Category > Events
The nice folks from J-Pop go have just sent us the details for their February event, this time it's at a new venue, the Cafe Manga (near to the London Eye, which is a great location). Set for Saturday February 11th tickets are available via the J-Pop Go Website. It seems they've also teamed up with evil games company Ubisoft, "Why are they evil we hear you cry?", well the answers simple Ubisoft distribute the most addictive game ever on the PSP - Lumines, a game so truly hypnotic it will suck days of your life in the blink of an eye. ^_- They've also teamed up with ADV Films UK for some goodies
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Anime
Anime Network show "Digital Dojo" cracks the Top 20 on the podcast charts in North America.
Read More... | Souce: ADV Films
Category > Anime
ADV Films announces release date information on sci-fi comedy UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie.
Read More... | Souce: ADV Films
Category > Anime
Following up on a recent announcement of FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd's acquirement of Negima, the anime series based on Ken Akamatsu's latest manga about a boy wizard teaching English at a girl’s school in Japan, Anime Insider announced in their 2006 Preview issue some more of the cast for the English dub. The series is due out later this year, though there is no official date for the release.
Greg Ayres is still up to voice main character Negi Springfield, while Luci Christian (Full Metal Panic, Azumanga Daioh) will play his hot tempered student Asuna. Other actresses for the mostly female cast include Laura Bailey (Fruits Basket), Monica Rial (Excel Saga, Burst Angel) and Caitlin Glass (Fullmetal Alchemist). With the 30+ students in Negi's class (including fortune teller Konoka, shy bookworm Nodoka, haughty rich girl Ayaka, half-demon kendoist Setsuna, vampire girl Evangeline, ninja girl Kaede and many more) and Akamatsu’s plans to develop them all with their own storylines, Negima could very contain one the largest voice casts for an anime series, Japanese or English.
Souce: Anime Insider
Category > Events
The folks from Tomo-Dachi have just sent us their latest press release, which reveals that Matt Greenfield will be one of the guests. Matt Greenfield is best known to anime fans as the co-founder of ADV Films, and has directed the dubbing of Neon Genesis Evangelion (making sure that "Father I hate you!" sounds just right! ^_-).
Read More... | Souce: Tomo-Dachi
Category > Anime
Anime News Network has announced that a new book containing essays on anime will be due this May from publisher Palgrave Macmillan. Titled Cinema Anime, the book will contain nine essays with an overall theme of dismantling the distinction between high and low culture and offering compelling arguments for the value and importance of the study of anime and popular culture as a key link in the translation from the local to the global, according to Palgrave's website.
The nine essays featured in the new book will have such titles as "The Americanization of Anime and Manga: Negotiating Popular Culture"; "Excuse Me, Who Are You? Reality and Fantasy in the Anime of Kon Satoshi" (anime director Kon is the mastermind behind such films as Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress and the television series Paranoia Agent); and "The Robots from Takkun’s Head: Cyborg Adolescece in FLCL". A hardcover version of the book will be published at £25.00. No details for a softcover version have been announced.
Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Fandom
The Statesman are currently running an article from the Yomiuri Shimbun, about the latest changes to anime cafes, which apparently now offer more services for the female anime and manga fan, including germanium baths, nail salons and even organic vegetable buffets! The article states that the number of young women is growing in manga cafes and keen to capitalise on this. The article also mentions that such cafes are popular places for people to crash out in as a cheap alternative to hotels.
Souce: The Statesman
Category > Events
Anime-Cons.com have just published an article with the attendance figures for the top 10 largest anime conventions in the US. This year Anime Expo gets the number 1 spot with 33,000 attendees including attendees, guests, staff, dealers etc). Otakon get place with 22,000 paid attendees., while third place goes to A-Kon with 10,000 paid attendees, which is a drastic difference from the top two places. What makes this article better than the average website post is that Anime-Cons.com actually go to the effort of explaining the figures, and how they got them, which allows you get a better idea of what each convention is counting. They also have a nice disclaimer stating that biggest does not always equal best, it just means that more people went.
Souce: Anime-Cons.com
Category > Manga
NewType USA to serialize Seven Seas Entertainment's Aoi House starting with January 2006 issue.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Anime
Gainax, the anime studio behind Neon Genesis Evangelion (currently airing Thursday nights on Adult Swim), has announced a new contest for the latest video game spin-off for the hit series. The contest is calling for fans to design a new character for the second part of Neon Genesis Evangelion Supplementary Story: A Midsummer Night's Dream, a game designed for cellular phones.
The guidelines for the contest can be found on Gainax’s website. Unfortunately for American Evangelion fans, they are in Japanese. The few guidelines that are known is that the character must be female, and must be in the same class as EVA pilots Shinji, Rei and Asuka. Contestants will not simply be limited to only submitting designs for the physical appearance of the new character, but can also create her personality, manner of speech, and so on. There is no explicit statement saying that the contest is only open to Japanese residents. Other rules and guidelines, such as a final submission date, are not known at this time.
Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Manga
Del Rey Manga will publish the manga adaptation of Gundam SEED Destiny starting in 2006.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Anime
Central Park Media announces DVD release of sci-fi comedy Outlanders.
Read More... | Souce: Central Park Media
Category > Events
We've got news of a new anime convention in Northern Ireland, at the University of Ulster's Magee Campus in Londonderry. Tomo-Dachi is set for 7th 8th and 9th of July 2006 and looks like it's going to be great! With guests including veteran voice actress Tiffany Grant and writer, translator and man of many talents Jonathan Clements. The convention is the first of it's kind in Northern Ireland and has some really nice touches like anime related presents in everyone's room! We reckon it's worth going to for the "What Stupid People Say About Anime" segment alone, since we've heard many people say stupid things about anime! So clear your calendars for that week and get over to Londonderry! ^_^
Read More... | Souce: Tomo-Dachi
Category > Manga
VIZ Media B.V. announces team-up with TokyoPop Germany to publish hit manga for the German market.
Read More... | Souce: VIZ Media, LLC
Category > Events
Those nice folks at J-Pop Go have sent us the details for their next event, which will take place on December 7th. They've got a real Christmas treat with Rie Fu, who will be performing live, resident DJs, DJ Take Off and DJ Kyukyusha will play a selection of top J-Pop and J-Rock tunes throughout the night as well. Cosplayers get a discount too! So be sure to turn up to their regular venue Fluid in London, for some Japanese music themed fun.
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Fandom
The Scotsman are currently running a story focusing on the economic force behind the otaku. It's very similar to articles we've featured before. It explains what an otaku is, the fun places in Akihabara, including it's electronic shops, and maid cafes. It also mentions the otaku test we've covered before, along with how keen otaku are with the test.
What makes this article a bit different from a recap of all the articles featured before is a new phrase we've never read about "otaku mum", the parent of one otaku is actually into anime too and even has models of characters from her favourite movie! Now don't you wish your parents were like that? Then again, maybe not since they would only "borrow" most of your DVDs! ^_-
Souce: The Scotsman
Category > Anime
Adult-version of NewType magazine, NewWords will be released in November.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Events
Those nice people over at Sweatdrop have sent us a press release for their appearace at the Comic Expo in Brighton. Tokyopop and Letraset will be there too. It's certainly worth a vist if you like your comics or want to be more active in the independent UK comic scene.
Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios
Category > Anime
VIZ Media, LLC announced that they have made a deal with toymaker Mattel to produce toys based on hit anime series "Zatch Bell!".
Read More... | Souce: VIZ Media, LLC
Category > Anime
Turner Classic Movies will be airing anime films by Hayao Miyazaki in January.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Events
The winners of this years IMAF have been announced. Michiru Morikawa's manga "Advent" and Sumito Sakakibara's animated film "Kamiya's Correspondence" will share the grand prize. Special congratulations go to our very own Voxie for wining the Student Children’s Character Design category.
Read More... | Souce: IMAF
Category > Fandom
An enterprising confectionary company has discovered out how to make money from otaku! According to the Mainichi Daily News, Matsuya the 120 year sweet shop has had a huge hit selling traditional Japanese sweets sold in bags with anime characters printed on. Matsuya is based in Akihabara, the Japanese electronics district in Tokyo, a place frequented with otaku. This started 10 years ago when they first printed customers messages on the bags. At the end of last year they were approached by an Akihabara regular who wanted his own anime character printed on the candy bags, since then the sweets have proved popular with anime fans in the area!
Souce: Mainichi Daily News
Category > Websites
Blogging is all the rage at the moment, with everyone and their dog putting up content about this that and everything. Many blogs are just angst fests. However hunting around can be interesting and rewarding with many different takes on anime fandom and Japanese Culture in general. Photo Blog site Flickr offers a wealth of photos for otaku, featuring Gundam, some nice Catbus, the cast of Naruto and Evangelion! One enterprising otaku even has his own Calcifer to keep his car warm. There are tons of cool images for you too look at on Flickr, so why not add your own! ^_^
Souce: Flickr
Category > Manga
Manga sales decreasing in Japan due to rental shops and used sales.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Events
Author and anime expert Jonathan Clements has sent us details of the SOAS Japanese Manga and Cultural Politics Lecture and Discussion in London. This is due to take place at 7pm Tuesday 11th October, with free admission at the The Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS. Since it's hosted by The School of Oriental and African Studies, you know it should be good.
Read More... | Souce: SOAS
Category > Events
With the competition deadline edging ever close, the nice folks at IMAF have sent us some more details for their London event.
Highlights include Sweatdrop Studios, a special screening of Millennium Actress, along with the Europe Premiere of Streetfighter - Alpha Generation. Even Garnier will be their with its Manga haircare range. The IMAF is certainly worth attending to see the wonderful range of entrants.
Read More... | Souce: IMAF
Category > Events
The Mainichi Daily News are running an interesting story about the last few days of the Aichi Expo in Nagoya. As covered previously on Otaku News the Expo features the house from Totoro, along with Japanese companies showing off their robotic technology. The Expo has proved so popular that people are willing to queue overnight to enter. This Saturday 34,500 people queued outside the expo before it opened at 8:20 am. Some people have even been more than 50 times! With attendance like this it's clear to see that the Expo has proved hugely successful.
Souce: Mainichi Daily News
The nice people at Central Park Media have sent us details of their Outlanders Fan-Casting Contest. More details can be found on-line here along with the chance to win some Outlanders goodies.
Read More... | Souce: Central Park Media
Category > Fandom
UK Anime Magazine Neo, are currently taking votes for their first Neo Awards "the only UK awards ceremony to celebrate the best in Asian Pop Culture" which will be held on Saturday 29th October.
Neo rightly point out that what makes the awards important is that the winner of each category is voted by the fans.
To vote all you have to do is download this PDF file, print it out, fill it out and post it to the address on the form. All voting forms have to be sent in by Friday 7th October to be counted.
Please note that the form is in PDF format, so if you have problems printing the file try downloading Adobe Acrobat.
Souce: Neo
Category > Retail
Anime-related novels turn out to be big sellers in American bookstore market.
Read More... | Souce: ICv2
Category > Fandom
With the Tokyo Games Show well under way, so are the cosplayers that have invaded the event. The Mainichi Daily News has some excellent photos of the people there, including some really good Final Fantasy Advent Children and Naruto Cosplayers.
Souce: Mainichi Daily News
With Howl's Moving Castle being launched in the UK from September 23rd every British anime fan is counting the days until they can see it on the big screen. It's already had a few special art house and festival showings in the UK, but these sold out ridiculously quickly. For our UK readers in the Hertfordshire area, we've managed to get exclusive preview screening tickets.
The good people at Cineworld in Stevenage have decided that Otaku News readers can come to this advanced screening for free! All you have to do is download this flyer, and be able to get to Stevenage Cineworld on Wednesday 21st September 2005 for 8:15pm. Present the flyer to the Cineworld staff to attend the screening. Please note that seats are subject to availability so turn up early if you really want to see Howl's Moving Castle!
Please note that the flyer is in PDF format, so if you have problems printing the file try downloading Adobe Acrobat.
Souce: Cineworld Stevenage
Category > Manga
Tokyopop announces November release of manga series from Rising Stars of Manga entrants.
Read More... | Souce: Tokyopop
Category > Events
Paul from J-Pop Go has sent us the latest details for the event. Apparently it looks like the date for the next London J-Pop Go is going to change. -
"Unfortunately the premiere of the new Ghost In The Shell film is on the same day (I only discovered this today) so the 28th is unlikely to happen."
They plan to push back until October, making sure the event doesn't clash with anything else.
Additionally J-Pop Go will also be providing music at the party for the forthcoming London Expo. - "Following on from the success of last year's event, this year's Expo continues to be a celebration of a variety of pop culture interests including film and TV. The Expo will see special guest stars, displays and a dealer's section. The event will also house a special Anime Village featuring a Cosplay Masquerade and exclusive big screen presentations. The Expo runs on the weekend of 29th/30th October".
It's good to see that the J-Pop Go Organisers are aware of other anime events and are proactively avoiding any calendar conflicts.
Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Culture
Following a post made at the Anime Cafe organisers have mentioned plans saying that they will be "the first people to bring real geisha to England"! Geisha being a standard unique to Japanese culture, curious otaku will now have access to this experience without paying the plane fare!
The event is not until May next year. Apart from the chance to view the beautiful kimono, there are also other Japanese-related events to be be held, including calligraphy and martial arts. More information, including prices and availability, are now on the organisers' website.
And finally, at present the organisers are welcoming venture from others, including maybe a mini manga/anime expo! If you're interested in having a workshop, table to sell your works, or even cosplaying, contact the organisers via the website link above, or email them directly: katie_c@tiscali.co.uk
Souce: Anime.org.uk
Category > Anime
Cowboy Bebop sells over one million copies in the U.S.
Read More... | Souce: Bandai Entertainment
Category > Anime
Three hit anime series from ADV Films appearing on G4 this fall.
Read More... | Souce: ADV Films
Category > Events
Ayacon, one of the longest running UK Anime conventions, has repeated itself after a one year absence due to Amecon last year, and has certainly come back with one hell of a bang. Spanning three days from the 19th to the 22nd of August at Warwick Arts Centre just south of Coventry, this convention provided not only a bountiful selection of Anime, a masquerade and of course karaoke but also panels from a large variety of different sources, a pub quiz, two parties and even a concert from gothic j-rock group Blood. Boredom was never going to be an option...
Read More... | Souce: Ayacon
Category > Manga
Seven Seas Entertainment are now accepting submissions for manga artists, though sadly they can not accept unsolicited submissions from writers at this time. Seven Seas already have a number of excellent titles , and we heartily recommend you read some of their established work before submitting,the first volume of many of their books are available online and for download on the PSP.
Souce: Seven Seas Entertainment
Category > Events
The people behind J-Pop Go have sent us the lastest details for the next event in September. The venue will be the same as the previous J-Pop Go, Fluid in London.
So keep Wednesday 28th September free!
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Anime
After posting the press release from KyuuCon yesterday, it's been brought to our attention by various members of UK anime fandom that there is something fishy about KyuuCON. Firstly it appears that the venue mentioned the Plymouth Pavillions has not heard of KyuuCON or the organisers in question. The second major alarm bell is where the payments are going, into a personal bank account and not a building society account/non-profit account in the conventions name.
What's also interesting is their sudden change of heart, and the way they've just moved everything back a year. Plus this thread brought to our attention at the AyaCon Forum. At this current moment in time, based on what we have heard, we believe that KyuuCON is either very poorly organised or a cash grabbing scam, either way, we suggest you avoid KyuuCON for now.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Fandom
Category > Events
2006 looks to be a busy year for fans with the announcement of a third convention in the UK. KyuuCON 2006 will run from the 2nd - 4th of June at the Plymouth Pavillions. The convention will have a capacity of 1500 with the weekend price being £50.
Read More... | Souce: Kyuucon 2006
Category > Anime
Following on from our report of the oldest anime in Japan, it appears that it is more press hype than solid fact.
Anime expert Jonathan Clements sent us an e-mail with his take on the situation and highlights that most of the reports are merely speculative. Apparently the press have over exaggerated Matsumoto's guess into facts, currently their is very little evidence to support the claim that the film dates to 1907
Read More... | Souce: Jonathan Clements
Category > Fandom
We’ve just been sent details from Otaku Unite, on their new project TOKYOnoRADIO, which will be selling a number of albums from various Japanese underground groups, including the 5.6.7.8's who are famous for the "woo-hoo" song heard in Kill Bill.
Otaku Unite also inform us that they will be taking pictures of cosplayers at Otakon for their Otaku Unite DVD a documentary on anime fandom in the US.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku Unite
Category > Anime
VIZ announces a clothing line based on hit anime Zatch Bell with Exquisite Apparel Corp.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Events
Those of you attending Ayacon and planning on attending next year's conventions Amecon 2006 (August 11th - 13th, 2006) and Auchinawa(November 23rd -
26th, 2006) will be interested in a joint registration scheme which will be running during Ayacon this weekend. The scheme will allow con goers to pay for one con in full and a deposit for the other at the same time.
Read More... | Souce: Auchinawa Committee
Category > Fandom
Following on from our earlier story, according to the Mainichi Daily News, a fantastic costume of Sirene from Devilman has won the top individual prize, Italian Giorgia Vecchini's costume even had Sirene's wings on her head, making it a huge and elaborate competitor in the competition!
The Mainichi Daily News site also has some photos of the finalists for this years summit. The competition had regional play offs in Asia, Europe and the USA.
Souce: Mainichi Daily News
Category > Anime
VIZ Media, LLC, has announced that they will be releasing the award winning Japanese film Kamikaze Girls theatrically in several major North American cities. The film follows others such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away (which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and most recently Howl’s Moving Castle. Kamikaze Girls will make its debut on September 9 in New York City at the Village East Cinemas, followed on September 16 at Los Angeles’ Landmark’s NuArt Theater, with additional bookings in Seattle, San Francisco and other cities.
Based on the hit novel by Novala Takemoto, which is set to be translated and released by VIZ Media in February 2006 as part of their Fiction Imprint line, Kamikaze Girls follows the adventures of two mis-matched girls, a Lolita-type named Momoko and a tough high school biker named Ichigo, whose strong personalities initially clash but eventually bind them together as they embark on a quest to find a legendary embroiderer. Starring hot young J-Pop talents Kyoko Fukada as Momoko and Anna Tsuchiya as Ichigo, the film became an immediate cult favorite in Japan with its complex, multilayered plot and eccentric and infectious brand of humor. It has also won several awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best New Actor at the Yokohama Movie Awards, and Best New Director at the Fujimoto Awards. Further information about the film can be found at the website, www.kamikazegirls.net.
Souce: VIZ Media
Category > Events
Synch-Point is holding auditions for an American version of DUP ( Dejiko, Ususa Puchiko) Digi Charat singing group. The deadline is tight but if you live in LA it’s certainly worth giving a shot.
Read More... | Souce: Synch-Point Blog
Category > Fandom
Anime fans wanting to know more about all the various cultural references that pop up in their favorite anime can now rejoice. Anime News Network has announced that Stone Bridge Press, publisher of books about Japan, is releasing The Anime Companion 2: More... What's Japanese in Japanese Animation?, the follow-up to the popular book written by Gilles Poitras, who also writes the new volume.
Like its predecessor, The Anime Companion 2 contains glossary-style entries to help readers decipher anime's distinctive content, images and cultural motifs. Everything from city landmarks to food to clothing to historical figures is covered in fascinating detail, using illustrations anime images, film citations and numerous references to the related art of manga. With entries in both kanji (Japanese characters) and English, the book also contains maps of old provinces and current prefectures (and the 23 wards of Tokyo), making it an absolute must-have for those wanting to learn about Japan, whether they're otaku or not.
Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Events
A quick reminder to our London based readers, the London Anime Club which is normally held on the first Sunday of every month, will be on 14th August so not to clash with the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow which has an anime events run this weekend.
Souce: London Anime Club