FUNimation announced today via their Twitter account, that they will be placing a mature rating on the recently acquired animated series, Hetalia: Axis Powers. The message on the microblogging site stated that this decision was reached due to profanity, crude humour and adult situations.
Hetalia: Axis Powers is a series based around the events of World War II with human representations of their respective countries.
Source: FUNimation
The CEO of Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Eric P. Sherman, posted his view on why anime is going to die out. Eric attributes his reasoning of this due to the popularity of fan-subbing, where groups of people take recordings from Japanese television and translate them with English (or another language) subtitles. These videos are easily available through torrents or are sometimes chopped up and posted on streaming video sites like YouTube.
Eric has pointed the finger at fan-subs for the demise Geneon Entertainment USA and ADV Films which have gone under due to a lack of sales. If fans of the series continue to download and watch ill gotten episodes, more companies will follow suit and cease operations.
North American companies that perform the localization (which includes dubbing) and distribution of licensed series, companies such as Viz Media, FUNimation and Bang Zoom! Entertainment, have become very outspoken over fan-subbing. This is due to the idea that once someone downloads and watches the show on their computer, they most likely will not go out and purchase the DVD or Blu-ray. There are a few reasons behind this:
It seems that there are two sides to the story with a delicate industry caught in the middle. However, both sides — the fans and the companies, need to reach a plateau where they get their money’s worth for and from the end product, be it DVD or manga. It’s unfair though for one side to harbour all of the blame when the reasons behind it should be looked at. But in the mean time, go out and buy a DVD or Blu-ray and maybe send some (polite!) feedback to the company that holds the North American license to show how you feel about the pricing and content of your favourite series.
Source: Anime News Network
Ninja fans looking to pick up a copy of the latest Naruto Shippuden box set won’t have to wait much longer for it. The second collection, featuring rogue ninja Deidara, also comes with a limited edition figure of the artistic bomber in a separate special edition version. Box Set 2 contains episodes 14-26 across three discs.
The next installation of the Naruto Shippuden box sets is scheduled for launch on April 20th, 2010.
Cloud Strife in all his 32-bit glory
Fans of Japanese culture converged on Seattle’s Washington State Convention and Trade Center over the Easter weekend for Sakura-Con 2010 to celebrate all things related to anime, manga and gaming. Sakura-Con has been a mainstay in the Pacific Northwest for the past thirteen years, drawing in attendees from not only Washington, but Oregon, Idaho, California, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta.
The convention this year was well organized and had a variety of events, panels, exhibitors, artists and video rooms. Con-goers were treated to concerts and even an exclusive premiere of the latest Trigun movie, Badlands Rumble, which is scheduled for in Japan later this month. There was also the long line of respectable guests, including voice actors, artists, musicians and industry personnel.
One feature that I thought was pretty neat, was providing special wristbands to attendees who had booked rooms at con-approved hotels. These wristbands granted priority seating for concerts and additional privileges.
The trip into Seattle wasn’t eventful, thankfully. Our group arrived shortly after 8:30 pm on Thursday evening, giving us a half hour to park at the hotel and bolt for the convention centre to claim our pre-registration badges. Fortunately, we got in just as last few people were being admitted, so we were pretty lucky. We returned to the hotel to check in and unpack our costumes and prepare for Friday morning.
A family of Naruto fans!
I returned to the convention on Friday morning ahead of the rest of my friends who had elected to stay back and add some finishing touches to their outfits.
Unfortunately, one member of our group wasn’t able to pre-register online, and had to stand in line to get their badge. This turned out to be a five hour wait for him (which for a convention of Sakura-Con’s size, we hoped to have been much less).
While he stood in line, I wandered around for a bit, snapping photographs, having my picture taken, and running into other people that I’ve met at previous conventions (or work). There were lots of amazing costumes and it was great to see every one dressed up as their favourite characters. My friends arrived later; two of them dressed as Fire Nation Soldiers and as Toph, from Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
After a brief photo-shoot outside (in between the rain and light snow), we made our way indoors to one of the panels featuring a number of voice actors: Todd Haberkorn, Richard Epcar, Brina Palencia, Luci Christian, Kent Williams, Chris Patton and Wendy Powell. The group fielded all sorts of questions regarding the voice acting industry in North America, and even provided valuable tips and suggestions for those looking to get their foot in the door.
I checked out the exhibition hall later on, where there were rows upon rows of purveyors of anything and everything related to anime. Lots of booths with vendors hawking figures straight from Japan along with DVDs, books, doujinshi, manga, pillows, shirts, energy drinks, Pocky, katanas, kimonos and much, much more.
Various forms of Sora from Kingdom Hearts
After dinner and some rest, I returned to the convention centre to partake in some of the late night panels, particularly “Chris Patton Shares Too Much” at the suggestion of another friend. The name is pretty accurate, as voice actor Chris Patton, does indeed share too much, and it’s quite entertaining. However, like most late night panels, it is restricted to adults, and we were asked to produce identification upon entering.
My friends wandered off after Chris’ panel and checked out the Anime Swimsuit Contest and the Adult Anime Dating Game, but weren’t too impressed with the organization of both events.
Saturday was a good day, minus the schizophrenic weather. As per our tradition of visiting Sakura-Con, it’s not quite complete with a brief stop at the amazing Pike Street Market in costume (and venturing into the ever-so busy first Starbucks store).
Upon returning to the hotel to drop off my purchases, I encountered a full gathering of the Power Rangers, complete with Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd in the lobby. Pretty freakin’ epic, I must say.
Two Virals versus a bunch of Yokos
I knew there was a Naruto photo-shoot on Saturday at 2:30 pm (thanks to a fellow attendee staying in the same hotel), but wasn’t sure where it was being held (I’ve been to maybe one Naruto photo-shoot in all of the conventions I’ve attended – such luck). Since the weather had been fair for a few hours, everyone had massed outside in Freeway Park above the I-5 freeway where I caught the last remnants of the Naruto shoot as they were departing. I seem to run into almost every other photo-shoot except the ones I want to participate in, but maybe next time.
I made my way back in and rejoined my friends (who, ironically were amassing for an Avatar photo-shoot) after grabbing some shots from the Gurren Lagann and Bleach gatherings.
Yuusuke and Meg of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR performing on stage
Later in the evening, a few of us made our way into the main stage for the concert featuring Dazzle Vision and HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.
Dazzle Vision is an indie Japanese band, which is much harder than most J-rock bands, utilizing alternating vocals and heavier guitar playing. Dazzle Vision involves Maiko as the vocalist, Yu on guitars, Haru on drums and Takuro on bass.
J-rock band, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, is noted for their dual vocalists, Halca and Yuusuke, and their heavy sound. In addition to Halca and Yuusuke, Kazuto is on lead guitar, with Meg on the rhythm guitar, Mackaz on bass and Sassy on drums. HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR finished off their performance with the third opening to Bleach, Ichirin no Hana.
The concert was pretty intense, complete with crowd surfing and a mini mosh pit. I hadn’t seen anything like this since Black Label Society was at the Commodore Ballroom five years ago. It was a great experience to see these two bands from Japan live on stage.
Sunday was much quieter as con-goers packed up and prepared to head back home. All that was left was the Exhibitors, autograph sessions and a concert by Hsu-nami. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay too long on the last day since our group had to return to our individual homes before early evening.
Overall, Sakura-Con 2010 was pretty amazing and well done. Aside from a few missteps in the planning of some events, it was a great convention. I look forward to returning in 2011, when the convention is scheduled for the weekend of April 22nd – 24th.
Photographs from Sakura-Con 2010 are available on Gallery.
You know you want to be here!
If you’re in the Seattle area this Easter weekend, stop by Sakura-Con, the Pacific Northwest’s premiere anime, manga and Japanese cultural convention.
Japanese rock band, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, along with the indie group Dazzle Vision will perform for their fans for the first time in North America. Mai Kadowaki, Yutaka Minowa, Todd Haberkorn, Chris Patton, Satoshi Nishimura, are just some of the amazing guests lined up for the 13th incarnation of Sakura-con.
Of course, there will be plenty of interactive panels, video and game rooms, a large artist’s alley and exhibition hall and of course cosplay!
Sakura-Con runs from April 2nd to 4th at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1 DVD
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood retells the journey of Edward and Alphonse Elric on their quest to return what they’ve lost. Unlike the first series which deviated from the manga and introduced new characters, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood goes back and follows the two brothers as they encounter the truth behind the mystical Philosopher’s Stone.
FUNimation is now releasing the first DVDs for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in box sets as opposed to individual discs (when the first series were available for purchase). Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1 will contain the first 13 episodes over two discs and goes on sale May 25th, 2010. A Blu-ray edition will also be available on the same day.
Ed starts an alchemic transmutation
Although it wasn’t a full scale convention, J-Fest was a preview of what would be at Anime Evolution; featuring an artists room, panels on costume design, a video room and registration for the convention itself. A small gathering of cosplayers showed up to debut their costumes and support their series at the one day event. Take a peek at some of the fans who came out on Saturday.
Anime Evolution is sponsoring a one-day event called J-Fest on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, at Douglas College in New Westminster. Registration for Anime Evolution 2010 will be available, along with cosplay tutorials, gaming, videos, panels, artists and more! J-Fest only costs $10 to enter and runs from 10:30 am PST until 7:30 pm PST. Douglas College is one block north of the New Westminster SkyTrain station.
Soul Eater fans can pick up part one of the series on DVD on February 9th, 2010. The first set will feature 13 episodes over two discs with both Japanese and English vocals.
The second DVD set is scheduled for release on March 30th, 2010. Fans of the manga will be able to grab volume two on February 23rd, 2010.
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