KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

Chunnibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Japan has a large number of anime studios that launch new anime every season. Watching all of them is not only time consuming, but also a waste of bandwidth. As with every fall season, the number of anime that is released is quite impressive, but there is a fair number of poorly made anime mixed in with some golden series. This list only covers a small fraction of anime released in the fall season, but they are the anime that I have been watching. See which anime is worth your time and which ones are worth skipping over. Busou Shinki  One-sentence Synopsis: Cute tiny figure girls living in an apartment. Review: This anime is the epitome of anime as a tool for marketing purposes. In this case, an anime is made to promote shinki figures. The anime itself is a poor excuse for an anime. The character design of the lead character is poor and off-putting to represent a generic avatar that its target audience can relate to it. The Shinki girls are...

Title: Umineko no Na ku Koro Ni English Title: When the Seagulls Cry Game Type: Doujinshi Sound Novel Format: DVD Developer: 07th Expansion Writer: Ryukishi07 Story Arcs: Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch, Episode 2: Turn of the Golden Witch, Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch, and Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch The DVD cover of the first four episodes There are many ways to show your love towards the hobby of anime, manga, and videogames. In Japan, the doujinshi scene of self-published amateur works makes up a large percentage of the otaku market. Few people in the doujinshi world that have become as successful as the group known as 07th Expansion, breaking onto the scene with the incredibly popular Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (English title: When they Cry ). Umineko no Naku Koro Ni , their follow up series has made waves in the community, getting a popular manga, and a 26-episode anime. My first exposure to the series was the popular anime when it was relea...

My friends cosplaying as League of Legends cosplay, including the legendary Katrina (in Pink Hair), who has 28 photo shoots with me as of PMX 2012. Southern California is a huge megalopolis that is full of diversity that spans a wide area. The high population density and the gigantic population mean that there are a number of conventions happening over the course of the year. The convention that caps a long season of comic and anime conventions is non-other than Pacific Media Expo. I started attending the convention in 2007, and this year was my first year working as a convention staffer. Having been in the con world for a very long time, I have had experience working from the staff level to executive level, being the Co-Chair of Anime Expo 2012, along with being Board Treasurer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of SPJA. Here is report of my adventures in Pacific Media Expo 2012. Fashion is a huge focus of PMX I first arrived in the Los Angeles International Airport a...

In the United States, the idea of dressing up and taking the role of a character is traditionally assigned to a holiday embraced by pop culture. For fans of anime, manga, video games, sci-fi, and comic books, dressing up and taking on the role of a character during conventions have become a norm. The popular word describing this act is cosplay, a portmanteau of costume play. With the explosion of popularity for comic conventions and the huge growth of anime conventions in North America, there has been an increased exposure of cosplay. As the popularity of cosplay has increased, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of female cosplayers, some of them in racy outfits. Some people are not pleased with this; a Facebook rant by Tony Harris, the illustrator of Ex Machina and Star Man has turned heads. This rant led to Gail Simone to call for November 13th to be a cosplay appreciation day . As a cosplay photographer, longtime convention attendee, and as a longtime friend of...

The world of gaming has a wide variety of games, there are high production games with gorgeous graphics that play it safe to aim for the largest group possible, on the other end of the spectrum there smaller indie games that have low risk, so they tend to experiment more often. One such example is a unique flash game that was released quite a while ago, it sparked some interest because of its unique catch; the game was about slapping members of the Japanese aristocracy. While it does have a unique catch, it wins you over with its unique gameplay, catchy music and its over-the-top absurd humor and dialog. This game set of unique games is Rose and Camellia and its sequel, a game with a simple premise that wins you over with it various charms. The first game is about Reiko Tsubakikoji, a commoner woman who just married into the wealthy and powerful Tsubakikoji clan. Shortly after the marriage, her husband dies, leaving her isolated in her noble family. Determined to win over her ...

Dear SPJA Membership and General Public, It has been an honor serving as SPJA Board Director for the past two years. When the Board was elected in the 2010 cycle, we were immediately informed of the deep financial issues. The Board of Directors developed a strategy to pay off this debt. It took two years to pay off the legacy debt that has plagued the SPJA, and we have laid the groundwork to enter another period of success and growth. Anime Expo, Anime Conji, and Project Anime exist because people passionately love the hobby and wish to create a venue to communicate our love for this hobby. I am a strong believer that the SPJA is a convention by the fans, and for the fans. A central tenant when I was director was to connect more with the staff, attending members, and industry. We can connect more by being more transparent and improving the accountability of the organization. I challenge my successors to continue pushing the organization in this positive direction. For a healthy o...