On March 28, Chris and Steve over at Anime News Network posed a curious question: Is Birdie Wing to blame for the sudden rise in golfing anime? Not only has Sorairo Utility been greenlit for a full series, we also have Rising Impact and Oi! Tonbo on their way to grace our screens with golfing goodness in the near future. Birdie Wing was no doubt popular on top of being a critical success, resulting in nominations for best original anime in both the Crunchyroll and Anime Trending awards. Despite this, it would be reductive to attribute this golf anime renaissa ..read more

Table of contents Reiko Nagasawa Hitomi Kariya Eri Kinoshita Touko Yatabe It’s fascinating to see how the relationships between fandom and anime staff have changed so radically. Around the early 2010s, the names that would usually get thrown around would be typically studio names, as for the people themselves: Urobuchi, Shinbo, and maybe an Imaishi mention if you’re lucky, and even then it was still in vague terms. Fast-forward to the present, and now you have fans feverishly debating between Ryu Nakayama and Keiichiro Saito while Bocchi The Rock! and Chainsaw Man were airing, or One Piece ..read more

Warning: Contains exactly one spoiler for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM at the end of the article. On April 1, I was granted the opportunity to attend the East Coast premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM’s English dub at New York’s Japan Society. The film, which was directed by Gundam Seed TV director Mitsuo Fukuda at Sunrise, continues the story that began more than two decades ago. Much of the original staff and cast returned to work on the project, which feels like a true return to form the classic series. That said, it does expect viewers to be familiar with the series of events ..read more

I never thought breaking my foot would be the ultimate crash course in taking a kid to an anime convention. As it turns out, though, a bum foot and a preschooler aren’t all that different.  Back in 2011, I broke my foot by tripping down a Metro escalator. Katsucon began the next day, and I’d already lined up interviews for my convention reporting. So, I got an aircast boot for my foot at the hospital, and a wheelchair from the accessibility station at the Gaylord Resort. Attending Katsucon in a wheelchair made me think about accessibility more directly. I spent a lot of time waiting for e ..read more

You can get a vibe from the theater before a show begins. Sometimes it can be mellow; other times, rowdy. Even so, the expectations of the audience set the stage long before the curtain goes up. For Dongpo: Life in Poems, I was struck by how fashionable the crowd was. Fine suits, bright red dresses. Even by the standards of the David H. Koch Theater, this was “an event.” Going into the show, I was more familiar with modern choreographer Shen Wei than I was with poet Su Dongpo, himself. Shen Wei Dance Arts (SWDA) has been well regarded in NYC for decades, so I was curious as to how he ..read more

Anime Boston has sought to make cosplayers feel welcome since their very first weekend in April 2003. Back in that inaugural weekend, it felt like one stepped into wonderland, as folks cosplaying as Belldandy, Sailor Moon, Sae Sawanoguchi, and more mingled with one another across the Park Plaza. In the following years, the event welcomed tens of thousands of cosplayers through their doors. Dioramas were set up along the top floor of the Hynes to host impromptu photo sessions, and the event’s Masquerade has become a spectacle that draws the best and brightest artisans on the East Coast every ye ..read more

Table of contents Mekanda Robot and Dragon Ball Dream Dimension Fandora Eyeshield 21 Sales Promotion Dubs Macross, Techno Police, and Leda Other Dubs Around The World Conclusion In this day and age, the idea of shows vanishing into proverbial oblivion has become a distressingly common phenomenon. Organizations like Warner Brothers and AMC have scrapped dozens of beloved titles, like Infinity Train and Pantheon, while news of completed films being binned for tax write-offs has become distressingly common. In the anime world, dozens of series recently disappeared into the aether, as Funimatio ..read more

Table of contents The Cosplot Introduction Guests North American Guests Japanese Guests A Brief Tribute Babybeard Additional Photos From the Babybeard Concert A line of attendees had already begun to form outside of the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium by nine o’clock, as fans staked out their spots for Anime Boston’s opening ceremonies. Some chatted about their plans for the event, others caught up on their simulcasts. Within the half-hour, the line had reached halfway around the perimeter of the Hynes’ second floor, as hundreds waited for the event to begin. The doors to the auditorium op ..read more

On April 9, 2004, New England anime fans rejoiced, as they descended upon Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel for a second year. Anime Boston had returned, boasting an expanded space that included the cavernous Saunders Castle, which would host the event’s Artist’s Alley and Dealer’s Room. The guest list was studded with stars, from up-and-coming talents like Monica Rial to English-language icons like Crispin Freeman. Meanwhile, major players in the industry, from Funimation to Dark Horse, to ADV Films boasted industry panels throughout the weekend. By February, the convention had reached its capacity f ..read more

Table of contents How Do Shojo Series Succeed Where American Comics Fail? Independent Comics and Webtoons Understand the Value of Shojo Fans Why Do Superhero Periodicals Need to Cater to Shojo Readers? The Avengers changed the game for cinema in 2012. It was around this time I debated whether or not I’d dive into the source material that inspired this movie and many others like it. Unfortunately, as a teen girl, I felt comics were not made for me. Between an unwelcoming comic shop, oversexualized depictions of women, and judgemental comments from male classmates, I gave up on that interest ..read more