When the Wachowski brothers made The Animatrix, it was one of those great East meets West creative events that produced a brilliant series of classic anime shorts. Each had the unique flavor of the individual anime director blended beautifully with the Matrix universe that the brothers had created. One of those anime gurus, […]

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If you bumped into Olivia Lufkin on the streets of L.A., she comes off as one of the nicest, politest and shyest girls. You’d never expect this half white, half Japanese singer to jump behind a microphone and bring some pretty solid stage presence and creative vocals in a relatively dark, heavy rock environment. But […]

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Imagine Pantera’s growling vocals blended with Hoobastank’s melodious rock. Layer under that a foundation of epic heavy metal that makes your whole car quake if you play it loud enough. This is what you get when you’re blasting some Slapshock, a top rap-metal band of the Philippines. With some rather socio-politically themed music videos and […]

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I had first seen a few scenes of Volcano High, a Korean high-flying, super-saiyan martial arts film, on MTV back in 2003. The visuals were fun in that awesome-yet-campy sort of way, and the concept of martial arts and power over the elements were some intriguing themes woven into the premise of the story.

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Being Asian American isn’t just about genetics, it’s about culture. The influx of Asian-fusion pop culture into the United States is a testament to the rise of Asian American culture. Outside the mainstream of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Linkin Park, however, is also a whole underground world of Pacific Media flowing in American subcultures, […]

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Like many rock bands from Japan, commonly known as J-rock, Uverworld has made itself known in the United States through their songs. “D-tecnoLife,” their adventurous and high-flying piece, is the second opening theme song for the widely loved anime Bleach, a story about a young man who sees spirits and becomes a Death God that […]

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San Francisco’s Japantown is celebrating its 100th anniversary as the oldest Japanese community on the continental United States.
Celebrations and events in honor of this historic event in Asian American history have been going on all summer long, and the 4th Annual Japantown Anime Faire (JTAF4) this weekend of September 16-17 will be adding some […]

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This weekend, Dec. 17-18, I’m hitching a ride on a bus as a band roadie for Random Ninjas up to the 3rd annual Japantown Anime Faire in San Francisco. I’m what people would call a Narutard, or (over)zealous fan of the Naruto anime series, so as always, I’m hoping

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The PSP’s multimedia capabilities have made it one of the must-have toys of the year. I was ecstatic when I got one for my birthday. Besides listening to digital music, watching homemade videos and slideshows and playing games like Dynasty Warriors 5, I’ve been

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