There’s no real reason to add functionality to cat ears, they are functional enough by themselves. It would be like adding a cell phone to a blender or good games to the Wii. It doesn’t need them and it would just feel wrong. But this case is a brilliant exception because it makes sense. See someone took a pair of cat ears and fitted them with earphones allowing you to 1) better ignore the mob of sweaty nerds stalking you and 2) do some caramelldansen in your own, very private rave.

It is also a marvelous addition to the USB maid cosplay from 2006, the one with the USB camera in the tail and the keyboard on the apron. This is a fashion trend that’s taking a little too long to catch on.

[Thanko / Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

It seems its already been 10 years since the first maid cafe, Cure Maid, opened its doors to the public. So in commemoration of the first decade of maid cafes a group of Japanese journalists have released a book, chronicling the history of maid cafes from the very first one to the most popular one. The book also contains interviews with some of Japan’s most famous maids which hold quite a bit of superstar power.  The book is priced at 1365 yen (about $15 USD), at that price it seems like a steal. Too bad importing it would be too much of a hassle!

[JapanSugoi]

If your tabletop gaming group is getting bored of slaying monsters and turning the undead, how about cleaning up the mansion? Maid: The Role Playing Game allows you to do precisely that, play as a maid serving in a mansion. This roleplaying game isn’t new at all in Japan but it is the first to get completely translated into English.

The official website describes it as:

You are a maid, having worked dutifully for the Saionji family for several years. You are also a shy albino princess who does odd jobs for the yakuza, and train with the three-section staff. Your peer Maya is an outgoing young maid with freckles, a streak of being greedy for sweets, and who also happens to be a military cyborg.

Your master is a kind teenager who lives in the mansion alone, but is a bit of a train otaku. He is also a cursed werewolf. With amnesia.

Somewhere between doing the laundry and preparing lunch, the master is kidnapped by evil ninjas. They escape through the basement of the mansion, which contains a portal to the Netherworld. It’s up to you to get him back before dinnertime.

All in a day’s work for a maid!

Translated by Ewen Cluney, the game features art by renowned doujin artist IWAKO. For about $30 bucks for the print version or $8 for the PDF you could be playing as a Maid, a Romance Maid, a Butler or a Master! Oh boy! And forget about the traditional RPG stats. Its all about athletics, affection, skill, cunning, luck and will in here. I have to say though, the thought of maybe breaking a few vases in a beginner campaign sure beats getting slaughtered by Kobolds, or worse yet, Dire Rats.

[Maid RPG]

Japanese fashion model Nozomi Sasaki tries to reach out to the otaku crowd in this video where she visits a maid cafe in Akihabara dressed as a schoolgirl. It makes for a very fun watch but not for the intended reasons. Half the time her expression screams “GET ME OUT OF HERE!” and the other half it mutters “what the hell is up with these weirdoes?”. Watch her laugh, is she laughing with the maids or at the maids?

And this was easy, she was sheltered. I’d like to see her deal with the attention of a couple dozen otaku. I’m not sure she’d hold up… but it would be quality entertainment!

[JapanSugoi]

Some of you might remember this particular article about augmented reality otakuism written by Nahu a while back. Well guess what? Someone decided to make a potential cash cow out of it!

This augmented reality cyber maid figurine named “Cyber Figure Alice” by Geisha Tokyo Entertainment Inc. looks like it could be the answer for those otakus (or geeks) who don’t have the money or space to invest on actual PVC figurines, nor have the time to go out and look for a proper relationship with, y’know..real girls.

Usage of this deceivingly seedy product seems fairly simple. The purchaser is given a software CD, 2 cybersticks for prodding and 2 cybercubes, one of which is used with a webcam to generate the digital figurine. The cybersticks can be used to do a number of things, some of which include peeping, fondling, and yes, you guessed it, undressing the little thing.

“Cyber Figure Alice” will be out for retail sometime this fall, so those who are desperate interested in acquiring this little gizmo might want to look out for it then.

[CrunchGear via Engadget]

The common sight of Maids setting up in Akihabara’s streets to sing, do photo ops or any kind of performance is under attack. Japanese cops are going after the Maids in Akihabara, stating that their performances on the street lead to crowds and that leads to traffic obstruction, even though Akihabra is a well known pedestrian heaven. And as always, the subservient Japanese population bend over and take it straight from the police without any questioning.

“Akihabara is hallowed ground for anime, something that could well be one of Japan’s most important industries nowadays.” says Takuro Morinaga, economic analyst and Managing Director of the Nippon Maid Association. I shit you not, there’s a Nippon Maid Association.  Morinaga goes on to propose some sort of national maid registry, were registered maids would get permanent permission to perform in the streets without attracting the fuzz.

In the meantime the maids will continue to be harassed and censored in the streets of Akiba, free speech is now dead.

[Mainichi]

Akihabara has a new maid-style cafe but this time the maids are replaced by railroad attendees, weird? Not so much! Japan’s train otaku (who call themselves tetsu) are a really well established subgroup of the otaku kingdom. In this cafe, called Little TGV, you have to purchase a ticket to get in and as expected, everything form the decor to the drinks has a train twist to it. They even replace the usual background music with the sound of train wagons rolling along the tracks!

I’m actually surprised it took them so long to open up one of these cafes, perhaps they thought the guests wouldn’t arrive in time! Oh that was an awful joke, sorry its not easy to joke about something as boring as trains!

[Little TGV / Via Tokyomango]

Meido Taxi is a new service in Tokyo which, much akin maid cafe’s, lets you enjoy the company of a pretty girl dressed as a maid while a taxi drives you around town. The taxi is equipped with a nice LCD screen and a PS3, you can even play Ridge Racer against your maid in it! There is also a couple of other non-video games including a card game which you have to pay a small fee to play but if you beat the maid you get to keep one of her precious “objects”. This last statement is so ambiguous on their website that our collective perverted minds wander.

The taxi is fully equipped to handle wheelchairs, its unclear if this is to actually target the otaku-on-wheels market or the niche wheelchair fetish group. The tours are quite varied and your maid will visit shops and landmarks with you, she will even go to a fancy dinner with you at the end of the day, for a price.

I wonder, if you take her to a maid cafe, does she get jealous?

[Maido Taxi / Via Tokyomango] 

Last time we covered the scene of maid VS domina football it was a pitiful defeat of the maids who, despite their earnest efforts where unable to triumph over the strong domina team. This time however, the maids have a new weapon, a secret technique that allows them to garner the power their strenght. This is the power of moe.

Watch as the maids use moe, the ultimate cute sensation, to confront the dominas.

Oh yeah then there’s also some kind of prank they play on the domina team captain, something about bicycles or something, who really cares! So long as they’re dressed in PVC I’m happy!

From the department of fucked up what-if scenarios comes this video  of a Maid football team battling it out with a Dominatrix team on a football match. Only in Japan Ladies and Gents! Maids, the epitome of submission and purity versus Dominas the epitome of aggression and perversion, epic!

Aww, that’s too bad, but for a team of maids they sure know how to dribble.