Category > Events
The Japanese Embassy in the UK will be holding an exhibition dedicated to celebrating Japanese inspired manga named MANGA JIMAN.
The exhibiton will run from 11-19 June including a seminar which will investigate "what is manga?"
The contest is for anyone UK resident aged 16 and over, entrants need to create between four and six A4 pages. They can choose their own theme but it must reference Japan in some way. The deadline for that is 14th September 2007. Prizes include a Toshiba laptop and flights to Japan!
Souce: Japanese Embassy UK
Category > Events
Following on from our article on the Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2 UK release details, we've received some more news from Manga Entertainment.We've been informed that Dave Wittenberg, the US voice of Kakashi will be making an appearancelaunch event on Monday 21st May 2007, at the Oxford Street, London, Branch of Virgin Megastore, where fans will be able to meet Dave and get their copy of Naruto Unleashed Series 2 Part 1 signed from 4.30pm onwards.
We've also go more details for Cosplayers and the prizes you can win.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment
Category > Events
Japanese rock group Guitar Wolf will be going on tour in Europe, which will include several dates in the UK in Brighton, Nottingham and London.
Read More... | Souce: Guitarwolf.net
Following on from our story about the US Naruto Screenings, we've obtained the list of theaters that will screen Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in The Land of Snow. Which will be for one night only on June 6th, 2007. Our North American Naruto loving readers better book soon to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: Offical Naruto Movie Website
The good folks from Viz Media have sent us details about the North American screening of Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in The Land of Snow. This has been highly anticipated by Naruto fans. Viz are apparently doing a special one night only screening across 160 selected theaters on June 6th, 2007. So check your local listings. Registered subscribers of Shonen Jump magazine will be sent details to buy tickets on-line on April 27th, while tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 30th through the Fathom events website. As always we advise you to book early to avoid disappointment.
Update: US theater screening locations - Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in The Land of Snow
Read More... | Souce: Viz Media
Category > Events
Continuing on with it's Rising Stars of manga season Daiwa house is playing host to a manga workshop day on the 14th of May. The wokshops will be held by three previous rising stars of manga winners. Booking in advance is required.
Souce: Daiwa House
Category > Anime
We've received details regarding a book signing in London. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy will be signing copies of the new updated version of the Anime Encyclopedia next week on Tuesday 24th April 2007 at Farringdons book store in the Barbican from 19:00-19:45. Then from 20:30, Helen will be giving a talk, on "Urban Mythmaking Tokyo Style", followed by a screening of Karas: The Prophecy.
So if you want to get a signed copy of the Anime Encyclopedia and meet the authors then swing by.
Souce: Barbican
We've received some details about the UK launch of Naruto Uncut Boxset Volume 2, from Manga Entertainment UK. On Monday 21st May 2007, fans should go to either the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street, London, or Virgin Megastore in Arndale Centre in Manchester. Apparently there'll be tons of freebies and goodies for the first 100 people to arrive in costume! So get those costumes ready cosplayers! They'll also have a nice selection of goodies, give aways and prizes too. So get to the simultaneous launch from 6pm!
More details can also be found on the Official Naruto Unleashed UK Website.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Entertainment UK
Category > Events
Following on from our earlier story about the Bristol Comics Expo (on 12th and 13th of May 2007), we've got some more details regarding their coverage of manga stuff. They'll have:
- Tokyo Pop
- Sweatdrop Studios
- Selfmadehero
- Yishan Li
- Umisen-Yamasen
- Siku
- Boychild Books
- Ilya
- Misako Rocks
They've bundled everyone together into a Manga Ally too, as always it's good to see Sweatdrop attending these events.
Read More... | Souce: Bristol Comics Expo
We've got the details from the Sci-Fi-London regarding their anime all-nighter. The line up looks to be the best yet. The anime all nighter is set to run on Saturday 5th May from 11pm. The line up is as follows:
Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society
Paprika
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Highlander: Search for vengence
Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa
We're excited to see the new follow up to Ghost In the Shell: Stand alone complex - Solid State Society, and it's worth going for that alone. However Paprika by Satoshi Kon (the director behind Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paranoia Agent) is another must see title. We're really impressed that they'll be showing them both on the same screening. The other titles are worth watching too. We suggest you make it a weekend of anime, go along to the anime all nighter, and then go to the London Anime Club the following day.
We also advise you book soon to avoid disappointment they sold out within 10 days last year.
Friday 4th May 2007, will show the UK Premiere of Ghost In the Shell: Solid State Society.
Read More... | Souce: Sci-Fi-London
Category > Culture
Tokyopop are holding a rising stars of manga exhibition at Daiwa House which runs until 17th of May. They are also holding a seminar on the 19th of April entitled "Bringing Manga to the UK" this requires advanced booking from the website.
Souce: The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Category > Events
Anime fans who can get to Boston, Massachusetts will want to go to Anime Boston 2007, on April 20th-22nd 2007, although all the advanced registrations are full, you can still turn up on the door to register. For our readers who like voice acting you'll want to go to enter their Voice Acting Contest where you can win a chance to record their own character in a new project. 2EastMusic will also be hosting a Songwriting Workshop.
Read More... | Souce: Anime Boston 2007
Category > Anime
The first Naruto movie hits US theaters this summer!
Update: US theater screening locations - Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in The Land of Snow
Read More... | Souce: VIZ Media, LLC
Category > Events
Our chum Dragon's sent us details about the London Anime Club's 2007 trip to Japan. Let's face it, if you are a huge anime fan what better way to go to Japan than with a group of like minded fans! ^_^
Details as follows:
Registrations for the LAC Japan 2007 Trip now open
Registration for the London Anime Club's annual trip to Japan is now open. This trip is timed to coincide with the first Japanese World Scince Fiction Convention. The trip is from Friday 24th of August until Friday the 7th of September and includes all flights, hotel, and transfers to/from the airport. There are side trips and special events planned for the more discerning Otaku. Further details about the WorldCon can be found at Nippon 2007.
Souce: London Anime Club - Japan 2007
Category > Events
We've been sent the details of the Bristol International Comic Expo Film Night on May 11th at 10pm at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Bristol. Anime fans will want to catch Highlander: Search For Vengeance along with the fan produced title with cult appeal AMV Hell: 3.
Read More... | Souce: Bristol International Comic Expo
Category > Events
We've received details from the good folks at Alcon, the Leicester based convention has had to change it's dates from 14th-16th September to 7th-9th September due to a date clash with the Midlands MCM Expo in Telford.
Souce: Alcon
Category > Events
The good folks from Leicester UK convention AmeCon 2007 have sent us more details regarding registration and guests at the convention. Following our earlier story about the convention being open for registration it seems that a lot of people have now registered with more than 673 fans registering for the convention, this means that half of their capacity has been filled in 4 days! They have a total capacity of 1,300 which once filled will not be extended due to insurance and tax issues. We suggest you book now to avoid any disappointment.
Guests this year are voice actors Monica Rial and Chris Patton, who also attended last years AmeCon and proved to be popular guests.
Read More... | Souce: AmeCon
Category > Events
Anime fans will be pleased to know that Leicester based UK anime convention AmeCon 2007 is now open for registration. So book now to avoid disappointment. The convention is scheduled for 10th-12th August 2007 and is the third convention held by the AmeCon crew.
Souce: AmeCon
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
Category > Events
We've received details about the London Anime Club having to cancel their March meeting due to the venue being refurbished later than planned. The London Anime Club meet up on the first Sunday of each month (except January). The next LAC is scheduled to take place on Sunday 1st April.
Read More... | Souce: London Anime Club
Category > Events
For a special event of the closing night ceremony of Video Games Live, Nintendo composer Koji Kondo will be making an appearance at the event and is set to perform one of his favourite melodies from his career with Nintendo. Tickets for the March 9th event are priced from $38.50 to $65, and are now available at LiveNation.com.
Read More... | Souce: Video Games Live
We've been sent a press release from Square-Enix about the official UK launch of Final Fantasy XII. It'll be at the Oxford Street Branch of HMV in London. The first lucky 100 people to buy a copy of the game at the event will also be given an exclusive moogle soft toy and a CD with five specially selected tracks by Hitoshi Sakimoto. The next 200 people to buy the game will also be given the CD which has been produced just for the launch event. Gifts can be secured by getting a wrist band from the store at 9am on February 23rd.
The best cosplayers will also be awarded goodies at the event. Plus there is a chance to win a trip to Japan for everyone at the event.
Read More... | Souce: Square Enix
Anime fans in the UK who can get down to Exeter will want to go to Animated Exeter from 12th - 24th February 2007, which is spread across several venues including Exeter Phoenix and Exeter Picturehouse.
They'll be showing all sorts of animated fun, we suggest the following anime titles:
Souce: Animated Exeter
Category > Events
We've been sent some details about a new UK anime convention Alcon at De Montfort University, Leicester City Campus. Scheduled for 14th-16th September 2007, it looks promising for a first time convention. Current sign up rates are valid until March 31st, so book now to get a lower sign up fee. We wish the Alcon crew the best of luck for their first anime convention!
Read More... | Souce: Alcon
Category > Events
The Tomo-Dachi committee have sent us a press release about their next convention in Northern Ireland. It's set to run from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th of August at the University of Ulster’s Magee Campus in Londonderry. This years guest of honour is ADR director, scriptwriter and voice actor Mike McFarland, who's done ADR work on Fullmetal Alchemist, Trinity Blood and Dragon Ball, as well as a selection of voice acting roles. Too-Dachi is now open for pre-registrations, so book early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: Tomo-Dachi
Category > Events
We've been sent details of this months lurve fest, which is also known as J-Pop Go, the regular J-pop night held in central London. The event is sheduled for Saturday 10th February, at the regular venue of Cafe Manga on London's South Bank next to Westminster Bridge. J-Pop Go starts at 7pm with a screening from ADV Films UK of Jinki: Extend. Please note that this event is for over 18's only.
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
We've just been sent some interesting news from Viz Pictures in the US, who will be screening a Taste of Tea across New York, Chicago, Seattle and Portland. It's a live action flick, from the writer/director Katsuhito Ishii, who directed Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl, Party Seven and the animated section of Kill Bill Volume 1.
US readers can catch the screenings at the following venues:
New York
General opening: February 16-22, 2007
The ImaginAsian
239 East 59th St., New York 10022
http://www.theimaginasian.com
Chicago
General opening: March 2-8, 2007
FACETS CINEMATHEQUE
1517 West Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614
http://www.facets.org/asticat
Seattle
March 16-22, 2007
GRAND ILLUSION CINEMA
1403 NE 50th St., Seattle, WA 98105
http://www.grandillusioncinema.org
Portland
April 6-12, 2007
The Hollywood Theatre
4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR 97212
http://www.hollywoodtheatre.org
Read More... | Souce: Viz Pictures
London anime fans will want to get the Barbican over the next three months, as they've a great little season of films showing. Anime expert Helen McCarthy is involved, introducing each film and exploring certain aspects behind them. The Barbican will be screening:
- Perfect Blue - 19:00 on 30th January 2007
- My Neighbour Totoro - 20:00 on 20th February 2007
- Samurai 7 - 20:00 on 27th March 2007
Tickets are £8.50 full price, or £7.00 if you book on-line, with concessions £6.00. We highly recommend all these films.
Souce: Barbican
Category > Events
We've received an e-mail from an "anonymous tip". As such we can't say how true this is, it could be a hoax, it could be a genuine anonymous tip, or on the other hand someone could be trying to do a spot of astroturfing for their anime convention, we don't really know.
It's about an anime convention called Kanacon. The e-mail mentions the MCM Expo and JapanEX, so which may imply that they are running it, on the other hand they may not be. It then states that London "has yet to have a full blown Anime & Manga convention", which is wrong, as London has had Shin nen kai before.
The release concludes suggesting that it might be intended to get some hype going. Is this hoax, or real? Who knows, I guess we'll have to find out in 2008, one thing for sure, running an UK anime convention anywhere is tricky and a logistical nightmare, with venue bookings to worry about, insurance, events, support from fandom and millions of other factors, choosing London to run a convention is a bold move because of cost implications. So lets wait and see. We've already spoken to representatives from two major anime companies who have not heard about this convention, we're wondering who in the industry has been contacted.
We hope the people who tried to launch the disastrous KyuuCON are not involved.
Read More... | Souce: Strange \"Anonymous Tip\"
Category > Events
Our art connoisseur readers near London will want to check out Sea Change Group Show at the Mark Jason Gallery from 1st to 23rd February 2007. The group show features work by a group of emerging print makers. Japanese artists include Chie Kutsuwada, Akiko Takizawa and Katsu Yuasa.
The Mark Jason Gallery can be found near Edgeware Road Tube Station on Bell Street.
Read More... | Souce: Mark Jason Gallery
Category > Events
The good folks from J-Pop Go have sent us the details of their latest event. It's scheduled for Saturday 2nd December at their usual venue of Cafe Manga near Westminster Bridge in London. The regular selection of talented DJs will be there, along with a prize draw from MVM, ADV and Tanoshimi.
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Anime
The first ever American Awards will be held at the New York Comic Con in February.
Read More... | Souce: ICv2
Category > Events
For our London readers you might want to visit IMAF, the International Manga and Anime Festival, which opened today at County Hall near the London Eye in Westminster. It's set to run from Friday 10th - Tuesday 14th November 2006.
Opening times vary each day, so be sure to check to avoid dissapointment before going. The event schedule can be found in a 132KB MS Word document (web usability experts scream as it should be in HTML for everyone to read). It includes panels and workshops by author Paul Gravett, artists Sweatdrop Studios, international comic book
creator Ilya and expert on traditonal culture Akemi.
The winners have been announced and the overall award winner is the talented Paul Duffield who also won the Tokyopop UK Rising Stars of Manga Competiton in 2005. Anime expert, author, writer, and Ghibli fan Helen McCarthy also won a much deserved "Outstanding Contribution to Anime and Manga" award. Congratulations to all the winners!
We suggest you get to County Hall to enjoy all the lovely artwork while it's on display.
Souce: IMAF
Category > Art
Newcastle upon Tyne's Opus Gallery will have an exhibition of urban, street and graffiti artists including Japanese artists Takashi Murakami and Chiho Aoshima from the 16th of November.
Read More... | Souce: Opus Gallery
Category > Events
Our chum Emily has sent us details of the Cosplay Event at this years IMAF at County Hall, Westminster, London 10-14th November 2006. Cos-mania, will have a stage competition on the Saturday afternoon and a cosplay panel on Sunday, they'll also have a photographer and full cloakroom and changing facilities for those cosplayers who don't want to wear their creations on the tube (or who will be wearing more than one costume on the day).
Read More... | Souce: IMAF
The BFI is hosting a season called wild Japan which runs from the 3rd to 30th of November. With films such as Female Convict Scorpion, Yakuza Graveyard and Funeral Parade of Roses the season is definatly adults only!
Souce: BFI
Category > Events
The vampires from J-Pop Go have sent us the details for their next event, set for Saturday 28th October with a Halloween theme - Kowaiathon night. J-Pop Go will be held at thier regular venue of Cafe Manga, near the Westminster Bridge end of County Hall in London. Tickets will be £5 with discount for cosplayers at their discretion. We suggest Ring and Grudge based costumes for a frightning night!
Read More... | Souce: J-Pop Go
Anime fans who can get to Leeds in November are in for a treat. They'll be holding the 20th Leeds International Film Festival. Highlights include the UK Premiere of Paprika by Satoshi Kon (responsible for Paranoia Agent, which they'll be screening the complete series in the Festival). Other features include the rather strange selection from Kawasaki Minoru - Executive Koala, Calamari Wrestler and The World Sinks Except Japan.
All tickets cost £6.00 or £4.50 for conessions, they also do tickets for the whole festival. It's well worth going for the Satoshi Kon features alone!
Souce: 20th Leeds Film Festival
Category > Events
Japanese music fans in the UK will be keen to hear that visual kei band D'espairs Ray will be playing at the Carling Academy Islington on Saturday 11th of November, tickets cost £20.
Souce: Carling Academy Islington
Category > Gaming
The Tokyo game show has just concluded in Japan, while the major announcements were already made at E3 there are a few gems hidden about. A Bleach game on the Wii? Yes please!
Read More... | Souce: Gamespot
Category > Events
Fujisankei Communications International (FCI) and Sharp Electronics Corporation join forces to present you the New York-Tokyo Music Festival 2006 on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park a free, all-day, good old-fashioned outdoor concert that will have some inspired artistic talents from the East and the West. The festival’s focal point this year is on artists that are just beginning to make a name for themselves in several different musical subgenres, ranging from Turntablism to Dancehall, Hip-hop to Progressive Jazz.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Service
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
Category > Production > Studio Ghibli
The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television is hosting a three film Ghibli screening on the 28th of October as part of it's British animation festival. The following films will be shown My Neighbour Totoro , Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke.
If you're in the area and haven't seen any Ghibli films big screen we suggest you go!
Souce: Bradford Aniamtion Festival 2006
Category > Gaming
Keen gamers out there will want to get to London's Science Museum as they'll be running a computer games exhibition called Game On. It's set to run from 21st October 2006 until 25th February 2007 and will feature games from the 1960's to the current day. It seems they’ll have a good mixture of console and arcade games on display and up for play, with over 100 playable games available. Interestingly enough, this exhibition will also feature the design processes involved with game production. Nintendo fans will also be pleased to hear that drawings by Shigeru Miyamoto will be only display. So for fans and wannabe games developers, it's well worth a look!
Tickets cost £8.50 for adults, with children and concessions costing £6.50. Family discounts also apply. Advanced bookings are highly recommend to avoid disappointment.
Souce: Science Museum
Category > Events
We've been sent some details from the Tomo-dachi Crew about their next convention, set for Friday, August 31st - Sunday to September 2nd, 2007 at the UU Magee Campus in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Bookings before March 31st are £25 and £30 after. As of yet, they've not released a guest list, however if the last Tomo-dachi is anything to go for they'll have some good industry guests.
Read More... | Souce: Tomo-dachi
Category > Anime
London based anime fans will want to head over to the Japan Foundation for their free event Bringing Pictures to Life - Japanese Animation and the World of Koji Yamamura. It's set to run on October 16th at 6:30pm, although it's free, booking is essential (if you do book don't forget to mention you found this through Otaku News). Anime expert Helen McCarthy will also be giving a talk about Japanese animation.
It's good to see that the Japan Foundation will be doing this, and hopefully they'll be having other events like this in the future.
The Japan Foundation is near Russell Square Tube station, a short walk from The British Museum and Gosh comics, which is known to stock a nice selection of manga.
Read More... | Souce: Japan Foundation
Category > Events
Those nice partying folk at J-Pop Go will be having the final ultimate showdown (of ultimate destiny) to decide who really does rule, ninjas or pirates. The popular London J-Pop event is set to run on Saturday September 23rd at their regular venue of Cafe Manga.
Who will win on pirates versus ninja night? Otaku News will be betting on the ninjas to win, being favourites by far as they have real ultimate power! Although we wouldn't put it past the underdog pirates of having some chance of beating the sneaky ninjas, however ninjas would only lose to trick the pirates into a false sense of security before flipping out and killing all the scurvy sea dogs! ^_-
Souce: J-Pop Go
Category > Fandom
We've been passed a press release from DDR:uk, a group of hardcore Dance Dance Revolution fanatics, on the 18th of August their equipment was stolen (with the exception of their custom build DDR machine, as it too big to easily move), their £25,000 collection includes a wide variety of rare and sought after games, most of which are no longer in production, along with specialist hardware and games controllers.
Since the items in question are rather unique, we would like to ask community minded otaku to be aware of the items stolen and keep a look out for them on places like popular auction sites, specialist games dealers and other places second hand goods are traded. The DDR:uk crew are offering a reward for any information.
The DDR:uk crew also help run events at anime conventions such as the games room, which was a huge success at AmeCon 2006, with the DDR machine being a huge attraction, along with the more unusual classic games. DDR:uk also put a plea out for hardware and games donation to help replace what was stolen.
On a side note the AmeCon manga library (which is made up of generous donations from Tokyopop and Tanoshimi and is stored with the DDR:uk hardware), was also vanadilised by the same criminals, with boxes of manga thrown out onto the street into the rain, and is now spoiled as a result.
We've deliberatly posted this to all editions of Otaku News, as although the items in question were stolen in the UK, many of the items stolen are rare they're desirable internationally, so all our readers should be made aware.
Read More... | Souce: DDR:uk
Category > Anime
Tarantino announces two possible Kill Bill anime projects.
Read More... | Souce: Anime News Network
Category > Anime
The Mainichi Daily News are currently running an article about the success of anime and manga in the US. Reporting from Anime Expo, the article focuses on how anime and manga is becoming more mainstream and also more popular with girls. This trend has been seen in the US for a number of years now, with female convention attendance growing strongly each year. Interestingly this trend is also being mirrored in other fan events across the world too, four or five years ago UK anime fandom used to be the sole domain of rather geeky males, now the UK anime scene also has growing female attendance, along with more mainstream acceptance.
Souce: Mainichi Daily News
Category > Events
Nana Kitade, Japans very own Goth princess debuted with her first album 18-eighteen- in Japan last year in September. As of July 11th this album can be found in US stores featuring a special English version of the song KISS or KISS as a bonus track. To promote her release, she will be doing several in-store events in San Francisco, New York, Boston, as well as a live performance at Baltimore's Otakon.
Nana Kitade is known best for her contribution to the anime series Full Metal Alchemist, with the ending theme Indelible Sin. She wants to be a leader figure in the growth of Gothic Lolita or Gothic Kawaii (or otherwise known as Goth-Kawa) fashion, which is just beginning to hit the United States.
Souce: Akadot