Paying homage to the halcyon days of Japanimation and The Simpsons of old comes this revival of Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyberpunk manga classic Akira — as cast by the famed characters of Springfield. Thanks to the lovers of comics and the powers of the Internet, Ryan Humphrey‘s brainchild Bartkira became a massive art collaboration led by James Harvey — enough of a cult hit to eventually […]

Seeing as Keanu hasn’t made anything decent since Devil’s Advocate, it’s kind of a surprise to see just how watchable his latest film looks. 47 Ronin tells the tale of a somewhat Akira Kursawa boilerplate conflated with a Zach Snyder masturbation fantasy. The Seven Samurai aping film also stars Oscar winner Rinko Kikuchi and that […]

Taking some serious cues from the most famous motorcycle in manga, the zecOO mOtOrcycle from Japan’s Znug Design is one of the more headturning electric motorcycles to have left the EV dream studio. Loosely inspired by Tetsuo Shima’s famed motorcycle in Akira, the zecOO is only matched in futuristic looks by the likes of the […]

Debuting this Fall, Alpinestars has tapped into its archives for a new premium casual line. The nearly 50 year old Italian motorsports powerhouse has channeled their roots in motorcycle racing and focused them on Oscar, their new contemporary menswear line. Drawing inspiration from their legacy in motocross and fusing it with modern technical details and […]

You can’t help but notice: of the top 10 highest grossing movies in each of the last 10 years, an alarming 74 out 100 are adaptations of existing material: comic books, books, video games, sequels, reboots, et al. Everything Is a Remix is a 4-part series exploring the remix techniques involved in producing such films. […]

Two short films from the Al Jazeera network highlighting the centuries-old fading arts of the samurai. You know we love our samurais, even if it comes in Chanel or Cat Armor form, so these hit especially close to home. The first film is about the last sword-maker in Taiwan who at 65 hopes to find […]

I dig this robotic plant project by Japanese artist and visual designer Akira Nakayasu. Based roughly on an earlier work titled Himawari, which was a sunflower-shaped robot, this piece (simply titled Plant) is an interactive installation inspired by the sight of grass blowing in the wind. Plant is made up of 169 artificial robotic leaves […]

This Samurai Umbrella is brilliant in its simplicity and pretty straightforward in execution. When it rains you can traipse around the city like a fancy lad afraid of drops falling on your head, but when it dries up store the umbrella over your back like Toshiro Mifune all drunk and angry like. Who needs a […]