While we figured that even those who aren’t fans of Japanese animation are readily familiar with Voltron and Robotech, there are dozens of both TV and film titles that employ these (usually) human-operated machines. Below is a small sampling of our mecha anime picks…Continue reading at LAWeekly.com

Liz Ohanesian is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering music, media and club culture. She is a staff writer for Club World and her work regularly appears in such publications as the L.A. Weekly, Razorcake and Outburn. She has written for such publications as Punk Planet, PopMatters, Santa Monica Mirror and others. Follow her on Twitter!

So buckle up, dearest readers, as we delve into the lace trimmed and flower filled world of Maria Watches Over Us.

Plot Summary

At the Lillian Girls’ Academy, the student’s practice a form of mentorship known as the sœur (better known as sister for those of us who do not speak French) system. A second or third year student will take a freshman under her wing by bestowing her rosary upon the underclassmen. In the case of Yumi Fukuzawa, a series of coincidences leads her to become the petite sœur (little sister) of the imposing and popular Sachiko Ogasawara.

Through this new found relationship, the clumsy Yumi is thrown into the world of the Yamayuri Council, the aristocratic student government that presides over Lillian.

(L to R) Yumi, Sachiko

Review

After watching the first disc of Maria, the series wasn’t doing too well with me. The characters seemed vapid, the writing was coarse and stilted, and there was a lack of depth with the characters around Yumi. There were plenty of facts about the characters (“She doesn’t trust men!” or “She is very insecure about herself.”) with very little motivation of explanation as to why the characters had these traits.

But, being the brave little toaster that I am, I forged ahead in the series and my dislike of Maria began to erode. While the characters are not instantly likable as they are in other character driven dramas (Fruits Basket, I am looking at you!), I grew to adore them over time. The plot took a shift away from Yumi being the center of everything to her being an unbiased observer in a world that is familiar yet strikingly alien.

By the last four episodes of the series, I was really involved with the characters and the trials they face. Having never been a teenage girl in a strict (some might say smothering) environment, I had real problems finding any reason to care about their problems at first.

One of the girls doesn’t want to be in a play because she has to dance with a boy? Boo-freakin’-hoo. Get over yourself, lady!

But, as the character became more fleshed out, I found myself caring about such insignificant quandaries because the character that I felt attachment to cared about it. That, my friends, is capable storytelling.

Character Development

In a character drama, the entire piece lives and dies by how much the viewer attaches to the character. Pity, love, even hate: any emotion felt strongly to a fictional being means success on the part of the creator. Perhaps the reason I was slow to like the characters at first was there were just too many of them. In the first episode alone I was introduced to about eight young women who all had the same traits on the surface.

Once each character has their time in the spotlight, it is hard not identify and sympathize with them.My absolute favorite (and I’ll be vague here as to avoid spoilers), consists of two sisters (sœurs, not familial) that have to starkly contrasted personalities. One is very ill, and ends up breaking off her sisterhood with her sœur in an attempt to spur a strengthening of character in her (no longer) sister. The arc plays out over a few episodes and is wildly entertaining and heartwarming to say the least.

Character Design

The artwork put into the characters is proficient, but not completely remarkable. At times I was very impressed with the detail and expressions that the characters were conveying, but oftentimes I felt like I was looking at the same girl with interchangeable hair. I did like how prim and proper Sachiko’s design was as opposed to the clumsy and silly expressions of Yumi.

Animation

There was nothing in the animation that drove me to notice how good it was, but each episode seemed to contain a moment or movement that was awkward enough to break immersion with me. Still, it’s passable enough to not be a detracting quality.

Music

Two words: boiler plate. Music in Maria is completely average in every sense of the word. The orchestral opening and closing themes fit the feel of the show, but it seems to saturate the more tense and dramatic moments of the series. Remember all of you anime music directors: less is more sometimes.

Voice Acting

No English dubs here! Not because they are bad, they simply do not exist. High marks all around, especially for Megumi Toyoguchi in her portrayal of Sei Sato. This actress runs the gamut of emotions, sometimes within the same episode, and lends power to the drama surrounding her character. Bravo. Bravo indeed.

Production

All of the elements detailed above come together wonderfully in the second and third acts of the series to deliver compelling characters and entertaining drama. The best part of the DVD release is the inclusion of an omake bonus, Don’t Tell Mother Maria. These silly little additions are the most entertaining bonuses I have seen in a while. It’s nice to see a production poke a little fun at itself. Honestly, the art style could have been used for the entire series, and I would not have cared one bit.

From the bonus omake.

Conclusion

Slow to start, but strong to finish; Maria Watches Over Us is a series with heart. What the show lacks in glitz and polish, it makes up for in drama and characters. If you’re looking for comedy or heaping amounts of plot devices, look elsewhere. But if it is character studies you seek, sit right down and enjoy your stay at Lillian.

Rating

Maria Watches Over Us gets 3.5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: RightStuf!
• Retail Price: $49.99
• Number of discs: 3
• Episodes: 13
• Run Time: 325 minutes
• Rating: 13+
• Language: Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled

The current economic situation has taken its toll on the anime and manga industry. This 2-part series will take a quick look at the various parts of the industry. Part 1 looked at manga. Part 2 will concentrate on anime, primarily in Japan and North America.

ICv2 has not yet released their figures for North American anime sales in 2008. In a previous report (printed in ICv2 Guide #51) and in last year’s white paper presented at the ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga, ICv2 mentioned that anime sales have been dropping almost every year since 2003 ($550 million in 2003, $450 million in 2004, $500 million in 2005, $400 million in 2006, and $275-300 million in 2007). Considering the state of the economy, it is likely the 2008 total will be less than 2007’s.

The only good figures for 2008 I have seen for Japan covers the first half of the year. In September 2008, the Japan Video Software Association released a report about DVD sales and rentals from January through June. Anime was the largest genre with 27.4% of total sales in the market. It was followed by Western TV Drama and Asian Films. DVD sales as a whole were down 6.6% from 2007 and anime had a 13.5% drop in sales. The report also mentioned that anime had an 11.9% decrease in rentals.

Actually, the market for anime and anime related merchandise peaked in 2006 according to a May 2008 survey by The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA). The survey said that the anime industry’s market (including revenues from television, film, video production and rights, video sales, distribution, merchandising, overseas business, music, and publishing) grew from 2003 to 2006. In 2003, the market was worth 167.4 billion yen (approx. $1.7 billion dollars US) and that figure grew to 258.8 billion yen (approx. $2.6 billion US). However, in 2007, the market value dropped to 239.6 billion yen (approx. $2.45 billion US). Although final figures for 2008 are not yet available, it is likely that they will be lower than 2007’s. Also, due to the current economic downturn, there is a good chance that 2009’s and possibly 2010’s figures will be lower than 2008’s.

The executive director of the AJA is Yasuo Yamaguchi. He said in a recent Japan Times article: “The financial crisis is forcing sponsors to cut down on television advertisement fees, and this in turn is shrinking the budgets for animations, pressuring everyone involved in the production.” As to the future, Yamaguchi-san said: “I think we’ll see a major decrease in the number of anime programs broadcast. Agencies dependent on television as a primary financial source will need to search for alternatives.”

One TV executive has tried to predict what’s in store for anime in the coming months and years. Keisuke Iwata, head of AT-X (TV Tokyo’s satellite anime channel) has a rather sobering view of the future. He believes that “the global marketplace for Japanese animation will shrink from 2010 onward“. Iwata-san made this claim at the “Anime Business Forum + 2009″ event at Digital Hollywood’s University of Digital Content in Tokyo.

According to Iwata-san, most of Japan’s animation offerings to the global marketplace before 1996 were “border-less animation” (i.e., the settings and themes were not Japanese) like Kinpatsu no Jeanie and Moomin. He believed this changed with the release of Neon Genesis Evangelion and “that Evangelion expanded the global marketplace’s willingness to accept animation that is distinctly Japanese in one broad stroke“. A year or two after Evangelion, Pocket Monsters (aka Pokémon) became a hit which was followed in the early 2000s by Yu-Gi-Oh!. A couple of years later Naruto became a worldwide hit and Japanese animation was a seller’s market.

However, Iwata-san believes that growth from this point on will be difficult. He listed several factors:

• Japanese animation has now reached the saturation point in the global marketplace.
• Due to the worldwide recession and illegal net distribution, the North American marketplace is battered, the European marketplace is in grave condition, and the Japanese companies cannot rely on the Middle East, Asia, and other regions as potential new marketplaces.
• The market saturation, the worldwide recession, various circumstances in each country, illegal distribution on video-submission sites, and the rising yen all had a deep impact on the declining anime export business.

Iwata-san also said, “as it stands, we may have to go back to the way it was in the past — back to selling Japanese animation only to the Japanese marketplace.”

TV Tokyo has been planning on how to work in this difficult environment. They have already put some plans into motion, including putting shows like Naruto and Gintama on US video distribution sites like Crunchyroll. We will look into their plan of action in more detail later in this article.

The current economic downturn has also exacerbated a couple of existing problems with anime production in Japan. First, it is becoming increasingly difficult to become an animator in Japan. An apprentice can earn around 80,000 yen (approx. $795 US) per month working on “in-between cels” (the drawings that bridge the key cels to create a sense of motion). One example mentioned in a Japan Times article, looks at apprentice animator Yuko Matsui. She says that she is not able to save money nor pay her national pension fees with her salary even though she lives with her parents.

A study done by the Japan Council of Performers’ Organization showed that an average “in-between” cel earns 186.9 yen (approx. $1.86 US). It is not unusual for an in-betweener to work on 500 in-between cels per month for a TV animated series. The study says that, at best, this comes out to maybe 94,000 yen (approx. $934) per month with the animator working 250 hours on average. Masayuki Kawachi, a special effects animator at Toei Animation Studio and president of the All-Toei Labor Union, said in the article, “Drawing in-between cels is hard work and it sure doesn’t pay much, but it’s still an important skill that every animator should learn“.

Many of today’s key frame animators and storyboard artists got their start as in-between animators. However, those jobs have been increasingly outsourced to countries like China, South Korea, and the Philippines. The current estimate is that 90% of in-between work has been outsourced overseas. With respect to the remaining jobs in Japan, Kawachi-san said, “…with the recession eating away at production fees and forcing agencies to downsize or go bankrupt, young and aspiring animators can’t find places to work“.

The second existing problem was most recently brought to light by a report from the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which was released on January 23, 2009 in three parts (outline, part 1, part 2 in PDF format). It mentions that many companies commission and recommission production work to smaller agencies. Many times the smaller companies were forced to accept contracts with insufficient negotiations. Some of the complaints from these smaller agencies include:

• “We had to accept the schedule based on the production cost of a preposterously low budget for each animator without any consideration for holidays.”
• “The commissioning company canceled the order without explanation, and did not compensate us for expenses already incurred for the production.”

Another problem mentioned in the report was the lack of copyrights attributed to production agencies. The current practice is to split the copyright among the sponsors. This means the actual creators see little if any secondary use benefits.

Several trade unions (including Kawachi-san’s All-Toei Labor Union) appealed to the culture ministry in 2006 with a proposal for restructuring the animation industry including the main issues and possible solutions. However, there was no response from the government.

Image of ICv2 Guide #51: ©ICv2

ANN Stories: TV Tokyo’s Iwata Discusses Anime’s ‘Road to Survival’ (Updated), Anime Firms Say They Were Forced to Take Low Tenders

Japan Times Article: Future of ‘anime’ industry in doubt

How have the larger animation production companies reacted to the economic downturn? Here are three examples.

In November 2008, Gonzo’s parent company GDH made several announcements:

• The annual output of anime projects would be reduced from 8 to 4 in the next fiscal year
• Their four internal studios would be combined into one division
• They would sell off their GDH Capital financing subsidiary
• They were asking for about 50 GDH and Gonzo employees to take early retirement (excluding employees of Gonzo Rosso, their online game subsidiary)

On the latter announcement, 36 employees decided to take the early retirement offer, which included a severance package of one month’s pay.

In February, GDH announced that Gonzo would be restructured. Within the next 5 years, Gonzo would trim its creative staff from 130 down to 30. The reason given for this move was that DVD sales had slowed and put Gonzo in the red.

Later that month, GDH announced that it would absorb Gonzo and that GDH would take on the name Gonzo. Starting April 1, GDH moved its business offices from Shinjuku in central Tokyo to western Tokyo’s Nerima ward which was Gonzo’s former headquarters. The reason for this move was to reduce redundancies in business operations, cut costs, and increase efficiency.

In March, GDH announced that it would divest itself of its online game subsidiary Gonzo Rosso, even though Gonzo Rosso made a profit last fiscal year (which ended in March 2008) with 1.635 billion yen (approx. $16.4 million US) in sales and a profit of 36 million yen (approx. $360,541 US). GDH’s board of directors decided that rather than split their focus between animation and online games, the company should concentrate solely on its animation business. In a related announcement, GDH said it was also divesting itself of its minority share of Tablier Communications, a developer of net radio programs and merchandise related to anime and voice actors.

In February, NAMCO Bandai Holdings announced a reorganization of its subsidiaries. This reorganization included Bandai Visual. The plan for Bandai Visual is to take the three production departments from the content division and the advertising and sales promotion department from the business strategy division and create six new departments. These new departments are:

• The Gundam department…will be devoted entirely to the mecha franchise which is the most profitable of any of NAMCO Bandai’s franchises
• The high end department…will focus on the projects aimed at the most dedicated fans in the customer base
• The character department
• The anime department
• the film department
• the music department

NAMCO Bandai Holdings had a third quarter net income of 9.019 billion yen (approx. $90.33 million US) which was a 26 % drop from the same period in 2007.

Anime, music, and game production company Marvelous Entertainment (Gunslinger Girl and Mushi-Shi), in a similar move to GDH’s, has asked for about 20 employees to volunteer for early retirement. This announcement was made in late March. The company employs 120 people (as of Dec. 31, 2008). Those who opt for early retirement will receive a special severence payment. This move was due to lower than anticipated sales and the company expected to be 1.31 billion yen (approx. $13.12 million US) in the red at the end of the fiscal year (which ended in March).

ANN Stories: GDH Asks 50 Employees to Voluntarily Retire, Gonzo to Restructure, Reduce Staff Count from 130 to 30 (Update 3), GDH to Absorb Its Gonzo Subsidiary, Adopt Gonzo’s Name, Gonzo’s Parent Company to Sell Off Game Subsidiary (Updated), Reorganization of Bandai Visual Announced, Marvelous Entertainment Asks for 20 Employees to Retire

Meanwhile, in North America…even before the current credit freeze and recession, North American anime companies were having problems.

In 2007, Geneon Entertainment USA first laid off most of its marketing and sales staff, then a couple of weeks later they stopped the marketing, sales, and distribution of all their products. Still, Geneon USA remained a license holder and was able to work out a deal in 2008 with FUNimation where the latter would manufacture, sell, and distribute select DVDs from Geneon.

Another company, Bandai Visual USA was liquidated in 2008 and its content was absorbed by NAMCO Bandai Holdings’ other North American subsidiary, Bandai Entertainment.

The remaining companies have problems of their own.

Arguably, the shakiest company is ADV Films. After their parent company, A.D. Vision, had to layoff 13 employees in October 2007, ADV Films had a rather messy breakup with former investor/partner Sojitz in early 2008. ADV lost the rights to about 30 titles, most of which were acquired by FUNimation. They also lost the funding which had been provided by Sojitz. In an October 2008 interview with ICv2, A.D. Vision CEO John Ledford said:

“In the short term, the breakup with Sojitz forced us to reinvent our business. We’ve reached out to new partners and focused on our core strengths, localization and distribution. Our arrangement with Sentai Filmworks is an example of this. There are others we’ll be announcing in the weeks to come. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve reached an equilibrium that works and is sustainable.”

Mr. Ledford spoke about partnerships with two other companies…Switchblade Pictures and Sentai Filmworks. Switchblade specializes in ‘Asian Shock’ live action pictures. Sentai is a licensor of anime. Most are older titles like Mahoromatic and Tsukihime, with a few newer titles like Clannad. ADV will be acting as distributor and service bureau for both of these companies.

He also spoke about the anime market in general in North America. He said that big titles are still selling well. These include any of the Final Fantasy titles as well as any Miyazaki film. Niche titles also sell well since the up-front licensing cost is low and there is a large enough fan base who will purchase the DVDs. He commented on the problem outside of these two areas:

“Where things get tricky is in between the big hits and the smaller niche titles. Series that are strong but may not be world-beaters. Viewership is larger than ever, thanks to the Internet, but fans just aren’t buying DVDs like they used to. And when the costs stay the same, you’ve got a lot of solid, quality productions that end up running in the red.

That’s why right now the best business to be in are the hits and the ‘super-niche’ [Mr. Ledford calls the niche anime titles, 'super-niche' since anime itself is a niche] titles. Anything in between can kill you.“

Mr. Ledford mentioned that A.D. Vision’s VOD (video on demand) service, Anime Network, has been a success and is making a profit for the company. As to ADV’s future, he said:

“I think diversity is the key to our future. We’re broadening our content mix–at least within genre entertainment, which is our strength. Don’t expect to see “How-To” videos or anything like that soon!

In a year’s time you should see ADV working with more outside partners like Sentai and Switchblade, providing the same sort of localization and distribution services to a broader array of clients. In particular I think Amusement Park Media, our independent production company, will continue to diversify its business beyond anime or even filmed entertainment. There are some exciting opportunities taking shape that should keep our actors and contract employees busy for years to come, and I hope to talk about some of that with you soon.“

An optimistic assessment, though only time will tell if ADV’s strategies pay off.

Another shaky company is Bandai Entertainment. Their problems have not been as visible as ADV’s. However, in January, the company announced that it was “re-evaluating its operations due to the worsening economy”. According to an ANN report, Bandai is finalizing its strategy for the next three years. For the near future, the company would be laying off some of their 19 full time staffers. Many of these staffers would remain as contracted consultants to finish current projects. When asked by ANN what brought about the restructuring, President Ken Iyadomi said, “The downturn in the DVD market sell through“.

Shortly after this announcement, Bandai Entertainment made another about delays with the releaseses of Gundam Seed Destiny Anime Legends Part 2 and Wolf’s Rain Anime Legends Perfect Collection. Both were originally scheduled for release in February and would instead be released in April. The announcement also mentioned that the Lucky Star Volume 6 Limited Edition DVD and Gurren Lagann Best Sound CD were under indefinite delay.

Three weeks later, Bandai announced that Lucky Star Volume 6 Limited Edition was canceled (thanks to Piroko for this heads up in the Anime Releases for March 2009 comments).

Then on April 6, Bandai Entertainment announced more delays, including additional delays for Gundam Seed Destiny Anime Legends Part 2 and Wolf’s Rain Anime Legends Perfect Collection now slated for May. There were also another set of cancelations…ZegaPain Anime Legends and Flag Anime Legends.

This instability in their release schedule along with their restructuring makes for an uncertain future.

According to Mania, Media Blasters also announced delays, with several titles listed as indefinite delays. Quoting the Mania article, “No reason has been given for the delays but the titles are spread across all their lines and there doesn’t seem to be a particular rhyme or reason for it“. Included among the affected titles are Voltron Fleet of Doom (The Movie) and Twelve Kingdoms Complete Volumes 1-10, Eps. 1-45. It’s too early to tell if this is signifies a major problem with the company or if it is just a bad hiccup in their distribution system.

FUNimation had its own restructuring in early January. Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment made the following statement about the restructuring:

“This decision was not taken lightly and thoughtful consideration was given as to how this move would affect our customers, vendors and employees. However, we must anticipate and adapt to the current economic climate. This action is expected to streamline our processes as we manage our business for long-term growth.”

About 20 employees were laid off out of approx. 140 employees. According to Senior Public Relations Manager Jackie Smith, “The production department was not affected and fans should not be concerned about current or future productions of their favorite series“.

In addition, FUNimation’s parent company, Navarre Corporation also laid off about 30 people or 7%-8% of the workforce. The affected departments were finance, information technology, and operations.

Navarre also announced their third quarter financial results in early February. The company had $171,6 million in net sales which was a $46 million drop (21.1%) from the same quarter the previous year. This resulted in an operating loss of $32 million. In the same quarter the previous year, the company had an operating income of $8.6 million. If restructuring costs are taken out, then there would be an operating income of $2.6 million. Navarre blamed the economic downturn as the main cause of the decline in revenues.

As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Viz Media has started to restructure which included some layoffs.

ANN Stories: Funimation Restructures with Layoffs in Several Departments (Update 2), Funimation’s Parent Navarre Confirms Staff Reductions, Funimation’s Parent Announces Third Quarter Results, Bandai Entertainment to Restructure with Staff Layoffs, Lucky Star 6 LE Cancellation Confirmed

Mania Articles: Bandai Delays and Cancels More Titles, Media Blasters Plays the Delay Game

ICv2 Interview: Interview with John Ledford, Part One, Interview with John Ledford, Part Two

Now for a little positive news…

First, as mentioned earlier, TV Tokyo has developed a plan of action to keep them competitive in the current and future markets. In late February 2009, TV Tokyo President and Co-CEO Masayuki Shim announced at a press conference that TV Tokyo will create a new department which will oversee its anime business. The working title of this entity is the “Anime Department” and it will concentrate in particular to overseas sales. All of the existing anime units will be consolidated into three sections…operations, production, and business matters.

The goal of the new department is to increase revenues from sources outside of broadcasting. Currently, TV Tokyo makes 15% of their revenues from outside sources. With the new department, they hope to increase that number to 20% and, eventually, to 30%.

ANN Story: TV Tokyo to Establish New Anime Departmen

In August of 2008, Kadokawa Holdings started an experiment. Instead of filing lawsuits to prevent people from posting videos on YouTube which contain material from one of their franchises (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Strike Witches, etc.), Kadokawa decided to sponsor some of the user submitted video on their YouTube channel (which Kadokawa opened in early 2008). These MADs (also known as AMVs in English) would have ads placed directly in the video using the inVideoAd system. The hope was that this would generate a profit. In an interview given at the Creative Commons conference in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo (from a Businessweek article), Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman and CEO of Kadokawa Holdings said of the experiment, “I think a lot of people are watching to see whether we will succeed. If we can do something they haven’t been able to do up to this point, they may follow suit.”

So far the experiment has been paying off. The three months from September through November 2008 saw the company average an income of over 10 million yen (approx. $101,000 US) per month. Kadokawa expected to spend around $1 million US on the experiment. Assuming their monthly income stays at the 10 million yen mark, they could recoup their investment costs within 10 months.

Image © 2006 Nagaru Tanigawa / Noizi Ito / member of SOS

ANN Story: Kadokawa Gets Over 10 Million Yen Monthly from YouTube (Updated)

Businessweek Story: Japanese Anime Studio Embraces YouTube Pirates

In March 2009, Japanese production company Lucent Pictures Entertainment (Squad, an upcoming collaboration with Masamune Shirow) announced that they were forming a strategic alliance with Studio 4°C (Steamboy & Tekkonkinkreet). The result of this alliance is a new studio called Lucent 4°C (L4C). An announcement of the studio’s first project will be made at the end of 2009. The planned schedule is to eventually release 2-3 titles every year.

L4C recently showcased their “next-generation video techinques” at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009. The technical demos featured included Sachiko, a project that has been under development since 2005 by director Koji Morimoto (Studio 4°C). The demo highlighted L4C’s combination of “animation footage + three-dimensional video techniques”.

In an unrelated development, not long after the formation of L4C, Shouji Murahama (co-founder and former president of Gonzo) announced he had left Gonzo and had started a new company called Lambda Film. He will be serving as the representative director for Lambda Film’s board of directors. No details were given for the company’s future plans. This isn’t the first time Murahama-san has done this. In 1992, he left Gainax to co-found Gonzo with directors Mahiro Maeda and Shinji Higuchi .

Image of Lucent Pictures Entertainment/Studio 4°C Alliance diagram courtesy Lucent Pictures Entertainment, Inc.

Image of Shouji Murahama: blog.murahama.jp

ANN Stories: Lucent Pictures, Studio 4°C to Launch L4C Anime Studio, Former Gonzo Head Shouji Murahama Launches Lambda Film

The current economic situation has caused many governments to take action. Japan is no exception. In early April, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso held a press conference. There he outlined a plan which would increase Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 120 trillion yen (approx. $1.22 trillion US) and add 4 million jobs. The plan relies on three pillars:

• The “low-carbon revolution” which would boost the country’s use of solar power, electric cars, and energy efficient appliances
• A “society of health and longetivity” which would seek to build a society friendly to the elderly and would create 300,000 new jobs in the nursing care industry
• Exporting Japan’s “soft power” in fields like fashion and anime

Of course, we are most interested in that last pillar. At the press conference Aso-san said:

“The word ‘manga’ has entered the global lexicon… Japan has materials that attract consumers around the world such as animation, games, fashion — so-called ‘Japan Cool’…By linking the popularity of Japan’s ’soft power’ with business, we wish to grow it into a major industry worth 20-30 trillion yen (approx. $204-307 billion US) and create 500,000 new jobs by 2020.“

It helps that the Prime Minister is a self proclaimed manga otaku. He is said to be an avid reader of the Rozen Maiden manga and is sometimes called “Rozen Aso”.

But, there is a caveat to this optimistic plan. Aso-san’s government will be facing elections later this year and his popularity numbers have been low almost since taking the premiership last September

Press Conference Image of Taro Aso: Xinhua/Reuters Photo

ANN Story: Prime Minister Aso: Anime, Manga Are Part of Japan’s Recovery

AFP Articles: Aso pledges two million new jobs in three years, Manga could rescue Japan economy: PM

China View Article: Japanese PM vows to lift GDP by 120 trillion yen by 2020

Finally, positive North American anime news was rather slim. Most companies were undergoing some sort of restructuring. However, there was one story which caught my eye.

There is a new company, Zakka Films, whose mission is to release early and lesser known Japanese titles on English subtitled DVDs. Their first release is called The Roots of Japanese Anime: Until the End of WWII. It features 8 cartoons from 1930 to 1942 and includes 1942’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, a 37-minute wartime propoganda piece. The DVD includes comentary tracks by scholars of Japanese film, a gallery of promotional placards for Momotaro’s Sea Eagles, a pair of songs meant to be played with the two pre-sound animated shorts, and comes with a 12-page booklet on the history of pre-Tezuka anime. Zakka Films’ website says that they are focusing primarily on anime and documentary, but as time goes by it should expand to other genres so long as it meets their criteria of filmmaking excellence and historical significance.

The company was brave to launch in such an economic climate. Perhaps they will be helped by John Ledford’s belief that one of the best businesses to be in is ’super-niche’. He also said in that ICv2 interview:

“Like any home media, anime DVD sales are fairly recession proof. A downturn might keep you from going on vacation, but that’s all the more reason to pick up the boxset you’ve been thinking of for the last few weeks.”

If both his assessments are correct, then Zakka Films should be successful.

ANN Story: New DVD Company to Release 8 of the Earliest Anime

In picking up School Rumble, Second Semester, I expected to enjoy further laughs and mayhem with a romantic twist, just like I did in Season One. I also expected some answers to the copious amount of questions piled on in Season One.

School Rumble, Season One is all about hopeless teen drama, puppy love and crushed expectations. It’s funny throughout most of the series, and downright dramatic the rest. The first season is authentic and sweet. In short, School Rumble, Season One is a great romantic comedy with heart. School Rumble, Season Two, is, not so much….

School Rumble

Plot Summary

It’s the same ol’ teen drama for Class 2C as they kick off their sophomore year: Tenma is still clueless, and in love with the enigmatic and odd Karasuma. Harima still can’t confess his true feelings for Tenma, and Eri has some unresolved issues for how she feels about Harima.

But Harima has become a rising star in the world of manga, and with his increase in stardom comes an increase in confidence. Will his new found self-esteem help him profess his love to Tenma?

Review

School Rumble, Second Semester was plain bad. It was a serving of more of the same from Season One, but without the zest and freshness. The gags were old, the lines were tired and the characters were stale. I’ve found fresher things at the day old Hostess store.

The writers must have been giddy from their successful run with School Rumble, Season One, and hammered out a formula for what they thought brought in the ha ha’s. Why don’t we say that H (Harima) times (T) Tenma plus F (filler) equals cha ching! So (H)(T) +F =$$$. And thus fans are rewarded with a seemingly endless loop of garbage and the studio raked in cash with minimal effort. The only problem is this formula= Hard Fail. Infinity.

Filler episodes and scenes abounded and actual plot was gunned down so that romantic anarchy could rule.  I knew when the first episode made me shudder a bit in my critical thinking lobe that trouble wasn’t far behind. My instsincts seldom let me down. Two full episodes were dedicated to a cop-out  story arc, and a lame one at that. This series has more dream scenes and dodgy explanations than are allotted for a romantic comedy. It was cute at first, but like a child who doesn’t know that adorable little version of “I’m a Teacup” is getting on Auntie Rae’s nerves, so was School Rumble unaware its gags were frustratingly tired.

I would say there were three episodes worth of progressive plot. But it was a downer since it made less sense than the wacky limit the anime set for itself. It was uninspired and ubiquitously bad. The characters I grew to empathize with were stunted in their growth, though some development managed to to squeak by.

Character Development

Further decent character development was absent, a night-and-day departure for the series.  Tenma stayed stupid, Eri stayed rich but Harima had a change in his confidence level. Poor guy can’t catch break, though that’s partially his own fault. I would have ditched chasing after Tenma eons ago. The girl is a waste of air time and ink. Harima has his hang-ups and Tenma is one of them. Guy needs to go to rehab for hopeless infatuations with loser women. Harima was the only saving grace of the anime, but a tiny one.

Character Design

Blah, what can I say about things that don’t change? Nothing visually departed from the first season, but why should it really.

I’m lumping in Animation, Music and Voice Acting  with my critique of character designs. There’s something to be said about consistency, so no points are taken off for the average-ness of the rest of the series’ features.

Conclusion

School Rumble, Second semester went nowhere. I might have well just watched Season One and called it a day. I didn’t though, and flushed nine hours of my time down the kamode. It’s a shame that this series took a nose dive in its quality of storytelling.

School Rumble Season One was good.  There was no reason for Two to have been so different from the first, none. The ending of Second semester was the real kick in the teeth, though. It sucked harder than all the shifty, cop-out scenes combined, and that’s saying a LOT.

School Rumble has a third season coming up. I really don’t want to take another bullet for School Rumble fans since I’m still digging shrapnel out my funny bone from Second Semester.  If you’re a fan of Season One,  I recommend  you avoid Season Two if you can, you’ll only be let down, and who needs that?

Rating

School Rumble, Second Semester gets 2.5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date: October 14, 2008 (Part One) and December 16, 2008 (Part Two)
• Retail Price: $59.98
• Number of discs: 2
• Episodes: 1-13 (Part One) and 14-26 (Part Two)
• Run Time: 305 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled,

Ghost Hunt, Part Two has Mai dreaming of death and has the rest of the ghost hunters scrambling to solve some grisly cases.

Plot Summary

Naru takes on another school related case, but this haunting is more sinister than the previous one, especially since people are being psychically hurt as well as mentally traumatized.

The next unresolved haunting the crew takes on is by far the most gruesome and shocking the group has ever experienced. Danger lurks in every shadow, and doors that seem to lead to nowhere, in fact lead to grisly death.

And Naru takes on a case with its roots in the bitter past and an ancient feud. His abilities are put to the test and his pride may get the better of him if he doesn’t fall prey to the hauntings first.

Review

Part Two of Ghost Hunt steps up the squeamish and scream factors with an abundance of blood and violence. The cases are more mature and has content which is on par with certain slash flicks, except Ghost Hunt has actual story and plot (gasp!)

This latter half of the series progresses much like the first, with fast pacing and non-stop action. Cases in the anime are original and suspenseful. Not much whimsy is floating around in this part of the series, and an air of dread hangs over the episodes. The supernatural drama is intense!

The ghost hunters are challenged by powerful adversaries and come together in a way which made me believe these folks were for real (as real as can be expected in a supernatural thriller).

The best aspects in Ghost Hunt are the story and the pacing. Thankfully, no filler is added in this series- it’s all concentrated story, dilute in brain as necessary. It was a relief not to plod through random episodes, or worse, clip episodes, that went nowhere and gobbled up time. Zero filler means brisk pacing and no downtime, and the pacing is stellar in this anime, along with the story.

The series has all the elements of good horror: it has moments in which hands are groped for a feeling of safety and eyes are squeezed shut until creepy moments pass. It’s a combination platter of Tales From the Crypt with a bit of X-Files on the side and a sprinkling of shoujo, except without cheesey, bring-down plot lines and disappointingly bad dialog.

Ghost Hunt is unlike much of its genre. Horror flicks and series, especially 80’s horror ( who remembers Troma?) are notorious for crap dialog and gratuitous pouring-on-of-blood and skimpy plot. But the biggest crime the horror genre perpetrates is the abysmal lack of decent characters. In most movies, audiences cheer the bad guy since the villains are the only ones with a back story and any sympathetic connection.

Character Development

Ghost Hunt has both interesting apparitions and sympathetic protagonists.
Naru is a great character who has ridiculously high amounts of self-confidence and preening egotism, coupled with a generous spirit and compassionate nature. He’s a complex lead who resists categorizing.

Mai is also another character who doesn’t quite fit any one stereotype. She’s strong without being tomboyish, and feminine without being weak or moe. She’s not at all annoying, and is also a storytelling device for learning more about the series’ supernatural groundwork.

The other characters were mostly superficial, but with enough development to either like or dislike them. John, the Australian priest, is the least interesting character and is bland addition to a spicy cast. As a Catholic priest he’s portrayed in a most bizarre way…just watch it and see for yourself. I wonder if John’s character is an example of how the Japanese view Catholicism?

Character Design

Most of the characters have the stamp of generic anime in their features. The innocent or young ones have large, doe eyes and tiny mouths and the more mature, devious or cynical characters have eyes which are better proportioned. The designs for characters are standard for their types according to the unwritten style book of anime. Although the character designs are pretty blah and a tad typical, they were still apt for the realistic approach the writers took for the story

The studio followed the writers’ lead, and crafted the rest of the story’s world with a more natural feel. The only exception would be the ghouls, but even they aren’t so over the top that they shock viewers with originality. No, I liked how the designs didn’t detract from the story, but blended with it. They weren’t a crutch for the story, but more of an reinforcement of the direction of the series.

Animation

J.C. Staff animated the anime and did an average to okay job on Part Two, which seemed not as good as Part One. There were some scenes which were out of focus or the perspective was off or the quality was grainy. And detail shots were few and far between, just as in Part One.

Music

I have to say I really liked the music for Ghost Hunt, especially the opening and ending themes. The opening theme was reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s work on the sci-fi action movie, Men In Black. He also did the opening theme from Tales From the Crypt. And the ending theme had a relaxed, almost lulling effect.

Voice Acting

The Japanese voice cast is better than the English. It’s worth switching over to Japanese just to avoid hearing John Brown’s weak Aussie accent

Conclusion

As good as Ghost Hunt is, the ending leaves too much up in the air. It just ends, as if somebody pulled the plug, and beeeeeeeep, it flat-lines, end of. The series has so much left to explain and flesh out, especially with relationships and motives, that the ending is a real downer.

The anime is based on the ongoing manga series of the same name, which leaves room for speculation that there may be a second season. The box set, however, doesn’t give any indication if the studio had a second season in mind when they initially released it. But the Amazon listing does. A sign that the studio now has plans for Season Two?

Yet, even though the ending is meh, the series is still a fantastic anime which has decent scares, a bit of drama and a hint of romance, and has them all without being lame. It’s worth watching for the unique experience of viewing a series which juggles so much and doesn’t drop the ball. Just make sure you don’t watch it alone!

Rating

Ghost Hunt, Part Two gets 4 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher:Funimation
• Release Date: November 18, 2008
• Retail Price: $49.98
• Number of discs:2
• Episodes:12
• Run Time: 276 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled

.

Blueberry flavor is great no matter where it comes from. However, I’m a stickler for authenticity when it comes to blueberries. I’ll let fake strawberry slide, and will even welcome the chemical tang of “grape” soda. Just don’t mess with the blueberry. Will Meiji continue its streak of epic wins, or will it lose its mega points over blueberry gone wrong?

Packaging

Meiji’s made it to first base with this classy gold, cream and blue box. The tiny blueberries and picture of the product let buyers know what they’re investing in. The cute postage stamp in the corner and the pic of Hokkaido in the background are also nice imagery and convey the inspiration for the treat. So, are blueberries native to Hokkaido and what makes Hokkaido blueberries so special…?

Each goodie is individually wrapped and is easily accessible through the lift-top, resealable tab on the box.
Score: A+

Appearance

I’ve seen Apollo before, in its mini choco/ strawberry incarnation, but blueberry is far more impressive than its minute sibling. The pretty, purple topped white chocolate confection is about an inch high and has tiny flecks of authentic blueberry embedded inside. It looks like the real deal, i.e. real blueberries (and reading the ingredient list confirms it)!
Score: A+

Texture

The texture is more chewy than melt -in-your-mouth, and reminds me of a very soft caramel melt instead of a chocolate. While smooth, the choco is still oddly chewy. The flecks of blueberry add interesting mouth feel.
Score: A

Flavor

Apollo Blueberry rounds home base with its fantastic true blueberry flavor. The first thing that hits the senses is the fruity, berry aroma. One bite backs up what the nose is saying: this is real blueberry! The white chocolate is almost insignificant compared to the berry-ness but the two are a great combo and taste like berries and cream, a real win for Meiji.

There isn’t an overwhelming sweetness to Blueberry, but it still satisfies the sugar cravings while avoiding knocking a person out from sugar shock. Too much sugar would have drowned out the natural flavor of the berries and the balance in Apollo is just right. Score: A+

Verdict

Apollo Blueberry is a delish, berry-ific offering from Meiji and has made it onto my list of “Get Your Own!” candies. The real blueberries are what made the difference in making this a home run instead of a foul. While it may be seasonal, I’ll be thinking longingly of this goody way after Hokkaido’s blueberries are gone.

ADV Films

ADVFilms.com

July 8, 2008

• Cromartie High School DVD Complete Collection (Thinpak) – 325 min
• Tokyo Majin Vol. #4 – 125 min
• Welcome to the NHK Vol. #5 – 100 min

July 15, 2008

• Devil May Cry Vol. #3 – 100 min
• Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU DVD Complete Collection (Thinpak) – 300 min
• Shattered Angels Vol. #3 – 100 min

July 22, 2008

• Divergence Eve: The Seraphim Collection (Thinpak) – 650 min
• Pumpkin Scissors Vol. #5 – 100 min

July 29, 2008

• Samurai Gun Complete Collection (Thinpak) – 325 min

AN Entertainment

• No releases this month

Bandai Entertainment

Bandai-Ent.com

July 8, 2008

• Gurren Lagann Vol. #1 (also w/special edition and CD) – 225 min

July 15, 2008

• Di Gi Charat Nyo! Vol. #08 – 100 min
• My-Otome Vol. #7 – 75 min
• Toward the Terra Part 1 – 200 min
• Toward the Terra Vol. #1 – 100 min
• Toward the Terra Vol. #2 – 100 min

Bandai Visual

BandaiVisual.co.jp

• No releases this month

Bandai Visual USA, Inc.

BandaiVisual.us

As of July 1, 2008, Bandai Visual USA was absorbed into Bandai Entertainment. Titles will still be released under the Bandai Visual USA name for the short term since the liquidation of Bandai Visula USA will not be completed until September 2008. Bandai Visual USA titles will still be sold through their own online service (dot-anime.us website).

July 8, 2008

• Super Robot Wars: OG – Divine Wars Vol. #8 – 75 min

July 22, 2008

• Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time Vol. #4 – 74 min

BuenaVista Home Entertainment Japan

Movies.co.jp

• No releases this month

Discotek

www.discotekmedia.com

• No releases this month

FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd.

FUNimation.com

July 8, 2008

• Yu Yu Hakusho Season 1 Collection – 600 min

July 15, 2008

• Aquarion Season 1 Box Set 2 – 325 min
• Dragon Ball Z: Bardock/Trunks Double Feature – Blu-ray

Pretty boys and scary girl get mixed up in spooky romantic hilarity in Volumes Two and Three of The Wallflower!

plot summary

The pretty bishonen are still scared (kawai! kawai!) of the dark and tangled mess which is Sunako, but they’ve gotten used to her weird, disturbing ways- mostly. They’re even starting to like her! Well, at least they like her sublime Japanese-style cooking.

All four beautiful boys have given up on ever turning Sunako into a lady, even if that means they have to pay full rent to Sunako’s Aunt. Sunako in turn dislikes ever being with the four if she can help it. More often than naught, however, she’s accompanying the lovely lads on their misadventures. But even though Sunako can’t bear to be around the Creatures of Light, as she calls them, she still has room in her cobweb-covered heart to help them out when they need a hand. And Sunako with her strange and almost brutal manner of “solving” issues, manages to make things easier and brighter, despite her storm-clouded demeanor.

review

This series is such a laugh. The way it pokes fun at the shojo genre, and the idea of bishis in general, is hilarious. It’s even funnier because the characters are in on the joke: (cherry blossoms gently drift down and the clip-clop of geta can be heard) Yuki comments, “What’s with this very Japanesey atmosphere?” (Takenaga makes an entrance amid the flowers).

Even someone who has no idea what bishonen and shojo are and sat down and watched this show, they’d still get the laughs. Handsome men (no matter the archetype) with awkward issues are funny, if done right, and Wallflower is done right.

Character Development

The delicate stereotypes of beautiful young men are shattered as we discover in these two volumes the secrets these four bishis hide behind their lovely faces. Takenaga is inept when it comes to women, Ranmaru is a pervy ladies man who always looks out for himself and Kyouhei is a borderline delinquent who dislikes dating. And poor Yuki, well, he just looks like a girl and that’s trouble enough in the world of anime.

Sunako is “hopeless” when it comes to ever being a lady, but you gotta give her credit for being herself, despite how other people judge her. The boys seem to be warming up to Sunako, so why should she change?

Conclusion

The Wallflower is an accidental romantic comedy in that the romance may or may not be what it seems. There’s more to this series than a run-down goth gal trying to become a refined lady, and more to the bishis than just a pretty face. Who’s to judge when the heart sees one thing and the eyes see something else? For me, I see these two volumes of Wallflower as a really good time, despite the series looking like a page torn from a shojo manga.

Rating

Volumes Two and Three of The Wallflower get 5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info, Volume Two

• Publisher: ADV
• Release Date:February 26, 2008
• Retail Price: $29.98
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:6-9
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Rating: TV-14 D
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Retail Info, Volume Three

• Publisher: ADV
• Release Date:May 27, 2008
• Retail Price: $29.98
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:10-13
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Rating: TV-14 D
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

• Anime Expo – Los Angeles, California (USA)
• CONvergence – Bloomington, Minnesota (USA) – (Primarily a Science Fiction Convention)
• Gen Con Australia – Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) – (Primarily a Game Convention)
• PortConMaine – Portland, Maine (USA)

July 5, 2008

• Chibicon – Utrecht, Netherlands (Site language is Dutch with some English)

July 5 – 6, 2008

• AniMex – Monterrey, NL (Mexico) (Site language is Spanish)
• Mecra Summer – Taipei, Taiwan (Site language is Chinese)

July 10 – 13, 2008

• Portus 2008 – Dallas, Texas (USA) – (Primarily a Harry Potter Convention)

July 11 – 13 & 16 – 20, 2008

• Anime Friends – São Paulo, Brazil (Site language is Portuguese)

July 12 – 13, 2008

• Anime TuCon – Tucson, Arizona (USA)

July 18 – 20, 2008

• AniMix – Killeen, Texas (USA) Note: This is their inaugural Con.
• Daigacon – Bowling Green, Kentucky (USA) Note: This Con has been postponed.
• Ikasucon – Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA)
• Metrocon – Tampa, Florida (USA)

July 19, 2008

• DC Anime Cosplay Party 2008 – Silver Spring, Maryland (USA) – (This is a cosplay event)

July 19 – 20, 2008

• WonderFest – Louisville, Kentucky (USA) – (Primarily a Model and Toy Convention)

July 24 -27, 2008

• Comic-Con International: San Diego – San Diego, California (USA) – (Primarily a Comics Convention)

July 25 – 27, 2008

• Ai-Kon – Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)
• Animecon – São Paulo, Brazil (Site language is Portuguese)
• Fieldcon – Morgan County, Ohio (USA) – (This is an outdoor Convention and Camp-out)
• MACOnvention – Leonding, Austria (Site language is German)

July 25 – 28, 2008

• Tokonatsu – Milton Bryan, England (UK) – (This is an outdoor Convention and Camp-out)

July 26 – 27, 2008

• Animecon – Tampereen, Finland (Site language is Finnish)
• AVCon – Adelaide, South Australia (Australia)
• Otakuthon – Montreal, Quebec (Canada) (Site languages are French and English)

August 1 – 3, 2008

• AnimagiC – Bonn, Germany (Site language is German)
• Animatsuri – Warsaw, Poland (Site language is Polish)
• ConnectiCon – Hartford, Connecticut (USA)
• Convencion Avalancha – Caracas, Venezuela (Site language is Spanish)
• Fandemonium – Nampa, Idaho (USA) – (Primarily a Science Fiction Convention)
• Kakkoi|con – Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)
• Matsuri Con – Herning, Denmark (Site language is Danish) – Note: I believe the site says the Con has been cancelled for this year
• MechaCon – Lafayette, Louisiana (USA)
• Tokyo In Tulsa – Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA)
• Yasumicon – Miami, Florida (USA)

August 2, 2008

• ACG Egg – Taipei, Taiwan (Site language is Chinese)
• Auto Assembly – Birmingham, England (UK) – (Primarily a Transformers Convention)
• SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show – Sydney, New South Wales (Australia)
• OtakuOmaha – Omaha, Nebraska (USA)
• Sci-Fi Summer – Marietta, Georgia (USA) – (Primarily a Science Fiction Convention)

August 2 – 3, 2008

• Ancient City Con – Jacksonville, Florida (USA)
• Ani-Jam – Fresno, California (USA)

August 3, 2008

• Zuiichi – Vancouver, Washington (USA) – (Primarily a Japanese culture event)

August 6 – 10, 2008

• World Science Fiction Convention – Denver, Colorado

August 8 – 10, 2008

• Amecon – Leicester, England (UK)
• Animethon – Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
• Otakon – Baltimore, Maryland (USA)
• San Japan – San Antonio, Texas (USA)

August 9, 2008

• JAMMCon – Port Huron, Michigan (USA) – Note: Con has been cancelled
• Kin-Yoobi Con – Hayward, California (USA)

August 14 – 17, 2008

• Gen Con Indy – Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) – (Primarily a Gaming Convention)
• Anime Festival Orlando – Orlando, Florida (USA)
• Anime Festival Wichita – Wichita, Kansas (USA)
• AnimeIowa – Coralville, Iowa (USA)
• AniMiniCon – Charlton, Massachusetts (USA) – Note: The event is the last one listed on the website
• Comic Market (aka Comiket) – Tokyo, Japan (Site language is Japanese with some English)
• MahouCon – Huntington Beach, California (USA) – Note: The Con has been postponed.

August 22 – 24, 2008

• Anime Evolution – Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada)
• Fan Expo Canada – Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
• MatsuriCon – Worthington, Ohio (USA)

August 22 – 25, 2008

• PierniCON – Torun, Poland (Site language is Polish)

August 23 – 24, 2008

• Erie Anime Experience – Erie, Pennsylvania

August 28 – 29, 2008

• Kita-Kon – Thunder Bay, Ontario (Canada)

August 28 – 31, 2008

• Gen Con UK – Berkshire, England (UK) – (Primarily a Gaming Convention)

August 29 – 31, 2008

• AniNite – Vienna, Austria (Site language is German)
• Penny Arcade Expo – Seattle, Washington (USA) – (Primarily a Gaming Convention)
• Sac-Anime – Sacramento, California (USA)

August 30 – 31, 2008

• C3xHobby – Chiba City, Japan (Site language is Japanese) – (Primarily a Mecha Event)

August 30, 2008

• Summer Matsuri – Salem, New Hampshire (USA) – Note: This is a re-scheduled event.

August 29 – September 1, 2008

• AnimeFest – Dallas, Texas (USA)
• Con-X-treme – San Mateo, California (USA)
• Dragon*Con – Atlanta, Georgia (USA) – (Primarily a Science Fiction Convention)

August 30 – September 1, 2008

• Anime Vegas – Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
• Kumoricon – Portland, Oregon (USA)

There are always “herds” of cosplay from popular anime (Naruto and Bleach come to mind), and the occasional “flock” of cosplays from less popular, but still fairly well-known, anime and games, and lastly there are the rarer, seldom seen cosplays from obscure anime and manga. Look! Over there! It’s that snake-guy thing seen on the left-hand corner of page hundred of Random Manga!! OMG! Get a picture before he gets spooked!

Each year offers new opportunities to finally check off the Cosplay-Watch List those cosplays we’ve longed to see, and see done right. Last year for me, it was Pip Bernadette from Hellsing at Anime Expo. That gal was dead on and looked fantastic, down to the tiniest detail. Then there was the absolutely adorable Schroedinger and the creepy Herr Doctor, also from Hellsing. Wow, three in one day! That’s good cosplay watching!

The one cosplay I’m still waiting to snap a photo of is a brilliantly done Alucard (another Hellsing, I know). It would be my greatest pleasure to see a perfect Alucard, cosplayed by a guy. Coming in close second on my wish list is a skillfully done L from Death Note. It’s an easy cosplay to do, but it’s hard to do right. I think it may be difficult to get perfect because people go visually verbatim with the hair. I’d also like to see a guy pull this one off successfully. I have many more minor cosplays I’d like to see, but I’m satisfied with the cosplays I’ve checked off so far.

What cosplays have made it onto your Cosplay-Watch List? Is it a rare character? Or is it a popular one, but one you want to see done perfectly? Is it a character from a video game, anime or manga? Does a group cosplay tickle your interest? Have you been crossing your fingers, hoping this will be the year to finally get a snapshot of that one elusive cosplay? Which cosplays are you hoping to spot at the cons?