Matt Schley
December 27, 2012 
2012. A historical year that brought us a pivotal presidential election, the (non) end of the world as we know it, and, most importantly, the the launch of Otaku USA e-news, the free (!) bi-weekly newsletter full of news, reviews, interviews and event reports straight from the Land of the Rising Sun. Though we launched this thing just a few short months ago, we’ve already had a nice run of pieces. Let’s take a look at what you might’ve missed!
Oh, the places we’ve been. To the campus of Musashino Art University, where Satoshi Kon’s alma mater paid tribute to his legacy with an incredible art exhibition . To a Studio Ghibli-sponsored, Hideaki Anno-organized tribute to old-school tokusatsu special effects films, complete with a brand-new, Tokyo-destroying short film. To the Tokyo International Film Festival, where we sampled some of the best of Japanese independent cinema. And all the way to Vietnam, where we saw the Japanese-style maid cafe expanding around the globe.
We’ve also had the privilege of talking to some of the most exciting minds in the industry. For one, Masao Murayama, the co-founder of legendary animation studio Madhouse and the new studio MAPPA, who were behind this year’s Kids on the Slope. We also sat down with Osamu Kobayashi, the director behind Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad and Paradise Kiss. Oh, and let’s not forget the creative staff behind one of the this year’s most exciting projects, the Kickstarter-backed short Kick-Heart.
When not going to events or interviewing interesting people, we’ve usually got our butts firmly planted in the movie theater, bringing you reviews of the latest anime films way before they’re available Stateside. Some of the most memorable include this year’s most anticipated release, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, the new 3D film from the director of Eden of the East, 009 Re:Cyborg, Mamoru Hosoda’s endearing follow-up to Summer Wars, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, and too many more to list.
All this, plus our patented One Coin Challenge, where we dive into stores looking for cheap and awesome geek goods, breaking news and analysis, and even taste tests of otaku food! It’s been a fun few months, and we’re excited to hit the ground running in 2013 with even more great stuff.
And remember, if you’re not subscribed to the newsletter, you’re reading this (and everything else we publish there) a week or more later than subscribers. So why not sign up?
What have you liked so far? What would you like to see more of? Let us know in the comments!
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