AnimeNEXT 2016: Roanapur and New Jersey Now Have Yet Another Thing in Common

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hisui_icon_4040_round Now Roanapur and New Jersey will have their connection to  Rei Hiroe to add to the evidence that they are pretty much the same place.

I think we all know about the lack of dissemination of information in relation to debauchery while visiting the most populous city in the state of Nevada but there is no such prohibition in reporting on Atlantic City so I am going to be covering all that I can about AnimeNEXT 2016. Since Kate is still recovering from her three-week long trip to Japan I will be attending this convention solo like I did with Anime Fan Fest. Since this is AnimeNEXT’s first time in Atlantic City it is going to mean I am going to work a little harder when it comes to my coverage of the event. Hopefully I will be able to survive Monopoly City on my own.

It seems like the trip will be worth it with their line up of guests. As I mentioned at the top Rei Hiroe of Black Lagoon fame will be in attendance. It is always nice to see a high-profile mangaka guest at a convention especially if they have worked with Type-Moon. Of course that means I will have to ask him about that as well as the character he worked on for Fate/Grand Order.

Anime Next is also welcoming back Akitaro Daichi as well as several members of Studio Trigger. Since Akitaro Daichi is one of few Japanese guests who has a picture of me (or more precisely the Animation Runner Kuromi shirt I was wearing in 2005) I am very excited to see how he has changed since he was last in New Jersey. Studio Trigger has become a welcome part of the convention.  They really go all out for their American fans. I am curious to see what surprises they bring with them this year.

I don’t know too much about Megumi Kouno but I always appreciate being able to learn a little more about the over looked grunt work positions like key animator. While key animators are vital to the industry they can easily go overlooked in favor of some of the more glamorous parts of the industry.

Naoko Matsui is a fairly veteran voice actress who has been working since the 80s. Since she is Sonoko Suzuki in Detective Conan she pretty much has job security for life. I am curious about her Roux Louka in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ as well as Dorothy Catalonia in Gundam Wing. I also want to ask about her work as Ribbon in HappinessCharge PreCure! (even if we all REALLY want to ask about Miyuki Kobori who played Glasan.)

If there was anything at the convention to get Kate to go it was the ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D concert. Since she was them in 2014 I think she will be fine but I am excited to see them again.

If you’re attending AnimeNEXT this year come and say hello to me. Otherwise I hope you enjoy my write up of the next phase of AnimeNEXT!

I have panels! Attend them if you can!

Friday 03:45 PM – Anime Recruitment in Panel 304
Saturday 10:00 AM – Mecha Fight Club: Debates in Robots in Panel 318
Sunday 10:00 AM – Epic Grail Battles of History in Panel 301

My tentative schedule for the convention:

Friday
10:00 AM – A Snack on Titan : Snacking Etiquette for a Colossal Hunger
11:45 AM – It’s Showtime! A Tokyo Mew Mew Panel
01:15 PM – Anime Burger Time
03:45 PM – Anime Recruitment
05:30 PM – History of Magical Girls
06:45 PM – Elements of Style: Anime Openings Since 1963
08:00 PM – ROOKiEZ Concert
09:45 PM – “THE WORLD” of Jojo’s & Pop Culture
10:15 PM – History of Hentai Games in English

Saturday
10:00 AM – Mecha Fight Club: Debates in Robots
11: 15 AM – Q&A with Rei Hiroe (Black Lagoon)
01:00 PM – Rei Hiroe Autographs
02:30 PM – TRIGGER: Inferno Cop World Premiere
04:30 PM – Power Hour with Rei Hiroe (Black Lagoon)
06:00 PM – Studying Anime at University Level
07:15 PM – AnimeNEXT: 15 Years OF Convention
08:15 PM – Every Con Until You Like It: A Nasuverse Fan Panel
09:30 PM – The Fine Art of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
10:45 PM – The Touhou Retrospective: Your Guide To Gensokyo

Sunday
10:00 AM – Epic Grail Battles of History
11:15 AM – Space Patrol Luluco with Studio TRIGGER
01:15 PM – Let’s Dive: The History of Cyberpunk Anime
02: 30 PM – Fight Like a Girl! The power of the Magical Girl

Slayers Rewatch Podcast: Spell #05

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Lina Inverse: Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker, and Beautiful Sorceress. That’s right, we decided to revisit the classic 90’s fantasy comedy Slayers.

The show is a mixture of comedy and adventure that is both a parody and homage to the various worlds of fantasy and roleplaying. Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia are your stereotypical D&D adventuring party (albeit with a rather spell-casting heavy focus) killing monsters, hording treasure, fighting amongst themselves, and causing tremendous amounts of collateral damage which sometimes inadvertently save the world. And in the 90’s Megumi Hayashibara was the queen of anime voice actresses and one of her most iconic roles was Lina.

Back in the day not everyone liked Slayers but almost everyone had watched it and had an opinion about it. Now even with the two recent seasons in 2008 the series is distinctly seen as a product of the 90s.

We are recruiting adventures for our journey to discover if Slayers is still an enjoyable 90s romp or a cursed relic better buried in the stream of time. If you are a high enough level, you should rewatch Slayers with our party!

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Manga of the Month: Barakamon

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Barakamon (ばらかもん) by Satsuki Yoshino

narutaki_icon_4040_round There are a few rare occasions in which you will find me enjoying a, what could be termed, “slice of life” series. In Barakamon, the combination of comedy, small town life, and just a hint of forward progress for Handa makes the series absolutely endearing.

When young, master calligrapher Handa takes a swing at a critic, he is pushed off to the countryside by his manager until things blow over. While there Handa actually thinks about the critic’s words and begins to rediscover who he is as an artist.

This is all facilitated by Handa’s interactions with the many colorful people of the town chiefly elementary schooler Naru who is the first person to befriend “sensei” driving him crazy with her rambunctious antics. There are high schoolers and best friends Miwa and Tamako who are charming in their mildly malicious tricks. And semi-delinquent Hiroshi who probably comes closest to being a peer and friend to Handa. Plus, a whole array of other semi-recurrent eccentric folks for Handa to play off of.

Satsuki Yoshino does a great job of changing up the pace of each story. Sometimes is centers around a calligraphy project of Handa’s, sometimes is a problem one of the townspeople is having, sometimes unexpected visitors arrive, sometimes we learn a bit about the past, sometimes it is a lazy day, and so on and so forth. Whatever it may be the comedic timing always pulls it together.

At the same time, there is always an undercurrent of sentimentality only coming to the forefront in single passing moments. It is there just enough. This let’s Barakmaon feel like more than a situational comedy.

I always catch myself smiling about Barakamon long after I’ve finished a volume. Barakamon is a true delight.

~ kate