Month: June 2010

AnimeNEXT, You’re back on track!

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hisuiconSince AnimeNEXT moved to Garden State Exhibit Center we decided to skip. While we enjoy our time at AnimeNEXT without a good Japanese guest it was not worth the travel time and hotel cost now that the convention was not within a simple commute from New York City. But then two good things aligned to give us the push to go. First is the ability to stay with our good friend Evan of Ani-Gamers during the duration of the convention. The second is Kenji Kamiyama is a guest at the convention. His work on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East easily makes him someone worth traveling for. So we once again head to New Jersey as a pair of anime detectives. If anyone has any questions for any of the guests at the convention just drop us a line in the comments section or via email and I will do the best I can to get your questions answered and post them in the con report. Other than that if you see us hanging around feel free to say hello. We love to meet readers know what you think of the blog.

Ah, AnimeNEXT you heard my prayers, I didn’t want to abandon you! This small New Jersey con has always held sway over me but last year was a bit of a let down. However, with the nice guest line up this year things seems back on track. I’m looking forward most to Kenji Kamiyama (and he is really the #1 reason I have changed my mind about going) but I am also curious to see Stereopony. There is also a huge line up of panels this year, I don’t expect to be stuck with too much spare time! We will be in attendance all three days of the con, so if you can find us (good luck!) be sure to say howdy.

Friday
Big Bald Broadcast panel
How to Spot Bootleg Merchandise panel
Fandom & Criticism: Art of Active Viewing panel
Kimono: Alure, Fashion, and History panel
King of Fighters: Past to Present panel
History of Mecha panel
Anime/Manga Influence on the U.S. panel
The Science of Anime panel
Stereopony concert
Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors game
These Are A Few Of My Favorite Scenes panel

Saturday
Gundam: What Makes It Great panel
Stereopony Q&A
Anime Talk panel
Funimation industry panel
War Stories from the Conventions panel
Parapara Dance workshop
State of the Anime Industry and You panel
Legend of Galactic Heroes: Introduction panel
It Came from France!! panel
Kenji Kamiyama Q&A
The Changing Faces of Anime panel
Bad Anime, Bad!! panel
Random Anime Quiz Gameshow

Sunday
Otaku: Perceptions and Misconceptions panel
Care & Feeding of Japanese Art panel
Funimation Sneak Peek screening
Legend of Galactic Heroes: Movie with Fan Commentary panel
Psychology of Anime II panel
AnimeNEXT Feedback panel

The Speakeasy: A Reverse Thieves Podcast – Drink #006

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Anime 3000 presents: The Speakeasy

The Speakeasy is an ongoing conversation between the two of us about themes, trends, and concepts present in anime and manga and along side that sometimes there will be a critical analysis of fandom. If you were ever curious about our conversations that are the genesis of our posts then this will be utterly enlightening. If you never wondered about that, hopefully you will still enjoy the show!

Drink #006: The Black Russian and the White Russian, The Art of Adaption

A majority of the anime produced is based on a preexisting work. A good deal of shows are adapted from manga but there is also anime based on light novels, video games, literature, and even some more unusual sources. But not all anime is adapted equally. Assuming that the source being adapted is solid what makes a good anime adaption and where can adaptation go wrong? We will be talking about the different philosophies used in adapting manga and the strengths and weaknesses that comes with any strategy. We will also try and discover why the adapting an anime into a manga seems to fail so often.

(Listen) (Show Notes)

And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

BLACK RUSSIAN
5.0 cl Vodka
2.0 cl Coffee liqueur
Pour the ingredients into the old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. Stir gently.

WHITE RUSSIAN
5.0 cl Vodka
2.0 cl Coffee liqueur
3.0 cl Fresh cream
Pour coffee liqueur and vodka directly into old fashioned glass filled with ice. Float fresh cream on the top and stir in slowly.

IKKI: Online Manga Website, Sig Hansen, Sig Sauer, and now Sig Ikki

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Considering the favorable reaction to our review of the Bandai manga website we decide to tackle VIZ’s Signature brand web site IKKI. When I sat down to start work on the review it was if the Gods themselves were trying to tell me this was the correct course of action because a bombshell news announcement made this review 1,000 times more relevant: a coalition of Japanese and American manga publishers joined together to take legal action against 30 scanlation sites. The interesting side debate that came up is what are the manga publishers doing to fill a void that would be created when these sites are shut down. With this question on everyone’s lips I think it the the prefect time to examine what VIZ is doing with IKKI.

When VIZ started the IKKI website it was an experiment to see what they could do to join in the digital revolution. Now it a growing community that is still improving itself, finding new solutions, and hopefully becoming a destination for readers. The Signature brand isn’t that broadly known for VIZ, but it has gotten plenty of critical praise, so with this site the leap into trying to attract more of the main manga crowd has begun.

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