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ICE Kunion Brings Manhwa to the US

Date: 2005 July 12 15:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've just got a press release from ICE Kunion, a joint enterprise between Korean publishing companies Sigongsa, Seoul Cultural and others. They mention their October line up, which includes Angel Diary, Chocolat, The 11th Cat and Bring It On, which have sold a combined total of almost a million copies in Korea alone.

The Otaku News crew note that this press release is interesting, since Korean comic books are normally incorrectly marketed as manga to people who automatically assume it is from Japan. ICE Kunion are marketing their titles are Korean and are taking pride in it claiming that "Korean Manhwa has taken over Japanese Manga to be the hottest books in the market".

National Unified Otaku Proficiency Exam

Date: 2005 July 11 16:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Who is the biggest otaku? Is your friend Steve a bigger otaku than you? If so why? Well publisher Biblos are going to solve this question finally by holding the first Japanese national unified otaku proficient exam in their August 5th Edition of Elfix Magazine.

They claim they want to nurture an "otaku elite to carry the otaku culture through the 21st century".

The Mainichi Daily News explain that the magazine will even grade their otaku awareness level if readers write their answers down on a postcard and send it to the Elfix staff. The best results will be printed in the October 5th edition of the magazine.

Japan University Forms New Manga Department

Date: 2005 July 05 17:54 | Posted By: Jeremy

Category > Manga

Going to school to learn about art just got a whole lot cooler. At least in Japan it has. Anime News Network has announced that the first ever Manga Department will begin next spring in 2006 at Kyoto Seika University in Japan. The school's already existing manga art courses will be merged together to form the new department. 200 students will have the option to take classes that not only include how to produce manga, but also animation courses as well. No details have yet been provided on exactly what classes will be available.

Souce: Anime News Network

VIZ Media Makes Licensing Deals for "Naruto"

Date: 2005 July 01 21:29 | Posted By: Jeremy

Category > Anime

VIZ Media, LLC has announced on its website that it has made licensing deals with Bandai America and Hot Topic, Inc. for one of its most popular titles, "Naruto", the action-comedy about a young ninja, infused with the spirit of a powerful fox-demon, who strives to be the greatest ninja of all and learns life lessons along the way. This comes following the announcement of the "Naruto" anime, currently one of the highest rated shows in Japan, debuting on Cartoon Network this fall. VIZ Media currently publishes the "Naruto" manga in the monthly anthology "Shonen Jump", as well as in graphic novel format.

Only 49 Places Left at AyaCon

Date: 2005 June 21 19:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Popular UK Anime convention AyaCon are now down to their last 49 places. The convention always proves a hit and once it has sold out getting a ticket to the event is very hard, normally people have to wait for registered members to cancel.

AyaCon 5 is set to be the biggest UK anime convention to date with 1200 fans in attendance. Currently hosting an anime convention of this size is tricky and it's always nice to know that the people running the convention have experience and a proven track record at organising anime conventions. So book now to avoid disappointment.

What will be interesting to see is where will anime conventions go after this. Anime and manga is getting increasingly popular in the UK and more events are being held all the time. Surely more people will want to go to anime conventions run by anime fans like AmeCon, AyaCon and MinamiCon, however there are a only a limited number of venues that can cater for a fan run anime convention in the UK larger than 1200 people, anything bigger and all sorts of logistical factors kick in making organising an event a lot more complex. The Otaku News Crew wonder what will happen next, will these conventions continue with the same capacity, or will they be able to find even bigger venues to hold larger events? Whatever happens we certainly look forward to future fan run anime conventions.

Souce: AyaCon

Geeky Girl Otaku

Date: 2005 June 19 16:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Here at Otaku News, not only do we cover anime news, manga news and news for fans of Japan, but we also like to run stories on otaku! We have to, otherwise we would have to search for another name! ^_-

The Mainichi Daily News are currently running a story about Female Otaku in Japan and fandom from their perspective. It certainly makes an interesting read. You'll also learn that Ikebukuro is the otaku girls paradise, while Akihabara is the guys (but everyone probably already knows about Akihabara, the electronic district in Tokyo).

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

Manga Special At Artists & Illustrators Exhibition

Date: 2005 June 12 14:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Sonia Leong over at Sweatdrop Studios has just sent us some details about a special discount at The Artists & Illustrators Exhibition (21-24 July, Business Design Centre, London, UK). For more details read the full press release.

Highest paid Mangaka:Rumiko Takashi

Date: 2005 June 01 15:10 | Posted By: Davie

Category > Manga

According to Manga News service, Japan’s National Tax Administration Agency released its annual figures for the highest taxable income of celebrities for May 16. This year Rumiko Takashi resulted the highest paid Mangaka.

TokyoPop to Launch New Children's Line

Date: 2005 May 24 18:41 | Posted By: Jeremy

Category > Manga

TokyoPop has announced that they will launch a new branch of their successful Cine-Manga line. This July, they will release the first of the new Jr. Cine-Manga books that will, they predict, revolutionize the children’s book market by bringing beloved characters and storylines from the screen to an original exciting visual format.

Manga Art Competition At London Expo

Date: 2005 May 10 18:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Sonia Leong from UK manga style art group Sweatdrop Studios has just sent us the details of a Manga Art Competition which will be held at the London Expo this weekend. The competition is sponsored by Letraset who will be giving the winners some highly desirable colour professional Letraset Tria Marker collections, worth over £70 each.

So if you can draw and will be at the London Expo then why not give it a shot? ^_^

Arthouse Manga?

Date: 2005 May 07 16:40 | Posted By: Ash

Category > Manga

One subsection of the Manga industry that is often ignored is that of ‘real-life’ manga, which in Japan is enjoyed by a wide range of people who are not necessarily what you would call otaku. In France a writer called Frédéric Boilet has made strong strides in trying to correct this fact as well as create a whole new manga subgenre.

More Details Of Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh manga releases in the UK

Date: 2005 May 05 15:03 | Posted By: Ash

Category > Manga

Following on this story, Gollancz have confirmed more details of the release of the Dragon Ball Z and the Yu-Gi-Oh series in mainstream book shops. The cartoon series of both have caught the attention of the UK audience by their showing on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and now it will be possible from August to buy the manga titles from all good book shops, with Ottakars especially making a push with these titles.

First Ever UK Tokyopop 'Rising Stars Of Manga' Competition

Date: 2005 April 28 17:09 | Posted By: Ash

Category > Manga

Following on from our earlier story Tokyopop are to offer a chance for UK creators to earn prizes and receive a chance to have their own Graphic Novel.

Garnier Release Manga Hair Styling Product In UK

Date: 2005 April 26 18:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

Anime and manga fans in the UK have always dreamed of their favourite hobby becoming more mainstream, without doubt over the last year or so this has happened. What key indicators are we using for this? Sales figures in highstreet retailers? Availability of manga in bookshops? No, we're using hair products. Anime and manga characters have always been noted for having very distinct hairstyles and beauty products company Garnier have just released Fructis Style Manga Head styling putty in the UK. It seems that either their marketing department are cool and hip or Garnier have found a niche market of otaku who want to emulate their favourite characters.

IMAF Announce Winners

Date: 2005 April 19 13:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The International Manga and Anime Festival have just announced the winners of their first international competition. The London based event started last year as a trial run and has proved very successful indeed. The entrants work was displayed in London County Hall in December. This was a very high profile event, located near the famous London Eye, with a $75,000 prize fund which even ran adverts in national newspapers. We covered the story originally here.

The Otaku News Crew would like to congratulate all the winners in this competition, especially talented artist Wing Yun Man, who is well known in UK anime fandom as part of the Sweatdrop Team, she is also a member of the Otaku News Crew and finds time post the occasional story and draw lovely artwork for us!

Gollancz Announces Manga Deal

Date: 2005 April 08 07:39 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following on from our story about Viz being distributed in the UK, we now have the offical press release from Gollancz.

Trick-Or-Thieves April Fool's!

Date: 2005 April 02 05:26 | Posted By: Wing

Category > Manga

In regards to the previous article about 'Trick-Or Thieves', it turns out the original announcement on the author's deviantART account is actually an April Fool's joke!
M. Alice LeGrow stated that she would never write a story like this, although she is working on multiple projects for Tokyopop. Unfortunately, 'Trick-Or-Thieves' is not one of them.

Souce: deviantART

Yet More New Original Manga From Tokyopop (April Fool)

Date: 2005 April 01 15:21 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Manga

Bizenghast writer & author M. Alice LeGrow has announced a second book deal with Tokyopop. The new series ‘Trick or Thieves’ follows three girls who steal candy from large candy factories to give to children, Legrow describes it as ‘like Robin Hood, but with a cute candy theme.’ The series is due to launch around Halloween next year, whilst Bizenghast is set to launch August this year.

Viz Manga For The UK

Date: 2005 March 31 15:50 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Manga

For some time Viz titles have only been available through specialist importers in the UK, but thankfully for those without access to these services the UK will finally get versions of it’s own. UK publishers Gollancz have struck a deal with Viz and will be publishing Viz’s titles in the UK under the imprint Gollancz manga. Titles include: Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Case Closed and Fushigi Yugi. The books will be priced at £4.99 and be available from August.

Souce: The Book Standard

Newtype USA April 2005 Issue

Date: 2005 March 30 16:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Those nice folks from Newtype USA have sent us the details of their April Issue, which has features on Fearless Females (including the cute and shocking Elfen Lied and Gunslinger Girl), along an with interview from Seiji Mizushima the director of Fullmetal Alchemist. The free DVD includes the first episodes of Maburaho and Gravion Zwei.

Sweatdrop At London Expo

Date: 2005 March 24 12:14 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Press Releases

UK manga style art group Sweatdrop Studios has announced that they will be attending the London MCM Expo and will be running the artists alley section of the 'anime village'. The MCM Expo is running on the 14 & 15th May.

Comic Expo UK -Tokyopop Rising Stars Competition Opens To The UK

Date: 2005 March 21 13:17 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Comic Expo is a new UK comic convention in Bristol 14th - 15th MAY 2005. Which seems to be making an effort to include manga fans within the convention. The biggest news is that Tokyopop UK will be launching its new 'Rising Stars of Manga' competition which for the first time will be open to UK artists. The convention also lists a "Tokyopop cine-manga night" but there are no details so it's hard to understand what this means.
Tokyopop Cine-manga are comics made out of animation screenshots (which with Tokyopop aren't all based on anime e.g. Disney), so it's unclear if it's some sort of presentation, anime screening or broader animation screening.

Also of interest is a talk by Paul Gravett which is billed as 'PAUL GRAVETT gets Re-Animeted. Celebrating 60 years of the genre.'

Rumble Pak and Sakura Pakk Comics Are Headed For The Eisner

Date: 2005 March 15 16:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Press Releases

eigoManga have sent us a rather strange press release. Their titles Rumble Pak and Sakura Pakk are curently competing for a nomination for an the 2005 Eisner Award. Basically it means they've submitted a form to apply for what is know as the "Oscars" of comics. Still they've put up some of their stuff to look at for free!

Manga Collector Required

Date: 2005 March 09 17:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Otaku News Crew have been sent this request from a Publisher who requires someone with a large manga collecton -

Publisher seeks manga collectors in South East England with collections of 75-100 plus translated titles, mostly non hentai. Author and publisher would like to visit you and look at your titles as part of picture research for new book. Small fee and thanks in book. If interested send your list of titles/authors and your address to

chippymouseuk@yahoo.co.uk

Souce: Publisher

Sweatdrop Studios Mini Comics Feature on Artists & Illustrators Magazine

Date: 2005 March 06 18:10 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Sonia Leong from UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop has sent us some details regarding an exciting collaboration with Artists & Illustrators Magazine. The March issue heavily features manga style artwork in the form of two full colour cover-mounted mini comics and a make your own manga tutorial, covering details such as sketching, inking and using colour markets to produce authentic looking illustrations.

The Sweatdrop crew will also be representing the UK manga community at the Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005 event.

Artists & Illustrators Magazine is the UK's best selling magazine for practising artists. You can grab a copy of the Sweatdrop Planet Manga mini comic with the March Edition of the magazine, which is available from 4th March.

New Seven Seas Series

Date: 2005 March 03 14:11 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Manga

Seven Seas Entertainment have announced yet another new series ‘ Unearthly’ this time to be penned by Ted Naifeh, art by Elmer Damaso. The first wave of seven seas titles should be hitting stores now and looks to be just the start of Seven Seas ambitious plans.

ADV Films Announces March 15 Release of The Five Star Stories

Date: 2005 February 27 18:43 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

Those folks over at ADV Films have sent us the details for their US DVD release of The Five Star Stories.

Newtype USA March 2005 Issue

Date: 2005 February 26 11:41 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Press Releases

The folks at Newtype USA have sent us the details about the March 2005 Issue of their magazine.

They've got some Madlax artwork on the cover that has been exclusively drawn for the Newtype USA, they've also got more coverage of Fullmetal Alchemist and Samurai Champloo, along with Maburaho and Scrapped Princess. The cover DVD has both dub and sub versions of Cromartie High School and Divergence Eve.

Newtype USA Vol. 4, Issue 3 will be available March 1, 2005.

ADV Films Announces Release of Cromartie High School: Cromartian Rhapsody

Date: 2005 February 26 11:07 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

It's press release catch-up time here at Otaku News due to the evil flu that's been lurking around most of the Otaku News Crew have been infected, the others have had to wear Bio-hazard suits! ^_-

Anyway, those nice folk over at ADV Films US have sent us the details of the insane anime Cromartie High School, which is due out on March 15th. Do you fancy the idea of going to a high school full of delinquents? Well Kamiyama somehow has been enrolled there!

ADV also have a nice limited collector's edition with the first volume of the manga bundled in and a custom series artbox to hold all 4 volumes.

Metrocon Seek Human Chess Pieces

Date: 2005 February 20 12:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Florida anime convention Metrocon are currently seeking Cosplayer volunteers to participate in their Anime Human Chess Match. So if meet all their terms and conditions and can cosplay as one of the characters listed on their site why not give it a shot? It's also interesting to note that they've got ninja and pirate pawns.

The Otaku News Crew are pondering which anime characters are going to be which pieces, we suspect that Gendo Ikari will be a king for one side, while Rosette Christopher will be a bishop!

Souce: Metrocon

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

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

London MCM Expo Celebrates Anime - Manga & Cosplay

Date: 2005 February 13 17:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The folks over at the London Expo Event have sent us details of their anime and manga lineup. Not only will they have Cosplay events on both days, but they've also arranged sponsorship from MVM and Neo Magazine.

Guest wise, the Expo has Teryleryl Rothery who plays Dr. Janet Frasier in Stargate SG-1 and has been a voice actress in Dragon Ball playing Agent Mai in the 1995 dub and Raven in the first Dragon Ball Movie. She's also played A-ko Magami in Project A-Ko and Kodachi Kuno in various Ranma ½ features.

Ghost In The Shell UK Manga Release Details

Date: 2005 February 10 08:42 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've got details from Titan Books regarding the UK release of the new edition of the groundbreaking manga Ghost In The Shell. This is Masamune Shirow's best known work and has been reprinted in a smaller format now uncensored. Titan will also be releasing the new manga Ghost In The Shell 2: Man Machine Interface. The sequel to the original manga has lots more CG art that Shirow has become known for in his popular Intron Depot artbooks.

Both books have been translated by Frederik L. Schodt and Toren Smith, which otaku know are famed for the quality of their translation work. Both books hit the shelves on 25th February and retail for £19.99, which is reasonable considering the page count and the amount of colour artwork in both books.

Best Of eigoManga In 2004

Date: 2005 January 16 10:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The folks over at eigoManga have sent us a press release detailing their achievements this year. A full HTML version with graphics can be found here, alternatively to just read the text, read the rest of this article.

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.

Van Von Hunter Date Set....Evil Beware

Date: 2005 January 08 17:09 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Webcomics

The release date of Van Von Hunter book one has finally been confirmed by publisher Tokyopop, to be 10th of May 2005. The comic is based upon the web comic of the same name but will feature a brand new story.

Van Von Hunter is a parody of the fantasy adventure story, starring Van Von Hunter...hunter of Evil Stuff. A Van Von Hunter story was featured in the first 'Rising Stars of Manga' volume also by Tokyopop.

Souce: Tokyopop

Viz Announces The Debut Of Shonen Jump Advanced

Date: 2004 December 20 16:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Viz have just announced the launch of Shonen Jump Advanced, it's not a game for the GameBoy Advanced, but infact a new range that "will that will present the latest cutting-edge manga stories offering titles with progressive storylines and characters to older teens and young adults". At first glance this sounds a bit like Pulp - Viz's manga anthology taglined as "Manga for Grownups" which stopped in August 2002, or perhaps Pulp Junior since it's aimed at a slightly younger audience. However like the Shonen Jump manga line these titles will be sold individually, and should not be confused with the Shonen Jump Magazine.

So keep your eyes peeled in April 2005 when title like Hunter X Hunter, I's and Eyeshield 21 start hitting the shelves.

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

Shocking Shojo Manga

Date: 2004 December 12 17:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Mainichi Interactive's Wai Wai, is reporting the current trend of shojo manga (aimed at teenage girls) controversially publishing more erotic and shocking material. Many Japanese parents are concerned, the write up points out that more shocking things can be found on the internet and reminds readers that many girls are not influenced by manga.

Souce: Mainichi Interactive

An Interview With The Reading Agency

Date: 2004 December 07 18:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following our previous news items about the educational value of manga in the UK, that appear in both the Times Education Supplement and the Daily Mail, we've managed to get an interview with the organisation that created the campaign designed to get kids reading using manga - The Reading Agency.

Newtype USA Vol. 3, Issue 12 Out Now

Date: 2004 December 04 12:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Newtype USA Vol. 3, Issue 12 Out Now

The folks from Newtype USA have just sent us details for their December issue, which is out now. It has a cover feature on Ah! My Goddess, with details on the OVAs, the movie and the TV series which is currently being produced in Japan.

Other features include details on shows like Chrono Crusade, Samurai 7, Wolf's Rain and Gankutsuou.

The Otaku News Crew recommend that you take a look at the two page feature on Howl's Moving Castle, which has some nice shots of the Ghibli artwork and we also suggest you read their Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide, since that way you'll know what to buy us for Christmas! ^_-

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).

Yamato Announces Late Spring Releases

Date: 2004 December 01 18:29 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Toys

ICv2 have the details for the late spring 2005 releases from Yamato USA. They'll be releasing a Mizuho in Space Suit Resin Statue from Please Teacher. For Capcom fans there's Morrigan & Lilith Collectible Miniature from DarkStalkers.

Love Hina fans can expect Naru, Mutsumi, Motoko, and Shinobu PVC statues from the Love Hina Again OVA. They'll also be be releasing figures from Guilty Gear, Read Or Die (aka ROD) TV, Iron Leaguer, and Cyber Formula.

Souce: ICv2

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

Neo Magazine First Issue Out Now

Date: 2004 November 25 19:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Just a quick reminder to our UK readers that the first issue of Neo Magazine is out now. The publication covers anime, manga, videogames, gadgets, and all things Japanese. It's available from WH Smith, Borders, HMV, Martins Spar, Virgin Store, Forbidden Planet and some independent newsagents, it should also be available from Diamond Comic stockists.

For more information check out our previous write up on Neo Magazine, Anime UK News also has an interview with the editor as does UK-Anime.net

Souce: Neo Magazine

Mail On Sunday Portray Manga In A Bad Light

Date: 2004 November 21 21:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following on from our report about The Educational Value of Manga In The UK, British News Paper The Mail On Sunday have just written an article about the topic titled "Child murder, incest and rape... is this really how our schools should be encouraging boys to read?", this is in stark contrast to previous articles we have reported on in other publications that portray anime and manga in a more positive light. When dealing with the Daily Mail and Mail Sunday our readers outside of the UK should note an Ian Hislop quote where he says that to the Daily Mail even Yoghurt is scary (I can't find the exact quote right now).

Educational Value of Manga In The UK

Date: 2004 November 16 18:33 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Times Education Supplement (a Times newspaper for teachers and people working in the education sector) are running a story about the educational value of manga, interestingly enough they make the same common misconceptions about manga - "Mangas depict wide-eyed heroes, often in varying states of undress". The Reading Agency, an organisation that promotes literacy, is encouraging schools to buy Manga comics, it seems they want to get as many children to get into reading by introducing them to manga. They've compiled a list of 150 recommended Manga titles, deemed suitable for teenagers and are sending them to all libraries and schools. The Otaku News crew imagine that this will help TokyoPop UK's already very healthy sales figures! ^_-

Souce: TES

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