The New York Anime Festival is going on right now in NYC. It’s got guests from all across America and Japan, but the biggest stars — the women and men behind Del Rey Manga — will be taking the stage later today. Come on out to the Jacob Javits Center in NYC today for the Del Rey Manga Panel…
11 AM to 12 PM - Panel Room 1
Get more details at nyanimefestival.com!
The New York Anime Festival starts September 25 in NYC. What are you doing the night before? Getting in the mood for NYAF at the NYAF Pre-Party and Del Rey Manga Fifth Birthday Party! Del Rey and NYAF are proud to reveal we’re partnering for a party from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on September 24 at Dave and Buster’s (234 West 42nd Street) in NYC’s Times Square.
This special event is both a celebration of this year’s Anime Festival as well as a celebration of Del Rey Manga’s Fifth Anniversary — and to mark this special occasion, NYAF and Del Rey Manga are inviting fans and professionals to partake in food, drink, giveaways, and a cake crafted by Baltimore’s famed Charm City Cakes specifically for Del Rey Manga and NYAF.
Really.
Free and open to the public, the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party welcomes NYAF attendees, anime fans, manga readers, industry professionals, and casual New Yorkers interested in the world of Japanese pop culture. The party will take place in two parts…
Manga and Anime Raffle (5:30-6:30 PM) - Typically you give the birthday boy or girl gifts; however, to mark the occasion of Del Rey Manga’s fifth birthday, we’re giving gifts to the party’s attendees. Come during the party’s first hour to be entered to win a selection of manga spanning Del Rey Manga’s five years as well as DVDs from NYAF partners including Bandai Entertainment and FUNimation. Further, the Charm City Cakes Del Rey Manga birthday cake will be on public display during this time, so fans, press, and pros interested in taking pictures of the party centerpiece should do so before the raffle ends.
Charm City Cakes Cutting (6:30-7:30 PM) - Once the raffle ends, the real party begins as representatives from Del Rey Manga and the New York Anime Festival will cut into the Charm City Cakes Del Rey Manga birthday cake. Created by the talents of Food Network’s Ace of Cakes TV show, the Del Rey Manga birthday cake will take the form of a towering stack of manga, showcasing some of Del Rey Manga’s landmark books from 2004 to today.
At 7:30, following the formal end of the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party, attendees are free to stay and enjoy Dave & Buster’s or attend a special one-night-only screening of Bandai Entertainment’s Eureka Seven - good night, sleep tight, young lovers - animated motion picture, presented at the AMC Empire 24 theater neighboring Dave & Buster’s.
So, come and celebrate five years of Del Rey Manga, three years of the New York Anime Festival, and one delicious cake!
The Japan Society’s acclaimed exhibit KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games is running until June 14, so if you’re anywhere near New York City, be sure to get over there for your fix of J-Pop awesomeness. Knowing how to do things right, the Japan Society kicked things off in style with—what else?—a cosplay event!
Read after the jump for an event report from our special correspondent Petrina Cheng, as well as more photos of coplaying fun!
Kinokuniya Bookstore, Del Rey Manga, the NY Anime Festival, and friends are celebrating Super Para Natural Manga Day on Sunday, May 17! Kinokuniya Bookstore (located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan) will present a day of events celebrating the creepy, spooky, and cool side of Japanese comics and animation from partners including Alone Together NYC, Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey Manga, FUNimation Entertainment, The Right Stuf International, Samurai Beat Radio, VIZ Media, and VIZ Pictures.
Super Para Natural Manga Day Event Schedule
11 AM: Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody Screening
1 PM: Vampires In Manga Presentation
2 PM: Ghost Hunt Screening
3 PM: Del Rey Manga Presentation
4 PM: D.Gray-Man Screening
5 PM: Samura Beat Radio Broadcast
6 PM: Boogiepop Phantom Screening
7 PM: Raffle
For the expanded schedule and more details click here.
Sakura Matsuri — Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival — journeys West this weekend, taking over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on May 2 and 3. The NYC Sakura Matsuri is something I’ve been attending for years as a fan, and it’s simply breathtaking. The garden in full bloom. Cherry trees producing a shower of pink petals. Taiko drums, the koto, and shamisen. Sake and Sapporo flowing. And cosplayers. Lots and lots of cosplayers.
While NYC’s Sakura Matsuri is a traditional Japanese festival, in recent years, it’s become a destination for cosplayers for all the reasons mentioned above, and — for the first time — embracing their younger, anime-fluent audience, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is programming anime and manga guests and events. And, I’m proud to say the New York Anime Festival had a hand in it.
Sakura Matsuri’s full details and directions can be found here…
http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/sakura.html
But here’s an abridged list of goings on tailored to anime fans…
Saturday
10:00-1:00 - Cosplay Photographer Anna Fischer - Osborne Garden
10:00-5:00 - Manga Library - Members Room
10:00-6:00 - Manga & Anime Artist Alley - Osborne Garden
12:00-6:00 - Sushi Pillow Photo Op - Magnolia Plaza
1:00-2:00 - Uncle Yo Cosplay Comedy - Osborne Garden
1:00-2:00 - World Cosplay Summit Photo Shoot - Osborne Garden
2:00-4:00 - Samurai Beat Radio Live Broadcast - Osborne Garden
2:30-3:30 - Anime Voice Actor Roundtable - Auditorium
3:15-4:00 - Samurai Sword Soul - Cherry Esplanade Stage
4:00-4:45 - Misako Rocks! A Crazy Comic Life - Auditorium
4:15-5:00 - Minami Kizuki Concert - Cherry Esplanade Stage
5:00-5:45 - Manga for Dummies with Kensuke Okabayashi - Osborne Garden
5:15-6:00 - Ai Kawashima Concert - Cherry Esplanade Stage
Sunday
10:00-5:00 - Manga Library - Members Room
10:00-6:00 - Manga & Anime Artist Alley - Osborne Garden
12:00-5:00 - Sushi Pillow Photo Op - Magnolia Plaza
4:15-5:00 - Samurai Sword Soul - Cherry Esplanade Stage
Off-Site
4:30-7:00 - Ai Kawashima Meet and Greet - Kinokuniya - Friday
10:00-12:00 - Soundscape and NINGIN J-Pop Party - Club Elevate - Saturday
5:00-6:00 - Reni Maid Show - TopTunes - Sunday
Sakura Matsuri’s Voice Actor Roundtable includes Tom Wayland, Rachael Lillis, Jamie McGonnigal, and Veronica Taylor.
Sakura Matsuri’s Artist Alley includes manga artists Abby Denson, Misako Rocks!, and Kensuke Okabayashi, as well as D-List anime and manga celebrities Ali T. Kokmen and Peter Tatara at the Del Rey Manga and New York Anime Festival booths, respectively. (Unless, of course, Ali and Peter get silly and sit at each other’s tables. And, of course, by “silly”, we mean drunk.)
All this said, there’s a lot more to Sakura Matsuri, too. So, check out http://www.bbg.org/exp/cherries/sakura.html, and I’ll see you Saturday!
Yes, it’s spring in New York. Daylight time is saved. Heavy coats are stowed into closets. But for the manga/anime fan, is there a truer sign of spring than cosplayers dancing in Bryant Park? I think not.
Last Sunday, New York City’s Kinokuniya Bookstore, specialty purveyors of all things Japanese, held an Anime Day celebration. Featuring presentations by the Japan Society, manga-ka Misako Rocks!, Samurai Beat Radio, Keio Academy, and many others (including, of course, Del Rey Manga..) it was a afternoon of fun for area fans.
But, as always, there was no fun that was more fun than the cosplayers. More pics after the jump.
So, this is normally where I tell you about some free comics you can read online, and that is wonderful, but there’s even more in store for you today. Top Cow Studios is offering a free episode of their new Witchblade Anime series on iTunes! But it’s only free through October 26, so you might want to think about going and getting it today.
You can find that free episode by clicking here. Or you can click on the graphic, or you can log in to iTunes and search for Witchblade in the iTunes store. Of whatever else gets you there. It’s free and it’s Top Cow, I mean really, what are you waiting for?!?
So, now that we have that out of the way and you’re downloading your free episode, let’s talk about some comics you can check out free online. We start with Proof, this issue from Image Comics features a highly educated Bigfoot (think Beast from the X-Men), named John “Proof” Prufrock, hunting down and capturing a Chupacabra, the Mexican Bigfoot. The Chupacabra is difficult to spot though, as it wears a human’s flesh. So it’s up to Proof and his new partner Ginger Brown to find the creature before it unleashes a killing spree. The story is fun, incorporating actual myth into it’s own original storyline and includes a texty section after the story talking about the differences between their Chupacabra and the real myth and some “recommended reading” for your post-Proof needs. The artwork in Proof is beautiful if slightly ragged and the colors rather muted, but it all grows on you quickly. Scattered throughout the story are Cryptoid asides that are facts or opinions related to the story’s proceedings. I enjoyed this introduction to Proof and I’m betting that you will as well. Click here (or on the Proof cover) to read the issue free online.
More after the jump…
This year, Suvudu and the New York Anime Festival teamed up to offer weekend passes to a select few Anime Yourself contest winners. Becky was one of those winners and she was kind enough to share her experience with us (and with the rest of the blogosphere). If you’re interested in reading Becky’s full account, you should head over to her blog, Doodle and Color!
So Becky, what did you think?
We headed over to the Javits center and […] we went inside and saw even more cosplayers. One girl was dressed as the main character from digi-charat (FLAWLESS COSTUME!) and I saw a bunch of Bleach’s Ichigos running around… and I was really happy to see some Sailor Moon cosplayers too; nice to know people still appreciate the old skool hehe!
I stopped by the Del Rey Manga booth to say hi […]. They gave me a slap bracelet, a suvudu.com sticker and a Phoenix Wright foam gavel haha! My brother had fun hitting me with that one. *bonk*
More after the jump…
It may be young to the anime convention scene, but the recently concluded New York Anime Festival is already a must-attend event for otaku of every kind. Screenings, panels, concerts, dealers, camaraderie, community…NYAF had it all.
But for all the excitement at NYAF of Bakugan and cosplay, of Iron Chefs and silken neckties, there was only one word on the lips of NYAF attendees in the know.
What’s the word?
Just watch:
The New York Anime Festival was held at the Jacob K. Javits Center this past weekend and there were a ton of otakus (Japanese term for Anime fanboy/fangirl) cosplaying as their favorite characters. It was a bit more crowded than last year’s festival and I was glad I didn’t get attacked by any storm troopers this year. However, I did see some amazing costumes — here are some below (click to enlarge photos):
Spirited Away’s No Face (his costume attracted the most kids)
Final Fantasy VII’s Sephiroth and Cloud dressed as Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders respectively (if you look carefully, the french fry and chicken are their weapons — I thought this was very creative)
This is a drawing of Yoshitaka Amano’s Vampire Hunter D. The chalk artist is Eric Maruscak.
My favorite part of the event was seeing one of my favorite artists, Mr. Yoshitaka Amano, even though if it was for a brief second. He designed the characters for some of the Final Fantasy games, which I’ve played since I was a kid.
I encourage everyone to check it out next year!
It should come as no surprise that we love the folks at New York Anime Festival. But why exactly?
Is it that they’ve created a great event for New York-area J-pop fans? Well, sure, there’s that.
Is it that we’re running a contest where you (yes, you!) could win passes to the big show? Well, we all appreciate their largesse, but it’s not why we love them so.
Is it because NYAF Conferece Manager Peter Tatara is a dashing young mover and shaker in the anime community (depsite being seemingly sartorially incapable of tying a necktie)? No, but all that’s true.
It’s because New York Anime Festival dares address the truly important controversies of this modern world:
Pirates or Ninjas?
[more from NYAF after the jump]
Want to get into the 2008 New York Anime Festival for free without having to sneak in or bribe someone? Fancy yourself an artist like Yoshitaka Amano? Then this contest is for you!
To enter the contest, submit one (1) anime-style portrait or rendering of yourself and one (1) unaltered photograph for comparison to said portrait to info@suvudu.com between 12:01 AM EDT September 10, 2008 and midnight on September 18, 2008.
There will be four (4) First Prize Winners. Each First Prize Winner will receive two (2) weekend passes to the New York Anime Festival and three Random House manga books.
Judging the submissions will be Ali Kokeman and Tricia Narwani from Del Rey Manga!
For the official rules of this contest, click HERE!
Get those pencils sharpened, inks bled, colors mixed!
And good luck!
Just a few days ago, the new film from Hayao Miyazaki opened in Japan: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. This has me wishing, badly, that I were in Tokyo right now, adrift in Miyazaki dreams.
I’ll leave all attempts to describe a Miyazaki film in mere words to those with more senseless hubris than I. So, after the jump, let’s marvel instead at the Japanese-language trailer, and sing along with the deliriously catchy theme song (“Ponyo, Ponyo!”)
