tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54748393354919679812024-03-21T03:50:48.821-07:00Otaku TokyoManga, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, Toys, Idols & MoreUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-19054773321346694272022-01-24T01:02:00.001-08:002022-01-24T01:05:35.243-08:00Otaku Tokyo is dead...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiij8GLgSEX42bvYSmH6W6YFTAHWdUyIqCo7NODMUoinU4P0QRpqyN5AxATqg3Ny45TgoDIfCA-8gVkt7y1buiD4TypzHCSit2omSkGIrV5Qxb4GTVmDDXda7TsIX2ePi5bQdFw4Ev9BQEPp68Jz0VbFg8kYPdNQxAzPTLT0YMesci-kh70f6PfaMOCCQ=s2573" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2573" data-original-width="1765" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiij8GLgSEX42bvYSmH6W6YFTAHWdUyIqCo7NODMUoinU4P0QRpqyN5AxATqg3Ny45TgoDIfCA-8gVkt7y1buiD4TypzHCSit2omSkGIrV5Qxb4GTVmDDXda7TsIX2ePi5bQdFw4Ev9BQEPp68Jz0VbFg8kYPdNQxAzPTLT0YMesci-kh70f6PfaMOCCQ=w439-h640" width="439" /></a></div><p> ... And promptly resurrected. </p><p>I will continue posting news, stories, interviews and otaku-related travel information about manga, anime, games, toys, cosplay, idols, etc. in my new newsletter, Tokyo Calling. </p><p>Please check it out and subscribe. </p><p><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/s/otaku-tokyo">Tokyo Calling | Gianni Simone | Substack</a></p><p>This link takes you directly to the otaku section of my newsletter. But of course, you can click on the banner or one of the links on the right hand of the screen and read other non-otaku-related stories about culture, travel, and all things Japanese, of course. </p><p>See you there!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-66912883683770051942021-12-14T15:49:00.000-08:002021-12-14T15:49:33.138-08:00Tough time for Shonen Jump<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4U7rVMRrBGOO5KxZnTXwaOyGUM7OhqhW8I89odC-2Pv18yrd7QoPUJfMZM9LWTTrd9Q_kqNvq9l0gebmOZ43WKwuj7d42g1sdQD9fvvr7iKEkcQy-43ka79nThS6FkwYQG1vY9zjMvlqMWQ7sflkZ3K65t4GnoqXRKs5CqKrMDDUw5rvLC-GDdsykLw=s1536" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1536" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4U7rVMRrBGOO5KxZnTXwaOyGUM7OhqhW8I89odC-2Pv18yrd7QoPUJfMZM9LWTTrd9Q_kqNvq9l0gebmOZ43WKwuj7d42g1sdQD9fvvr7iKEkcQy-43ka79nThS6FkwYQG1vY9zjMvlqMWQ7sflkZ3K65t4GnoqXRKs5CqKrMDDUw5rvLC-GDdsykLw=w494-h357" width="494" /></a></div><br /> <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Weekly Shonen Jump </i><span style="color: #6b717e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">has spent the better half of the past decade facing gradually decreasing circulation numbers, and that trend continues with the latest update. According to the Japan Magazine Publishers Association (JMPA), the magazine’s print circulation dropped below 1.4 million between July and September 2021.</span><p></p><p><span style="color: #6b717e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><b>These are still staggering numbers that Western comic magazines can only dream about, but in the Japanese competitive manga market they are cause for alarm. </b></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The full circulation total for that period came to 1,371,818 copies. This is in stark contrast to the numbers from the January-March period of 2014, which had the magazine at 2,715,834 copies. It first dipped below two million in 2017 and has continued to decline at a steady pace since.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At its height in 1994, <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Weekly Shonen Jump </i>had a print circulation count of 6.53 million copies.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">***** </span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAfOmN8Ya6xxLfVHVuzGlqOKNeYZQdr9jEtyTDlpPHxpC2w8SYKbCfD5Sqgnt8kUuxuFjG9XmxIInsEwK7YGH_1Sy2atzWjdr8WO0A7kJO__oMPaKt7ZPnqSyuM49qLWPk26wIe8zxBiHTszop9_9i9eglq3707tNo9v_52BsOzwgkYx1hXveeliW-IA=s2560" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1937" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAfOmN8Ya6xxLfVHVuzGlqOKNeYZQdr9jEtyTDlpPHxpC2w8SYKbCfD5Sqgnt8kUuxuFjG9XmxIInsEwK7YGH_1Sy2atzWjdr8WO0A7kJO__oMPaKt7ZPnqSyuM49qLWPk26wIe8zxBiHTszop9_9i9eglq3707tNo9v_52BsOzwgkYx1hXveeliW-IA=w303-h400" width="303" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p>In other news, for those who haven't noticed, my second guidebook,</span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: red;"> Otaku Japan</span></b></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, is out! </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Gianni-Simone/dp/4805315148/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2OIGLKXTBQ9GH&keywords=otaku+japan&qid=1639525318&sprefix=otaku+japan%2Caps%2C252&sr=8-1" style="color: #6b717e;">Amazon.co.jp: Otaku Japan: The Fascinating World of Japanese Manga, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, Toys and More! : Gianni Simone, ジャンニ・シモーネ: Japanese Books</a><p></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">***** </span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Last but not least, I have launched a brand-new newsletter, <b><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/">Tokyo Calling</a></b>, which covers books, films, music, and of course <u>all things Japanese</u>. </p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Please check it out and if you like it, share it widely and SUBSCRIBE. It's free!</p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/">Tokyo Calling | Gianni Simone | Substack</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-60761665723044448532021-07-24T06:15:00.001-07:002021-07-24T06:15:33.427-07:00The joy of collecting retro games<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgee7HyVy1VKEOIQzORZ4XpOubDJs0bzmXZQa2G2zDO4x8Co6vHLp77WLztT4mcJp3CGKj5BcuhZrYsT6txS5C7V3zAw5jRVfZSviXnjgMWLdu-qoF_xTIJZS2nN9PTB7_72YyA0kof9EB4/s640/Famicon+collector+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgee7HyVy1VKEOIQzORZ4XpOubDJs0bzmXZQa2G2zDO4x8Co6vHLp77WLztT4mcJp3CGKj5BcuhZrYsT6txS5C7V3zAw5jRVfZSviXnjgMWLdu-qoF_xTIJZS2nN9PTB7_72YyA0kof9EB4/w400-h300/Famicon+collector+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Japan, and Tokyo in particular, are veritable meccas for retro game lovers. </span></span></p><p style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">One of these dedicated game collectors has managed to buy every </span><span style="background-color: white;">single cartridge that was commercially released for the Nintendo Famicom, known abroad as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). </span></span></p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="background-color: #e81a00; color: #222222; display: flex; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; width: 550px;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1416650529850085377" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=NatsuKazeOtoko&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1416650529850085377&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsoranews24.com%2F2021%2F07%2F22%2Fjapanese-retro-gamer-completes-collection-of-every-nintendo-famicom-cartridge-ever-released%25e3%2580%2590pics%25e3%2580%2591%2F&partner=jetpack&sessionId=e91a22745d362f125aef5df66be790d6f259ec1f&siteUserId=259572063&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px" style="display: block; flex-grow: 1; height: 552px; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">As reported in<a href="https://soranews24.com/2021/07/22/japanese-retro-gamer-completes-collection-of-every-nintendo-famicom-cartridge-ever-released%e3%80%90pics%e3%80%91/"> SoraNews24</a>, Japanese Twitter user</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/corner_mask" style="color: #333399; font-size: 15.08px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;">@corner_mask</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">says it</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15.08px;">took him close to 10 years</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">to put together the complete set, which amounts to a whopping </span><span style="font-size: 15.08px;">1,053 games</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">. Making the whole thing more impressive is that</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15.08px;">every single one of those games also has its original box and instruction manual</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">. That’s no small feat, considering that the Famicom catalog goes back all the way to 1983, meaning that a lot of those paper artifacts were destroyed during the period when most gamers were fairly young kids who didn’t always handle their toys very delicately.</span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdnej0jNoByu73Bo2_5UVqEfe69s9b60LcoZ9-8xBcHhzgQetwoatS6Wh5Is_cGq6PhtBkzoNIVHVQn55dGIkx1hsv17SG8xgpN0jdpAtOyLIjpO7ZXu6Fj6Sej9-cbtuvxJ8xaH91vXh/s640/Famicon+collector+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="640" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdnej0jNoByu73Bo2_5UVqEfe69s9b60LcoZ9-8xBcHhzgQetwoatS6Wh5Is_cGq6PhtBkzoNIVHVQn55dGIkx1hsv17SG8xgpN0jdpAtOyLIjpO7ZXu6Fj6Sej9-cbtuvxJ8xaH91vXh/w400-h355/Famicon+collector+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">Taking a look at the shelves, you can see there was a surprising amount of variety in package dimensions for Famicom games, some of which came in fairly form-fitting boxes while others are thicker, almost looking like stout reference books. You’ll also spot a number of</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15.08px;">peripherals such as the Family Trainer running pad, Robot/R.O.B., Famicom karaoke add-on, and Exciting Boxing</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.08px;">, a game from Konami with an inflatable punching dummy that you wail on while playing.</span><p></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu6Hj-84gLVbp6qPrFSv8PlaXRyoNUFbWnwt02q3Pfzi_2jYjuHBdN5QcG8VJt-zdTfXKTOxK-XgowQ2gIEkYCcimRL8aeiyUAxYz2ZnPVqcnRblmezv6K4zLOV9fXHtHG68I5HyyVRho/s852/Famicon+collector+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu6Hj-84gLVbp6qPrFSv8PlaXRyoNUFbWnwt02q3Pfzi_2jYjuHBdN5QcG8VJt-zdTfXKTOxK-XgowQ2gIEkYCcimRL8aeiyUAxYz2ZnPVqcnRblmezv6K4zLOV9fXHtHG68I5HyyVRho/w480-h640/Famicon+collector+3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">@corner_mask says that the most he paid for any of those games is about 200,000 yen (US$1,820) for Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament, a title that works with Bandai’s Datach peripheral, and that<b> </b>the total cost of all his Famicom games came out to roughly three million yen (US$27,270).</span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">So what’s next for @corner_mask? He says he plans to track down copies of the <i>ginbako (</i>silver box) Famicom games, i.e. titles that were re-released in silver boxes. He also wants to put together a complete set of Famicom Disk System games. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">******************************************************************************************** </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">In other news,<a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/2021/07/ive-always-said-you-should-stay-away.html"> Sega has been sued for rigging a crane game</a>, and <a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/2021/07/hosoda-mamoru-doesnt-like-way-women-are.html">anime director Hosoda Mamoru does not like the way women are portrayed by Japanese animators</a>. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">******************************************************************************************</span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Wait, there's more!</span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 15.08px; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Check out my second <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4805315148/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0">otaku guide</a> and, if you are interested in non-otaku stories about Japan, my brand-new Substack newsletter, <a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/">Tokyo Calling</a>. </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-7818164409415001102021-07-21T18:10:00.006-07:002021-07-21T18:15:28.162-07:00Stay away from these arcade games<p> </p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="arcade game" class="size-full wp-image-283845 aligncenter" height="715" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/key-master.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/key-master.jpg 1262w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/key-master-300x170.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/key-master-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/key-master-768x435.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1262" /></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">I've always said you should stay away from crane games. </span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">In my first book, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Gianni-Simone/e/B073W3JVQC/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1"><b><span style="color: red;">Tokyo Geek's Guide</span></b></a><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, I wrote the following regarding game centers (i.e. game arcades):</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The first
floor is crammed with UFO Catchers (crane and claw games), a couple of Taiko no
Tatsujin (Drum Master) (a particularly popular game that attracts players of
any age and sex) and a few kid’s games such as card-based games. These cabinets
are strategically placed near the entrance because they are more likely to
attract casual passersby, young couples and families. Originally UFO Catcher
was the name of a prize game that arcade industry giant Sega created in 1985
and derives its name from its UFO-shaped claw. It has proved so successful over
the years that even today all crane games (including those made by other
companies) are called like this. Anyway whatever the type, you’ll better avoid
them like the plague because they are nothing but coin suckers. Though
deceptively easy, your chances to get one of those cute stuffed toys (unless
you are blessed with beginner’s luck) are close to naught. It’s not by chance
that revenues from UFO Catchers can be as much as 40 percent of all game
revenues at arcades in Japan. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Now, it seems that one of SEGA’s games is rigged and it has caused the company to be hit with a $5 million lawsuit.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">The game in question is called </span><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Key Master</b></i><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, and the lawsuit accuses the game of intentionally preventing players from winning any prizes. The hook of this one involves a key-shaped arm that players can guide into a keyhole to net a prize, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. An undisclosed plaintiff claims the game is set up so players will automatically lose a certain number of times before they can win.</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Since <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Key Master </i>is advertised as a game of skill rather than a game of luck, the plaintiff is accusing SEGA of deception.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Key Master </i>instruction manual goes into detail regarding how it works. A Compulsory Upper Deviation function ensures that the machine will move between 0.4 and 3.6 millimeters so it won’t fit until it’s ready to, regardless of the skill of the user. The default goes up to 700 failed attempts before unlocking a prize.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">*****</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">In other news, here's an interesting piece about </span><b><a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/2021/07/hosoda-mamoru-doesnt-like-way-women-are.html"><span style="color: red;">Hosoda Mamoru</span></a></b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, one of Japan's best anime creators.</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Also, </span></span></span><span><span class="s1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: times; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have launched yet another online project on Substack, </span><span class="s1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: red; font-family: times; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Tokyo Calling</a></b></span><span class="s1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: times; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks! </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-1144720931406625512021-07-19T15:06:00.002-07:002021-07-19T15:06:37.429-07:00Hosoda Mamoru doesn't like the way women are portrayed in anime<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IYi5YDSwaqsj4QgITPMBU9D7EGkYGa1QxjoMyLOv_or0wXQd6Emfde5dar4BEa3Nn-VZxkC0Jd_1FzNZm1b4Gt0h_DpBRkIrVGlkGkX09pJsPvhjNDRxxEPLY_6yLDrMNLb5kBwWWoa2/s3648/DSC03907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IYi5YDSwaqsj4QgITPMBU9D7EGkYGa1QxjoMyLOv_or0wXQd6Emfde5dar4BEa3Nn-VZxkC0Jd_1FzNZm1b4Gt0h_DpBRkIrVGlkGkX09pJsPvhjNDRxxEPLY_6yLDrMNLb5kBwWWoa2/w480-h640/DSC03907.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><i>A very interesting <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210715-hosoda-japanese-anime-has-problem-with-women-and-girls">piece </a>about anime director Hosoda Mamoru whose latest film, </i>Belle<i>, has just screened at the Cannes Film Festival. </i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Mamoru Hosoda has bones to pick with both Steven Spielberg and Hayao Miyazaki, the other great Japanese animator to whom he is often compared.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hosoda -- whose brilliantly humane "Mirai" got an Oscar nod three years ago -- has had enough of the way Hollywood treats the digital world and Miyazaki depicts women.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The dystopian tropes about the net that run through so many movies, including Spielberg's "Ready Player One", are not doing anyone any favours, particularly women, Hosoda told AFP at the Cannes film festival, where his latest feature "Belle" is premiering.</span></p><div class="tms-ad" data-tms-ad-provider="teads" data-tms-ad-status="idle" data-tms-ad-type="inread" id="tms-ad-inread-5049202823220063" style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 530px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;"><div class="teads" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Father of a young girl himself, the Japanese master wants to empower her generation to take control of their digital destinies rather than cower in fear.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"They have grown up with the net... yet are constantly told how malevolent and dangerous it is," he said.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"Belle" is his riposte, a spectacular dive into the rollercoaster emotional life of a shy adolescent girl called Suzu, in a 21st century take on "Beauty and the Beast".</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">- Digital diva -</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">To her surprise, and everyone else's, Suzu becomes a pop diva called Belle in the virtual universe of an app called U.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Rather than being burned by online abuse and harassment as she acquires billions of followers, Suzu uses her online avatar to overcome the haters and her own hang-ups.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"Human relations can be complex and extremely painful for young people. I wanted to show that this virtual world, which can be hard and horrible, can also be positive," said Hosoda.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Suzu and her computer geek friend are far from the women that usually populate Japanese anime -- which is where Hosoda takes issue with Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning legend behind classics such as "Spirited Away".</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"You only have to watch Japanese animation to see how young women are underestimated and not taken seriously in Japanese society," he said.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The director -- whose films are more grounded in social realities than Miyazaki's -- was brought up by a single mother, a rarity at the time.</span></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">#photo1</span></span><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His 2012 classic "Wolf Children" is a paean to the fierce independence with which she brought up her little pack alone.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"It really annoys me to see how young women are often seen in Japanese animation -- treated as sacred -- which has nothing to do with the reality of who they are," Hosoda said, with evident frustration.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">- Miyazaki bust-up -</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Without naming Miyazaki, Hosoda was unsparing about the Studio Ghibli founder.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"I will not name him, but there is a great master of animation who always takes a young woman as his heroine. And to be frank I think he does it because he does not have confidence in himself as a man.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"This veneration of young women really disturbs me and I do not want to be part of it," he insisted.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He wants to free his heroines from being paragons of virtue and innocence and "this oppression of having to be like everyone else."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hosoda and Miyazaki have history.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The 53-year-old was seen as the natural successor to Miyazaki after he was called in from the outside by Ghibli to direct the Oscar-nominated "Howl's Moving Castle".</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">But Hosoda walked out midway through to set up his own studio.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The director prefers stories that "show the good and the bad in people. This tension is what being human is all about."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Which is why he was also drawn to bringing "Beauty and the Beast" up to date.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"In the original story the Beast is the most interesting character. He is ugly and has this violence but he is sensitive and vulnerable inside too.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"Beauty is just a cipher. It is all about her looks. I wanted to make her as complex and rich."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">That duality is also there in his fascination with the digital world that began with his first hit, "Digimon: The Movie".</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"I keep returning to the internet. First with 'Digimon' and then with 'Summer Wars' in 2009 and now again."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">And he is more convinced than ever that we cannot keep dismissing it as the source of all evil.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"Young people can never separate themselves from it. They grew up with it. We have to accept it and learn to use it better."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">************************ </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">In other news, my second book,</span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4805315148/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"> <b>Otaku Japan</b></a><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, is out now. Check it out!</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And last but not least, I have launched yet another online project on Substack, </span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/" style="color: #ff9900;">Tokyo Calling</a></b></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks! </span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-5657229141200903492021-07-09T18:11:00.002-07:002021-07-09T18:17:55.736-07:00Conan is back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe3PaqRSlzLpwroql1JIP0vWq5Bj3MHqwlOlCW0fX9bNAkR7b0aWqpeEBPkqA8ZrW-fn8GBNBSmK0e6nJQNtkLQDeRAEjY2OLd7wGSlReT62AzIuMQ_Qyl8imAmJ-Tsy_4ifQu7jy5JpW/s1024/future-boy-conan.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe3PaqRSlzLpwroql1JIP0vWq5Bj3MHqwlOlCW0fX9bNAkR7b0aWqpeEBPkqA8ZrW-fn8GBNBSmK0e6nJQNtkLQDeRAEjY2OLd7wGSlReT62AzIuMQ_Qyl8imAmJ-Tsy_4ifQu7jy5JpW/w400-h265/future-boy-conan.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I just learned that distributor GKIDS has acquired the rights to 1978’s <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Future Boy Conan</i> anime, which marks the debut series of renowned director Miyazaki Hayao. The series is set to arrive in late 2021 for the first time ever in North America, and will feature an English dub and an all-new 4K restoration.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While we wait for more, a new <a href="https://gkids.com/films/future-boy-conan/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">website</a> is live for those who want to sign up for email updates and get more info as it’s revealed.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have particularly good memories of this anime series because I watched it for the first time in Japan, 20 years ago, when my wife was expecting our first child. </p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Future Boy Conan</i> takes place in a world where civilization has been destroyed by a terrible war. <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Conan is born into this new world on an isolated island. His life is forever changed when a mysterious girl named Lana washes ashore, pursued by shadowy operatives who seek to use her to wicked ends.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The directorial debut of Academy Award</span><span class="s4" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">®</span></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-winner Miyazaki Hayao is a landmark in animation history. This delightful sci-fi adventure series, beloved worldwide but never before released in North America, features a new English language version and 4K digital restoration.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">*********************************</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">In other news, my second book,</span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4805315148/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0"> <b>Otaku Japan</b></a><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, is out now. Check it out!</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And last but not least, I have launched yet another online project on Substack, </span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><a href="https://giannisimone.substack.com/">Tokyo Calling</a></b></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. As you are reading this blog, you are probably into all things Japanese, so please have a look and if you like it, subscribe (it's FREE) and spread the word about it. Thanks! </span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-30037049769425066752021-06-05T02:45:00.001-07:002021-06-05T02:45:36.227-07:00Manga rules<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnY6MnBIZBkq2zyCUHP_tlNQxYHQ-upmAT1dwjsZho2KmbsKxTvLhyphenhyphen1aPb8R7bw9w53JS9VJqpIBM0d2O4wSgnwEk0ImlVFWClg5F9vbN159xK5EDxJSeNiMfKZsF-kaTxgjhoj1vWVk5/s2048/Manga-in-America.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnY6MnBIZBkq2zyCUHP_tlNQxYHQ-upmAT1dwjsZho2KmbsKxTvLhyphenhyphen1aPb8R7bw9w53JS9VJqpIBM0d2O4wSgnwEk0ImlVFWClg5F9vbN159xK5EDxJSeNiMfKZsF-kaTxgjhoj1vWVk5/w400-h223/Manga-in-America.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This is a very interesting article that recently appeared in </span><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/86276-anime-readers-lift-manga-sales.html" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Publishers Weekly</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. </span></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*******************************************************************************************</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When the pandemic hit last March, manga publishers in North America were left with an uncomfortable choice: should they cut back on their book releases or stick it out and hope that things get better soon? But it turned out that while people were stuck at home, they started reading and buying more manga. And not just a little but a lot more manga.</span></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to NPD BookScan, the manga buying spree continues in 2021. Sales of print manga titles in the U.S. increased by 3.6 million units in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Last year was our biggest year ever, despite the pandemic, and 2021 numbers are off the charts,” says Lianne Sentar, sales and marketing manager at Seven Seas Entertainment. “Based on what we’re seeing in these first few months, 2021 will be the biggest year yet—we’ve truly never seen numbers like these.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kevin Hamric, v-p, publishing sales at Viz Media, says most publishers reported that manga sales were off to a strong start in 2020 before the pandemic hit, and by April manga sales had plummeted to “the lowest sales we’ve had in years.” But he adds that the market quickly recovered and has been on an upward trajectory ever since. “Even if 2020 had stayed on the track, 2021 is head-and-shoulders ahead. These past few weeks of 2021 are higher than holiday 2020.”</span></p><div class="embed-table-left" data-ajaxsrc="components/article-related.html" data-article="86276" data-deliver="ajax" data-jsclass="articleRelated" data-try-photo="1" id="articleRelatedEmbed" style="clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; overflow: auto; padding-right: 15px; text-align: center; width: 213px;" tag="div"><div class="articeRelated-container" style="background-image: url("/images/dotted-vertical.png"); background-position: right top; background-repeat: repeat-y; overflow: auto; text-align: left;"><div class="related_content_box_photo" style="text-align: center; width: 197px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img height="238" id="ARTICLE_PHOTO.80934" src="https://www.publishersweekly.com/images/cached/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/000/080/80934-v1-197x.JPG" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="197" /></span><div class="caption" style="padding: 0px;"><p class="ARTICLE_PHOTO_title" style="color: #666666; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kurt Hassler</span></p></div></div></div></div><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kurt Hassler, publisher and managing director at Yen Press, a joint manga and graphic novel venture between Hachette and Japanese publisher Kadokawa, also noticed the buying trends. “For the first quarter of 2021, we saw our sales functionally double, which is well beyond anything we were forecasting,” he says.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kodansha USA Publishing reports similar results according to Kodansha v-p of sales and marketing Yae Sahashi. “Print manga sales rocketed to a new high over holiday 2020 and, after a plateau in January, rose even higher in March and April,” she says. “In recent weeks, point of sale for the category has quadrupled year over year, even if you discount the negative impact of Covid-19 on sales last March.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The anime effect</span></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What’s driving all this sales growth? Some industry professionals say it’s a sign of a maturing market in which manga has established itself as part of mainstream pop culture, placing the category at the forefront of graphic novel sales, if not overall book sales in North America. Others say the growing popularity of anime on such streaming platforms as Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and the anime-centric platform Crunchyroll is fueling interest in its source material: print manga and light novels (illustrated prose works influenced by manga and anime).</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Anime and online fan communities are always the biggest drivers of manga sales,” Sahashi says. “We believe there’s been renewed and excited interest in anime, with new audiences brought in with each new season. Anime is now easier to watch wherever and whenever via platforms like Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Funimation. Many of the anime premiering right now were delayed from 2020 into 2021 due to the pandemic, which may be partly why spring manga sales have surpassed holiday sales for the first time.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sentar adds that “anime is driving much of this business, and it will continue to expand as countries—Japan and otherwise—tap into the hungry international market for adult animation.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anime is one of the fastest-growing categories at Netflix, which reported a 100% lift in anime viewing in 2020 compared to 2019, according to its 2020 Year in Review video report. Titles benefiting most from the anime boost include the perennial favorite <em>Attack on Titan</em>, which is now airing its final story arc, and <em>Demon Slayer</em>, based on a wildly popular supernatural action manga series published by Shonen Jump/Viz. A recently released feature-length movie, <em>Demon Slayer: Mugen Train</em>, topped the all-time box office charts in Japan. The film opened on screens in North America this month to the “biggest U.S. foreign-language box office debut ever,” according to the online pop culture news site <em>Polygon</em>, earning $21.1 million in its opening weekend.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This rising tide of sales and fan fervor driven by anime has raised more than just the sales of the biggest and most popular manga franchises. It’s also given a shot in the arm to older manga series, such as Fruits Basket (first published in English in the early 2000s), spurring growth in backlist sales.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mark de Vera, sales and marketing director at Yen Press, says, “Fruits Basket does have new anime episodes airing, so its success today is not a surprise. The surprise is that Fruits Basket is surpassing the historic sales that the iconic shojo manga had back in the 2000s, during the original ‘manga boom.’ ”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Boom or bubble?</span></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since its embrace by the North American fan marketplace in the early 2000s, manga has had its ups and downs. At one point in the mid-2000s, manga represented nearly two-thirds of all sales of graphic novels on the continent. But is this new wave of popularity a temporary boost to the category, or a sign of durable growth?</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hassler, who was a key retailer and chain bookstore graphic novel buyer during the earlier period of manga popularity, says he’s always been leery of the term “manga boom,” because it implies something like a bubble. “What we’re seeing now,” he says, “is extremely reminiscent of how the category performed in the mid-2000s. We’ve always held the conviction that it was capable of achieving that level of performance again, and it’s incredibly gratifying to see it happening.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hamric says, “I think we learned much from the past booms, and there does not appear to be a rush to flood the market with more manga.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sahashi notes, “We think ease of accessibility both in terms of anime and manga plays a big role. The gap between content and consumer is almost nonexistent these days. Where there’s a notable distinction between the current boom and previous ones is that a lot of the current surge for us is backlist driven, where previous surges were frontlist-driven.” She says recent sales gains are about “new readers discovering the category.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The strength of older “evergreen” manga titles offers another surprising upside to readers’ buying habits during the pandemic. “Everything seems to be selling right now,” Hamric says, despite the shuttering of many physical bookstores at various points since spring 2020. “Our percentage of backlist sales has risen significantly in the past year,” he notes. “Readers seem to have found the time to read an older series that they had been meaning to get to. Our frontlist sales are beating expectations, but midlist and backlist sales have really taken off. Shonen titles [titles marketed toward boys] are leading the pack by far, along with anime tie-in and horror manga. But as I said, everything is up, including our shojo [titles marketed toward girls], BL [boys’ love], kids, and literary titles and series. All formats are selling better, especially our box sets and e-books.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sahashi agrees: “Our sales indicate we’re seeing our strongest area of performance in our print backlist and digital frontlist.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hassler also credited “the manner in which retailers are supporting the category” for the current sales boost, observing that “backlist is appearing on shelves in a much more comprehensive manner.” He adds, “All of this is making it much easier for fans to find or be introduced to titles.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Diverse presses, diverse titles</span></span></p><div class="embed-table-left" data-ajaxsrc="components/article-photo.html" data-deliver="ajax" data-jsclass="articlePhoto" data-photo="2" data-row="86276" data-table="ARTICLE" data-width="600" id="photo-2" style="clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; overflow: auto; padding-right: 15px; text-align: center; width: 600px;" tag="div"><div class="image-wrapper" data-jsclass="imageWrapper" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/lazy.gif"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: 241px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 600px;"><img data-height="241" data-lazysrc="/images/data/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/080/80933-1.JPG" data-max-height="241" data-max-width="600" data-width="600" id="ARTICLE_PHOTO.80933" src="https://www.publishersweekly.com/images/data/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/080/80933-1.JPG" style="border: 0px; height: 241px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 600px;" /></div><div class="caption" style="max-width: 600px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A resurgence of new and small manga publishers is also driving the moment. Established publishers like Digital Manga Publishing, Drawn & Quarterly, Fanfare Ponent Mon, Fantagraphics, Last Gasp, One Peace Books, and Udon Entertainment may offer smaller lists than industry giants like Viz, but they contribute to the diversity of genres in the market.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This year has seen new releases from Drawn & Quarterly by legendary manga artists Yoshiharu Tsuge and Shigeru Mizuki, along with new and reprint editions of shojo and sci-fi works by acclaimed manga artist Moto Hagio, Udon Entertainment’s edition of Riyoko Ikeda’s long-anticipated reprint of the 1970s shojo classic <em>Rose of Versailles</em>, and its Manga Classics line of full-text adaptations of William Shakespeare’s <em>Hamlet</em> and Bram Stoker’s <em>Dracula.</em> There’s also the mind-bending psychedelia of <em>Heaven’s Door</em> by Keiichi Koike from Last Gasp, the touching historical drama of <em>A Journal of My Father</em> by Jiro Taniguchi from Fanfare Ponent Mon, and Tamosan’s <em>The Day I Was Forced to Marry God</em> and <em>The Day I Divorced God</em>, a pair of true-life essays about her experiences as a Jehovah’s Witness in Japan, published by Digital Manga Publishing. There is something for almost every taste or interest out there.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Newcomer Square Enix Manga and Books, which set up its U.S. office in New York City in 2019, has been putting out a steady and diverse array of manga, novels, and artbooks, including the spicy cosplay manga <em>My Dress-Up Darling</em> by Shinichi Fukuda (which recently announced an anime series); <em>Otherside Picnic</em> by Eita Mizuno and Iori Miyazawa, a sci-fi survival thriller with a girls’-love (the yuri genre) twist; and <em>My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!</em> by Pon Jea and Shinkoshoto, about a workaholic who gets transported to a fantasy world.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">J-Novel Club, a digital subscription and print publishing house, recently acquired by Kadakowa, is also increasing its output of light novel and manga titles, and its new imprint J-Novel Pulp will publish translated European pulp fiction. And small and micro publishers like BDP Press, Cross Infinite Worlds, Glacier Bay Books, Irodori Comics, Kaiten Press, Sol Press, and Starfruit Books have also recently entered the market or expanded their output as they explore the storytelling edges of indie, original, and adult manga.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another promising trend: readers are buying a broader array of stories, genres, and art styles, with or without anime tie-ins. While shonen manga action/fantasy series remain popular, there’s been increased interest in and openness to more kinds of stories that manga has to offer.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The North American market is maturing,” Sentar says. “There’s demand for all kinds of manga, including stuff that used to be a harder sell, like josei manga [titles marketed toward adult women] and seinen manga [titles marketed toward adult men], classic manga, and LGBT+ manga that fall outside of the yuri or BL categorizations.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TokyoPop has been steadily adding titles to its boys’-love/girls’-love/romance imprint Love x Love, while Viz Media’s boys’-love imprint SubLime continues to rack up strong sales with such titles as <em>Given </em>and<em> Birds of Shangri-La</em>. Other new and noteworthy upcoming LGBTQ releases include <em>I Think Our Son Is Gay</em> by Okura from Square Enix Manga and Books, and <em>My Alcoholic Escape from Reality</em> by Nagata Kabi (<em>My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness</em>) from Seven Seas. Denpa’s boys’-love imprint Kuma also reported strong sales for Wacoco Waco’s <em>Can an Otaku Like Me Really Be an Idol?!</em> and Hyougo Kijima’s <em>Wild, Wild, Wildlife</em>, which is getting a reprint after just three months on sale.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s a lot of buzz about Kodansha’s <em>Boys Run the Riot</em>, a trans coming-of-age/street fashion series by Keito Gaku, which will debut in May. Tiff Joshua Ferentini, the four-volume story’s U.S. editor, was careful to ensure that the entire localization team is composed of trans people, to lend their perspective.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">De Vera says, “Now more than ever, the series that become bestsellers are more diverse. Today you’ll see manga that do not have the advantage of an anime adaptation and that fall into categories previously considered niche, such as slice of life and boys’ love, sell at levels that the most mainstream shonen manga with anime adaptations in years past could only dream of. It is very satisfying to see a wider variety of manga supported by today’s fans.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also added to the mix are a number of digital-only releases available via subscription-based services and apps such as Crunchyroll Manga, Mangamo, Manga Planet, Manga Plus, and Shonen Jump, along with specialty online services such as Fakku, which focuses on hentai manga, and the boys’-love manga service Futekiya Library.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Getting original</span></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the North American manga market are original manga created in the Japanese stye, and vertical-scroll digital comics published by the North American subsidiaries of such South Korean platforms as Tapas Media and Webtoons.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Viz Originals, an imprint launched by Viz in 2019 to publish original graphic novels by artists inspired by manga and anime, is off to a strong start with the manga adaptation of celebrated YA author Rainbow Rowell’s <em>Fangirl</em>, adapted by Sam Maggs and Gabi Nam, followed by two summer releases: <em>World Piece</em>, a sci-fi adventure series by Josh Tierney and Agroshka, and <em>Devil’s Candy</em>, a popular webcomic and supernatural high school comedy by REM and Bikkuri. Viz also recently announced a copublishing partnership with Marvel Comics to release English editions of Marvel stories created in Japan, starting in November with the release of <em>Marvel Meow</em>, featuring Captain Marvel’s “cat” Chewy, drawn by Nao Fuji.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TokyoPop is continuing its line of Disney-licensed manga releases as well as supporting a small but growing roster of original comics produced by a global stable of creators. Seven Seas Entertainment has partnered with HiveWorks, a graphic novel publisher and webcomic studio and platform, to release many of its popular webcomics in print editions—among them, the heartwarming LGBTQ fantasy <em>Life of Melody</em> by Mari Costa; <em>Sleepless Domain</em> by Mary Cagle, a magical girl drama; and <em>Persephone: Hades’ Torment</em> by Allison Shaw, a steamy Greek mythology–inspired romance.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Comics from South Korea have always been a part of the publishing mix at Yen Press, says editor-in-chief JuYoung Lee, who joined the U.S. house in 2007 after years working in the South Korean comics industry. “I can safely say that BTS had a huge impact,” Lee notes, “and Korean content itself is considered more ‘hip’ than ever before. We are getting a lot of interest from retailers on what’s coming from Korea. Webcomics have been a growing industry in Korea for a while now, and it has just exploded in recent years. This has allowed the webcomics platforms to go from seeking individual creators to establishing larger digital comics studios that can produce high quality content in a short period of time to keep up with the demand of readers who want to be able to quickly read the next story. The amount of content they can produce—and the quality—is really outstanding.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ten years ago, Lee explains, many American publishers tried to brand manhwa (or South Korean comics) as Japanese manga. “I was told that’s the way to go to sell Korean content,” she says. “Now people are actually looking for stories from Korea, which is a huge difference.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Supply chain problems</span></span></p><div class="embed-table-left" data-ajaxsrc="components/article-photo.html" data-deliver="ajax" data-jsclass="articlePhoto" data-photo="4" data-row="86276" data-table="ARTICLE" data-width="600" id="photo-4" style="clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; overflow: auto; padding-right: 15px; text-align: center; width: 600px;" tag="div"><div class="image-wrapper" data-jsclass="imageWrapper" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/lazy.gif"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; height: 332px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 600px;"><img data-height="332" data-lazysrc="/images/data/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/080/80937-2.JPG" data-max-height="332" data-max-width="600" data-width="600" id="ARTICLE_PHOTO.80937" src="https://www.publishersweekly.com/images/data/ARTICLE_PHOTO/photo/000/080/80937-2.JPG" style="border: 0px; height: 332px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 600px;" /></div><div class="caption" style="max-width: 600px; padding: 0px;"><p style="color: #666666; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kevin Hamric, v-p, publishing sales at Viz Media (l.), Yae Sahashi, v-p of sales and marketing at Kodansha (r.).</span></p></div></div><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite such impressive growth, selling more books can mean more problems. Manga publishers across the board report pandemic-related printing and shipping delays that have created shortages, just when demand for manga in print is on the rise.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“We just can’t get all the books we want to reprint right now, and the demand from the readers is higher than ever,” says Hamric.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yen Press’s Hassler agrees: “Printer capacity issues were stretched last year, and the increase in sales this year has exacerbated the problem.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sentar laments, “This will likely be a problem for months to come, since demand isn’t going down! It’s a good problem to have, but we’re sorry for all the retailers and readers who have to wait longer than usual to access some print copies.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ed Chavez, publisher at the small indie manga house Denpa, says, “Even at the beginning of 2020, we were seeing about two to three weeks of additional lead time for first printings. Starting in fall 2020, we started seeing delays of four to six weeks from domestic printers.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With limited capacity to print, publishers have had to make some adjustments and difficult decisions. “The first adjustment has been to try to get ahead of those titles that are so hot right now that we can’t keep up with demand, seemingly no matter how much we print,” Hassler says.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, at Viz Media, Hamric says, “We have to make decisions weekly as to what we can reprint and what will need to wait a while longer. We are in regular contact with our suppliers and looking at other possible solutions. The retailers are well aware of the situation, as it is an industry-wide issue and not confined to just our category. As of right now, I do not see how this will be resolved this year.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span class="document-body-sub-section-heading" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looking ahead</span></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the pandemic stretches on, many anime and comics conventions remain virtual only, or are in a “wait-and-see” mode as the number of vaccinated people rise and lockdown restrictions are eased. While the manga publishers we spoke with are optimistic overall, they remain wary of what kinds of changes to expect in a post-pandemic world.</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Viz’s Hamric says he believes the upward sales trend will continue, though “it could be interrupted by how we start opening up the country, how people choose to spend their money, as well as how long the current printer issues continue.” He adds, “We hope that readers will continue with the new series they have started and we also hope that the new readers we have gained will start reading more series.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hassler says, “We don’t see any end in sight to strong sales in the category at the moment. I expect the rate of increase to taper, simply because you can’t maintain 100% growth exponentially, but I don’t see this as a short-lived spike.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kodansha’s Sahashi notes, “We feel very fortunate and excited to be publishing at a time when interest and enthusiasm for anime and manga is at an all-time high. And we have plenty of existing and upcoming series that we’re thrilled to share with fans looking for amazing manga content.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to Seven Seas’ Sentar, “Our hot titles are spread across many genres and formats, and demand for everything is up both for print and for digital formats. Although I’m sure we’ll see some peaks and valleys in demand this year as the world continues to adjust to Covid-19, I think a lot of this growth is here to stay. It’s been a wild year, but we have even more cooking, and we can’t wait to announce it.”</span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">******************************************************* </span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Check out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Otaku-Japan-Travel-Guide-Japanese/dp/4805315148/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=gianni+simone+otaku+guide&qid=1622886229&sr=8-2">my new book! </a></span></p><p class="article" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And don't forget to <a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/">subscribe</a>. </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-41817318885648889702021-03-21T00:25:00.004-07:002021-03-21T00:29:38.049-07:00Forget YouTubers: Japanese Kids Want to Be Office Workers<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNqAZKDf8xz8RSZkSrtcOYIg4ym9RXz_5moVqESV_BkdMuLPPtl4MnhJnYEkNxhmk7TdPkIvuezrtufZ0wAm5LOBwb4B5GVAOCTehvgnzJF6MmExAJLsEBB7xZvlk85R9XRtECycUkiup/s398/Salariman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="281" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNqAZKDf8xz8RSZkSrtcOYIg4ym9RXz_5moVqESV_BkdMuLPPtl4MnhJnYEkNxhmk7TdPkIvuezrtufZ0wAm5LOBwb4B5GVAOCTehvgnzJF6MmExAJLsEBB7xZvlk85R9XRtECycUkiup/w452-h640/Salariman.jpg" width="452" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #6b717e;">A recent survey by insurance company Daiichi Seimei Hoken asked 3,000 kids aged six to 18 what they wanted to be when they grew up. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #6b717e;">Until now, popular choices were football (soccer) or baseball player for kids and pastry chef/confectioner for girls, or idol and YouTuber for both sexes. However, this time the two most popular answers were office worker and civil servant. Hardly exciting jobs, but solid, financially secure professions.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #6b717e; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">That was true for boys in elementary, middle and high school and for girls in middle and high school.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For elementary school girls, the number one choice was pastry chef, with office worker coming in at number four.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Why office workers? There’s speculation that because more moms and dads are at home working remotely, kids have gotten a better idea of what their parents do for work, and have decided it doesn’t look all that bad.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #6b717e;">Please subscribe to </span><a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: red;">Otaku Tokyo</span></a><span style="color: #6b717e;"> and my </span><a href="https://giannisimone.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: red;">other blog</span></a><span style="color: #6b717e;">. </span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-90292820969909229852021-02-21T15:48:00.000-08:002021-02-21T15:48:00.016-08:00Sawano Hiroyuki speaks<p> </p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="hiroyuki sawano" class="size-full wp-image-276397 aligncenter" height="900" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small.jpg 1200w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small-300x225.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small-768x576.jpg 768w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hiroyuki-sawano-main_small-480x360.jpg 480w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1200" /></p><p class="p3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With the recent digital release of a bunch of composer Hiroyuki Sawano’s amazing anime soundtracks—including a physical vinyl release for his music that fueled TRIGGER’s unforgettable </em>PROMARE <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">anime film, the artist speaks about what composing for anime is really like. Read on to learn more about how Sawano-san got his start, what inspired him to make the type of music for which he’s known, and more.</em></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">***</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You’ve created so many varied compositions for anime, games, and film over the years. How did you manage to get your start?</span></span></p><p class="p5" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was a child I was first introduced to the music of Chage and Aska and was very impressed.<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>From then on I aspired to be a musician and began exploring music by Tetsuya Komuro.<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>His work as an artist, producer, and video musician prompted me to want to become a composer.<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>By high school, I began listening to Joe Hisaishi’s music for Studio Ghibli, which made me more interested in the world of film music, and I began to focus on creating instrumental music.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Were there any specific anime or film scores that moved you and made you want to become a composer yourself?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve seen Ghibli films such as </span><span class="s3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Princess Mononoke</i></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </span><span class="s3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kiki’s Delivery Service </i></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and </span><span class="s3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whisper of the Heart</i></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, as well as works by Takeshi Kitano such as </span><span class="s3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sonatine</i></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How about outside of anime and film. What kind of music really motivates you, and do you have any favorite artists or groups?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I listen to a lot of international pop rock and soundtracks, such as Aerosmith, OneRepublic, Imagine Dragons, and Fall Out Boy. As for composers, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Ryuichi Sakamoto, etc.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When you first started composing specifically for anime, what stood out to you about the process? What makes it different from working on projects in other industries?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was in charge of the music for </span><span class="s3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mobile Suit Gundam UC</i></span><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, I set aside four months to concentrate on the production. I had never worked for that long of a time before, but I found it really rewarding to concentrate on a single piece of work. I started to value the production period as much as possible when working on new works after that. Personally, I don’t think there is much difference between producing music for animation and film.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You’ve created a lot of music for dramatic and intense series like <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Attack on Titan</i>, <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kingdom</i>, and various <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gundam</i> projects. Beyond the iconic “Sawano Drop,” what’s your secret to making these soundtracks work so well with the action on screen?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Music for TV animation is created before the animation is completed, so it is rarely created in conjunction with the movement of the video. In the end, the director and sound director think about where the music will fit in and apply it. I try to make sound choices and arrangements that are more emotional for the audience based on the various scenes.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="hiroyuki sawano" class="alignright wp-image-276398" height="346" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 392px) 100vw, 392px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/promare-cover.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/promare-cover.jpg 651w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/promare-cover-300x265.jpg 300w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; color: transparent; float: right; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px 30px !important; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="392" />We love your work on <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kill la Kill</i> and <a href="https://otakuusamagazine.com/power-promare-interview-studio-trigger/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PROMARE</i></a>! How was your experience collaborating with Studio Trigger?!</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every time I work with director [Hiroyuki] Imaishi, I am greatly inspired. The world view, direction, and characters that he creates are all energetic, which motivates me to create music and I really enjoy working with him.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With well over a decade of work in the anime industry, do you feel there have been significant changes along the way? How does your work today differ from when you first started your career?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What I feel has changed the most is that we are getting more responses from people overseas. On the work side, I feel that the awareness of my production overseas is getting stronger. I think I’ve been able to spend more time making music for each piece of work than when I started my career, and I’m convinced that I can proceed with conviction for each piece, one by one. Since I have gained the impression of creating vocal music, I am receiving more requests for such music.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What was it that first inspired you to launch your SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] project with Aimer back in 2014? Can you tell us a little bit about how that came to be?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I had been working on a lot of vocal music for soundtracks, and I wanted to start a project that would focus more on vocal music.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Your musical catalog is now available to a wider audience. Is there anything you’d like to say to those who are discovering your work for the very first time?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I would be happy if you could listen to it while remembering my work, and even more happy if you could listen to it with your own free imagination.</span></p><p class="p1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We’d like to thank Sawano-san for taking the time to speak with us about his music. You can find Hiroyuki Sawano’s music on digital platforms, and look for the </i>PROMARE <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">vinyl to drop on April 12. You can also see more at Hiroyuki Sawano’s </i><a href="https://www.sawanohiroyuki.com/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="s4" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">official website</i></span></a><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</i></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PROMARE</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">©️ TRIGGER,Kazuki Nakashima/XFLAG</em></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source: <a href="https://otakuusamagazine.com/interview-composer-hiroyuki-sawano/?utm_source=Otaku+USA+e-News&utm_campaign=63a5cea264-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_02_18_01_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_047ed9032a-63a5cea264-103811593">Otaku USA magazine</a></em></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My blog: <a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/">Otaku Tokyo (otakutokyojp.blogspot.com)</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-13550280454364806182021-01-27T16:54:00.001-08:002021-01-27T16:57:07.120-08:00New laws regulating professional cosplayers?<p> </p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="japan's top cosplayer" class="aligncenter wp-image-246824 size-full" height="611" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/enako-nezuko-header.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/enako-nezuko-header.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/enako-nezuko-header-300x179.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/enako-nezuko-header-768x458.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1024" /></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Professional cosplayers in Japan might soon see laws change that involve their line of work. According to <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anime News Network</em>, the Japanese government is mulling over “rules that will allow copyright holders to regulate cosplayers for income earned from cosplay activity.”</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So far nothing has been decided, and Japanese House of Councillors member Taro Yamada made the point that they’re looking at the issue from both the perspective of the copyright holders and the cosplayers. Japanese people who cosplay just for fun and don’t earn an income would not be impacted if legislation changes.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Famous cosplayer Enako also weighed in:</p><div class="geekmag-iframe Twitter" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font: inherit; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1353208390013472768" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=Otaku_USA&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1353208390013472768&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fotakuusamagazine.com%2Fjapanese-government-looking-at-cosplay-rules-and-copyright-laws%2F&siteScreenName=Otaku_USA&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; flex-grow: 1; font: inherit; height: 712px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; vertical-align: bottom; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SoraNews24</em> supplied this translation for her tweet:</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I think there are some misunderstandings on the information being spread out there about the changes to cosplay copyright, but this article is easy to understand.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I had a discussion with Minister Inoue, and we’re searching for a way to protect copyright without interfering with current cosplay culture.”</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She also tweeted this:</p><div class="geekmag-iframe Twitter" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font: inherit; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1353209485167259649" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=Otaku_USA&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1353209485167259649&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fotakuusamagazine.com%2Fjapanese-government-looking-at-cosplay-rules-and-copyright-laws%2F&siteScreenName=Otaku_USA&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; flex-grow: 1; font: inherit; height: 834px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; vertical-align: bottom; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SoraNews24</em> translated:</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Also, I haven’t heard anything about the ban on (cosplay photos being posted to) social media as was written in another article, so I’m anxious to find the truth.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m not really in a position to easily give a statement on the issue, but personally I hope that the changes will not regulate social media posts and fan-made activities if they are not for profit.”</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And she added this:</p><div class="geekmag-iframe Twitter" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 40px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; font: inherit; margin: 10px 0px; max-width: 550px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 550px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1353215360456003590" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=Otaku_USA&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-2&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1353215360456003590&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fotakuusamagazine.com%2Fjapanese-government-looking-at-cosplay-rules-and-copyright-laws%2F&siteScreenName=Otaku_USA&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; flex-grow: 1; font: inherit; height: 328px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; vertical-align: bottom; visibility: visible; width: 550px;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“By the way, I’ve said it many times before, but when I’m on TV, at events, or anything else for profit, I take copyright into consideration and do not cosplay characters from published works, but go out in my own original outfits instead.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whenever I cosplay characters from published works, I do so after obtaining permission from the publisher.”</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source: <a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-01-25/japanese-government-considers-codifying-copyright-rules-on-cosplay-income/.168754" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Anime News Network</a>, <a href="https://soranews24.com/2021/01/24/japanese-government-to-enforce-stricter-copyright-law-on-cosplay-top-cosplayer-gives-opinion/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">SoraNews24</a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">*********************************************** </p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More recent posts:</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/2021/01/japanese-mangaka-grapple-with-racism.html">Japanese mangaka grapple with racism</a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/2021/01/2021-year-of-anime-anniversaries.html">2021: A year of anime anniversaries</a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My new book </p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Gianni-Simone/dp/4805315148/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=gianni+simone+otaku+japan&qid=1611795085&sr=8-1">Otaku Japan</a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #6b717e;">And don't forget to subscribe to my other </span><a href="https://giannisimone.blogspot.com/">blog</a><span style="color: #6b717e;">!</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-35183572464349743622021-01-26T04:06:00.005-08:002021-01-26T04:09:19.442-08:00Japanese mangaka grapple with racism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJGkwUD38HyjGothqxHqXUZXrWY2r6bHxYT3lC9f_Q4wkuS_cHfuVBYVa6trRBq4nhMlOMG2DjDjkBaknru9eJpBRAOV_MZGhxqIYEcfwVPuzptU0NnpzPGNZIOep3AJV9rJM2_VxVEpr/s2048/Nakayoshi+Osaka+Naomi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1622" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJGkwUD38HyjGothqxHqXUZXrWY2r6bHxYT3lC9f_Q4wkuS_cHfuVBYVa6trRBq4nhMlOMG2DjDjkBaknru9eJpBRAOV_MZGhxqIYEcfwVPuzptU0NnpzPGNZIOep3AJV9rJM2_VxVEpr/w506-h640/Nakayoshi+Osaka+Naomi.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> The recent launch of a new manga devoted to tennis player Naomi Osaka offers another chance to consider the way Black characters are portrayed in Japanese comics. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's a <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2021/0122/Japanese-comic-creators-grapple-with-racism"><span style="color: red;"><b>story</b></span> </a>I wrote on this topic for the Monitor. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let me know what you think about it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah, and if you want to follow my writing, don't forget to subscribe to my other<span style="color: red;"><b> <a href="https://giannisimone.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: red;">blog</span></a></b></span>!</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-30104631536635122472021-01-16T14:52:00.003-08:002021-01-19T00:23:43.007-08:002021: A year of anime anniversaries<p> </p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1193960963&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Puella Magi Madoka Magica</a></em></h2><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">(10th anniversary)</h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1193960963&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Puella Magi Madoka Magica" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-274781" height="675" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_madoka.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_madoka.jpg 1200w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_madoka-300x169.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_madoka-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_madoka-768x432.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1200" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Has it really been ten years since Gen Urobuchi unleashed his tale of magical girl entropy on the world? This first anniversary hardly seems real, since <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Puella Magi Madoka Magica</em> hasn’t gone far in the intervening years. But it’s true. Movies and <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Magia Record</em> aside, this series is a full decade old as of <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">January 7</span>.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anniversary festivities are underway for the show, so look forward to new surprises throughout the year.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1187113476&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Spirited Away</a></em> </h2><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">(20th anniversary)</h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1187113476&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Spirited Away" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-274785" height="752" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_sen.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_sen.jpg 1400w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_sen-300x161.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_sen-1024x550.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_sen-768x413.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1400" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of all the anime anniversaries on this list, <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spirited Away</em> is probably the only one that coincided with the anime in question getting surpassed in its own Guinness record. Nonetheless, this Studio Ghibli classic is still the first anime ever to win an Academy Award, and continues to reign as one of the greats.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Celebrate this year on the day of its premiere, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">July 20</span>.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125077483&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Otaku no Video</a> </em></h2><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(</em>30th anniversary)</h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125077483&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Otaku no Video" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-274783" height="720" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_onv2.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_onv2.jpg 1280w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_onv2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_onv2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_onv2-768x432.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1280" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gainax’s two-part mockumentary about life, love, and otakudom came out back in 1991. The OVA has gone on to become a much-loved anime, offering a tongue-in-cheek perspective on both otaku life and the beginnings of an anime studio.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Relive the magic by celebrating two anime anniversaries in one — on <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">September 27</span> for <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Otaku no Video 1982</em>, and <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">December 20</span> for <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More Otaku no Video 1985.</em></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125088792&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Adieu Galaxy Express 999</a> </em></h2><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(</em>40th anniversary)</h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125088792&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Adieu Galaxy Express 999" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-274780" height="296" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_adieu.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_adieu.jpg 474w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_adieu-300x187.jpg 300w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="474" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Leiji Matsumoto’s <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Galaxy Express 999 </em>was a thoughtful and action-packed tale of humanity and coming of age. But when the series ended, the story wasn’t over. 1981’s <i>Adieu Galaxy Express 999</i> continues the story after the fallout of the TV series. Tetsuro Hoshino is a teenage freedom fighter, and must board the space train to begin a new adventure.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The film officially hits the big 4-0 on <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">August 1</span>. If you’ve never seen the original series or the 1979 film that came before <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Adieu,</em> you’ll have plenty to keep you busy.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125079381&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Lupin the 3rd Part I</a> </em></h2><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #163351; font-family: dicotbold; font-size: 32px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 16px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(</em>50th anniversary)</h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?merchantid=65886&userid=2574372&productid=1125079381&afftrack=2021-anniversaries" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #b01320; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="Lupin the 3rd Part I" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-274784" height="1080" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 1484px) 100vw, 1484px" src="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_rupan.jpg" srcset="https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_rupan.jpg 1484w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_rupan-300x218.jpg 300w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_rupan-1024x745.jpg 1024w, https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ousa_anni_rupan-768x559.jpg 768w" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: transparent; display: block; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="1484" /></a></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wrapping up our list of anime anniversaries is the master thief himself. Four years after Monkey Punch’s manga debuted, the grandson of Arsène Lupin made the jump to anime. “Part I,” a.k.a. the Green Jacket series, premiered on <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bolder; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">October 24</span>. It ran for 23 episodes, and it would be four more years until he would get the red-jacketed Part II.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #6b717e; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fortunately, there’s so much Lupin out there, you’ll have no trouble finding as much as you want to watch.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: poppinsregular; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #6b717e;">And don't forget to</span><span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/">subscribe</a></span><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #6b717e;">to this my other </span><a href="https://giannisimone.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: red;">blog</span></a><span style="color: #6b717e;">!</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-8612318753218599012019-10-07T05:20:00.000-07:002019-10-07T05:20:00.773-07:00My new book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N63IC3hu9YxGT0cI09McdNQIdMsFVCzMymU6BMLTi_UMgwK-rk5g4XQO73er-KereYCr27V51Za79UuF2a1Lo7sXlkTZm1AUs3VyI-LeUnJUl_e-vKkT14O7yRRk9pCOa1L-qFEp4tNp/s1600/Otaku+Japan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1211" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N63IC3hu9YxGT0cI09McdNQIdMsFVCzMymU6BMLTi_UMgwK-rk5g4XQO73er-KereYCr27V51Za79UuF2a1Lo7sXlkTZm1AUs3VyI-LeUnJUl_e-vKkT14O7yRRk9pCOa1L-qFEp4tNp/s640/Otaku+Japan.jpg" width="484" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amazon (US, Japan, UK, and Canada) have started accepting pre-orders for my new book, </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4805315148/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2"><em><span style="font-size: large;">Otaku Japan Travel Guide</span></em></a><span style="font-size: large;">.<br /> This is of course the sequel to my "Tokyo Geek's Guide" and covers the whole of the country.</span> <br />
<br /><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-52406657685058835522019-05-17T17:37:00.002-07:002019-05-17T17:44:51.684-07:00Young Jump magazine celebrates 40 years of great seinen manga<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaFaEbwvPkIDT81m1UZmTUa_eJtW-2Xqv2HZZtKNYl4prGnMOwPu8tlrIfYQ2W7mX7XYzYtYl6Z1uJnfeH3SfEorKiU2QAIIOfIBm1m48lUAzhxsQIQs7iYQnE370bKcuCINb9LuBmggs/s1600/youngjump_movie03_fixw_730_hq%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="730" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaFaEbwvPkIDT81m1UZmTUa_eJtW-2Xqv2HZZtKNYl4prGnMOwPu8tlrIfYQ2W7mX7XYzYtYl6Z1uJnfeH3SfEorKiU2QAIIOfIBm1m48lUAzhxsQIQs7iYQnE370bKcuCINb9LuBmggs/s400/youngjump_movie03_fixw_730_hq%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaFaEbwvPkIDT81m1UZmTUa_eJtW-2Xqv2HZZtKNYl4prGnMOwPu8tlrIfYQ2W7mX7XYzYtYl6Z1uJnfeH3SfEorKiU2QAIIOfIBm1m48lUAzhxsQIQs7iYQnE370bKcuCINb9LuBmggs/s1600/youngjump_movie03_fixw_730_hq%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Happy birthday </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjQUEkCxtos"><strong>Young Jump</strong></a> magazine!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">(Don't forget to click on the link and watch the kickass video) </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-42183272730256364142019-05-03T16:25:00.000-07:002019-05-03T16:25:20.346-07:00World Domination Enterprise<span style="font-size: large;">Ever wondered how many plastic <em>Gundam</em> models </span><span style="font-size: large;">exist in the world?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhhqBzYwO_UsppmjG6KOsaCJBxtOmTQuaxORwkwYlg83GmCg5sdfI64B6ozIUEwZ4uSiFZwpNJ1Juxr9G_8gRv9luXdYrM9Os_mgnhUDhQKh8O42u5l61BOTd8oViRlYm147m0ZXOJCLc/s1600/Gundam+Tyran+Sword+%2528Domenico%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="785" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhhqBzYwO_UsppmjG6KOsaCJBxtOmTQuaxORwkwYlg83GmCg5sdfI64B6ozIUEwZ4uSiFZwpNJ1Juxr9G_8gRv9luXdYrM9Os_mgnhUDhQKh8O42u5l61BOTd8oViRlYm147m0ZXOJCLc/s640/Gundam+Tyran+Sword+%2528Domenico%2529.jpg" width="556" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Photo by Domenico)</em></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Over 500 million, apparently.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Gunpla first debuted in July 1980 with a 1:144 scale model of the original RX-78-2 Gundam. There are now over 2,000 variations, reports <a href="https://mantan-web.jp/article/20190501dog00m200024000c.html">Mantan Web</a>.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eETvbpmKUF3ypXMzICvLDHAB7uDmB0R1blYJRY332vh38Euu1M5VFsRQUAQ8ltEssJaGQpxJh8-GSCHvgMvXgTHz-iqsdl0zfSoYMGDTDQUBAooWYVfhOWCYaNF3znfAMvtyYZJpNMnS/s1600/Gundam+1+%2528Stefan%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eETvbpmKUF3ypXMzICvLDHAB7uDmB0R1blYJRY332vh38Euu1M5VFsRQUAQ8ltEssJaGQpxJh8-GSCHvgMvXgTHz-iqsdl0zfSoYMGDTDQUBAooWYVfhOWCYaNF3znfAMvtyYZJpNMnS/s400/Gundam+1+%2528Stefan%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Photo by Stefan)</em></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">According to Bandai Spirits, if you lined up the packages of every model sold to date, they’d wrap around the earth four-and-a-half times and weigh about 350,000 pounds. That’s a lot of Gunpla.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP3PUn3JRW3v31zWQmZHSFkrBr5MECPwXCgI8lmvJy4N9VmzeDU7jONwyspW8CwX6N6MS4g44h8cHoIp8gqr9Sr_sOjKEeV2nKtStRnzyClbnggYVLMrni-4Q6zjaVXP0zy54vGxp_wH_/s1600/%25281.12%2529+Gundam+F91+RC+Berg+%2526+studio+RECKLESS+Garage+Kits+%2528Domenico%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1134" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmP3PUn3JRW3v31zWQmZHSFkrBr5MECPwXCgI8lmvJy4N9VmzeDU7jONwyspW8CwX6N6MS4g44h8cHoIp8gqr9Sr_sOjKEeV2nKtStRnzyClbnggYVLMrni-4Q6zjaVXP0zy54vGxp_wH_/s400/%25281.12%2529+Gundam+F91+RC+Berg+%2526+studio+RECKLESS+Garage+Kits+%2528Domenico%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Photo by Domenico)</em></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">There have been many improvements and variations on the line over the years, including in 1987, when Bandai released the first model that could snap together without glue.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In 2010, the number of units shipped reached 400 million.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here’s looking forward to the next 40 years of plastic <em>Gundam</em> models.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>If you don't want to miss my otaku-related posts, please </em><a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/"><em>subscribe</em></a><em>.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>I'm the author of the </em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=sr_1_1?crid=84HSYBLTIZZK&keywords=tokyo+geek%27s+guide&qid=1556925664&s=gateway&sprefix=tokyo+geek%27s+%2Caps%2C294&sr=8-1"><em>Tokyo Geek's Guide</em></a><em>.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>Please check out my other main </em><a href="https://giannisimone.blogspot.com/"><em>blog</em></a><em> where I post other Japan-related news, articles and interviews.</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-28264497076015364162019-04-22T17:27:00.000-07:002019-04-22T17:27:13.917-07:00Are anime and manga fathers really so bad?<span class="ui_qtext_rendered_qtext"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="ui_qtext_rendered_qtext"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJDchaepmD8deZYH_z05bw3vHYogAaZvy74o-8DwIZpJ94oMTVxNX585aNRGiMzSp9ZiLhp8beiC88Xb2mydlEmUIR4K1FlgowYU0GMdp9OZE5kxDQtrGb3_J8ZXaC-1SNIgYXet6lYX7/s1600/My-Neighbor-Totoro1%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJDchaepmD8deZYH_z05bw3vHYogAaZvy74o-8DwIZpJ94oMTVxNX585aNRGiMzSp9ZiLhp8beiC88Xb2mydlEmUIR4K1FlgowYU0GMdp9OZE5kxDQtrGb3_J8ZXaC-1SNIgYXet6lYX7/s400/My-Neighbor-Totoro1%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span class="ui_qtext_rendered_qtext">
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;">A lot of manga and anime stories revolve around ridiculously strong and clever junior high and high school kids who save the day in a world where not only parents but adults as a whole barely count. </span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;">Many people have pointed out the conflicting father-child relationship in many such stories. <br />Although there are also fathers who try their best, and being myself a father, I prefer to talk about them:</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Soichiro Yagami (Death Note)</strong><br /> It is never easy being a parent, especially one that is raising a serial killer son and working as detective to solve the case. Any dad that can handle the pressure and still put their family first shows strength and determination. One could say Sorichiro Yagami is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Amidst the truth about who his son really is, Sorichiro still believes in his son’s innocence, which unfortunately ends tragically for this dad.</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Tatsuo Kusakabe (My Neighbor Totoro)</strong><br />Every father wants to keep their children happy and Tatsuo Kusakabe is the ideal example. He is a great person by the way he listens to his children, cares for his sick wife, and holds a career. While most parents laugh it off when children say silly things, he fosters his children’s curiosity and imagination with Totoro. A dad that is willing to give his fullest attention to a child deserves a Top</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Shiro Fujimoto (Blue Exorcist)</strong><br />A person doesn’t need to have biological children to become a parent. Adoptive parents deserve the love too like Shiro Fujiimoto! A risk taker, humorous, and tolerant individual, Shiro possesses the qualities of a great father. Especially when it comes to taking care of Rin and Yukio on their worst days. Because not everyone can be as saintly as Shiro Fujimoto when it comes to taking care of demons!</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Kohei Inuzuka (Sweetness and Lightning)</strong> <br />As a single father, Kohei is a wonderful hardworking dad that puts his child first before his own needs. After the loss of his wife, Kohei wants to instill good values in his daughter to make sure she grows up right. His willingness to learn to cook proper meals for his daughter shows that he deeply cares for his child. This Anime dad represents all the dads that strive to give the best life for their children.</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Goku (Dragon Ball Z)</strong> <br />Energetic, pure of heart, and though practically gone for half of his son’s life, Goku is still a top anime dad. He may be physically absent but he is emotionally present for his son. In times of trouble, he protects his family. Who can forget the special father and son moments when Goku saves Gohan during a fight against Recoome? Or teaching his son how to become the best fighter? Maybe the Goku wasn’t there for all the moments, but at least he showed up once in awhile to help kick butt.</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Spirit Albarn (Soul Eater)</strong> <br />Nobody is a perfect parent and Spirit Albarn fits in this description. Due to his womanizing behavior, Spirit Albarn is highly unlikely to earn the “Best Parent of the Year” award, but he at least deserves the “A for effort” award. He continuously tries to bond with his daughter by showing love and support. Even when she denies him, he keeps striving for a daddy and daughter relationship. Any man that thinks his daughter is his number one girl, is a great dad.</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Sojiro Izumi (Lucky Star)</strong> <br />A dad that loves watching anime, playing video games, and is a die hard otaku has the best qualities for top anime dad like Sojiro Izumi! Despite the challenges as a single dad, he shows strength to carry on and raise a great daughter, Konata Izumi! As any great otaku dad would, he teaches his daughter that the two most important things in life are Anime and Video Games. What kid wouldn’t want their dad to have these two great passions in life?</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Naruto Uzumaki (Boruto)</strong> <br />Parents who go through many life experiences end up becoming great teachers to their children. In the beginning, Naruto was a naïve, immature boy, who eventually learns from his mistakes. As a man, he passes these important life lessons such as justice and accountability to his son. A dad that takes the time to be a mentor to his children is a loving father!</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Akio Furukawa (Clannad)</strong> <br />Although he is rough around the edges, Akio is benevolent and sympathetic. He makes many sacrifices for his daughter, Nagisa. An example is when Akio quits his job as an actor due to Nagisa’s health and has no regrets about it. For him, as long his child is happy, then he is happy. Akio represents a great father, who makes hard choices that will foster good well-being for his children.</span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ui_qtext_para u-ltr u-text-align--start">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Maes Hughes (Full Metal Alchemist)</strong> <br />A proud father, Maes never wastes time bragging about his daughter and wife. His personality is considered to be trustworthy and amicable. He is protective of his daughter, especially around boys when they ask to play with her and he never fails to show that he is a devoted family man! His coworkers are often annoyed by him for showing pictures of his daughter and wife; but who doesn’t love showing off their children? Maes Hughes is the fun, strict, and lovable character that most of us can relate with our dads.</span></div>
</span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-49855147051370121792019-04-20T05:05:00.005-07:002019-04-20T05:05:58.156-07:00Final Fantasy VII Concert Debuts in the U.S.<span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllFCwLIk_02RYLs35jQIUljgPEUM5V6OeK6-G9esQ8XYQJwiDGEKvC_WELcZPfc78F5szWVE7naa7Qm8HNxGwZ8B-BTpO898aQcQy7aalDl_-OGo9QWFLfY1xvO9EDkhFnO7WnelOYM17/s1600/final-fantasy-vii-square-enix-cloud-feat%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllFCwLIk_02RYLs35jQIUljgPEUM5V6OeK6-G9esQ8XYQJwiDGEKvC_WELcZPfc78F5szWVE7naa7Qm8HNxGwZ8B-BTpO898aQcQy7aalDl_-OGo9QWFLfY1xvO9EDkhFnO7WnelOYM17/s400/final-fantasy-vii-square-enix-cloud-feat%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">U.S. fans have been treated to a handful of video game concerts over the years, but none quite like this one. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">For the first time in the region<strong> <i>Final Fantasy VII</i></strong> is getting its own concert, which will mark 22 years since the fan-favorite RPG’s initial launch. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The concert is called<strong> <i>FINAL FANTASY VII – A Symphonic Reunion</i></strong>, and it all goes down right before this year’s E3 on June 9 at LA’s Dolby Theater.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Wild Faery Company is producing the concert, which will have more than 100 musicians performing while a massive HD monitor showcases some of the most memorable moments from the game. Those interested in seeing it for themselves will be able to purchase tickets for an appropriate starting price of $77.77 beginning on Saturday, April 20.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>If you don't want to miss any blog posts, insert your email address right under the banner and <a href="http://otakutokyojp.blogspot.com/">subscribe</a>.</em> </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-66483239808211042392019-04-19T06:26:00.000-07:002019-04-19T06:26:28.058-07:00How to become rich with Pokemon cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAijgxtdxcyI-JiIg6CtG_2Q-HoL_jeRr293MyCEZhBy-CgjQOdl_CIyaqlhjdbZzc2LOTpxLRJbfRka0n6-4gkKKH3x5i-uFjbBXOtXl6TDeDT6wK-dk7H2U2pjgFOO-NQhGaKAaveZA2/s1600/pokemon-cards%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1500" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAijgxtdxcyI-JiIg6CtG_2Q-HoL_jeRr293MyCEZhBy-CgjQOdl_CIyaqlhjdbZzc2LOTpxLRJbfRka0n6-4gkKKH3x5i-uFjbBXOtXl6TDeDT6wK-dk7H2U2pjgFOO-NQhGaKAaveZA2/s400/pokemon-cards%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s always interesting to find out how much someone’s collection is worth, especially if it happens to be something you collect yourself. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">Here’s one for the <i>Pokémon </i>card collectors out there. A man named Yoshiharu Takahashi recently went on Japanese program <i>Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan </i>(<i>Good Fortune! The Group That Appraises Everything</i>) with a collection of 31 <i>Pokémon </i>cards he estimated to be worth ¥1.2 million, which adds up to about $10,730.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;">Fortunately for Takahashi, he was actually way off on his estimation. According to professional appraiser Yūya Satō, Takahashi’s collection is worth about ¥7.6 million, or $68,674.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;">The value comes down to a few seriously rare cards, including the Kangaskhan parent-and-child tournament entry card, 34 of which were distributed at a single event in Japan back in May 1998. Just one of these is worth ¥1.2 million on its own; Takahashi has four. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;">He also has a bilingual Lucky Stadium card that was only given to players who passed the qualifying rounds to be invited to a Hawaiian tournament. That one is worth a cool million yen. </span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqelqmGICRubFqWeKuH07oaPMlUbXvHfpBM0CHN8n5r51O-o8cBMue1EFb5ZH3P0w6tMzAl2uoGyqLEJ5Z56XA4OxQICdZoI-rx-Y4a6b3exGXbgnrqHsQdL1MuI2QxNMJHiuBG5SVOP-_/s1600/%25282.2+Sidebar%2529+Trading+cards+Akihabara+Radio+Kaikan+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqelqmGICRubFqWeKuH07oaPMlUbXvHfpBM0CHN8n5r51O-o8cBMue1EFb5ZH3P0w6tMzAl2uoGyqLEJ5Z56XA4OxQICdZoI-rx-Y4a6b3exGXbgnrqHsQdL1MuI2QxNMJHiuBG5SVOP-_/s400/%25282.2+Sidebar%2529+Trading+cards+Akihabara+Radio+Kaikan+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of trading cards, here's an excerpt from my <strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2D76CSGOBMWT2&keywords=tokyo+geek%27s+guide&qid=1555679981&s=gateway&sprefix=tokyo+Geek%27s%2Caps%2C285&sr=8-1">Tokyo Geek's Guide</a></strong>:</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">Trading card games
(TCG) (also called collectible card games) are big in Japan and their
popularity goes well beyond the usual world-famous titles (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic
the Gathering, etc.) to include many anime-based games. The main TCG-selling
chains (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yellow Submarine</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amenity Dream</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Magic</b>) have many branches around Tokyo and are pretty similar.
They sell both sets and singles, with sets collected in binders and rare and/or
popular cards displayed in showcases. They even have quite a few English cards
as apparently some Japanese players prefer to use them. If you are looking for
something in particular you can make a list and give it to the staff. Just be
warned that on average, singles in Japan tend to cost more than in other
countries. One more tip on TCG good manners: You will rarely see the Japanese
trade cards inside shops, and actually there are some that explicitly forbid
trading on the premises.</span> </span></span></span></span><div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;">
</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6huy9xk5rWIOqDJb7PwSQZFTFPnHMaYgHhfkMOpIh0uzO_b6M4IZ608NWhqDD_rE06O04chlbqAjRQePBgkUGAu9jn0x59hf_bdFgmrWfdqYko7PTA86b7qI8u9e5pAOloVj53a6OkrVE/s1600/%25288%2529+%25282.2+Sidebar%2529+Trading+cards+Akihabara+Radio+Kaikan+16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6huy9xk5rWIOqDJb7PwSQZFTFPnHMaYgHhfkMOpIh0uzO_b6M4IZ608NWhqDD_rE06O04chlbqAjRQePBgkUGAu9jn0x59hf_bdFgmrWfdqYko7PTA86b7qI8u9e5pAOloVj53a6OkrVE/s400/%25288%2529+%25282.2+Sidebar%2529+Trading+cards+Akihabara+Radio+Kaikan+16.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left" style="margin: 0mm 0mm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">Many TCG shops have tables
to play games, and on their websites you can find information on upcoming
tournaments. Most of them are small events. Signing up is quite cheap and if
you do well you can get some cool prizes like deck boxes, card sleeves and binders.
Obviously almost all participants are Japanese, but don’t worry because they
are very welcoming and curious about foreign players, and even if you don’t
speak Japanese, card language is rarely a problem. For more information on
playing in Japan (especially Pokemon) check out Finnish champion Esa Juntunen’s
blog (</span><span lang="IT"><a href="http://thedeckout.blogspot.jp/"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">http://thedeckout.blogspot.jp</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">)</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">TCG stores in Tokyo are
typically close to each other, so if you don’t like the prices or selection at
one store you can always try another one nearby. One of the more convenient
places is Radio Kaikan in Akihabara. The 10-story building houses six </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS 明朝","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">トレカ</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"> (toreka,
as they are called in Japan) shops including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yellow Submarine</b> (sixth floor) and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Magic</b> (ninth). And if that’s not enough, in the building in
front of Radio Kaikan there’s another shop, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cardkingdom</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-75628898449594596522018-05-02T01:45:00.000-07:002018-05-02T01:45:06.085-07:00Shonen Jump turns 50!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6KWYu00ILlaMGCwnJwOAP7Om-9H2cnthqkU4QlNfTMvZm0Gs2ptu8LMs5qNd0WJoQwP-iF-2QfSzVvklES0kK8i3j6P17MBno56A29ymL0Qu000XWdxegbEXNIQ68v6u6jYV60-tfxfI/s1600/jump00s%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6KWYu00ILlaMGCwnJwOAP7Om-9H2cnthqkU4QlNfTMvZm0Gs2ptu8LMs5qNd0WJoQwP-iF-2QfSzVvklES0kK8i3j6P17MBno56A29ymL0Qu000XWdxegbEXNIQ68v6u6jYV60-tfxfI/s640/jump00s%255B1%255D.jpg" width="562" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The Shonen Jump 50th Anniversary Exhibition, hosted in Roppongi, Tokyo, have virtually every volume of the magazine available for reading.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The exhibition is divided in three parts, and part 2 is currently under way. It covers the 1990s and runs until June 17</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZFUmRUcOymHmt7R4pJBJVjrrJpegXw_tE6Ru_oacZHmzgG-cJQpf-gNQ5GlppZwEyI3hXWQFatp_7BpyPJEpBiTd_4S5rORkNb6LBJq3rpqkMZRpsuFPEcgm0Zcos3PHsCghJ3310cW/s1600/jump90s%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZFUmRUcOymHmt7R4pJBJVjrrJpegXw_tE6Ru_oacZHmzgG-cJQpf-gNQ5GlppZwEyI3hXWQFatp_7BpyPJEpBiTd_4S5rORkNb6LBJq3rpqkMZRpsuFPEcgm0Zcos3PHsCghJ3310cW/s640/jump90s%255B1%255D.jpg" width="593" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, a visual for part 3, which runs from July 17 to September 30 and covers manga released in the 2000s up to now, has been revealed. Of course, the two most prominent characters on the poster are Luffy from <em>One Piece</em> and Naruto.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The exhibitions and manga </span><a href="https://www.shonenjump.com/j/sp_toshokan/"><span style="color: #b01320; font-size: large;">library</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> are all found at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo. The exhibitions cost ¥2,000 for general admission, while the manga library is free.</span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-40847537712396185532018-02-04T17:13:00.000-08:002018-02-04T17:13:07.935-08:00Gundam Build Divers TV Anime Premieres This Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyW0vq6Mgqd-TssoIrBULgJubVAXffTq6jg_ZA5QiIk4fc4FomjQPUeDX_vF-nUuwDHF7tyiZFmdhFglRr9da358ZBZSTPjHlJaFzZdqRH7kM3hKEwypnEYHnAfrxNikj6_TA6qS3VcnZ/s1600/Gundam-Build-Divers+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="680" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyW0vq6Mgqd-TssoIrBULgJubVAXffTq6jg_ZA5QiIk4fc4FomjQPUeDX_vF-nUuwDHF7tyiZFmdhFglRr9da358ZBZSTPjHlJaFzZdqRH7kM3hKEwypnEYHnAfrxNikj6_TA6qS3VcnZ/s400/Gundam-Build-Divers+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sunrise is on the way with more Gunpla anime action in the form of <i>Gundam Build Divers</i>, the latest entry in the <em>Gundam Build Fighters </em>series. This one has Kyoya Kujo competing in the Gunpla Force Battle Tournament along with a wide assortment of challengers, and it’s set to debut this spring.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO_VwjqucPP3IzchoGggVWLABGNfpTCQJrEPHLTWaJdrLUw2AqUqywrm2EwkSCHLP97ZMyTknXsc0HlN6xzrcgRfSCG1GiuQ2pE0eaw81CTTovyDxcknDiwis5P4VXyY65uVE6yfmRZ7r/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="1024" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO_VwjqucPP3IzchoGggVWLABGNfpTCQJrEPHLTWaJdrLUw2AqUqywrm2EwkSCHLP97ZMyTknXsc0HlN6xzrcgRfSCG1GiuQ2pE0eaw81CTTovyDxcknDiwis5P4VXyY65uVE6yfmRZ7r/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ahead of that, the main staff and cast members have been revealed. Shinya Watada will be directing, with Noboru Kimura on series composition, Juri Toida on character designs, and Masami Obari as action director for the TV Tokyo, Sunrise, and Sotsu production.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
<div class="p1">
Here’s a rundown of the cast thus far:</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>Riku Mikami – </b>Yūsuke Kobayashi</div>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWaCClBGlm99V0SbMSkpyhVqWFJ1csuL9it50Tocbi2orcKyYuNEStPbLh_Ukmsqj6cDSNILOF2fxD75egUahcRjZO9-TIQ_2ZitOWpxvEhD5b_HewAfOoGNosWTtNutqGZxqu0km7cvP/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWaCClBGlm99V0SbMSkpyhVqWFJ1csuL9it50Tocbi2orcKyYuNEStPbLh_Ukmsqj6cDSNILOF2fxD75egUahcRjZO9-TIQ_2ZitOWpxvEhD5b_HewAfOoGNosWTtNutqGZxqu0km7cvP/s640/3.png" width="498" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Yukio Hidaka – </strong>Natsumi Fujiwara</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6BoRWVk76zN8zvH19tydf3S1ZcPKAgAtFep1opdtaGV_w7WgeWBslyjo2yVQQ-RbQzpAP0dqpEhlY3bZDIf-UMBIMKiYPu60Vh-jmGweFJrCMkjVDPkRuKdfPTvjYzbdDWrIvX-Gee6u/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6BoRWVk76zN8zvH19tydf3S1ZcPKAgAtFep1opdtaGV_w7WgeWBslyjo2yVQQ-RbQzpAP0dqpEhlY3bZDIf-UMBIMKiYPu60Vh-jmGweFJrCMkjVDPkRuKdfPTvjYzbdDWrIvX-Gee6u/s640/4.png" width="498" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Momoka Yashiro – </strong>Nene Hieda</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-2IMkMUO7gTe5W5kd3lEg6dHN3vhqaHdE19vOtAfP0gN8FU_KU9Zh8wKMg1yyZgwu0It_4lMKKqDYjDQaqN8zZ42DdJSMHvGv4dKGl3NumdJ0EEGkgyFq5WPk7pFuxhZpnk1h0BJfoHg/s1600/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-2IMkMUO7gTe5W5kd3lEg6dHN3vhqaHdE19vOtAfP0gN8FU_KU9Zh8wKMg1yyZgwu0It_4lMKKqDYjDQaqN8zZ42DdJSMHvGv4dKGl3NumdJ0EEGkgyFq5WPk7pFuxhZpnk1h0BJfoHg/s640/5.png" width="498" /></a></div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Sera – </strong>Haruka Terui</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmty3m4Oe_OBT6LweFS2Ov54ZZdm22eFICexb_Uh85ScX9xqHB-NNEMSOlxmguB_io30jnQyCm4JDXvqb3ItzWfntSg4IDB-6W-Y-W_Hbr8AR52dCPMvJuZM1itTQzjE15nNUjYwyVQ2d_/s1600/6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmty3m4Oe_OBT6LweFS2Ov54ZZdm22eFICexb_Uh85ScX9xqHB-NNEMSOlxmguB_io30jnQyCm4JDXvqb3ItzWfntSg4IDB-6W-Y-W_Hbr8AR52dCPMvJuZM1itTQzjE15nNUjYwyVQ2d_/s640/6.png" width="498" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Kyoya Kujo – </strong>Jun Kasama</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC15qxkaPJabYEZsyiBx1QOB026cwBZnOhhkZYpTk0vNxAf75qRNHMT-Yo8zJiO50Y7qoTTG5BjxxjET7axc4-GpvY21monxzS5tmS2r_1DmdXKLl-gs6ft7kBFfB-GOnq28gNaEGDMdaM/s1600/7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC15qxkaPJabYEZsyiBx1QOB026cwBZnOhhkZYpTk0vNxAf75qRNHMT-Yo8zJiO50Y7qoTTG5BjxxjET7axc4-GpvY21monxzS5tmS2r_1DmdXKLl-gs6ft7kBFfB-GOnq28gNaEGDMdaM/s640/7.png" width="498" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In other news, last week I visited the mighty Kinokuniya bookstore in Tokyo, and I had a nice chat with the good folks who run the foreign-language book floor. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBhRHBblfCHzCwqDQcpFInf1-BTlCelMrBpDx5N68LNwMFh78jRDVpajWwSwKGlEIIBIZpYE6H4W4BvORQRU-m160AyDB62lzA3kwdtWppv8E00cJWggkKqAlX3bbIPKUCCeaToHKlD3G/s1600/31.1.2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBhRHBblfCHzCwqDQcpFInf1-BTlCelMrBpDx5N68LNwMFh78jRDVpajWwSwKGlEIIBIZpYE6H4W4BvORQRU-m160AyDB62lzA3kwdtWppv8E00cJWggkKqAlX3bbIPKUCCeaToHKlD3G/s400/31.1.2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the latest review of my book: </span><a href="https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html"><span style="color: #cc6611; font-size: large;">https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">By the way, if you already have a copy of <strong>Tokyo Geek's Guide</strong> and you liked it, an Amazon rating/review would be greatly appreciated. </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R"><span style="color: #cc6611; font-size: large;">https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">And a big thank you if you have already done it!</span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-68717436143067136172018-01-25T21:14:00.000-08:002018-01-25T21:17:07.105-08:00Lupin III creator Monkey Punch's new film project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9cR5pQFEuboI9AgCrz2WYOroXu4dT73RkUJhgZEjJCTSYfdB6mSSORJ7zEe99Us9LCyloCDCIcLUMBTM4OaJRSlJEbiyzCf1Y-uiLGyPC21WCaJMOlMr3qgtTTYkcIjpX3tkl-R6af7Q/s1600/Monkey+Punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9cR5pQFEuboI9AgCrz2WYOroXu4dT73RkUJhgZEjJCTSYfdB6mSSORJ7zEe99Us9LCyloCDCIcLUMBTM4OaJRSlJEbiyzCf1Y-uiLGyPC21WCaJMOlMr3qgtTTYkcIjpX3tkl-R6af7Q/s400/Monkey+Punch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone’s favorite thief, Lupin III, turned 50 this year, and to mark the occasion, a new anime project has been greenlit. What’s more, the director will be none other than <strong>Monkey Punch</strong>, Lupin's original creator. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to Monkey Punch, the new anime pays tribute to previous <em>Lupin III</em> projects while also letting the staff try new things. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This will be the author's second directorial work: he previously directed <em>Dead or Alive</em> (1996). </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZb_OUx9TWfZ_-vSIn_GaeUyRvoAXWp1_kHY3AYbWAja8RJ5BExDN6yESMbUPA9uWS4STuy1LQ1YkC36Ng5GW8qcqNsurq7cWERpqUzzEFelG09HAV8NmVNMhh06peeEwxOEGztRV2ayF/s1600/Lupin+III.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZb_OUx9TWfZ_-vSIn_GaeUyRvoAXWp1_kHY3AYbWAja8RJ5BExDN6yESMbUPA9uWS4STuy1LQ1YkC36Ng5GW8qcqNsurq7cWERpqUzzEFelG09HAV8NmVNMhh06peeEwxOEGztRV2ayF/s1600/Lupin+III.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">To celebrate the event, I'm offering you this interesting interview with Monkey Pinch that was originally featured in Anime News Network. Enjoy.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How often have you had the opportunity to start work on a three month project, only to see it turn into a career that's lasted nearly thirty years? Katou Kazuhiko, better known to many as <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=41">Monkey Punch</a></cite>, had that happen when he started a little manga called <cite class="e anime">Lupin III</cite>. What started off as a loose collection of one shot comics has blossomed into a series featured in countless TV series, OVAs and movies. There's even talk of a live action movie.<br /><br /> I had the opportunity to sit down with the man known as </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><span style="font-size: large;">Monkey Punch at a little convention in Dallas, Texas called AnimeFest. Although one of the smaller conventions on the circuit, AnimeFest pulled in one of the great manga artists, distracting a bit from one of the other major conventions under a similar name.<br /><br /> Katou Kazuhiko sat down in a closed chat session, along with translator <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=130141">Jonathan Nawrocki</a></cite> and a group of journalists from <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1390">Kyle Hebert</a></cite>.com, ANN and other publications, as well as a documentary crew from Strong Arm Productions. This is the conversation that ensued.<br /><br /><b>When did you first get started with drawing?</b></span><br />
<table align="right" style="width: 250px;"><tbody>
<tr><td><div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><img data-src="/thumbnails/max1000x1500/FEATURE/164/lupin.jpg" height="369" src="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max1000x1500/FEATURE/164/lupin.jpg" width="250" /><br />Monkey Punch's <cite class="e anime">Lupin III</cite><br /> available from <cite class="e company"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=11">TOKYOPOP</a></cite> </span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I've been drawing manga since I was quite little, not necessarily manga in its formal sense, but little drawings here and there. Through my younger years I continued with scribbles and drawings in publications such as children's newspapers.<br /><br /> When I was in junior high school I started concentrating more on specific, so-called newspaper publications directed towards kids. And I continued doing that. Its not that it was anything official, but I believe many manga artists started the same way I did in creating those kinds of publications.<br /><br /> Then in junior high school I was writing manga strips for the school newspapers and a rivalry of sorts developed between myself and the other artists who were doing the same thing. It became a challenge; we kept trying to improve and to make our work better. Before you knew it there were these collections of our work that started to accumulate. And actually, one of my ‘rivals’ also became a professional manga artist. We started young, and a lot of people followed us.<br /><br /> Sometimes when we would actually get something published in a magazine we would actually receive a prize or reward of some sort. Receiving that was actually a part of the inspiration or motivation to draw manga.<br /><br /> Sometimes, there were cash prizes as well, but often it was merchandise. So you could say in a way that, in my junior high school years, I had a part-time job writing manga. But at that time, despite all of this, I never really thought I would become a professional manga artist.<br /><br /><b>After all these years, what appeal still exists in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a>Lupin that allows you to continue working on that series?</b><br /><br /> I guess you could say that part of the appeal is that my works have been directed at the youth of the nation and of the world, the younger generation, so in a sense, I wasn't really ever restricted with political barriers. It was easy for me to continue writing and drawing in that sense because it was freedom.<br /><br /> So, speaking of freedom, I mean, it's just like when Lupin goes abroad, overseas, you never really see him have a passport. There are no boundaries for him, he's a free roamer.<br /><br /> I'm drawing him as a character, where he can go wherever he wants whenever he wants without any obstacles. And that's the appeal for me.<br /><br /><b>Of the characters, who do you most relate to and why?</b><br /><br /> So actually, I would probably have to say Lupin, without any doubt, it must be Lupin, I mean, everything about him kind of appeals to me.<br /><br /> Actually, I kind of project my desires, my interests through Lupin, he's a thief and a criminal in that regard, but I'm using that as more of a setting. What I really like about Lupin is his freedom, his boundless freedom that allows him to do whatever he wants whenever he wants and never really be tied down to anything or anyone in particular. I think I want that for myself in my own work when I do my own jobs, so for that reason, Lupin is by far the character I most relate to.<br /><br /> Even though I relate to Lupin the most, I really, really like Zenigata. Zenigata is Lupin's fiercest opponent, his personality, his ultra-strict, ultra-rigid, “protect every rule” personality, in a sense is something that also really appeals to me. I really like how the contrast comes out between Lupin and Zenigata in my work. That whole combination of things really, to me as a manga artist, is what I strive for.<br /><br /><b>Do you enjoy exploring other worlds beyond the ones you've created already?</b><br /><br /> Absolutely, without a doubt. I really do enjoy it. I guess you could perhaps say that it's my curiosity, but wherever there's a crowd gathering, anywhere there's a group of people bustling about something, I always tend to stick my neck in and say, "hey, what's going on?" I'm really curious about things like that. And I also enjoy looking at creations other than my own to use in my own study for my own works.<br /><br /><b>Do Lupin and Fujiko ever get together, or are they fated to continue to tease each other?</b><br /><br /> Actually, it's kind of interesting. I think men and women in general as... rather than saying tease, say they enjoy each other. They use their attributes; Fujiko uses her beautiful body and her sex appeal as a weapon and Lupin uses his cunning and his wit as a weapon and they like going at it with each other in a fun sense. Not necessarily lovers, not necessarily husband and wife, but more just having fun as man and woman with each other and using their weapons against each other, but in an enjoyable way. That's how I think of that.<br /><br /> So even, I mean, I fight with my wife, too, but we have fun when we fight, it's not an all-out brawl!<br /><br /><b>How do you feel about Lupin's growing popularity in America?</b><br /><br /> When I started drawing Lupin thirty-six years ago, I was really only supposed to draw him for 3 months. It was more of only a contract project. At the end of that 3 months, it became popular and I continued drawing it for 10 years. And over that time, I never expected that I'd be invited to America multiple times, to attend these conventions, have so many fans and people that have read my works and have come to talk to me and express their gratitude. It's really an amazing feeling and at the same time it's bizarre in a way. I don't understand the popularity. I'm happy for it, but I don't understand it.<br /><br /><b>Is there anything you feel Americans may be missing out on in any of your works?</b><br /><br /> Yes, I do think there are some things that don't come across, especially the humor. There's a lot of Japanese humor that doesn't make it outside of the country and is not felt the same way. However, I think its not just America, I think it's worldwide. I think there are a lot of different cultures that do affect how people interpret my work. But it's not something I really worry about too much.<br /><br /><b>Any words of advice for those looking to create their own manga?</b><br /><br /> If I was to give some advice, I would have to say there are a lot of good artists today. But, at the same time my art isn't necessarily the best art there is. I would say “Don't concentrate just on drawing.” It is probably more important is that is to have a story that fits well with modern times, with your day, and to keep that in mind when you draw your work. Also, don't over-concentrate on one thing, try to diversify. Learn a little about many different things, it'll probably help you more in the long run.<br /><br /> For example, when I was younger and I started writing manga, we only had pen and paper. Today, there are all sorts of different mediums with which to express yourself creatively. Although it's important to continue to figure out ways to improve in your chosen medium, be it digital manga, be it traditional manga, I think its more important still to keep your readers in mind, your audience in mind when you create your work.<br /><br /> Your questions are <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=18591">Pretty Tough</a></cite>.<br /><br /><b>Regarding his early Inspirations</b><br /><br /> I would probably have to say as far as inspirations are concerned, maybe some of the more famous mystery works, just worldly mystery works. I think they probably helped me out creating my stories quite a bit.<br /><br /> Even things like, you know, <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=9762">Treasure Island</a></cite> or Monte Crisco, I think even those works influenced me quite a bit. I even enjoyed reading about D'Artagnan from the <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1112">Three Musketeers</a></cite>. It might be my own analysis, but I even feel that Lupin might be very similar to D'Artagnan. M'lady the character that comes out from the D'Artagnan stories, I think that person might even be similar to Fujiko. So, those kinds of works I really think they did affect me at an early age.<br /><br /><b>In 1967, when the publication of <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=886">Lupin the 3rd</a></cite> began in <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=16157">Manga Action</a></cite> Weekly, you were also involved with another series called Pinky Punky, was there any pressure working on 2 mangas simultaneously?</b><br /><br /> Not really, I didn't feel much pressure at all. All my works kind of are similar in a way. I do enjoy making outlaws my main characters. I wrote Pinky Punky as a female outlaw, and even Lupin is an outlaw, so no, I didn't feel much pressure at all. So instead of writing about a heroic character, a good guy, I really enjoy writing about bad guys so much more.<br /><br /><b>What drew Monkey Punch to the mystery Genre?</b><br /><br /> Just like I mentioned a little while ago, I really like riddles, puzzles, mysteries and even, you know, the <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=26806">Agatha Christie</a></cite> movies and novels. I like Columbo. I'm a big fan of Mission Impossible so I've even taken hints from those different programs and series and included them in my works.<br /><br /><b>How did the name Monkey Punch come to be?</b><br /><br /> To be honest, I don't really like the name Monkey Punch, I never have. Actually, the way I got this name was from the editor of the magazine that discovered me when I was writing <cite class="e lexicon"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/lexicon.php?id=16">doujinshi</a></cite>. He chose the name for me. I really don't know how he came up with it, but I couldn't really refuse him or disagree with him, so it just kind of stuck, and I've been stuck with it now for 36 years.<br /><br /> Actually my editor told me just keep the name for a year, keep writing for a year and then we could figure things out, so I was like “Ok”. So, I wrote for a year, then Lupin became popular and I couldn't give up the name, so now it's stuck for 36 years. As I mentioned earlier, Lupin was originally supposed to be a 3 month project, had Lupin not become successful I'm sure that after less than a year that name would have disappeared.</span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><img data-src="/thumbnails/max1000x1500/FEATURE/164/animefest03-011.jpg" height="293" src="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max1000x1500/FEATURE/164/animefest03-011.jpg" width="299" /><br /><dont size="-2">Katou Kazuhiko Answers a quesion</dont> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<table align="left" style="width: 299px;"></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is it like to see your creation, Lupin, Animated?</b><br /><br /> I'm happy to see that it's been animated, however anime and manga are quite different and when a company approaches and asks to create an animation of my work, I really just want them to create something that is good. I'd like to leave the animating to the animators, the professionals. It's not my field of expertise and so when it comes down to it, I'm pretty much, well, “Make it good,” and I leave it up to them. So, you know, the directors will go ahead and make their own Lupin and add a twist to their own Lupin character and I enjoy watching those.<br /><br /> I particularly like Miyazaki's <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=127">Castle of Cagliostro</a></cite>. I really enjoy that work and I just like him and another famous manga artist in Japan, Testegawa-sama, their works, I enjoy them from a distance. I don't try to do it myself; I enjoy it from a distance.<br /><br /><b>What was it like to direct your own Lupin Movie?</b><br /><br /> I really don't want to talk about this too much.<br /><br /> Basically, in the case of Dead or <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=8147">Alive</a></cite>, which is the movie I directed, it wasn't something I wanted to do on my own. I was approached to do it, we were on a real tight time-crunch. The movie was produced in 5 months and basically it was decided that this movie was going to be made and they didn't have a director so I unwillingly accepted the role. However I feel it was the voice actors and the other people involved in the project that saved it.<br /><br /> The one thing I learned from doing this is that, more than even myself drawing manga by myself, it took more than a thousand times the energy to produce and direct this movie. And I really don't want to do it again.<br /><br /><b>Regarding any new anime or manga Monkey Punch is developing?</b><br /><br /> It's not a TV series, or anything right now, but there is something new that I'm working on. In Osaka, there is a national citizen's museum. In 2004 there is going to be an Arabian Nights display and I'm creating an animation for that. It's actually going to be done in Computer Graphics, CG, and <cite class="e company"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=494">NHK</a></cite> is producing it. So I'm sure it will be ultimately broadcast on <cite class="e company">NHK</cite>, but for now it'll be at the exhibition.<br /><br /> There are pretty good stories in Arabian Nights and this one is about a black horse. It's currently about 50% finished. There's actually a portion of that, that they are talking about making 3-D where you would need the special glasses.<br /><br /><b>What kind of information can visitors find at your website, MonkeyPunch.com?</b><br /><br /> Right now, it hasn't been updated in a while, there's not a lot of new information you gain from the site, however my plans for it in the future, probably the next two years is to have a digital manga series on it. Me personally, I'm more in the preparation stage, getting ready to do this project, so please, look forward to it.<br /><br /> One of the dreams I have, one of the things I would really like to see happen in the future, is more of a collaborative effort using the internet community getting other artists in Japan and perhaps from other countries to come together and create a masterpiece.<br /><br /><b>What is J-Mac (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a>Japanese Manga Artists Club)?</b><br /><br /> It's kind of an interesting thing, J-Mac. It wasn't really ever meant to be a club, it wasn't a group I formed to invite people in, its more a couple of people I knew who were using Macs to do artwork and I gave them a call, and say, hey, want to get together for a little bit, and before you knew it, it had 1500 members! They're not all manga artists, they're just people that are into art on the Mac, but that's kind of what it is.<br /><br /> There's something else I would like to let everyone know about, in addition to J-Mac there is something else I created called Digital Manga Group. This is a group where I've invited many professional manga artists including <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3138">Leiji Matsumoto</a></cite> of <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1361">Galaxy Express 999</a></cite>, <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3140">Go Nagai</a></cite> of Devil Man and <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3946">Cutey Honey</a></cite>, Terasawa Buichi of <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2930">Cobra</a></cite> and <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3487">Goku - Midnight Eye</a></cite>, <cite class="e person"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3546">Tsukasa Hojo</a></cite> of <cite class="e anime"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=384">City Hunter</a></cite> and a female artist by the name of Sato Naka. We're in the preparation stage, but this is a completely professional digital manga group I've brought together and hopefully we'll be able to create some fantastic things for everybody. And ultimately I'd like this to expand beyond the borders of Japan to other countries to other professional comic book artists that want to use the digital medium. I would love for them to come and join our group. <cite class="e company"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=406">Sony</a></cite> and various game companies have taken an interest in our group; they want to learn a lot more about us, so we're just now starting talks with them. So hopefully, this will be something big.<br /><br /><b>Do you have any plans to retire?</b><br /><br /> No plans whatsoever; I'll draw manga until I die! It may not be on paper, it may be on the computer. I've actually gone back to university studying digital art, digital computers further to hopefully further my self and hopefully further a movement in Japan for digital manga. I will continue writing until I die.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvtbH24g9HB6bfXS3e6fVHwuO-Y3gJHjHwVT7fRKMsa4OFSsuf06di8gHkcaiBd-95Hkec0_SUsH_IcYnT4lxztVPhKYytR3wS_dEuZN8kKnQUEZ8qeNJ6cdLwY_DOElqx0GWtXDwPpzD/s1600/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvtbH24g9HB6bfXS3e6fVHwuO-Y3gJHjHwVT7fRKMsa4OFSsuf06di8gHkcaiBd-95Hkec0_SUsH_IcYnT4lxztVPhKYytR3wS_dEuZN8kKnQUEZ8qeNJ6cdLwY_DOElqx0GWtXDwPpzD/s320/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you want to know where to find classic manga and anime in Tokyo, have a look at my <strong>Tokyo Geek's Guide</strong>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> You can read here the latest review: </span><a href="https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html"><span style="color: #cc6611; font-size: large;">https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">By the way, if you already have a copy and you liked it, an Amazon rating/review would be greatly appreciated. </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R"><span style="color: #cc6611; font-size: large;">https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">And a big thank you if you have already done it!</span></span><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-29063069177240611972018-01-24T16:39:00.001-08:002018-02-04T17:04:27.231-08:00Exploring Tokyo with Sword Art Online<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU17Eovauc8pwhp2TW0rapy__dgnVUJZVfmp0x0pDQIDczFGM_trcQVESoKiyUT-AMIHAHVgnKInwNGI81LQxFn6NQfOTKhQGfdrlOn4QGgnQQ5coj50pzjnn2hWBkmG830QbE8UUCeWU/s1600/img_ogp%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU17Eovauc8pwhp2TW0rapy__dgnVUJZVfmp0x0pDQIDczFGM_trcQVESoKiyUT-AMIHAHVgnKInwNGI81LQxFn6NQfOTKhQGfdrlOn4QGgnQQ5coj50pzjnn2hWBkmG830QbE8UUCeWU/s400/img_ogp%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU17Eovauc8pwhp2TW0rapy__dgnVUJZVfmp0x0pDQIDczFGM_trcQVESoKiyUT-AMIHAHVgnKInwNGI81LQxFn6NQfOTKhQGfdrlOn4QGgnQQ5coj50pzjnn2hWBkmG830QbE8UUCeWU/s1600/img_ogp%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU17Eovauc8pwhp2TW0rapy__dgnVUJZVfmp0x0pDQIDczFGM_trcQVESoKiyUT-AMIHAHVgnKInwNGI81LQxFn6NQfOTKhQGfdrlOn4QGgnQQ5coj50pzjnn2hWBkmG830QbE8UUCeWU/s1600/img_ogp%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU17Eovauc8pwhp2TW0rapy__dgnVUJZVfmp0x0pDQIDczFGM_trcQVESoKiyUT-AMIHAHVgnKInwNGI81LQxFn6NQfOTKhQGfdrlOn4QGgnQQ5coj50pzjnn2hWBkmG830QbE8UUCeWU/s1600/img_ogp%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>Sword Art Online </em>fans in Japan will soon have a way to get closer to their favorite series. With the help of a special app, </span><a href="http://tokyo-animetourism.jp/"><span style="color: #b01320; font-size: large;">Tokyo Anime Tourism</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> is giving fans the opportunity to explore Tokyo while interacting with <i>Sword Art Online </i>characters via augmented reality.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMYUUw5d6B74TI8ajmKyKHoFFh7MTTLonggeDJa1KjLM3FfnuxXIRUOgMGkXL2pWXcQratB2CUigKdS6Es5bt_I0Qm2vHrAY-aGqdmDg2Jjj-OHoGOSdUxK7pDX2DaFS_VBYoxckstWVy/s1600/unnamed%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMYUUw5d6B74TI8ajmKyKHoFFh7MTTLonggeDJa1KjLM3FfnuxXIRUOgMGkXL2pWXcQratB2CUigKdS6Es5bt_I0Qm2vHrAY-aGqdmDg2Jjj-OHoGOSdUxK7pDX2DaFS_VBYoxckstWVy/s1600/unnamed%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">The special AR spots will be marked on a map within the app, and those who visit enough of these locations will get a chance to win related prizes. Some of the prizes include clear files, towels, and pinback buttons.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXCsVgOMCIpT2NW2XIw26DzpxkvSfK_QnWjUv899bMxZI6IA1SDtulDsWRqj9ebgzXZSwYR1k5qnDwukGTE9hHkyFPmrRdnSDZu7GTeBvdJhS12a6pcLkfkOW4jWuiY9gFr3MRolJs-gQ/s1600/703b3feb%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="905" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXCsVgOMCIpT2NW2XIw26DzpxkvSfK_QnWjUv899bMxZI6IA1SDtulDsWRqj9ebgzXZSwYR1k5qnDwukGTE9hHkyFPmrRdnSDZu7GTeBvdJhS12a6pcLkfkOW4jWuiY9gFr3MRolJs-gQ/s640/703b3feb%255B1%255D.jpg" width="451" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">It all starts with a kickoff event in Bellesalle Akihabara, which will be host to special rare character encounters on January 28. After that, the AR event will be available until February 28.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89t5J2zlrtUe5rmZPpvvk4Bwyy6BPybNIjsv9ZnOp2UBTKNZuzc5f9qAO_147cGZ8Dif9i-l8hkIAiCR63ZxVV2ZnNg1w1wsiEL5LodQDT43lXbsKR66MLZ7TX-3f6GlCd7sNPUkcDhGJ/s1600/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89t5J2zlrtUe5rmZPpvvk4Bwyy6BPybNIjsv9ZnOp2UBTKNZuzc5f9qAO_147cGZ8Dif9i-l8hkIAiCR63ZxVV2ZnNg1w1wsiEL5LodQDT43lXbsKR66MLZ7TX-3f6GlCd7sNPUkcDhGJ/s400/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't forget my brand-new otaku guide to Tokyo. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You can read here the latest review: <a href="https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html">https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">By the way, if you already have a copy of <strong>Tokyo Geek's Guide</strong> and you liked it, an Amazon rating/review would be greatly appreciated. </span><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R">https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And a big thank you if you have already done it!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-64638706697567239242018-01-15T01:55:00.000-08:002018-01-25T04:05:47.908-08:00For Gunpla fans in Tokyo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARpynn2_D9sTGWpLBmiOUfMalvNf6aOawjEl9RVkaavYYbegzxKA72Lrktt1te9yUEbIvA2S8-LoZP7EYD74lVwBfjVyjredhVQq3ZkWyTDW3ksAjNM5i-qsq2nsnfZNToOb138p2OxXA/s1600/%25284.3%2529+Nakano+Broadway+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1600" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARpynn2_D9sTGWpLBmiOUfMalvNf6aOawjEl9RVkaavYYbegzxKA72Lrktt1te9yUEbIvA2S8-LoZP7EYD74lVwBfjVyjredhVQq3ZkWyTDW3ksAjNM5i-qsq2nsnfZNToOb138p2OxXA/s400/%25284.3%2529+Nakano+Broadway+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let’s say you love those gorgeous Gunpla but you are
too lazy to build your own model. No problem because the good folks at <strong>Plabbit</strong>
have a great selection of pre-built models on sale (for 20,000-30,000 yen).
They also excel at customization. Do you want a new paint job, or maybe you
want to add some accessories or some other custom modification? Just ask. But
remember that custom work takes time (between one and four months, depending on
what you want), so it’s not good if you are in a hurry or just visiting Tokyo
for a few days. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">Plabbit is in <strong>Nakano Broadway</strong>, one of Tokyo's otaku main areas.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><a href="http://plabbit.net/">http://plabbit.net/</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItCoccM9_x469YG5yIGO-XXGjg1niXklpbSDj0-Zoh9DMQLHRhsVR3m5TBqX4ljhFXX6RsLgdYIwRZtoVC1Unl1_smejCJLYdv2de4axJDxpCLMDYEB4m2fjNuHP5S3RfHsmOFposjimW/s1600/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItCoccM9_x469YG5yIGO-XXGjg1niXklpbSDj0-Zoh9DMQLHRhsVR3m5TBqX4ljhFXX6RsLgdYIwRZtoVC1Unl1_smejCJLYdv2de4axJDxpCLMDYEB4m2fjNuHP5S3RfHsmOFposjimW/s400/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">You can find this and other interesting information in a brand-new otaku guide to Tokyo.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">By the way, if you already have a copy of <strong>Tokyo Geek's Guide</strong> and you liked it, an Amazon rating/review would be greatly appreciated. </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R"><span style="color: #cc6611; font-size: large;">https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R</span></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">And a big thank you if you have already done it!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"></span></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック; font-size: small;">
<span lang="IT" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック; font-size: small;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック; font-size: small;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
<div align="left" style="margin: 0mm 0mm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span lang="IT"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;">
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: MS Pゴシック;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-55582776228778379082018-01-04T16:18:00.001-08:002018-01-04T16:18:42.892-08:00Tokyo Geek's Guide update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSbJHk5yqn7qD2hLh0s3fUsYev2HhyQmjkArs0WgzHfJ9nUmZCmCwdYCYLKA5qVJZ_RuTIpoqjJw-rdYT0ovL6C6XMDZ7V0SGEm4WQ1CQnyBFMCbgqUCASqfww7HJU-qIQas4SjiIgqjg/s1600/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSbJHk5yqn7qD2hLh0s3fUsYev2HhyQmjkArs0WgzHfJ9nUmZCmCwdYCYLKA5qVJZ_RuTIpoqjJw-rdYT0ovL6C6XMDZ7V0SGEm4WQ1CQnyBFMCbgqUCASqfww7HJU-qIQas4SjiIgqjg/s400/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My book was reviewed by Japan Reference!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.jref.com/reviews/tokyo-geeks-guide.29/#details">https://www.jref.com/reviews/tokyo-geeks-guide.29/#details</a></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839335491967981.post-25955762320553524162018-01-04T03:34:00.003-08:002018-01-05T02:54:09.300-08:00100 years of Japanese animation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl0hKE3qdae8KpIrePhjBq03SXsegpA4Y3VdFfkWr2353Son52gtT8JBlSgKLQpPQCUK5u1MkgP07O7y21mpL7Xtvs6TEV9BJqeqLO6PbsA07xEUUqVuPtqOhscUpgg6vvzByDmjf1BPq/s1600/Anime+100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl0hKE3qdae8KpIrePhjBq03SXsegpA4Y3VdFfkWr2353Son52gtT8JBlSgKLQpPQCUK5u1MkgP07O7y21mpL7Xtvs6TEV9BJqeqLO6PbsA07xEUUqVuPtqOhscUpgg6vvzByDmjf1BPq/s1600/Anime+100.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">2017 was a very special year in the history of Japanese animation as it celebrated its 100th anniversary. In fact 1917 saw the release of what is considered the country's first animated work - a short called <em>The Dull Sword</em>. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRy4jzjnEF-Sll0EmCuoccNJcrKAcsbZWwPVRqxI8t9PHQdrPDiW5DK-Qlz-EEA2Zz_r8sDgwb-GKagf8Hhdo6zw_PdCR8xEbUk2CMlx9_-yg5nidLJrXZcW1zmP3CEqOwXPWlZo9xfDH/s1600/The+Dull+Sword.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRy4jzjnEF-Sll0EmCuoccNJcrKAcsbZWwPVRqxI8t9PHQdrPDiW5DK-Qlz-EEA2Zz_r8sDgwb-GKagf8Hhdo6zw_PdCR8xEbUk2CMlx9_-yg5nidLJrXZcW1zmP3CEqOwXPWlZo9xfDH/s1600/The+Dull+Sword.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The year saw several events marking the occasion, including the opening </span><span style="font-size: large;">of a free online archive of classic anime. </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://animation.filmarchives.jp/en/index.html">http://animation.filmarchives.jp/en/index.html</a></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Now a new video on YouTube compresses the entire 100 years of Japanese animation into 15 minutes.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t-GV4XcJak">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t-GV4XcJak</a></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The supercut, which begins with <em>The Dull Sword</em> and ends with <em>Mr. Osomatsu</em>, with 120 other fan favorites in between, features a song called “Tsubasa o Motsu Mono ~Not an Angel Just a Dreamer~.” It’s composed by Tanaka Kohei and features 23 vocalists, including Sasaki Isao, Mizuki Ichiro, May’n and Wake Up, Girls!.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Qk8IvuBSEE9-AINWLV-arhZ1DwOPaXuOS5YUUZaFRbZ_GXMYBbJP578dzgJDlfePVoWxuOOFxMHtJlSBxY6b34f5HAB9lXTs5ncsREQAq6v1GG6pa3eKLsoVw9_FrJtd-AZZKmLOnzrT/s1600/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Qk8IvuBSEE9-AINWLV-arhZ1DwOPaXuOS5YUUZaFRbZ_GXMYBbJP578dzgJDlfePVoWxuOOFxMHtJlSBxY6b34f5HAB9lXTs5ncsREQAq6v1GG6pa3eKLsoVw9_FrJtd-AZZKmLOnzrT/s320/Tokyo+Geeks+Guide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">... And when it comes to anime (and manga, gaming, etc.) you can learn about all the Tokyo otaku hot spots in my brand-new guide. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the latest review of my book:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html">https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0