manga

The late Steve Jobs was always a little larger than life, a sort of geek superhero, bounding through product announcements, his legend growing with every new Apple device. He's about to get an unusual tribute. Jobs has been cast as a heroic lead in an upcoming Japanese manga series.

Jobs was already reinvented as an action figure and as the star of a biopic comic book. It's a small step to project him as a manga lead.… Read more

Google's Android operating system comes to life in a new manga comic that turns leading handset makers into--no joke--Japanese schoolgirls.

Resting firmly in the Japanese-dominated pop culture territory that lies somewhere in between totally awesome and totally creepy Sweet Android High-school chronicles the soap-operatic goings on among a group of students who just happen to be anthropomorphic representations of huge corporations.

The gang includes "international students" Moto-Laura-chan, Sam-Sung-chan, H-T-Syee-chan, Elle-G-chan and Soni-Eri-chan. See what they did there? That last one is a particularly clever play on Sony Ericcson. There are also characters representing some of the Japanese makers, including Sharp, Fujitsu, and Casio.

The latest scandal at Sweet Android High, of course, is that a teacher named Google has married Moto-Laura-chan. While it's tough to translate the panels, there doesn't seem to be any sign that a headmaster named Trade-Commission-chan opposes the marriage, but Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus clearly make appearances. Funny--I never envisioned that the first Android 4.0 phone would be so buxom.

See if you can make any sense of the below panels for yourself:… Read more

Nikki is into crochet. She's also into anime and video games like Final Fantasy XII, Halo, and BioShock. Not one to lead a segmented life, she weaves her geeky and craftsy interests together, and makes crocheted dolls of video game, anime, and manga characters.

Totoro, Sackboy, and the knights from Castle Crashers have never been so cute.

Nikki--a nursing student who goes by the Facebook handle "Fullmetalpiglet," a takeoff on the manga series "Fullmetal Alchemist"--doesn't sell her dolls, but she does explain how to make them in detailed online video tutorials for crafting … Read more

Workers in Japan have built a 60-foot statue of famous cartoon robot Gigantor in the city of Kobe. The statue is an actual-size replica of the hulking robot depicted in numerous manga and anime. It's known as Tetsujin 28 in Japan.

Towering over Kobe's Wakamatsu Park, the statue weighs 50 tons and cost some 135 million yen ($1.5 million) to build. It took about six weeks to erect.

The body parts were made earlier this summer. Here's a neat video showing manufacturing at a factory in Kishiwada City, Osaka.

Gigantor follows the construction of another 60-foot robot statue in Japan. An incredibly detailed, life-size replica of the fictional Gundam robot was built in a park in Tokyo in June, and it could shoot light from its body.

Designed as a permanent tourist attraction, the Gigantor monument was organized under the NPO Kobe Tetsujin Project to honor the work of the late cartoonist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a Kobe native and the genius behind such manga classics as Sally the Witch and Giant Robo.

Gigantor is also a symbol of the rebirth of Kobe after it was devastated by the 1995 earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people. January 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the tragedy. … Read more

These days I don't have much time for reading. More accurately, I don't make much time for reading as XBL and P90X take up any extra time I may have. This year, however, I vowed to read two books per month. Having only completed three so far, I'm a bit behind.

So imagine my disappointment surprise when Crave Senior Editor Leslie Katz barges steps lightly into my office and forces politely suggests that I write a blog on a couple of books she'd just received. Seriously, how could I say no to that?

So, yes. I didn't seek out the "The Manga Guide to Electricity" and "The Manga Guide to Statistics" myself, but I'm thankful they were forced down my throat came across my desk.

So far, I've only read through the first few pages of "Electricity" and the first chapter of "Statistics." Based on my limited exposure, I'm impressed by the $19.95 books' ability to inspire me to want to want learn more about two subjects I previously had little to no interest in. Kinda like having the hots for a Trekker in high school inspired me to learn Klingon. Or at least try.

The books are part of a series of manga guides by No Starch Press, a publisher of geek entertainment. Each book tells a story in the manga (Japanese comic book) style of a young girl being educated about the book's subject. If you've ever seen anime or manga you'll know what to expect here: huge eyes, gaping mouths, and of course, young girls in schoolgirl outfits. The art, however, never gets what I would call racy.

The real strength of the art is in its simple, clean lines that assist in the very pragmatic approach to teaching. … Read more

In case you were concerned that Linux didn't have enough of a presence in pop culture, you can now read English translations of Ubunchu, a Japanese Manga comic series about three students in a sys admin club who are getting into Ubuntu.

I await the episode where Mark Shuttleworth flies his open-source spaceship to Japan to meet the students.

Via BoingBoing

Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom

Those uninitiated in the world of anime might not be familiar with Doraemon, a robotic manga cat from the future that's known for its infinite Inspector Gadget-like supply of gizmos. One of the Japanese character's many tools, Tokyomango says, is an air gun that could fire a fake bullet simply by the voice command of "Bang!"

Epoch has taken that concept and turned it into a real-life device, a voice-activated control that can take over the functions of regular remotes with built-in IR signals already programmed into it. The result, if all works correctly, is a … Read more