KrisZ on Anime, Manga, Cosplay and Video Games

Senran Kagura Burst Platform: 3DS Developer: Tamsoft USA Publisher: XSeed Games The Ninja Cast of Senran Kagura Burst In Japan, the Ninja is a powerful historical symbol. Through the shadows, they engaged in espionage to give their lord a tactical advantage. In the daytime, they masqueraded as farmers, peasants, prostitutes, and at night, they protected castles and infiltrated rival ones. They were MI6 or the CIA of ancient Japan. Senran Kagura Burst throws that away and turns the ninja into a walking piece of fanservice, training in secret departments of prestigious Japanese high schools. A new entry in a genre popularized by Final Fight and Streets of Rage in the early 90’s, it has fallen by the wayside in modern times with rare entries like Vanillaware’s Dragon’s Crown and of course Senran Kagura . While Senran Kagura Burst gets justifiable dissension for being a fanservice-heavy game, underneath the hood, it is a surprisingly good game. Senran Kagura Burst ’s premis...

When people talk about Ace Attorney history, it is funny that in 2005, I was part of a group that basically saved the game franchise in the United States and Canada. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was announced in e3 2005, I loved the trailer so much I preordered the game several weeks later. When it was originally released in North America in October 2005, the game was released in the same time period as Trauma Center and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow . Due to heavy competition and being a very different game it sold a paltry 13,000 copies. The game sold so terribly that Capcom basically said the franchise was dead. For those of us who know that there were 2 other games in the series, this was a blow. Capcom said that they would consider releasing a localized version of Ace Attorney 2 and 3, but as as an episodic thing on cell phone. Since many of us had DS's at the time, this was not an option we liked, we wanted the games on the DS. The people who bought the first 13,000 cop...

Okusama ga Seito Kaichou Original Manga by: Yumi Nakata Anime Studio: Dream Creation Japanese name: おくさまが生徒会長！ English Translation: My Wife is the Student Council President The two rivals Ui and Rin Inspiration can come from some very interesting places. For Yumi Nakata, a former hentai artist, she looked at an old hentai manga she made many years ago and remade it for a shonen crowd. That is the origin for the manga behind the eight-minute ecchi anime series Okusama ga Seito Kaichou . Before the anime came out, I was a fan of the manga when I first read it in 2013. I was quite curious as to how the anime would adapt the more risqué material from the manga. As a fan of the manga, my feelings are mixed on its anime adaptation. The anime at best is a mediocre adaptation from a source material that is far superior. The premise is simple; Hayato Izumi ran for student council president and lost to a charismatic girl named Ui Wakana. One day after coming home, he finds out that...

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...