Meet an intelligent designer of the ‘Transformers’

If a robot is to save mankind, then it had better look the part.

Optimus Prime, the lead robot battling evil in the film “Transformers,” appeared too weak in its initial design, thought Keiji Yamaguchi, a creature developer at Industrial Light & Magic. “So I revised his face so that it looked stronger, more heroic,” he says.

Perhaps a minor point to the casual filmgoer, but such detail was routine in perfecting the transformation sequences in director Michael Bay’s $150 million blockbuster. Read more

Bulbous hair gives ‘Brand King’ a head start

TOKYO - People aligning themselves with a unique hairstyle is nothing new. But Tsutomu Morita is likely the first pitchman via pompadour. “Some people don’t believe it is real,” Morita says in a back room of his discount luxury-brands store, referring to the black bulbous bob that hangs over his eyes. “Others think I have something hidden inside.”

In one recent program on TV Asahi, the bespectacled Morita was seen riding through Shinjuku in central Tokyo in the back of a white Mercedes with the window down, his puffy hairdo dutifully holding its shape. Then, when the 62-year-old emerged outside his shop, his red Hermes tie, 3.1-million yen Rolex watch and dark Dolce & Gabbana suit appeared mere afterthoughts in comparison to his cantilevered coiffure. Read more

Paradise TV raises funds for AIDS prevention

TOKYO - When adult satellite channel Paradise TV decides to broadcast a live charity event, they ensure there will be no imitations.

It is a recent Sunday afternoon atop the broadcaster’s roof, temporarily converted into a makeshift restaurant.

Here stand a group of male subscribers, each ready to dine on a dish - an omelet or perhaps a bowl of pork kimchi - doused in a golden shower dispensed by one of a half-dozen topless AV (adult video) actresses. Read more

Kabukicho comes clean

TOKYO - It is a recent weekday evening and the activity beneath Kabukicho’s flashy Ichiban-gai gate is its typically bustling self. Outside the entry of the kyabakura (cabaret club) Sky Heart, where ladies dress as flight attendants and provide services in a mock aircraft cabin, a young gentleman tout enthuses that cover charges are as low as ¥7,000 and “breast-licking and touching” are fair game.

Elsewhere, dozens of rail-thin hosts, sporting shiny suits and flowing manes of dyed-brown hair, are hustling any young lady happening past for, at a minimum, a drink at a nearby club, while in the direction of the centrally located Koma Theater, more touts, each sharply dressed and occupying both sides of the street, stand calmly under flickering lights as they solicit potential customers for their parlors. So far, and Kabukicho’s so predictable. Read more

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