Review: Eden of the East the Movie I – The King of Eden (Dub)
Review: Love Roma, Vol. 1 (Manga)
Ani-Gamers Podcast #037 – Spicy Wolf, Made with Real Wolf!
Review: Fate/Extra (PSP)
Drunken Otaku: The Drops of God – First Sip
Both were in-depth panels that ran audiences through the historic mythos within Japanese culture and then applied these stories to examples within the modern media of anime and video games. Dunbar’s delivery brings with it a tone of exaltation that can only be found in someone who not only enjoys carrying around a basket filled with the fruits of his labors but in sharing those fruits with others. As enjoyable as they are informative, both “Shinigami” and “Modern Mythology” have so much to offer that summarizing them would be as insufficient as it would be insulting to the original content. Luckily, according to Charles himself, the panels will soon be posted on the website Weekend Nihonjin, which also offers links to his blog, Study of Anime, anime culture-related articles, and a schedule of forthcoming panels.
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage.
What follows are some of the more interesting questions and answers offered during that session. Unfortunately, I was a writing a bit too feverishly to note who was responding to which question, but the questions and answers themselves usually give some clue as to which guest was talking. The answers given at least serve as a great overall view of the range and solidarity of attitudes amongst these famous directors and producers. Some questions have been omitted due to either my poor handwriting, poor audio qualty (no microphones were used in this large room), or the asking of a question we've all heard 10,000 times over in interviews. The questions I posed and their corresponding answers follow the break, along with a link to the full transcription. Enjoy!
Q2: What were the influences for the use of magic realism in R.O.D., if any?
A2: The idea of using paper as prop(?) was not my original. It came from Hideyuki Kurata, who wrote the novel that Read or Die is based on. And the ability for Yomiko in R.O.D. to manipulate paper goes hand-in-hand with her normal apparent lack of any athletic ability. So the ability for her to be a sort of superman who can do anything to villains and to be the complete klutz who can do anything has to be reconciled into one coherent character.
Q15: Regarding noitaminA, the programming block in Japan late-night that kind of addresses older female viewers, anime not directed geared to shōnen viewers. How as directors do you welcome this availability for different programming?
A15: I don’t think we make any. [Laughter.] Maybe some interest in working with it, but not really familiar with it.
Q15a: Is it viewed as any sort of competition, or is it just written-off as having nothing to do with you?
A15a: I haven’t written off noitaminA, but noitaminA may have written me off.
A15b: Actually, I will be working on a noitaminA title. I ended up doing that, and what I’ve been told is that the intent for noitaminA is to make shows that are meant for mature audiences, both male and female. And that the intent is to make an animated show that is like a live-action drama and it would be consistent with that type of spirit. And this would be meant for viewers not familiar with anime. So we need to make the show as accessible as possible for a non-anime-viewing audience.**
View the full transcription here.
**Anime News Network did some follow-up on this question, and the spoils can be seen here.
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
Click here for Evan's Photo Gallery
Click here for Ink's Photo Gallery
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Official Site
I'm getting older. (In fact, I'm older than I've ever been and now I'm even older.) This is pretty normal as far as I can tell, but as many folks have pointed out in the past few years, anime conventions aren't growing up with me. EDIT: After four days at Otakon, one of the largest anime conventions the United States, I realized that, at the tender age of 19, I was finally starting to feel the widening of this gap. The strangest thing of all, though, is that it doesn't really bother me very much.
Indeed, the theme of this year's Otakon seemed to be immaturity, as staffers at the massive Japanese pop culture event fought to contain epidemic shouting of popular memes such as "Buttscratchers" — a one-time joke from Family Guy — and "Marco Polo." Vuvuzelas, the strident noisemakers popularized thanks to their appearance during the World Cup in South Africa, were preemptively banned weeks before the convention even began. One attendee even pulled a fire alarm during peak time on Saturday for a laugh. Unfortunately, though, containment was a near-impossible task when Otakon's staffers were faced with thousands of teenage troublemakers, many of whom probably view memes as a way to make an impression on their fellow attendees and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Naturally, most of the bloggers with whom I shared two adjoined hotel rooms for the weekend (including the Reverse Thieves, Carl Li, Scott VonSchilling, Dave Cabrera, Caleb Dunaway, Kyle "Lwelyk" LaCroix, and Patz) couldn't stand the immaturity of these kids and their memes. Truthfully, I can find no reason to defend their actions, but to me, they represent the continuing strength of the anime community, even when their "unique" form of comedy may fall on unhappy ears.
You see, the anime fandom is still growing. Attendance rises every year for many conventions — including Otakon, which saw an increase of nearly 3,000 members — even as Japanese studios deal with financial troubles, North American distributors close their doors, and fans grapple with the moral repercussions of pirating the content they enjoy. Anime fandom might not be moving in the ways that some its opinion leaders want it to go, but it's difficult to ignore the continuing flow of young fans coming into the medium.
That said, it's been a couple of years since I attended a convention from the perspective of an average con-goer, which is to say, without any preparation nor knowledge of the guests and their previous work. I was flying by the seat of my pants for the entirety of the weekend, which, though it was far from intentional, resulted in a refreshing experience. It also helped to highlight some of the unique challenges facing anime conventions due to their overwhelmingly adolescent audience. You see, most young fans simply aren't aware of the myriad Japanese guests Otakon brings to the convention every year (including veteran guest Masao Maruyama, founder of studio Madhouse). Last year I even wrote a post from Otakon 2009 about the need for more curiosity from newbie con attendees.
This year, when I saw nearly empty panel rooms with the creators of the new anime Rainbow (Hiroshi Koujina) next to hallways ringing with memes and lined with fans waiting for English dub actors' autographs, I didn't despair. I didn't get angry at these kids for being "bad anime fans." I simply saw it as a missed opportunity. And I realized that, despite my interest in Japanese creators, I too was, to some degree, ignoring these great guests, mostly because the "typical" convention experience simply does not include poring over the details of the con book.
When I walk past young fans screaming annoying in-jokes at Otakon, I don't see the death of conventions. What I see are people who have an interest in this medium, but are not being given the correct tools to seek out more information. They are being sold an experience that is all fluff, all Vic Mignonas and pop idols and J-Rock pretty-boys. (Fluff is, of course, acceptable in limited quantities.) When I see packed rooms for panels about Japanese mahjong (run by Carl Li and Dave Cabrera), anime about cults (Mike Toole), and obscure anime (the Anime World Order podcasters), and hear spirited praise from surprisingly young audience members in my character design panel, it is clear that fans desire substance. Furthermore, large cons like Otakon deliver that substance in the form of big Japanese guests and an incredible variety of fan panels; they just fail to make a big deal about it. The director, producer, AND character designer of Welcome to the SPACE SHOW are certainly more important to fandom than a dub actor, so there is no reason why the latter should be the guest that gets more attention from the convention.
My Otakon experience, a unique one for this longtime convention blogger, has re-opened my eyes to the way the rest of the fandom sees conventions. Yes, screaming a tired, tasteless Family Guy line, blowing a vuvuzela, or pulling a fire alarm are all incredibly stupid things to do. Yes, they take away from my fun. Nevertheless, they are the icky things that remind us that fandom is still young, strong, and involved. Helping to engage it in more productive activities is, I think, the most commonly forgotten responsibility of anime conventions.
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
Defined as media aimed at females aged from 10-18 years old, shōjo generally features a female protagonist in any of myriad melodramatic circumstances. Content is determined by intended demographic and therefore not bound by subject, style, or genre. Storyline usually revolves around the protagonist, but plot is secondary to characters and their relationships, which are developed and maintained mainly through conversations.
Interesting note: Shōjo, when spelled without the accented “o” (i.e. “shojo”), translates as “virgin.” Just sayin’.
Shōjo contains various sub-genres that provide templates or empty stages upon which the characters can develop:
- Mahō shōjo: schoolgirl gets magical powers with which to save world
- Playing Parent: character has to take care of a baby or younger sibling/character
- Rags to Riches: main character inherits money or is adopted by rich family
- Pop Idol: regular girl become pop singer, model, etc.
- Romantic Teasing: male bully teases main character into liking him by “bullying” her
- Social Pressure: girls bully main character
Be it manga, anime, or live action, shōjo has and continues to influence artistic content for better (Hell Girl) or worse (Clannad). It continues to evolve as well, reflecting the times and attitudes of those it is surrounded by.
Overall, this panel was great as an introduction for any unaccustomed with the genre, but the history portion of the panel read much like a Wikipedia page despite the cuteness with which the panelist delivered the information and examples therein. I do lament lack of focus on cultural effects, but for an hour time slot, I think all went well for an intro course in squeeeeing.
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
I apologize for the lateness of this article, but I've had limited Internet while on vacation.
North American anime distributor Bandai Entertainment was out in full force at Otakon 2010 in Baltimore, packing their panel room to capacity (something only achieved by a select few panels all weekend) and drawing a large group of anime press.
Bandai's two big acquisitions were Sora Kakeru Shōjo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Space, a.k.a. "SoraKake Girl") and My Otome o~S.ifr~ (the 3-episode OAV prequel to My Otome), both of which seem a little too unmarketable to be honest choices from Bandai's North American division. The most likely explanation is that both series were forced on BEA by their Japanese parent company or sold in a package deal.
Meanwhile, Bandai also fleshed out two of their existing licenses: Gundam Unicorn and K-ON! The second volume of the 6-episode Gundam OAV series (entitled "The Second Coming of Char") will run slightly longer than the first episode at 59 minutes, and the Blu-ray will also feature 29 minutes of bonus footage. It will be available November 2010 in the Bandai Store (street date price $44.99, pre-order $39.98). At other online retailers it will sell for an SRP of $59.98 (barring those stores' individual markdowns).
On the moé front, K-ON! — the slice-of-life series about a group of high school girls in a light music club — will be receiving an English dub from Bandai's mainstays at Bang Zoom Entertainment, including Stephanie Sheh (who was present at the panel) as Yui and EDIT: Cristina Vee* (who showed up in-costume to sing a batch of K-ON!'s songs) as Mio.
* We originally referred to voice actor Cristina Valenzuela (also known as "Cristina Vee") as "Christina Zee." We apologize for the error.
...with Adam Sheehan and Josh Morris
State of the Industry
(prescribed with a grain of salt considering the source)
Dubs are here to stay, as there is more consumer demand for DVD releases with subs than without. “There’s money to be made here.”
Viewers older than 25 now represent 51% of market, while those from 18-24 years of age represent 40%. People ranging from 13-17 years old represent the largest group of online viewers.
Convention attendance is steadily growing.
Social Media Branch
http://blog.funimation.com/ (which will post this entire panel in a week or so)
twitter.com/funimation (75,000 followers)
Facebook (72,000 fans)
YouTube.com (159,000 subscribers, 8th largest following worldwide)
Simulcasts
One Piece
Rainbow
Black Butler Season 2
Legend of Legendary Heroes
Sekirei Season 2
Shiki
Anti-Piracy Initiatives
Hired 1 lawyer and 3 additional staff to police and report online and offline copyright infringements.
DVD Releases
My Bride is a Mermaid (funimation.com/mybrideisamermaid)
Master of Martial Hearts – “Mortal Kombat with less clothing,” due August 2010
Casshern Sins (funimation.com/casshernsins) – parts 1 & 2 due August 17, 2010.
Corpse Princess (funimation.com/shikabanehime) – due September 14, 2010.
Hetalia (funimation.com/hetalia) – 26 episodes due out September 14, 2010.
Hetalia Season 2 – with tons of extras due out October 12, 2010.
Eden of the East (funimation.com/edenoftheeast) – complete series due out September 28, 2010 for $54.98 ($59 Blu-Ray)
Voice Cast Announcements
Oh! Edo Rocket (see picture for blurry but readable list)
Black Butler (see picture for blurry but readable list)
New Acquisitions
Phantom, Requiem for the Phantom
Strike Witches Season 2 (picture) coming 2011
Blessing of the Campanella (picture) coming 2011
Okamisan (picture) coming 2011
Hetalia Seasons 3 and 4 (picture) coming 2011
Hetalia “Paint It White” movie coming 2011
Summer Wars (picture) coming 2011
Evangelion 2.22 (picture) coming 2011 – possible theatrical release mentioned
Social Networking Site
Launching in September, with beta available sometime in near future, funimation.com will feature personal profiles for users as well as news, videos, behind-the-scenes exclusives, forums and contests. “Elite member subscriptions” will be available, which offer ad-free viewing and early access to dubs prior to DVD releases.
A Couple Answers from Q&A Session
FUNimation offers encouragement for small retailers via incentive support, streaming video services for in-store play, and free promotional materials that do not have to be returned.
Oasis performs opening song for Eden of the East, but only in first episode (could explain the price tag).
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
At their industry panel at Otakon 2010, anime studio Aniplex announced that they will be distributing their new 24-episode TV anime Durarara!! based on Ryohgo Narita's light novel series on DVD in the United States. The first part of the "High-Tension, Suspense Action, Mysterious and Totally Crazy Anime!!" will hit American shores on January 2011, with two more DVD sets (two DVDs per box) of eight to nine episodes each following close behind.
Following this already exciting announcement, Aniplex also revealed some of the dub cast for the series, while confirming that the DVD release will come with both dub and sub tracks. Celty Sturluson will be played by Kari Wahlgren (Haruko in FLCL), Ryuugamine Mikado will be played by Darrel Guildbeau (Satoshi in When They Cry), and Heiwajima Shizuo will be payed by Crispin Freeman (Togusa in Ghost in the Shell, Zelgadis in Slayers, Kyon in Haruhi). After some questioning from fans in the audience, representatives revealed that the Durarara!! OAV will be included in the DVD release, voiceover studio Bang! Zoom (Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, Haruhi) will be dubbing the show, and there is no guarantee of a box set until Aniplex finishes putting out the Japanese DVDs.
Interested fans can currently watch all 24 episodes of the recently-completed Durarara!! with subtitles on streaming video site Crunchyroll, though Aniplex did not mention if they would be taking down the streaming videos once the DVDs come out in the United States. (Aniplex has also put up an official site for Durarara!!)
At the panel, Aniplex reps also announced a Blu-ray release of anime franchise Read Or Die, featuring both the critically-acclaimed OAV and the television series of the same name.
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
It would seem that Ani-Gamers is once again on the road, this time to Baltimore's resident anime convention (and one of the largest in the country), Otakon. But this is no normal convention. No, because this year I will be rooming with BakaTanuki and Lwelyk (along with Internet Heroes the Reverse Thieves and many others), while Ink and Uncle Yo will be off handling their own sleeping arrangements. Yes, friends, that is FIVE Ani-Gamers writers at one convention. If you ever wanted to get our autograph and then punch us in the face for thinking anybody wanted our autograph, there has never been a better chance!
Oh yeah, and we'll have lots of coverage, too! There are press conferences to attend, panels to write up, and podcasts to record, not to mention a final con report to write. If you can't get to the convention, please do your best to enjoy it through our coverage. Think about it this way: At least you won't have to listen to teenagers screaming "buttscratchers!" in your ear for three days.
Just to get the word out before the break, I want to let everybody know that I will be running my character designs panel, "The Changing Faces of Anime," after its positive reception at AnimeNEXT 2010, and Uncle Yo will be performing his stand-up comedy as well as his new "Embracing the Robot Apocalypse" panel and "Anime One-Night Stands." Below, I've included tentative itineraries for Ink, Uncle Yo and myself. If I get itineraries from the other bloggers, I'll be sure to post them in here. [EDIT 1: Added Evan Krell (BakaTanuki)'s schedule after the break.]
We begin with Ink's schedule, which is nicely organized and shows a sense of focus and thoughtfulness greatly envied by his editor-in-chief.
| When | What | Where |
| 9–10 am | What’s the Point of Anime Intro & Ending Themes? | Panel 6 |
| 11 am–12 pm | La Corda D'Oro Primo | Video 1 |
| 12–1:30 pm | Madhouse Panel | Panel 2 |
| 2–4 pm | Bamboo Blade | Video 2 |
| 4:30–5:30 pm | Anime, Lost in Translation | Panel 1 |
| 5–6 pm | Dead Like Us: Shinigami and the Japanese Idea of Death | Panel 4 |
| 6–7:30 pm | Funimation Industry Panel | Panel 3 |
| 6:30–7:30 pm | Japan: The Most Convenient Place on Earth | Panel 4 |
| 7:30–8:30 pm | Bad Anime, Bad!! | Panel 5 |
| 9:30–10:30 pm | Modern Mythology: Mythic Elements in Anime & Video Games | Panel 4 |
| 10:30 pm–11 am | Voice Actors After Dark! | Panel 3 |
| 11 pm–12 am | Portrait of a Fujoshi: The Psychology of Ogiue Chika | Panel 4 |
| 12–1 am | Anime One-Night Stands | Panel 1 |
Saturday
| When | What | Where |
| 9–10 am | Experiments in the Anime Industry: noitaminA | Panel 4 |
| 9:30–10:30 am | The Changing Faces of Anime | Panel 1 |
| 12:30–1:30 pm | Anime in Academia | Panel 1 |
| 1:30–2:30 pm | Bouncing Through the Years: A Gainax Panel | Panel 4 |
| 6–7 pm | 10 Anime You've Never Heard of but Must See! | Panel 5 |
| 8–9 pm | Genshiken 2 | Video 5 |
| 9–10:30 pm | Bandai After Dark | Panel 5 |
| 10:30–11 pm | Japanese Folklore: Kitsune, Oni and Yuurei, Oh My! | Panel 4 |
| 11 pm–12 am | Feminism, Fandom, and Fanservice | Panel 1 |
| 12–1 am | Sailor Moon's Influence on the World of Hentai - Filthy Edition | Panel 2 |
Sunday
| When | What | Where |
| 9–10 am | I "Squeeee!" for Shoujo | Panel 1 |
| 12 pm–1:30 pm | Japanese Directors & Producers Panel | Panel 6 |
| 1:30–2:30 pm | Dubs that Time Forgot | Panel 2 |
On the other hand, my list is full of overlapping panels and missing a number of panels I don't know I'm going to yet. I tried my best to include only the ones I'm sure I'll be at, but this is obviously still very tentative. (If a panel has an asterisk [*] next to it, I might not be there for the whole time, if I go at all.)
| When | What | Where |
| 9–10 am | What’s the Point of Anime Intro & Ending Themes? | Panel 6 |
| 12-1 pm | Anime Journalism: The Story Behind The Story | Panel 5 |
| 3-4 pm | Hetalia Mock UN Summit | Panel 3 |
| 4:30-6 pm | Aniplex Panel * | Panel 5 |
| 6-7 pm | You Don't Like Moe -- And Here's Why! | Panel 5 |
| 7:30-8:30 pm | Bad Anime Bad!! * | Panel 5 |
| 8-9 pm | Gundam Unicorn | Video 5 |
| 9:30-10:30 pm | Modern Mythology: Mythic Elements in Anime and Video Games | Panel 4 |
| 11 pm-12 am | Portrait of a Fujoshi: The Psychology of Ogiue Chika | Panel 4 |
| 12:30-1:30 am | The History of Hentai * | Panel 2 |
Saturday
| When | What | Where |
| 9:30-10:30 am | The Changing Faces of Anime
(THIS IS MY PANEL. ONLY TRUE HEROES MAY ATTEND.) |
Panel 1 |
| 11:30 am-2 pm | Welcome to the SPACE SHOW (premiere) | HD Theater |
| 2-3 pm | Podcasting for your Fandom | Panel 1 |
| 6-7 pm | 10 Anime You've Never Heard of but Must See! | Panel 5 |
| 7:30-8:30 pm | The Otakon 2010 Gundam Experience: Life Beyond 30 | Panel 5 |
| 8:30-9:30 | Uncle Yo: Otaku Stand-up Comedy | Panel 3 |
| 10:00-1:00 | Saturday Night Fan Parodies | Video 5 |
| 11:00-12:00 | Feminism, Fandom, and Fanservice * | Panel 1 |
Sunday
| When | What | Where |
| 12 pm–1:30 pm | Japanese Directors & Producers Panel | Panel 6 |
| 1:30–2:30 pm | Dubs that Time Forgot | Panel 2 |
Meanwhile, Uncle Yo, also on a mission to rub my lack of coherent scheduling ability in my face, provides us with a succinct list of only the events he will actually be performing/speaking at. Nice going!
| When | What | Where |
| Fri 6-7 pm | Embracing the Robot Take-Over | Panel 6 |
| Fri 12-1 am | Anime One-Night Stands | Panel 1 |
| Sat 8:30-9:30 pm | Uncle Yo: Otaku Stand-up Comedy | Panel 3 |
Here's a last-minute addition: Evan Krell (a.k.a. BakaTanuki)'s schedule. This is still very tentative, he tells me, but you can look for him hanging with the other cool Ani-Gamers bros throughout Otakon.
| 10:30 am-12 pm | Vertical, Inc. Featuring Felipe Smith | Panel 2 |
| 12-1:30 pm | Madhouse Panel | Panel 2 |
| 1:30-2:30 pm | VOCALOID: Hatsune Miku & co. sing for you! * | Panel 2 |
| 3-4:30 pm | Takamasa Sakurai Panel | Panel 2 |
| 4:30-6 pm | Aniplex | Panel 5 |
| 6–7:30 pm | Funimation Industry Panel | Panel 3 |
Saturday
| 9–10 am | Experiments in the Anime Industry: noitaminA | Panel 4 |
| 11:30 am-2 pm | Welcome to the SPACE SHOW (premiere) | HD Theater |
| 9-10 pm | The Life and Times of Akiyuki Shinbo (if I can brave it) | Panel 4 |
| 9:30-10:30 pm | Touhou Project | Panel 1 |
| 6-7 pm | 10 Anime You've Never Heard of but Must See! | Panel 5 |
Sunday
| 9–10 am | I "Squeeee!" for Shoujo | Panel 1 |
| 12:30-1:30 pm | Castles, Forests, and Bath Houses: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki | Panel 5 |
Click here for more of our Otakon 2010 coverage
