There are a lot of people that can call themselves an otaku, but branding, up to designing a personal mascot is definitely something that can be done if a person is quite serious about this niche hobby. Meet Otaku Dan, a blogger who I know who has one cool mascot, and interesting blog entries to share. Here are some of his opinions, and thoughts from an email interview. Read more…
As you can see from all of the nin-dogs surrounding Kakashi, dogs are known as “man’s best friend” — and as such they’re very well represented in anime and manga from Japan. Here’s a list of some of our all time favorites: Read more…
Anime and Manga Fans have been recently, and still consistently aware of what has been happening over in Japan. So when the there was a 24-hour podcast marathon, Tony Yao was part of the line up. Recently I got the opportunity to conduct an e-mail interview with Tony Yao of Manga Therapy: Where Psychology & Manga Meet. He was upfront about his experiences, so this interview may or may not have been what you have experienced. He is a fan as well as a multi-site blogger to keep an eye out for. Read more…
If you want a blast from the past, the official Star Blazers website has posted scans of the original Star Blazers fanzine from the early 80’s. Over 30 years ago, our Fanboy.com founder Michael Pinto started the fanzine in an attempt to see the series renewed after networks had dropped the show in New York. With the series returning to television later this month, these newsletters give us an opportunity to see the passion that fuled Star Blazers’ fandom. It’s a shame that they’ve had to wait three decades, but for those of us who were late to that party, we’ll be able to catch the series the second time around when it airs on SyFy starting April 21st.
Twitter as a social medium, is conversation or line of thoughts in 140 characters or less. It has taken the world by storm, since its inception in 2006. In this past year, it has made its availability to other countries, creating a global community. Twitter has become a valuable tool in communication for Japan crisis awareness to other parts of the world. When nearly all lines of normal communication became compromised, Twitter was useful with just a cell phone or a computer, and an internet connection. There currently is a #quakebook that has began, because of Twitter. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 28, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
The latest episode of CollegeHumor’s Nerd Alert features an interview with Fanboy.com publisher Michael Pinto (although you have to get a few minutes into the show: Read more…
Whether it is cries of fear or sadness, or maybe even of laughter. Vampires have been a continuing viable market that ensnares people to follow the stories of these tormented immortal individuals. In graphic novels or manga, there are memorable vampires-type characters that left an impression with its fans and viewers. Read more…
Anyone paying attention to Asian news these past several weeks would have realized that a devastating triple threat has happened in Japan. On March 11, 2011 around the Northern east coastlines of this island nation, there was a strong earthquake that resulted in devastating tsunamis, and what is now the concern of Japan in controlling a nuclear incident around its nuclear plants. Every day checking certain tweets on Twitter, there is an official notification of how much casualties there has been, with also thousands of people displaced or suffering. This incident has caused casualties and victims that surpass Japan’s Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Japan needs an incredible amount of money or resources in order to rebuild. So many people around the world, celebrities, or civilians have banded to join up the cause of fundraising and donating time or money for Japan relief. The better option in other countries, out of Japan, of course is to send money to charity foundations to supply aid. Read more…
Japan is facing the worst crisis in its post-war history, and you can help! Bloggers whose work revolves around Japan have banded together to make Bloggers for Japan, a website dedicated to compiling resources and news for those who want to donate or stay abreast of new happenings related to the earthquake. The site recommends active charities like Doctors Without Borders and Shelterbox, and has donation boxes for each. Read more…
For hobby enthusiasts, developing a passion and devotion to an industry takes time, and while it can be visually measured with how much you own (thus bringing in the materialism and consumerism aspect). There is more to the limited examples for what was presented in Tokyopop’s search for the Greatest Otaku. Otaku can be defined as being loving all things Japanese anime, or obsessive introverts, but to be a devoted fan really is have the knowledge and sincere passion for it. Similar to uncovering the layers of an onion are identities and fandoms of this niche cultures that is worth exploring and considering. Before getting to the list, I have to mention that some of the labels I have used is an approximation of how a certain fandom treats aspects of the anime hobby. Read more…
To honor the return of the anime series Gin Tama to the air Bandai created a limited line of desserts to celebrate the occasion. There are 25 desserts in all which will be sold at Namco Namja in Japan. Here are a few of the clever designs: Read more…
Japanese anime run on a four season schedule, so to be serious about this hobby, a fan must be aware of anime that is going to be happening in the following season. The next season is slated to begin from March until June. Referring to the chart below, anyone would realize that there is a number of titles already announced. From those announced titles, these are my ten choices to not just watch, but know that a lot more fans might be checking out. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 16, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
You know how when you go to a really popular anime convention that there might be say a 100 people waiting on line to get their badge? Well back in the 80s those 100 people would be pretty much the sum total of anime fandom in New York City! Thanks to Saul Trabal (show in the photo above) we have a wonderful little photo essay from that era when anime was limited to getting VHS tapes from friends of friends who had pen pals in Japan: Read more…
Check out this fantastic little mash-up by writer & graphic designer Ben Huber. Anyone who’s a fan of Baccano! will recognize the characters but the image is quite clearly paying homage to a certain poster from Christopher Nolan’s box office hit, Inception. On top of that, you’ll really appreciate the attention to detail, as while you may be unable to see the text without enlarging the image, those credits are completely accurate. It sort of blows my mind that he had time to do that, but it’s certainly cool that he did.
Shown here are two cosplay uniforms from Evangelion (Ichi Junior High School girls uniforms of the New Tokyo City 3) which are being released in Japan. According to an interview on the site selling the apparel they actually went a step further and added some additional detail that wasn’t in the anime series. And just to make sure those detail were right the character designer from the show was involved in the design process. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 31, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
This amazing footage is a must watch if your grew up with Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) — it’s from a Japanese TV show which shows cast members breakdancing to the opening theme music while dressed in the appropriate costume. Found via Patrick Macias…
As an old school anime fanboy I found myself drooling over this collection of Lupin III figurines from Japan. Of course the sad catch is that this line is a limited edition series, and in order to get them you have to be part of some lottery system — and as such are forced to buy in Japan. I realize that I’m just looking at the photos from Banpresto but the wonderful level of detail and craftsmanship is quite eye pleasing: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
Call it Danny Choo Syndrome! My favorite animation network in Taiwan recently slagged otaku as one of the reasons that Japanese men are losing their interest in sex with real women. Although there is something a bit ironic that the animators would use 3D techniques to render what a real women looks like (as seen on the left above) as opposed to the cartoony cheesecake version (as seen on the right). This was part of a larger segment on “Herbivorous men” which seems to be a Japanese take on metrosexuals: Read more…
Back in August we wrote about why it was so important that you attend the premiere of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The destined-to-be cult classic underperformed at the box office and that may have sealed the fate of future films based on independent comics. While GANTZ may not have the potential to carry the same weight in Hollywood, it’s still just as important you see it. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2011 in Animation
While doing a Google image search for Space Battleship Yamato I came across this very funny Japanese meme image of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin colored blue to look like Leader Desslok. It made the Star Blazers fanboy in me smile…Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2011 in Animation
For Americans the early 80s was a golden age of sci fi with films like Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner and of course Tron — and most of this was the wonderful geeky aftermath owed a great deal to the financial success of Star Wars. But what many fans today don’t realize is that this was also a golden age of sci fi anime that was going on at the same time. Sadly while some shows like Macross made it to America (as Robotech) there were still quite a few other series from that era that never came over here in a big way. So here’s a quick tour of some of the more obscure gems from that era: Read more…
This is one of the more interesting examples of K-On! merchandising that I’ve seen: They’ve created authentic scarfs based upon the ones that Yui Hirasawa wears in the series. Sadly it seems that one set is already sold out but the fish design still seems to be in stock:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 20, 2010 in Animation
Studio Ghibli has picked the shojo manga Coquelicot saka kara to be their next film subject. I don’t have to see the film to know that they’ll do an amazing job with it — especially as the manga is reported to be very close to Miyazaki Hayao’s heart. Yet to me it’s sad that Miyazaki doesn’t seem to be taking any chances in his old age. Of course many of the great directors like Walt Disney or Howard Hawks seemed to make the same film again and again over their career; but to me it’s a sad reminder of someone like Tezuka who really experimented in his later years. Read more…
Eons before Ramna 1/2 us old time otaku fell in love with Rumiko Takahashi’s 80s epic Urusei Yatsura. Shown here is a special figurine that will be released in Japan next year which features the character Lum as a child sporting a Tigers baseball team hat. Apparently the baseball connection is that Takahashi is a Tiger’s fan: Read more…
