Browsing Articles

1. Category
2. Features

After school tea time with Beckii Cruel

Date: 2011 June 08 16:35 | Posted By: Priss

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

Redline (2010)

Date: 2011 May 19 00:12 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime > Film

Red Line is about the biggest racing game of the universe and it's only held once every 5 years. And naturally everyone wants to take part. Follow the racing skills of men and women alike.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

An Interview with Figure Sculptor Momiji

Date: 2011 February 27 14:00 | Posted By: Priss

Category > Production

Last year, the second annual MCM London Expo returned to bring together a myriad of media and popular culture exhibitors and merchants. It is an exciting occasion for anime fans who attend to meet, mingle and fight their way through the melee of merchandisers and organisers.

Expo is an event that I attend on the front line behind the dealers' tables as an assistant for sales. I am predominantly positioned ready and waiting to serve customers who are on the hunt for anime, manga and figures from the store United Publications. It is an intense and demanding event and catering for the volume of visitors is often a challenge that affords little time to explore the wonders of the wider event. This time, however, I had to make the exception for a remarkable appearance amongst October's exhibitors.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Hyper Japan 2010 Report

Date: 2010 October 31 17:04 | Posted By: Priss

Category > Events

For Japanese culture fans, October began with a bang at Hyper Japan, a new and highly anticipated event on the UK otaku calendar for 2010. Hosted by Eat-Japan (the number one site for Japanese food, sushi and sake), the show was a sensational success, drawing in excess of 15,000 visitors over the 3 days, a remarkable feat for what was the debut of this cultural festival. The event was located in the heart of London's Shoreditch at Brick Lane, an area well known for its offbeat character and for the eclectic, hip and chic. Standing in the line with the eager attendees, the atmosphere was alive with the building excitement as cosplayers, anime fans and the culturally curious all assembled to enjoy a different class of convention. The preshow campaign, organised and delivered by a Japanese enterprise was loaded with ample incentive for any fan of Japan to take a look at what the exhibitors had to offer. I, in my cosplay guise as Queen's Blade's spectral maid Airi, lined up with the happy crowds all eager to meet and greet, eat and shop! After conquering the queue and ascending the staircase in my heels, a veritable treasure trove was to be found, serving the many delights of Japanese culture and cuisine.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Using eBook Readers for Manga

Date: 2010 October 24 14:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

eReaders have started to move from that realm of expensive gadget, to a more affordable and practical solution to lugging books around. The benefit of such a tiny device able to hold thousands of books versus having to actually carry many books around is clear. They're great for printed text, but what about manga? Are eReaders suitable for reading manga on?

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Reni Mimura NYAF interview

Date: 2010 October 15 16:51 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

Reni Mimura, a cosplayer and singer living in New York, was performing at this years New York Anime Festival. Despite her busy schedule, she found the time to sit down and chat with us for a brief time about her reasons for taking her work to New York, what she thinks of her fans and which she prefers: cosplay or singing!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Hyper Japan 2010 Mini report

Date: 2010 October 03 13:23 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The London J-Culture scene is an interesting one, with new events popping up every year. October 2010 marked the first run of a 3 day Japanese cultural event called Hyper Japan.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Interview with Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori the creators of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series

Date: 2010 June 13 13:46 | Posted By: Dallas Marshall

Category > Gaming

On the memorial day weekend at Fanimecon, a bay area anime convention in San Jose California, I had the privilege of sitting down with both Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori of ARC System Works. The studio that brought you the Guilty Gear series and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and the soon to be released BlazBlue:Continuum Shift.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Tokyo Bento Shopping Guide

Date: 2010 May 02 14:59 | Posted By: Helephant

Category > Retail

Bento, beautiful and healthy lunchboxes, is an otaku passion that keeps niggling at the edges of mainstream consciousness. The New York Times ran an article on it recently, some of the most amazing photos made the Flickr blog last week and there has been an explosion of books (US, UK) about the topic.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Comiket 77

Date: 2009 December 30 07:30 | Posted By: Franki Webb

Category > Events

A man sits in the corner of the busy square caressing his gun then pointing it at a bunch of schoolgirls who shriek in excitement and begin flashing the cameras, while another man beside him dressed elaborately in leather swishes his cape to an amused crowd of photographers. Welcome to Comiket!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

London Anime and Manga Shopping Guide

Date: 2009 May 11 17:01 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

London has a some great places for otaku to visit. The trouble is finding them. Using our London Otaku News Correspondents we've assembled a list of good places for anime and manga fans to visit while in London.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Is Mikado Pocky? A Taste Comparison

Date: 2009 April 26 16:27 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Cuisine

UK readers might have noticed adverts on TV, for a product called Mikado, which looks strikingly like the favourite otaku snack Pocky.

In this article we'll do a taste comparison and reveal the differences, and answer the question, is Mikado Pocky?

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Dragonball Evolution Review

Date: 2009 April 08 14:35 | Posted By: LittleWoodenBoy

Category > Anime > Film

Here's a review of the the live action film based on Akira Toriyama's manga Dragonball. The story follows Son Goku as he tries to finad the seven Dragonballs in order to defeat the evil Piccolo.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Evangelion Merchandise Selection

Date: 2009 March 08 14:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Retail

Anime and merchandise naturally go hand in hand, with some titles just a thin excuse to create merchandise. Generally the more popular the series, wider and crazier the variety of merchandise available. With Neon Genesis Evangelion, regarded one of the most popular titles of all time, I thought it would be worth looking into the more unusual merchandise available from the franchise. When researching this article I expected to find some oddities, after all you can even get an Eva Unit-01 mountain bike. However I was really surprised by what's out there!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

An interview with Andrew Driver

Date: 2009 February 13 17:19 | Posted By: Eeeper

Category > Anime

In April 2009, Alma Books will publish an English translation of Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel Paprika. The basis of Satoshi Kon's award-winning animated film of the same name, the English translation was handled for Alma by Andrew Driver. Otaku News can now present an interview with Mr. Driver which he graciously agreed to do with Eeeper on behalf of Otaku News in which he talks about his work on the novel.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

How to be a Cosplayer

Date: 2008 December 16 15:48 | Posted By: Franki Webb

Category > Fandom

A large runway divides the room. People sit patiently waiting for the stars to strut their stuff. The lights flicker on and the crew members speak with words of comfort to the jittery stars taking centre stage. This is a long way from Paris Fashion Week and the get-ups are far from Milano. As soon as you see a replica Lara Croft swagger down the platform with screaming cheers, your gut instinct is to head for the nearest exit. The outfits that follow only get more absurd; with capes trailing behind and swords that make an audience roar with excitement.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Advanced Preview: Sword of the Stranger

Date: 2008 October 13 11:24 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Anime > Film

Set during the Senkoku period in Japan, Sword of the Stranger follows a young boy Kotarou as he is cruelly separated from his father and goes on the run from the army of the Ming dynasty. While living in an abandoned shrine and stealing food Kotarou chances upon a nameless and masterless samurai, and while initially mistrustful of him, Kotarou is forced to hire him as a bodyguard and guide when his dog, Tobimaru, is injured during a fight with Ming soldiers. Now the two must fight their way through the mysterious Ming and find the reason for Kotarou's importance to them, as the samurai battles his own inner demons.

Read More... | Souce: Beez Entertainment

An interview with Kari Wahlgren

Date: 2008 September 07 11:01 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

Thanks to go the great folk at AmeCon 2008, we were able to interview their main guest, voice actress Kari Wahlgren. You may have heard her in the American dub of FLCL as Haruko, or Robin in Witch Hunter Robin or Scarlett in Steamboy to name a few of her roles. As well as many video games you've probably played.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News / Voiceacting.co.uk

An interview with Makoto Shinkai

Date: 2008 June 22 18:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Otaku News went to a BFI screening of Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second and was lucky enough to get an exclusive chance to have a private chat with Mr Shinkai, the writer and anime director.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Perfect Piece Tachikoma Review

Date: 2007 December 31 10:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Toys

With the holiday season coming to a close, some of you may have some extra cash to spend, this article might tempt some of that money away from you.

Anime fandom like most kinds of fandom is always susceptible to merchandising, and lets face it there is a lot of plastic tat out there, if you can print onto it, engrave it, or mould it, it's had some sort of anime merchandising. However every now and again something good comes along, so we thought it would be nice to do a product review to gauge our readers reactions and see if it's the sort of thing Otaku News readers want.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

London Expo October 2007

Date: 2007 October 26 13:19 | Posted By: LittleWoodenBoy

Category > Events

A look at the recent London Expo (featuring cosplay photos).

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Review: Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone

Date: 2007 October 11 15:57 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Anime > Film

Schoolboy Shinji Ikari is summoned by his estranged father to the vast city of Tokyo-3, however the tearful reunion he was hoping for does not materialise as his father has a far more nefarious reason for wanting his son by his side again. Led down into the underground labyrinth of NERV headquarters, he learns that he is one of only a few children that can pilot one of the enormous Evangelion robots against a terrifying enemy. For as Shinji was being transported to Tokyo-3, it was under attack from the terrifying Angels, creatures of an unknown origin bent on penetrating the city and laying waste to anything they find. Throwing caution to the wind to save an injured girl, Shinji boards one of the massive robots and is launched to his destiny. However there are greater forces at work behind the scenes, and is the true enemy the angels, NERV, the mysterious SEELE, or the demons held within the hearts of the people involved?

Read More... | Souce: Cinema Sunshine, Ikebukuro

Otakunews Special: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria Review

Date: 2007 October 10 17:58 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming

It's been a while since our last games review, though we urge you to remember the anime and manga reviews in the column on the right. If you've read all those you'll want to know we're also back with a games review.
This time it's the turn of platformy RPG Valkyrie Profile 2 for the venerable PS2. Does this odd mix of RPG and side scrolling work? Find out on Otakunews.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News Special: Tales from Earthsea Review

Date: 2007 July 24 17:53 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

Optimum are releasing the latest Ghibli Feature Tales from Earthsea in the UK on a limited number on cinema screens on August the 3rd this will be followed by a DVD release. We take a look at the dubbed version of Goro Miyazaki's debut film.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News Special: Chocobo Tales Review

Date: 2007 June 29 17:42 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming

Hot on the heels of my Spectrobes review (well not so hot but work with me here) comes this review of another DS title, this time by Square Enix. The charming mini game RPG Chocobo Tales. Which stars Final Fantasy's bird mascots.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News Special: Spectrobes Review

Date: 2007 June 12 14:55 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming > Consoles

With the new Pokemon close to arriving in the UK we take a slightly late look at Disney's attempt at the catch-em-em all RPG Spectrobes on Nintendo DS.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

An Interview with Stuart Claw

Date: 2007 June 04 17:50 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

From this Sunday anime fans with Sky in the UK will be be able to tune into Anime Network on Propeller TV (Channel 195). The slot runs from 8pm to 10pm, and currently consists of Coyote Ragtime Show, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Guyver and Elfen Lied. We sat down with one half of Anime Network UK's dynamic presenting duo Stuart Claw at the official launch, gazed rather too hard at the candles (and indeed Joe's camera flash) and took a look at the past, present and future of anime both in Stuart's life as a fan and the general future for wider anime community.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News special: FFXII Review

Date: 2007 April 29 17:17 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming

We suspect if you haven't got this already those of you with Playstation 2 or even dare we say it PS3s will probably be thinking about buying FFXII. So we decided someone (i.e. me) ought to review it, I know it was released in the UK a while ago now, but this being Final Fantasy hours of levelling up and Chocobo riding were required before I felt confident giving a proper review.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

FFXII London launch report

Date: 2007 February 25 14:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Friday 23rd of February 2007 was the official launch day of Final Fantasy XII in the UK (and the rest of Europe). The PS2 game has generated a lot of buzz in fandom. To celebrate Square Enix had teamed up with HMV to hold a launch event at their flagship HMV store on Oxford Street, central London. The first people to buy the game at 9am were able to collect special wrists bands which would in turn let them queue to meet makers of Final Fantasy XII, Akitoshi Kawazu (executive producer) and Hiroshi Minagawa (director).

The event was attended by at least 500 fans, all eager to get their games autographed. It was hosted by an MC and various questions were asked, the most important of which was regarding the PS3 technical demo, based around Final Fantasy VII, both guests mentioned that they were considering producing a full version of the game for the PS3, however it's still early days yet, so we can't really confirm anything solid.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News Special: Manga Studio Review

Date: 2006 November 08 06:32 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Art

We're aware that many of our readers will at some point try to create their own "manga" and now so are several software publishers who are eager to fill the the gap in the market for Manga creation software. In this review I look at Manga Studio 3.0 Debut and create my own page to see just how useful it actually is.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Interview with Monica Rial and Chris Patton

Date: 2006 September 21 04:18 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime

Thanks to those lovely people at Amecon as well as the voice actors themselves donating their time, I was able to interview voice actors Chris Patton and Monica Rial.

Chris Patton has played roles such as Sousuke Sagara in Full Metal Panic and Sasame in Pretear; Monica has played many characters including Towa in DNAngel and Hyatt in Excel saga she also writes ADR scripts for anime such as DNAngel and Madlax.

Read More... | Souce: Voice Acting Alliance/Otaku News

London Expo Report

Date: 2006 June 05 09:39 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

The anime & manga events calendar is becoming increasingly full, last week saw the third London Expo to feature a dedicated 'anime village' we were of course there to report back. I attended the expo which included a large amount of Konoha ninjas, a handful of prize wining manga artists and several Oban Star racers.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Preview - Initial D: Driftracer

Date: 2006 May 09 20:19 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Anime > Film

The slopes and turns of Mount Akina have long been the haunts of local illegal racing teams, using a technique called 'drifting' to slide round corners at top speed and jousting with opposing teams for the honour of being the top team. The teams enjoy a status of being the envy of young wannabe drivers everywhere until one day during a race an unknown driver storms the course leaving the pros in his wake, just who is this 'Akina Racing God' and where did he come from? The driver is in fact local boy Takumi 'Tak' Fujiwara making a tofu delivery run for his father who would rather spend time with his love interest Natsuki than worry over cars or races, but how will he react when his new secret identity is revealed...

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Magna Carta Review

Date: 2006 April 22 06:03 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming

We take a look at the manhwa styled fantasy RPG Magna Carta. Is it worth your hard earned cash with so many other anime and games out? RPG fans find out.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Otaku News Special Christmas Gaming Reviews

Date: 2005 December 18 06:15 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming

It’s nearly Christmas and no doubt some of you are still undecided what to get, so as a special Christmas bonus we’ve got two PS2 game reviews.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Howl's Moving Castle Review

Date: 2005 September 19 06:00 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

Howl’s Moving Castle is due to be released in the UK on the 23rd of September, and to celebrate we have an early review. Please note that since the film is being compared to the book in places there are small spoilers throughout for both versions, though we’ve tried to keep them to a minimum.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Convention Report: Ayacon 2005

Date: 2005 August 27 19:33 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Events

Ayacon, one of the longest running UK Anime conventions, has repeated itself after a one year absence due to Amecon last year, and has certainly come back with one hell of a bang. Spanning three days from the 19th to the 22nd of August at Warwick Arts Centre just south of Coventry, this convention provided not only a bountiful selection of Anime, a masquerade and of course karaoke but also panels from a large variety of different sources, a pub quiz, two parties and even a concert from gothic j-rock group Blood. Boredom was never going to be an option...

Read More... | Souce: Ayacon

A&I Exhibition Report

Date: 2005 July 28 05:52 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Last weekend saw this years Artists and Illustrators exhibition. The A&I is a regular event, but this year was the first in which anime and manga style art was highlighted. There were stands from art retailers Copic and Letraset, as well as UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

Review: Shadow Hearts 2 - Covenant on PS2

Date: 2005 March 10 18:12 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Gaming > Consoles

We’ve got something a little bit special here at Otaku News, a review of the PS2 RPG Shadow Hearts 2: Covenant. The question is; is the game worth your hard earned cash (pounds, dollars, zenii or otherwise)? Read on to find out.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

UK DVD - Cowboy Bebop Volume 1 First Impressions

Date: 2005 January 03 11:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > DVD

The Otaku News Crew have been sent a review copy of the UK edition of Cowboy Bebop Volume 1. Content wise it's mainly the same as the US Edition, featuring the first five episodes on disc one, English and Japanese Stereo tracks, and English subtitles. This hit series has been in the US since the year 2000, so some UK anime fans have had to wait almost five years to get hold of this show (or of course they imported the US edition, or a bootleg three disc edition commonly found from bad on-line retailers).

UK fans who haven't already got the US edition or taped it off cable TV when it first broadcast will probably want to know is the UK edition worth buying or should they go for the US edition instead? Read On to find out!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

An Interview With The Reading Agency

Date: 2004 December 07 18:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

Following our previous news items about the educational value of manga in the UK, that appear in both the Times Education Supplement and the Daily Mail, we've managed to get an interview with the organisation that created the campaign designed to get kids reading using manga - The Reading Agency.

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

The Laughing Man - Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex's Hacker Logo

Date: 2004 November 29 11:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Production

The hit series Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex, features a logo for hacker and cyberterrorist "The Laughing Man", in the show he is only identified by his logo which forms a distinct part of the Standalone Complex imagery. I discovered that Paul Nicholson of Terratag designed the logo for Production I.G.

Join us as Otaku News interview Paul about creating an icon in anime!

Read More... | Souce: Otaku News

1. Category
2. Features