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Young Americans Revel In Japanese Pop Culture

Date: 2005 February 20 11:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

A syndicated article that appears on Designerz.com covers anime fandom in general and explains that fandom is on the rise with young Americans. It also mentions Katsucon and states how some Japanese exports are edited to local tastes, such as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, which had footage refilmed with American Actors.

Souce: Designerz.com

Global Anime And Manga Market Worth US$100 Billion

Date: 2005 February 20 11:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

J-Marketing.net have just published a story reporting that globally the anime and manga market is worth a massive US$100 billion! Yes, you read that right one-hundred billion US dollars. The article also states that products based on characters from anime and manga always prove very popular.

Souce: J-Marketing.net

Dateless Otaku?

Date: 2005 February 20 10:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Following on from our previous story about Densha Otoko (Trainman) MSNBC News Newsweek have posted a story chasing up the idea of otaku being unable to get dates with girls. It makes an interesting read and takes the whole idea of being an otaku from a few different perspectives.

Souce: MSNBC News Newsweek

PCR Distributing, Co - Yulia Nova Cosplay DVDs Vol. 1-3

Date: 2005 February 19 08:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

Russian Idol Yulia Nova and Japanese photographer Satoshi Kizu have teamed up to produce some Cosplay DVDs, which are well clearly aimed at the more mature audience. The Otaku News Crew wonder who buys these things and more importantly, why they don't bother buying Schoolgirl Milky Crisis instead! ^_-

An Interview With Frederik L. Schodt

Date: 2005 February 17 18:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Animation Insider have published their interview with Frederik L. Schodt and experienced Japanese language interpreter, manga translator, and author, Schodt has written some very excellent books on manga, translated both volumes of the Ghost In The Shell manga as well as many other projects. Schodt is highly respected in the anime and manga community and has even worked the late Osamu Tezuka (who is often regarded as the founder of modern anime and manga). The interview has lots of great bits of information and we really recommend reading it.

Souce: Animation Insider

Jonathan Clements Interview By AnimeOnDVD.com

Date: 2005 February 06 16:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Production

Incredibly nice guy Paul Jacques over at AnimeOnDVD.com went out to a pub with Jonathan Clements (writer, translator, anime expert etc...), so as well as drinking many beers (as the photo's show ^_-) Paul decided to interview Mr Clements about anime and it's good to see that as always Jonathan is refreshingly honest with his opinions.

The interview is devided into three parts:

Part 1 - in which they try to determine who buys anime, and why there were only 500 people at 1990s conventions when Overfiend sells in the tens of thousands. Jonathan also mentions a new show "Magical Princess Fluffy Tosspot", we belive this is like Schoolgirl Milky Crisis! ^_-

Part 2 - in which they discuss the values of television and ask whether the quality of anime is not strained.

Part 3 - in which they talk of critics and the media’s strange habit of redefining "anime" to mean whatever they need it to mean on any given day.

Souce: AnimeOnDVD.com

Anime All Nighter In London

Date: 2005 January 19 18:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Lucky otaku who can get to London in the first weekend of February are in for a real treat. The Sci-Fi-London event will be running an anime all nighter with support from Redbull and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (make mine Chocolate Fudge Brownie) and with free Tea and Coffee everyone's sure to stay awake from the midnight starting time until 9:30 am the next day!
They'll be screening:

- Lady Death
- Parasite Dolls
- Sky Blue (a Korean animation also known as Wonderful Days)
- RahXephon The Movie.

We suggest that hardcore otaku go to the London Anime Club afterwards for a total weekend of anime!

Sweatdrop At The Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005

Date: 2005 January 09 15:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got news from the nice people at UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop that they'll be representing the UK manga community at the Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005 event and also provide workshops, and four 90 minute long presentations covering aspects of Manga-styled art and it's creation.

The event is scheduled for July 21st - 24th at London's Business Design Centre, last years event attracted over 14,000 visitors!

The Sweatdrop crew can be seen regulary at UK anime events, such at the London Anime Club and other UK anime conventions like AyaCon and AmeCon. Recently Sweatdrop also ran a stall at the London Comic Festival, with great success. Regular readers of Otaku News, will also remeber some of our lovely Christmas Desktop Wallpaper created by Sweatdrop artist Wing Yun Man.

Japonisme - Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West

Date: 2005 January 07 15:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Phaidon Press have sent us details of a new book they are publishing - Japonisme: Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West, by Lionel Lambourne. It focuses on the history of Japanese of the West's extraordinary love affair with Japan. It's due out in May and sounds like an interesting read.

Cover Competition - The Anime and Electronics Shopping Guide to Tokyo

Date: 2005 January 06 18:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

David Cotterill (aka Dragon) has dropped us a line about his new book - The Anime and Electronics Shopping Guide to Tokyo, a self published using print-on-demand technology to ensure that each copy ordered is as up to date as possible, it's due for publication in February. Currently Dragon is running a competition for his book to design the front cover and inside icons for the book. The winning entry will get a free copy of the book and DVD of your choice from United Publications. More details can be found on Anime.org.uk's News Section.

The Otaku News Crew suggest the winner selects a nice DVD boxset. ^_-

Souce: David Cotterill

Miyazaki Web Celebrates 10 Years On-line!

Date: 2005 January 02 19:37 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The end of 2004 marked the end of another year, and it also marked another landmark for anime fandom, the most accurate and complete dedicated unofficial resource for Studio Ghibli fans - The Miyazaki Web celebrates it's 10th Birthday on December 31st 2004.

The site is really better known as a part of Nausicaa.net and has often been mistaken as the Official Studio Ghibli Website, because of it's professional finish and level of detail. Many have used it for research on Studio Ghibli and it's founder Oscar winning director Hayao Miyazaki. The Miyazaki web is more than a website it also has it's own mailing list, the Miyazaki Mailing List, which has grown steadily each year for the last 13 years, the majority of it's subscribers are American, but for a first time the UK is now the second most subscribed country, beating Japan to third place.

Here's wishing the Miyazaki Web a Happy Birthday, and good luck with the next 10 years!

Evangelion iPod

Date: 2004 December 28 17:06 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

TechJapan have discovered that Bandai Networks will be releasing a special Neon Genesis Evangelion Edition iPod. Only 2,000 of them are available, it has the NERV logo featuring heavily, it's engraved on the back metal casing, it's also on the screen protector and the special headphones. The included carry case has been made to look like Rei Ayanami's plug suit too! ^_^

The Eva iPod based on is the 20 GB model and is set to retail for 47,250 yen.

Souce: TechJapan

More Christmas Wallpaper From Otaku News

Date: 2004 December 21 19:45 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

We've had lots of positive feedback about our Christmas Desktop wallpaper, so in the true Christmas spirit, it's only right to give our readers what they want! ^_-

The image in question like all our wallpaper is an image made exclusively for Otaku News. This very festive girl has been drawn by the talented Wing Yun Man.

Christmas Wallpaper From Otaku News

Date: 2004 December 19 17:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Firstly we must apologise for the lack of updates recently, the holiday season has got the better of the Otaku News Crew! To celebrate the festive season one of the Otaku News artists, Andes Sudo has been a busy bunny working on some Tima Christmas Desktop Wallpaper for you to download and enjoy.

London MCM Expo 2005 Is Interested In Anime/Manga Presence!

Date: 2004 December 15 19:30 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Events

Following up a post made on the boards at www.anime.org.uk, it seems the organisers are very interested in adding some anime and manga presence to the event, held in mid-May next year.

According to the post, plans are already on the go, with anime/manga distributors MVM due to attend. There are also other plans for cosplay and prizes to be up for grabs.

The post also reads that if you (as in anime/manga fans) have any further ideas in mind, you should email them directly at info@londonexpo.com and it is much appreciated.

The event will be held from 14-15th May 2005, at Royal Victoria, London E16. Advance tickets are now available to buy.

London MCM Expo Website: http://www.londonexpo.com

Souce: Anime.org.uk

AyaCon Five: Launch Announcement

Date: 2004 December 14 18:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just received the details for AyaCon 5, the next edition of the successful UK anime and manga convention which always proves popular. AyaCon 5 will be held from 19-21 August 2005. Their venue will be the Warwick Arts Centre (University of Warwick near Coventry).

The convention will have use of the entire Arts Centre and extra faclities including a bar, restaurant and additional conference rooms, along with the full nightclub facilities in the nearby Students' Union for two parties on the Friday and Saturday evenings.

Manga Tour of Japan 2005

Date: 2004 December 13 18:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Those alert people over at BritAnime have discovered a manga package holiday from 29 March to April 2005 for our British readers.

The price seems good considering the flights and everything, although personally I prefer to go around Japan without a tour guide, discovering things by yourself is a lot of fun! However it is nice to have the option for the less adventurous, or for those who enjoy the convenience of having everything ready for them, especially since many anime fans have a limited Japanese vocabulary, including words such as baka (idiot), which doesn't really go down well when you're trying to book a hotel room!

The 8 day trip includes a visit to the Tokyo International Animation Fair, the fantastic Ghibli Museum, a visit to Akihabara (for all your electronic needs) and also the wonderful Meiji shrine, with huge Tori gates by it's entrance.

Souce: JapanJourneys.co.uk

Move Over, Mickey Mouse-san

Date: 2004 December 12 17:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The Associated Press have a good write up on the Success of anime in the US, it features John Ledford of ADV Films, who describes ADV as the "anti-Disney". Since it's syndicated, it appears on quite a few news sites. Well known store Wizzywig Collectibles gets mentioned too. We recommend that you check out The Sun Herald's copy of it, even if you don't live in the South of Mississippi. ^_-

Souce: The Sun Herald

December 2004 London Anime Club Update.

Date: 2004 December 08 18:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Following on from our previous article, where we guessed that the Christmas London Anime Club attendance would be higher than their last largest recorded attendance in April, when over 206 anime fans visited for the club's 10th anniversary.

This months LAC attendance was high, but not high enough to beat their previous record with around 165 anime fans showing up. As always Christmas treats were available with free entry to the London Anime Club for December, along with a raffle where people won items ranging from an Xbox to Newtype USA and Neo Magazine. Interestingly, there were lots of new faces at this months LAC. There are always new people showing up, but for some reason this month seemed to have a larger amount of new attendees than normal.

Souce: Otaku News

Anime Network Issuse A Call To Arms For All Anime Fans

Date: 2004 December 07 17:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

The Otaku News Crew have just received a newsletter from Anime Network the cable and satellite channel that broadcasts nothing but anime (yay).

They've issued a "call to arms for all Anime Fans" with the headline:
"Anime Fans of America: YOUR TIME IS NOW!"
The newsletter states that Anime Network's continued operation and expansion is in jeopardy and to help improve things the channel wants anime fans to either fax or e-mail the cable companies' decision makers directly via www.theanimenetwork.com. The Anime Network also advise you to get everyone you know to do the same. You can even phone Comcast directly on (215) 665-1700 and say that you'll switch for Anime Network.

The Otaku News crew are uncertain how necessary this is, if it's a marketing ploy from the very clever folks at Anime Network, or if they are indeed in trouble and need fan support.

Souce: Anime Network

December 2004 Biggest London Anime Club yet?

Date: 2004 December 04 15:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The London Anime Club is the largest anime club in the UK, in some ways it's a bit like a mini anime convention, but with fewer a cosplayers. Located in the City of London the LAC's central location means anime fans from around the country make a monthly trip every first Sunday of the month to watch anime and talk to like minded fans.

To date the London Anime Club's largest recorded attendance was 206 people for their 10th anniversary in April 2004. The Otaku News Crew are guessing that tomorrows LAC will be the biggest one yet, since more people are getting into anime and manga all the time and Christmas LACs tend to have high attendances. Fans often like to meet up around Christmas time too, especially since the London Anime Club does not run in January, as the first Sunday of the year is in the Holiday season. The Otaku News Crew will report back with the attendance figures as soon as we get them! Before we do, some of us (as always) will be at the London Anime Club, if you're there too, find us and say hello! We want to know what our readers think! ^_-

Souce: Otaku News

U.S. High Schools, Libraries and College Anime Clubs Offered Free Preview DVDs from ADV.

Date: 2004 December 03 17:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The folks at ADV US have just launched a new campaign ingeniously called Anime ADVocates. This sort of thing is a dream for a US otaku running an official anime club at their high school, library or college. Eligible applicants have the opportunity to get free anime preview DVDs, prizes and other goodies from ADV.

TokyoPop's 5th Rising Stars of Manga Competition Kicks Off Today

Date: 2004 December 01 19:23 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

TokyoPop have just launched their popular manga competition where artists are invited to submit 15 to 20 pages of manga inspired comics for a chance to be in the next Rising Stars anthology, to be published in Summer 2005.

Along with the usual lovely cash prices TokyoPop have added an extra and welcomed twist with the people's choice category where the top 20 finalists will have their entire entries posted on the TokyoPop website and judged by the fans. The Otaku News crew think this is a good idea, the interactive element adds that extra bit of fun to the competition by getting fans to participate (especially the ones that can't draw to save their lives like myself) and also provides TokyoPop with additional market research resolving tricky tie breaker situations with which submission will generate the most fan interest (and hopefully revenue too).

The Laughing Man - Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex's Hacker Logo

Date: 2004 November 29 11:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Production

The hit series Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex, features a logo for hacker and cyberterrorist "The Laughing Man", in the show he is only identified by his logo which forms a distinct part of the Standalone Complex imagery. I discovered that Paul Nicholson of Terratag designed the logo for Production I.G.

Join us as Otaku News interview Paul about creating an icon in anime!

Auchinawa Glasgow Convention for Otaku

Date: 2004 November 29 08:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

One of our contributors Voxie from MAME has just discovered plans in Scotland for Auchinawa which "strives not to be an "Anime Convention" but an "Otaku Convention". Our Mission is to create a Convention/Expo in Scotland, the first of its kind, which caters for your needs and wants as fans."

They plan to screen anime, have DDR machines and will also be catering for J-Music fanatics and furries.

It's not set to run until the summer of 2006 so many of the details aren't finalised yet. However it's always good to plan ahead and conventions in the UK often get booked out quickly, so go take a look and get saving to get to Glasgow, if you're not near there already.

Souce: Auchinawa

Frightmoore University Posts It's 100th Page

Date: 2004 November 28 09:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Webcomics

It's been a busy week for me which is why I haven't posted as much news as I would like on Otaku News this week. So today is catch up day! One of the advantages of running your own news website means that you can plug your other side projects now and again (no Spike that doesn't mean you can start posting about all the yaoi you draw).

OK, first up on Monday November 22nd, Frightmoore University an up-and-coming webcomic I'm the webmaster for, has just made the milestone of posting it's 100th page! Gigi has drawn a little celebratory image of the main characters having a little party. Frightmoore has been running since 2001, and in April 2004 when an updated version of the site was launched on it's own domain name were we able to gauge an idea of how many hundreds of thousands of unique users actually visited Frightmoore! If you have read any of it yet, go on and take a look.

While we're on the subject of plugging stuff don't forget to check out The Journey of Light an independent animation project that is currently underway written by our very own Azure.

Souce: Frightmoore University

Hello Kitty Statuette Sold For $100,000

Date: 2004 November 25 17:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The BBC are reporting that a Hello Kitty statuette made of platinum and studded with diamonds has been sold for 10.5 million Yen (that's about $102,450 USD)! The 4cm (2 inch) figure was made to celebrate Hello Kitty's 30th Birthday and has been on sale since August.

The Osaka branch of department store Mitsukoshi says that a local customer has purchased it. Otaku News have no idea who the buyer is, but we believe that they must be a pretty serious Hello Kitty fan! ^_-

Souce: BBC News

Miyazaki Influences in Different Mediums

Date: 2004 November 19 17:06 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Nausicaa.net are reporting on the current Miyazaki Influences in Different Mediums. They have nice screen shots and images, including details of a Miyazaki Look-alike and a Totoro doll in French Animation series Code Lyoko, Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls' cameo from Totoro and even Miyazaki influences in the preliminary sketches of the long awaited PC game Half Life 2.

Souce: Nausicaa.net

More Anime In the Press

Date: 2004 November 18 18:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

It seems to be the in thing to report about anime fandom at the moment. Otaku News has featured various reports by publications in the past and now the Cincinnati Enquirer has published their write up on anime fandom.

Souce: Cincinnati Enquirer

Strong Yaoi Sales on Amazon.com

Date: 2004 November 14 08:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

ICv2 are reporting an interesting trend with Amazon.com's manga best seller list. Apparently Yaoi is three of the top five, four of the top ten and six of the top fifteen manga titles. ICv2 point out that these sales are only on Amazon.com as the American Bookscan list doesn't not match with these sales figures, with only Del Rey's Tsubasa Volume 3 appearing at the top of both lists.

ICv2 speculate that people purchasing Yaoi prefer the privacy and relative anonymity that on-line reatilers offer and that the two main Yaoi publishers Digital Manga and CPM Manga don't have the marketing clout or number of titles compared to other publishers with titles at the top of the graphic novel lists.

Souce: ICv2

Otaku News UK DVD Reader Survey

Date: 2004 November 07 19:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

With your support Otaku News are keen to compile a definitive survey for 2004 about what anime titles our readers would like to see released onto DVD in the UK. This can include TV series, film, OAV old and new. We are not going to do a web based poll, since that would limit the options, we are going to do an open survey to hear what you really want to be released in the UK. To take part please email your suggestions to AnimeSurvey@otakunews.com

Your e-mail address will only be used for this survey and once the results have been collated your details will be deleted. They will not be passed on to a third party for any reason. This survey will run until the 24th of December.

Souce: Otaku News

J-Pop Go In London

Date: 2004 November 07 14:35 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Otaku News have learned about an event scheduled soon in London. J-Pop Go promises to be an evening celebrating a broad range of popular Japanese music, from J-Pop to J-Rock and everything in-between! The event is planned for a central London venue and they'll post up more information regarding tickets, pricing, playlists etc in due course. If you have suggestions, ideas or queries then you can always contact them too. If you're interested in attending then you add yourself to their mailing list for future updates.

We've seen posters, flyers and spoken to the even organisers and they've got lots of cool ideas about this event, so if you're into the Japanese music scene then go take a look.

Souce: J-Pop Go

Watching Anime, Reading Manga a Book By Fred Patten

Date: 2004 November 03 17:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Although it's old news, I'm sure many of our readers are not yet aware that Stone Bridge Press have published a new book by anime and manga guru Fred Pattern, - Watching Anime, Reading Manga. The book has 63 articles covering all aspects of anime from fandom and the industry, it also has articles on the first ads in America to current day mainstream hits like the anime sequence in Kill Bill and anime inspired live action films like The Matrix. If you want to know more be sure to check OnlyPubjab.com's write up.

Souce: Stone Bridge Press

Hello Kitty Celebrates Her 30th Birthday

Date: 2004 November 01 15:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Sanrio fans don't need reminding, but some other more causal otaku would need know that today, November 1st is Hello Kitty's 30th Birthday! Kitty and her twin sister Mimmy White were born on 1974 November 1st to her happy parents George and Mary White. The jolly Kitty lives with her parents and sister just outside of London.

Hello Kitty is hugely popular all over the world and ADV have published a very good article about it, interviewing some of the ADV crew behind the latest DVD release. They also interview the voice of Hello Kitty - Monica Rial, who we interviewed in August.

Channel 4 Viewers to Vote on 100 Greatest Cartoons.

Date: 2004 November 01 14:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

British anime fans will like to know that Channel 4 are currently running votes on the 100 Greatest Cartoons. Akira as always is present along with Pokemon, as is Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and (rather worryingly) Legend of the Overfiend. Each person gets to vote for their top 10 favourite shows, so head over there and vote!

This show should be interesting to watch I wonder who they will get in to talk about anime when it's broadcast, and who would admit to enjoying hentai on national TV?

Souce: Channel 4

TokyoPop and Sweatdrop Attract Interest At London Comic Festival

Date: 2004 October 23 17:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Otaku News Crew have just returned from the London Comic Festival, an event that focuses on the British Comic Book industry, it consists largely of underground/independent UK comic book publishers. Representing the UK manga/anime scene were professional manga publishers TokyoPop UK and original UK manga studio Sweatdrop. It was nice to see the interest and enthusiasm both groups generated. All the exhibitors there had a fair number of visitors to the their tables, I didn't do a proper count or survey, but throughout the day it was clear that both TokyoPop and Sweatdrop generated a large amount of interest, more so than any of the other comic book publishers.

Souce: Otaku News

Cosplay Photographic Exhibit in LA

Date: 2004 October 20 17:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Art

LA otaku are in for a treat from October 28 to November 26 The Perfect Exposure Gallery will be hosting an exhibit on cosplayers or "Photographic portraits of costumed anime fans" to be more exact. Shot at anime conventions around the US and Canada in 2003 and 2004, it sounds a bit like A Fans View only off-line!

ADV Titles Prove Popular With AnimeOnDVD.com Readers

Date: 2004 October 18 18:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Those happy people at ADV USA have just sent us a press release detailing their recent success with AnimeOnDVD.com readers. Each month AnimeOnDVD readers vote for what they believe to be the best DVD release of that month. Over the past six months ADV have scooped 4 of the monthly awards.

As soon as the press release was sent, it was already out of date, ADV had won the September award for Chrono Crusade Vol. #1!

Female Anime Fans On The Rise

Date: 2004 October 12 16:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

In Japan anime has become extremely popular with young women. The Sankei News is reporting on a survey by Bandai Visual showing that while 13% of their anime titles were bought by women, female customers were responsible for 20% of all sales of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DVDs.

Certain Shonen Jump titles seem popular with girls too, including The Prince of Tennis, One Piece, Naruto and Shaman King, female fans also enjoyed selected titles from Shuueisha including Saint Seiya, Saiyuki, tactics, and Matantei Loki Ragnarok.

Apparently anime is becoming the more popular with women aged 25-35 and Bandai Visual have begun to produce new anime targeted for this demographic.

Souce: Animaxis

ADV Cosplay Caps

Date: 2004 October 06 17:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Toys

We've just got news from ADV about some really cool headgear! Their toy deparment it seems have had some great fun producing "Cosplay Caps" based on the animal characters from their popular titles. These hats are a bit similar to the ones worn by the Digi-Charat gang. They've got Menchi and a Puchuu from Excel Saga, Saizo the pig from Peacemaker and Kaleido Star's baby seal Jonathan.

These hats are made exclusively for ADV Toys and aren't Japanese import items, they're made from a fleece type fabric. At the moment we haven't got a set release date for them, but we do know that they'll retail for $14.99

Yuri Revolution Tokyo

Date: 2004 October 05 19:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The good girls at Yuricon have just sent us their press releasing detailing the Yuri Revolution event in Tokyo

"We'll be touring the anime and manga centers of Tokyo, visiting Tokyo Tower, museums and other Tokyo attractions.We'll top it all off with an all-yuri event in the home of yuri manga, the Nichoume in Shinjuku, where we can embarrass ourselves by trying to speak Japanese with well-known yuri mangaka." This is just for starters.

To attend all you have to do is get to Tokyo on April 12-17, 2005, remember you have to sort out your own flights and accommodation though.

UK Conventions Set For 2005 And 2006

Date: 2004 September 29 18:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

It seems at almost exactly the same time, both AyaCon and AmeCon have officially announced more details regarding their next conventions!

It was announced at AyaCon 2003 that there would be no AyaCon in 2004, but now they've updated their website saying that "We are currently planning to stage our latest event, AyaCon Five, in Summer/Autumn 2005. We're aiming to make AyaCon bigger and better than ever!" As yet, they haven't revealed a venue for the convention.

AmeCon have also just updated their website. Stating that "The Convention will not be running in 2005, but will be running at Aston University, Birmingham, in 2006. Registrations for 2006 will open shortly."

Read More... | Souce: AyaCon / AmeCon Websites.

Terratag London Exhibition - 'Pornograffiti'

Date: 2004 September 29 17:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got an e-mail from Paul over at Terratag. Terratag t-shirts have been sold at most of the UK anime conventions and Paul even had a stall at the Japanese Food Festival in London this August.

Terratag are also very naughty and as a result, I've always debated if I should add them to the Pirate Anime FAQ. The more astute otaku will know there is a range of Terratag t-shirts with Gundam designs on, Terratag have not paid for a license from Bandai to use any Gundam images, or their likeness. Technically this is a copyright violation, and that generally flags them as a bootlegger. This could land Paul in trouble with Bandai's lawyers, and he could face a hefty fine at least.

Anyway, Paul wanted to point out that he's holding an art exhibition at the Notting Hill Arts Club, his show runs until November 1st, he helpfully points out on the night of October 4th there are going to be 4 scratch DJ's from Tokyo playing live. The crew is called En and features Mc Raita with Dj's Jif Rock, Kiccio and Kaitaro. There will also be a jazz/hip-hop dance crew. So fans of the Japanese music scene will want to get over there!

MAME Fanzine Interview

Date: 2004 September 22 18:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

It's always fun to keep an eye on UK anime fandom, which is why you should read the interview currently on Anime UK News, it covers Rhoda Villegas and her up and coming anime fanzine MAME. Unlike other fanzines we've seen MAME is a bit different, the page count alone is impressive for a fanzine, with issue 2 being 60 pages, but it's also a high quality publication which is jam packed with all sorts of little gems of information.

Souce: Anime UK News

Sweatdrop Launch Free Webcomics

Date: 2004 September 20 15:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Webcomics

Talented up and coming British manga artists Sweatdrop Studios have just launched a webcomics section. They've posted comics by Dock, Laura Watton, Emma Vieceli, Selina Dean, Fred and Sonia Leong.

Even if you're not in the UK, it's always nice to check out some of their lovely artwork.

Souce: Sweatdrop

Anime News Network and Protoculture Addicts Join Forces

Date: 2004 September 19 09:27 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

At Nan Desu Kan the Anime News Network announced that they are joining forces with independent anime magazine Protoculture Addicts to produce Anime News Network's Protoculture Addicts. This will be the 82nd issue of Protoculture Addicts (out in January 2005).

This is good news for Anime fans in North America (and the rest of the English speaking world too), since Protoculture Addicts has always been an excellent intelligent source of information for fans, combined with ANNs resources it means even better magazine. I look forward to reading this!

Animejin Suspended

Date: 2004 September 19 09:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Successful UK anime website Animejin is to be suspended indefinitely.

Animejin is one of the oldest UK anime websites that is still currently running, it's been around since 1993 in print form and then in 1995 made the transition to a website. For a long while it was the primary news source of UK Anime fans on-line. Animejin also posts regular news bulletins on Usenet and to e-mail subscribers.

An Interview With Monica Rial

Date: 2004 September 08 15:39 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime

Monica Rial is an energetic American voice actress who unusually works with two studios: ADV and FUNimation. This means that she gets the opportunity to play a diverse range of characters across the anime spectrum. Fan favourites include the demure death defying Hyatt in Excel saga as well as the world famous, perky and cute Hello Kitty in Hello Kitty Mystical Theatre.

I was able to interview Monica at the UK convention Amecon (a big thanks to you all for letting us interview her ^_^) where she was invited as a special guest. This is the first time that a British convention has invited a US voice actor over, and it was interesting to note the con goer's reactions. Monica was a clear hit with the fans and I was impressed at the time she took to talk to people, whether they wanted advice or to make comments or get certain limited edition items signed. The actual interview went on for over an hour and a half. Join me as we explore the wacky world of Monica Rial!

Fandom at the Canadian National Expo

Date: 2004 September 06 14:45 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The Toronto Star are running an interesting article about the Canadian National Expo, the biggest event of its kind in Canada with more than 26,000 attendees. Anime fans (particularly Cosplayers) get their fair share of coverage.

Souce: Toronto Star

Otaku Boost Japanese Economy!

Date: 2004 September 03 19:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Current Affairs

Canadian website Globe Technology.com are running an interesting article about Otaku boosting the Japanese economy, apart from cosplaying they "... have also done something else: created a big-money market that analysts are calling the 'mania' economy".

Apparently according to the Nomura Research Institute, Japanese otaku fork out $2.35-billion (USD) a year on manga, anime, computer games and merchandise.

Souce: GlobeTechnology.com

Mamoru Oshii to Answer Fan's Questions On-line

Date: 2004 September 03 13:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We've just had details in from the folks at Dreamworks.
Mamoru Oshii the director of Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence will be answering questions posted to the offical Ghost In the Shell 2 Site's forum. Sign up and Join this thread - http://www.ghost2.com/board/showthread.php?t=62.

Fans will already know that Oshii was behind the original Ghost in the Shell Movie, and the first two Mobile Police Patlabor Movies.

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