After her visit to Toronto, which of course I couldn’t attend, we were lucky that Natsume Ono made a brief appearance in New York City at Kinokuniya. Even though Kino is often having events, getting a manga-ka is still fairly rare. For those of you less familiar with her, she is the manga-ka behind House of Five Leaves, Ristorante Paradiso, and Not Simple among many others. Natsume was kind and gracious, but camera-shy, and she spent a few moments in every signing to do a sketch.

As I have stated in the past my favorite part of any anime conventions is the ability to meet incredibly talented artists in the fields of anime and manga. The most coveted professionals are manga-ka because their schedules often make it that they cannot be pried away from their desks due to their hellish schedules.  So I leap at the chance to speak to any working manga-ka as they usually have made a major sacrifice to appear in the US. When they are at something free like Kinokuniya it is a unmissable treat.

People started to bubble into the event around 6-ish, which is also when I arrived on the scene. I had brought manga with me to have signed, but opted to pick up a copy of the English release of House of Five Leaves vol. 1 anyway. It was unclear at first as we all mingled just steps away from the person we came to see whether this would be a Q&A session or just a signing. Soon chairs were brought and happily Natsume was prepared for many a query. Samurai Beat Radio was in attendance to liven up the crowd and start off the session. They started with some questions about New York City, this was Natsume’s second visit after her first trip to research her manga Coppers. She relayed some funny anecdotes about being driven directly to the Bronx which frightened her a bit, but ended up being happy to not just see the tourist-side of the city. So with this second visit she was really taking in more. Speaking of her travels she talked a bit about her time in Italy where she spent 10 months in the early 2000s. The theme of food started to come up quite a bit at this point as she uses mealtimes a lot in her series. She went on to say it is the most ordinary moments in everyday life, a perfect place to start conversations and make it seem natural. On a personal note she loves donuts, and there were a bunch at the signing. Diving even more personal she spoke very briefly about her dad, but when it comes to her stories she says most of it doesn’t come from her own experiences. The only exception is a short story in La Quinta Camera during New Year’s. Despite the fact that she said for certainty that her stories just come to her, and are not really from inspirations, at least not that she can pin down, most of the audience questions were “What was your inspiration for ______.”

I would like to mention that several times during the event I scanned the audience at the event at I only saw 5 men other than myself at the event. I suppose given the style of Natsume Ono’s manga and her BL work that is not shocking but I think it goes a long way in illustrating that seinen can have a very strong appeal among women. The initial questions were apparently the canned questions she answers at all her appearances in North America. They had a decent mix of topics including her research methods, life as a manga-ka, influences, and even a bit about her family. I did not know about her Coppers series that is set in NY but it did pique my interest in seeing her take on the Big Apple and the NYPD. She mentioned watching Hill Street Blues when she was younger so I wonder how much that influenced Coppers. We also learned that her newest series will be a historical piece like House of Five Leaves and centers around the two men who meet at the Kawasaki Daishi temple but she could not reveal the title just yet. When the audience was allowed to ask questions they seemed most interested in her inspirations for various manga and characters.

The line for autographs just sort of formed suddenly without much rhyme, reason, or organization but everyone was kind so there was no insanity. I was perhaps 20th in line or so, but it was going so slowly, then the realization came that she was sketching! What luck! Since I had some time I mulled over just who I would like to get from House of Five Leaves; for no real reason I decided I had to think of something that not everyone would ask for. So I decided on Yaichi in his childhood. This seemed to give her pause, yeah I’m weird. We were also given a choice of different postcards to take, mine from Five Leaves is pictured at the top.

After the Q&A I happened to see Ed Chavez (aka the Guru of Manga) and after a little chat he introduced me to Akira Uemura which took me by surprise but it was a very pleasant surprise. She is the chief editor at Manga Erotics F which is a very unusual manga anthology magazine. It has yaoi, yuri, hentai, and your more “standard” manga all next to each other so it is hard for me to label it either as either seinen or josei. My first question for her was simple. What is the editorial push for stories in Manga Erotics F? What do they want from the stories they publish? She answered that all the stories within the magazine are made to cater to a particular fetish. Each story will cater to a different fetish but they want to have a wide variety of fetishes for a wide variety of readers. I later joked that Manga Erotics F was like the Pokemon of fetishes in which they were trying to catch them all. The next logical question in my mind was what was the demographic for such a usual publication. Apparently their readership is 60 percent female and 40 percent male. I would suppose the inclusion of BL would make Manga Erotics F distinctly female friendly but the wide variety of stories some of which are very male friendly keep it from being casually placed in the josei category. I then asked her for any recommendations as an editor. She of course said that everyone should read Natsume Ono but she also said that Kawachi Haruka and Asumiko Nakamura were artists to be aware of. I picked up Kawachi Haruka’s Indian Strawberry on her recommendation. I was then called away on other business but later on I realized I had a million other questions I could have asked. I am sure that such high-ranking editor has invaluable insight into the manga industry.

This was a nice low-key event this stems most certainly from Natsume’s rather subdued works and also a more mature storytelling path for the most part. This signing and Q&A was also not part of a larger anime/manga event that tends to make Kinokuniya really crazy. That being said however, there was a good solid crowd and everyone seemed to get some great memories. I know it is hard for manga-ka to take a break to do these things so I feel extremely grateful.

The rest of the night I spent as a shill getting animemiz a second signed copy of Ristorante Paradiso this time with a sketch with Claudio. I have to say that it was a very enjoyable little event that gave me some great insight into the mind and process of a manga-ka. I hope that I could see her again after the licensing of another of her works in the US. Overall it was nice to see a strong and devoted turn out for someone like Natsume Ono who has a more mature output that is not the stereotypical taste when you think of American manga fandom. Hopefully events like this are a sign of at least a marginal increase in the interest in seinen or josei in the US.

The New York International Children’s Film Festival is one of the many things that makes me happy I live in NYC. Truth be told I’d probably see all the films if I had the means. Normally, I’d make sure to see all the anime on the list but I just couldn’t bring myself to watch Welcome to the Space Show again, sorry! So instead we opted for some more international flare.

This year our sampling of the New York International Children’s Film Festival is truly an international experience. While there was an outstanding anime in the lineup, two-thirds of our selections were from non-Japanese animated features. We took in a French film as well as one from China. While a single film is hardly a full representation of the animated output of their respective countries it is still a fun thought experiment to compare and contrast them.

Time of Eve, while not new to me, was still a high priority. Not only did I love the ONA but I wanted to support the title in the hopes of seeing more from its creators or more specifically a continuation to Time of Eve itself. It also helped that the movie has an extra 15-minutes of footage. Time of Eve explores the relationship between human and robot when the lines start to blur. Titles that tackle this subject are about realizing your own humanity and acknowledging it around you, in Time of Eve we explore it through two teens, Rikuo and Masaki. The series is just as engaging a second time around with thoughtful amounts of drama, comedy, and questions. The additions to film are learning just a bit more about a couple of characters, but both of these additions just make you wish the series would go on to tells us their stories further. Like any true movie go-er should, watch through the credits as the stills actually tell you a new story and there is a scene after as well.

We went into the Time of Eve having seen a majority of the movie and knowing it was very good. If you are curious about the ONA series you can check out our review of it or watch it yourself on Crunchyroll. The question on our minds was what was added when they turned the series into a movie. It turns out they added a few new scenes which are mainly used to stitch the 6 episodes together while providing some major insights into the characters and world of the Time of Eve. The major benefit is the Ethics Committee is always being prominently mentioned from the beginning of the movie so they don’t move to the forefront only in the last episode like in the original. The extremely mysterious Setoro also gets a good deal more fleshing out while still retaining his enigmatic nature. They also make the origins of Nagi and the cafe a bit more obvious with a completely new epilogue during the credits. The movie itself is worth a watch for original fans of the show just for those revelations alone. While the movie does make a few things clearer it does introduce some new characters and questions and in doing so is practically begging for a second season. I truly hope that this movie is able to raise the interest and capital to make more of this wonderful science fiction series.

Dreams of Jinsha is one of those films where at first I question my cynicism, but then realize that no, I haven’t lost my ability to enjoy children’s films, Dreams of Jinsha is just not good. Xiao Long has an amulet from the ancient kingdom of Jinsha. Xiao’s pet dog leads him to the kingdom one night where he meets a princess and is told of a prophecy involving the amulet and destruction of the land. That’s all well and good, but the scenes feel disconnected from one another and you never feel invested in the characters or outcome. The story is flat so things like motivation, urgency, and explanations are either nonsense or never touched upon. Even the dialogue was tedious. I am not a stickler for animation, I’m rather forgiving, but when everything else is bad you give me no choice but to look at the quality of animation being presented. Dreams of Jinsha doesn’t even succeed on this level as most of the moving shots are very cheap or off model, and they pop out against the background too much. I’m not sure why this was Oscar-shortlisted in the least.

Every moment I enjoyed in Time of Eve was karmically balanced out by moments of suffer while watching Dreams of Jinsha. I can’t point to any single glaring flaw with Dreams of Jinsha because the movie is just a long string of flaws that only gives you relief when it is finally over. If there is something to complain about with an animated feature you will find an example of that in this movie. The animation was clearly done on the cheap with Flash varying from competent to horrible but it always has a lackluster quality to it. Some of the static backgrounds were very well done but anything in motion was shoddy. The storyline was muddled. It jumped from plot point to plot point with only the bare minimum of connecting threads. I know that no one likes characters who sole purpose is to provide exposition but some explanation would have been greatly appropriated. The funny thing is there are two major exposition characters in the movie, a minister and a spirit elephant. The problem is what little information they give the audience is there to link together scenes that would utterly make no sense without them. Also the characters are so flat that Takashi Murakami would blush. They are either unappealing or boring and often do things for no adequately explained reason. At one point the general goes into the woods trying to kill an energy spirit for no reason that I could remember despite being warned that it could have grave repercussions. The pacing and direction is equally bad. I felt myself nodding off in the middle of the film when they are spinning their wheels before things start to go wrong. Also the director loved to have something happen and then jump to a reaction shot all the time. For some reason it made everything seem really artificial. I get the sense they were trying to mix the appeal of a Disney musical with epic story of a Studio Ghibli film but did not understand why either of those types of films were so good. I would hate to think that this is China’s best foot forward in the medium of animation because it is quite a misstep indeed.

A Cat in Paris graced the front of the brochure and booklet for the festival with good reason, it was delightful. Dino a cat is Zoe’s pet by day and Nico the thief’s assistant by night. Both worlds coming crashing together one evening when little Zoe follows Dino and overhears a plot against her mother by some dangerous gangsters. I’m a total sucker for thieves, and in this film Nico and Dino become the redeemed heroes as they take on rescuing Zoe. The style in the film really sells it and is able to capture personality for the characters without dialogue. This is most notable in how Nico slinks around the roof tops or how Victor stomps everywhere. A good portion of the movie is chase scenes which are thrilling as Paris sweeps by in the background. I also was impressed with the blackout scene’s solution to show us what the characters were up to despite not having light. The dub used a British cast to excellent effect allowing it to maintain its European feel. The plot is simple as are the characters, it is the execution that makes A Cat in Paris highly entertaining.

A Cat in Paris is just a plain fun kids movie. The art is very stylized in a way that made it stand out. It has a very angular look that makes the film look like animated pieces of art. It might turn some people off but I think it adds to the mood and gives it an almost storybook feel. When Nico the thief sneaks around as a cat bugler he has an extremely fluid motion almost like he was made of quicksilver. Other than Dino everyone else has their own characteristic trot but seems more weighted down by gravity. The plot sometimes relies on coincidence but it is never insulting or silly. The coincidences also make sure the story is always moving forward which is vital. There is always a good mix of action to with capers, fist fights, chase scenes, and daring rescues. You know it was French film because if it was an American film they would have mentioned that Nico was skilled in parkour at least 5 times before the end. It is a great movie to watch with your kids, younger relatives, or just for some light watching on your own.

If you can’t make it to any of the short film screenings, never fear since they usually show a short before the longer films. My favorite of them was Rubika where, as the film description says, there is “fancy gravity.” We see one poor citizen get thrown off and then it gets wild and wondrous. As you can see in the shot the designs are kind of like LEGO people, but the title of the film should give you a hint to the big reveal of what is causing the gravity changes. The two others Ormie and Don’t Go were funny in their own ways though perhaps a mite too long.

Before all the movies at the festival there is usually at least one short animated film and this year was no exception. Rubika was an innovative French short about a man whole lives a world that looks like Minecraft and finds gravity has gone berserk for him when he tries to save a woman falling sideways. His adventure falling through the city works well as a short giving it just enough time to show the nifty premise of the animation but not enough to wear out its welcome. Ormie was a CG Canadian short about a luckless pig trying to get a jar of cookies from on top of a refrigerator. It is a much more of a standard comedy cartoon with the pig’s Wile E. Coyote style attempts top get his snack. It has a Pixar feel but was not a good as a great Pixar short. But what is? Don’t Go was the last short we saw in the festival and it was from Turkey. It was mainly a live action movie with an animated character inserted in like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. There is a real black house cat who chases a CG bunny creature around his owner’s apartment. I think it was supposed to be they story of what do cats chase when it looks like they are chasing after nothing. It is an interesting little short if a bit simple.

Since I already knew Time of Eve was fantastic, the big winners for me this year are both from France, A Cat in Paris and Rubika. This is really my only chance to see these films so I have to stress how great NYICFF and the events they put on throughout the year. Another successful year and am already looking for to the 2012 festival.

I think the troubadour Meat Loaf summed up my feelings on the movies we saw at the New York International Children’s Film Festival very well. The Time of Eve was the most mature film, A Cat in Paris was the best kids movie, and Dreams of Jinsha was just an example of what not to do. Our only regret was that The Borrower Arrietty was not a part of the lineup but maybe next year our wish will be granted.  The film festival is always a wonderful sample of animation from around the world and I look forward to seeing what they get next year.

As a person who tends to be absent minded I get a certain amount of dread whenever I cannot find something and wonder if I have lost it forever. So I acutely understand the pain and loss of losing track of something precious. But I think that it a universal misfortune that everyone has faced at one time or another. Oblivion Island taps into this feeling while tying it into a fantasy adventure story that uses Japanese myth to tell a tale of friendship and the bonds of family.

I wasn’t very interested in Oblivion Island, but really I don’t know why that was. I had heard of the film, but not really gone out of my way to learn more about it. The real draw in the end was that it is by Production I.G. And considering the fact that you shouldn’t look the gift of a film festival in the mouth, I ended up with a ticket to the last-minute-added showing.

The opening scene is a young girl named Haruka being read a picture book while visiting her sickly mother in the hospital. The story is about foxes who take things which people no longer appreciate. We then fast forward to Haruka in her teens. Haruka notices that the mirror her mother gave her, who has since passed away, has disappeared. In trying to find the mirror she follows a fox named Teo back to his magical homeland. Teo decided to help her find her missing mirror so he can get rid of her before everyone else realizes he has let a human discover their world. But they soon realize that in the world of Oblivion Island the mirror has great power and its new owner will not give it up easily.

The plot is steadfastly simple, we are taken in by Haruka’s adorable child-self and the very relatable plight of looking for something that was once important only to find it has disappeared from neglect. The world of the Kitsune, who are really all kinds of strange looking creatures who just wear fox masks, is colorful and vibrate with life. The looming evil a foot, which doesn’t ever get a good grip on just what it is doing, adds some stunning machine and battle moments. As the teen Haruka encounters this strange otherworld, she regains not only lost items, but lost feelings and memories as well. However, as the story goes on the connected feeling from the beginning moments is neglected and you never truly feel the what is displayed, you merely see it.

Haruka is a normal teenage girl with a bit of spunk to her. We get the sense that she has a decent social life and is slightly estranged but hardly cut off from her salary man father. She is not as fiercely strong as a Miyazaki heroine but she holds her own. Teo is the classic lovable loser character. He is a hard working and honest dreamer but sort of a nerd with no real friends. He dreams of flying and being successful but mostly seems to accept his lot in life. The evil Count and his minions are rather cartoon villains with cartoon villain motivations. Heck the Count is one step from being a kids’ movie version of Dr. Hell. I would be remiss in not mentioned Cotton who appears half way through the movie as he steals most of the scenes he is in. He is a lost stuff animal of Haruka’s who joins them on their journey. At first he is cold towards Haruka for forgetting about him but he eventually becomes a strong ally and a cool dude.

I also found Haruka to be much the regular teenager complete with a little selfishness and a little anger that is compounded by the loss of her mother and her subsequent pushing away of her father. But I never really felt we got to know her beyond the surface level and each time they try to insert some character development for her, it falls flat. Her growing friendship with Teo should be a great source for Haruka to shine, but it’s really Teo who ends up being the more full and changed character. At one point he mentions that he is just “junk,” it is a sad and heartfelt confession but when Haruka then joins in saying she is also “junk,” it came off as completely unfounded. Teo’s dream of flight also bolsters the huge climatic battle at the end quite nicely. Though I did find the ensuing idea that you can’t move people with your words, but you sure can with your money, a little off putting. The appearance of Cotton is also a poor attempt at Haruka growth as she never once mentions him prior to the dramatic reunion. However, it was perfectly dramatic as the director of the play Cotton was in says from off stage. And atleast Cotton is really cool!

Knowing that Oblivion Island is from Production I.G you are safe in the fact that the animation is solid. That being said Production IG is clearly not the Japanese Pixar when it comes to CG animated productions  But I would go as far as to say you could claim they are the Japanese Dreamworks. The characters were all very pleasant looking and to me and I did not feel it fell into the Uncanny Valley I know that one of the people went to the movie with did feel this way. I thought there was some really well done scenes and Karuka’s character model seem to have a good deal of attention paid to it. But there were some scenes that were way to frenetic and busy to fully see what was happening and at times some of the characters were obviously skimped on. Production IG has a good idea of how to do CG animation but they need to refine their art a little more. I hope to see improvements in the next CG works.

While I too enjoyed the visuals of Oblivion Island, that was the best part of the show (and Cotton!), Haruka just didn’t have soul. When the film finished I said to myself well it was okay since it was a kids’ film. But the more I think about that statement, the less comfortable I am with it. Is being a kids’ movie a free pass for plot holes and clunky characterization? Plenty of children’s film, television, and literature rise to the challenge and transcend into being great for kids and entertaining for adults. And Oblivion Island is entertaining once through, but it’s a bit insulting to forgive all the problems in the narrative because it’s “just a kids’ movie,” especially at a film festival that is all about bringing more to the table. Oblivion Island is a passable and visually interesting movie and nothing more.

I think of the five people who went to the movie I enjoyed it more than anyone else. It was a fun kid’s movie but it was squarely a kids movie. Something you could take kids to that they would love and you would not want to kill yourself. On the other hand it is harder to recommend just watching on your own. I do not regret watching the film in theaters but I am hardly rushing to buy it on DVD. I am curious to see the anime industry’s next CG film. I don’t want to see traditional animation go away but it is a good medium that they could do some very good work in.

The New York International Children’s Film Festival is a place I like to experiment and quite often go into movies without much knowledge of them. I guess it comes down to the fact that for many of these films, this may be the only chance to see them, especially on the big screen. With a number of films this year being anime, I was feeling even more of an itch to squeeze in as many screenings as I could. Something about that big screen adds a lot to the experience, at least for me. So with that in mind I went to see Mai Mai Miracle where literally the only thing I knew about it was that it was from Japan.

Mai Mai Miracle follows the ever-imaginative young Shinko in a small, somewhat rural town, of a post-WWII Japan. Thanks to Shinko’s grandfather she has become fascinated with the town’s 1000-year-old history so much so that she often has wild daydreams about it. When shy Kiiko moves to town, Shinko’s curious nature leads her to befriend the quiet girl and the two become fast and inseparable friends. Through the make-believe world that Shinko shares with her, Kiiko starts to come out of her shell, and soon the little town is a place of joy where each day is spent in laughter and adventure. But, as many stories about coming of age do, some sad and very real problems invade their little piece of paradise. Mai Mai Miracle is a story of friendship, history, dreams, and growing up which really and truly feels like the perspective of the young.

There are moments throughout the film where we actually see the 1000-year-old town through Shinko and Kiiko’s playing. And according to Shinko her tuft of hair that just won’t lay flat is what gives her a connection and understanding of the old world. After they find out a princess their age lived in a huge estate, it almost becomes a testament to the girls friendship as they try to imagine just who she was. Though admittedly it wasn’t always clear to me whether the princess’s story was trying to draw parallels to Shinko and Kiiko, but in many ways I think the princess looking for a friend herself really resonates with the present story of Mai Mai Miracle. The girls’ imaginations come alive on the screen through the spirit and freedom that only children have in their fantasies. In fact, the entire film has a wonderful sense of childhood play and the bonds that happen almost by accident when you are young. And even though I didn’t grow up in a small town, Mai Mai Miracle’s circle of friendships even reflects the suburban neighborhood I grew up in. This understanding of youth, how each person influences the other, and how fleeting those moments of childhood are are far and away what makes this film stand out.

Shinko portrayal makes her a very alive character. She is the type of friend all kids long to have, she is brave, adventurous, and free-spirited. Shinko is always poised to lead you somewhere and she would never turn her back on a friend. At times the way she is portrayed seems to be through Kiiko’s eyes, a perfect best friend and someone quite unforgettable that surely shapes her life. Kiiko herself at first seems to be the complete opposite of Shinko, and maybe that is what fascinates both of them so, but her contemplation of events and her sincerity makes her fit with Shinko like a puzzle piece. The town has a wealth of personalities from the teacher at school, to Shinko’s little sister, to the neighbor boys who slowly become part of the group of friends which cements the small town feel. This is especially true of Tatsuyoshi, an older boy who has a mysterious quality about him, as you learn bits and pieces of his life he really adds some of that coming-of-age taste to the film.

Overall, I found Mai Mai Miracle to be an enjoyable and often times relatable film. Admittedly though I did struggle with the lack of an overarching plot, this is a personal limit. However, I think the story moves along at a good pace and with the stand out characters I was happy to look past it. Mai Mai Miracle captures a children’s story feel, and has a real insight into the relationships between children, without playing down to its audience making it truly a memorable film.

When I heard that Hosoda’s plans for his next film were in the works, I was truly excited. Afterall, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time instantly became a favorite or mine, and not one that I will soon forget. So basically after hearing “He is making something, and it is called Summer Wars,” I promptly tuned out any information thereafter. Something made me want to jump in blindly, to be completely caught unaware by this next film. And truly I went into the theater with no knowledge of the plot and having only seen the poster for the film. Going in really on faith alone that it would be amazing seemed to really stimulate my imagination so you dear reader may want to turn back now and enjoy that same feeling. Though there aren’t any spoilers here, even the analysis of Summer Wars characters and themes seems like I’m telling you too much if you haven’t already experienced it.

A question I often hear is “Who is going to be the next Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, or Mamoru Oshii? Who is going to be the next reliable anime director that people can expect quality films from?” The worry is that as the great anime directors of today retire there will be no one to take their place. I will say with full confidence that Mamoru Hosoda is a name everyone should be watching as a worthy successor to the great anime directors of the past and present. His outstanding work on the 6th One Piece film and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time had caught my eye in the past. And Summer Wars has solidified him as a director I shall go out of my way to research and keep an eye out for what he is doing next.

It begins with a simple deception. Natsuki Shinohara needs someone to accompany her to her grandmother’s 90th birthday party so she brings along her friend Kenji Koiso who quickly realizes that there is more to this little favor then he first assumed. As Kenji is trying to wade through the politics of Natsuki’s large extended family he becomes entangled in an even more dire situation as he accidentally helps hack the online system of OZ that controls everything from simple web browsing and e-commerce to vital public and military functions. Soon the hacker is using his new found powers to wreak havoc in the online world and the real world. Kenji and Natsuki must unite her family in an effort to regain control of OZ before the chaos turns into tragedy.

I think it’s important to note the layers of story being told in Summer Wars. All in all, when just describing it, it sounds fairly straightforward and simple, maybe even something you’ve heard before. But when you see the film, that feeling will quickly dissipate. Underlying the peril in the movie is a quiet story about a family that extends all over Japan, that fights and laughs, that forgives and teases, that may even push people away, but they are coming together for this birthday party and around a woman who has been at the epicenter of all of their lives (minus Kenji). This is a huge part of the film, this feeling of togetherness that shouldn’t be taken away by the virtual. The strength of this family and putting faith in people is what can save their world.

Kenji Koiso starts the movie as a mild mannered young man. The only thing that he is confident in is his mathematical ability. It is obvious that he has a crush on Natsuki but it is equally sure that he is out of her league. Everything in the movie from his experiences in the real world to his battles in the virtual world show him that he has a far greater strength than he gives himself credit for. Natsuki shines as brightly as Kenji and when she is in the spotlight you take notice. She is charming and bright while having a sense of comforting majesty. While Natsuki always stands out, her grandmother steals every scene that she is in no matter what else is going on. Sakae is powerful and commanding even when she does not say a word but she can also be compassionate and nurturing when the time comes. She is the strong ideal of the Yamato Nadesico. Kazuma is a standoffish member of Natsuki’s family. He starts of with a snarky attitude towards Kenji and tries to brush him off as quickly as possible. But when he realizes that Kenji is in over his head he just as quickly comes to his aid. I will not go into the rest of the family since this cast is huge but everyone one in Natsuki’s family stands out. Some members of the clan stand out more than others but everyone gives off a distinct and memorable flair. It might be for their devotion to baseball or their boisterous retelling of old family history but everyone makes an impression.

The spotlight falls on many characters throughout this film, in fact as a matter of screentime it’s not easy to decipher just who the main character is. So while only a few moments of pause will give you the answer, Kenji, Summer Wars really comes together as an ensemble of characters whose interaction with each other is at the core. In fact, it’s quite beautiful as you see each person open up and come together, this is seen most clearly through the outsider Kenji as he wins over family members a few at a time. The huge family life is portrayed with such subtly and quirk that you are sure these people much exist. If you have a large extended family I’m sure you will see them here, I know I did. You can really pull out Kanji, Natsuki, Sakae, and Kazuma because I feel they embody the themes about our relationship to technology in very similar ways, but have different attitudes about themselves. Each one has a real world skill whether be it an intellect (Kenji); confidence is a game (Natsuki); the ability to make people move and to communicate (Sakae); or the decision to no longer be a victim (Kazuma) each of these things are paramount to saving both OZ and the very real world. There are many others that contribute to this goal, too. I enjoyed Summer Wars ability to highlight moments and characters at just the right moment of impact.

I did leave out one of the most important characters; the world of OZ. Everything about OZ has a unique design sense that gives you insight into all the characters involved. Everyone’s icon in OZ shows you how they view themselves which is a great little touch. All online worlds that characters interact with should be this detailed and vibrant. The design work is a clear mixture of modern day social media sights with the artistry of Takashi Murakami. Having worked on Superflat Monogram it is clear that Hosoda was influenced by his style even if it was not purposeful. I think the Superflat virtual world gives the movie a bright feeling that helps it stand out in your memory.

As the film ended I started thinking about the name “Summer Wars,” it had perplexed me as I watched. At first it doesn’t seem quite right for the movie, and personally I don’t find it quite evocative of what you’ll see. However, I came to understand its purpose and meaning when I played back the film in my mind. The name “Summer Wars” speaks to of course the war being fought against a digital predator who threatens both the virtual OZ and the real world with havoc and destruction. But it is “Wars” plural, this plurality I came to see as the war going on within individual minds against themselves, their own uncertainty, and a world reliance on technology, it is also about a war that exists between the advancement of machines and old traditions, and it is about a war going on within the family, and probably a host of other wars can be found within the context of this. It is a war of compromise and coming to an understanding (as many wars are) that both can coexist, have a purpose, and work in tandem. Summer Wars is about yourself, about all of us, your immediate environment, and the entire world all at the same time.

One of the greatest pleasures about New York Film festivals showing anime is on rare occasions they get the Director to speak to the audience at premieres. At the end of the film Mamoru Hosoda did a rather lengthy Q&A with the audience which was extremely gracious of him. Since it played at a children’s film festival about half the question were from little kids. I was amused and slightly saddened by the fact that most of the questions from little children were better than most of the question asked of Japanese guests at anime conventions. Hosoda provided some great insights into the production process and this thoughts going into the production of Summer Wars. If someone posts a transcript or a recording of the questions I suggest you seek it out.

I nearly leaped to my feet once the credits started, I wanted to cheer and jump up and down. I turned to the person next to me and excitedly stated that I wanted to watch the movie again right then. I scribbled possibly unreadable gushing notes on my comment card. Seeing it on the big screen add a lot to the experience, but the essence of show could not be made better by it. Summer Wars is joyous, sad, funny, uplifting, exciting, and all in all moved me very much. It has a great pace that ebbs and flows as it highlights the characters, themes, and action each in turn. It was all presented in this stunning production that feels familiar but smart and thrilling, as if Hosoda is saying look what I can do with these elements! As far as I’m concerned Summer Wars is a near perfect film and I can’t imagine anyone not liking it.

The one element of the film that stuck with me the most was the even handed handling of the increasing integration of technology into our lives. It shows the boons and pitfalls of technology in equal measure which is very rare to seen portrayed in anything but a polarized light. Summer War show technology causing chaos and upholding order; keeping people apart and bringing them together. Technology is a tool that can be use however the person using it wishes for it to be used. I very much agree with that philosophy and so I very much synchronized with the spirit of the movie. Even if this is not the case for you there is so much that clicks with the audience about this movie. The engaging characters, the solid story, the delightful humor, the amazing visuals, the rip roaring actions scenes, and the heartfelt drama all mix together to make this a must see movie.

This past weekend with some friends in toe I went to the Tatsunoko VS. Capcom event being held at Nintendo World in NYC. Usually at these little gatherings you can get a copy of the game early, but not so this time around. Though you could win a copy by beating out everyone else in the game tournament. Of which there were tons, or atleast I think there were, maybe they were all just in line for the autograph and poster as seen above. In any case, talk about packed! Luckily we caught glimpses of the game as we were waiting in line. I am happy to report many people playing as Joe the Condor (as they should be!) who is basically the reason I want to play this game myself. Actually I was happy to see everyone really playing an array of the hefty cast. I did get to play for a minute at the end where I doubled up with Joe the Condor and Viewtiful Joe and promptly got trounced by Gold Lightan! Looking forward to this release so I can try again.

So begins the end of Umineko with the first part: End of the Golden Witch. I devoured this episode over the course of two days and loved every second of it. It picks up the ball from where it landed after the ultra dramatic end of part 4. With Battler initially sitting the game out we get the introduction of Erika Furudo as the new detective. She starts off as the text book definition of a Mary Sue. As the episode goes on we slowly learn that she is not the nice person she might first appear to be. She is a detective without love and sort of psycho at times. Any worries that she would become the new main character and sweep Battler to the side are utterly blow away by the end. I’m not exactly sure if she is supposed to be a tool to explore the story or if there is some deeper hints in her appearance in this stage of the game. I was a little surprised that I liked Dlanor A. Knox infinitely more than I initially thought I would. The Internet made her seem much crazier and more useless than she was in the actual visual novel. I hope to see more of her. Battler himself is utterly epic when he finally gets his head back in the game. I will say this new set of chapters seem to ramp up the meta commentary to the next level. The conversation about how a good relationship is like a good mystery novel and the use of Knox’s rules was so delightful.

I continue on with Yumeiro Patissiere with much glee, the series continues to be a very nice, energetic, and happy shojo series. And with the new element of the baking contest it has thrown in some shonen tournament style! Ichigo has the proper balance of self-doubt mixed with gusto. She doesn’t miraculously get better as a patisserie, she truly works hard. There was also a nice scene where she realizes that one of her seniors who is considered a genius is not just natural ability either as she puts in long hours in the kitchen after others have left for the day. The tournament is going to be a fun romp and I expect it will take up a good portion of the next maybe 10 episodes, maybe more. I’m really looking forward to see what kind of strides the team makes!

In preparation for Gundam Unicorn I decided to brave one of the more infamous Gundam series: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. I know people did not like the first part of because it changes the tone of the series from riveting war drama to slap stick mecha comedy but it really is a shift that has to be seen to be believed. Most everyone who survived Zeta from the Argama is back but now they are two hundred times more incompetent. It is best summed up by the fact that Yazan Gable, who is one of the deadliest characters in the Gundam series, is nothing more than a goofy comic relief villain who attacks a Gundam on a scooter with a metal pipe. Also they attack Bright with fruit. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Judau Ashta is a shady teenager who does salvage work. He is a likable energetic young chap in contrast to the previous Gundam antagonists but he is sort of dumb as a box of rocks. The rest of his crew is a decent band of nogoodniks but none of them stand out too much. Roux Louka is the shinning reason to watch the series. She was a breath of fresh air when she comes swooping in to save Judau. So far she is practically a magical girl because she has an amazing power that no one else has so far. She has common sense. I will say the Rainbow Bright stars on her outfits are sort of odd but I also find them cute because she is definitely my type of lady. I am going to stick with ZZ but I could see what would get people so upset at this series. It is almost a parody of Gundam at this point. And I have not gotten to the Moon Moon colony yet.

I sped through Swan 10-14, if I had anymore than that I would have kept going! But since 15 won’t land on my doorstep till next month, I’m out of luck. We some major hurdles overcome in these volumes from much of the cast, though also some heartbreaking down falls, it truly is an amazing rollercoaster ride look at a highly competitive field. Masumi really starts to stretch herself in the later books and as she makes a major move and starts to get a look at the world of modern ballet we really she her constitution toughen and her resolve set in. There are a couple of new love interests, one of which I really like, but I’m still anxious to see how Aoi will eventually fit into her life as is my fervent wish that he will. The drama never ends, and I don’t want it to! I have to talk about Swan as much as possible because it truly deserves it and is probably one of the best series currently being released in English.

If there is one reason to watch ZZ it is the lady right here:

Everyone’s question was would NYAF live up to, exceed, or fail compared to the two previous conventions? There was quite a bit of talking with the announcement that NYAF would join with NYCC for 2010 so there was also the question of what would NYAF do as its last year as an independent convention? Although those are all pressing questions my main question was if I was going to have fun? Was I going to be able to do as much as I wanted to? We were also running two panels one of which had a lot of people looking forward to it. The Bloggers Roundtable had some big names on the marquee but it was a the first time we ever ran the panel. I had the most expectations for the panel because I felt it could succeed or fail so much more than any of our previous panels. On top of all that I had two guests staying at my humble abode during the convention so I had to play host as well as press.

It was no secret that we were looking forward to New York Anime Festival, probably more than any other con previously thanks to a killer guest, director Yoshiyuki Tomino. This sent NYAF which I always enjoy but never as much as say Otakon right to the front of the line this year. That being said, the rest of the con experience remained the same though I was happy to see quite a few license announcements this year. Since NYAF’s space has basically stayed the same from its first year, there weren’t too many surprises but that also means it still has some of the same problems. Javits, is Javits, its a bit of a walk from the train, the hotels, and most food. Though it also means that for the most part events went off without a hitch and things seemed to be well in hand with the staff.

The convention for me started on Thursday night since most of my main convention group went to see the Eureka Seven movie. Although not officially a part of the convention experience it felt like a great way to spend an evening before the big show. The movie itself was bizarre. I will never forget the line, “I am an enemy alien spy robot” as long as I live. It was a visually appealing movie but otherwise a utter train wreck. I appreciated their attempt to do something new with the original story but their execution left something to be desired. Though I was happy to watch a film with my friends and be able to talk about it afterward because I often feel like I hardly watch any anime at anime conventions. On Friday morning my two guests the spectacular OGT, the amazing PatzPrime, plus the remarkable SDShamshel all met up and went to the Javits center early to get Tomino autograph tickets. We were all a little worried when we heard that people were already starting to line up at 7am. We finally arrived at 10 and got progressively worried when we saw how the VIP line was growing but we were able to get our autograph tickets. Since we got there before the con officially started getting our press badges was a snap. We all went for some delicious Go Go Curry before starting the convention. Starting the con with curry is a tradition I could get behind.

Once again, the staff of NYAF as far as tickets goes were on top of it. Not a moment more than one was I in line for my press badge, which incidentally looks very different this year. This goes for the weekend con badges and VIP ones as well and only half for individual day passes. I’m not sure what to make of them, on the one hand I really like the hard plastic but on the other hand the badges aren’t very fun. Maybe that sounds like a stupid complaint, but too bad, many of us have a grand time trying to guess what show or characters will appear on the badges before going to a con. The speculations can even spawn forum threads, so it has become a popular and expected part of anime conventions. And I was surprised to not at the very least see the badges sporting the logo from this year’s contest winner. Since I never made it to the convention center before opening time, I have no idea what the lines looked like but from the massive crowds on Saturday I can imagine there was a pretty good wait in the morning. However, panels seemed to be well organized in this regard though having a press badge prevented any problems for me. The Javits space allotted for NYAF was insufficient for Saturday but was tolerable on Friday and Sunday. Happily this mean the Tomino panel was rightfully full.

I had heard so many stories about Yoshiyuki Tomino but it is still hard to say what I was expecting. To be very brief, Tomino was quite chill from the moment he cut the Opening Ceremonies ribbon to the insistence that he finish answering all the fans who lined up to ask him a question at his Saturday panel. To expand more thoughtfully, Tomino in the past has made some pretty harsh remarks about all his works and most notably about Gundam but at this convention (and quite possibly because this year also marks the 30th anniversary) he seems to have accepted its value, its popularity, and become more content because of it. During his keynote, he remarked that he wanted Gundam to be remembered even more fondly than Star Wars. Tomino also gave the impression of being proud that he created something that is still watchable and relevant thirty years later then going on to discuss his use and philosophy of cinema which made Gundam the show it was. Though the audience may have been missing out on more wisdom from Tomino due to a poor translation at the Keynote, but thankfully at his Q&A this was corrected. The Q&A started off very lively as they showed a reel of Tomino’s work, many members of the audience sang along to the theme songs and of course there was mass cheering for many pieces on the screen (surprisingly Gundam ZZ had a rousing reception). Tomino then finally took center stage and got down to the nitty gritty of tackling fan questions. It was pleasing to see, after a couple of questions submitted online were answered, Tomino signaled that he would much prefer to answer those standing before him. He clearly understands how many people came from varying distances just to see him in the flesh, and frankly they should get the priority. The people helping to the run the Q&A went down the line hearing everyone’s question first, and making sure it was actually Tomino related. One could have probably heard the collected booing a mile away from the Keynote when a con-goer stood up and began to ask a question about Gundam 00. Tomino’s visit ended (not counting a final autograph session) with a showing of Ring of Gundam, his short 30th anniversary film. Tomino left the room with a standing ovation and there was little doubt that he made many a fan happy this past weekend.

I was expecting Tomino to be a man of very little words but for those few words to be extremely cranky and point blank. However, he  seemed genuinely happy and upbeat at the convention but you could tell that the cranky old man Tomino we all knew and loved was there. While his answers were always pleasant, he never seemed to be holding back. As expected there were a few lame question, a few rephrased and then repeated questions, and a few super egotistical questions from the attendees but overall selection was very good. Tomino mentioned that he always had regrets on all his series because he always felt they could be majorly improved in retrospect. But he also felt that feeling makes him always strive to do better in every project he works on. He said that one of the major themes of Gundam was that adults who were rigid in their mindsets were the enemy so therefore since he was super old that made him the super enemy now which got a good laugh out of the audience. Tomino seemed to have a fuzzy memory on any sort of details of the projects he had worked on. He thankfully remembered a little something about Sayla so I did get a partial answer to my question about what her role would be if she was in Zeta Gundam, he seemed to think he would have left things as is. I was also thrilled we got a good answer to the one Turn A Gundam question about why no newtypes appeared in the series. Tomino clarified the confusion by saying the people in Turn A would later become newtypes but the story couldn’t have been told as it was had they already evolved so. The way he dodged questions about Gunpla and his time at Mushi Productions told volumes but his actual feelings. When someone asked him about the possibility of Double Zeta Gundam compilation movies he stated that he was ignoring the fact that he was asked that question. Thankfully no one brought up Victory Gundam or Brain Powered. On a side note, during a reel of Tomino’s work they played almost every one except for Garzey’s Wing. I wonder if that was an accidental or deliberate oversight. Everyone who went to the Tomino panels and autographs sessions got a unforgettable experience out of it. Just look at that man’s face on the picture above. He seems down right giddy and it’s not just because he is holding a book with a page turned to Sochie although that is a good reason to be giddy.

So NYAF marked the first Bloggers Roundtable, it was an interesting experience, a learning experience if you will. You always have to have the first of these things and often times it has many flaws. Biggest being, there were just too many people but it’s such a difficulty because you want to get as many great people as you can! Also this panel was our first technical difficult in a while, and it was never actually corrected. We just did the best we could, and since the panel mainly involved talking it wasn’t a major issue. It started to get more lively as the panel continued, people got comfortable, and the discussions became more interactive. When first deciding what this panel was about, we thought asking only blogging questions might seem too blah (perhaps people wanted to know these bloggers on a more personal level), but they really engaged the audience so that would be the majority another time around I would think. In any case, it was fun and we did end up with plenty to talk about (even spilling over a bit since we were the last panel of the night).

Overall I think the Bloggers Roundtable went well despite the fact that it had major flaws. Several things will have to be changed if we ever run the panel again such as a maximum of five participants. I was a little worried that people would not have enough to say on certain questions but everyone had a good deal to share. In fact they often held back because of the size of the panel. We should also try to go to audience questions quicker, I was impressed by the number and quality of the questions from them. After this first round, we got a better understanding of what questions worked and what questions fell flat. Despite all the flaws I know I personally had a good time on the panel. I had fun hearing everyone’s answers and the playful banter of the panelists when things got rolling. I hope the audience had a good time, too. We even got a question from Zac “Answerman” Bertschy over the internet. I would definitely run this panel again if I could get people to do it. We will take what we learned from this attempt and make the panel even better.

We once again presented our Anime Recruitment panel with a good 30 or so people in the audience. This was a pleasant surprise considering the time slot of 4PM on Sunday, essentially the last panel slot for the convention, but hey someone has to go last. As always the Q&A portion where we answer any and all recommendation questions to the best of our abilities is the most fun and interesting part of the panel. This time around we were hit with some difficult requests like something gothic in style but with robots or a gore comedy. We were also called experts which was a little unnerving but kind of cool at the same time. Each time we do this panel we hone it just a little better and our ability to come up with a show for anyone increases. This is a panel that will be around for a long time with us because it goes over well and it is a lot of fun!

It is always fun to see a premiere at a convention. The ability to go a screening of something you will before everyone else is exciting. Much like Voices of a Distant Star it turns out that Cencoroll is the almost entirely a one man project done by Atsuya Uki. Cencoroll is the story on a bored teenager named Tetsu who has a shape shifting monster that is forced to do battle with another boy with a similar creature. Tetsu’s female classmate Yuki gets drawn into this conflict  when she discovers Tetsu’s secret. It was an amazing little piece especially since it was done by one person and used no CG. I had a very good look and feel. I am curious to see more work like Atsuya Uki. I would like to see him as the next Makoto Shinkai.

I didn’t really know much about Cencoroll till it was announced as a premiere title for NYAF. Then I began to hear things about it, most prominently that it was another one man show and put together without the use of CG. A fascinating part of this short was the discussion of what is acceptable in a short film verses a series. Cencoroll tells you virtually nothing about the why of its world or its premise but that was fine for a half hour jaunt. Beyond that, the relationship between boy, girl, and Cenco was well formed with some humor and moments of surprise. This 30-minute short ended up being a highlight of the convention.

There was a good amount of manga news and manga licenses at NYAF. While the manga market might not being growing anywhere as quickly as it used to it is not sickly from what I can see. I missed out on the Vertical panel because it was against Tomino but they announced four new manga titles, including Chi’s Sweet Home. More obscure titles were Peepo Choo from Felipe Smith that did the comic MBQ for Tokyopop before he started doing manga from Morning 2 in Japan; and Twin Spica and Needle which are two very different sci-fi manga. Tokyopop still seemed to be alive despite what everyone fears, for how long is another question. They admitted to switching to a cheaper paper company but had to switch back after a huge number of customer and retailer complaints. They had some new title announcements, including the next installment in the .hack line .hack//Link, so they still are in the game enough to get new manga. VIZ seemed to be doing extremely well as they announced not only some new manga but also anime and sci-fi novels. The most interesting announcement was that they will be streaming Inuyasha: The Final Act. I had a feeling that this was going to happen but it was never definite. I am curious how well this new fiction line is going for VIZ. All the other manga companies have been delaying or seemingly canceling their novel lines. Del Rey did not have a lot to say but they did pick up Rave Master. If there was any sure sign that Kodansha has cut off its ties to Tokopop it was the fact that they gave Samurai Deeper Kyo and now Rave Master to Del Rey despite the fact that both series had almost finished under Tokyopop.

The majority of the panels that I attended were industry related which in recent years have become fairly entertaining rather than tedious. Funimation always puts on a good show but I was shocked to find them making an announcement at NYAF. An announcement that personally made my draw drop, Initial D Fourth Stage. Actually, they have acquired all of Initial D and will be repackaging it. I nearly wept with joy. They also made mention of their upcoming ShoDojo site which is going to be a sort of social networking tool. The piece of the site that sounds fun is the ability to chat while watching streaming video. The launch of the site has been delayed but it could be another thing Funi does right for fans. Bandai didn’t have too much new stuff to say though they did have dates for things like the Eureka Seven movie on DVD (January 2010) and mentioning of things making the move to Blu-Ray such as the Escaflowne movie. These companies and others sat down on Sunday for, what has become a standard, State of the Industry panel moderated by Chris MacDonald of Anime News Network. There was not much new ground covered at this one, topics like watching digital media and reading digital media differing greatly as well as the difficulties in simulcasting (seemingly ignoring all the successful ones currently going on) were well discussed. One thing that leapt out thanks to so many anime companies finally doing streaming video is the inability to monetize such ventures, yet. It was pointed out that most likely their day will come but DVD/Blu-Ray is and will remain king for quite sometime.

I went to the How to Become Famous on the Internet panel which was an informative presentation on how to promote your work on the Net be it a blog, podcast, webcomic, or anything else that shows your skills as a artist or writer. It was pretty solid advice from panelists who knew their stuff. As always the most important thing is to go out there and honestly connect to other people. The How I Broke into the Anime and Manga Industries panel was nothing I did not know but I think it was a good wake up call for anyone who did not realize how hard it is. Kevin McKeever made it clear that it was extremely difficult to make your way into any entertainment industry because everyone else wants in as well. Sacrifice and the ability to deal with repeated failure is essential. The CPM Retrospective was a nostalgic look back on working at Central Park Media. I had heard quite a few stories from various people on how crazy Central Park Media and John O’Donnell could be for better and for worse. Although everyone spoke glowingly about their times at CPM is was obvious they took their fare share of lumps as often as had great times. It was a fitting tribute for a former major player in the anime industry.

The artist alley was located in a much better spot this year, and it was really hopping! And most importantly, it was open until the convention closed up at 10PM. I saw some familiar faces among the artists but plenty of new people to go around. In fact, while I had set a strict no buying policy for myself at this con, I broke it in artist alley for a piece of Cloud fan-art by a very talented fellow, ningyee7. I was much better at resisting in the dealer’s room. There were visibly more booths but the merchandise itself didn’t seem to be too special or rare for the most part. I was also sad to not see Ultimate Doujinshi. While I avoided this section for most of Saturday, I did move through it a little and found it cramped but not wholly deadly. Still is there ever enough room in the dealers room anywhere?

One of the biggest draws of any convention has nothing to do directly with the convention itself and that is meeting with your friends who you do not normally get to see and to hang out with your regular friends in a dynamic setting. I think that meeting One Great Turtle in real life was almost as awesome as meeting Tomino and that is saying a lot. I also got to meet the infamous Wild Arms Heero. He was unsurprisingly normal and quite amusing in real life. It was extremely fun going out to karaoke, stores, arcades, and meals with people you have only met online. Hey, I even got to play Melty Blood: Actress Again on an arcade machine. Speaking of karaoke, I am always fascinated by other people’s song choices. I wish I had enough Japanese knowledge to sing the Japanese songs like many others but people had to settle for my lame renditions of Queen and the Police instead.

New York Anime Fest brought many familiar faces to NYC this time around, some of which I already knew and some I would meet for the very first time during this event. So instead of having a big dinner at this convention, the theme was karaoke with many bloggers in tow (and friends) on Friday night. My Japanese is about pre-school level but others among me belted out all kinds of fierce Japanese tunes including Holy Lonely Night from Macross 7! If I practice really hard maybe I can pull some opening off in the near future. But there was also plenty of English songs being sung,  most memorable being On A Boat from SNL. This was the latest night of con and really wrecked me for the rest of convention. There were also various dining and chatting experience a plenty during the con and after hours. NYAF overall became a rather large hang out and meeting convention.

I am always most interested in the Japanese guests and the panels at any anime convention. They tend to be my meter stick of how much fun. Tomino pretty much assured that NYAF won completely and utterly in the guest department. My now signed Turn A Artbook was worth the time and money I spent on the convention alone. I would have liked to have seen one other big named Japanese guest but that was hardly a requirement. I did enjoy several of the panels but for some reason I felt this years panels were lacking. The ones I went to were excellent but there was a good deal of dead space for me on each day. It did give me time to hang out with people and have leisurely meals but I would have rather had to decide to either have a leisurely meal or a quick bite to eat like at Otakon. I am also a little bummed out that next year there will not be a single solitary NYAF but instead it will be combined with NYCC. I liked having a anime convention and a comic convention in Manhattan. I could do my anime events at NYAF and my comics events at NYCC. Hopefully NYAF will not just be a name tacked on the NYCC but only time will tell. Still I will remember New York Anime Festival with fond memories.

While I don’t want to be running without a moment to spare at a convention, I found myself too often with time on my hands. If there was one of two more rooms for panels or workshops this problem would be solved. Also the lack of fan run panels is certainly getting better but still wish to see more of a fan presence in the presentations. It will be interesting to see how it combines with New York Comic Con in the coming year. So really the highlight and reason for NYAF 2009 for me was Tomino and everything else was just something I went to in between. It can’t be said enough that having a chance to see and hear speak a director of such importance is a rare chance which makes NYAF one of the most memorable anime events I may ever attend. As Dave said during the Bloggers Roundtable, “Tomino Con 2009 was great!”

Top 5 Tomino shows I want to watch that are not Gundam
5. Aura Battler Dunbine
4. Invincible Super Man Zambot 3
3. Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3
2. Space Runaway Ideon
1. Combat Mecha Xabungle

The rain, cherry blossoms, and tears can all fall with infectious joy or breathtaking sadness. The Sakura Matsuri was held at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on Saturday and Sunday. Every year around this time they have a collection of Japanese performances and lectures on a wide range of Japanese arts in the background of the falling cherry blossoms. You get a wide variety including: dance, music, poetry, and artistic botany. The crowd is also very diverse. I saw families, couples, friends, young people, old people, otaku, and hipsters. There were many people in cosplay but they hardly overwhelmed the normal patrons nor were they ever disruptive on the day that I went. I am curious if it was any better or worse on Saturday.

Most everyone I know went on Saturday and I went Sunday. This meant that Sunday was a solitary journey which lends a different feel to the proceedings. For some reason the whole day brought to my mind the 71st episode of Urusei Yatsura, Shinobu’s Cinderella Story because of the constant rain. I half expected to get drawn into an adventure of romance and danger. But that just goes to show what an odd person I am in the end. Plus I always like to picture myself as Shinobu. Maybe because we have similar personalities. Maybe I just want the ability to hurl tanks when upset. Still all the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom and you often saw blossoms littering the air and walkways. Although a popular activity was people shaking the trees to get the rain of petals effect. It was definitely a good weekend to capture the proper ambiance of Sakura Matsuri.

The first thing I saw when I entered was the J-Pop culture section. This is where all the anime related stuff was on Sunday. I have to give props to everyone who sat at the tables in the rain with the chill in the air. They were definite troopers. I voted for the NYAF mascot (If anyone was curious I voted for the cabbie) and picked up some free stuff for the panel giveaways. They had DJs playing J-Pop music all day but it was an eclectic mix not just a bunch of anime or popular songs. Someone’s cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band made me smile.

I actually started the events of the day with a demonstration of flower arrangement. It was totally unsurprising that the audience was almost exclusively made up of old ladies. Fumiko Allinder was quite skilled and put together several beautiful pieces on stage. If you wanted to go somewhere that was crowded then go to wherever there were Taiko Drums. People love them and I can’t disagree. They had an outdoor performance and an indoor lesson with members from the audience. Everyone on stage seemed to have a great time and the lessons were easy enough that they looked good. I also attended Enta Kusakabe’s poetry reading where he explained and gave examples of his personal brand of poetry. As I traveled around there were also several musical and dance performances that were very good. I also peeked in at the bonsai exhibit and found it quite lovely but I missed out of the demonstration.

I ended the day on a definite high note with Bushido: The Soul of Samurai or as I like to call it West Side Samurai Story. It was a mixture of stage acting, dance, and sword play. It was the story of a drunken, fallen samurai who discovers the true meaning of Bushido when he gets involved in a struggle between a band of anti-government rebels and a pair of noble samurai. It was well done with humor and action. The crowd really ate it up but with good reason. It had a good amount of energy and was one of the most entertaining parts of the event.

Every event I saw had a minimum of 40 people in attendance and that was on a cold rainy day. All the presentations were very well done and all the presenters were obviously accomplish artists who were also able to explain their craft. There were great introductions to a variety of Japanese art styles. My complaints are two fold. As far as I could tell there was no way back in once you left so when I ran out of batteries for my camera I didn’t have any options. They did not have AAA batteries at either of the gifts stores. Secondly, food was really expensive but that is always expected at these events. Even so I have to say despite the expense and bad economy business was very brisk. I can’t say I ever remember seeing a food stand that did not have a line. I did pick up a candy crane for Narutaki who could not attend and I generally felt that the uniqueness and cuteness of it made it worth the reasonable price.

I feel Saturday was the day to go for friends. It was great picnic weather and I am sure that atmosphere and the crowd had a synergy that was contagious. Sunday was the day to go with loved ones. The slight chill and constant rain made being together with someone almost a necessity. If you were alone there was sort of a romantic, melancholy beauty to the rain falling with the cherry blossoms. But it could be as painful and it was inspiring. If you are student and admirer of Japanese culture beyond anime and manga the Sakura Matsuri is a must attend event.

An exhibition highlighting parts of Japanese popular culture is not to be overlooked. Though going in I didn’t really know what to expect or how much there would be to see. Just knowing that all these pieces that have influenced not only each other but popular culture in Japan and abroad makes quite an impression. This is going on til mid June so we figured if you haven’t seen it yet maybe you will after this!

I like anime, manga, and video games so this exhibit seemed right up my alley. I usually go into exhibits like these with guarded expectations. You never know when the person who put together the exhibit is an expert on the subject or someone who is catering to demand in the market. I was also a little worried because all three subjects are interconnected but very different. With an exhibit like this I want to get something out of it. I want to either learn something new or gain some greater insight about something I already knew about.

As you enter you see original manga pages, tankubons, and a variety of other things behind half bubble cases as well as laying flat in displays throughout the room. In the center of the first room is also a structure that houses many, many volumes of manga that you can go inside as if immersing yourself in the works. The layout and presentation of these first two rooms give a modern, hip look to the exhibit. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a wide variety of manga, it sets a great tone. Many of the pieces here were much lesser known, but all contributed something or atleast showed the range that manga can claim. Each one displayed a unique style punctuated by the very geometric New Engineering and the simplistic and sketchy Mu: For Sale.

Pure Trance – Junko Mizuno
New Engineering – Yuichi Yokoyama
Afro Samurai – Takashi Okazaki
Sakuran – Moyoco Anno
Tekkon Kinkurito – Taiyo Matsumoto
Stop!! Hibari-kun! – Hisashi Eguchi
Five Star Stories – Mamoru Nagano
Mu: For Sale – Hitoshi Odajima

This was without a doubt the best section of the exhibit. It was the most fleshed out and best put together. There was an excellent range of manga from very high conceptual and experiential art manga to bubblegum pop manga. I would have liked to see some pre-80′s manga in the mix but it still has a good range. The genres were shonen, shojo, and seinen. Also Moyoco Anno has a strong josei feel with Sakuran despite it being from Evening. They even throw in a mecha manga. You have to give them points for that. You don’t have to show every niche of manga to show that manga has so many different things to offer. The panels picked gave you a good sense of what each was about and why they were picked for the exhibit. The side plaques for the manga were also very well done and added additional insight. I really wish that they had just expanded this section three times as large and made it the whole exhibit.

As you leave the bright manga section you pass through a hall and into the darkly painted video game room that consists of four televisions, one in each corner, and a tabletop game of Pac-Man and Galaga in the center. Along the walls are plaques to give you a little info and some of the original packaging along with game systems (SNES and Game Cube). This is of course the most interactive section since you can play all the games being talked about. Though beyond that it is a rather sparse and incredibly incomplete look. Certainly The Wind Waker in the Zelda series was unique and innovative but there have been many interesting achievements since yet that was the most modern game there. I am not even sure what theme was and having a few more titles would have helped establish one.

Pac-Man
Galaga
Super Mario World
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

This is the beginning of the weaker parts of the exhibit. This seems thrown in because video games are more mainstream than anime and manga. They picked four very popular video games with no real rhyme or reason that I could see. There were so many better picks that could have been in the exhibit. They could have picked games that tied into the other two major sections. Atleast throw in an J-RPG like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, a fighting game like Street Fighter, and a non-hentai visual novel, or something from the Metal Gear series. They are very iconic to the concept of  Japanese video games and would have tied in better with the rest of exhibit. Still Galaga and Pac-Man are fun to play. That is something.

As you continue on, you walk in to six floor-to-ceiling screens, one after the other, showing specific scenes from the anime highlighted in the section. Behind them are small viewing booths for each of the films’ clips. All of the pieces have their place but it didn’t strike me. With the manga section boasting some very off the beaten path titles, the anime section is a bit of a let down. While I think casual fans may have overlooked original Macross or The Place Promised in Our Early Days, it is doubtful anyone else has. Also found it strange that they featured only one television series, and considering their choice Macross: Do You Remember Love? would probably have been a better representation.

Super Dimensional Fortress Macross
Akira
Patlabor 2:  The Movie
Mind Game
The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Paprika

I have a feeling they really wanted to put in Do You Remember Love? but it is currently in licensing limbo so they had to go with what they could get. Or at least that is my tin foil hat conspiracy theory. I myself would have liked either to see a mixture of TV shows and movies or a greater selection of movies. I was a little surprised they was no Hayao Miyazaki on display considering their other choices. Everything in the anime section was going for the high art approach aspect I guess. Mind Game was at least somewhat obscure but it was nothing compared to the range and power that the manga section had.

At the end of the anime section a small corner is dedicated to music. Or rather it is dedicated to Yoko Kanno. It is hard to believe that the music section only included one composer. There is also a disturbing plaque declaiming all other achievements in music in anime before Kanno came on the scene. While the other section after manga were slightly disappointing, this one was just a bad and insulting choice.

Yoko Kanno

It turns out that Yoko Kanno is the only anime composer worth talking about. All the other ones are hacks and failures. Seriously I love Yoko Kanno as much as the next person, but there are some other really good anime composers out there. It was also insulting to all the composers of the music for the movies they picked. We both agreed it would have been better for them to just remove the section rather than have such a limited offering. Also a Yoko Kanno anime playing, like Macross Plus, would have pulled the anime section together better than the Macross TV series.

It seemed like they wanted to do an exhibition for manga but decided to tack the rest on as a draw. The most thought went into the manga section not only seen by its choices of work but the way they were displayed and written about. That being said, I think the manga section is worth exploring for the price of $10. I learned quite a bit from it and even found some new titles and creators worth looking further into. And don’t forget to play some free Galaga before leaving!

That or they got someone who was a manga expert to do the manga section and then had them do the rest of the exhibit despite their limited knowledge of the rest. I would have tried to link all four section together had I been in charge. It would have been very easy to use manga as the anchor for the rest of the exhibit. I would have had all anime based on manga in the anime section, video games based on anime and manga, and music like image song albums and sound dramas along with the anime music. But I suppose it very easy to be an armchair exhibit creator. Despite my complaints it was a enjoyable exhibit for if nothing else the extremely well done manga section. Plus no matter what it is always nice to see more artistic exhibits about nerdy hobbies. I will always go support them. That is the only way you will see more of them.

I had heard somewhat of Takashi Murakami through his involvement with the superflat movement. Other than that he was sort of just a name that people threw around to me. Since Anime World Order mentions superflat every once in a while and it is mentioned in Internet discussions about anime and manga, I decided I might as well go as well and see what it was all about.

I would describe the superflat aesthetic with a few broad ideas. You usually see a lot of flat color, and bright color, along with little shadowing. You also often get a very definite line or hard edge. And of course superflat is influenced by cartoons and comics, especially calling upon the looks of anime and otaku culture.

Murakami is credited with creating this art movement. But it is not just the look that is creating. He challenges, just as many artist before him, the ideas of what fine art is. He tries to blur the line between commercial art and fine art. Murakami paints on large canvases, sculpts out of fiberglass but then turns around and designs bags for Louis Vuitton and gashapon figures.

He also uses fine art concepts in products that he sells as commercial art and visa versa. He sells and merchandises what would easily be considered high concept art pieces while giving all his commercial good distinct elements you would normally find in fine art pieces.

The exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum is really amazing and quite large. Everything from the carpet in the viewing room to the walls of the next are designed by him to lead you through his artwork and immerse the viewer in it. You are greeted with a fiberglass sculpture of a magical girl with the proverbial short skirt, long legs, and large chest (though not as large as a girl you see later on). You can then make your way through the rest of the exhibit of enter the viewing room which boasts bright characters on the wall before entering and a pile of poop on the ceiling.

He does have two very different styles of art in his collection. His 3-D models seem to reflect the cheesecake anime style where as his other pieces seem to echo the super cute mascot style ala Hello Kitty. He clearly has a grasp of the extremes in the otaku market. I’m not sure if it is because he has a fondness of otaku culture and blends it into his art or if it is meant to be satire and spark a critical analysis of otaku culture. Perhaps it is even both.

We watched all the videos he directed on display, one of which was a music video for Kanye West. I am not familiar with his music or his videos though he did do that one with Daft Punk that had lots of Akira influences. But with this is was a combinations of cute mixed with a steady rap beat, the contrast made it worth watching. Then we saw two episodes of Kaikai and Kiki which were very child-like and humorous. And then there was this odd preview of a live-action film where we basically watched a girl wash her hair which, as you might imagine, was insanely boring.

I found the Kaikai and Kiki episodes mostly child-like and humorous but one part of the second episode threw me for a loop. Most of the humor revolved around poop and fart jokes which are the staples of Japanese children humor mixed in with general story plots of a children’s anime. Then out of no where Kaikai has a flashback to how his mentor sacrificed himself during the great space war to save his life. That was extremely non sequitur. The live-action film was called Dharma and it is about a hit-man who encounters a man who looks exactly like him. The odd thing is they give you two screens of text describing this assassin and then the next five minutes we get two very brief flashes of a man who might be the assassin mixed in with the daily routine of some unmentioned girl. I did not get it but I guess that is why I was never a film major.

As we continued our journey we ran into a number of interesting pieces including a three-sequence sculpture of a girl transforming into a jet; a girl with enormous breasts shooting milk in deadly sharp spurts; and a guy who looked like he went super saiyan before ejaculating. All of his human-like sculptures have an element of sex to them, which is not really seen with most of his other work. It was hilarious to watch parents rushing their children by these works.

In contrast, I feel that all his non-human work seems to have an element of mortality to it. The mushrooms having the atomic bomb imagery tied to them and pieces like the one pictured above often having imagery of death and dying somewhere in them.

Some of my favorite pieces were his large, wall sized paintings done with acrylics and then sandblasted to create a great texture. They were mostly of his signature character DOB. These pieces had the most fine art like presence. It made them especially stand out when the opposite wall displayed something much more two-dimensional like the mushrooms or jellyfish eyes. His multi-panel mushroom painting was especially great to get close to and see all the tiny details. On display next to this were two process pieces to show you how he gets from concept to finish work.

I think my favorite pieces in the collection were the portraits of Bodhidharma with the titles that were Zen Koans. I felt their otherworldly nature reflected well on the subject. And the mixture of digital techniques to make classic style portraits was quite clever. Plus I think that I have an odd fondness for Zen Buddhism is general. I also thought that the little videos of the not quite human looking robot boy, Inochi, were rather amusing.

I also enjoyed seeing displays of the merchandise he has created, everything from notebooks to cell phone straps and beyond. You could even buy his Louis Vuitton bags in the middle of the exhibit if you were so inclined. There was also plenty of stuff to buy at the end, I picked up a couple of postcards (as I normally do when going to the museum) and a dinosaur plush key chain.

Well, since I accidentally left my wallet brimming with hundred dollar bills at home I decided to skip on picking up one of the Louis Vuitton bags. There was a good amount of Takashi Murakami merchandise as well as several books on superflat in general. And there were also several books by Patrick Macias and the ubiquitous How to Draw Manga books. For some reason I found the How to Draw Manga books quite amusing.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Sexy Voice and Robo
Reading D.Gray Man
Listening to AAA

Hisui (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Allison and Lilia
Reading Sexy Voice and Robo
Listening to a special version of Makka Na Chikai by Yoshiki Fukuyama

As far as I can tell for Kohaku and Narutaki this was a TM Revolution concert with a comic convention thrown in at no additional cost. The comic convention was fun for both of them but I have a feeling they would have paid the same price just to see TMR and been just as happy. I myself had fun at the convention but I don’t think I had anywhere the near orgasmic time that they had with the convention.

Okay, that too! But hey I still would have gone to comic-con regardless of TMR. It just so happens that he was there and I was super excited about it. But since you brought him up I will say that the concert was a lot of fun and a good length, 90 minutes. It also, surprisingly, started on time. There were a couple of girls from Japan in front of us and they knew all the dances. Me and Kohaku tried to follow along but I think we just ended up looking silly. Not to mention I have about -5% rhythm. He played all of his songs from various anime (since most of the audience probably knew him from those more than anything else). He didn’t however play my favorite song. We also went to his panel which was basically useless and annoying. He had his own interpreter and the guy never really said anything or asked any good questions. It mostly consisted of him saying, You guys love TMR, right? insert audience cheering. Same went for his event at Kinokuniya which was on Sunday. The did play the b-side from his upcoming single release which was exciting! Also me and Kohaku were a mere three feet from him and he waved! We rule.

Although I did not attend the Bandai panel they did announce some very interesting things. The first was they had the license to Gundam 00 and Gurren Lagann. I don’t think anyone was really surprised that Bandai is releasing Gundam 00. I think it has the potential to be the next Gundam Wing here in the states. It’s certainly not guaranteed but it is possible. Gurren Lagann on the other hand was out of left field. Nobody knew what has going to happen to Gurren Lagann after the whole ADV/Sojitz deal fell apart. I know there are a lot of people predicting even more doom and gloom for ADV now knowing that Bandai has stepped in and snatched away ADV’s guaranteed hit of the year. I’m not sure this is any more or less of a sign that ADV is on it’s way out but it is something worth watching.

Well, you know they had Gundam Seed on TV and no one cared. So I dunno. But I only care about getting my lovely Gundam 00 DVDs so I am a happy camper. I wonder if they will start coming out before the second half is done. I would really like them right now. RIGHT NOW. The whole Gurren Lagann fiasco kind of makes me chuckle. But really I would hate to see the death of another anime company in the near future. There have been few announcements and that just does not bode well. The bubble is bursting and quite frankly I’m not surprised.

Their second announcement is that Bandai hinted/practically said outright that is there is little to no chance of Gundam X and Turn A Gundam being licensed in the U.S. in the foreseeable future. It clearly shows that Bandai is being more conservative about its already somewhat cautious outlook towards Gundam in the states. I’m pretty sure that Bandai’s mishandling of certain Gundam series in the past has a lot to do with this. I’m looking right at the original Gundam and Zeta Gundam. I think it also shows even beyond Gundam that if you are an older series your chance are slim to none of getting licensed. More and more companies are realizing that the current market schemes are not working enough as it is. Old shows will not work at all with the current methods used in the U.S. The problem is this: they are basically giving up on older titles rather than trying to find better way to sell them.

That is not really an announcement, it’s more like a confession.

Viz announced that they will be releasing Vagabond in 3 volume omnibuses and that they will be releasing One Pound Gospel to usher in the first time release of the final fourth volume of the series. I’m sure that Narutaki is thrilled that he can finally start collecting Vagabond in a slightly cheaper format. I’m probably going to be a sucker and re-buy One Pound Gospel even though I have already bought the original three manga. Because if I don’t Rumiko Takahashi will surely starve to death, penniless, in the gutter.

It seems like every time I decide today is the day I will buy Vagabond the place I go will not have the first book. So as long as they can keep this in stock for more than ten minutes hopefully I can get myself a copy. I wonder how fans of Inu-Yasha like this series in comparisons, haha. I really like One Pound Gospel in fact, it was my first encounter with Rumiko’s work. I am down the middle about her series though.

Del Ray Manga said a lot but there were only two announcements that mattered to me. The first was the fact that Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei was licensed and the second was more details on Del Ray attempt at making a manga version of the X-Men. I mean I can’t not buy, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, the manga representation of my life if I were a Japanese school teacher. Despair. Despair. Despair. I am in Despair because it so accurately captures my essence.The manga versions of the X-Men just looked so silly that I’m curious how they turn out. I mean they had a version of Beast that looked very much like a certain Studio Ghibli character that rides a cat bus. Plus Kitty Pride is the main character. That makes me happy. Oh and they are going to have a separate Wolverine comic. Gosh I wonder why? Wolverine is such a minor and unpopular character. It would be like giving M.O.D.O.K. his own comic and we all know that would never happen.

Yen Press had two of the most shocking announcements of the convention. The first was Yen Press has the license for the Haruhi manga and light novel series. People have been asking for the light novels since the first episode of Haruhi popped up on fan-sub so theoretically this will make a lot of people very happy. The only thing that might make people a little wary is that Yen Press had to bring in the big guns and get Little Brown and Company to license it with them. While that means they will have a much better chance of a better translation, it could also mean that they will insist on making the story as Americanized as possible. Now I don’t think they change Haruhi and Kyon from Japan to Holly and Kyle from California but they might try and reduce the number of Japanese references as much as possible. I’m sure we can all image how the internet is going to light up if they change a reference to Ayumi Hamasaki to Britney Spears.

Yen Press fills me with love. They are nice to talk to and they happen to be picking up some really great work. I will take this moment to say I love Spiral! Two thumbs up. I am definitely curious to see how the Japanese-isms for go over in the Haruhi books. Although with the covers they have, people are going to be mistaking it for manga at first glance. I doubt it will end up anywhere else in the bookstore. Also Ayu is 1000% more talented that Britney Spears. So there. Yes Press also brought Judith Park, a manhwa creator, to the convention. They gave away the first book in her series they are releasing and you could jump right in line to get it signed. Which we did. It took a while a we read a bit of the manga before we got up to her. She was drawing pictures for everyone! What a treat! And on the last day of the con, as an added bonus, all the books at their book were just 5 bucks! Score.

The second shocking announcement was that Yen Press is starting their own manga anthology line much like Shonen Jump USA. I think it is definitely something to watch. It looks like it has enough going for it that it might succeed but enough against it that it could crash and burn with force of a thousand suns. The anthology will be called Yen Plus and it will contain a mixture of manga, manhwa, and American comics. All the manga in the magazine will come from Square Enix for the first two years. So it will be running Soul Eater and Nabari No Ou. Narutaki and I are both assuming that those titles maybe the two shows that get the most chatter on the fun-sub circuit this season. Also Higurashi, Bamboo Blade, and Sumomomo will be seen. I like Higurashi, heck I made it my anime of the month, but I’m not sure how much fandom it has outside of a cult following. From what I know of Bamboo Blade it seems generally cute but I can’t see it as being a huge seller. Sumomomo Momomo looks very silly but other than the general story and that it has an anime I don’t know much about it. As I mentioned in our first article Svetlana Chmakova is the only OEL artist I like so I guess she is the best pick for the OEL section. I had never heard of Maximum Ride before the Comic Con but it seems wildly popular. I know next to nothing about manhwa so I don’t know how good or popular Pig Bride or Jack Frost are.

While I like the ideas of anthology series, I don’t buy the ones that are out now and this one seems an even less likely buy for me personally. But it is a nice way of sampling a whole lot of things at once. There are so many other resources for helping me with my choices. Beside that, the manga has either already finished or is far ahead in Japan which seems to take away some of the point of the monthly anthology. And while I do steal Shonen Jump USA from Hisui’s brother to read Bleach I find it more of an annoyance than anything else. I would rather my manga be coming out faster.

I remember Dallas Middaugh mentioning that the only way he felt that a new manga anthology could succeed in the U.S. was for it to have a popular title on Television and I have to agree with him. I feel in order for this magazine to succeed they need to get either Soul Eater and/or Nabari No Ou on Cartoon Network. The Maximum Ride manga will help the magazine greatly but I think it needs both of these factors to be financially viable.

Yes, James Patterson is insanely popular. Personally, I can’t understand why. And although I have never Maximum Ride, I’ve actually talked to quite a few people that thought it was quite terrible along with its sequel. But he does sell well, though I don’t know if that is just adults buying is younger literature. I suspect a good portion are.

I’m not sure if I’m the only person who did not know about this but it seems that Dark Horse has picked up the rights to CLAMP’s Clover and is releasing all four books in one 20 dollar collection. I wonder if this means that Dark Horse is going to pick up all of the old CLAMP series that TokyoPop’s licenses have run out on. I also wonder if this means that Dark horse is interested in building more than just a seinen line or if they just realize that CLAMP is money in the bank. It might also just be part of the deal for that new manga CLAMP is writing for Dark Horse starting in 2009.

As far as the dealers room went there wasn’t a whole lot of anime and manga related stuff to speak of. TokyoPop had a great big set-up but the price of manga was the same. There were quite a few industry booths displaying figures but most of it was not for sale. However Square Enix had some very nice pieces for sale but the most enticing stuff was the preview for the coming year of their figures. Like the amazingly beautiful Leneth from Valkyrie Profile at a whooping 420 dollars!

Comic Con is one of those professionally run conventions where it would be more surprising if it did not run smoothly. It had a wide vareity of comics, anime, and video game related subjects. A nerd paradise. If nothing else I really enjoyed the Venture Brothers panel. The Venture Brothers panel is always livey and fun. The fact that I got to see a preview of season 3 was just icing on the cake. All in all I think we both had a great time.

Everything went fine for me. Though I did see the IGN theater was running behind thanks to those pesky technical difficulties. But really the whole experience was wonderful! I definitely think it fills me up with geek culture, rather than just anime. I saw Stan Lee. STAN LEE. So if you have hobbies outside of anime in the nerd realm it is a perfect catch all.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Kaiba
Reading Dragon Eye
Listening to Chihiro Onitsuka

Hisui (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Macross Frontier
Reading With the Light
Listening to DANZEN! Futari wa Precure by Mayumi Gojo

Top 5 things I did at Comic Con
5. Getting exclusive Marvel Civil War Minimates
4. Going to the Cup o Joe Panel
3. Getting my book signed by Shannon Hale
2. Going to the Stan Lee Panel
1. Seeing the T.M.R. concert

I wonder how many talks/events we will see after the first month. It would be cool to have something going on at the store at least once a month. Little events like that tend to be good for business. Maybe a certain pair of sexy and fashionable bloggers should look into doing some sort of panel lecture at Kinokuniya. Maybe we should as well. I’m not sure they would want non-professionals, but it might be worth looking into.

BTW – If you are ever in New York you should check out Book Off. It’s a used book store so its selection is rather random but it also means that its books are very cheap. You can stumble on some amazing finds if you are lucky. The only real downside is the fact that the temperature is always weird in that store and it sort of gives me a weird vibe. I don’t think anyone else has that problem though.

The store itself is very sleek and modern looking. The first floor has a small gallery space where the current exhibit is Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue, Hataraki Man by Moyoco Anno, and Silent Service by Kaiji Kawaguchi. I am hoping this will be a changing gallery, maybe every few months. They have really expanded their magazine section. There are significantly more music and manga magazines. Both of which I looked at with pure joy. I even saw a few photobooks in the music magazine section as well.

I found it interesting that the gallery was all seinen manga. Seinen much like josei is not very popular in America, but Kinokuniya is mainly a Japanese book store so I guess seinen would be more popular with the people who would shop at Kinokuniya. Either way, it’s nice to see a little visibility for some really good manga targeted at an older audience. Maybe I’m very naive but maybe some teens looking for Nate the Ninja might look into some more sophisticated manga due to this. It probably will never happen but I can dream can’t I?

Other than that the new store has a very modern look. I also like the wider selection of manga magazine collections. They greatly increased the number of seinen and josei magazines. I might pick up a few the next time I am there. I was lame and only picked up a copy of Jump Square but I was curious what titles where staring in it as it was the magazine’s first issue. Hey it has the newest chapter of Claymore and Nobuhiro Watsuki’s new manga, Embalming – Another Tale of Frankenstein. I’m thinking about getting Morning, Big Comic Spirits, or Young Animal the next time I go.

In fact, I don’t remember the old store carrying any seinen collections. I could be wrong but they definitely have a wider variety of ages at this store. Although I couldn’t find a copy of Afternoon, I’ll have to ask next time.

The second floor is almost exclusively manga, both in English and Japanese. Both have huge displays of the newest books out. I really like this, it has a nice impact and it’s easy to see when something is out that you might not have realized. There is a decent artbook section, too. I do feel like the shojo manga in Japanese shrank from the previous store but all the other sections seemed to have grown. By the way, if you hate going to a bookstore and feeling like the manga you are buying has already been used 10 times over, Kinokuniya is the place for you. They wrap all their English books (Japanese have always been wrapped) and unlike at Barnes and Noble people don’t ignore it. There is a help desk and a cafe as well.

There is definitely a nice selection of both English and Japanese books now. I’m curious why there is such a small Japanese shojo selection but I’m not really going to complain about it as it effects you and Kohaku more than me. I sometimes wish I could take a flip through some of the Japanese books, if for nothing else the covers can be misleading. Series that look horrifically sexual on the cover can sometimes be rather tame in reality and other times series that look safe can be horrifically graphic on the inside. But I guess that is the price you pay for getting to buy pristine books.

I will testify to that being the case. Some shojo manga you think looks really cutesy ends up being smut! And sometimes even the other way around, all the special art can really give you a wrong impression.

I wish I had taken a look at the cafe. It seemed interesting but I totally forgot to look until after we left. I’m curious what their selection was and how good their prices were. There was also a decent toy section on the second floor. It was no Toy Toyko but it had all the common toys you see at most comic shops.

The basement seemed to have all the travel books, kids books and art and book supplies. Narutaki found two cute little pencil boards that doubled as Hirigana and Katakana cheat sheets. There was also a good selection of learning Japanese books including two different learning Japanese with manga series.

The event space is on the second floor right next to the cafe. When there isn’t an event there are easily moved floor displays. It was nice having the windows to the street behind the guests. However, it was really a noisy area being next to the cafe and having people moving about so much.

Well, it seemed the cafe space also was used by people to sit in on the events as much as eat (sometimes both). I really did not notice the noise as much as you, but I tend to actively tune other people out as much as I can.

Del Rey had their usual crew along for the ride. I have met all of them at different conventions, minus one. They are all fairly knowledgeable, entertaining and very talkative. They had a person for each sect of the publishing process essentially, from acquisitions to editorial to translations to production to publicity. I had a fairly good idea of what the process was already but it was still interesting hearing them go through it.

There were at least four different people in the audience who seemed interested in creating some sort of Amerimanga. There was also that guy who was either writing for a financial magazine or was some sort of odd investor because he kept asking questions about the manga industry and how one might be able to profit off of manga. If nothing else we got some early proof materials from Kitchen Princess. That is unique if nothing else.

Brian Camp ran the second panel about overlooked or unknown anime that had been released at one time in America. He mention that he used to be a regular contributor to Animerica and has taught a class about anime at the School of Visual Arts. Although his book, Anime Classics ZETTAI!, was mostly about about anime easily available in the U.S. most of the anime he talked about on the panel was no longer in print in America or never available at all. He oddly enough did not talk much about his book and mostly talked about some rather obscure anime. Not the best salesman in that respect ( :) ) but he did talk about some interesting shows.

Brian Camp gave us a big helping of old and fairly unknown titles that have never made it to U.S. shores, with a few exceptions. But everything was hard to get and unavailable. Actually, I don’t believe the panel was supposed to be all about pimping his book but rather a showing and he just happened to write a book too. I always like adding bits and pieces of information so this was a great way to do that. Not only did I actually see part of shows that I had only heard of, I also saw two incredibly rare films in anime history: Anju to zushio-maru and Hakujaden.

I was impressed by the choices he made because they were not the standard collection of anime people use in the overlooked classics panels. In fact, I would say it was the overlooked classics of the overlooked classics panel. Star of The Giants and Attack No. 1 are both fairly well known animes in Japan but since they are sports anime (and old sports anime at that) almost nobody in America know them. I only knew about Panda and the Magic Serpent (Hakujaden) because of AWO. I never heard of Arion and it was definitely a unique anime due to it’s use of actual greek legends (as opposed to Saint Seiya) to tell its own story. The Little Mermaid was also a good example on how the anime adpatation was far different than the Disney version.

It was also being billed as cosplay day and anyone in costume got 10% off all their purchases. Despite that I did not see that many people cosplaying. I’m not sure if that made me happy or sad but it was definitely interesting. Maybe people did not want to dress as Nate the Ninja at a bookstore (not that it stopped everyone).

Overall, it was a fine little trip. Learned a bit and chatted with people in the industry. And we walked away with some free stuff from Del Rey and Viz, entered to win free airfare to Japan, signed up for a drawing to get a free ticket to NY Anime Festival, and bought a couple of phonebooks. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. Can’t wait for later in the month to see the mural painted on the second floor!

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Shion no Ou
Reading One Piece
Listening to Evangelion OSTs

Hisu (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Mushishi
Reading The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Listening to Daia no Hana by Yoriko

Top 5 old anime I would like to watch
1. Legend of the Galatic Heroes
2. Touch
3. Dororo
4. Ashita no Joe
5. Princess Knight