Twentythree

How much rice and pasta is too much rice and pasta?

As you well know, we at SoraNews24 do not shy away from a food challenge, and boy are there plenty of them here in Japan. Previously we’ve tucked into seven-pound bowls of tempura and rice, two-foot tall parfaits, two-foot tall shaved ice, and a 6.6-pound red bean bun, and those are only our most recent endeavors.

This time we’ve popped into Nagoya, a city with a particularly strong love for dekamori, or giant servings, where we came across Tenmentabo A-I-U-E-O, an Italian restaurant with a big menu. It’s pretty infamous for its dekamori menu, so we really had no choice but check it out, being the thorough and conscientious journalists that we are.

The restaurant has a much more stylish interior than we’d expected, and the menu was packed with unique pasta dishes from cover to cover. But our reporters didn’t spend much time looking at it, since their goal was to challenge Tenmentabo’s legendary portion sizes, so they skipped over everything else and flipped right to the page with the dekamori. The choices looked pretty intense, and thus they were deemed worthy competitors.

Among the options, one in particular stood out: the mysterious Deramoko. It cost a hefty 3,800 yen (US$35) and is normally restricted to single challengers, but pairs and groups can also take on the challenge if everyone orders a drink for 200 yen each. Two of our reporters were there for the fight: Ahiru Neko, who himself has had much experience in the world of big food, and Yoshio, our boss and company founder. Though both had taken on a pasta challenge before, they were still nervous. In this land where dekamori reigned supreme, what could they expect?

Finally, a waiter appeared like a beacon of light, and placed a large plate in front of our two intrepid reporters. Ahiru Neko and Yoshio’s eyes bugged out of their heads when this huge monstrosity was set before them:

The plate was 40 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, with four kilograms (8.8 pounds) of food piled on top. It’s called the “Deramoko” because it’s like a loco moco dish, with eggs and meat over rice, and dera is the Nagoya slang term for “amazing” or “incredible.” It’s half covered in loco moco and half in Napolitan spaghetti, which is a spaghetti with tomato sauce.

▼ iPhone for scale

There’s also a 1.5 pound steak, fried eggs, sausages, toast, and salad. It was a formidable foe to our hungry reporters.

This was not the time to mess around with knives, so they used a pair of scissors to cut the steak into bite sized pieces. With that done, it was time to dig in, and our two fighters dove into the ring without a second thought!

The food was actually really good. The Napolitan pasta was so tasty that it was easy to keep eating it until it was gone. Before they knew it, half the plate was empty! Soon it became clear that our reporters would win this battle easily. Nagoya cannot defeat SoraNews24’s reporters! Go, Yoshio! Go, Ahiru Neko!

▼ Yoshio took on the challenge with gusto.

▼ Ahiru Neko fought calmly and rationally.

Until…

▼ Dun!

▼ Dun dun!

Until they got to the rice. That enormous serving of rice was not playing around. They managed the eggs and the steak easily, but when they found the mountain hidden underneath, their progress stopped. They could not climb this mountain. The could not win this battle.

They could not conquer Nagoya.

So it was with heavy hearts and tears in their eyes that they raised the white flag in shameful defeat. Well, thankfully, the restaurant allows you to take home what you can’t finish (for an additional fee of 50 yen), so at least the food wasn’t wasted in the end.

With doggy bags in hand, our reporters retreated from Tenmentabo A-I-U-E-O, considerably full and a little bit the worse for wear, wondering how in the world any one person can finish one of those 15-inch plates. Was it even possible? Next time we’ll have to bring Mr. Sato…then maybe Nagoya will finally be conquered.

Restaurant Information
Tenmentabo A-I-U-E-O / 店麺多房 あいうえお
Address: Aichi-ken, Nagoya-shi, Tenpaku-ku, Hirabari 3-704
愛知県名古屋市天白区平針3-704
Open: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
Website

Images © SoraNews24
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Is…is Dragon Quest real?!?

Most of us, on any given day, would prefer not to get accosted by monsters, and even among video game adventurers, it’s been several years since random encounters went out of fashion. And yet, to RPG fans, few words inspire the joy that the sudden announcement “A slime draws near!” can.

The slime is the first enemy gamers ran into back in the original 1986 Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior, and since then, it’s appeared in each and every installment of the franchise. But while encountering slimes in a Dragon Quest game is a given, it’s a far less expected turn of events in the real world, which brings us to this video from Japanese Twitter user @Carex_minima, which he shared with the description of, you guessed it, “A slime draws near!”

スライムが あらわれた！ https://t.co/F35VTbcwLO

—
かれっくす@草 (@Carex_minima) July 28, 2019

You may be asking what sort of sorcery has allowed @Carex_minima to fuse our world with that of Dragon Quest’s, but no mystical treasures were involved in the creation of his video, nor was any CGI wizardry. Instead, all he needed was a potted lotus plant, a splash of water, and a pair of stick-on plastic googly eyes, of the type you can find at any novelty shop. Then it was just a matter of combining them giving, the plant’s stalk a few twirls, and filming everything in slow motion.

▼ For reference, here are some Dragon Quest slimes

@Carex_minima かな？ https://t.co/FdF9QmfjLR

—
🌐闇ソン🌐〆 (@YJocn29) July 29, 2019

But while “Dragon Quest slime” is the most common interpretation of the cute little gelatinous blob @Carex_minima created, others have seen the squishy puzzle blocks of the Puyo Puyo video game series, Studio Ghibli anime Howl’s Moving Castle’s fire spirit Calcifer…

@Carex_minima https://t.co/hlpZzuPujj

—
S•Sink 🍃 (@sergiosink) July 28, 2019

…or even species of Pokémon such as Caterpie or Metapod (shown on the right below).

@Carex_minima https://t.co/sxecbEdHMF

—
👑ななげ／するめる (@surumel_14) July 29, 2019

But one thing just about everyone who’s seen the video agrees on is that it’s adorable. Oh, and they also agree that the very end, when we suddenly have to say good-bye to our slime friend, is heartbreaking. So to help ease the pain, here’s another video from @Carex_minima, showing a pair of happy slime twins atop some taro plant leaves…

サトイモにも2匹のスライムがあらわれた！ https://t.co/IhnuVStxyD

—
かれっくす@草 (@Carex_minima) July 28, 2019

…and a reminder that as long as you’ve got some googly eyes, water, and a somewhat flat surface, you yourself can summon as many slimes as you want.

Source: Twitter/@ Carex_minima via IT Media
Images: Twitter/@Carex_minima
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Mr. Sato gets closer to Olympic gold than he ever dreamed possible.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics less than a year away, we can expect Olympic fever to gain some serious momentum from here on out. For example, a very brief showing of the actual bronze, silver, and gold medals at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building drew a big crowd as our reporter Mr. Sato found out.

Even arriving at the same time that the venue opened, Mr. Sato was confronted with a lineup dozens of people long.

There were actually two lines, one for the medals and the other for the torch. The medal line was longer, and Mr. Sato too decided to wait for those first in order to come face to face with a gold medal.

Probably because of the early hours, there were mostly elderly people waiting, all with various image-capturing devices from smartphones to SLR cameras.

Mr. Sato couldn’t blame them, this would probably be the closest he ever gets to an Olympic medal and he planned to take as many pictures as he could before spending the rest of the time burning their image into his brain.

After waiting in a line of about 20 or 30 people for 15 minutes, he finally got his chance to see one of each class of Olympic medal for the 2020 Games.

▼ Bronze (front)

▼ Silver (front)

▼ Gold (back)

Or course, Mr. Sato did want to see both sides of the medal, but wondered why they decided to show the back of the gold one instead of the bronze or silver.

He finished up his shooting quickly so as not to hold up the line that was steadily building behind him. Then, he headed right over to the torch line. Here visitors can actually hold the torch, and the staff will take their pictures.

Mr. Sato felt bad that those poor workers were forced to take people’s pictures all day long, so he tried to make them smile with some signature Sato mugging for the camera.

It worked, and Mr. Sato could walk away feeling genuinely happy about his moment with the Olympic torch.

Actually, he might still get another chance with it, because he applied to become a torch runner for his home prefecture of Shimane. And since Shimane isn’t exactly a hotbed of celebrity, Mr. Sato has a fairly realistic shot of getting accepted there.

It’d be a huge leap for the man who only seven years ago attempted to eat 1,000 slices of processed cheese to become an Olympic torch runner.

But even if he doesn’t make the cut, this experience was the next best thing.

Anyone else in the Tokyo area can too by getting to the Tokyo Municipal Government Building for this exhibit. The medal display ends on 31 July, but the torch can be seen until 25 August, so don’t just sit there discus-ing it. Sprint on down and taekwondo-s pictures of yourself holding the torch too.

Photos: SoraNews24
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After lighting up our lives, the Pokémon mascot is now ready to light up our homes.

So imagine you just got home from a long day at work or school. After you come in the door, the first thing you’re going to do is turn on the light. Now, imagine your lamp is shaped like Pikachu.

There’s no way you’re not going to talk to the lamp and pet it, is there?

Of course not, which is why Takara Tomy’s new Pikachu Puni Light responds to your voice and affectionate pats!

When the lamp is set to Communication Mode, it can sense when you’re talking or clapping your hands, and Pikachu will reply with his iconic, adorable voice, as seen in the video below where the presenter says “Good morning, Pikachu.”

But as the video shows, Pikachu doesn’t just laugh and giggle, he dances too! In addition to randomly stepping from side to side in Communication Mode, putting Pikachu into Dance Mode will cause him to sync his steps, and the flashing of his light, with the rhythm of whatever music you’ve got playing in the room, like he’s thinking back to his night of boogying down at the annual Pikachu Outbreak event in Yokohama.

As for the “puni” part of the Pikachu Puni Light’s name, that’s because of the soft material the lamp is made of, which in Japanese is described as punipuni (“soft and squishy”).

Oh, and don’t worry, you can also use it as a regular, non-talking, non-dancing lamp by adjusting the settings. You can even set a timer so the light will automatically shut off after a certain period of time, enabling you to use the Pikachu Puni Light like a nightlight, with the glowing smile of the Pokémon franchise mascot shining down on you as you drift off into sleep.

▼ “The Pikachu Puni Light can be used in a variety of situations!” boasts the video, and if that guy is slipping anything other than a Pikachu engagement ring on that girl’s finger, he’s doing it wrong.

The Pikachu Puni Light stands 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) tall and is priced at 9,698 yen (US$90), a bit of an outlay, but guaranteed to impress Pikachu if he should ever suddenly stop by your place (like he did on his surprise visit to SoraNews24’s offices the other day). Oh, and obviously it can be purchased by anyone, even customers who didn’t get “Pikachu” as their result when taking the official “What Pokémon are you?” personality quiz.

Source: @Press, YouTube/株式会社 シャイン
Top image: YouTube/株式会社 シャイン
Insert images: @Press, YouTube/株式会社 シャイン
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Annual novel contest submission apparently connected to suspect’s shouting “They stole my novel, so I set the fire.”

The July 18 arson attack on Kyoto Animation’s Fushimi studio has resulted in the deaths of 35 employees who were in the building at the time the arsonist struck. Though the building was compliant with all local fire codes, such regulations are largely designed as precautions for accidental fires, not the sort of pre-meditated attack that was carried out on the anime production company.

Based on security camera footage and witness reports, investigators believe that the suspect, 41-year-old Shinji Aoba, purchased two 20-liter (5.3-gallon) canisters of gasoline at a gas station, the wheeled them to the studio on a hand cart before igniting them inside the building, and also spraying the flame accelerant directly on victims.

The pre-meditated nature of the attack suggests a grudge against the company and/or its employees, and as Aoba was taken into custody by police he was heard to have shouted “They ripped me off” and “They stole my novel, so I set the fire.” Following the attack, Kyoto Animation CEO Hideaki Hatta said “I have no idea what he’s talking about,” and that he had never had any written or spoken communication with Aoba.

However, on July 30 Kyoto Animation’s attorney said that they have since confirmed that the company did receive a novel from a person named Shinji Aoba, and from an address that matches that of the suspect’s apartment.

Since 2010, Kyoto Animation has annually solicited novel submissions, from professional or amateur writers, for its Kyoto Animation Awards. In addition to a one-million yen (US$9,260) prize for the grand winner, Kyoto Animation has entered into publishing deals for outstanding entries via its KA Esuma Bunko book label, and a number have also been adapted into Kyoto Animation anime series, such as Violet Evergarden, Free!, and Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.

Kyoto Animation’s attorney went on to say that the novel submitted by Shinji Aoba was formally eliminated from the contest in the first round of judges’ evaluations. “We have confirmed that it has no similarity to any Kyoto Animation works,” he added.

It’s unclear whether Hatta’s initial statement that he had never received any written communication from Aoba is a result of one quickly eliminated novel not being noteworthy enough to stick out in his memory, or if the Kyoto Animation head simply wasn’t personally involved in the initial round of contest judging. Meanwhile, Hatta has promised that, despite the immense loss the company has suffered, Kyoto Animation “will not go quietly into the night.”

Source: Kyoto Shimbun via Yahoo! News Japan via Jin
Top image: Wikipedia/L26
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