By Evali

The fans attending Katsucon 2010 had to suffer several hardships on their journey to the event. After several snowstorms hit northeast America in the previous week, many flights were canceled on the days leading up to the convention. Even those close enough to drive had to deal with icy roads and bad traffic. However, those who made it safely to the Gaylord National Hotel seemed in good spirit...

By Emily Balistrieri

Watching the first two New People Artist Series documentaries back to back is quite the experience. NEW PEOPLE in San Francisco showed both Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama I Love ME Tuesday night; for 2.5X the price of a normal ticket, attendees received admission plus a goodie bag including a copy of the DVD. Nara showed first at 6:30, and Kusama came right on the heels at 8:30...

By Erin Finnegan

Hetalia has been on the rise in popularity this year among American fan girls. You could tell by the girls dressed like boys dressed like WWII soldiers carrying around enormous flags at every convention this year. Either that, or the same group of six girls were carrying flags at all the East Coast conventions I attended. For the uninitiated, Hetalia started off as a Japanese web comic before ...

By Erin Finnegan

Here is my short list of highlights from the 4th and final New York Anime Festival: - Yoshiyuki Tomino draws a haru-ball with every signature. - The one-man Indy-short Cencoroll premiered and looks like fun (I only saw the trailer). - Vertical picked up Chi's Sweet Home . - "Simulcast" was the word of the day on the industry panel. - Dallas Middaugh cut Del Rey's 5th Year Anniversary Ace of Ca...

By Emily Balistrieri

Photos by Daniel Eggert "Is it love that makes my heart go BOOM BOOM BOOM?" Nope, not this time (but props if you get the reference) -- it's the "sensational kawaii," Harajuku stylings of 6%DOKIDOKI, available live in the states for a limited time only at San Francisco's NEW PEOPLE building. The theme of Saturday's Fan Night was... circus! Perhaps there were jaded folks in the crowd who took t...

By Emily Balistrieri

I had set my alarm for 8:00, but ended up waking up around 7:00, perky with J-pop glee. It was a lot like Christmas, only instead of a tree incubating brightly wrapped packages, I got a building in San Francisco's Japantown made of windows, full of Japanese pop art and fashion.  NEW PEOPLE opened yesterday with much fanfare and Lolita cosplay, and I was one of the first inside.   I g...