Awesome Japanese

It may be purely cinematic and completely Japanese, but this Airship video for Final Fantasy XIII is worth a billion words; the first part is mostly dialog, with more action in the second.

Set to music by Manabe Takayuki, Sugimoto Kousuke’s seemingly endless The TV Show will blow your mind; it’s an independent effort by Kousuke, who is a self-taught animator.

Anti System’s Extreme Clocks are time trials of a different sort: the clocks come in three completely one-of-a-kind designs that are made from 20″ BMX tires and recycled skateboards.

APPLEBUM’s Danchi fitted cap pays literal homage to their origins with a stunning all-over printed Tokyo nightscape; it’s a modified New Era 59FIFTY with thermal lining and embroidery.

Final Fantasy XIII’s ridiculously detailed Shiva Bike looks even hotter in real life with this 21″ transforming modelM by Kotobukiya; it includes two figures that combine into a single bike.

Bugei’s Lion Dog is an epic Koshirae set with epic origins; inspired by Japan’s golden age of swords, it’s made by modern sword art teachers, polishers, and the renowned Hanwei forge.

John Huang’s Stop Motion Gundam videos are mobile suit mayhem at its finest; he not only uses anime fighting styles and special effects, but mixes in Dragon Ball and Star Wars.

Mamoru Oshii’s anime classic goes Blu-ray with Ghost in the Shell 2.0, which features new CG scenes and a remixed soundtrack; purists, breathe easy: the original version is also included.

You’ll need to speak Japanese to understand this Overview trailer for Resonance of Fate, but a video is worth a thousand words (and bullets): gameplay starts about 3 minutes in.

Proof that the Japanese have embraced capitalism more thoroughly (and happily) than anyone else: these vanity barcodes are made by d-barcode and are fully scannable.

Akira fans are in for a treat with faithfully rendered 1:6 scale models of Kaneda and his bike; we’re most impressed by the latter, which sports LED lights, sound effects, and a working suspension.

The latest on our list of over-the-top costumes literally towers over us: this animatronic Gomora suit stands 10 ft. tall and 20 ft. long, moves its head and arms, shrieks, and spits vapor.

Launching 11/5 in Japan for the Playstation 3, 3D Dot Game Heroes has us giddy for its 3D voxel approach to retro-style, 2D graphics; no word yet on an international release date.

While Akira Kurosawa’s later works are an acquired taste, there’s no denying how badass Rashomon and Seven Samurai were; AK 100 collects all 25 films of his career on 25 DVDs.

The Japanese own the giant lizard scene now, but their love affair with monsters goes way back: these Folk Monster Anatomy posters explore their grisly (and somewhat tasty) innards.

After dissecting LEGOs, Dunnys and even Gummy Bears, Jason Freeny takes his scalpel to Domo: we’re still not sure if the fur and teeth are scarier or the blood and guts are.