Month: July 2019

Pre-Otakon 2019: Hisui’s Solo Adventure!

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(note: No Type-Moon Weekly News Round Up this week)

hisui_icon_4040_round I’m not going to lie to you. Doing Otakon coverage without Kate is a little bit frightening. Otakon is always just such a beast of a convention. Truth be told no one could ever cover it all and even when there were two of us there were always parts of the convention we wanted to see that slipped through the cracks. I have covered AnimeNEXT and other conventions without her but Otakon is always a triathlon compared to simple marathon of covering other conventions.  I will do my best and see what happens.

DOWNLOAD THE PRE-OTAKON PODCAST

Be sure to attend Our Panels!

New Anime for Older Fans
Saturday, 10:15 AM, Panel 6 (Room 152A)

Star-Crossed Alien Lovers…in Robots!
SUNDAY, 12:45 PM, Panel 5 (Room 151B)

My tentative schedule for the convention:

Friday
09:00 AM Urusei Yatsura: 40+ Years, Datcha!
10:15 AM Abrakadabra! Magic Systems in Anime
11:30 AM Shojo Manga’s Lost Generation
12:45 PM Comparing US and Japanese Comics with Hiroshi Nagahama
02:00 PM Mix! panel with Kikuko Inoue and Michihiko Suwa
03:15 PM DENPA Manga Licensing Panel
04:30 PM Kyogoku’s Guide to Directing and Animating Anime from Tokyo Ghoul to Yuru Camp with a side of Kuroko no Basket
05:45 PM Live Drawing with Studio Trigger
07:00 PM Planes, Trains, and Battleships: A Look at the Leijiverse 
09:30 PM Aren’t You a Little Old for This? – Fandom and Functional Adulthood

Saturday
09:00 The Women Who Write Shounen and Seinen Manga 
10:15 AM New Anime for Older Fans
11:30 AM Otaquest panel feat TAKU
12:45 PM Mecha as Modern Mythology: The New Hero’s Journey 
02:00 PM “That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime” Staff Panel
02:15 PM IOEA presents What’s Comiket
04:30 PM Fact & Fiction: The Real Events That Have Inspired Our Favorite Anime
05:45 PM Magical Girls Transforming Through the Ages
07:00 PM Genshiken and Beyond: The Works of Kio Shimoku
08:15 PM Fake Fashion and Vintage Vandalism: A Designer Tour Through the Fashion of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
09:30 PM WHY Marnie Was There: Turning Brit Lit into Anime 

Sunday
09:00 AM Fate/Stay Night and Type Moon: A World of Magic and Mystery
10:45 AM Animation in Anime
11:30 AM The History of Japanese Animation as created by Masao Maruyama Part 2
12:45 PM Star-Crossed Alien Lovers…in Robots!
02:00 PM Twenty Years Ago: Anime in 1999
03:00 PM Closing Ceremonies
04:00 PM Con Feedback Session

Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup: King of the Beach

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This Saturday post is the weekly Type-Moon news in addition to the regular APB post on Sunday. If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on the Type-Moon Weekly News Roundup drop me a line via email or Twitter.

Sound! Euphonium The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day aka A Reading by John Moschitta Jr.

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hisui_icon_4040_round Sound! Euphonium has been an interesting ride as a series. The first season seemed like it could go either way but turned out fairly strong with some really strong character moments with a nice mix of drama and comedy. Kumiko and Reina’s growth is compelling and heartwarming and the supporting cast rarely overstays their welcome. Sapphire and Hazuki are particularity adorable supporting characters. There are some flaws but overall it was compelling.

The second season was a bit more of a mixed bag. When they focused on the characters from the first season everything went along swimmingly. Digging into fan-favorite characters like Asuka Tanaka provided some greater depth to the cast. When the story centered around Mizore and Nozomi everything seemed to be moving through molasses with Kumiko mostly being an observer until the end. If anything the main problem seemed to be when the series got hung up on minor characters it always dragged things down. Overall the main story-line triumphed even if the more tedious parts made it weaker than the first season. The second season ended at a place would easily have concluded the series but also left it open for more adventures.

The thing about the Mizore and Nozomi is it almost felt like a back door pilot for a series about them. Considering that the Liz and the Blue Bird movie is all about them it might have been an attempt at creating a side series. I did not watch that movie but considering it is a companion piece to the main movie I will probably seek it out if and when it comes to home video. In retrospect, considering how much I felt that their arc dragged in the TV series it might have , been a better medium to have their story in a more compact form like a movie. I guess they just burned me enough that I did not even think about that.

So now with the Liz and the Blue Bird parts are taken out of the story of Kumiko and Reina adventures I was curious to see how well Kyoto Animation could fit a new year of the saga of the Kitauji High School Concert Band Club into a single movie.

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