Category: Conventions

Otakon 2013: Let the 20th Anniversary Celebration Begin!

Leave a comment

(note: No Ongoing Investigations, Type-Moon Weekly News Round Up, or All Points Bulletin this week.)

20 Years of Otakon? As if it wasn’t exciting enough every year anyway! They’ve pulled out all the stops to bring as many guests as they could pack in. There are also a load of concerts, screenings, and events that aren’t to be missed.

As always, we’ll be covering as much as we can running around the convention center day and night. Do stop us to say hello though! And be sure to attend Alain’s panel on Saturday evening: Kill ’em All and Let Sunrise Sort ’em Out: A Yoshiyuki Tomino Panel.

Pre-Otakon Podcast

Our tentative panel schedule:

Friday:

10:00 – Maid Cafe Show
11:15 – We Con Therfore We Are: Fandom, Convergence, and a Critical Look at the Modern Otaku
11:30 – The Real Life of a Manga-ka: Behind The Scenes of Rurouni Kenshin Panel
01:45 – West to East: Anime Adapations of Western Literature Panel
01:45 – Outsider Anime Panel
03:00 – A Study of Heroines: Compassion and Courage in Revolutionary Girl Utena and Madoka Magica Panel
04:15 – Suwa, Tachikawa, & Anime Mirai Q&A
05:30 – Anime Industry: The Before Times Panel
06:45 – Anime Amazons Panel
08:00 – Mystery Anime Theater 3000 Screening
09:00 – Otaku Game Show
10:30 – Live Action Anime: An Examination Panel

Saturday:

09:30 – I Love the 80s: Anime Edition Panel
10:15 – By Fans, For Fans: 20 Years of Holding On For Dear Life Panel
12:00 – Kanbe Q&A
01:15 – How Being Asian Got Me in Trouble Panel
01:15 – Vertical Inc. Panel
02:30 – Maruyama & MAPPA Q&A
03:45 – The Ghibli Girls Tribute Panel
04:00 – T.M.Revolution and Home Made Kazoku Concert
04:45 – Anime Mythology: Giant Robots & Superheroes Panel
07:30 – 45 Years of Shonen Jump: A Visual History Panel
07:30 – The One Piece Podcast Panel
08:45 – Kill ’em All and Let Sunrise Sort ’em Out: A Yoshiyuki Tomino Panel [This is Alain’s panel]
10:30 – Manga Gamer Panel
11:15 – ANNCast Live Recording

Sunday:

10:00 – Panel to the West
11:15 – Ace Attorney All Stars Panel
01:00 – Yoko Kanno Concert
03:00 – Con Feedback Session

Crime Scene Investigations #005: AnimeNEXT 2013

12 Comments

This is a bonus segment of the Speakeasy Podcast we like to call Crime Scene Investigations. These are random bonus podcasts that we record live from various events. There is no regular schedule for these. We will put them up as quickly as we can when the opportunity for one occurs. We suspect they will mostly be from conventions but we might work in some interviews and conversation from NY events as fate allows.

The great Robeast that was AnimeNEXT 2013 could not be slain by a single podcasting mecha. It required the effort of an elite team of podcasters in combining lions to handle an event like this in the forsaken land of New Jersey. Evan and Ink from the Ani-Gamers podcast formed the legs. Vincenzo and Vince who were not only staff but also are part of the All Geeks Considered podcast formed the arms. And Xan from the Spiraken Manga Review formed the head. That makes me, Hisui, the Blazing Sword that let the team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

If you want my written impression of AnimeNEXT you can find the main article here. The other reports from our illustrious pilots as well as the full story of harassment as a cosplayer are linked in this post.

RSS Feed     –     iTunes Feed

Crime Scene Investigations #005: AnimeNEXT 2013

AnimeNEXT 2013: Guests

8 Comments

It is so nice to be able to have a whole section on guests for AnimeNEXT again. I missed being able to see people like Kenji Kamiyama or Harold Sakuishi and not have to go several states over and spend lots of money I don’t have. This year Sayo Yamamoto and Hiroshi Shimizu were a special treat. Sayo Yamamoto’s two major directorial credits are Michiko to Hatchin and Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine which are both extremely nice bullet points to have on your CV. She has also storyboarded some extremely visually inventive animation like both openings to Arakawa Under the Bridge and the Attack on Titan ending. Hiroshi Shimizu on the other hand has been a key animator on more anime than some fans have ever seen in their lives.

At the same time on the American front I am sure several people I know were super sad that they were not able to attend a convention where Mike Toole was a guest. Lets put it this way: As people are getting their panels rejected left and right for Otakon more often than a case of Near Beer at Oktoberfest it seems that Mike Toole had his panels auto-accepted as soon as they were submitted. I think that fairly well sums up his status as a respected commentator on anime.

Continue reading →