• Ghost Hound
• Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky
• Nana Tsurio
• Cool and Sweet
• Black Blood Brothers
• Project Blue, SOS
• Karas, Episodes 4, 5, 6
• Tokyo Zombie
• Devil May Cry

The highly anticipated Devil May Cry anime series is currently airing in Japan. It will be released on DVD in December of this year in Japan. Showgate is currently negotiating with ADV as to when the DMC DVD will be released in the US.

Commenting on the story itself for the Devil May Cry anime series, Showgate representatives stated:

…the story does not closely follow the games. The focus will be primarily on Dante and his daily life but Lady and Trish will also make appearances….

Karas 4,5, and 6 will be released at the end of this year.

Superflat Art

One of the many great panels at Anime Central this year was called “Superflat Artists“. As a big fan of Japanese pop art (especially superflat), I was pretty excited to check this one out.

So what is superflat art? Here’s a great summary:

“Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. In a response to the homogenization of Japanese media and art, “Superflat” attempts to critique the vacuity of post-war Japanese culture, including criticisms of the otaku lifestyle, consumerism, and related issues.”

Most superflat artists use a combination of their fine art skills and that in the commercial world. Their design elements can be seen in numerous consumer products such as handbags, dresses, ashtrays and toys. But at the same time, their work is shown in prestigious galleries all over the world. I think it’s the balance between art and commercialism that makes it so interesting to anime fans and fine art lovers.

Two leaders of the superflat art movement are Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami.

Yoshitomo Nara

Nara is typically considered a superflat artist whose style is often referred to as ‘cutism’. Nara’s work is typically childlike but scary. Many of his paintings feature “a lone, bitter child who is isolated on the canvas”. His work is also known for featuring dogs. His work can be found everywhere in Japan; from galleries to ashtrays! View more of Yoshitomo Nara’s art.

Takashi Murakami

Murakami is considered ‘the man’ when it comes to superflat. His work has been displayed in many galleries throughout Japan and the world! Murakami is actually a big fan of anime and manga, even though his work often makes fun of anime stereotypes, LOL. There’s a great lecture I found online that nicely sums up Mr. Murakami’s contribution to superflat. An excerpt:

Murakami himself belongs to the first otaku generation, which consists of those who are born around 1960 (Murakami was born in 1962), and he admits publicly that his superflat style was established based on both Japanese premodern art tradition and postmodern otaku products. Murakami’s superflat conceptuality highlights an artistic quality of the otaku sensibilities. Nevertheless, the actual relationship between superflat and otaku is more complicated than an influence. To understand its entanglement, we should note the fact that otaku culture and its products have generally suffered an unjustified disregard by many intellectuals and critics these 10-15 years in Japan, while they are very often argued as a kind of sociological phenomena. Murakami’s project is now changing this situation but sometimes he still faces misunderstanding. We can point out three causes in this neglect of the otaku culture. I think the understanding of those factors is essential to understand the cultural position of the superflat and the structure of Japanese postmodernity.

View more of Takashi Murakami’s art

There are a variety of other, well-established superflat artists. Here are a few:

Izumi Kato

Deals with topics such as the aging Japanese population. View more of Izumi Kato’s art.

Hideaki Kawashima

Floating heads with large blue eyes dominate Kawashima’s work. The characters are often asexual. View more of Hideaki Kawashima’s art.

Kenji Yanobe

Yanobe tackles subjects like the dualism of atomic power – like how it can provide power, but it can also be used as a weapon. View more of Kenji Yanobe’s art.

Chiho Aoshima

Aoshima’s work is simply amazing. Larger-than-life creatures dominate the canvas – you have to see it to believe it! Check out Chiho Aoshima’s art here and the Tokyo Girls Bravo Show!

If you enjoy their work, you might want to check out these superflat artists too:

• Noboru Tsubaki’s art
• Aya Takano’s art also view more art
• Seth Fisher’s Marvel Comics ’superflat’ style art

Oh, and another site you should check out is Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.. This is the company founded by Takashi Murakami – I think you’ll like it!

Mr. Nightow has worked in a variety of creative fields. When he’s not working on the Trigun Maximum manga (which continues Vash’s story), he’s either designing action figures, working on games or assisting with anime production.

I asked Mr. Nightow if there was a drastically different way he works between the manga and videogame world. He said that one of the main differences is that for videogames (specifically Gungrave), he approached the design of the characters from the back first. His reason for doing things this way were due to the fact that in the Gungrave game, you’re playing as Beyond the Grave, so the player would see over his shoulder. Then he began working on the backgrounds and environments. When asked if there was anything he would change about the game, he said “No”.

Inspiration for Trigun was a mixture of ideas that Mr. Nightow had bubbling around in his head. He liked the contrast between cybertech and western, but the main concept of Vash stems from his desire to tell a story of a character with a strong sense of virtue. Some of the themes he wanted to explore included ideas on life and anti-violence. Some of those concepts have darkened over the years, but his ideas are constantly changing, so a lot of those original ideas show up from time to time.

His favorite ‘western’ (and possibly some inspiration for Trigun) is ‘Wild Wild West’. Or ‘The Wild Bunch’.

He is very inspired when he sees people cosplay as his characters. He once asked a cosplayer why they would go though so much trouble to make a costume for such a complex character design. The fan told him that his work is so inspiring, he had to make it work. So Mr. Nightow is a big fan of people who cosplayer as characters from his creations.

A few questions were asked about some of the ‘non work-related’ things he does. Some of Mr. Nightow’s favorite videogames are God of War and Tomb Raider (for Playstation).

Mr. Nightow would like to tell aspiring artists to “draw every day – practice/practice/practice!” He also said that “no one ever becomes a manga artist without first creating their own manga!”

Overall it was really great to meet such talented creators from Japan. I really appreciate both of their work and am greatful that they took the time out of their day to answer questions.

I arrived at the The Way of the Lolita 30 minutes beforehand and met the moderator, Kurololi Roku. She’s been an Aristocrat for four years and she loves the long dresses and elegant lines that style showcases. She first became interested in the lolita fashion four years ago after finding this unique Japanese style online. Her passion for speaking about lolitas is what spurred her to co-moderate the panel this year.

Kurololi Roku, Roku for short, likes the overall lolita fashion since it has elements of American Goth but, also, because it’s an elegant and beautiful style; something which American Goth can lack at times Her favorite sub-genres within lolita are the mature and sophisticated Aristocrat, and the male style, Ojisama.

Roku started the panel by saying, “It’s called Gothic and Lolita, not Gothic Lolita.” Then she went into the three primary styles of Gothic and Lolita, aka the Gothic and Lolita color wheel. These would be: Lolita, Gothic, and Punk and all the sub-genres within it. Just like an actual color wheel, one could mix gothic with lolita and get Gothic Lolita, mix Gothic and punk to get Punk Gothic and so on and so on (would Sweet Punk work?)

She also debunked the theory that EGL and EGA are actually loli styles; they’re not. Mana, a popular Visual Kei singer developed a loli brand and called it “Elegant Gothic Lolita” and “Elegant Gothic Aristocrat”. It’s a no-no to refer to a style by these terms. It’d be like calling an American urban street style, Nike.

Lolita fashion first started round 1979. There was a fashion brand called Pink House that created pretty clothes for housewives to wear. It’s a rumor that Pink House was the first house to manufacture this fashion. Pink House no longer makes loli-esque clothing.

Gothic and Lolita are NOT cosplay. However, there are cosplay lolitas. Meaning, that most lolitas dress up loli because they would normally dress that way. There are people, on the other hand, who dress loli as a cosplay. Make sense?

While this panel stressed that people interested in lolita should make it unique to themselves, there still seem to be many gals/guys who adhere to a set of rules. Some American lolis have a strict code for being lolita. Any deviation from these guidelines results in the equivalent of an online and/or verbal drive-by. Novala, a Japanese author accredited to helping to create lolita fashion, had this to say in the latest Gothic & Lolita Bible in a article called, “Rules of the Lolita”, about the matter :

“So you say you want to become a Lolita.
It’s okay if you just become one, but you’re asking me.
What do I do to become a Lolita?
I don’t have a set response.
Well, I’ll need a headdress, and a pannier.
Does my outfit coordination look funny?
Am I making mistakes in Lolita?
Hey, why do you want to be a Lolita anyway?
Well, it’s popular, and my friends are doing it…
But, there aren’t any requirements to becoming a Lolita.
If you just imitate it, you’ll eventually achieve the appearance.
But I want to think about it.
Who are you living for?
If you think about your situation, you’re just afraid of being lonely.
You’re shouting out for freedom, but you’re only comfortable within rules.
I admire you for not offering up your full submission.
You Vivienne Westwood girls who don’t know who the Sex Pistols are.
Even when wearing a sweater, a princess is still a princess.
My rules for Lolita are my rules alone,
and only you can come to realize your own Lolita rules.
My gods and your gods are different.
There are angels wrapped in elegant love, striking tambourines, and if you keep them inside, they’ll be there to do their job when you take out your sword and fight.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to hear them.
I have a hint for you, though.
I’m not the only one who has realized this.
The answer to your thoughts about wanting to be proper.
Embroider frills to the bottom of your heart!
Place a tiara atop your soul!
And most of all, have pride.”

Translated by Curiosity

Two other guidelines set up by Novala are:

• Skirts must go below the knee
• Bangs must hit the eyebrows

Curiosity, the lolita co-moderator, showed up in time to add her translation of the article to the conversation. She’s a full time loli, choosing to wear name brand lolita fashions 24-7. When asked how much of a budget a loli would need to be that dedicated, she said “Astronomical”. Still haven’t found an exact number for that…

The panel wrapped up and we took our leave, but not without having a quick word with Curiosity. I’m afraid I gushed a bit when I said that her panel last year was what got me interested in lolita fashion. I then invited her to write for the site. I hope she does; she’s one enlightened and enlightening lolita!

UPDATED: Watch a video excerpt of the panel:

You can check out the Spoony Bards website for more information about the band!

For a minute, I’ll put on my Blogger/ Press hat and analyze: ACen was disorganized and lacked the key communications that would have allowed all the programming and panels to run on time and in an effective manner. Info was either late in coming, didn’t arrive at all, or was misinterpreted.

From a fan’s POV, ACen had some cool panels, killer guests, and great bands. The con drew *RUMOR ALERT* 17,000+ people and cosplayers were everywhere. However, also from a fan’s POV, I saw that the hotel was getting trashed (I didn’t actually witness any wanton acts of vandalism, just the filth and destruction) the pre-reg and Masquerade were horribly mismanaged and the fact that ACen wasn’t really celebrating it’s 10th anniversary the way it should have was disturbing.

There were only two pieces of 10th anniversary swag at the merchandise booth and I felt there should have been much, much more. There also weren’t any panels or events that pushed the 10th year angle. 10 years as the Midwest’s Largest Anime con/ *RUMOR ALERT* /second largest con in the nation is something to celebrate. This con felt like it forgot it’s own birthday. 10 Years= Big Deal. No Big Deal= Disappointment

Also, for some strange reason, the variety of cosplayers wasn’t as vast as it was last year. There were many obscure cosplays and a ton of very well constructed cosplays, a gaggle of gothic lolitas, but nothing like the veritable cornucopia of cosplay that we had last year. Was there a some malaise that hit cosplayers this year? Did I miss that many cosplays? Whatever the reason, I wished I had seen a bigger variety of cosplays.

Overall, I’m right dead in the middle of loathing and loving this year’s Anime Central. This is only my second con (ever) so while I can’t say too much how this compares to other cons, I can say that I wish ACen 2007 had been handled better.

What about you guys? How was your con experience? Anything happen to sour you on ACen or did you have such a blast that you say, “Something went wrong?” What was your experience like?

Yasuhiro Nightow – Trigun 2 on the way (.mp3, 1.9mb, right-click to download)

We’re now accepting nominees, in the form of photos, for our People’s Choice Awards. Send us your best, i.e., clearest and most in focus, photos of your nominations in the following categories:

• Best Crossplay
• Best Male Cosplay
• Best Female Cosplay
• Sexiest Male Cosplay
• Sexiest Female Cosplay
• Most Obscure Cosplay
• Best Out of Context Cosplay
• Cutest Lolita
• Best Lolita
• Best Neko-kun
• Best Neko-mimi
• Best Original Cosplay

Please send nominations by Monday, May 28th, 2007. Vote for the top 5 nominees beginning Friday, June 1st, 2007 and ending Saturday, June 9th, 2007. Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 10th, 2007!

For those unclear on what we mean by Out of Context, keep in mind that cosplaying Japanese culture is good at an anime con. And while Captain Jack Sparrow is also good, he just doesn’t quite go with the anime theme. Savvy? So, remember that out of context cosplays are those that have little to no connection to anime and Japanese culture. Spider-Man is another OC. The Spartans were also wayyyy OC. Catching on? Now you too can play the OC game!

Remember to send us your nominees!!!

Leave STL 8:00am. Am stoked. After two hours of cow county, am borrrred. We go over exactly what we’re going to see and who we’re going to meet. Get re-stoked. After two more hours, I start to get antsy and have a queasy stomach. Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t travel well. It gets hot in the car and rolling down the windows doesn’t help.

We finally roll into Mitsuwa after what seems like forever. We get there and go straight to the Hippo bakery. We had concerns that it might not have been wise to depend on Mitsuwa for our food hookup since it’s popularity and notoriety is growing amongst ACen attendees. We see some anime fans but they’re mostly attacking the ramen and Pocky. To each their own (I was worried about the daifuku). Grabbing some snacks to review and candy for our giveaway, we head over to the furikake section. We pick up a variety pack, get some nice instant udon and decide to head out.

Dave’s driving. We agree to cruise by a sushi restaurant we planned on going to. We go the wrong way, my bad, and just decide to come back to the restaurant after we check in at the hotel. We get back on I-90 and right into Chicago’s rush hour traffic T_T.

After an hour in traffic, Google’s f*’ed up directions and much finger pointing, we get to the Hyatt. After unloading, we all think that going back out into rush hour traffic would suck. Hard. So we order some Chicago style pizza. The pizza’s $32. I’ve never had it before and think $32 is a total rip-off. We get the pizza and I’m amazed. This thing’s HUGE! After we eat, we go down to the lobby and mingle. We hit the hay early, 10:00.

Friday, May 11th, 2007

Get up at 6:30. Am the only one awake. We, for some reason, had an adjoining room. Our neighbors were very excited about the con. They were up most of the night. Since the only thing separating us was a dinky door, I could and did hear their conversation almost perfectly. After I get up, I ask the front desk to move us. I mingle and hand out fliers. Some cosplayers, but not many. Go back to room. Collect the crew and head to the press room. Get there, pick up badges, talk to the ACen folks and finalize plans.

We head down to the reg hall to get a schedule. What greets us will forever stay in my mind: Huge disorganized lines snaking throughout the halls. Holy crap! I start handing out fliers like mad. People are pissed. I’m frequently asked if this is, in fact, the pre-reg line. I say I don’t know but I’ll find out.

We’re wearing our swank, The Anime Blog, t-shirts. A woman approaches me and knows my name. I stare at her blankly. She’s Julie from Manga Mania Cafe!! Cool. I discover this is the pre-reg line. I have a promise to keep and hunt down the folks who asked me if this was the line. I get us our schedules and buy the swag for the contest. We’re disappointed by the lack of 10th year swag. Kat behind the counter is very helpful and patient. Get swag, and go back to the hotel.

Dave and Chikashi head down to the OP Ceremonies. I head back to meet Carey at the Press Room. Go to Op Ceremonies after a brief “staff meeting”. Halfway through the ceremonies, we need to head outside due to a fire alarm. The IRT guys keep herding us towards the sidewalk where the building is and won’t let us cross the street. Great idea to have the attendees on the same side as the burning building. Turns out, there really was a fire. It was a small one in the kitchen.

Hand out more fliers, take more pics, and head back in. Go to panel “Way of the Lolita”. Meet panel head, Kuroloki Roku. She’s a very sweet, informed Aristocrat; it’s a pleasure to talk to her. Panel starts. Curiosity, another panelist, arrives halfway through. She’s an energetic loli who knows her stuff. It’s thanks to her and a panel ACen did last year that made me fall in love with loli style. Introduce myself to Curiosity after the panel. Invite her to write for the site. I really hope she does ^^!

Dave goes to ACen Idol and I mingle and take pics. I spot Greg Ayres and try to take his pic without bothering him (I’m not “that guy” so I didn’t want to be a salty ass and hound him). At 4:15 Chiakshi and I go to wait in line for Greg Ayres’ autograph for my cousin, Julie. But first, I tried to find some Chrono stuff for Greg to sign. Am not paying attention to booth signs and accidentally find myself at the yaoi booth after picking up numerous boy love manga without even knowing it. Can’t find anything Chrono. Looks like he’s signing my business card!

Talk to some awesome con goers in line. Get to have an autograph from Chris Ayres, Chris Patton and Greg Ayres. Sweet. This is my first time meeting voice actors. Nice guys. Greg says he saw me taking his pic (whoops! ninja class= fail). Says to catch up with him sometime later. No wonder Jules loves this guy!

We finally move our stuff into our new, quieter hotel room, which incidentally, is closer to the con.

The group then floats for a bit, mingles a lot, and then stands in line for Anime Hell. What a line! It was cold out there! Guys wearing president masks and brandishing hub caps cruise by and wave. They make another pass a little later. That was entertaining. We get good seats after a half hour wait.

What to say about Anime Hell? It’s crazy and wacky and just plain fun. Heino only made a token appearance this year, however. The best short, by far, was “Rolling Bomber Special”. Awesome.

After that, Midnight Madness; aw yeah. We didn’t get to bed till two thirty that night.

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Crawl outta bed at 7:00. Head down to Artist Alley. Meet some awesome artists and interview them on digital recorder for the site. Go to Final Fantasy Cosplay panel.

Run into a group of fans from from STL on our way to a panel. Try to find Superflat panel but am delayed in getting there when I stop to take pics of an awesome Utena group (damn you, awesome cosplayers, you made me late all weekend!!) Learned much about Superflat art.

Mingle some more and hit the room for lunch. Do more interviews and get names of reps from companies.

We see cosplayers everywhere!! I can’t take pics fast enough. I see a Sailor Moon that looks like she was born Salior Moon. She looked like she rolled out of bed that morning and got dressed in her sailor outfit (not costume) and decided to check out the con for grins. She looked that natural. Saw an Asuka who looked the same way; natural and hot!

Regroup at hotel room. Head down to the Masquerade. See enormous line and am happy that so many fans will see it this year. Get inside and discover press is kinda screwed for pics. Head outside for interviews and to hand out fliers. Talk to some guys from Cincinnati. They’re pissed. They won’t come to ACen next year if there’s a frat party the same day. Wow. That says a lot… about ACen. Hell, frat parties are every weekend and Anime Central’s once a year. They were truly unhappy with ACen’s disorganization this year. I won’t go on too much about the Masquerade since I already ranted.

After Masquerade, we head out for dinner and to upload more pics. Went down to gaming room. We’re always amazed at the super fast DDR players. Kuh-ray-zee! See a group of Spartans…picture time! Inspiration sends a bolt from above: Group shots are good. Spartans are good. Lolitas are good. A group shot of Spartans versus lolitas would be great! Ahhh, but what looks good on paper doesn’t always work out in real life. The Spartans disappeared with a promise (more like a suggestion) that’d they’d show up before the Gothic Lolita show for the shoot. The lolis were game, but they had to work the show. Needless to say, that sweet group shot didn’t become a reality. Maybe next year…

We see a group of fans doing a jig in a corner on the lower level. They’re getting down to the Chocobo theme from FF. Cool. The band, The Spoony Bards, is rocking the place with their eclectic music. After listening to the band we decide to step it up and go check out the Soap Bubble.

The line is just starting to be let in so we jump on the end and manage to get in to watch the opening band, Plid. Chris Patton is in the band! I didn’t know he was in a band… Plid has the chops to bring down the house and they’re working the crowd like their lives depended on it. Their techno beats and keen vocals take me back to my Erasure/ Pet Shop Boys days. I’m not quite dancing but I’m still having a blast. And then they announce “We’re going to do a cover. Anyone who remembers this is ollllld.” The opening notes make me jump up and clap like a silly fangirl. They blast out the words to Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” and I’m rocking out to it like there’s no tomorrow.

Then I look up and see the blank look on people’s faces. I think to myself, “Really?!” I couldn’t fathom why they weren’t singing along and getting down. It hit me then, I’m old. Oh, well, they still played the song like they owned it, and I enjoyed it even if the “youngsters” didn’t. Plid was one of the most enjoyable acts I’ve seen in a looong time and they kept up their amazing energy and vibe for the entire set.

After an hour or so of hanging out at the Soap Bubble we take off. We wander the halls and settle in for more Spoony Bard goodness. At 2:30, I’m ready for bed. Hey, remember, I’m olllllld.

Sunday, May 13th, 2007

Sleep in till 7:00. To avoid the absolute insanity that will ensue at the noon check out time, we load the car up. My cousins knock on our door at 8:30 and Dave walks them to reg. Reg was supposed to be at 8:00. But when did “supposed to” ever stop anything from going wrong? They get there, are turned away once, then alternately told that reg was now at 10:00.

I’m now POed. Go down and discuss this problem with ACen staff. The cousins finally get through after much ado by IRT and we wait in line for the Gothic Lolita Fashion Show.

The fashion show was packed, and with good reason. This was one of the best events of the con. I’ll go into much further detail in a later post, but I’ll say this now; these lolis have their petticoats together.

Our group of staff and family head down to another important area of the con…the dealer’s hall. I don’t spend much at the dealer’s but I do lay some cash down at Artist Alley.

I interview one more artist and get details for a later interview from another. Take more pics.

Start to slur speech and realize I’m 30 minutes away from crashing. We leave the con at 3:00 and head to Mitsuwa for our on-road dinner.

That’s about the end of my personal con experience. I’ll be writing up all the panel coverage we did over the next week and get into some topics with more details. I once again would like to thank all the ACen volunteers for their efforts. Thanks!!

We had a great time shmoozing with the crowd, going to panels, interviewing artists, meeting fellow press (Julie, Jen, Godlen!) and all around experiencing the phenomena that’s an anime con. Over the next week, we’ll be posting our panel coverage and we’ll also be in the process of putting up our People’s Choice Awards for Best in Cosplay.

For those who didn’t attend the con and are wondering “WTF?!”, we handed out fliers with details on our ACen Tenth Anniversary Giveaway Contest. We also decided that it’s time for the con goers to have a chance to vote for best in cosplay (best male/ female cosplay, best lolita, most obscure cosplay, sexiest cosplay, etc.). So keep reading for all our ACen coverage, opinions, and experiences!

Back to those who did attend the con, the comment boards are now open: Good Luck!

I wanted to let con-goers have first crack at this contest, but it’s been 24 hours and no bites so here’s the deal for all our readers:

We’re sponsoring a contest in honor of ACen’s 10th Anniversary. To enter, simply (this is too easy) post a comment with the phrase “We Go Beyond Anime” in the comment board below. You’ll instantly be entered to win:

• 1rst Prize: $20 gift certificate to J-list.
• 2nd Prize: ACen Swag
• 3rd Prize: Japanese candy assortment.

Entrants MUST live in the continental US and MUST comment below no later than May 21st, 2007 (we’re extending the deadline). Winners screen-names will be randomly drawn on ***UPDATED DATE*** May 24nd, 2007 and posted the same day. We will contact winners via e-mail for further details. Once again, Good Luck!!

winners of The Anime Blog’s ACen 2007 Contest

The winners for The Anime Blog’s 2007 ACen Contest are:

• Elindranyth
• Aj-chan
• Brittany

To all those who entered, thanks for entering and keep reading!