and much more!” They’ve started a Kickstarter campaign to make their dream a reality and have quickly surpassed their initial goal, raising over US$42,000. Supporters of the project will receive special edition illustrations from featured Japanese artist, John Hathway, and have a chance to be drawn into his amazing Akihabara picture jockey cityscape. Let’s take a closer look at this rapidly growing magazine’s “ultra otaku power.”

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Live-action Princess Mononoke fan film “Wolf Girl” goes live on Kickstarter

It’s only September, but 2013 has already been quite the year for Studio Ghibli news. What with the critical success of Kaze Tachinu, jaw-dropping theatre adaptations, incoming movie Kaguya Hime no Monogatari and the last week’s announcement of Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement, we can’t remember a year like it. And now, just when we thought we couldn’t possibly squeeze in any more Ghibli goodness, we’ve received word that a new live-action fan film inspired by Princess Mononoke is in the works!

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Anticipated anime, Little Witch Academia 2, blows by its $150,000 goal after one day on Kickstarter

Remember back in April when we brought you news of the explosively popular anime, Little Witch Academia? The short movie received such an overwhelming abundance of positive feedback from the online community that its creators Studio TRIGGER have decided to create a sequel to their highly acclaimed magical girl anime. And, in order to procure the funds for some extended running time, the team has turned to the American crowd-funding site Kickstarter.

The project began accepting pledges on Monday, July 8, and amazingly surpassed their desired US$150,000 mark after just one day!

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The Mine Kafun — An Amazing Invention That Could Save Lives And Make the World a Safer Place

We all know that life can be cruel, but few things in this world are crueller than landmines that can indiscriminately maim or kill innocent civilians, young or old, decades after they’ve been planted. If ever you needed proof of human foolishness, you only have to think about the countless hidden landmines still buried in different parts of the world, perhaps long forgotten by the people who planted them, but still as capable as ever of maiming or killing unsuspecting victims.

Sadly, mines continue even today to be very much a real threat. In Afghanistan, it is reported that roughly one million people live within 500 meters (about 1/3 mile) of areas suspected of containing land mines and that more than 40 people each month lose their lives to these concealed but deadly contraptions. The tragic, needless loss of life is truly horrifying to think about. But now, there’s a new device that may make a huge difference in improving the situation. It’s called the Mine Kafun, and don’t let its somewhat futuristic yet simple appearance deceive you — this gadget could be a very effective and inexpensive weapon in mankind’s efforts to rid the world of landmines. Read More

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