KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

Convention growth 2015 (Year over year) San Japan: +25.2% A-Kon: +17.9% Anime North: +5.2% Anime Expo: +13.1% Anime Central: +3.4% AnimeNEXT: +21.4% Otakon: -17.4% AnimazeMent: +0.2% SakuraCon: +0.3% Anime Expo 2015 had 90,500 unique attendees With September coming along fast, most of the big conventions have completed their run for 2015. When you look at this list of over 10,000 attendee conventions, there seems to be a common trend among these large conventions. The trend is that Anime Conventions are increasing by impressive percentages in 2015 (save for Otakon, I will explore that topic on another post). That leads me to the big question, why are the big anime conventions growing so fast in the United States. I will explore why anime conventions are going in an upward trend in the last two years. When you look at the anime industry, anime seems to be going through a little mainstream revival in North America. Anime is now seen on programming blocks in Cartoon Netwo...

Joukamachi no Dandelion Summer Anime Season 2015 Anime Studio: Production IMS Princess Kanade and Princess Akane Have you ever wanted to be elected king of a huge Kingdom? Joukamachi no Dandelion (translated to Castle Town Dandelion ) presents that interesting modern twist to an age-old fantasy. The anime for Joukamachi no Dandelion was based off a seinen four-panel manga by Ayumi Kasuga for the Manga Time Kirara Miracle magazine. What we get is an interesting slice of life about sibling rivalry to obtain the royal throne. Let us find out whether Joukamachi no Dandelion is worth your time or not. The story of Joukamachi no Dandelion centers on Akane Sakurada, the fourth eldest child, and the third princess in a family of nine super royals. Her father Soichiro is the King; the King wants the next King to be elected by the people of the nation. At the behest of his son, the first prince, the royal family lives in an average middle class house in the middle of town, b...

Japanese animation has a strong place in many Americans hearts. This led to the creation of Anime Conventions, which was based off the models of earlier science fiction conventions like WorldCon and mutigenre conventions like Comic Con . The popularity of anime has led to many long running conventions in North America like Project A-Kon , Anime Expo , and Otakon . Across the seas, the people of France have a longstanding love of everything Japanese. The manga industry in France is decades old compared to the relatively young American manga industry. France is one of the biggest and most vibrant consumers of Japanese culture. Naturally, it is also home to one of the biggest conventions in the world, Japan Expo , held in France annually in the beginning of the month of July. I will explore the history of Japan Expo and its sibling conventions, and why Japan Expo is the gigantic convention it is in Europe. Crowds at Japan Expo ©Japan Expo ©JTS Group The history of the largest...

Seeing people in cosplay is a highlight for me as long as I have attended conventions. There is so much skill in artisanship, posing, and facial emotions to get the character right. Over time, I have done photoshoots with people in this hobby and through that, I have connected and made friends with a variety of cosplayers over time. Over time, I noticed several trends, some I like and some I do not like. What I like is the increasing quality of Cosplay and the amount of effort in costumes has improved in leaps and bounds. By extension, the quality of the posing and facial emotions has improved significantly over time. What I do not like are the increasing sexualization of Cosplay and the influx of photographers that are drawn by this sexualization of Cosplay. For the positive, the quality of Cosplay has improved significantly over time. The cosplay wigs have become much better in quality, and there has been a huge improvement in the craftsmanship of the Cosplay outfits. In turn, p...

Okay, taking requests for photoshoots for Anime Expo 2013. As of right now Saturday and Sunday are for sure, and Thursday is a most likely. Please send me an email if you want a Photoshoot: kriszphotography@gmail.com Subject Header: AX 2013 - Shoot Request for (Insert Name here or Insert group name here) Cosplay/Cosplay Group: Cosplay Character: Series: Experience with shoots: Availability during con: Time Preference: Morning/Afternoon/Night/No Preference Theme you want the shoot to convey: Length of shoot you want? 15 or 30 minutes Do you want your photos posted online? Yes/No Do you have a fanpage you want tagged with your photos? Yes/No If yes, do you have a link? *Disclaimer*  Sending a photo request does not guarantee a shoot due to the high level of photoshoot requests. Final requests for photoshoots end at May 25th, 2013 at 11:59pm. Any submissions after that time will miss the deadline, thanks!!

Tomoyo-Chan aka Jen B. is a rising star in the world of cosplay. She has grown to become one of the premier Latina cosplayers in Southern California with her wonderful renditions of Sailor Jupiter, Shana, Rise, Luka and many more. I have had the pleasure of doing many photo shoots with her since we became friends several years ago. Here is a transcript of our three part interview that covers a variety of broad subjects, from the origins of her love of the hobby to how she deals with future cosplay. In Part 1 she went over the anime that got her into the hobby and her thoughts of the decline of the manga market in the USA. In part II she talked about her experiences in anime conventions and her favorite cosplay. In this section, she talks about Infotakus and her favorite cosplay photographer. Hint: He has a master's degree and used to run Anime Expo. Interview Part III Kris: Let's go on to another topic, the group that you started called Infotakus. Tomoyo-chan: Ah...

Tomoyo-Chan aka Jen B. is a rising star in the world of cosplay. She has grown to become one of the premier Latina cosplayers in Southern California with her wonderful renditions of Sailor Jupiter, Shana, Rise, Luka and many more. I have had the pleasure of doing many photo shoots with her since we became friends several years ago. Here is a transcript of our three part interview that covers a variety of broad subjects, from the origins of her love of the hobby to how she deals with future cosplay. In Part 1 she went over the anime that got her into the hobby and her thoughts of the decline of the manga market in the USA. In this segment she talks about her experiences in anime conventions and her favorite cosplay. Interview Part II Kris: A perfect segway to the next segment, anime conventions. Can you tell me about your first anime convention? Tomoyo-chan: Yup - Anime expo 2009. It was a date, my boyfriend took me, I had no idea this con existed, I had just move...