Anime News

BEST MANGA AWARDS FOR 2005 ANNOUNCED
LANCASTER, MA, FEBRUARY 13, 2006: Readers at the website AnimeOnDVD.com were given the opportunity in late January to vote upon the numerous titles released during the calendar year of 2005 from all publishers of Japanese manga and Korean manhua in order to determine which titles ranked as the best releases of the year. The competition was tight for many titles through the nomination process and only got closer when the final votes were tallied.

In the Best Overall category, TOKYOPOP took the award with their title Fruits Basket which was followed by Berserk from Dark Horse and then Bleach from Viz Media.

In the Best Shoujo category, TOKYOPOP took the award with their release of Fruits Basket which was followed by Basara and Full Moon, both from Viz Media.
In the Best Shounen category, Viz Media took the award for their release of Bleach which was followed up by Fullmetal Alchemist from Viz Media and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles from Del Rey Manga.

In the Best New Series category, Viz Media took the award with their release of Death Note which was followed up by Genshiken from Del Rey Manga and Yotsuba from ADV Manga.

In the Best Mature category, Del Rey Manga took the award with their release of XXXHolic which was followed up by Berserk from Dark Horse and Planetes from TOKYOPOP.

In the Best Manhwa/Manhua category, TOKYOPOP took the award with their release of Rebirth which was followed up by Queen’s Knight from TOKYOPOP and Angel Diary from Ice Kunion.

In the Best Youth/All Ages category, ADV Manga took the award with their release of Yotsuba which was followed up by Cardcaptor Sakura’s reissue by TOKYOPOP and Hikaru no Go from Viz Media.

In the Best Anthology/Periodical category, Viz Media took the award with their release of Shojo Beat which was followed up by Shonen Jump also from Viz Media and A-G: Super Erotic Anthology from Icarus Publishing.
In the Best Yaoi/Boys Love category, TOKYOPOP took the award with their release of Gravitation which was followed up by Earthian and Love Mode, both from TOKYOPOP.

In the Best One-Shot category, Viz Media took the award with their release of Sexy Voice and Robo which was followed-up by Brother from DramaQueen and Rizelmine from TOKYOPOP.

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Anaheim, California (February 14, 2006) — The Anaheim Hilton, Anaheim Marriott and Sheraton Park Hotel have been named as official host hotels for North America’s premiere Anime/Manga Convention Anime Expo®, July 1-4, 2006 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

More information can be found on the official website at: http://www.anime-expo.org. Attendees can reserve their rooms online at: http://www.anaheimoc.org/housing.html by utilizing the access code of “ANIME”.

Host hotel codes are as follows:

Anaheim Hilton: HILTO
Anaheim Marriott: MARRI
Sheraton Park Hotel: SPARK

Attendees can also obtain reservations for their rooms by contacting the hotels via phone as well. Rooms are sure to go quick so early reservations are strongly suggested.

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property ­ Anime Expo®.

Located in Anaheim, California - Anime Expo®, the North America’s largest anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and explore various aspects of anime/ manga, as well as for members of the industry to conduct business. AX 2006 will be held July 1 - 4, 2006 at the Anaheim Convention Center. More information can be found at its official website (http://www.anime-expo.org).

Mizuko Ito explores anime culture in Japan its popularity abroad.
By Ayub Khattak

Mizuko Ito of USC’s Annenberg Center for Communication has been tracing the lines anime has been drawing across the culture in Japan and, increasingly, across the world-a “transnational geekdom,” she called it at a Feb. 6 colloquium sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies. Popular anime franchises like Pokemon have attracted the international eye to this animated comic book form.

In her first year researching with a MacArthur Foundation grant, Ito began her investigation in Japan, where it all started. It’s hard not to be visually assaulted there by anime and the accompanying ads and merchandise; anime producers have employed a successful formula of marketing coordinated merchandise such as card games, toys, and computer games to keep the young gripped in the series.

Of particular interest to Ito is the phenomenon of the show Yugioh and the hold it and a related card game have on their young fan base, including her own kids. This series plays with devices and themes common to most anime: futuristic metropolises, fighting, romance, and the brush with fantasy.

With shiny Yugioh card packs at checkout counters of convenience stores everywhere, “parents can easily appease their kids.” Kids anxiously tear open the glittery packaging to see if they got an “ultimate-rare” (produced in extremely limited quantity to jack up their value), or that hero they like, or the monster needed to complete a deck.

Amid all the card-trading fervor, some parents complain, kids brush shoulders with a generation of adults, known as Otaku, who participate in anime culture. Taking advantage of a mini-economy, some Otaku even make their living by selling the cards to kids. There is stigma associated with adult interest in what the Japanese see as cartoons for children. And some concern: parents say that Otaku fetishize and drool over the large-eyed, infantilized girls in kawaii (cute) anime, primarily marketed to pre-teen girls.

Read this entire article here @ The UCLA International Institute..

They grew up watching Pokemon and Sailor Moon and would go on to become fascinated with Japanese animation.
Anime-inspired cartoons have come a staple on Canadian TV. Now a group of young anime fans in Saskatoon are taking their hobby to the next level - by taking Japanese language lessons. Thirteen-year-old Elisha Revke is one of 11 students enrolled in a Japanese school. She’s a big fan of anime - Japanese cartoons featuring characters with big eyes and pointy noses engaged in fantastic adventures.

“Yes, I did like Sailor Moon, and that’s how it all started, and I’m not afraid to admit it,” said Revke, who has since become an avid fan of the anime cartoon Bleach. Talking about Bleach, she freely peppers her language with Japanese words and names. “The main character is Ichigo Kurosaki, and he’s a 15 year old who can see ghosts and such … and there’s these people called shinigamis and that means death,” she explained. Little wonder then, that Revke found herself drawn to Naoko Takaya’s Saskatoon Japanese Language School.

Two hours of Japanese

Every Wednesday evening, she takes lessons for two hours with 10 other elementary and high school students. Takaya started the school 30 years ago. Back then, it was mostly for Japanese-Canadian children hoping to polish up their language abilities before returning to Japan. Now, most of her students are studying Japanese because of anime, Takaya said. “Sixty per cent, for sure,” Takaya said. “They’re really interested in Japanese cartoons.” Anime cartoons have become increasingly popular in North America during the past few years, partly thanks to the Internet making them more accessible. English-language anime cartoons like Dragon Ball Z have become a staple on Saturday morning. But some fans are devotees of the original Japanese versions.

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