The following content is very much NSFW. Illustration series of girls showing off their underwear while giving you disgusted looks to become an anime. Sooner or later, there may be an anime for everything. And with doujinshi (self-published art works) as an endless well to tap, that even includes the very niche subject of girls showing you their panties with disapproving looks. Popular doujin series Iya na Kao Sare Nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai (“I Want You To Make a Disgusted Face and Show Me Your Underwear”) by Shimahara is being turned into an anime. 「嫌な顔されながらおパンツ見せてもらいたい」2018年にアニメ化。豪華声優陣が発表 https://t.co/3QmS4ukIsz #嫌パン #嫌パンアニメ pic.twitter.com/moy1XnUxNh — ごえモン (@goemon_fgo) 2017年12月29日 The doujin project began as a series…

Sakiyama is a 28-year old illustrator and manga artist based in Tokyo. On her Pixiv page, she explains that she produces art to release stress. On her Twitter account, she talks about her activities as “spewing out” creations. Consuming or being consumed by demons, whether figurative or real, seem to play an important role in her work. At times dark and ominous and at other times animated by a quirky sense of humor, her creations can be both visually arresting and amusing. Sakiyama graciously allowed us to repost some of her illustrations for this article, so we can let her art do the talking: With permission from © Sakiyama /…

Pixel artist, designer, DJ and track maker Motocross Saito creates memorable GIF animations in a retro style, channeling ’80s and ’90s culture and music, with a focus on hip hop. Although he has been introduced internationally as the “loneliness GIF” artist, as Motocross Saito explains in this interview with CNN Japan, what he is really aiming for in his animated GIF pixel art is to “express a feeling that can soothe your mind, create a calming effect.” Many of his animated GIF scenes feature a common character, perhaps his alter ego, a school girl with blue hair who seems to like hip hop, flips through LPs at record shops, makes…

David Bowie lives on as traditional Japanese artwork. UKIYO-E PROJECT was started by Yuka Mitsui, CEO of Mitsui Agency International, to preserve the traditional art of Japanese woodblock paintings and revitalize interest in one of Japan’s most iconic art forms by merging ukiyo-e style artwork with characterizations of legendary musical artists. In the past, the project has produced gorgeous and striking Japanese woodblock prints of celebrated artists such as KISS, as well as a metal and ukiyo-e mashup of Iron Maiden that turned mascot Eddie into a blood-soaked demon. Now the project will turn its spotlight to legendary musical artist David Bowie, showcasing the prints from June 23rd to July…

Japanese vegetable origami artist creates awesome moving creatures. Japanese Twitter user Inori (@kusabanaasobi) has a passion for collecting and playing with flowers, but on Twitter she’s an artist with a reputation for “vegetable origami”. Inori collects flowers and leaves, cutting them ever so slightly to produce natural bends and then proceeds to fold them into complex creations like this: 落ち椿で赤い着物の女の子を作ります🌺花二つ、蕾一つ、葉一枚、茎少しでできています。道具は使いません。椿の花の雄しべを切るときに葉っぱのギザギザを使っているのは爪で切ると爪が黒くなるからです💧とても可愛くてお気に入りの遊びです🍀🍀 pic.twitter.com/uJPM3mgL4g — inori (@kusabanaasobi) 2017年11月27日 Inori has recently gained some attention on Twitter for her latest creation–a fluffy dead ringer for a freshly hatched chick that has many wanting their own to hold and pet. While Inori relied on her artistic sense and enthusiasm for gathering items found in nature,…

“I want to make art that somehow resonates with the viewer” Japanese illustrator Rokuban draws fictional cities and urban megastructures that seem to combine a sense of otherworldliness with a nostalgia for the Showa Era of Japan, with perhaps a bit of influence from other East Asian cities thrown in. Even though the residents rarely make an appearance, the sprawling city they inhabit imposes its presence. Sometimes bright and colorful with lights and neon signs alive with warm hues, sometimes darker and more restrained against an invariably cloudy but bright azure sky, his cityscapes are both familiar and foreign, at times inviting and at other times imposing and perhaps even…

The best artists in Japan to follow on Twitter. In Japan, many famous artists have strong social media followings on Twitter, but recently lesser known illustrators and creative talents have been recently using a hashtag to gain more attention and hopefully strike it big. The hashtag, #私の作品もっと沢山の人に広がれ祭り, translates to “A festival to spread my work out to more people!”, and it’s certainly worked to showcase a variety of hidden artistic gems. While several of the artists introduced below are already acclaimed in their own right, many gained popularity via the hashtag and routinely put out truly fascinating work. Here are several examples of artists in Japan making a name for…

Japanese artist Seiradou (@seiradou12) may need to be careful not to develop a god complex when applying their craft, as the talented “handmade artist” is turning heads on Twitter by building paperweight-sized fantasy-inspired ruins and universes out of resin, and intricately placed gears and watches. Source: Seiradou Source: Seiradou Source: Seiradou Seiradou has recently gained a lot of attention on Twitter of a “Galactic Borderland”. “Seira” translates to “aligning countless stars”, and that concept is reflecting in Seiradou’s work, which can be fully appreciated in a video of the finished product featured at the Tokyo Design Festival. デザフェスで展示する【銀河 幽縁地】の動画バージョンです❗️ 写真では分からなかった構造や立体感を少しでもお伝えできればと思います🌟#レジン pic.twitter.com/cb64mFNcM8 — 星羅堂 (@seiradou12) 2018年5月9日 Scenery contained in Seiradou’s beautiful…

Japanese character designer impresses with stunning artwork. Many of talented Japanese artists that have gained popularity on social media tend to explore larger themes through their artwork, whether it be the need for animals to comfort humans in trying times or the darker aspects of societal and mental issues. Sometimes, however, the depth of an artist’s work can be found in the originality and scale of the design and world they can imagine. That seems to be exactly the case with PALOW, an illustrator and character designer that creates original universes and characters in a stunning blend of fantasy and science fiction. Source: PALOW Born in Fukuoka, PALOW has worked…

An Interest In The Spiritual Japanese illustrator hasuimo makes no secret about the orientation of her art. The tweet pinned to the top of her account clearly states: “I like spiritual things.” Bringing together a kawaii and fashion-conscious aesthetic and a fascination with Christian, Buddhist and Shinto iconography, sometimes blended together in startling new configurations, the illustrations she shares on her Tumblr account alternately feature nuns, angels, saints, cherubs, dead bodies, skulls, crosses, crowns, halos, aureoles, tombstones and even Jack-O’-Lanterns in the mix. Many of the girls in hasuimo’s art wear triangle headbands. Originally an item decorating the bodies of the deceased at Buddhist funerals, it is often used in…

Magical Girl Anime The magical girl genre in manga and anime was born in 1960s with titles like Himitsu no Akko-chan (1962), picked up momentum in the ’70s and ’80s with titles like Majokko Megu-chan (1974-5) and Creamy Mamy, the Magic Angel (1983-4), and gained international fame in the ’90s thanks to Sailor Moon. The number of magical girl anime produced between 1980-2000 was almost 3.5 times the amount produced in the previous two decades, and the number continues to grow in the 21st century. Transformation Scenes in Magical Girl Manga and Anime As many anime fans know, one of the most famous tropes of the magical anime genre is…

If the girls populating the illustrations of Kaechang, with their long limbs and large hands, their small heads and big eyes, remind you of Osamu Tezuka, the resemblance is not a coincidence. The so-called “Father of Manga” who created Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Blackjack and Phoenix was Kaechang’s original inspiration when she began drawing in her childhood years. Born in Yokohama in 1995, she graduated from Department of Information Design of Tama Art University. Since 2010, Kaechang has been actively uploading her illustrations on Tumblr and her influence has spread through social media. We interviewed Kaechang to learn a bit more about her artwork and her vision: grape…

When thinking of popular dances in Japan, the perfectly synchronized robotic dances of WORLD ORDER and other country-sweeping viral dances may come to mind, so it can be easy to forget that some of the best dances in Japan originate from traditional performances. One such dance is the Yosakoi, which blends traditional Japanese dance movements (such as Awa Odori) into an energetic performance, sometimes matched with modern music. Yosakoi are performed at summer and school sports festivals, and typically are used to liven up audiences. Dazaifu, located in Fukuoka, is home to a large festival where yosakoi performance teams compete in elaborate and impressively choreographed dances. At this year’s 14th…

Stunningly gorgeous photography of Kyoto shows why it remains one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Often celebrated as a popular tourist spot for its deep and thriving traditional Japanese culture, Kyoto is home to many of Japan’s most famous and sacred attractions. What may be lost in all the clamor to explore popular areas, however, is just how naturally gorgeous Kyoto is. The must-visit Arashiyama bamboo grove is just one of many of natural wonders that Kyoto boasts on the best 30 places to visit in Japan, and at times simply taking in paths uncharted in Kyoto is an experience that tops rushing to any of the…

Amazing flip-book artist shows the dangers of overwork culture in Japanese “black companies” using a heart-wrenching, but brilliantly animated video. While there are more innocuous (and quite frankly, accurate) roots to the stereotype of unusually long workdays at Japanese companies, many of the darker stories surrounding grueling work schedules in Japan are in relation to what are referred to as burakku kigyo (literally “black companies”), or more aptly translated, “shady companies”. The term refers to companies that violate workplace standards with exploitative overtime systems (with no overtime pay), bullying, and damage to career reputation of workers who attempt to attempt to quit. The phrase made another term, karaoshi (“death from…