That’s right! Anime Genesis and Anime Diet will be rocking AX this year with the most amazing panel you are ever going to attend at AX! Come and see Benu, Mike, Jeremy, and Ray (will be there somehow…) live on stage! It’s all going to be on July 4th 2008 at 7pm in LP 4 (LACC 411), that’s the theater in the LA Convention Center. Check out the schedule on the Anime Expo website for more details. The panel is listed as Anime Genesis Live! on the schedule.

Feel free to play the promo on your podcast.

 

 Anime Genesis & Anime Diet Panel Promo: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I Benu, am announcing my entry into the 2008 presidential race. Gendo “Mike” Ikari may offer a change you will believe in, but I offer change that will actually happen. I am very honored to be the chosen candidate for the Haruhiist party.

There has been a lot of talk and controversy over the recent killings that happened in Akihabara. Seven were killed and 11 were injured. I’m not going to go into all the details as there are many other sites that have already done so. These killings have a lot of people worried as evidenced by the many blog posts here, here, here, and here. At first everyone thought it was just a random killing and it would not be connected to anime or otaku in any way. Patrick Macias had a totally different view from the beginning on how this would play out.

This guy just killed Akihabara the way Charles Manson killed the sixties. And we’re all under arrest now…

Patrick thinks this was the worst time for something like this to happen: there was already alot of tension over recent events in Akihabara as it is. But he also said he didn’t think the media would “peg this as a return of the Murdering Otaku archetype.” They recently found out, though, that the killer in fact liked anime, and his only possessions were some doujin manga they found in his apartment. Now many are scared that the killer will be pegged as a crazy otaku murderer and the media will start blaming anime and manga as the reason for the crime. Some even are claiming that this could be the end of anime, manga, and the otaku culture as we know it in Japan and the US and even suggest that it will lead to an eventual collapse of the industries on both sides of the globe.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those that were hurt by this horrible act of violence.

Do you think this is it for otaku culture? Or are people overreacting?

One Lucky Winner Will Experience the Ultimate Japan Trip

Anaheim, California (June 9, 2008) ‹ Love Jyukai? Fans of Yoko Ishida?  Want
to experience Kyoto?  Get wild in Osaka? See the all that is anime/manga in
Tokyo?  Attend the Tokyo Anime Fair?  Be part of the Tokyo Game Show?  Anime
Expo® 2008 and Intermixi Japan Tours will be giving away an ultimate trip to
Japan to a Jyukai Concert premium ticket holder at the Jyukai Concert with
special guest Yoko Ishida at Anime Expo® 2008!  The lucky winner will be
announced at the Jyukai Concert held at Anime Expo® 2008.  Anime Expo® 2008
will be held from July 3-6, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los
Angeles, CA.  More information can be found on the website
www.anime-expo.org.

Continue Reading »

June 5, 2008 (Cypress, CA) - Bandai Entertainment and American Cosplay
Paradise are proud to celebrate the US release of LUCKY STAR and GURREN
LAGANN at Anime Expo® 2008 in Los Angeles (July 3 ­ 6, 2008; Los Angeles
Convention Center; www.anime-expo.org) Stop by Bandai’s booth on Friday and
Saturday in the exhibit hall, where you will be treated to various games
testing your otaku knowledge, singing, and random prize giveaways! The
highlight will be a performance from the LUCKY STAR Cheerleading Squad,
featuring members of American Cosplay Paradise (ACP) as the cast. Whether
you’re a diehard fan of the show, someone who has no idea what LUCKY STAR
is, or just someone that likes cheerleader outfits, there’s a little bit of
something for everyone, so don’t miss out!

Continue Reading »

I just saw this so called documentary on fansubs. I was expecting this to be something on the history of fansubs but instead it’s just an excuse to complain about how horrible modern fansubs are as opposed to fansubs back then. The host “Otaking”, apparently a professional translator, takes us through why he thinks modern fansubs are horrible by trying to point out how the translations are horrible and far from anything of professional quality. He does this by taking clips from various fansubs and trys to point out mistakes and things that fansubbers do that distract your eyes, such as drop down translation notes. Some of the points he makes about translation are also highly debatable but is right on with some of the things he says about them.

He makes some good points overall, but I don’t think we need a 30 min. video trying to tell us what most of us already know.

What do you think about subtitles in fansubs compared to professional ones?

[Via Japanator]

I never really got the point of these automatic Super Mario World videos. These are made by hacking a rom of the game and placing things in the exact place so Mario bounces, lands, and hits things exactly. Akasha posted this awesome video set to Nico Nico Douga on the fan site today. It reminded me that someone showed this to me the other day and I was going to post it here but I forgot. This video was so well done and awesome that I couldn’t ignore it.

Do you like these automatic Mario videos or do you think they are stupid and pointless?