So I think a couple of folks on Japanator’s IRC channel were talking about Double K earlier, and I wasn’t paying attention…until I saw it again on the Gurren Lagann livejournal community.

Apparently DeviantArtist captainosaka took part in a 4ch conversation in which they said that a Kamina/Kittan buddy-cop show would be the greatest thing ever, and the artist in question decided to make it happen.

He’s got a comic of his creation Double K (one panel of which is posted above, with apologies to captainosaka), but make sure you check out all his other stuff– he’s got a lot of really fantastic art for the concept. I’m incredibly fond of his original design for Yoko (and slightly less fond of his follow-up design), and I’m bowled over by the Gurrenrod.

This might be my favorite fanart all year. (Ignoring that a good chunk of it started being posted in’ 07.) ♥

A Google alert nudged me over to this forum post, where someone is offering up a downloadable add-on to the ol’ SNK vs Capcom fighting game– a playable Yoko from Gurren Lagann. I was never particularly into any of these games, but now I’m kinda jonesin’ for a little start-up-down-left-right-left-up-A, if you know what I mean.

Japan loves Colonel Sanders more than I think America ever has, really, but this takes the french-frilled cake: alafista reports on a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Akihabara that has dressed up its Colonel Sanders mascot in a frilly maid dress, vaguely a la Emma in style. Colonel Sanders is too classy for those short-skirt-and-petticoat getups!

I suddenly have this mental image of maids serving giant greasy buckets of KFC chicken, how about you?

Many thanks to reader Krista, who got shots of Del Rey’s manga X-Men (the shoujo one featuring Kitty Pryde) and Wolverine (the shounen one) at her Flickr account. Here are direct links to the individual shots: the Beast, Ice Man and Night Crawler (♥), and Kitty Pryde for X-Men. For Wolverine we have Vincent, Tamara, Logan, and more Logan.

But yeah, see what I meant about the Beast?

Was just catching up on my Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and caught this little clip:

…Could this be a reference to pop artist showing at the Brooklyn Museum in New York at the moment? (Okay, this episode aired on March 8th, almost a month prior to the exhibit opening, but Murakami has shown in NYC in the past, too…)

Hmm…

There are a lot of fans out there of the cast of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya gender-swapped, and particularly of “Kyonko,” the name given to female!Kyon.

So many, in fact, that not one but TWO doujinshi featuring Kyonko have been released. One version offers us Kyon as a former boy who woke up in the morning to find himself a girl, while the other features both Kyon and Koizumi swapping genders.

I’m…really hoping my local doujin guy snags these. ♥

Move over, OS-tans, it’s time for US-tan– and company! Danish author darkbeat has a set of -tans of countries around the world, starting with Afganisu-tan. (Mwahaha.) Check ‘em all out here.

US-tan is actually called “Meriken” and she’s adorable, and kind of dumb. It’s awesome. Make sure you check out this comic.

Oddly, there’s no Japan-tan. Yet?

So I happen to be sitting here with CNN on in the background waiting for breaking news on the primaries, and an article popped up about kids in Iraq who enjoy a particular kids’ show, which acts as a particularly innocent and youthful refuge from the warzone that sits right outside their doors. Standard, slightly fluffy soft news, pretty well-done.

But then I noticed a familiar face among the characters and kids on the show…

Hey! It’s Pikachu! I wonder if they got permission to use him? (Though if Nintendo tries to shut them down I’m going to have to lay some smack down, as the kids say.) It was really cute, the reporter interviewed one of the little kids on the show, and she said she really loves Pokemon.

Pokemon comforts Iraqi children, Haruhi is the patron saint of children in Gaza…awww!

Gurren Lagann in paper form? Yes please! Now, when someone can create a paper Yoko I’ll be REALLY impressed.

Original source: Krauzer
Secondary source: Paperkraft

Okay, Gurren Lagann news + Eddie Izzard reference + truth = like OVER NINE THOUSAND! bonus points, right?

Original Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Secondary Source: BlueDragoon, #japanator@irc.irchighway.net