Category — Asian American

Seung Bak of new website DramaFever.com just got in touch with One Inch Punch to tell us of their new service – a destination site for Asian video content in the US!

They’re in beta at the moment, and they’re starting with Korean TV dramas but eventually dramas from other countries as well as other types of video content (e.g. variety show, music videos, movies, etc.) will be available.

One thing to note is that this service is only available to visitors in the US. The plan is to provide DramaFever.com to the whole world, but the restriction is currently due to licensing issues.

Bad news for the rest of us around the world, but at least this makes it a bonafide, legal service! No more creeping around your ISP.

If you’re in the US, here’s some other points:

* Even in beta, DramaFever.com are offering by far the best online video experience for dramas in the US…it’s fast, high video streaming quality, and with professional English subtitles

* Currently, people who are interested in these dramas are limited to illegal downloading/streaming sites with generally poor user experience. DramaFever.com are legally licensing content from the owners. The early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

* DramaFever.com started their beta with some of the most popular Korean dramas from recent years. They’ll be continuously adding new dramas as well as other types of video content in the coming weeks and months

Interested? The site is still in beta, and you’ll need to register to get access. There’s a bit of a waiting list, but if you register with the priority code ‘OneInchPunch’ you’ll get access faster than the general public (within 1-3 days).

Take a look on www.dramafever.com!

Technorati Tags: Asian American, Asian video content, Drama Fever, film and tv, Korean TV dramas

TAK is a Japanese guy living in New York City who has been taking amazing photos of NYC bike culture for years. His photo exhibition, New York Bike Dreams, is now on display in Tokyo.

The reception party was insane and featured amazing bike tricks as can be seen in the video above!

Via The Awesomer

Technorati Tags: bike tricks, New York Bike Dreams, Tokyo

New York based Jinyoung Shin has an amazing portfolio of stunning illustration work featuring intricately detailed, tall and thin characters.

See more on Jinyoung’s website

Via SexinArt

Technorati Tags: art, geisha, illustration, intricate people, Jinyoung Shin

We visited the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego earlier this year and for some reason, have only just now thought to add a link to the (40) photos.

Check out the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego if Japanese landscaping is your thing.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, Japanese Friendship Garden, San Diego

The three-day New York Anime Festival event at the Manhattan Jacob Javitz Center provided an excuse for gaming related cosplay.

Check the gallery at Jostiq

Technorati Tags: cosplay, New York Anime Festival, USA

Ping Pong Playa is another sport comedy film featuring Asian Americans which has just been released. No matter how serious a sport it can be, I guess it cries out to be made into a comedy – like the former Balls of Fury.

Check out the trailer for Ping Pong Playa below.

About the film:

Christopher “C-DUB” Wang is a suburban guy who sports an urban swagger, waxes political on all things Asian American, and clings to pipe dreams of a career as a pro basketball player.

Blaming genetics for his failure to make the NBA, C-dub lives at home, works a dead-end job, and squirms in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, a doctor and ping pong champion.

With a family-run store devoted to all things ping pong and a mom who teaches it at the local Chinese Community Center, the Wang’s entire world revolves around the sport.

When his mom and Michael are hurt in a car accident, leaving his father to watch over the store, C-dub is forced to take over his mom’s ping pong class of misfits.

C- dub starts to appreciate the benefits of ping pong when he starts using the class to make some extra money on the side and befriending one of the kids who happens to have a beautiful older sister.

But when the Wang family livelihood is threatened by a rival ping pong player’s attempt to lure the kids away, C-dub begins to take things more seriously. With the National Golden Cock coming up and an injured Michael unable to defend his title, C-dub must become the player he pretends to be and defend his family’s ping pong dynasty.

Seen on the British Chinese blog

Technorati Tags: Asian American, comedy, film, Ping Pong Playa, sport

Mental Floss lists 11 korean yoghurt stores based in LA and New York.

I went to one of these in San Diego a couple of months ago, and there’s quite a variety – nothing I’ve seen the like of in the UK. But they’re obviously very popular!

11 Korean Yogurt Stores that’ll Knock Your Pinkberries off

Technorati Tags: Asian American, cuisine, Korea, Korean yoghurt stores, snacks, yoghurt

Previously posted American Chinese artist Luke Chueh has an interview up on Josh Spear. Check it out his thoughts if you like what he does.

Luke Chueh Interview

Technorati Tags: art, illustration, Luke Chueh

This lightbox art of Obama and the Chinese character for “Forward” is one of many pieces to be featured at the Manifest Hope Art Gallery during the Democratic National Convention.

It was created by one of the artists featured in the show, who simply goes by the name Eddie, and highlights the often overlooked Asian voting bloc.

From Animal via NotCot

Technorati Tags: Democratic National Convention, design, Manifest Hope Art Gallery, Obama, poster design

The Astro Boy booth at Comic Con in San Diego shaped wannabee haircuts into Astro styles. May not be the same thing eh? Anyway, you can see a life-size model of Astro Boy suspended in mid-air in the background.

More on io9.com

Technorati Tags: Astro Boy, Astro Boy haircut, Astro Boy life-size model, San Diego Comic Con