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Harajuku Night in London April 2009

Date: 2009 April 16 16:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

London based readers looking for some fun next Friday should consider Criminal Records' Harajuku Night.

Hiroki Azuma's OTAKU: Japan's Database Animals book

Date: 2009 March 26 17:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

We've been sent the details of Hiroki Azuma's best selling book OTAKU: Japan's Database Animals. The English translation of the book is due out this April.

Update: We've also got a review of OTAKU: Japan's Database Animals.

[Pre-order Paper Back on Amazon.com]
[Pre-order Paper Back on Amazon.co.uk]

[Pre-order Hardcover on Amazon.com]
[Pre-order Hardback on Amazon.co.uk]

J-Pop Go March 2009 Event

Date: 2009 March 18 04:21 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

London readers looking for some fun this weekend should take a look at the next J-Pop Go event. It's scheduled for Saturday March 21st 2009. At a new venue for the event, The London Stone.

Evangelion Merchandise Selection

Date: 2009 March 08 14:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Anime and merchandise naturally go hand in hand, with some titles just a thin excuse to create merchandise. Generally the more popular the series, wider and crazier the variety of merchandise available. With Neon Genesis Evangelion, regarded one of the most popular titles of all time, I thought it would be worth looking into the more unusual merchandise available from the franchise. When researching this article I expected to find some oddities, after all you can even get an Eva Unit-01 mountain bike. However I was really surprised by what's out there!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Harajuku Night in London

Date: 2009 February 22 16:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

London based fans looking for something to do on the night of Friday 27th February 2009 should head over to Blag Club, near Ladbroke Grove Tube station. Criminal Records will be hosting a night dedicated to Harajuku.

AyaCon 2009 registrations now open

Date: 2009 February 16 17:24 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

UK anime fans looking for 3 days of fun on Friday 14th to Sunday 16th August 2009, will be pleased to hear that the registration for AyaCon 2009, known as Aya Revolution 09 is now open.

The convention will once again be held at the Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, near Coventry. The AyaCon crew have run many successful conventions before and as a result it proves popular with fandom. Bookings are filling up fast, so book now to avoid disappointment.

Souce: Aya Revolution 09

Japanese Art Festival in Richmond Reminder

Date: 2009 February 10 15:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Just a quick reminder to our readers in the UK who can get to Richmond Surrey. They've released more details about the free Japanese Art Festival which starts on midday Saturday 28th February and is set to run until Sunday 1st March 2009.

Guests include anime expert Helen McCarthy, talented artist Sonia Leong and Akemi Solloway who is a lecturer on both traditional and modern Japanese culture.

The Artistic Bento of AnnaTheRed

Date: 2009 February 05 08:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Cuisine

Wired are running and interesting story about AnnaTheRed’s Bento Creations. Wired have published an interview with her and also put a gallery of her work on-line. More can also be seen on her Flickr page.

The food looks divine and is made for her lucky boyfriend. Themes for her bento include Totoro, Katamari, Wall-E, Link (from Zelda), Smash Bros, Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service.

Souce: Wired

Orbital Manga London Valentine's Day Event

Date: 2009 February 03 16:05 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Otaku couples in London looking for something to do this Valentine's Day (on Saturday February 14th 2009), might want to head over to Orbital Manga. From 2pm they'll have some UK artists drawing cute portraits of you and other half for a fee. They also say don't worry if you're single, as they'll get the artists to draw you with your favourite manga character.

Our question is what if you're not single and you want to be drawn with your favourite character? Well this might make you single afterwards! I guess it depends on what/who you get them to draw.

They'll also be running an art contest as a chance to win prizes.

How to be a Cosplayer

Date: 2008 December 16 15:48 | Posted By: Franki Webb

Category > Fandom

A large runway divides the room. People sit patiently waiting for the stars to strut their stuff. The lights flicker on and the crew members speak with words of comfort to the jittery stars taking centre stage. This is a long way from Paris Fashion Week and the get-ups are far from Milano. As soon as you see a replica Lara Croft swagger down the platform with screaming cheers, your gut instinct is to head for the nearest exit. The outfits that follow only get more absurd; with capes trailing behind and swords that make an audience roar with excitement.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

The ascent of manga: Japan's hottest export goes global

Date: 2008 December 04 12:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Independent are running a great article about the global reach of manga and how it has influenced British artists.

Helen McCarthy, Sweatdrop Studios, Emma Vieceli, Sonia Leong, the Manga Bible and Manga Shakespeare all get a mention in the article.

Souce: The Independent

BBC News Cover Cosplay Ball

Date: 2008 December 04 08:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

BBC News have published a video article about the Grand International Cosplay Ball, held last Sunday (30th November 2008).

It's great to see cosplay getting mainstream press coverage like this.

Souce: BBC News

Cosplay Ball and International Cosplay Day Reminder

Date: 2008 November 24 16:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've got some exciting news for cosplayers in who can get to London this weekend. I'm sure you already know about the Grand International Cosplay Ball on Sunday 30th November 2008, which has an interesting line up of guests including Electro Pop Idol Hiko Suzuki.

On Saturday 29th November 2008 at selection of great cosplayer guests will be making an appearance at TokyoToys in the Trocadero, Picadilly Circus. Yaya Han, Laura Sindall, Jacob Kimber, Kahman Fong, Isabelle Jeudy, Damien Ratte and Brian Boling will all be there, giving talks and interviews. There will also be a prize draw thanks to the great people at KOEI Entertainment.

Last London Anime Club Meeting

Date: 2008 November 23 14:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Anime fans who can get to London on Sunday 7th December 2008 should do so for the last meeting of the London Anime Club. The LAC has been running for 15 years now, but attendance has been dropping for various reasons, so they've decided to halt it's regular meetings. The Christmas meetings always have lots of people going, along with extras such as a prize draw, DDR:UK will be there with games and the bring and buy, along with all the usual things like the video room, and dealers selling anime and manga merchandise.

Souce: London Anime Club

Thought Bubble Festival

Date: 2008 November 07 13:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

UK anime fans who can get to Leeds will want to keep the 13th to the 16th November 2008 free for the Thought Bubble Festival. The Festival will have a great selection of anime and manga stuff, including film screenings too.

The Convention on Saturday 15th November 2008 (10am - 5pm) will have free entry to cosplayers!

They'll be screening the following films:
Sword of the Stranger
Mind Game
20th Century Boys
Detroit Metal City

We've already seen Sword of the Stranger, and watching it on a big screen is recommend.

Kitacon Announces New Guests

Date: 2008 October 28 18:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just been sent news from the good folks at Kitacon (the UK anime Convention in Northampton 17th-19th April 2009), informing us that they've got two more guests. Voice actors Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham will be attending the convention.

Cosplayers at the Tokyo Gameshow

Date: 2008 October 20 03:37 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Wired Magazine have a little feature about Cosplayers at the Tokyo Game Show. They’ve got an interesting selection of characters, including the Prince from Katamari and a Chibi Chun-Li.

Souce: Wired

Gaming Cosplayers in London, be part of a world record.

Date: 2008 October 16 16:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

A keen eyed Otaku News reader has sent us details of a world record attempt, for the largest gathering of people dressed up as video game characters, which will occur on Satury 25 October 2008 at the London ExCel centre for the London MCM Expo.

Cosplayers should note that the characters have to been in video games before other media.
Eg: Sonic the Hedgehog started out in a video game, so he's fine to cosplay as.
Batman however started out in a comic book, so he does not count.

Grand International Cosplay Ball

Date: 2008 October 07 15:19 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've got some exciting news about the Grand International Cosplay Ball, which is set for Sunday 30th November at the Clapham Grand, London, England.

This is the first event to our knowledge that is aimed at cosplayers, and not an event like an anime convention with cosplayers as a feature.

The event looks to be a sure fire hit, with live bands, DJs, ballroom dancing, a kimono fashion show, fire and burlesque performances and even an Alice-In-Wonderland themed photography area.

As always with such events we advise that you book soon to avoid disappointment.

Kitacon Fan Choice Awards

Date: 2008 September 18 18:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

UK anime fans looking for convention fun in April 2009 will be pleased to hear that Kitacon will be holding a Fan Choice Awards, where fans get to vote for their favourites, anime, manga, characters and more. They'll even be able to collect them on behalf of the nominees. This does sound like an interesting concept.

Tuiteru Cosplay Night in Tokyo

Date: 2008 August 31 12:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

Crossplaying readers or indeed those interested in photographing crossplayers in the Tokyo area should be interested to know about a special cosplay event on 2008 September 27th Saturday to promote a new game called TUITERU by C:Drive.

What's also interesting is the venue chosen, Studio Snappy. A venue to photograph cosplayers. It seems that someone in Japan will cater to the every demand of the otaku market!

Fanboys wanted for MTV's True Life

Date: 2008 August 19 16:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Our US based readers who like the idea of appearing on TV should consider this request from MTV who are keen to do a True Life episode on Fanboys.

Back from AmeCon 2008

Date: 2008 August 10 17:50 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

I've just got back from AmeCon. Some of the the other Otaku News Crew are still there, having a great time.

We've got a few juicy bits of information that will make some excellent articles once we type them up.

Spike's just sent us details directly from the closing ceremony. Apparently, there won't be an AmeCon next year (2009), there'll be an AyaCon instead, with AmeCon taking a break for a year, while they plan to return for 2010.

To summarise, it was an enjoyable and successful convention to say the least, with lots of work put in by various members of the anime community. With artists supplying artwork, tons of fans in cosplay, plenty of fans volunteering to run panels and others helping out as gophers. Also don't forget dealers supplying eager otaku with goods (yay for merchandise), and a well organised convention committee putting in a lot of effort in behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly.

We'll be interested to hear your convention stories from AmeCon 2008, and will publish the best ones if you e-mail them to us. ^_^

Souce: Otaku News

The Pirate Anime FAQ Returns

Date: 2008 August 03 16:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

8 years ago, I wrote an FAQ about piracy in anime, and how to avoid buying pirate goods. It started off as a simple guide as part of a site called Anime Digital, but evolved and improved over the years. It's generally regarded as the most comprehensive guide to pirate goods in anime fandom. A mini version has been printed at many anime conventions and distributed among convention staff to quickly spot pirate goods. The anime industry also use it to make anime fans aware of bootleg goods.

For the last 8 years the Pirate Anime FAQ was hosted on the London Anime Club's web server. Unfortunately it's been unavailable since April because of server problems so we have decided to host the guide on Otaku News instead. We'd like to thank the London Anime Club for hosting the Pirate Anime FAQ for the last 8 years.

The Pirate Anime FAQ has been translated into French and German, thanks to the kind help of anime fans. I'll put the French and German translations up soon. However I've made a few small changes to the FAQ to make sure it will fit with the formatting of Otaku News. As a result the translations will need to be updated too.

The old content from Anime Digital is not lost and we're currently deciding if we should integrate the articles into Otaku News, or archive them as a separate site.

So please update your bookmarks, the new URL for the Pirate Anime FAQ is http://www.otakunews.com/piratefaq.php.

Souce: The Pirate Anime FAQ

London Manga and Anime Art Exhibition

Date: 2008 August 01 16:22 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

We've got some details from an Otaku News reader about Manga and Anime Art Exhibition in London, which will run from August to November 2008. The exhibition will be held at at Westminster Reference Library and St John's Wood Library. It's a great opportunity to exhibit work by new an established artists. Highlights include talks by Akemi Solloway on How Manga and Anime's costume is connected with Japanese traditional Culture, plus traditional Japanese dancing, music, and origami.

British Theme for Fuji Rock Festival 2008

Date: 2008 July 27 16:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

BBC News have an interesting article about this years Fuji Rock Festival, which has a British theme, to celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Japan.

With Union Flags flying everywhere, the article states that many are wearing British themed outfits.
"British acts including The Courteeners, Hard-Fi, Primal Scream and headliners Underworld shared the main stage with Japanese performers on Saturday."

The article also highlights that the Fuji Rock Festival was inspired by Glastonbury.
"We call it the Fuji experience. It is like Glastonbury, but has been perfected in that Japanese way," says the festival's international organiser, Johnnie Fingers (also known as the founding member of The Boomtown Rats).

Souce: BBC News

AmeCon 2008 Competition

Date: 2008 July 20 10:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

With Leicester based UK anime convention AmeCon less than a month a way, they've decided to launch a great competition where you can win two tickets to the convention, plus free accommodation for the length of the convention.

The press release also details the guest for this year will be voice actress Kari Walgren, who has done a large variety of voice work, including the American dubs for a few anime series - Haruko in FLCL, Scarlett in Steamboy, Robin in Witch Hunter Robin and Lavie in Last Exile.

An interview with Makoto Shinkai

Date: 2008 June 22 18:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Otaku News went to a BFI screening of Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second and was lucky enough to get an exclusive chance to have a private chat with Mr Shinkai, the writer and anime director.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Manchester Cosplay Competition

Date: 2008 June 05 16:39 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Cosplayers who can get to the Urbis in Manchester will want to visit on Saturday 28th of June for a cosplay competition with a unique prize, a manga portrait of the winner.

Heroes Graphic Artist Jason Badower London Signings

Date: 2008 May 31 17:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Fans of the graphic novel version of Heroes who can get to London next week will want to head to Orbital Manga, just in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, where they'll be having a signing with graphic artist Jason Badower.

Bleach Creator Tite Kubo to attend 2008 San Diego Comic-Con

Date: 2008 May 21 16:27 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've got some exciting news for American anime fans who can get to the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International, where Tite Kubo the creator of Bleach will be making an appearance from July 25th.

Wired on the Japanese Web

Date: 2008 May 21 08:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Wired have published an interesting set of articles about the internet in Japan, including one on Hiroyuki Nishimura, founder of 2chan and his new video site. The Japanese ASCII Art article sets out to explain common Japanese ASCII art, while closer to home they've also got a feature on US Fans of the Japanese Web.

Souce: Wired

Greenhunt proves to be popular

Date: 2008 May 10 13:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

The Daily Yomiuri have an interesting article about Greenhunt, an up and coming anime series shown on satellite station Space Shower TV. What draws viewers to the show is that's it's spoken in the Toyama dialect, the same as the shows creator Toyoshi Miyasaka.

The show it's self appears to be a quirky hit, drawn in a web animation style familiar to those used to watching Flash based cartoons.

Souce: Daily Yomiuri

Free copies of MAMEzine to gogogo

Date: 2008 May 03 14:28 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Fandom

In part of stock clearance, and in part of celebration of Free Comic Book Day (today), I'm giving away the rest of our copies of MAMEzine!

MAMEzine is or rather was, a non-profit fanzine I created alongside a wealth of brilliant contributors (some of whom are also resident on this forum). It was on sale via online and a few events over the last five years or so, mainly the London Anime Club.

It used to cost approx. £1.50 a copy, but here on out from today it's totally FREE!!!

From Maids to Mothers

Date: 2008 April 15 16:35 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

Mainichi Daily News have an interesting news story about the new craze in Otaku Cafe, the Mother Cafe.

Mother Cafe is in the new Mandarake outlet in Osaka (Mandarake are a chain of shops for anime and manga fans, and are evil as they are often packed full of delights to tempt otaku). Apparently the maids take on a maternal air, as they greet guests in motherly tones. Staff's age range from 19 to in their 40's, and they look older than they actually are. The aim is to become a therapeutic cafe, where people can open their hearts to the staff.

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

ICFJ at The Great Escape festival in Brighton

Date: 2008 April 13 11:29 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Fans who can get to Brighton on 17th May 2008, will want to go to Brighton's Great Escape Festival, for a Japanese segment of the event which will be hosted by ICFJ or "It Came From Japan".

They'll have a selection of Japanese bands playing, along with free sushi and anime visual provided by the folks at Manga Entertainment.

Neo Nohcon adds Japanese Performing Arts

Date: 2008 February 23 12:13 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Anime fans who can get to Amherst in New York, will want to go to Neo Nohcon on March 7th to 8th 2008. They've got an interesting line up of guests and events including Taisho-Koto and traditional Japanese Dance.

Anime speed dating event in Central London

Date: 2008 February 12 17:29 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Our chum Emily has sent us the details for an event at Tokyo Toys store in Trocadero in central London.

It's a romantic maid cafe event, with speed dating for anime fans! You can be served by cosplayers dressed up as maids too, just like in Akihabara.

The event will be held on Saturday 16th February 2008, from 5pm to late. You don't have to take part in the speed dating to go along and participate in the maid cafe either.

Don't forget your dancing shoes at next LAC!

Date: 2008 January 23 09:31 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Events

The upcoming London Anime Club meeting will be featuring the DDR crew once again, with even more games to play this time, including DDX, with everything on freeplay of course.

A map for the LAC can be found on the London Anime Club website.

Souce: DDR:UK

Video Games Live - Meet the Mario Maestros

Date: 2007 December 10 13:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Gaming

Wired Magazine are currently running an article on Video Games Live called Meet the Mario Maestros. VGL is the music event that's toured around the world, bringing music from video games into venues that traditionally play classical music. The article focuses the struggles they faced getting started, on it's currently success and it's cross over appeal to gamers and even the orchestra that plays the music.

Souce: Wired

AmeCon 2008 Update

Date: 2007 December 04 17:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Following on from our earlier story, it seems that the Leicester, UK based anime conventions AmeCon, is now almost full, with over 1,190 registered members, it's getting close to their maximum capacity of 1,300. Fans keen to get to the event from the 8th to 10th of August 2008 should sign up now to avoid disappointment.

The Slants to play at Sakura-Con

Date: 2007 November 29 18:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've received a press release from The Slants an Asian dance/rock band from Portland, Oregon who will be playing at Sakura-Con 2008 the anime convention in Seattle, Washington state. This will be the 11th annual Sakura-Con and is set to run from March 28th to 30th. With attendance figures of over 10,000 at the 2007 convention, it proves that the convention is popular, and we recommend going to a large anime convention at least once. ^_^

AmeCon 2008 registrations filling up quickly

Date: 2007 November 26 16:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

We mentioned before that AmeCon 2008, the UK anime convention, running for it's forth time is now open for registration. As expected it's filling up quickly with over 950 members registering already, and at this current rate they'll be full soon (their capacity is 1,300 fans). We advise any fans who want to go to a great fan run anime convention in August to 2008 to book soon to avoid disappointment. This year registration has been made easier by using Google Checkout too, so you don't have to mail them a cheque (although you still can if you prefer too).

Souce: AmeCon

Cosplayers needed for UK TV Advert

Date: 2007 November 08 15:02 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

The folks at UK Satellite anime channel Anime Central are currently looking for cosplayers to participate in an advertising campaign to be broadcast in the New Year. To apply you have to be 18 or over and able to get to London at the end of November for filming. From the details, it's not clear if the adverts will go just on Anime Central or if they'll be broadcast on other channels too, or even if photos for a press campaign could be used. Check out their article for the full details, you just really need to e-mail them a photo of you in cosplay and write a paragraph about yourself.

Souce: Anime Central

Wired for manga

Date: 2007 November 06 19:26 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

This months (November 2007) issue of Wired Magazine has an excellent feature called Japan Ink about the manga industry, the impact dojinshi has on the copyright of manga and how an unspoken agreement benefits fans and companies alike, suggesting that the model can be spread out to other media industries like the music biz.

Wired have also made manga their cover feature for this month and have produced an article in manga format about the history of manga in America, although it's very biased towards Viz, being written by a former Viz senior editor, it practically ignores the fact fandom exists.

Souce: Wired

London Expo October 2007

Date: 2007 October 26 13:19 | Posted By: LittleWoodenBoy

Category > Events

A look at the recent London Expo (featuring cosplay photos).

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Anime Insider Hits 50!

Date: 2007 October 26 09:32 | Posted By: Jeremy

Category > Fandom

Anime Insider, the anime and manga oriented spin-off of Wizard, has just reached its 50th issue! And they're going all out to celebrate. In addition to their regular monthly features (including articles about the new season of Black Lagoon and the upcoming Pumpkin Scissors), the commemorative issue sports a ranking of the 50 best anime ever (check to see where and if your favorite title made the list), and a cover featuring two of the beauties of Evangelion, pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu offering a special cake.

Anime Insider is also offering their biggest contest to date with this issue. For a huge grand prize of a pack of anime goodies worth over $1500, all you have to do is write a haiku. That's right, the Japanese-style poem of three lines and 17 syllables (5, 7, 5). The poem can be about the magazine, fandom, giant robots, or your favorite character. Winners will be chosen from each category, with one grand prize winner for the big one. Grab a copy of the magazine for rules and entry form. And also enjoy the magazine in general.

Souce: Anime Insider

Amecon 2008 registrations open this November

Date: 2007 October 19 16:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

UK anime fans will be pleased to hear that we've received news from the Amecon Crew about the next anime convention set to run at Leicester University from August 8th to 10th 2008. Registrations will open on 18th November 2007. Guests as of yet haven't been confirmed (it's still a bit early for that), voice actress Monica Rial has already expressed an interest. At the moment it looks like they may have more live music, plenty of cosplay and the usual interesting selection of industry and fan run panels.

We look forward to the convention (many of the Otaku News crew have been to the previous three Amecons and had a blast) and we advise to book early to avoid disappointment as popular anime conventions in the UK tend to be fully booked quickly.

Spooky Happenings at J-Pop Go

Date: 2007 October 11 15:27 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Those good people from J-Pop Go have sent us the details of their spooky Halloween themed j-pop gathering in London. It'll be on Saturday 20th October at Cafe Manga by County Hall, near Westminster Tube. The fun is set to start at 7pm, tickets will be £5 (with discounts for flyers and cosplayers). As always they've got a good line up, along with some great prizes from ADV. Readers should also note that this event is for over 18's only.

Japanese civil servants in trouble over Wikipedia edits

Date: 2007 October 05 08:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

BBC News are reporting a story about some Japanese civil servants who got into trouble at work for making lots of Wikipedia edits. One particular man was found to have made 260 entries to Gundam articles. The article features a classic quote from a ministry official, in case you didn't already know "The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam".

We wonder if the agriculture ministry could do with some robotic help, as lots of labour intensive tasks in agricultural circles could surely be made easier. We're wondering if they're not so keen on Gundam, what robot would be better? ^_-

Souce: BBC News

Death Note Cast Selected

Date: 2007 September 05 22:35 | Posted By: Jeremy

Category > Anime

The English cast for Death Note has been selected... with 12 episodes already in the bag.

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