KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

One guy surrounded by multiple girls, the ultimate male dream. In 1992 an OVA series was started in Japan that starred a boy named Tenchi Masaki and his various misadventures. It was the quintessential harem anime that had the indecisive male lead surrounded by girls who liked him. The Tenchi franchise holds a special place in my heart because it wasn't just a harem franchise, it was an all encompassing space opera that had a richly developed universe that would require a massive dissertation to examine it all. Is it complicated? Heck yeah it is. This spawned a massive franchise with two main universes released under the same banner. The first is the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki series, also known as the Tenchi OVA's. Tenchi Muyo Mihoshi Special (1 episode) - 1994 Tenchi Muyo OVA series 1 (6 episodes) - 1992-1993 Tenchi Muyo! Daughter of Darkness (movie) - 1997 Tenchi Muyo OVA series 2 (7 episodes)- 1994-1995 Tenchi Muyo OVA series 3 (7 episodes)- 2003-2005 Tenchi Muyo G...

When Sailor Moon came out I liked the series. Unlike my other friends like Richard and Allen I never watched it religiously, but whenever it came on I watched it with all my attention. Sailor Mars, my favorite senshi Fast Forward 12 years later in 2005 and I buy the uncut boxsets for the first 3 seasons of the anime (for the uninitiated, that is around 120 episodes of sailor moon goodness). I watch most of the boxsets and what shocked me was how TIMELESS sailor moon is. Sure it is almost 18 years old now but the anime is very timeless. The story is a classic and is very well done, and the filler is just so damn creative in how they attempt to expand the Sailor Moon universe beyond the manga. The anime is the monster of the week syndrome, but it was pretty good for what it was. Of the cast of characters, my two main favorites were Sailor Mars and Sailor Saturn. Rei Hino aka "Sailor Mars" was a tsundere long before the word even existed. She loved being around he...

I started writing this a while ago, here is my journey to Anime Expo. Introduction It was a warm August night, in a crowded room filled with nicely dressed people. The people who started shuffling inside gathered on tables. It was not a business meeting, nor was it a wedding reception, it was dinner for the staff of the largest Anime Convention in the United States. The day was a day of celebration. It was honor the staff who put so much time, sweat and tears into making the convention be the best it can be. As I looked across the table, my staff assembled in smiles. I was taking pictures of people I saw as recently as a week ago, and some I haven't seen since the end of Anime Expo 2009. As the staff slide show went about, I gave a sad look to my assistant manager, Richard Phon, since only one of dozens of pictures I submitted was actually used as part of the slide slow. As the dinner went along, the Division Manager started announcing awards, to my complete shock, our divisi...

Some of my best pictures in Anime Conventions are photo shoots. With a photo shoot you can control the environment and have great poses and pictures that could not be done in a high energy atmosphere of the convention. Talking with some cosplayers and cosplay photographers, I have compiled a short list of what to do to have a proper photo shoot so that everyone can have a great time. Tips for Cosplayers Getting a photographer: Long before you plan to do a photo shoot to show off your new outfit, start looking for photographers who will attend your convention. Talk to photographers on places like CosCom and look at their reference photos on official websites, deviantArt, flickr, and others to determine if their shooting style matches what you want. Once you have found a photographer you like, schedule a shoot with them by getting in contact with them. Arrange a meeting location so that you can meet the photographer. I don't suggest this unless you are 100% sure the photographer...

Gender is a set of set of characteristics that is used distinguish between men and women. The norms and the rules of gender are dictated by society. Since the advent of the anime and manga medium, the ideas of gender has been constantly challenged. It is a genre of anime and manga that goes across all demographics. I will explore the two main variations of gender bending used in manga and anime are cross-dressing and gender changing. These main variations bend cultural notions of gender. In some stories it is used as gimmick for more laughs. In other stories, it is used as the main engine of the story to propel character development. A scene from MM! that showcases crossdressing Cross-dressing Of all the gender bending types, this is the most ubiquitous. Cross-dressing is when a person of one sex wears clothes that is normally worn by people of the other sex. In the realm of anime and manga, examples of this can be seen across all demographics. For the shojo (young girls) crow...

My friend sent me this video made by "acksonl" This person is a very talented videographer that I saw during the convention. I didn't personally meet him but I did see him film in the convention. It would be nice to meet him and chat with him a bit he if did Anime Expo. I believe this was filmed using an SLR and some prime lenses, unless I got him confused with another gentleman walking around filming the convention. California Cosplay This video is a very good video that shows snippets of Anime Los Angeles. The drummer and the cosplayer in hoola hoops is quite catchy to say the least. It also has an extended feature with fan-favorite cosplayers, the pokemon guys. For those of you that didn't know, the pikachu guy has a shake weight with a pikachu on the ends. Anime LA Fanvideo 1 This fanvideo was also very good. The music was very catchy and the subject isolation was amazing. The Cinematography, the location, and the editing was all top notch. Anime LA Fanv...

When Valkyria Chronicles was announced, it gained the attention of many people for its gorgeous watercolor art style and the legacy of the developers behind the game. In one of the early press releases, they revealed a gray-haired, buxom woman named Selvaria Bles. There was a lot of talk about her of her rather "ample" proportions. When the game was released, she etched herself in the annals of videogame history as a great villain character because of her terrifying (and amazing) theme song and because she was a well-developed sympathetic character who was more than just eye candy for the males. Long after the release of Valkyria Chronicles, she still has quite a fanbase because of impact she had on the people who played the game, from amazing cosplayers to a bunch of figures. Of the figures, one of the best representations of the general is Alter's version of General Bles. General Selvaria Bles's Official Artwork The watercolor artstyle of Valkyria Chronicles...

 Last weekend I was over at Anime Los Angeles, a great smaller convention with lots of energetic cosplayers and equally enthusiastic photographers. In my experience in the convention, I noticed that in general the photographers displayed proper etiquette when photographing cosplayers.  After all, a cosplayer put lots of time and effort into making an outfit and it is our duty as the cosplay photographer to make their outfit shine beautifully through the lens. While most photographers are good with etiquette, it is always good to brush up on proper etiquette so that everyone will have a great time in Anime Conventions. Etiquette Towards Cosplayers Tip #1: Always ask gently for a photograph They work hard for the outfit, be nice. A cosplayer put lots of time and effort into an outfit. When they go to an anime convention they are expecting that someone will take a picture of them. As a photographer you need to ask them gently for a photograph because in a convention they...

Photographing the K-On Cosplay Gathering at ALA This is my second year at Anime LA and I thought the convention was WONDERFUL. I was only there on Saturday, but I had a heck of a time. Anime Los Angeles is a hidden gem because it is such a great convention that all Anime, Manga, and Video Game fans should attend. It is a very energetic convention that is the perfect convention to start the new year. Major props to Chaz and his staff for continuing to raise the bar for this great convention every year. Masquerade was great, I really enjoyed the skits this year. My personal favorite was the dating sim skit and the Howl's Moving Castle skit. Those two are the ones I will remember ALA Masquerade 2011 for. All the ALA staff were great, there was not a bad seed in the bunch. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and helped create the energetic atmosphere that makes Anime Los Angles such a great convention. The cosplay photographers were awesome, I could talk with you guys for h...

  The manga market has a remarkable boom only a couple of years ago before our economic downturn. Amidst all the discussion in anime forums about improving the position of the manga market is the suggestion of lowering the price to Japanese levels. While there is truth to the statement that lowering the price to Japanese levels would increase the volume sales of manga in the USA, there are many things in play that keeps the price of manga higher in the United States. The reason why manga is more expensive in the USA are licensing costs, economies of scale, distribution costs, paper quality, and paper size. All these factors combined means that manga is more expensive in the USA than in Japan. One of my favorite Viz Licenses Licensing costs When there are discussions about the disparity of manga prices in Japan in the USA, licensing costs are typically lost in the argument. When manga is sold in the USA, it needs to be licensed by the Japanese publisher. When a license is mad...