The World Ends With You

The World Ends with You is a DS action role-playing game about a boy who wakes up with no memory of his past or himself then travels around the shopping district Shibuya in Tokyo to unravel some of his questions. The main character takes on a name of Neku as he finds friends and joins forces with people to fight monsters and completing missions given to him by the game master. Later he finds out he is dead and is fighting to possibly return back to the living world. As you walk through the city you find out that you are a ghost and can see the living world.

What I find interesting about this is that not only is the art interesting but the concept of the afterlife becoming a game of revival and truth. I enjoyed how the game took place in a real life setting of Shibuya 104 where it is known for being a high fashion area. With this in mind the designer used this and created an option to buy clothes with certain brands named after the zodiac with each zodiac given a different style of clothing. I also enjoyed the punk style of the art as it tries in with the concept of trying to rebelling against the game. What makes this game interesting is that there is a balance of detail between what the game want you to see and what they want you to pay attention to. Certain elements are a shadow when you aren't suppose to play attention to it whereas the ones that you need to pay attention to are in great detail.

The concept of the game of life becoming a game is interesting because you are technically dead already but you still fight to stay alive within the game world. Also I find it amusing that life becomes a game after you die as though even though you are dead you still want to stay alive. Though this game is similar to many other games it become quite popular because it's appealing art, twist to the plot and different fighting style.

Kou Shibasaki - Mukei Spirit (Intangible SPIRIT)

This is a music video of Kou Shibasaki's Mukei Spirit (Intangible SPIRIT). What I find interesting about this video is how they used stop motion with various pictures. I also enjoy the transitions to each scene and how it feels like a never ending story. At the beginning of the video it seems like you are looking at a picture within a picture making it feel never ending but then what makes it even more interesting is how the picture appears to be ripped as the woman (Kou Shibasaki) walks way. I also find it interesting when Shibasaki is singing at 1:48 when her face is being fragmented with close up pictures of parts of her face. It is interesting because in a normal music video you would see a person just singing which is boring however in this video it takes a normal seen an does unusual thinks with it i.e: fragmenting it. I also find it interesting at 2:31 as it appears like Shibasaki is going back and forth the 2 scenes. This scene seems like she is traveling between a fictional world of darkness/spirit and reality which makes it interesting because it could mean she is in a dream.

Necomimi

These cat ears are called Necomimi by Neurowear.


These moving car ears are not your typical cat ears you find from the dollar store, they are cat ears that move according to your thoughts or mood. How is this done? Well. the cat ears react to the electrical impulses in head muscles. Humans show emotions by changing their faces or displaying a certain body language, now they can also use their cat ears to display how they feel.

What I find interesting about this is that the cat ears can move according to a person's brainwaves. Though I find it interesting I also find it quite strange because when I first heard about this it felt like there are people want to become more like cats. Humans with cat ears are usually seen in animations where the person is half cat half human which is fine because it is fictional. However, in this case having cat ears are life like almost seems like human's crazy fantasy to be something they aren't. Thought this is an interesting toy for kids I can't imagine how much it would cost for one let alone who would want to wear it on a daily basis as shown in the video.

iPhone cookies

If you've heard of the iPhone you should know about the new iPhone that just came out — it's the iPhone cookie!


If you want to get a gift for someone and an iPhone is too expensive get the iPhone cookie. The iPhone cookie is identical to the iPhone in looks and size except that the cookie is edible. The iPhone cookies are made of a chocolate base and decorated with icons in icing. These cookies can be bought at the store Green Gables Sweets & Cafe in Aizumi town of Japan. The bakery sells the cookie for 2730 Yen a piece (~$32.50 CAD) which is less expensive then an iPhone but is expensive for a cookie. Though it is expensive, the cookie is quite popular and is given to people for gifts.

What I find interesting about this is that the cookie is pretty much identical to the iPhone which makes it pretty attractive compared to a typical chocolate cookie. The cookie looks so appealing that I wonder who would even eat it? Now a days food, especially deserts or snacks are being shaped to various shapes to attract customers to buy the product. In this case the baker turned the popular iPhone to a cookie to attract customers to buy their products.

The Converse :Canvas Experiment: Video Game

This a commercial for the brand Converse.


This commercial uses Chuck Taylor All Stars which are converse shoes to recreate classic pixel games. It is 4m high, 5m wide and consists of 480 shoes. To create the color switching of the pixels the shoes that where used were have black and half red. This canvas was created to be a recreation of the game seen at 0:07, the pixels were recreated as shoes and was rotated each time to change the color of the pixels.

What I find interesting about this is that the recreation of the games is very alike. Also I would never have expected shoes could be used to create a real life arcade game. Shoes are seen as protection for our feet or even a decoration for our feet, it is rare to see a game using shoes. Not only are the shoes interesting but how a 2-d pixel game is create to become 3-d. Now a days, more and more games are in virtual 3-d, however this plays with real life 3-d shapes instead of virtual but still uses a 2-d plane to look at.

PUMA House

Walking can take you anywhere, just grab a pair of shoes and go! In this case you can go to the Puma house in Tokyo.




This is the Puma House in the Aoyama district of Tokyo designed by the creative studio Nendo. The Puma house is a multipurpose area to advertise the brand Puma, this area is also used for exhibitions, fittings and product launches. The brand Puma is popularly known for it's relation to sports and athletics. This building is created to show a sense of movement with the shoes, this is done by creating staircase like shelves for the shoes. Why did the designer create movement? Well, this is because Puma is mainly known for it's relation to sports and athletics, with this they used the concept of constantly moving around.

I find this design interesting because it uses the similar concept of people walking up the stairs. Whenever you see some go up the stairs you tend to pay attention to their shoes more then usual, with this in mind, the design uses this to attract attention by repeating the staircase shape in the design of the building. Also the way the shoes are placed makes the shoes look like they are moving up the staircase by themselves. The movement of the staircases every keeps the audience's eye moving around the building with no specific focal point keeps the audience interested for a long time.

Matchstick

This matchstick lamp is designed by Sam Thompson. The lamp is defamiliarizes a matchstick as a lamp. The top of the lamp also resembles the striking area of a matchbox. Though this lamp looks simple and fragile inside the lamp consists of complex wiring and steel bars. The light switch is hidden at the top of the lamp as the red cube which is interesting because it is similar to how a matchstick. A matchstick is light when the top is stroked against the matchbook this in which is similar to the lamp because the top of the matchstick also needs to be activated to create light.

What I find interesting about this lamp is that on the outside the lamp looks simple and easily made, however when you truly look at how it is built it is more complex then you think it is. Most people probably underestimate how hard it is to build the things we commonly seen everyday. This reminded me of the saying don't judge a book by it's cover because their is more on the inside then the outer appearance.

Confetti Death

This artwork is called Confetti Death by the artist Typoe. The colorful confetti splash is produced from shards of paint spray caps and a skull is attached to it.

I enjoy this piece of artwork because not only is it vibrant but it also has a bit of a quirky disgust to it that makes it interesting. What makes this artwork fascinating is that the skull appears to be vomiting on to a wall where the skull seems to be the base of the artwork but in reality the "vomit" is supporting the skull to hang off the wall. The color of the vomit creates and interesting contrast with the white from the skull and the white wall which emphasizes the skull . Not only does the skull appear to be vomiting but it also seems like life is being sucked out of the mouth. It almost seems like the color is being taken away from the skull. I think the artist is trying to display life as color and how makes people who they are. Without the different experiences of life everyone would either be the same or nothing which is shown as a skull in the artwork.

A family in disguise

This us a series of artworks I recently found by Yu Jinyoung:




The series of artworks is A family in disguise, it displays a group of partially transparent dolls up against a patterned wall. All the dolls are different but made of the same material. I find it interesting because the bodies all seem like frail bubbles shaped as bodies. Also I find it interesting that only the faces and random parts of the body are solid rather than transparent.

The transparency of the dolls intrigues me the most because from a far distance only the solid parts will show causing the dolls to camouflage into the wall. Whether the artist means the dolls are disguised as a family or the family of dolls are disguising themselves as walls is questionable. If I were to looks at a doll on it's own I would interpret it as a person who isn't noticeable and blends in with the background. I would also interpret it as a person who is visible and have nothing to hide or people can easily read them. This artwork reminds me of how everyone seems almost the same in society, majority of the people in the world don't get noticed and are disguised within a crowd of people.

Overall not only the subject is interesting but the placement of the doll in front of a patterned background because lets the dolls pop out more from the background. If the dolls were to be placed on a plain white background the artwork may seem a bit plain. But when an unusual shaped and patterned background is placed the doll becomes more dynamic due to the transparency.

Free Parking

Ever play the game Monopoly? Well Monopoly is a board game where try to earn the most money by buying properties. Now there are many different versions of Monopoly, but what they have in common most of the time is the space on the board called free parking. This space allows the player to gain money that was lost from the board or it can just be a safety space to land without paying.

What I find interesting about this picture is that it takes the free parking from Monopoly and places it at the entrance and exit of the parking lot. This is quite interesting but only people who recognize the symbol from Monopoly, this indicates that it is a Vernacular design.

This design is to advertise for McDonald's special Monopoly event. Whether it truly means they have free parking is questionable but I find this design quite eye catching. It draws the audience who recognize the design because it is placed in a real life situation rather than a simple board game. Though Monopoly is based on real life retail it would be interesting to see a city that is built exactly like the board game and having a competition with houses and hotels that look like the pieces.

Alice in Wonderland

Artworks by: apricot8585

These artworks are based on the story Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland is a story about growth having that in mind, the artwork displays several elements that a child can relate to, such as doll. The random toys, dolls and signs in the artwork are one of the few elements that display the unpredictable mind of a child as seen in the original story. The artwork combines the western story of Alice in Wonderland and Japanese style art to create a Japanese style of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland.What makes this artwork amazing is the details of the floral patterns and the details of the background. The unity of the red ties the artwork together and the movement of the artwork lets the audience enjoy the overall appearance.

On the left you can see is Alice falling down with Peter the rabbit and on the right is Alice with Tweedledum and Tweedledee. As you can see the pictures still remain to tell part of the story. Nowadays there are many mash ups of stories and cultures, either way the moral stories always remain.

Tori Trigger

This is an artwork I recently found called Tori Trigger by Nanami Cowdroy.


Tori Trigger is a pretty interesting artwork to me. Not only is it beautifully rendered but it shows great meaning. I find it interesting that the artist placed the two contrasting elements of the gun and the cranes together in the art. Tori is translated as bird in Japanese and as you can see origami birds/cranes are flying out of the gun. Origami cranes are seen as a symbol of hopes and wishes , it was once said that if a 1000 cranes are folded then a wish will come true. In contrast a gun is seen as a symbol of war and violence. By placing these two elements together it forces the audience to think about what the artist is trying to display in their artwork.

I believe that the artist is trying to tell the audience that people rely on violence to protect them, this is what gives them hope that they will protect them. As the gun appears to be shooting out cranes, it also looks like the birds are escaping out of the gun. It feels like the birds are being release and I interpret it as birds(society) finally get their freedom as they escape from the violence.

Liar game

Liar game is a physiological manga/drama that plays with the concept of lies and trust.



This story starts of with a woman, Kazaki Nao, who is known for being "too honest for her own good". She doesn't tell lies and believes in almost anything she is told. One day she is sent an invitation to join a tournament that consists of many different games and she joins ends up joining by accident. Each round consists of simple games, but strategically the games are more complex than they seem.

The main idea of the story is about society and how people need to lie to survive. This is tested through the liar game tournament in the story, each player tries to lie to gain trust from the other players. In life, whether it is possible to survive without lying is questionable. In society their are swindlers who lie to take advantage of people and their are people who tell simple white lies. I believe that the author is trying to tell others that lies are not only for deceiving but can also help others. Though the author tells a moral story about trusting others I believe it is hard to trust people in society now a days. This is because there are many people who live on lies and coning people.

Before and After- Spot the difference

This illustration is by Kosterina Katerina. I find this artwork interesting because it familiarizes a live pig to a cooked on. Placing the 2 side by side creates a comical irony; both are the same thing but one is alive and the other one cooked. I reminds me of when people compare the before and after photos of someone to see the change. The ironic part of this artwork is when the artist ask the audience to spot 10 differences. If you look at the picture closely it says "Fair or Unfair, That is the question". In my opinion I think the artist is trying to ask whether it is fair to kill a pig even when it has a family to feed. Is it truly fair to kill a pig even when it has a family just to feed our own family? That is what I think the artist is asking.

The Mask She Wears

This artwork is called The Mask She Wears by Yuta Onoda. The medium is a combination of digital and mixed media. I find this art work interesting because it is beautifully rendered. Also it has a contrasting elements of the mask and the beauty of the petals that make the work intriguing. The pink petals is emphasized by the monochromatic drawing which shows a balance of beauty and darkness. The artist possibly wanted to let the audience see the contrast of beauty and ugly/scary. This reminds me of the saying: someone my look beautiful from behind but when you look that them up close they are truly not what they seem to be, sort of like don't judge a book by it's cover. Overall I enjoyed the grotesque mask that is contrasting with the delicate flower petals.

Perfume- voice

This is a music video I found recently:


I find this video interesting because the video is very vibrant and reminds me of a cartoon. Also the video plays with the depth and dimension of reality. I believe that the director wanted to show people the contrast of 3-d and 2-d. One example of this is at 0:13, the girl seems to be crying and as the camera focuses out, the person is on a screen and the tears come out of the screen as cutout droplets. Another is at 0:21, were it appears to be a board with black dots printed on it but one of the dots is actually a ball. Perhaps the director wanted to show the play of 3-d shapes and 2-d shapes to let the audience think about the similarities and contrasts. Games and movies are starting to become more advance and now there are 3-d games such as the 3ds. People are becoming more interested into interacting with 3-d virtual games and videos. Perhaps the director wanted to show the interaction of 3-d to 2-d in this video as they play with depth and shapes. Typically a green screen is used to show the interaction of cartoon and reality, what makes this interesting is that the 2-d shapes are used to mimic graphics.

Nuclear Boy - Efficient Way to Explain Things to Kids?

Recently there was a nuclear plant problem in Japan. Through all the sadness and grief, how would you explain the problem to kids? Recently I came across this video that explains about the nuclear plant problem in Japan.

This video is very intriguing to me, the artist uses various emotions to portray an amusing animation. Instead of using difficult or harsh words that might cause the child to become confused or scared, the artist tells a story by personifying the problem. The story uses metaphors as it tells it's story to little kids. A nuclear plant becomes a boy and toxic chemicals become poop and toxic air becomes fart. This video is quite cute and does it job by explaining the situation to little kids. The animation also has simple drawings and takes the different shapes of nuclear plants to differentiate each character in the story. The animation does not need to be fancy to appeal to children because the main point is to explain about the nuclear problem. Also what makes the story interesting is the narrator's voice and how he portrays the character.

However this story is just a stretched/soft version of the truth. Whether the child truly understands the danger or not is questionable from child to child. Sometimes the whole truth can be better than a stretched out one.

Live Actions

Cartoons seem real to children. Whether they admire Superman or Spongebob there will be a time where they want to be the protagonist of a cartoon they like. Children will start dressing up like them and will try to become them. As a child pretending to be a cartoon character is completely innocent. But what would your reaction be if you saw an adult?

live action: Spiderman, Sailor Moon

It is normal to see stories recreated into movies or dramas, many people like it when they can watch their comics come to life. It lets people see imagine themselves as a superhero or a person they cannot be.

As for me I find it strange sometimes when stories or cartoons become a live action. I didn't really think about as strange until I watch the live action of sailor moon. Though it is the same as watching Spiderman the movie, it felt more ridiculous. Why? Well I think it is because it was badly made compared to Spiderman the movie. But that let me see how odd live actions can because when you think about Spiderman, it's just a man in a tight costume jumping from building to building spying on people. As for Sailor Moon, when I watched it as an animation, it was fine. But when I watched it as a live action it felt like I watching over grown teenagers playing princess, wearing colorful school uniforms and doing silly actions. Sometimes it's better if animations stay as animations because in reality, if I saw people down the street acting as Spiderman or Sailor Moon or even any cartoon character on a daily basis ( time to time thing like Halloween) I would question what reality is and what would be the boundaries of reality.

Deka Wanko

A graphic novel I started to read is called Deka Wanko


Deko Wanko is about a rookie detective that has an extraordinary sense of smell that is like a dog's. The main part of the story is about the rookie detective solving crimes using her nose to sniff out the criminal. What's more ridiculous is that the main character dress as a child all the time (as seen above) while the others wear typical suits like a normal police officer should.

Though I do not exactly like this story, I do not hate it either. The reason why the story is popular is probably because of the ridiculousness of the main character in comparison to reality. When you think about it this is unseen of in reality. A police officer that wears a flashy/ frilly dress as they solve crimes is utterly mad in reality. But that is what brings the reader's attention when reading this story, I find that many people are attracted to strange things they have never seen or heard before.

In the end I find this story strange and ridiculous, but sometimes it's nice to sit back and just read nonsense.

Cityscape Coat Hangers

Recent I came across this really neat looking coat hanger. I find this coat hanger interesting because coat hangers are typically the same shape whether it's plastic or metal; they all have a simple purpose of hanging clothing. But in this case the artist did not want to create a normal coat hanger. The artist Christopher Jarratt created these coat hangers so that it represents different cities as seen here. I believe each city he created were major fashion cities and the hanger is suppose to represent the fashion placed on the hanger.

I was curious on how much these coat hangers were and found out that each one was about $460. I was quite shocked, who would buy hanger that may even be more expensive then what it is hanging? Coat hangers aren't typically placed on display like a flowerpot, so why would anyone buy something this expensive if it's going to be in your closet the whole time? why?, maybe because people want to show off to everyone how much money they have, or maybe they just enjoy the piece of art.

『the TV show』

『the TV show』

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I find this video interesting because it is visually attractive and it shows a repetition of events but changes it each time.

What is interesting about this video is that though each scene does not seem to relate with each other Sugimoto Kousuke uses a simple screen in each scene to show the last scene within the scene.The audience gets to see how each scene is part of what society sees on television (0:13). Later it shows a chaos of events when all the broadcasts from the television collide i.e: The commercial in 1:03, a women in a swimsuit drinking as she advertises the drink. As you watch carefully at the same scene 1:38,2:38. The scene changes each time as time passes.

Sugimoto Kousuke possible wanted to show how society watches all these shows on television and how no one actually thinks about what is going on. Mindless things go into your mind as you watch television.

BoNES

This is a video I recently found:




This video is interesting to me because it takes a microwave and plays around with how it is used. Microwaves are to heat food but in this case the artist shows a case were not only does it heat food up but it cooked the fish. The artist possibly wanted to show how now in society people buy instant meals so that they can skip the step of actually cooking the meal. More meals are becoming easy to make (ie: fast food), this might cause more people to stop using ovens and result in using microwaves. This means less and less people will learn how to cook.

The video BoNES also shows the impossible of how the microwave can turn things back to life. I think the artist is trying to say that society eats good food but in the end all we are left is scraps after we eat so we end up trying to find more food.

Sometimes humans can be greedy (just like the skeleton and how he tried to bring himself to life) and when that happens you can't turn back from what you did.

Technology Is Just Technology

Tokyo Genso is an artist that recreates scenes by painting over scenery from photographs. What I find interesting is that he recreates the scene so that it looks like ~50 years have passed.

||Top: Tokyo Genso's version of Shibuya|| Bottom: photo of Shibuya||

As you can see Tokyo Genso takes an image of the city Shibuya and paints a future version of it. Shibuya is a city in Tokyo, Japan: which is popular for it's technology, fashion and youth. Shibuya is know to be filled with young people. Shibuya is typically a lively city from day to night.

I find it interesting how Tokyo Genso uses the landmark (Shibuya 109 shopping center) to get the audience to recognize where it is but changes it in a way where it isn't Shibuya anymore. What he displays is quite the opposite of today's Shibuya. Tokyo Genso displays Shibuya as an empty district where no human life is seen and building seem to be broken and taken over by nature. This contrast is quite interesting because it depicts how humans work hard to create new technology but in the end it is nothing but scrap in the future. Society is what gives technology importance, otherwise nature will take it's dominance as seen in Tokyo Genso's work.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Recently as I was searching for a new game to play, I stumbled upon an interesting game called Ghost trick.




Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a game were you play a character who dies and loses all their memories. The object of the game is to discover who you are by possessing certain objects (this is your ghost trick) and saving others lives (but turning back time) that might hint on who you are.






What I find interesting is that not only is the artwork and animation amazing but the concept of the game is quite original in my perspective.


As seen above, the character designs take on a Japanese style: where the characters have big eyes with a combination of a Western style: where simple shapes are applied (i.e: the hair and the nose).

Many people in society make mistakes, some mistakes may even cause a life to be lost. Typically people wonder what happens to them after death, due to stories and the media the common ideas that are heard are rebirth, heaven, hell or a ghost. Shu Takumi, the Creator of this game takes on the concept of becoming a ghost after death and expands on the idea by adding a concept of correcting the mistakes that had cause others death.

What I find ironic about this idea is that you turn back time to relive the past and fix mistakes to save a life. Typically in a video game when your character dies the story you restart at the last point you saved at, but, in this case the game forces people to die so that you can go back 4 minutes before the death to try to save the person which is almost the same idea.