ADV Booth at NYAF 2007

Last weekend, I attended the first annual New York Anime Festival, held at the Javits Center in NYC. Run by Reed Exhibitors, the people who host the New York Comic Con, this year’s NYAF is estimated to have attracted 15,000 attendees during its three day run (official numbers aren’t in yet). By comparison, the largest anime conventions in the Northeast pull about 23,000 (Otakon in Baltimore, MD) and 27,000 (Anime Boston), the largest anime convention in the US, Anime Expo 2007 (Long Beach, CA), drew 44,000, and last year’s New York Comic Con drew about 50,000 people – so they did quite well for a first year event!

As someone who has attended a number of conventions, I was really impressed by how smoothly things went. The opening ceremonies were delayed about 15 minutes, but virtually everything else started on time, there were few lines to wait in, and seats were available in every panel I attended. If you’ve ever been to Otakon and wanted to get into a specific screening or panel, you know you have to get there early, wait in line, and hope you could get a seat. (Admittedly, I couldn’t attend on Saturday, which was probably the biggest attendance day, but Friday and Sunday were great.)

The crowd was a good mix of guys and gals, many of them cosplaying. I was somewhat surprised they held the Masquerade on Friday night, as it was the first night of the conference, but since the event was also part of the semi-finals of the 2008 World Cosplay Summit, there was a good turnout. And while I overheard one girl explaining how she and her friends were going to cosplay but the weather was so bad (snowy and cold) and the show didn’t start until late, I saw a number of others putting on costumes and makeup in the various array of bathrooms throughout the Javits Center.

As with any convention, you never know what you might find to eat. The Javits Center’s main food court was closed, but they had vendors making hotdogs, crepes, waffles, and other tasty treats throughout the exhibit hall. Over by the panels, they had a Maid Café, manned by some of the cutest cosplaying maids you’ll find in NYC. There, you could eat sushi or grab a sandwich.

Though Reed Exhibitions put on the convention, it felt like it was “by fans for fans”. There was an art show, gaming room, manga room, and panels on all sorts of things like how to start an anime club, how to turn your webcomics into a career, samurai and feudal japan, Lolita lifestyle, getting into anime journalism, J-Horror, and even sake. If you weren’t interested in any of those, you could check out the ADV, FUNimation, or Live Action screening rooms for some great titles like School Rumble, Tsubasa and xxxHolic: The Movie, Devil May Cry, Death Note, Witchblade, or even the live action Nana and Honey and Clover.

Before I move on to panel news, let me mention that the NYAF wasn’t the only major event happening in the Javits Center this weekend. Wizard was also hosting its Magic: The Gathering World Championships where they were giving away a PT Cruiser and several million dollars in cash and prizes. Uri Peleg and the Switzerland National Team won – you can see all the action via webcast. You didn’t need to be a ProTour player to join in the games – Wizard offered a number of public events that anyone could participate in, if you knew how to play Magic.

On to the announcements –

Panel News

Del Ray’s biggest news came Sunday when they jointly announced a partnership with Marvel to create the X-Men and Wolverine manga. During their industry panel on Friday, they talked about their manga anthology, Faust, with artwork by CLAMP, Yun Kouga (Loveless), Takeshi Oba (Death Note) and others. Two manga titles I’m really excited for are Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo and Me and the Devil Blues, a manga that assumes US blues singer Robert Johnson went out to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical talent. Del Ray also has two light novels in the works including xxxHolic: Another Holic and Kubikiri Cycle, both to be authored by nisiOisin, an extremely popular and prolific Japanese author, who has also done Death Note: Another Note. Del Ray also announced they’ll be staggering releases throughout the month rather than releasing on the same date. (More at IGN and ICv2)

Tokyopop was promoting titles the adult-themed Manga Sutra, which it plans to cross promote with condom makers, and the Gothic and Lolita Bible, which will be a fashion art book complete with patterns, interviews, and overviews of fashion trends. Upcoming manga titles to look forward to include Gakuen Alice, Kyo Kara Maoh and Fate/Stay Night!

Manga Entertainment pitched Straight Jacket, due out July-Aug 2008, which they described as Blade Runner meets Leon the Professional and Tokyo Zombie, which they called the Japanese Shaun of the Dead and really funny. They also have a documentary on how Japanese pop culture is influencing America in Anime: Drawing a Revolution – and Rob Zombie provides some of the commentary. Finally, Manga Entertainment heavily promoted the launch of their new site and new features to come, including offering titles that don’t financially make sense for them to release on DVD, podcasts, forums and communities, manga-fied avatars, and other goodies.

While I generally don’t read yaoi titles, I have to say DramaQueen‘s Managing Editor, Tran Nguyen, was a riot. She mentioned they’ll be shooting to release about 8 titles per month and they are looking to add some action titles. In other news, ADV premiered the first episode of the Devil May Cry anime, Bandai announced Code Geass would be on Adult Swim and DVD in 2008 along with the English voice cast for Lucky Star. And in news just announced before the convention, Tor Books has partnered with Seven Seas Entertainment to create original manga titles.

Lots of Links

Voltaire at NYAF 2007

• While I couldn’t stay to see Voltaire perform, I got a picture of him at his booth and bought one of his plushies. Check out his website for more about his many creations.
• The Otaku will be launching their newly redesigned site soon – and they have a launch video to hype it.
• Tokyopop is doing some really cool stuff with their iManga and CG animation over at Myspace.
• PopCultureShock has their Top Five Manga News Stories from NY Anime Fest 2007
• I completely missed all but about 3 minutes of their panel, but the two guys that do the GeekNights Podcast have great radio voices. Check out their coverage of NYAF 2007
• I also missed most of Juno Blair B’s webcomic panel, though I got the most important part – never, ever use Photoshop’s dodge or burn tool to lighten/darken your web comic! Check out her web comic, Star Cross’d Destiny.

Did you attend the NYAF? If so, what did you think? How does it compare to other conventions you’ve attended?

NYAF 2007 Cosplay

This post is part of a series covering the ICv2 Conference held in NYC on December 6, 2007 during the New York Anime Festival. The following is a summary of key points made during the Girls – The Other Half of the Otaku Generation panel.

Since Sailor Moon demonstrated there was a market for stories about superhero girls, friendship and relationships, girls have been devouring manga in the US. Manga has provided girls with a visual alternative to the US comic book, which traditionally has been marketed to a very niche, male dominated audience – and they don’t even have to walk into a comic store to buy it.

What draws girls to manga? According to panelists, girls love the engaging story, beautiful artwork, and focus on dialog and character interaction that manga provides. They also like strong female protagonists that can be equals with male characters, something that’s becoming more popular in US comics with Dark Horse’s Buffy and the Anita Blake series.

Jill Snider of FUNimation mentioned that girls tend to buy more merchandise like stuffed animals, t-shirts, and tchotchkes than boys. When they decide to embrace a brand, they try to get their hands on everything – boys are too lazy to be that committed. And once they’ve committed to being a fan, they will continue to ask for more.

So, if girls are a major market for manga and they love shopping for merchandise, why do most anime shown on US tv target boys? Sadly, it seems that broadcasters have already dubbed anime as “for boys” even though girls make up a significant audience of shonen titles like Naruto, Death Note, and Bleach. Boys 9-14 make up a core demographic that advertisers pine for – girls that age, not so much since that age group doesn’t watch much tv.

The broadcasters’ rule of thumb is when it comes to girls animation vs boys animation, boys won’t watch animation for girls but girls will watch animation for boys. Cartoon Network also discovered that when running repeats of DBZ and Sailor Moon, boys are content to watch DBZ repeats while girls will tune out – Sailor Moon repeats don’t interest them.

That said, panelists were hopeful that more shojo will make it onto tv in the near future – though it may take a title like Fruits Basket to do so.

NYAF 2007: Cosplaying Maids

This post is part of a series covering the ICv2 Conference held in NYC on December 6, 2007 during the New York Anime Festival. The following is a summary of key points made during the Marketing the Otaku Generation and Technology and the Otaku panels.

If you’re an anime fan, chances are, there’s at least one anime or manga you’re following as it’s being released in Japan. Fortunately for you, you don’t have to wait until US studios license the title, hire voice actors to dub it in English, and release the entire series dvd or video on demand before you watch it – so long as you have bittorrent and a good internet connection. The internet also makes it easy for you to check up on what’s new in Japan, who’s following and reviewing which Japanese release and where you can download (or at least view) the content with English subtitles.

For US anime publishers, this is both good and bad. One of the biggest arguments for fansubbing new anime is to help promote titles that the fan community loves. Anime and manga companies don’t dispute that most anime fans go online to find out about up-and-coming titles from Japan, whether that be by checking out anime blogs, fan sites and forums, downloading episodes, or checking out official websites.

From a licenser’s perspective, this is great market research. They can follow the discussions to see which titles are being talked about most in the community then go after the licenses. Unfortunately, by the time the anime makes it to the US, it’s too late – fans have already seen the shows a year ago and have moved on. And there’s the problem.

Not surprisingly, this was one of most talked about topics at this year’s ICv2 Conference – as how anime licensors address this problem will have a major impact on how well the US anime industry does in the next few years. DVD sales are already on the decline as fans download 6 million anime episodes per week via bittorrent.

The Changing Anime Market

According to Chris MacDonald of ANN, there are two types of people watching anime: the collectors who will keep buying the dvds, merchandise, toys, figurines, etc, and the consumers who just want to watch anime but don’t necessarily want to own the shows. While there will always be collectors, it’s the consumer population that’s growing.

Chris also speculates that over the last ten years, the market has changed considerably. People who got into anime in the late 90s were, by default, collectors because anime wasn’t accessible. I remember walking into a shop and being thrilled they were selling bootlegged Evangelion Death and Rebirth on VHS tapes. I bought much of Vampire Princess Miyu that way, so when the dvds came out a few years later, I was happy to trade up and purchase them. Today, however, there’s so much anime widely available that you don’t need to collect VHS or dvds to watch your favorite shows, so more people who were collectors are becoming more like consumers.

The good news is that US anime publishers recognize the problem and are doing all sorts of innovative trial-and-error initiatives to adapt. Most realize that cease-and-desist letters aren’t working and that the ideal solution is simultaneous worldwide release (though that may be several years away). Until the Japanese system changes, it’s impossible for US studios to bring fans simultaneous releases within a day of them airing in Japan.

Competing with Illegal Downloads

Panelists offered a number of interesting ways they have been experimenting with providing delivering digital content. They admit that these can’t compete yet with free fansub downloads within a day of the show airing in Japan, but right now, they’re trying to figure out how to monetize streaming and/or online video.

Right now, monetizing digital video falls into three categories:

1. You can charge per download or video stream. ADV charges per digital download on their site. iTunes offers some anime. The Xbox 360 allows you to purchase anime titles to view on your console. Or alternatively, Tokyopop offers a subscription service where you can download manga to your cell phone, something that’s popular in Japan right now.
2. You can use it as advertising to promote sales of your physical products. DC is working with Flex Comics, a Japanese manga production company, to promote their titles on cell phones. Tokyopop also has some innovative stuff with their iManga and 3D CG animation clips
3. You can sponsors buy ads to run before or during the content. Viz has partnered with Cartoon Network to make episodes of popular anime like Naruto, One Piece and Bleach available online at Toonami Jetstream. This is also what Comcast does with Anime Selects.

Interestingly, it seems that only anime downloads are hurting sales. Manga publishers made it a point to say that for now at least, scanlations have only helped the manga industry. That may change in the future if things like the iPod Touch, the iPhone, Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Digital Book Reader gain popularity. Right now, the jury is still out on which business models will work for the future.

Update 12/15/07:

If you’ve been following the fansub debate recently, Arthur Smith of GDH International opened the flood gates with his rant against fansubs back in November. He has since responded to many comments via Anime News Network. This issue won’t be something that will go away anytime soon – especially with interest in anime growing. US publishers will continue to look for ways to work with Japanese companies to get releases out faster and/or find alternative ways to make money besides dvd sales.

Plushies for Sale at the NYAF 2007

This post is part of a series covering the ICv2 Conference held in NYC on December 6, 2007 during the New York Anime Festival. The following is a summary of key points made during the Marketing the Otaku Generation panel.

Al Kahn, Chairman and CEO of 4Kids, sure knows how to spark controversy – especially when he loudly declared that “Japan is over…” and “Manga is dying in Japan” along with chastising Japan for not being willing to work with American publishers and for producing too many “me too” derivative animation. He even admitted his company is now looking to Korea for more innovative titles because Korean studios are more willing to work with US publishers to create titles suitable for the US kids market than Japanese studios are. While not all the panelists felt this way, it sure made for a lively discussion.

To understand where Mr. Kahn was coming from, you need to understand the basics of just what makes a title worth licensing. For 4Kids, they’re looking for mass market appeal. They want their shows like Pokemon and YuGiOh to appeal to virtually all kids, who watch the shows on tv, buy the toys, and play the video games and collectible card games – because the money is in the merchandise, not so much from the commercials that air on tv.

It is extremely expensive to bring a show over to the US for a mass audience – from the costs of licensing it from the Japanese, having English voice actors dub the show in English, and editing the animation so it’s kid-safe and FCC-approved for airing in the US. (For instance, Naruto is heavily edited for blood and violence. One Piece got rid of cigarettes in favor of lollipops.) In 4Kids’ eyes, if they can’t get Mattel to make their toys, Walmart to carry them, and EA to make a video game about their title, they don’t want it because they’ll never make back the money it takes to market the anime title to the kids market.

For companies that don’t target the mass market, they have been trying to make their money mostly on dvd sales – and core Otaku have been supporting them as they buy up their favorite dvd titles. Unfortunately, the biggest problem here is that so much anime is downloaded (John O’Donnell of Central Park Media, who wasn’t on this panel, found there are 6 million anime downloads a week through bittorrent alone) that fans aren’t as concerned with collecting the dvds as they once were.

In response to Mr. Kahn, Rich Johnson of Yen Press offered this counterpoint – 10 years ago, everyone thought the US comic market was dead. Now, it’s doing quite well. He sees markets as cyclical with ebbs and flows. Liza Coppola of Viz agreed that manga is not dead and that manga publishers are doing very well. She should know as her company holds several key manga titles like Naruto, Death Note, and Bleach.

What Makes a Title Worth Licensing?

The panelists stressed that just because something is successful in Japan, that doesn’t mean it will have a broad following in the US. There are different cultural standards and regulations in the US.

Some of the things the panelists look for when deciding whether to bring over an anime include:

• Does it have merchandising potential? Anime shown to a mass market like what 4Kids airs (Pokemon, YuGiOh) has great mass market appeal and there are all sorts of tie ins from toys, bags, collectibles, dvds, video games, and card games.

• Was the title successful in Japan for specific reasons that won’t translate well to the US? For instance, is the title in Japan part of a mega brand that sells merchandise regardless of what’s put on the market? Are there overly Japanese themes that won’t match US culture? Is this a specific cultural genre that won’t work well in the US (like moe)?
• Does it have a good story that’s well suited for their target audience? 4Kids looks to bring things over for younger kids who still watch cartoons after school while companies like FUNimation may target a smaller niche, like seinen titles that are often too violent to be shown on prime time tv.

For more coverage of these issues, check out Sparks Fly at ICv2 Anime/Manga Conference.

NYAF 2007 - Star Wars Cosplay

To kick off the first ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga (part of the New York Anime Festival), Milton Griepp, President of ICv2, spoke at length on trends and statistics in the anime and manga world. As fans, we know that anime and manga have exploded over the last five years – but maybe you don’t realize just how big the industry has become. Here are some statistics:

The Manga Market

• The North American manga market has grown from $60 million in sales in 2002 to $200 million in 2006. The industry has been experiencing double digit growth, though it has slowed down considerably. They expect it to have grown by 10% in 2007.
• The number of manga titles publishers are releasing in the North American market is growing considerably. In 2005, there were 1088 titles on the market. In 2008, that number is projected to be 1731.
• Most manga is coming from Japan, but Korea and Original English Language (OEL) titles are picking up. In the first 11 months of 2007, 82% of titles (1086) came from Japan followed by Korea with 11% (146), OEL with 7% (87) and China with 1% (9).
• Manga has taken off with more titles available in retail stores. The biggest question the manga industry faces is will the demographics expand and will they be able to tap into adult consumers who might read titles geared towards older women (josei) or men.

The Anime Market

• By contract, the North American anime dvd market is experiencing declines. In 2002, sales were at $500 million. Sales peaked in 2003 at $550 million and by 2006, they had declined to $400 million. The reason – fans are downloading anime rather than buying the dvds.
• Unlike manga titles, the number of anime dvd releases is declining due to less demand for titles. In 2001, there were 439 titles released. That number peaked in 2005 with 759 releases and declined back to the 500s in 2007.
• Despite declining dvd sales, however, anime is growing in popularity. People want to watch anime – they just don’t necessarily want to buy dvds. Publishers have been trying to meet demand by showing more anime on tv. Excluding video on demand (VOD) channels, there were only 5 channels showing 18 anime series in 2002. In 2007, there were 11 channels showing 38 series.
• The biggest issue with the dvd market is pricing. Anime fans want season box sets like they can get with US tv series. Right now, this model doesn’t work well with the high cost of licensing and dubbing anime series. In addition, the core anime audience downloads anime directly from fansubbers within days of the episodes airing in Japan. That audience doesn’t want to wait 6 months to a year or longer for the episodes to hit the dvd market. Much of the conference focused around what they’d like to do vs what is realistic – which I’ll talk about in another post.

So, the good news is that the popularity of anime and manga keeps growing. Manga sales are continuing to increase while anime dvd sales are down – but the number of people watching is up. That’s not to say the anime industry isn’t facing a ton of issues that could make or break it in the next few years, but industry execs recognize the challenges and opportunities and are looking for ways to make things better.

Wizard World Philadelphia 2006

It can take quite a long time for anime to get US distribution. According to Funimation brand manager, Adam Sheehan, the process takes an average of 9 months. Here’s how it works.

Funimation looks at about 100 titles each month and debates the pros and cons of bringing each over to the US. An Anime Acquisition Manager takes a look at what is currently out in Japan and then does lots of research including the history of the show, who’s writing/directing/producing it, what distribution rights the companies are asking for, how much they will be willing to pay, what the fan buzz around the show is like, etc.

Once Funimation decides on a title, they must negotiate the usage, distribution, and merchandising rights with the Japanese company. Do they get the first season but not the second? Can they release dvds or air the show on tv? Can they offer digital distribution (maybe iTunes) download? What toys, specials, box set promos, etc can they offer?

The next step is to announce that they’ve acquired the title at anime conventions and through press releases and generally build hype around the title. They want to get the word out that this is an anime worth watching and to make sure you look for it in a few months.

They then turn to translating and producing the dubs. Translators comb through the script and translates it from Japanese to English. They need to make sure that not only the translation accurately represents the Japanese meaning but that the characters sound their age and the dialog flows. A director and producer then start picking out voice actors and recording the dub.

Next up comes marketing. Here they must decide who is most likely to buy the show and where they need to advertise to get the word out. They usually screen the titles in conventions, post on message boards, announce titles in their newsletters, send advanced copies for review sites to screen, and make sure the packaging is up to the Japanese standards.

Finally, they release the titles and start watching sales and tweaking their marketing results. If a show does well, they look to get the second season.

Manga Release Dates

Now – Beck, Blame, MBQ, Peach Fuzz, Sakura Taisen, Sokora Refugees, Van Von Hunter, Saiyuki: Reloaded, Girls Bravo

Sept 2005 – Kamichama Karin, Psychic Academy

Oct 2005 – I Luv Halloween, Devil May Cry 3, Kingdom Hearts, Lights Out, Steady Beat, Justice and Mercy

Nov 2005 – Midnight Opera, Mark of Succubus, Psy-Comm, Samurai Champloo, Telepathic Wanderers, Ark Angels

Dec 2005 – World Exists for Me (aka The World of S&M), The Dreaming, Tsukuyomi Moon Phase

Jan 2006 – Dragon Head, Flower of Eden, Dazzle, Sengoku Nights (by creators of Diablo), Ultra Cute

Feb 2006 – Kami Kaze, Loveless, Mitsukaze Miharu: Beautiful People

Mar 2006 – Rose Hip Rose, Shonan Junai Gumi (GTO prequel), Battle Club

Yaoi Novels

The Blu line of yaoi manga will debut in November and include such titles as Shinobu Kokoro, Love Mode, and Wild Rock (Jan 2006). They will also release a 400 page volume of Earthian that will retail for $14.99.

Regular Novels

Having just released the .hack//ai buster novel, they’ll be looking to expand this line with series including Gravitation, Gundam SEED, and Scrapped Princess.

Takuhai

Tokyopop was promoting its free quarterly manga, Takuhai, which is full of lots of manga goodies and it’s counterpart, Takuhai Online, a monthly online zine featuring different content. If you’re a manga fan, check these out. They’re free – what more can you ask for? Just go to the Tokyopop website to sign up.

On US Artists

During the Q&A session, a question was raised about the marketability of US drawn manga – why Tokyopop is doing this and how successful they think it will be. They believe it will succeed for a number of reasons (a) because the manga is high quality, (b) because being set in the US, it’s more personal to Americans, (c) because they believe strongly that these artists are incredibly talented in drawing manga style, (d) because US artists deserve to have their stories told.

They also talked about the success of Princess Ai, which had a US manga, was drawn by a Japanese artist, and released in Japan, and Ark Angels, which is a Korean manga being published through their Japanese office.

On Mistakes in Translations

It happens. For instance, in Fruits Basket, the translation was done entirely by freelancers. Tokyopop only has a 12 person editorial staff and they release around 40 titles each month. They are working to cut down on errors, but sometimes they do slip through.

On Editorial Freedom

Tokyopop had editorial freedom to change certain things about the manga. For instance, whether or not they’ll decide to change a character’s name depends on the editor assigned to the title. If they feel a manga could have a broader range, they’ll take a more liberal approach. If it’s a fan favorite, they’ll try to stay true to the original.

Rising Stars of Manga

New manga artists, Christy Lijewski (Re:Play), M. Alice LeGrow (Bizengast), and Svetlana Chmakova (Dramacon)

The second part of the Tokyopop panel focused on several of the up and coming manga-ka including Jen Lee Quick (Off Beat), Becky Cloonan, Pop Mhan (Blank), Christy Lijewski (Re:Play), M. Alice LeGrow (Bizengast), and Svetlana Chmakova (Dramacon).

Many of these artists were discovered through TokyoPop’s Rising Stars of Manga competition, which runs from 7/2/05-1/13/06, or through portfolio reviews at various conventions.

Early Influences and Getting Started

One of the first questions asked of these manga-ka was about their influences. Jen and Becky knew each other since they were young, so they shared a common love of drawing and Ranma ½. They mistakenly thought they wouldn’t be able to make money in drawing comics so they went to animation school but soon learned that wasn’t for them. Others jumped from X-men to manga.

Time Management

The full time artists draw about 2 pages per day. Pop splits his time between drawing Batgirl for DC and drawing his manga on the side. Becky stresses that it’s a lot of work – she can finally pay her rent through her drawing, but she has no free time until February.

Finding Inspiration

The most popular answer was ‘everywhere’ – from music to old stories and fables to current manga to live journal.

Media Blasters

This was a very informal panel with one rep from Media Blasters (John Sirabella) and a bunch of audience Q&A. Here are a few highlights:

Ah My Goddess

They’re looking to package this elaborately, similar to the Berserk box, and believe it will be their biggest title of the year. It will be a foil box with a toy phone or something similar. Look for the first volume to come out at the end of September with subsequent volumes being released every other month.

Gaming

They see themselves getting into PC and Gameboy games that will tie into some of the anime properties they currently own. They also plan to get into UMDs next year.

Upcoming Releases

John mentioned that they will be re-releasing Rurouni Kenshin in economy packaging for a lower price and a Digipak for Twelve Kingdoms.

Doujinshi

They have looked into bringing doujinshi over here, but they’ve run into a number of licensing issues and aren’t sure how to handle it. They do think it would be popular, but there are specific rules the Japanese follow, and it gets sticky when you try to bring it over here.

Live Action

They’ve been looking into bringing over the live action GTO but have run into some problems. In many cases, the Japanese production companies make live action stuff without thinking it might make it over to the US. In the case of GTO, they didn’t clear the voice actors, so it’s become difficult to bring it over here. They also mention that they’ve acquired the latest 4 episodes of Kekko Kamen but none of the earlier ones.

Central Park Media

Otakon 2005 - Central Park Media Rep Peter Tatara

Here, CPM rep Peter Tatara gave a presentation and then quizzed the audience. There were lots of prizes for correct answers!

Upcoming Releases

Look for KakuRenbo, Hammerboy, Shadow Star Narataru, Shoot Fighter Tekken, Black Jack, The Boy Who Wanted to Be A Bear, Mobile Police Patlabor, Angel Shop, Kung Fu Jungle Boy, Outlanders, VOTOMS box set containing all 52 episodes, Munto 2, and Animation Runner 2

Otaku Unite

They’ll be releasing this documentary, which recently made its rounds at film festivals, in 2006 with additional cosplay footage and extras.

Cheap Anime

Central Park Media is committed to keeping the prices low, so they have a number of anime dvds that will be priced at $9.95.

Yaoi Titles

Look for Golden Cain, Selfish Love, Embracing Love, Target in the Finder, and Kizuna: Bonds of Love

Hentai

Releases include: Angel Blade, Crimson Climax, Square of the Moon, Night Shift Nurses 3, and Temptation.

For those who aren’t sure about hentai but want to try it out, they’re releasing Anime Hotshots. These dvds consist of 1 episode priced at $9.95.

Bonus!

I have to give extra points to Central Park Media for giving out so many freebies. I ended up with a Grave of the Fireflies dvd, a cute star plushie for Shadow Star Narutaru, chocolate, and some other promo discs and postcards. They were tossing stuff left and right at people – I don’t think anyone left the room empty handed!

Otakon 2005 Geneon Panel: Terry Ho, Stephen Tang, and Jason Alnas

The Geneon panel took place late Saturday night in front of a bunch of cosplaying Hellsing fans and the rest of us. First up was a cool promo feature with clips from all Geneon’s titles since 1992. Then panel reps, Terry Ho, Stephen Tang, and Jason Alnas, took questions from the audience. Here are the highlights:

Hellsing OVA

Geneon’s biggest news was that the Hellsing OAV is now in production in Japan. To get people buzzing, they showed a very cool trailer of some footage. There’s not a lot of info on this right now – Geneon wasn’t sure about keeping the same voice actors (though they’ll try) or when it will be finished (they hope to release it in late 2006) – but it is in production and from the trailer, looks awesome! The story will be closer to a retelling rather than picking up where the anime left off, and should be related to the manga. One of the main reasons they decided to do this is because there was so much US support.

Working in the Anime Industry

The panelists stressed that working at Geneon was hard work. When deadlines come up, they put in late nights and sometimes even all nighters. What many people don’t realize is that it’s not about watching anime all the time. Fundamentally, it’s a business, so they have to find ways to keep their product new, fresh, and viable.

However, right now, the anime is going through tough times. While fandom is growing, sales of anime are not. When you buy anime dvds, part of the royalties go back to the creators of the shows. So, support your favorite anime titles by spreading the word and encouraging people to buy dvds.

The panelists also stressed that the anime industry is unique because they are friendly with all their competitors. Yes, each company is out for sales, but they all share the same fate – if there’s a slump in sales, each company feels it. They also go to the same cons so they hang out, talk, and become friends – so it’s not like people in the industry hate one another. [Note - this was a running theme. In the voice actor panel, they also mentioned something similar.]

US Influence on Japan

They stressed that western audiences can really influence what the Japanese make. For instance, Samurai Champloo bombed in Japan but is doing very well here. The Big O is another example – with the US influencing creators to make a second season.

Geneon Lounge

Geneon has been using conventions to get the word out about new stuff. Now, they’re trying something new with Geneon Lounge. It’s a new way to spread the word about what’s going on with Geneon.

On ThinPaks And More Episodes Per Disc

They find that ThinPaks are a mixed bag. In terms of shelf space in retail stores, they can be difficult to find because they don’t stand out the way a typical box does. On the other hand, big anime collectors love smaller boxes and they’re cheaper to produce.

The other issue is episodes per disc. There are licensing fees associated with each episode, so there’s a set fee per episode, but you can fit up to 18 episodes on a disc. The question then becomes a packaging issue – would you rather pay $100 for 1 disc rather than 6? Those of us with limited shelf space probably would, but overall, people perceive more value when they get 6 discs rather than just 1.

Tenjho Tenge

Right now, they only have the tv series licensed, so buy the dvds so they’ll license the OAVs!!! [ Yes, I like this anime. I've just started reading the manga, which is absolutely amazing!]

Koi Kaze

So if you were wondering how this taboo love story between brother and sister made it’s way over to the US – it was a Geneon Japan title that they decided to try over here. I think everyone’s first reaction when they hear what it’s about (including the Geneon reps on the panel) seems to be ‘I don’t want to watch something like that.’ But once you start watching it, you realize it is pretty good. Everything is handled extremely well and there’s lots of character development. Anyway, the good news for fans is that it’s doing well for the type of anime it is.

Geneon Music

Much of this panel was focused around music. The audience was very eager to support more j-rock bands like The Pillows (known for their FLCL stuff). They encouraged Geneon to let them perform live and assured them that they’d be willing to pay a reasonable price for the show.

Also of note, they try to stay as close to the original as possible when it comes to bringing music over to the US – they’ve even gone so far as reproducing errors from the Japanese, so if you see an English word spelled wrong, it’s probably because it was spelled wrong in the Japanese release.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how Geneon decides which music to bring over – everyone involved in the music division makes a wish list based on their own preferences and research. They then go out and try to get those titles.

FLCL Soundtrack

Because the first 2 cds did so well, sales influenced the Japanese to create a third – another example of how US sales influence what comes out. The cool thing was that the third soundtrack came out at the same time in the US and in Japan. By the way, if you like the FLCL soundtrack, consider buying The Pillows’ new album, Penalty Life [which I should get around to reviewing here - very cool j-rock].

Samurai Champloo Soundtrack

Someone asked why they compiled the four soundtracks released in Japan into one ‘best of’ release here in the US. This was done so that it included all the theme songs on 1 cd rather than 3. The Japanese licenser actually selected which tracks to include and remove. If it does well, they may release more.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the standing room only Geneon panel to find it had been swapped with The Indigo panel scheduled later Saturday evening. J-pop duo, The Indigo, is comprised of Yuichi Ichikawa and Mika Taoka, and is best known for the ending themes to Ai Yori Aoshi and Someday’s Dreamers.

To sum up The Indigo in one word – KAWAII!! These guys were funny. Mika is adorable, often blushing whenever Yuichi or their translator would tease her while Yuichi has a great, sarcastic sense of humor that kept the audience laughing the whole way through. They could speak and understand some English, so the interview was about 66% in Japanese and 33% in English. I was converted from the start – and am waiting for my copy of their new ‘best of’ cd, Indigo Suite, to arrive from Amazon any day now. Also, check out their English website.

Are They Going Out?

Kicking it off with the question everyone wants to know, Mika started laughing and making hand movements to assure everyone that they’re not. Yuichi responded more cryptically with ‘it’s secret.’ They met in 1997, formed The Indigo in 1998, and made their debut in 2000 with the cd single release of Blue.

What Their Name Means

They chose The Indigo because they like the color indigo blue. Blue is said to have the ability to ward off ghosts and demons. They want to be able to touch their audience.

Their Musical Background

Mika doesn’t have any formal musical training. She always liked idol music as a kid – and the Carpenters. She used to sing along with anime songs, which lead her to where she is now. Yuichi always had a love of music and feels very lucky to be doing what he loves.

Favorite Anime

After bashfully warning her co-panelists not to make anymore dirty jokes (did I mention how kawaii she was??), she replied that she liked Slam Dunk, which is good for all ages. Yuichi answered a bit more sarcastically. He liked the anime that played at 5:30 in the afternoon when he was a kid. When pressed about what that was, he responded playfully that because he’s Japanese, he’s much more informed than those of us in the audience about anime but he can’t share his vast knowledge. Slightly more serious, he admitted he couldn’t just choose one.

On Going International

Three years ago when they were recording for Ai Yori Aoshi, Mika never dreamed they’d be so successful. Yuichi is happy to be helping to spread Japanese music internationally. He estimates that right now, about 90% of Japanese music is influenced by US music and the rest by British/Swedish and other European music.

Favorite US Music

Mika likes Lisa Loeb and Sheryl Crow while Yuichi likes Nickelback.

If They Could Be In A Movie…

Yuichi would love to be in a kung fu movie from Hong Kong and pointed out that Bruce Lee was actually born in America – something most people don’t realize.