Yeah, I know, I was supposed to get to this ages hours ago. Don’t ask. It’s a long story that involves a priest, a rabbi, a mongoose, a bar, and a very, very bad pun.

Oh, and lest you fear that I’m devolving into all-round-up-all-the-time, it’s just a sad combination of recent news being on the smaller scale, a step up in my work on my Secret Project (news is forthcoming…I hope), and an array of “holy shit I have a real life sometimes” nonsense, like my DMV trip earlier. So don’t worry!

Anime:
- Nozomi Entertainment issued a press release announcing that the first episode of Victorian Romance Emma– which is a sub-only offering –will be on the DVD that accompanies the June issue of Otaku USA. It’s a fantastic show, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a heart that is not frozen over with black ice.

Manga:
- New York-Tokyo.com (now THAT is a niche) has an article about a new exhibit coming to Kinokuniya in New York City: Gegege no Kitarou creator Shigeru Mizuki’s woodblock carvings. And by that I mean, it’s an ukiyo-e story called “Fifty-Three Stations of the Yokaido Road” (a pun on the Fifty-Three Stations of the Toukaidou, which was the main road through Japan in the feudal era, and the word “youkai,” or demon). The story features the youkai characters of Kitarou and it sounds really awesome. Figures it appears after I leave the city.
- In a very weird twist: ANN reports that a 43-year-old has been barred from a manga club meeting at a library in South Carolina; meanwhile, a 43-year-old librarian (and 2channeler) has been arrested in Japan for posting bomb threats. Shitty time for 43-year-olds, eh?
- Manga Xanadu has a nice article with suggestions for manga companies on the best ways to make use of the ol’ intarnubs Internet.
- Speaking of websites, VIZ has redesigned their online store and comments on UNIQLO’s partnership with VIZ co-parent Shogakukan.

Cons:
- Blah blah blah, Naruto CCG tourney at Anime Expo, etc.

Image © mehan, who I hope won’t sue me for borrowing it.

Misc:
- If you haven’t had enough of San Francisco’s Manga Cafe Mika, Jason “gotta-read-’em-all!” Thompson has another preview.
- IKIMASHOU LIVES! Sorta. Former owner Randall lives, anyway. If you’re looking to run an anime/figure/game/anything-Japan-related blog and need a host, his site dasaku.net offers just that– now with 100% more application.
- Wired has a brief article up about the new Mandarake store in Akiba.
- Over Kuriosity, we have a nice editorial on why the manga industry hasn’t been hit as hard by piracy as the anime industry.
- Hey, did you know that the World Cosplay Summit is going to go into the finals tomorrow? No, really! Y’know, the WCS doesn’t really get the word out enough, since I always sort of forget about it until something pops up on their blog or a google alert. Maybe a couple of judicious press releases and official footage on YouTube (or better yet, some kind of live webcast) would do well? Or maybe it’s just me.
- Canned Dogs has some tidbits, including an update on Colonel Sanders-tan: apparently KFC made the Akiba location remove the maid outfit. LOSE!
- Last but not least, we’re #4! We’re #4! …in instant ramen consumption.

Posted by gia in Features, Roundups • Comments (1)

Heavens to betsy, lookit all that news!

TV Anime:
- ANN has confirmed that Bandai Visual (that’s the Japanese one) is going to be releasing some of its titles globally on Blu-Ray, i.e. with subtitles in English and other languages.
- Meanwhile, Slayers REVOLUTION just looks better and better: Megumi Hayashibara has announced on her official site that she’ll be singing both the OP and ED themes.

Manga:
- ICv2 has released its Anime/Manga Guide, and Naruto remained the top property while anime sales continue to decline (although box sets seem to be doing well).
- An absolute must-read: Christopher Butcher goes way in-depth with VIZ’s original content line.
- God help us all, the 48-person girl group AKB48 is getting its own manga.
- A mysteriously unnamed set of “anime artists” (I can only assume they actually draw manga?) took part in a breast cancer fundraiser.

Movies/OVAs:
- An official trailer for Mamoru Oshii’s Sky Crawlers is up at the official website. Score!

Music:
- Anime on DVD has a press release from Jpop group Budo Grape, with two Texas appearances (including A-kon) and one in New York City.

Toys/Swag:
- Kotobukiya is a Japanese company, and Batman is getting made into an anime, so I can call this anime-ish news, right? ‘Cause it’s absolutely badass.
- In other toy news, Japan is working on a line of eco-friendly toys.

Misc:
- I finally have a good reason to hunt down a copy of Otaku USA– Japanator’s Zac Bentz is in the new issue.
- If my preview of Manga Cafe Mika wasn’t enough for you, here’s Deb Aoki’s coverage of the grand opening over at manga.about.com.

Weehaw!

Posted by gia in Features, Roundups • Comments (5)

Hey, remember a couple of days ago when I posted about a new manga cafe opening up in San Francisco, and how sad I was that it was opening the day after I leave the bay area?

Well, I got in touch with Bruce Nakahira, who is one of the people in charge of the cafe (along with his nephew, who’ll be taking care of the manga acquisitions), and managed to arrange myself (and you!) a little sneak preview. Since I’m hitting the road back to Portland (12…hour…drive…) today, I figured this might tide you over.

Now, be forewarned: the place wasn’t fully open yet, so there was still a lot of work being done in the location while I was there. I’ll start off with a little video to give you a sense of how much manga there is (over 23,000 books, I’m told):

The vast majority of the manga is in Japanese, but they have a small selection of English manga that they hope to expand. They haven’t yet firmed up their price, but it will probably be $5-6 an hour for all-you-can-read manga. There are computer stations (below) being set up as well, so you can research up what titles you want to read. They also hope to eventually expand into DVDs and CDs, and apparently the aforementioned nephew is related to a voice actress and has many connections there, so they may be able to bring in seiyuu for events and things like that.

The location is fantastic. It’s in the Kintetsu mall (home of a video shop I’ve been a customer at for ten years and running and STILL don’t know the name of– which has some awesome Haruhi Suzumiya bags at the moment, by the way), right across from the “Belly Good” crepe stand and May’s coffee shop, if you know the mall well. The Kintetsu mall is right across from the Kinokuniya building and it also has plenty of parking for those of us crazy enough to drive in that city.

The cafe also plans to be active in the local manga community; in addition to making connections with Japanese publishers they’ve also been talking to VIZ (who has a pretty high investment in Jpop culture in Japantown; demolition has just started on the building that will be the Jpop movie theater that VIZ is a partner in). They also plan to do something at the upcoming Fanime Con in May.

As of this moment they’re not entirely sure what direction the cafe will eventually take, particularly because similar attempts in other cities have failed. They’re depending on the customer feedback to dictate that. They ARE aware of how bad their website is though; Bruce told me they’re looking for a bilingual (English and Japanese, natch) employee who can man the shop and who also has web design skills. So if that sounds like you, let me know and I’ll get you in touch with them! (Or just go visit when they open tomorrow.)

All in all it sounds like it’ll be really excellent and I wish I could be here for the grand opening. Since I can’t, I’ll be sure to visit them when I’m back in town in May! And if you live in or visit the area, you should definitely check the place out (as part of a larger Japantown tour, I’m sure). ♥

Posted by gia in Features • Comments (5)