Tag: Vertical Inc.

May I suggest a Château Rieussec Sauternes 2001 with your Drops of God?

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Vertical Vednesday may be much less frequent but it is hardly dead and this week was a grand celebration worthy of Dionysus. To promote one of their more high-profile titles Vertical held a wine tasting at the Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit shop in Manhattan. The Drops of God is a moderately famous manga outside of the manga world for its ability to actually influence the international wine market when it talks about a vintage. It single handily created a great demand for wine in several Asian countries that had never been big wine drinkers beforehand. So Vertical decided to go all out with the first volume. They had the first volume on sale along with the new Vertical catalog with a Drops of God cover. Apparently the mixture of wine and manga is a good draw because the shop was quite crowded when I arrived and it only got busier by the time the event started in proper.

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Otakon 2011: Industry

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The presence of industry at events such as Otakon has been evolving and changing over the last couple of years. Instead of focusing on what is coming out now, which is still done, there is a shift to talking about streaming or the next big thing. This was driven home by Sunrise running their own panel this year. While there were no huge announcements from Otakon (which we’ve come to expect with Anime Expo and San Diego Comic Con in the same month), there was still much to talk about.

I have mostly decided to follows Patz’s philosophy and avoid going to industry panels unless I have a burning question that needs to be asked. With so many bloggers and news sources reporting and commentating on industry panels as they happen there is little need for me to show up. The nitty-gritty will be available for everyone to see as soon as it is announced. This lets me sit back and pick what I want to comment on. I like that approach.

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Genericon 2011

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My first Genericon was also my first college convention and by far the smallest con I have ever attended with a head count of 1351. We were also doing two new panels as well as being touted as featured panelists. And to top it all off many familiar faces were in attendance. All of these factors, plus some great people involved, ended up making it a worthwhile and memorable weekend.

hisuiconNow that I was a featured panelist and have made it to the big times I will try to remember all the little people who helped me get here because that makes it easier for me to make sure they cannot call me. But it all seriousness I was greatly honored to be invited as a featured panelist at Genericon this year. I think along with our fellows guests we were able to bring some amazing presentations to an already traditionally well run college convention. We got to see the Most Dangerous AWO Crew, the stealthy The Ninja Consultants, the professional animators from For Tax Reasons, the harried Evan Minto, and the luminary Ed Chavez. It was a great opportunity to reunite with some old friends from the anime community, sit down at some wonderful panels, eat some great meals, meet some new people, meet the young chap who won the Dirty Pair Box set, and have a great time.

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