KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

The Video Game Industry is a fickle industry and the popularity of a franchise waxes and wanes from generation to generation. In an industry with a wide variety of IP's sold over the course of a year, only a few franchises consistently sell over the years, Mario , Kirby , Final Fantas y, Warcraft , Diablo , and a few others. Last week, Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released, a sequel to a game that sold 1,516,832 copies in the first week and would eventually sell 1.8 million copies in Japan. The numbers are in for Final Fantasy XIII-2 , and they aren't pretty. The game ended up selling 524,217 copies in its first week in Japan. This low number has set up a firestorm of debate on whether Final Fantasy is on its way out as one of the premiere Japanese franchises. I will explore what led to the tepid sales numbers of its sequel and my suggestions on what Square Enix can do to put the Final Fantasy franchise back on track. Final Fantasy is a storied franchise with a large user b...

A second attempt at something doesn't necessarily mean that it is guaranteed to be a success. In around 2003 I started a blog and it never really caught on, after about two years I called it quits and closed the blog. Since then I have been out of the blogosphere. Early last year, I tried another hand at blogging and the outcome was totally different. Today is a special day for the blog, if you have looked at today's date, it is the one year anniversary since I started it. As of right now the blog has had over 60,352 hits and over 113 articles on a variety of different subjects. I will examine why this blog is a success that is read by hundreds of people a day and I will look into a couple of blog factoids. Currently, my blog would have more people reading it over the course of a day than my previous blog in over an entire year. Here is why I believe that this blog is very successful: A strong central theme: My previous blog was a general blog that had me opine on every ...

I have been staffing convention for a long time, much longer than your average convention staffer. If you have been staffing cons as long as I have, an interesting dynamic I notice is when I see a young teenager drag their parents to an anime convention. The parents looks dejected, even irritated that they have been dragged into an event that they really have no interest in. I have an easy solution to stop this from happening, get your parents into anime and manga so that they have an appreciation of your hobby. If they appreciate your hobby, then it will be easier to bring them along and they also have a personal emotional investment in your hobby. There is such diversity in the media of anime and manga; I strongly believe that this diversity can possibly have series that appeal to your parents. Here are my suggestions of anime and manga to show your parents that can be the spark that can start a love of anime and manga. Anything Hayao Miyazaki Hayao Miyazaki is one of th...

Francis's Birthday/Christmas Present that he gave me, thanks Francis!!! On December 13, 1984 I was born into this world, do the math if you want to calculate my age, I am not typing it. Ever since then my life has been one heck of an adventure. If you told me 5 years ago that I would be getting my Master's Degree in Business, that I would be one of the most well-known cosplay photographers in the West Coast, and that I would be an executive officer on the Board of Directors for the organization behind the largest anime convention in North America, I would not believe you. In such a short period of time my life has changed forever. My goal in life before I started working in Anime Expo was to get my PhD in History and become a professor at a university, but life told me to take a different path. My birthday present to myself, it is nice!! That's what's so great about it, life is an adventure. I always see the glass as half-full compared to many people out there...

Codename Sailor V Manga by: Naoko Takeuchi Published by: Kodansha USA Length: 2 volumes Ever wanted to have awesome powers to defeat evil? Codename Sailor V takes this beautiful selfless dream and crushes it under its high heels. It is the prequel that was written, during, and after the legendary Pretty Guardian Salior Moon franchise. When an anime version of Codename Sailor V was proposed, Naoko Takeuchi envisioned having Sailor V fight with a team of friends, which brought about one of the most celebrated franchises of all time, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon . Codename Sailor V is a classic manga in an episodic format; within the two-volume omnibus is one of the best parodies of the mangical girl genre. Codename Sailor V is a unique experience like no other starring a familiar face that is well-loved among the anime community. In this review I will take you to the highs and the lows of this classic franchise. Minako Aino is a blonde, athletic, tomboyish first year middle s...

As a photographer, one of the most rewarding aspects of my hobby is doing a personal photo shoot. It requires the photographer and photo subject to work in concert with each other to create amazing photos. Over the course of a year, I do well over a hundred photo shoots inside and outside of anime conventions. In these photo shoots I have met some of the most interesting people who make the shoot experience interesting and rewarding. I have yet to do a photo shoot that was a bad experience. Each shoot presents a different dynamic due to the unique personalities of the people I am photographing, the unique environments they are in, and the type of story I want to craft using my photography. Of the many photo shoots I have done this year, here are my top eight most memorable shoots. They as varied, but they do showcase why I personally love doing photo shoots. 8. Maternity photo shoot at UCR Gardens A maternity shoot is very special; it is to showcase the love of the mother and fathe...

Education is important, regardless of whether we want to or not, we are constantly learning in our lifetimes. There are two forms of learning, learn by doing and learn through reading. As many of you know, I am currently a graduate student who is getting my Master's Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and international business AND I am on the Board of Director's for the organization behind Anime Expo, where I am the chairman of the Finance Committee and the R&D Committee, so when it comes to management I am getting both forms of education. To improve my knowledge and apply this practical knowledge to improve my personal skills, I am reading eight books this Winter season: Board Members: Governing Roles and Responsibilities by W. Astor Kirk Managing the non-profit organization by Peter F. Drucker Why Nonprofits Fail: Overcoming Founder's Syndrome, Fundophobia, and Other Obstacles to Success by Stephen R. Block Nonprofit Governance: T...

One of my favorite shoots this year, it had a great outfit and perfect character depiction, but she started as a novice like everyone else. Cosplay is one of my favorite subjects since it is one of the aspects of anime conventions that draw me in year after year. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, cosplay is a portmanteau of cos tume play and it describes the culture of dressing up as your favorite fictional character and taking on their physical appearance and/or personality traits. Earlier this year I have written a breadth of articles on the subject of cosplay, they go from tips on getting great photo shoots to choosing the right cosplay . Recently, it has been brought my attention that I do not have an article about getting into the hobby of cosplay, a sort of cosplay 101 article for people to send out to friends who want to get into cosplay. Having been into the hobby of cosplay photography, I know the culture of cosplay fairly well and can provide some insight into ...

Everyone has a number of hobbies, I am no exception. I got into photography many years ago, with my first camera being a 35mm point and shoot camera. Eventually as technology started to improve, I upgraded to a point and shoot camera. After many years and a couple of thousand shots, my point and shoot camera died. On that day, I made a fateful decision that will change my life. It was the day I decided to move to digital SLR's. Ever since I got into DSLR photography, I have focused heavily on improving my technique to be at a level where my photography can start being considered "art." As I go around an anime convention or around a city like Las Vegas, I always seem to get the same questions. Why do you carry two Digital SLR's? Why do you have those two specific lenses? Here is my photography equipment and why I have these two specifically. Camera Bodies: Canon Rebel XSi/450D: 35,000 shots taken on it Canon EOS 60D: 10,000 shots taken on it Camera Lenses:  Can...