Ed Went to Otakon 2012

by Ed Sizemore

Two weeks ago, I attended Otakon in Baltimore. This year, the convention set a new attendance record with just over 32,000 attendees. As usual, the heat was the biggest problem this year. The temperature stayed in the mid-nineties for the weekend. My hat is off to the Baltimore Orioles mascot and people who were cosplaying in similar full-body outfits.

I only encountered one minor problem during the convention. The skyway connecting the Hilton to the Baltimore Convention Center was a point of congestion. As they move more content to the Hilton, this was inevitable. Not sure what, if anything, Otakon can do to help traffic flow improve.

For the second year, Otakon held the Matsuri street festival. The events ran from noon until 7 PM. I attended the festival last year. This year I chose to go to an Orioles baseball game. I'm happy that the Orioles beat the Rays, but honestly, neither team was playing well.

Friday

10 AM Anime News Network (ANN) ' The panelists were Chris Macdonald (CEO), Justin Sevakis (New Media Director), Erin Finnegan (Shelf Life columnist), and Brian Hanson (Answerman columnist). Chris let the audience know that ANN is working on a radical new design for the site. He is still working with his staff on refining the look and modules. Each panelist discussed their respective responsibilities/columns.

ANN panel with Erin Finnegan, Brian Hanson, Chris Macdonald, and Justin Sevakis

Some items discussed during the Q&A: While ANN would love to bring the Protoculture Addicts magazine back, they don't have the money required for the large, up-front expenses. Preview Guide reviewers are selected because they have worked with ANN before and proved they can meet tight deadlines. There won't be a separate mobile ANN site. The new design will be reactive to devices and automatically format the content for the display size.

11:30AM When You Wish Upon a Tezuka ' This panel was run by Ryan Dorn. He began with a look at the history of animation, then talked about the early history of Disney. Ryan discussed the influence of Disney on Tezuka. In particular, Tezuka was deeply affected by Bambi, and that film was formative to his worldview. He ended by discussing the similarities and differences between Tezuka's Jungle Emperor Leo and Disney's The Lion King. There wasn't anything new for Tezuka fans, but it was a good introduction to Tezuka for those who aren't familiar with him.

Ryan Dorn at Otakon

12:30PM Crunchyroll ' Presenters were Keith Kawamura and Victoria Holden. Crunchyroll is attempting to get on as many platforms as possible. They are currently working to get an app on Samsung TVs. They went on to discuss various content available on Crunchyroll. Victoria talked about the Ambassador Project. This is a program where fans help promote Crunchyroll by being an affiliate website or a volunteer at a convention. The big news was season one of the Moyashimon anime being added to Crunchyroll's back catalog. It's not available yet, but will be soon.

1:45 PM Viz Media Animation ' Eric Eberhardt and Urian Brown were there for Viz. There weren't any new announcements for Otakon. They discussed Viz's Neon Alley anime channel. The big surprise for me was learning manga volumes will be added to VizManga.com the same day and date as they are released to bookstores. The one exception is Blue Exorcist 8, which is currently available digitally but won't be released physically until November. This was done so that Shonen Jump Alpha readers could catch up on the series before it begins its serialization in the digital magazine.

Viz panel at Otakon with Eric Eberhardt & Urian Brown

The rest of my Friday was spent walking around the dealers' room and then getting dinner with a friend. It's become a habit that each time I'm in Baltimore I grab a meal at Abbey Burger Bistro. This time I tried yak. I think this is now my favorite burger.

Saturday

9:00 AM Fandom and Criticism: The Art of Active Viewing ' This panel was hosted by Evan Minto and Ink of Ani-Gamers. The guest panelist this year was Clarissa Graffeo from the Anime World Order podcast. Active viewing is defined as analyzing a show as you watch it. They began by exploring whether terms like 'good' and 'bad' are objective or subjective. The conversation then moved on to if the panelist preferred to read reviews before or after seeing a movie. Finally, there was discussion of differences between reviews and criticism.

Fandom & Criticism with Ink, Evan Minto, and Clarissa Graffeo

10:30 AM Anime and Manga Studies: Three Decades In ' Mikhail Koulikov of the Anime Manga Research Circle hosts this panel annually. Ada Palmer was the guest panelist. Mikhail began by defining the terms in the panel title. He then went into an overview of the history of anime/manga studies. I was glad to see Fred Schodt's Manga, Manga! The World of Japanese Comics mentioned. For a while, it seemed like there was a concerted effort in academia to pretend Schodt's book didn't exist even though it's foundational to the study of manga in America. Mikhail then had Ada describe how she got started in manga studies and her focus on Tezuka. During the Q&A, there was a lot of great advice on how to search academic library catalogs to find material.

2:00 PM Pray for Japan ' This is a film by Stu Levy about the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The film is only 90 minutes long but felt much longer. The film is slowly paced and follows three separate storylines: a high school senior who lost half his family, a shelter run by Humanity First, and a middle school principal rebuilding his school. Jumping between storylines makes the film feel unfocused. It would have been better to tell each story completely. You can't deny the poignancy of the survivor's tales. I just wish they were told better.

5:00 PM Unusual Manga Genres ' This panel is run by Erin Finnegan and Noah Fulmor of the Ninja Consultant podcast. The title really says it all. They showed how you can make a manga about anything. Topics included badminton, Warren Buffett, the USS George Washington (CVN-73), loan sharks, etc. This is a fun panel that everyone attending Otakon should go to at least once.

7:30 PM Japanese Folklore: Kitsune and Oni and Yurei, Oh My! ' Jennifer Yoo and Sam Yoo hosted this panel. I've attended similar panels by Charles Dunbar. I wanted to see what new information they would present. The panel room was filled 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the panel, so Otakon needs to place them in a much larger room next year. This panel was a great overview of the major Japanese folk beings (yokai). Here are the creatures from the panel's title: kitsune are fox spirits, Oni are similar to western ogres, and yurei are ghosts. I highly recommend this panel to everyone.

9:00 PM Pirated ANNCast ' Each year ANN does a live podcast from Anime Expo. I put out a call to fellow podcasters to show them that Otakon deserves its own live podcast, too. This is just a bunch of us having fun and talking about Otakon.

11:15 PM Dubs That Time Forgot ' This is one of the most popular panels at Otakon. I can't believe it took me this long to actually attend it. Mike Toole has amassed an incredible collection of anime. He has uncovered a 1947 short that was dubbed and distributed in the US. Mike has a wonderful sense of humor, and his comments are as much fun as the anime he shows. This is definitely a must-see panel.

Sunday

10:45 AM CBLDF: The Fight to Defend Manga ' Charles Brownstein, the executive director, presented this panel. He started with a history of comics censorship in the US. He then focused in on a history of manga censorship in America. Charles introduced Ryan Matheson, who was arrested at the Canadian border for having 'obscene' material on his laptop. Ryan talked about his experiences with Canadian customs and why he decided to fight his conviction.

David Yoo of Kodansha Comics

11:45 AM Kodansha Comics ' David Yoo was the representative for Kodansha. The big announcement was the new iPhone app. During the panel, it became clean that all the licensing decisions are made in Toyko. The American offices are there simply to hire translators and do marketing. This was disappointing, because the people who know and understand the American market aren't making the important decisions. This was the way manga companies did business 20 years ago. Hopefully, Kodansha will change this arrangement and let their North American staff make more decisions.

1:00 PM Vertical Inc. ' My final panel of the convention. Ed Chavez, the marketing director, was running the panel. The big announcements were the Gundam: The Origin manga, the Wolfsmund manga, and Hiroki Azuma's book General Will 2.0. The panel ended with Ed taking questions about Vertical and the manga industry in general.

Ed Chavez of Vertical

I always look forward to Otakon. There are a ton of panels covering a wide range of topics regarding anime and manga. There are also concerts, workshops, guests, the masquerade, etc. I also enjoy the chance to meet people I normally talk to online.

Next year marks Otakon's 20th anniversary. Jim Vowles said on a recent ANNCast that there are big plans in the works. Otakon begins the celebration with a music concert November 3. Tickets will go on sale September 1. The convention proper will be held on August 9-11, 2013.

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Work Before Creation: An Adventure Time Lesson

• Posted by Johanna on August 9, 2012 at 8:41 pm
• Category: Indy Comic Reviews

Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens #2 (from Boom! Studios) features an eight-page back-up story by my favorite Faith Erin Hicks. In 'Grumpy Butt', Princess Bubblegum and Marceline need to figure out how to find red (which Marceline eats, in a kid-friendly way to portray a vampire) in a world of nothing but blue. There are a lot of silly, clever ideas in it, but my favorite part was this panel:

In it, robot Kevin is told that creativity is something for after work gets done. Which sounds kind of like a downer, except that it's teaching readers to pay attention to responsibilities before wallowing in being an artist. (In this particular case, anyway.) Especially when other people are depending on you for food or other necessities. It's a very practical approach to life. I have no idea if it's faithful to the Adventure Time characters, but I liked the idea of showing kids that there should be a balance between what you have to do and what you want to do.

Earlier, Kevin says, 'Kevin wanted to paint the colors the music made him feel.' He's a very emo robot, which is part of the funny-but-touching.

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KC Wants You to Order American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s

• Posted by Johanna on August 7, 2012 at 9:09 pm
• Category: KC

KC's latest Westfield column is an advance review of the upcoming American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s (1960-64) by John Wells, which is now available from order through your local comic book shop. It's a diverse history of a key period in comic history, but KC has the best description of it as follows:

You may think you know the history of comic books in America, but I can pretty much guarantee that you don't know it all. Why can I say that? ' I was amazed to learn fantastic new information ' or at the very least, the clarification of previous history that was murky at best. I know a lotta stuff, so if I found things I didn't know before, I bet you will, too.

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August 2012 Previews: Short, Sweet, and Fangirling

• Posted by Johanna on August 6, 2012 at 12:13 am
• Category: Shopping Guide

Books I Recommend You Consider

Zombies Calling		Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite
by Faith Erin Hicks		by Barry Deutsch
SLG Publishing, $9.95		Amulet Books, $16.95
AUG12 0758, due Sep 19		AUG12 0772, due Oct 24
I know it's not much of a recommendation to call Zombies Calling my favorite zombie comic, given my distate for the genre, but in my opinion, this transcends what's become an easy go-to in two ways: 1) it has something to say beyond 'zombies scary!' or 'zombie mashup covering for lack of imagination'. 2) It's by the immensely talented Faith Erin Hicks, who has become a 'must-buy' author for me.		The first volume in this now-series, How Mirka Got Her Sword, was one of my Best Books of 2010. The sequel promises to be even more exciting, as the story continues to blend fantasy, young-woman-coming-of-age, and Orthodox Jewish culture. This time, Mirka has to fight a doppelganger who seems to be a better her than she is ' what a wonderful metaphor for adolescence, when you feel everyone wants you to be different!
Carol Lay's Illiterature		Doctor Who: The Dalek Project
by Carol Lay		by Justin Richards and Mike Collins
Boom! Town, $14.99		Random House UK, $24.99
AUG12 0951, due October		AUG12 1265, due Oct 3
It's been much too long (14 years by my count, since the third Kitchen Sink volume in 1998) since we've had a collection of the beautifully observed and wickedly funny strips by Carol Lay. Bless Boom! for bringing out a new book, in hardcover, too. (Don't know why they're calling it 'for the first time', though, unless they mean that these particular comics are previously uncollected.)		I found this original graphic novel as part of a Doctor Who display at my local super-sized Barnes & Noble today, and I wondered why I had never seen it listed in Previews. (I made note because Mike Collins is a good guy. The other bits of the display were several about-the-show fact books, t-shirts, and a sonic screwdriver replica.) Now, here it is. How timely! Unless you're a store owner who's hoping that your customers won't have already bought it in the two-month-or-more gap.
Owly & Wormy: Bright Lights and Starry Nights		Castle Seasons 1 & 2 Trading Cards
by Andy Runton
Top Shelf, $
AUG12 1310, due Nov 14		AUG12 1552, due October
The first Owly & Wormy picture book, Friends All Aflutter!, was delicious, so I'm glad to see another. The larger color format makes these woodland friends even more fun to visit with over and over again.		Yes, there is a Castle trading card set, and I am buying a box. I don't know who thought there was a market for this thing, complete with 'randomly inserted autograph and wardrobe cards', but compulsively reading Castle fanfiction this summer is the only thing that has kept me sane, so I must have it. (Perhaps I just answered my own question.) Let's hear it for escapism that combines comedy, romance, and justice. (Googling for pictures tells me there's even going to be a Castle board game as well, but googling for that is useless, because of all the fantasy stuff that appears.)

So, this 'Author! Author!' month promotion, trying to draw our attention to when 'mainstream writers come to comics' ' or as I put it, when publishers try to extend a brand through slapping a famous author's name on a comic done by entirely other people ' do you think Diamond wanted to suck up to Del Rey and Harper Collins and the like by doing it? Or can they just not let a month go by without some kind of icon to decorate the catalog pages? Even if it means reusing what looks like a pirate map.

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Last of Sheila Back in Print From Warner Archive

It's such a cliche to say 'they just don't make them like that any more', but with The Last of Sheila, they didn't make them like that then, either. That's what makes this mystery puzzle film such a gem.

Now, the DVD is back in print from Warner Archive, and bless them for doing so. When I went looking for a copy last year, it was regularly going for $40-80, but now, it's yours for under $20. I recommend the purchase (and have just ordered myself a copy).

Where to start in talking about its charms? How about the outstanding cast? Everyone in it is just great. James Coburn is a powerful, malicious Hollywood producer who's just invited a group of six people onto his yacht for a getaway. They're going to play a scavenger hunt-style mystery game while docking in exotic ports like Cannes. (I believe the film was shot on location, too.) However, there's a disturbing undercurrent with Coburn's determination to reveal a lot of dirty secrets. His beloved wife was killed by a hit-and-run driver a year ago, you see, and he's convinced one of his guests knows more about it than they're saying.

The six pawns are Richard Benjamin (a failing writer bitter about living on his wife's money); Joan Hackett (his wife); Raquel Welch (a bimbo starlet); a young Ian McShane (as her 'manager'); James Mason (a director); and Dyan Cannon (as a super-agent). The roles allow for plenty of pointed commentary about the movie business and entertainment as an industry, coming out of an era (1973) where that kind of criticism was just gaining steam.

Then there's the plot. The movie was written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim, who ran these kinds of games at real-life parties. It definitely rewards attention, and one of the benefits to owning the film on disc is the ability to rewatch once you know the twists. The clues all fall together cleverly. It's a pleasure to play along with a mystery film that relies on intellect instead of tricks for its suspense.

The DVD also has a commentary track (recorded by Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, and Raquel Welch sometime before the disc was first released in the early 2000s) that's fun to listen to, as the stars recollect the filming experience. If you enjoy Hollywood self-examination and/or classically styled mystery movies, you should definitely order The Last of Sheila.

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Boggle Worries About You and Wants You to Be Happy

• Posted by Johanna on August 2, 2012 at 6:50 am
• Category: Digital and Webcomics

Given the time of stress, I was very happy to discover, via Comics Alliance, the tumblr for Boggle the Owl. It's a blend of comic and advice column by Aria Heller, with the little owl telling people how things will get better. That CA link also has an interview with the creator.

I don't advise reading too many at once, though, because it's troubling seeing how much pain some of the readers are in, as they write in seeking a friendly voice.

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Bakuman Books 11 and 12

As set up in the previous volume, the young creators are developing a new project, Perfect Crime Party, in one last attempt to get serialized and build a popular franchise. If they don't surpass young genius Eiji Nizuma in reader response, this will be their last time in Weekly Shonen Jump.

They've just discovered that they may work better if writer Takagi doesn't bother thumbnailing all the pages. Instead, he gives Mashiro, the artist, a written description. It's bizarre, as an American comic fan, to see the kids act like they've discovered a new mechanism, since what they're implementing is how most U.S. corporate comics are made. Later in the book, the importance of art as well as writing is emphasized, as the team seeks a more popular style.

It's also strange to think about how much more visual a Japanese comic writer must be, to break out all the images for the artist. It's that kind of insight into the manga creative process that keeps me coming back to this competitive soap opera. And they keep it all so visually interesting, with everyone so expressive and involved in turning out comics week after week. (Even when it means working themselves into a state of unsleeping zombie-ness.)

As one of the editors says, 'As long as the readers can connect with the main character, you can make a mainstream manga out of practically anything.' If this series was done in English, though, I can see it becoming awfully in-jokey. Maybe those are included here, too, and I just don't notice them, but my lack of prior knowledge of the details of the manga industry makes this seem fresh and dramatic.

In the interpersonal relationship arena, things remain problematic. Mashiro's sort-of girlfriend Azuki is up for a major voice role in an anime based on rival Nizuma's work. Everyone thinks that's a bad idea because if she gets it, she won't be able to work on Mashiro's anime ' which, let's remember, doesn't exist yet, since the manga is only on chapter two. It's another example of the girls being accessories for the guys, and a stunning example of the twisted side of the couple's dream to work together. The decision is meant to be romantic, demonstrating how their future will come together, but it's also uncomfortably controlling.

The change in scripting approach is not the only American comic tactic seen in this volume ' to raise sales, Nizuma and Miss Iwase create a crossover between his two series (one of which is written by Iwase). Iwase's interactions with her editor are intriguing to watch, since she expects them to bring her ideas and praise her accomplishments. That's not unusual, but it's surprising to see her being so blunt about her demands.

She's just the newest rival in the overall group of young artists, many of whom are inspired by having such strong competitors. To compete with all of them, Takagi and Mashiro come up with a new strategy ' a longer story arc, instead of stand-alone chapters. The creation of that story, their last chance to make their dreams come true, extends into volume 12. That book also has more information on how spinoffs work in the Japanese market, with discussions about a drama CD and novel adaptation.

In book 11, Takagi and Mashiro also got some new assistants, who provide some drama in their own right. One is anti-popularity, focused on manga as an art form instead of a commercial product; the other, Shiratori, is struggling with his snooty parents' dislike of manga. This volume particularly deals in several ways with the difference between manga as art and entertainment, as shown by the assistants' challenges.

We see a lot more of Shiratori's family pressures in book 12, as he works on his own manga for the first time. The conflict there becomes how much help he can or should take from his bosses, the more experienced manga creators. Takagi, particularly, is passing on his knowledge to a new generation, even at his young age. Unfortunately, his involvement has the potential to cause the team to grow apart, as a writer can do more work than an artist.

There's also a major revelation about the team's plans for their manga to become an anime, one that takes into account the cultural context. To further that plan, Mashiro tries to make his work faster ' and some of the times cited will astound American readers used to hearing how comic artists struggle to do a page a day. (The publisher provided review copies.)

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