Category > Events
Fans of Japanese culture will want to head over to Brighton from Friday 22nd June until Sunday 1st July 2012 for the return of the Brighton Japan Festival.
There will be plenty to see and do, including not one, but two matsuri festivals, a film festival, Japanese music and performances, traditional children's games, cosplay and so much more.
Read More... | Souce: Brighton Japan Festival
Category > Retail
The good folks from UK anime, manga and Asian pop culture publication NEO magazine have sent us the details of their latest issue. It's out now both on the high street and digital outlets.
Read More... | Souce: NEO Magazine
Category > Anime
Starting Monday 23rd April our friends at J-pop go will be running a K-On Week, focusing on the girls of Ho-Kago Tea Time. The event will also feature the chance to win the K-On box set. We urge all fans of cute and J music to check it out!
Press Release after the jump
Read More... | Souce: J-pop go!
Category > Events
The London MCM Expo is more than a month away, things have started to rev up for the event already. On Saturday 26th of May 2012 the folks from Japan Underground and Neo Magazine have teamed up to host a night of Japanese and Korean music. The event will be held at Bloomsbury Lanes, a 5 minute walk from London's Euston Station. They'll be supplying a selection of party-rocking tunes from Japan's alternative scenes.
The event is over 18's only and entry is £5 on the door. Valid photographic ID will be required.
Read More... | Souce: Japan Underground
Category > Anime
London based anime fans looking for a night of films will be pleased to hear about Sci-fi London's Anime All-Nighter. The famed late night screenings return with 5 films, a goody bag and a few surprises.
The screenings are due to start on Saturday 5th May 2012 at 11:30pm at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus cinema.
They'll be showing -
Bleach 3 : Fade To Black
(Dir: Noriyuki Abe, 2008)
Freedom (the complete series)
(Dir: Shuhei Morita, 2008)
Mardock Scramble 1st Compression
(Dir: Susumu Kudo, 2010)
Mardock Scramble 2nd Combustion
(Dir: Susumu Kudo, 2011)
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
(Dir: Yoshiaki Kawajiri, 2000)
We highly recommend Mardock Scramble 1st Compression and if the second is like the first that alone makes the screenings worth going to.
Souce: Sci-Fi-London
Category > Anime
The good folks from Manga Entertainment UK have sent us the details from their big licensing announcements at the Birmingham MCM Expo.
The big title in the line up is without doubt the highly anticipated Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Cosplay favourites Panty And Stocking With Garter Belt is dude for 2012 too. Along with Squid Girl which you may have caught on Crunchy Roll.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Anime
UK based distributor Manga UK announces Dragonball Z on DVD and hints at other titles waiting in the wings.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
The good folks from UK anime, manga and Asian pop culture publication NEO magazine have sent us the details of their latest issue. It's out now both on the high street and digital outlets.
Read More... | Souce: NEO Magazine
The good folks at Manga UK have sent us details an eagerly expected title Mardock Scramble: The First Compression. The 18 Rated title is use out on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 16th April 2012.
We've reviewed a cinema screening of Mardock Scramble: The First Compression.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Press Releases
The good folks from UK anime, manga and Asian pop culture publication NEO magazine have sent us the details of their latest issue. It's due to hit the shelves on Thursday 23rd February 2012 (available from WH Smith, Tesco and all good newsagents). It features their round up of the greatest anime movies of all time, with their own top 10 list, along with reader contributions.
Plus previews of anime, along with all the usual features and articles you'd expect. K-Pop fans will want to read the article on Korea's Japanese pop invasion with an analysis of the Oricon charts. We're interested in reading the report on the continuing aid efforts in Japan following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011.
Read More... | Souce: NEO Magazine
Category > Anime
Madman Entertainment in Australia have announced the details of the first volume for their release of the 12 episode series Madoka Magica on Blu Ray and DVD.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Features
We got a chance to chat to well known voice actor Vic Mignogna at the last MCM London Expo. We discuss a range of topics from getting into voice acting, dubbing anime songs, voice acting inspirations, and of course Full Metal Alchemist.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News / Voiceacting.co.uk
Category > Anime
Audio interview with Manga UK representative Jerome Mazandarani where we talk about Manga UK's upcoming releases, their plans for blu-ray anime releases, streaming rights (yes, I ask a K-On! question) and more.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
S'more Entertainment, an speciality video label in the US, licences the TV series Galaxy Express 999 for release in 2012 along with Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo TV series.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Anime
Manga UK representative gives new titles announcement, including Clannad and Angel Beats, in interivew.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
Audio interview with Kazé UK representative Andrew Partridge where we talk about Kazé UK's origins, their plans for blu ray anime releases, Anime On Demand and more.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
Anime on Demand to simulcast new XEBEC series in January.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
American streaming service launches in the UK and Ireland with selection of anime films and series available for streaming.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Retail
The US anime releasing division of Bandai has announced that from February they will cease publication of both new anime titles and manga titles. The company’s UK and French sister divisions have also released similar statements.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
UK anime and manga fans will want to make a trip over to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia. From Saturday 4th February 2012 until Sunday 24th June 2012, the venue will be hosting Japan: Kindom of Characters, a new manga exhibition that takes you inside the world of Japanese characters and asks you to consider what they represent.
It follows on from a tour of highly successful showings in cities such as Manila, Sydney and Madrid. Human-size 3D models of characters such as Ultraman and Pikachu welcome you into this colourful and substantial show. Over eighty graphics, photographs and films trace the history of cartoon characters by decade from the 1950’s to the 2000’s and provide insight into their fascinating backgrounds.
The event is organised in co-operation with the Japan Foundation. Admission is free. The event is daily and open from 10am to 9pm.
The Sainsbury Centre is the sole UK venue for this exhibition.
Read More... | Souce: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
The good folks at Soda Pictures have sent us details of their latest UK cinema release. Tatsumi is an animated feature inspired by the life and work of manga artist Yoshiro Tatsumi, who is well known for this work A Drifting Life.
The animated movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. It's been produced in Singapore by an international team of animators (Phil Mitchel is one of the founders of Mainframe who are best known for Reboot and Transformers - Beast Wars).
The film is due out in cinemas on Friday 13th January 2012. It's been rated 15.
Read More... | Souce: Soda Pictures
Category > Events
London based fans of Maid Cafes and Anime/gaming/vocaloid/Japanese music and clubbing will want to keep Sunday 22nd January 2012 free when WOTA London returns. From 13.30 to 18.00 the event will be a Maids & Butlers Cafe run by Maid Planet, then at 18.00 until 22.00 it will be an Anison and A-Pop Dance Party. The venue this time around is B1F Royal George, 133 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EA, near Tottenham Court Road Tube Station.
You can buy tickets on-line for a discount, either paying £4 for a Maid pass or £6 for a day pass. Alternatively you can turn up and pay £6 for a Maid Pass, £3 for a WOTA Pass or £8 for a day pass.
The event is for over 18's only.
Read More... | Souce: WOTA London
Christmas is coming, but already many UK anime companies are looking ahead to January. There are two key releases UK anime fans should be waiting for.
First up is Cowboy Bebop Remix due for release on Monday January 2nd 2012. The lovely folks from Beez have re-released Cowboy Bebop Remix under their Anime Legends range. The Remix edition has Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS Surround Sound, along with remastered video. The 6 DVD set contains all 26 episodes from the series.
If you haven't seen Cowboy Bebop yet, then you should. This is one of those truly rare must see titles. Plenty of anime fans agree as it was rated number 2 on the Newtype USA Top 25 Anime Titles of All Time. Number 1 was Neon Genesis Evangelion. You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon.co.uk for £16.99.
2011's big Studio Ghibli cinema release Arrietty is due out on Monday 9th January 2012. On DVD, Blu-ray, and a Collectors Edition Combi Pack, which contains both the DVD and Blu-ray and costs £2 more than the regular blu-ray only edition.
Souce: Otaku News
UK readers are in for a treat this Christmas 2011 as Film 4 have a special Studio Ghibli Season.
They'll be showing 13 Ghibli movies over the holidays. The season opens on Saturday 10th December with Ponyo, which will also be repeated on Christmas Day. The screenings will be a mix of subtitled and dubbed features. This is a perfect chance to get your friends and family into Studio Ghibli titles over the Christmas holidays!
Read More... | Souce: Film 4
We've received news from US Anime Distributor Sentai Filmworks that they've licensed Grave of the Fireflies. The Ghibli classic is emotional story of the cold realities of war, and often forgotten victims, the children.
Sentai Filmworks will begin digital distribution of the title this winter and a digital restored DVD will be released next year.
Read More... | Souce: Sentai Filmworks
Category > Current Affairs
The folks at FrontTowardsGamer.com have got in touch with us to spread the word about their charity auction. They've got a copy of the Cowboy Bebop Movie Script, which has been autographed by the US voice actors.
The charity auction aims to raise money to build video game stuffed care packages for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Souce: FrontTowardsGamer.com
Category > Nostalgia
We're going all nostalgic here at Otaku News and have decided to dig up some old articles from our archive that are not published on-line, either because they were originally for print or from websites that are now off-line.
Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not relevant to today's otaku.
Before Otaku News, we used to run Anime Digital, a website hosted by the London Anime Club. In October 1999, we were lucky enough to interview Helen McCarthy, who is an anime expert, author, speaker and so much more. Although the interview is over 10 years old, it's interesting to see how many things are still the same in the industry and fandom. We've reprinted this article with Helen's permission. Readers familiar with Helen's work will note that she did write an award winning book about Tezuka in the end!
Update: Helen has also blogged about this article.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Retail
We've received some rather interesting news from Digital Manga Inc. They've just opened a new site Anime Cel Art, which like the name implies is dedicated to selling anime cel art. They've currently got Naruto, Bleach and One Piece cels for sale.
Collectors should note, that these are not production cels used to make the anime as production now is digital. These are officially licensed reproductions. They are hand painted, and made exactly the same as production cels, but these images have never been used to make anime. As a result you get more for your money. You get a high quality image along with a background for a reasonable price.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Cel Art
Category > Anime
Just a quick reminder for those in the US (or those who can buy DVDs and Blu-rays from the USA). Section 23 films have sent us details of the Blu-ray release of Clannad. The complete collection is out now.
Buy Clannad now from Amazon.com.
Read More... | Souce: Section23 Films
The good folks at Viz have sent us details of the up coming US release of Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds which is due out on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday October 25th 2011.
To celebrate US based readers can watch on-line for a limited time a marathon of all five Naruto movies! The stream is avaiable this weekend until Sunday October 23rd 2011.
Read More... | Souce: VizAnime.com
Category > Events
London based fans of Japanese culture will want to keep Friday 24th to Sunday 26th February 2012 free for Hyper Japan 2012 Spring. The successful J-Culture event returns for it's third run. Ever growing they'll be at a bigger venue - Earls Court - Brompton Hall.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan
London based anime fans who like staying up past their bedtimes will be interested in the famed Anime All Nighter at Sci-Fi-London. It's set to run from 11:30pm on Saturday 8th October 2011 and ends about 8am on the Sunday. The venue for this year is the Odeon Cinema Camden.
They'll be showing -
Trigun Badlands Rumble
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost
Welcome To The Space Show
Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade
Tekken Blood Vengeance
There's a 350 seat capacity, so remember to book early to avoid disappointment.
Souce: Sci-Fi-London
Category > Retail
Popular UK on-line DVD retailer Play.com have been bought by Japanese group Rakuten. Play.com is the UK's biggest seller of DVDs online with estimated annual sales of about £500m. It has 14 million registered users and a staff of 500.
It was sold to Rakuten for £25m. Play.com have been successful due to a tax loop-hole that allows purchases under £18 to be VAT free when shipped from the Channel Islands to the UK mainland thanks to EU rules drafted almost 30 years ago. In November 2011, the government will reduce the amount for VAT free purchases to £15 and intend close this loop-hole totally by March 2012. The sales tax issues along with declining DVD sales is why Play.com was sold for £25m and not considerably more. The Guardian article states that DVD UK sales dipped 6% last year, while downloading and streaming rose 18%.
Play.com is popular with the UK anime fans and is often the first port of call along with Amazon.co.uk when buying DVDs and Blu-rays.
Rakuten are keen to increase their global presence, which is why they've purchases Play.com along with the French site PriceMinister and German site Tradoria.de.
Souce: The Guardian
Category > Events
The UK Summer Convention season is coming to an end, but fear not as AmeCon will be opening their 2012 registration on Sunday 25th September 2011.
AmeCon 2012 is set to run 10th - 12th August 2012, at Keele University, Newcastle-under-lyme. Registration will be on-line using the standard first come first served basis.
Read More... | Souce: AmeCon 2012
Category > Events
Scotland Loves Anime Festival returns to Glasgow and Edinburgh in October with Tow Ubukata's Mardock Scramble.
Read More... | Souce: Scotland Loves Animation
Category > Fandom
Cosplay Ireland website announces a cosplay event in Dublin in early September. Attendees are encouraged to cosplay but event is open to all aged 18 and up.
Read More... | Souce: Cosplay Banter in the Attic
Category > Anime
The excellent folks from Right Stuf/Nozomi are now streaming the anime Emma: A Victorian Romance on YouTube. They'll be showing one new episode of Emma per week for the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. They're showing the episodes subtitled. So if you fancy an anime series set in Victorian England, now's your chance to watch it for free.
You can get Series 1 and Series 2 from Amazon.com. You can also pre-order The Complete Series Limited Edition Bundle, which features Season 1 and Season 2, it's out on September 13th 2011.
Souce: Right Stuf
Category > Events
The good folks from Hyper Japan have sent us details of the JETRO Japanese Multimedia Seminar held at this years Hyper Japan on Friday 22nd July 2011.
JETRO is the Japan External Trade Organization, who would like to help people build a business with Japanese multimedia content.
We've been sent a link to videos of the seminar on YouTube.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan
Category > Culture
Fans of Tezuka, the arts and dance will be pleased to hear about London's Sadler's Wells' up coming production TeZukA. The world premiere dance work is set to explore Tezuka's fascinating world with help of cast of 10 performers, two musicians and a calligrapher. They'll cover a wide range of his work, including Astro Boy and Buddha.
So keep Tuesday 6th - Saturday 10th September 2011 free and head over to London.
On Thursday 8th September 2011 at 6:15pm they'll also be a special pre-show director's conversation.
Read More... | Souce: Sadler\'s Wells Theatre
Category > Production
Every now and again at Otaku News, we like to interview voice actors, the very people who provide the voices for anime. At the May 2011 MCM London Expo we were lucky to catch up with Ben Diskin and Brian Beacock.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
London based anime fans looking for something to do at the beginning of August will be pleased to hear that there will be some free screenings at Canary Wharf.
Manga Entertainment UK and the folks at the Barbican have teamed up to show these titles.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Tuesday 2nd August 2011, 6.30pm, FREE
Review
Professor Layton and The Eternal Diva - Wednesday 3rd August 2011, 6.30pm, FREE
Review
Summer Wars - Thursday 4 August 2011, 6.30pm, FREE
Review
As they're free screenings we suggest you arrive early to avoid disappointment. If you're coming to Canary Wharf from Central London, we suggest you take the DLR from Bank or Tower Gateway. DLR Trains going to Lewisham will stop at Canary Wharf. The Jubilee Line also goes to Canary Wharf, but we advise you to take the DLR if you've got the choice.
Please note space is unreserved and sometimes limited. Portable furniture, glass bottles or glasses are not permitted.
Souce: My Canary Wharf
On Wednesday 6th July 2011 we went to the London Barbican sell out screenings of the latest Ghibli movie to make it over to the UK.
Arrietty is due for a wider cinema release in the UK on 29th July 2011.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
We're going all nostalgic here at Otaku News and have decided to dig up some old articles from our archive that are not published on-line, either because they were originally for print or from websites that are now off-line.
Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not relevant to today's otaku.
We start with an article originally published in the AmeCon 2007 Conbook about why UK anime fans owe a debt of gratitude to their Australian counterparts. Please note that it was written for a UK anime audience in mind, Australian readers might find it interesting to know how important they are to the UK industry and how the UK industry helps Madman out.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
Australian media company Siren Visual has licensed three series for streaming and DVD releases for this year.
Dennou Coil, Usagi Drop and Angel Beats will all get a DVD release either in September or further down the line.
Read More... | Souce: Siren Visual
US based readers who can receive Mnet will want to tune in July 5th 2011 at 9:30pm ET/PT to catch Culture Japan which stars expert otaku Danny Choo. Each week Danny will explore different aspects of Japanese pop culture.
You can also catch the show on Crunchy Roll.
Read More... | Souce: Mnet
The good folks from Sentai Filmworks have sent us details about their latest license. They've got the US rights to Mardock Scramble The First Compression. We've seen it, it's good.
It's due out on DVD in the US this September 2011, both English dubbed and subbed. They're also planning a Blu-ray release sometime in 2012.
Read More... | Souce: Sentai Filmworks
Category > Culture
As an avid follower of Japanese popular culture and a regular anime viewer, I am more than familiar with the style of dance routines that have become inseparable from so many titles and credits sequences. From classics such as Urusei Yatsura and more recently popularised by Kyoto Animation's iconic series Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, shows have taken to inserting dances at any available opportunity to arrest a fan following with catchy tunes and infectious dance moves. The indigenous para para dance style steps are synonymous with series such as Super Gals! where character Kotobuki Ran regularly regales audiences through her hyper rhythmic routines.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
US readers who can make it to Anaheim, California should head over to AM2 on July 1 to 3 2011 get a chance to view a special Passport holders only screening of Mai Mai Miracle.
We've seen Mai Mai Miracle, and must say it is worth seeing, especially on the big screen. It's everything you'd expect from a high budget Madhouse production. It's one of those films screaming out for a Blu-ray release. It's a title making the effort to get out and watch. It's in instant classic.
Read More... | Souce: AM2
Category > Events
Everyone's getting ready for the London MCM Expo this weekend (Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May 2011) at the ExCel Centre in London.
The good folks at Manga Entertainment UK have sent us details of their plans at the London Expo. They've got two stands, a treasure hunt, plenty of bargain priced DVDs and Blu-rays.
Voice actors Ben Diskin (voice of Sai in Naruto Shippuden and Syzal in Bleach) and Brian Beacock (voice of Walter Yumasaki in Durarara!!) will both be at a panel and QA at the London MCM Expo too.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Anime
London anime fans have got a lot to look forward over at the Barbican. They'll be showing the latest Ghibli movie - Arrietty on Wednesday 6th July 2011 at 7pm which is the UK Premier and on Saturday 9th July 2011 at 11 am (all adults must be accompanied by a child to this screening).
On Thursday 7th July 2011 the Barbican will be showing -
Laputa: Castle in the Sky at 6pm. It'll be introduced by anime expert and Ghibli fan Helen McCarthy.
Trigun: Badlands Rumble will be shown at 8:45pm. Both films are part of the We Love Anime Tour.
More lovely Ghibli features can be seen at the Barbican throughout July -
Saturday 9th July 2011 - 2pm - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Sunday 10th July 2011 - 4pm - Princess Mononoke
Saturday 16th July 2011 - 11am - Laputa: Castle in the Sky (all adults must be accompanied by a child to this screening).
Saturday 23rd July 2011 - 11am Kiki's Delivery Service (all adults must be accompanied by a child to this screening).
Saturday 30th July 2011 - 2pm - My Neighbour Totoro
Sunday 31st July 2011 - 2pm - My Neighbours the Yamadas
Sunday 31st July 2011 - 2pm - Spirited Away
I've you've never seen any of these films before, or never seen a Ghibli feature on a proper cinema screen, then now's your chance. These movies are special and always deserve watching in the cinema.
The Barbican have a full listing of all the Ghibli features this July here.
As always with such features, we advise booking early to avoid disappointment.
Souce: Barbican
Category > Anime
The good folks at legitimate anime streaming service Anime On Demand have sent us details about there latest stream to hit the UK. [C] - Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility. The show will start streaming Thursday 21st April 2011 at 17:45 BST (British Summer Time), just one week after it's Japanese debut. Each week a new episode will be added to the site in the future.
Read More... | Souce: Anime on Demand