San Diego Comic-Con report: Anime/Manga style
David Crowe
I arrived on Wednesday and had a change to visit Rising Sun's retail
store at a nearby mall. They had some interesting items, but I was
treated very rudely by a clerk there, who was more interested in watching
a game someone was playing. So I recommend avoiding the store if you are
in the area.
The big guest this year was Naoko Takeuchi (creator of Sailor Moon). I
was at the SDCC when Rumiko Takahashi attended. Her signing was handled
poorly and a lot of people went away unhappy. Naoko TakeuchiUs signing
was handled in a completely different manner and a lot of people still
went away unhappy.
When I arrived at the Con on Thursday, I learned that there was a signing
that day. Previously, it had been announced that sheUd only be there on
Friday, so I had nothing with me to get signed. However, a friend had a
sketch/signature book, so I got that signed on her behalf. I was in line
about an hour and 12 minutes. Not too bad. I didnUt anticipate any
problems the next day.
On Friday, she had a seminar, then a signing. The seminar was in the
largest room the Con sets up. People were brought up to the podium to ask
questions (the moderator/translator from Mixx kept making Jerry Springer
allusions) until a wireless mike could be found. People in costumes were
asked up first. Some people asked the same question others had. Not
paying attention, I guess.
The most common costumes I saw were Sailor Moon and Jupiter (I would have
thought Mercury). A trio dressed as the Starlights really impressed
Naoko, and she wanted to take photos with them and all the costumed
attendees.
There wonUt be a Sailor Stars movie or any more animation from Sailor
Moon. There was a lot of discussion about the gender of Uranus and the
Starlights (she says she intended them to be all girls, all the time)
I asked her why Sailor Moon is so popular with older boys, who are
theoretically way outside the target market for it. The answer: "Cute and
sexy girls." Well, I guess there _isn't_ a better reason...
She had some questions for the fans, such as how we know so much about
episodes that havenUt been translated (the internet) and where weUre all
getting our Sailor Moon T-shirts (the mall, comic stores), and are they
trendy (as far as I'm concerned, yes).
I left it a half hour early, opting to skip the screening of a US SM
video. and found the line had been cut off. I asked the last person in
line how long he had been there: 40 minutes. One of the staffers said
they were going to try and get through the line as fast as possible and to
check back in an hour or so, as they might be letting more people through.
That did not pan out. Later, a con staffer told me there were six hundred
people in the line and another three hundred hoping to get in. So I
didnUt get anything autographed for myself, which was a major letdown.
Bandai/Anime Village had an elaborate booth, including a life-size F-91
head and a 7-ft. Zak and RX-78 on display. I thought for sure they would
be selling their videos at the con, but this was not the case. They did
have clips with introductory narration going, however. They were selling
all the models from 0080, 0083, and any Master Grades that appeared in
their upcoming releases. They also had all of them assembled and on
display. Series 7 Gundam capsules and 2 runs of SD mini-figs were also
on sale. I picked up a capsule GM and Guncannon for $2 each.
I asked if they had the 1/100 Serpent Custom from Endless Waltz and was
directed to the Master Grade GP-02. A bit of a communication problem
there...
Saber Marionettes J's English title is Saber Marionettes Jade, buy the
way. The anime room had screenings of assorted Gundam and Escaflone, but
I was not able to catch any. Did anyone else? Any comments?
The shojo manga/anime panel was very interesting, in part due to the
excellent moderation of CPMUs John O'Donnell. The OP clip from Utena was
shown to start the discussion rolling.
The infamous KJ Kavronen was there, but he did not make an ass of himself
the way he did last year. Still, his ego showed through and he insisted
that gender role repression and confusion thereof is only in Japan. This
is patently untrue, as there are plenty of instances of women
impersonating men to achieve things outside of Asia. Anyway he was in
some sort of costume (dark suit, gun in shoulder holster). I think he was
at the Sailor Moon panel in this outfit as well.
The Kia Asamiya panel was run much tighter then the Naoko Takeuchi one,
and more info came out. The big news was that Steam Detectives is
becoming an anime in October. 26 episodes, with Xebec (who also did
Nadesico) handling production. It will have lots of digital animation.
Due to licensing trouble with the International Red Cross, Ling-LingsUs
nurse cap wonUt have a red cross on it. And Narutaki wonUt point and fire
his gun at people.
The Nadesico manga ends in October and Silent Mobius will wrap up before
the end of the year. In the spring, heUll have two new manga, one of
which has already been picked up as an anime. The Silent Mobius anime
ends in September and he is trying to get the finale turned into a movie.
There are 2 Silent Mobius Playstation games in the works. One is a revamp
of the old Titanic game (can't imagine why they're re-releasing that now!
:)) and the other is a polygon adventure game.
Viz had his signing before the panel, so that people would attend, rather
than lining up for the signing. This was an excellent idea. Asamiya was
doing quick sketches (he did Nami in my Gaia book). He was surprised by
how many people were asking for Ruri.
There were fewer bootleg anime tape dealers than in previous years. I
can;t think of any I saw off hand. The only thing showing was
Transformers eps from Japan.
The room was however flooded with SM CDs. The only legit ones I found
were CD singles. I was able to get a Blue Seed single with the OP and ED.
I saw two separate dealers that had what looked like bootleg Bubblegum
Crisis vocal collections. Not SM ones mind you, but ones that tried to
look exactly like the real thing. They were poorly shrinkwrapped (heat
sealed rather than folded), the color on the booklet and the little sleeve
on the spine were washed out and the back illo didn't seem to fit properly
in the box. Has anyone else seen this sort of thing?
Mandarake, the used goods dealer from Japan was not there this year, but
they are setting up a new website and US business. I missed them because
they had tons of UFO catchers for $5. There was only one dealer with a
decent amount of UFO catchers, and they didnUt know who any of them were,
so you had to describe anyone you were looking for, which gets mixed
results.
ADV had a woman dressed as Naga at their booth. She looked pretty
convincing, but I try not to stare at such Rbooth babesS so I canUt give
you a precise report.
I asked several times about the Eva movie rights and got things like "We
can't say anything yet." It isnUt a RnoS or a RyesS so weUre in the same
boat as before, I guess. They donUt have a solid release date for
Nadesico yet, BTW.
Viz snagged the rights to not only VGAi, but all of KatsuharaUs other
manga. This includes DNA^2 and everything else but Shadow Lady.
According to Adam Warren, the Superman/Dirty Pair crossover will be next
summer at the earliest and in 2 48 page prestige format books. There is a
new BGC series in the works, described as Rsomething differentS than the
previously mentioned Meat Jacket. Toren Smith announced that Intron Depot
2 will be out in mid-November and will cost $37.95. It looks great.
Antarctic had a prototype of their A-Ko figure on display. I think it
will shape up as a very nice fig. Her skirt is torn down the center as in
her fight with RDS and she had the large sword from that scene. Other
accessories include a schoolbag and a bent girder. Gina is the next Gold
Digger figure and her model sheet was on display. She (may) have knee and
elbow joints and a removable hat and backpack.
I picked up a box of Yuna cards fro $52. I also shopped around for a
Gunbuster box for a friend. Most in the $70 range, but I found one for
$45.
Also got 2 Nadesico Cardass Masters singles I needed. Only 7 more to go.
I was able to meet and greet fine folks such as Ben Dunn, Fred Perry,
Tavisha Wolfgarth and Rosarik Rikki, Elin Winkler, Pat Duke, Adam Warren
and Lea Hernandez.
Even if you are only interested in anime/manga (in which case your should
expand your horizons), the San Diego Con is easily as good as attending
any of the larger anime-only cons in the US.
The one thing I regret is not asking Awesome to explain their ad that
steals the image of a BGC Motoroid (I forgot to bring the visual aids).
Apollo Smile was there as well, on one day wearing the same outfit she had
on the Sci-Fi channel. And she had the gall to promote her comic as "girl
friendly" to the Friends of Lulu. Riiiight.
--
David "No Nickname" Crowe http://www.primenet.com/~jetman
Your personality is ruled by the lumps on your head.
Maybe some new bumps would improve your personality, eh?
-"Corrective Phrenologists" INWO SubGenius card
Deklane
>From: David Crowe
>SDCC Anime/Manga report:
>
>I left it (the Takeuchi panel) a half hour early, opting to skip the screening
of a US SM video.<
What Were They Thinking?! That "video" was DIC Episode One: "A Moon Star Is
Born." Almost by definition, everybody in that room would have seen it eight
times by now or they wouldn't have been there! Half the crowd was right behind
you on the way out when the realization sunk in that the video was just going
to be something most people knew by heart. Why not show something most people
hadn't seen, like one of the Canadian 17, or a collection of clips of Sailor
Moon in Other Languages, or a fan-sub of one of the eps DIC skipped or
something from Sailor Moon S, or the Dreaming Moon special? But nooooo...they
showed an episode that everyone had already seen to death and which is
commercially available...
>The shojo manga/anime panel was very interesting, in part due to the excellent
moderation of CPM's John O'Donnell.<
He was good, wasn't he? The only thing was that it seemed as though the
discussion kind of went off on a tangent into How to Get Published if You're an
American Artist Working in the Manga Style, which quickly got so esoteric that
I think it more bewildered the young woman who asked the original question than
enlightened her.
>There were fewer bootleg anime tape dealers than in previous years. I
>can;t think of any I saw off hand.
I noticed that, too. There were several dealers selling bootleg anime tapes at
the Chicago comics con a few weeks ago, and there I picked up a copy of the
first Magic Knight Rayearth TV eps tape -- and immediately regretted not buying
more. But, I figured, there's always San Diego. As I went up one aisle and down
the other at SD, however, it struck me that I couldn't find any dealers who had
the goods. Eventually I did find one, though -- San Francisco Laserdisc, who
had a whole table of fan-subbed tapes tucked away well inside the display area.
I bought MKR tapes #2-5. Unfortunately, they're at least a generation away from
what I bought in Chicago, maybe more, with the video quality reduced to the
point that watching isn't quite an unalloyed pleasure. I wish somebody would
get the rights to this series so I can watch decent commercial copies and not
have to resort to 19th generation pirate dupes...
>The room was however flooded with SM CDs.<
I was told by a dealer a couple of years ago that even while she was well aware
of SM's controversial nature, she couldn't sell legitimate imports at
conventions any more when all the other dealers are selling SMs. Given the
choice between a bootleg at $15 and a legitimate import at $30, the buyers snap
up the bootlegs and leave the legit copies to gather dust.
--Dwight Decker
Lea Hernandez/Mark Hernandez
>
> >Subject: San Diego Comic-Con report: Anime/Manga style
> >From: David Crowe
>
> >SDCC Anime/Manga report:
> >The shojo manga/anime panel was very interesting, in part due to the excellent
> moderation of CPM's John O'Donnell.<
>
> He was good, wasn't he? The only thing was that it seemed as though the
> discussion kind of went off on a tangent into How to Get Published if You're an
> American Artist Working in the Manga Style, which quickly got so esoteric that
I'd have loved to answer THAT question. The short answer is: knowing
your basics and practicing helps a lot more than being able to churn out
a quantity of Ranma-Chan sketches with no backgrounds, chopping the legs
at mid-calf and hiding the hands behind the back. And this applies no
matter HOW perky her bare breasts are.
You really DO have to know how to draw people, and know how to tell a
story. I see many portfolios where the samples lack both of these, but
the artist can do a dandy Humberto Ramos.
Glad to hear the piracy is going down, disappointed to hear creators
who'd flip if someone pirated their work are still buying them.
> >The room was however flooded with SM CDs.<
>
> I was told by a dealer a couple of years ago that even while she was well aware
> of SM's controversial nature, she couldn't sell legitimate imports at
> conventions any more when all the other dealers are selling SMs. Given the
> choice between a bootleg at $15 and a legitimate import at $30, the buyers snap
> up the bootlegs and leave the legit copies to gather dust.
The problem is, that BOTH "legit" CDs and SM CD's (which are also
legit), are BOTH technically illegaly to sell in this country. They are
known as "grey" material, meaning they are manufactured for sale ONLY in
their country of origin.
I have heard SM CDs. That packaging is never as nice as CDs from Japan,
but the sound quality is identical.
You've seen stuff labeled "NOT FOR SALE IN CANADA"? Same thing. Waaaaay
back when I was running Gainax, I got a nasty letter, followed up with
an even nastier phone call, from a licensee of ROBOCOP. I had offered
the Japanese figure for sale in a hobby magazine. They'd been promised
only THEY would be allowed to sell their figure in the US.
(I'd like to take a moment to editorialize: when someone calls you to
apologize, and says "I honestly didn't know, I won't fill orders for
this" the correct answer is NOT "Yes you did, you're a lying dirtbag
just like all those other guys!")
Lea
Atelier DivaLea
http://www.delphi.com/divalea
Christopher J. Sypal
>SDCC Anime/Manga report:
>Bandai/Anime Village had an elaborate booth, including a life-size F-91
>head and a 7-ft. Zak and RX-78 on display. I thought for sure they would
>be selling their videos at the con, but this was not the case. They did
All I recall reading was that they would be previewing their web site
at the con.
>Saber Marionettes J's English title is Saber Marionettes Jade, buy the
>way. The anime room had screenings of assorted Gundam and Escaflone, but
>I was not able to catch any. Did anyone else? Any comments?
From what I heard, they showed 0080 and F-91. Which is strange since
F-91 isn't one of their announced titles.
>The Kia Asamiya panel was run much tighter then the Naoko Takeuchi one,
>and more info came out. The big news was that Steam Detectives is
>becoming an anime in October. 26 episodes, with Xebec (who also did
Ohhh... Xebec... :)~
>Viz had his signing before the panel, so that people would attend, rather
>than lining up for the signing. This was an excellent idea. Asamiya was
>doing quick sketches (he did Nami in my Gaia book). He was surprised by
>how many people were asking for Ruri.
From what I hear, you are VERY lucky. He doesn't do sketches in Japan.
Hell, he doesn't even show his face in Japan! :)
>I saw two separate dealers that had what looked like bootleg Bubblegum
>Crisis vocal collections. Not SM ones mind you, but ones that tried to
>look exactly like the real thing. They were poorly shrinkwrapped (heat
>sealed rather than folded), the color on the booklet and the little sleeve
>on the spine were washed out and the back illo didn't seem to fit properly
>in the box. Has anyone else seen this sort of thing?
Yeah, I've seen them. Unless you look closely, you can't tell.
>Viz snagged the rights to not only VGAi, but all of KatsuharaUs other
>manga. This includes DNA^2 and everything else but Shadow Lady.
All? I'm guessing that other than DNA, it'll be I"s (his current one).
Maybe Zetman, and Video Girl. Wonder if they got Wingman too?
>According to Adam Warren, the Superman/Dirty Pair crossover will be next
>summer at the earliest and in 2 48 page prestige format books. There is a
>new BGC series in the works, described as Rsomething differentS than the
>previously mentioned Meat Jacket. Toren Smith announced that Intron Depot
>2 will be out in mid-November and will cost $37.95. It looks great.
Am I guessing right when you say "November" and "$37.95", that's the
US release rather than the Japanese.