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Posts Tagged Conventions

PR: Viz Media and ReedPop Welcome Manga Artist Takeshi Obata to New York Comic Con 2014

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, September 30, 2014

VIZ MEDIA AND REEDPOP WELCOME MANGA ARTIST TAKESHI OBATA TO NEW YORK COMIC CON 2014

The Seminal Artist Of DEATH NOTE And ALL YOU NEED IS KILL To Appear At Panels And Exclusive In-Person Signing Session; Will Also Participate In Signings During New York Super Week

San Francisco, CA, September 29, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, and ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world, are proud to welcome one of Japan’s preeminent manga artists – Takeshi Obata – for his first-ever U.S. personal appearance. His visit is co-presented by The Japan Foundation.

The acclaimed artist of smash hit manga (graphic novel) series such as DEATH NOTE, BAKUMAN。, HIKARU NO GO, RALΩGRAD and ALL YOU NEED IS KILL will appear at several events during the 2014 New York Comic Con. Taking place October 9^th– 12^th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York Comic Con is the East Coast’s biggest pop culture convention. Full details on the show are available at: www.NewYorkComicCon.com.

During the convention, Takeshi Obata will appear in person on two panels, on Thursday October 9^th as part of VIZ Media’s WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP panel and on Friday October 10^th with an overview of his incredible catalog of works. He will make an exclusive signing appearance at the Javits Convention Center on Thursday evening.

Takeshi Obata will also make a pair of additional appearances around New York as part of ReedPOP’s New York Super Week on Friday October 10^th at Kinokuniya Book Store and Saturday October 11^th at Barnes & Noble.

Fans are invited to stop by the VIZ Media Booth (#1944) on Thursday October 9^th for details and to secure advance tickets for the exclusive New York Comic Con Takeshi Obata signing, taking place the same day at 7:30pm at the Javits Center. Signing tickets will be distributed on a first come/first served basis promptly at 1:00pm and again at 4:30pm. (There will be no advance line-up until 15 minutes before ticket time). Each attendee that secures a ticket will receive an exclusive shikishi signing board that Obata will autograph.

Fans may also select from a wide array of Obata manga titles available for purchase at the VIZ Media booth, including special advance copies of his newest work, ALL YOU NEED IS KILL, a deluxe omnibus manga treatment of the Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s hit sci-fi novel that inspired the action blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise. It will debut under VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump Advanced imprint on November 4^th. Other acclaimed Obata manga titles including DEATH NOTE, BAKUMAN。, HIKARU NO GO and RALΩGRAD will also be available for purchase.

VIZ Media, ReedPOP and The Japan Foundation welcome Takeshi Obata at the following New York Comic Con Panels: Read more…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Bakuman, Conventions, Death Note, hikaru no go, NYCC, takeshi obata, Viz Media

PR: Takeshi Obata To Appear at New York Comic Con

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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TAKESHI OBATA TO APPEAR AT NEW YORK COMIC CON

Wildly Popular Manga Artist and Creative Force Behind Death Note, Bakuman。 and
All You Need Is Kill to participate in Panels and Autographing on October 9 and 10, 2014

NORWALK, CT – July 29, 2014 – New York Comic Con is rolling out power-packed appearances that showcase the hottest talent from around the globe. In continuing its unwavering commitment to celebrate the vast expanse of all things pop culture, ReedPOP, the world’s largest producer of pop culture events and producers of the event, today announced that renowned manga artist Takeshi Obata will be appearing as part of autographing and panels the Thursday and Friday of the show.

Obata is the artist of the wildly popular Shonen Jump title Hikaru no Go, which won the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize: Shinsei “New Hope” award and the 2000 Shogakukan Manga award. Obata is also the artist of Arabian Majin Bokentan Lamp Lamp, Ayatsuri Sakon, Cyborg Jichan G, and the smash hit manga Death Note. Following the hugely successful series Bakuman。 Obata’s latest work is All You Need Is Kill, a 2-volume adaptation of the novel which was also the basis for this year’s Tom Cruise blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow. Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Bakuman。and All You Need Is Kill are all published in North America by VIZ Media. Takeshi Obata is appearing at New York Comic Con with support of VIZ Media and the Japan Foundation.

Dark Horse Licenses Legal Drop and Oreimo Spin-Offs at SakuraCon 2014

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, May 1, 2014

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Even when you’re pretty sure something is going to happen, that doesn’t make it any less sweet when it occurs. At the recent-ish Sakura Con, Dark Horse announced five new manga licenses, including a new CLAMP license rescue:

Drug & Drop – CLAMP
Legal Drug – CLAMP
OPUS – Satoshi Kon
Oreimo: Kuroneko – Sakura Ikeda
Seraphim: 266613336 Wings – Satoshi Kon & Mamoru Oshii

Legal Drug is a three volume series by CLAMP that was originally released by Tokyopop. The series went on hiatus in Japan, leaving fans of its boys’ love heavy subtext and mysterious unresolved plot left wanting. Rejoice however as CLAMP did eventually continue the series, titling the continuation Drug & Drop, which until now has never been released in English.

Dark Horse will be releasing an omnibus book collecting the three volumes of Legal Drug, the same treatment they’ve given to several other re-released CLAMP series including Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Bablyon, and Angelic Layer. The omnibus will have a new translation and shiny new print, and likely with some bonus colour illustrations as well if Dark Horse’s past omnibus are any indication. Legal Drug is scheduled for September 2014 at $19.99/US, $21.99/CAN. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.

The first volume of the sequel Drug & Drop will be released in January 2015 for $11.99/CAN, $10.99/CAN. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon.ca | Amazon.com as well. Currently there are two volumes in Japan for the series with new chapters on-going. Both series follow two young men who work as errand boys for a strange shop that sends on supernatural jobs. More mysterious than even their work is the pair’s back story, and the true purpose behind their employer’s store.

I will sum up the CLAMP news by saying THANK YOU, DARK HORSE! Signed, a huge fan of everything CLAMP.

Dark Horses pleases another fervent fan base with their license of Oreimo: Kuroneko. The series is a spin-off to Oreimo which Dark Horse has released four volumes of to date. This three volume spin-off stars the original’s secondary female lead, Kuroneko, as the main heroine. Volume one will be released in April 2015.

OPUS is a manga title by acclaimed film director, Satoshi Kon. Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, or Paprika anyone? This two volume series is being released by Dark Horse as one omnibus book. OPUS predates Satoshi Kon’s film career, and follows a manga artist who is pulled into his own creation.

Dark Horse’s second license drawn by Satoshi Kon is Seraphim: 266613336 Wings, which is one heck of a name to remember. The one volume title is written by Mamoru Oshii, famous for quite a few titles in his own right. Seraphim is about a group of individuals on a journey to discover the truth behind a deadly ailment called “the angel disease”. Dark Horse’s edition will ship February 2015.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: CLAMP, Conventions, Dark Horse, Drug & Drop, Legal Drug, Satoshi Kon

TCAF Adds Third and Fourth Manga Guests With Akira Himekawa

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, April 19, 2014

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Toronto Comics Art Fest just keeps sweetening the pot for its attendees, and possibly proving itself to be the best venue for meeting manga artists in North America. TCAF organizers recently announced that manga-duo Akira Himekawa would be attending as one of their 2014 featured guests.

Akira Himekawa – who is actually two women who work together under the singular name – is best known to North American manga readers as the artist behind The Legend of Zelda manga series that are published by Viz Media. They’re currently working on the official My Little Pony manga in Japan.

Along with autograph sessions and interviews, the two manga artists will be participating in live art demonstrations and a panel about women working in the manga industry.

As someone who eagerly collected all of The Legend of Zelda manga – and was really impressed with the quality and artist’s ability to shift their style to suit each individual game – you can bet your manga-reading butts that I’ll be doing my best to attend each of those events.

We don’t hear of manga artists being brought to conventions here nearly enough, so I’m completely thrilled we’ve got four now coming to TCAF 2014. How amazing is that? And they’re no small names either. Akira Himekawa joins the already announced est em and Moyoco Anno, not to mention the large assortment of other artists from around the world.

TCAF 2014 takes place in Toronto, May 10th-11th, and is free to attend.

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Categories: News
Tags: Akira Himekawa, Conventions, TCAF, The Legend of Zelda

TCAF Welcomes Moyoco Anno to 2014 Event

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, March 10, 2014

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Exciting news from Toronto Comics Art Fest last week – the annual comics event announced manga artist Moyoco Anno as their newest special guest!

Moyoco Anno is a name familiar to many English manga fans; her works have been released by several manga publishers over the past decade. Plus, she’s pretty great! Her titles include Insufficient Direction, Sakuran, Flowers & Bees, Sugar Sugar Rune, Happy Mania and the upcoming In Clothes Called Fat.

Moyoco Anno previously attended New York Comic Con 2012.

Well-timed to this news from TCAF is Crunchyroll adding three new Moyoco Anno titles to their digital manga program. Buffalo 5 Girls is a completed one-shot, while Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen and The Diary of Ochibi-san will be on-going simultaneous publications once the schedules line-up.

I’ve gone to TCAF for the past three years and have always loved it. The atmosphere, the artist’s present and the city itself are always worth the trip. This year is looking no less enjoyable! Along with Moyoco Anno, TCAF also recently announced est em would be attending. Can you say excited?

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Categories: News
Tags: Canada, Conventions, Moyoco Anno, TCAF, Vertical Inc

TCAF 2014: Manga Artist est em Announced as Featured Guest

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, December 19, 2013

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One of my most anticipated yearly events – TCAF, the Toronto Comics Art Festival, has just announced their featured guests for 2014. Among them is manga artist, est em!

This is really exciting news for fans of est em. Thanks in part to several of her series being licensed in English, there are quite a few of us! Known predominantly for her boys’ love series, est em’s English-released titles include Age Called Blue, Kine In!, Red Blinds the Foolish, Seduce me After The Show, Tableau No. 20 and ULTRAS.

I love est em’s artwork which errs on the side of more realistic than the usual willowy boys’ love characters, and her strong characterization makes for great drama that plays out in unique scenarios. Not all of her books hit it off with me, but her work is always something I’ll pick up when it’s released. I’m currently awaiting the arrival of her most recent work, Tableau No. 20, from SuBLime.

You can read my review of Seduce Me After The Show, and Shannon Fay has reviewed Age Called Blue and ULTRAS.

est em isn’t the only talent on the list I’m excited to see there, so I encourage all comic lovers to check it out and plan their attendance! TCAF organizers will soon be announcing the 300+ other comic creators who will be exhibiting at the free event which takes place at the Toronto Reference Library in Toronto, Ontario on May 10th – 11th.

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Categories: News
Tags: Conventions, est em, TCAF

NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Announces UQ Holder and Seven Deadly Sins

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, November 16, 2013

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You thought we were done with NYCC didn’t you?! Even weeks late, licensing news is great news indeed. Call us refreshers for all your manga convention news! Along with their Attack on Titan titles, Kodansha Comics also had a few other series under their sleeves to reveal that weekend:

Seven Deadly Sins – Nakaba Suzuki
UQ Holder – Ken Akamatsu

Kodansha Comics is touting Seven Deadly Sins as the “next Dragonball Z“. Those are some pretty big boots to fill! In this fantasy story, the manga’s lead Princess Elizabeth is searching for the seven deadly sins instead of the seven magic dragon balls. The sins are all legendary warriors and she hopes to use them to defeat the murderous Holy Knights, putting a twist on the usual who’s good, who’s bad stereotypes.

UQ Holder is a new series from Ken Akamatsu, best known to most as the creator of Negima!. Good thing too, since UQ Holder takes place in the same magical world many years later. The story begins in a small village where a group of boys dream of one day leaving and seeing the big city, and its’ giant constructed spire that leads into space. But, before they’re allowed to leave, they have to defeat their beautiful, and conveniently immortal, teacher.

Volume one of Seven Deadly Sins is scheduled for March 2014 (Amazon CAN/US), with UQ Holder (Vol. 01) right on its tail (Amazon CAN/US).

For those who’re curious and would like to read the series now, you currently can! Both these series are available via Crunchyroll’s new digital manga program. You can expect more on that news here at Kuriousity as soon as I make my way through the series they’re currently offering.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Conventions, Ken Akamatsu, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC, Seven Deadly Sins, UQ Holder

NYCC 2013: Vertical Inc Deals in Fat and Falls With Manga and Light Novel Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 17, 2013

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Next up on Lissa-takes-a-while-to-post-manga-news-these-days, it’s more new licenses from this past week’s New York Comic Con, today courtesy of Vertical Inc:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (Light Novel) – Ryō Suzukaze & Thores Shibamoto
In The Clothes Named Fat – Moyoco Anno

Kodansha Comics may’ve granted some wishes I thought were only a matter of time, but Vertical Inc did what I thought was impossible. The Attack on Titan prequel novel? Awesome! Before the Fall is a story that takes place seventy years prior to the events of Attack on Titan. The series is three volumes long and features the invention of the 3D maneuver gear.

Vertical Inc has the first volume scheduled to be released next summer, a couple months after Kodansha Comics will begin releasing the new manga version of the same story. I really hope this does well for Vertical, both out of adoration for the company itself and the want for more similar licenses in the future. Support the prose! I’ll be buying both versions but hope that one doesn’t negatively affect the other in regards to sales.

Next was manga time as Vertical pleased many a josei fan with their announcement of Moyoco Anno’s In The Clothes Named Fat. Vertical previously released her one-short, Sakuran (which was fantastic, by the way), and announced her romantic-autobiographical series, Insufficient Direction this past summer.

In The Clothes Named Fat is another one-shot, but set in modern day. It revolves around an office worker who is self-conscious and bullied about her weight. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, she becomes determined to lose weight no matter what.

Vertical Inc plans to release this title next summer as well. I’m really looking forward to reading it. After Sakuran, I gained a new respect for her works. A well-structured one-shot worked so much better for me than her previously released multi-book series, such as Happy Mania or Sugar Sugar Rune.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Attack on Titan, Conventions, In The Clothes Named Fat, Light Novels, Manga, Moyoco Anno, NYCC, Vertical Inc

Viz Media Revives and Bewitches with Licenses at Japan Expo

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 26, 2013

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There was more from Japan Expo before the weekend was done as Viz Media took the panel stage to announce two new series:

Phantom Thief Jeanne – Arina Tanemura
Spell of Desire – Tomu Ohmi

Phantom Thief Jeanne (also known as Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne) joins Viz Media’s already hefty library of Arina Tanemura titles, including the recent Sakura Hime and my personal favourite, Full Moon O Sagashite. PTJ is a license ‘rescue’ – CMX originally released the entire seven volume series before shutting down. For those of us who’ve never read it, or perhaps have been unable to find a particular volume to finish a collection after many, many years, will now have another chance to own the series in its entirety. The first volume is scheduled for March 2014.

“By day, Kusakabe Maron is an ordinary high school girl with more than her share of problems. But by night, she is Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne – the reincarnation of Joan of Arc! Her mission? Hunt down demon-possessed paintings and exorcise the evil spirits! But accomplishing this mission puts her in conflict with the authorities who only see her as a mysterious stranger vandalizing works of art. With only the help of angel-in-training Finn, she must survive high school during the day and fight evil by night!” – CMX, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne (Vol. 01)

Spell of Desire is a supernatural romance for older-than-the-usual audiences. Its’ creator, Tomu Ohmi,just had the first volume of their series, Midnight Secretary, released by Viz Media last week. Spell of Desire is currently four volumes long in Japan with the first English volume scheduled for August 2014.

The story stars a young woman named Kaoruko who runs a herb shop after losing her parents when she was young. Her world begins to change when a mysterious man named Kaname enters the shop and Kaoruko learns there is more to her family, her shop and herself than she ever knew.

Both these new series will be released under Viz Media’s Shoujo Beat imprint.
Credit for the news’ details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Conventions, Japan Expo, Manga, Phantom Thief Jeanne, Shoujo Beat, Spell of Desire, Viz Media

Yen Press Makes Their Own Impact With Light Novels, Sword Art Online and New Madoka Magica Manga at Japan Expo

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, August 23, 2013

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Word is that the new North American convention, Japan Expo: First Impact, is off to a slow start but at least one company – Yen Press – gave it the benefit of the doubt by saving some licenses to announce:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story – Magica Quartet/Hanokage
Sword Art Online Aincrad – Tamako Nakamura
Sword Art Online Fairy Dance – Tsubasa Hazuki

If these three titles look familiar, it’s because they’re all connected to recent popular anime franchises. You can currently watch the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica series on Crunchyroll, as well Sword Art Online.

PMMM: The Different Story is a spin-off of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and follows two of the characters, Tomoe Mami & Sakura Kyouko, in their own magical girl story. This three volume series is drawn by the same artist as the PMMM manga (read my review of volume one) and stars two of the original main characters. I’m hoping that equates to me enjoying it more than the recent Puella Magi Kazumi Magica – The Innocent Malice, which you can read my review for.

Sword Art Online Aincrad is the manga adaptation of the series, which was originally adapted from a light novel prior to getting an anime (more on that a few lines down!). The story follows some of 10 000 players trapped in a new virtual reality game where winning is the only way to survive and death there means death in the real world. Sword Art Online Fairy Dance is a sequel and continues the story of its leads trying to best the game’s hundred levels. This is the first time either artist has had a work released in English.

That wasn’t all at Japan Expo though. Yen Press surprised, and hopefully pleased, many readers by announcing two light novel series:

Accel World – Reki Kawahara/HIMA
Sword Art Online – Reki Kawahara/abec

Few publishers have been willing to take risks on light novels – which are niches in niches – but it seems Yen Press’s results with some of their previous light novels, including Haruhi Suzumiya and Spice & Wolf, has kept up the faith. Remember, readers, if you want them, then you have to support them!

Credit for news details goes ANN

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