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?

It seems that someone over at Kyoto Animation heard me when I complained about the change of director for the second season of Haruhi. The offical Haruhi site has been updated with a change of staff for the upcoming sequel. Tatsuya Ishihara has been named as the “brigade chief representative” and the former confirmed director Yasuhiro Takemoto has been named “brigade chief assistant”. This is so awesome! Haruhi is now going to be just as awesome if not more awesome as the first series.

Source: ANN

Latest Guest of Honor Announced for Nation’s Largest Anime/Manga Convention

Anaheim, California (May 9, 2008) ‹Anime Expo® 2008 announces the attendance
of Masahiro Ando as an official Guest of Honor to this year’s Anime Expo®
2008 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 »

Here is the first big announcement! Come see me live at my first ever TV debut! I will be a guest at the upcoming taping of the Ramen Revolution TV show. Ramen Revolution is a new TV show all about Anime and Asian pop culture. Other guests on the show will be Stephanie Yanez of AX idol fame, anime cover band Makenai, and more. So here is the Info.

When:

May 17th, 2008 @ 6pm

Where:

The Granada Theater

303 No. Euclid Ave.

Ontario, CA 91762

Tickets:

$15 Online

$20 @ The Door

If your in the area, come out to the taping. You don’t want to miss out on this! The first episode premiers this Saturday night at 12:30 am on LA 18 KSCI-TV. You can also watch the show at the Ramen Revolution website. I hope to see you at the show!

Get your tickets now!

Are you ready for the revolution?

ANN reports that there will be a 3d world type mmo where you will be able to create your own character and interact with various characters from Clannad, Shuffle, and Da Capo. This is really interesting. It sounds alot like second life. We will probably never see anything like this in the US though.

What do you think about ai space?

Source: ANN

Bandai has introduced its protoype for its dubbing machine that uses its brand new Afrec! technology at the Tokyo Anime Fair recently. Supposedly the machine will allow you to dub anime scenes instantly with the karaoke style machine. They will start selling the machine sometime this year and Bandai is hard at work on a machine for dubbing films.

This is a really interesting idea but does it actually work? Are any Japanese studios actully going to use this or is it just an expensive toy? If this does ever come to America I wonder if any American studios will be able to use this to produce dubs faster.

Do you think this Afrec! machine has some real promise or is it just an expensive toy?

Source: ANN