Publisher Kadokawa has a division called eb-i Xpress specifically dedicated to performing market research on the Japanese entertainment industry. This week they sent out a press release revealing the top 20 results from their study on the most anticipated anime TV series of the upcoming …Read more »
Doki Doki Literature Club is a visual novel released on Steam last year by American developer Team Salvato, and its polished graphics by freelance artist Satchely are almost indistinguishable from actual Japanese visual novels. While the genre tends to be overlooked in the West, Doki …Read more »
In the era of streaming media, the complaint of having too much to watch is increasingly common. As shows have shifted from 24 to 12 episode seasons, it’s easier for studios to try out new ideas, but some feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of …Read more »
It sounds like a bad joke; a disgruntled otaku still living with his parents into middle age, who becomes so frustrated with their nagging about his lifestyle that he snaps. Unfortunately, what might otherwise be a hypothetical situation or some kind of nasty stereotype has …Read more »
In Japan it’s typical for manga authors to leave a message for readers on the inside cover of new volumes of popular series. Usually it’s a ‘thank you’ to the fans, or a comment about the process of working on the manga. For volume 89 …Read more »
It’s been a bad month for Love Live! fans, with a bomb threat, vandalism and removal of promotional manhole cover art, and one fan getting kicked out of an event for wearing too much swag. Now it seems some female otaku in Japan have decided …Read more »
It seems like every child at some point every child becomes frustrated with their own artwork and wishes they had an better artist around to bring their ideas to life more effectively. For most of us that’s usually just classmate or older sibling, but for …Read more »
Idol group AKB48 released their 52nd single this week, “Teacher Teacher”, with 2,580,513 presales bringing it to double platinum even before the official release date. The release sports a suggestive title, the group’s first time working with a non-Japanese dance director, and 16-year-old upstart Yui …Read more »
Japan has always been a sort of Mecca for anime fans, and the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka is a prime destination for such pilgrimages. The Ghibli Museum’s Straw Hat Cafe offers a menu inspired by Studio Ghibli films, but until now there’s never been a …Read more »
Dragon Garow Lee is a manga artist with a particularly adaptable visual style. He became internet-famous drawing mashup and doujinshi like One-Punch Man x Dragon Ball, and his sense of humor and ability to match the drawing style of so many different series landed him …Read more »
Stories about underpaid animators and struggling manga authors have been pretty prominent in the last few years, but until now we hadn’t heard much about these problems extending to other parts of the industry. Aya Hirano is among the more successful voice actors in Japan, …Read more »
Cosplayers have devised a lot of tricks to portraying the bustier characters of anime and gaming, but when it comes to the sturdy female martial artists of Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise… it turns out there’s no substitute for actual muscles. Chun Li’s most iconic trait …Read more »
Multiple manufacturers have been taking pre-orders for a variety of Berserk collectible statues over the past year, with Prime 1’s $999 Guts figure finally shipping this week. To accompany the release, Prime 1 announced two new statues for their Berserk line: Godhand members Slan and …Read more »
Talow Okanishi is the author of the manga Desordre, a seinen fantasy series set in medieval France which has been serialized in Gekkan Morning two since last year. The first compiled volume of Desordre has not been selling well. It’s been selling so poorly in …Read more »
Dragon Ball has a lot of monstrous, non-human villains which are tough to pull off in cosplay. Usually when a cosplayer attempts a character like Frieza, Cell, or Buu, it illicits reactions like “great effort, even if it’s not realistic”, or just “A+ for comedic …Read more »
Julian Gnam
