While I’ve already talked about some of the awesome “big” events I got to attend at ACen, as someone who prefers to spend my time at conventions attending sit-down panels and presentations (as opposed to going to concerts, taking photos, etc.) I wanted to make sure I mentioned some of the other great panels and events I had the chance to attend while I was there.
In Neo Tokyo in the year G.C.0051, humans have known of aliens for the last 50 years and obtained super light-speed navigation technology and formed a commonwealth of planets. Self-proclaimed freelance reportage writer Robby Yarge fails at work, so his contract is cut. His girlfriend leaves him, he nearly dies in a traffic accident, and debt collectors are after him. One day, a bag snatcher steals Robby’s bag, and a young man helps him. Hatchi Kita, an 18-year-old part-time worker, catches the criminal and returns Robby’s bag. However, Hatchi turns up again in Robby’s life as a debt collector. Hatchi explains that it’s his part-time job working for the loan shark Yang. A cat-and-mouse chase begins, and Yang takes his subordinates Allo and Gras along for the ride. – ANN
Streaming: Funimation and Hulu
Episodes: 12
Source: Original
Episode Summary: Robby Yarge is in a bit of a financial pickle, having cultivated champagne tastes on a soda-pop budget. He’s averse to actually working, and he’s experienced the failure of several get-rich-quick schemes after striking out on his own from his wealthy family. But this latest investment won’t fail, he just knows it – even though it involves a loan from a mob boss and a highly questionable shrimp-farming business. Unfortunately, Robby’s seed funds (which he’s been toting around in a duffel bag) have been stolen right out of his hands. He’s only saved by the chance intervention of a man named Hatchi, who’s no superhero; he’s just a bored, gifted guy looking to inject some interest into his life.
After the two part ways, that seems to be that. Until Robby’s “investment” goes awry and Yang the loan shark comes calling. Hatchi’s taken a job as Yang’s collector, so he and Robby trade blows while Yang and his other cronies approach Robby’s apartment. As it turns out, Robby has one more trick up his sleeve – his abode is actually part of an old space ship. The bucket-of-bolts still works, and Robby pulls into space with Hatchi an unwilling stowaway. When Yang and company give chase, it turns out there’s yet another escape option; two single-pilot space planes (just the right number!) that join to form a giant robot!
Hello, friends! While I don’t typically step far outside the bounds of anime commentary, I wanted to take a moment to signal-boost a Kickstarter campaign that I feel strongly about. My friend Briana Lawrence is creating a series of books entitled MagnifiqueNOIR, about a squad of Black, Queer magical girls. You can find more information about the series in general at the MagnifiqueNOIR website.
For many anime fans, especially those of us who had the privilege to grow up with Sailor Moon and other iconic series, the magical girl genre is as integral to our enjoyment of the medium. This book series take’s the genre’s ideals of magic and empowerment and uses them to tell the story of a brand new magical girl squad.
The first novel, “I Am Magical” has already been published and released! It follows three young women, Galactic Purple, Cosmic Green, and Radical Rainbow (along with the mysterious Prism Pink) who become magical girls and defend their city under the eye of Golden Blaze, a MagnifiqueNOIR veteran. The release contains both the awesome story, as well as several wonderful color artwork pieces from various contributing artists, many of whom are returning for the second book in the series. You can purchase the book (available in both e-book and paperback form) from Amazon, Etsy , Barnes and Noble, as well as at most conventions and events Bri and her partner Jess attend as artists and speakers.
The Kickstarter campaign is to fund the production, publishing, and merchandising of the second book in the series, “You Are Magical,” which introduces a new character (Starlight Blue) and expands upon some of the mysteries surrounding the MagnifiqueNOIR organization. There’s lots of great swag for backers, including stickers, buttons, postcards, and of course copies of the first and second books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out the Kickstarter, pass it along to your friends, and chip in some funding to this awesome series! There’s about a week left, and a little over 1/3 of the funding left to achieve (not including some amazing stretch goals!). With your help, the women of MagnifiqueNOIR will continue their magical journeys!
You Are Magical!
Note: this post contains spoilers for the film and the section of the TV series that the film adapts.
Friday evening at Anime Central featured the premiere of Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight, the second of two films recapping the recent anime series. While I typically don’t go out of my way to watch recap movies for series I’ve already seen, because I enjoyed Made in Abyss so much and because the convention was hosting several staff members who were involved with the film, I thought it might be fun to see how the film differed from the TV version. The premiere was a “red carpet event,” with what I assume was an opportunity for individuals with press passes to interview said staff members. The long line of audience members was directed into the auditorium before any of that took place, however. I did scope out the area earlier in the day, and did my best to act like the movie star I was always meant to be (kidding).
As I mentioned, one of my big motivations for attending ACen this year was the fact that staff members of Kinema Citrus and their related anime properties had been invited as guests of honor. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Revue Starlight; not only was I enthralled by its gorgeous animation and music, I loved its story and themes. However, I also have very little sense of how the series was perceived in the anime fandom at large. While I saw some reviews of the series here and there, aside from a couple of big examples, most of the blogs I regularly follow didn’t talk about it much, so I was mostly just thankful to have the opportunity at ACen to learn a bit more about an anime series I really enjoyed and be among similarly-minded fans.
Note: Except at very specific points during the presentation, photos weren’t allowed, so all but a few images are my own inclusions after-the-fact.
Hi folks. As is my way, I’m making my panel materials available here for those who could either not attend our panel, or for those who’d like access to our supplemental materials (links, bibliography, etc.). You can download the PowerPoint presentation below:
For those who have been following for a while, there are no big differences between this version of the presentation and previous ones. However, there are a couple more links and we included some discussion items that came up during previous iterations of the panel. We had a little bit longer of a time frame this time, too, which was nice.
Anime Central is a convention that takes place every spring outside of Chicago, IL (USA). It’s been an annual event for over 20 years at the time of this writing, and it’s also one of the first anime conventions I ever attended as an itty-bitty otaku (after I wet my heels at the much smaller, more intimate Anime Iowa around 2002). This year was the first time I’d been back to the con after a 5 year hiatus; I have a tumultuous relationship with “big” (over 10K attendee) cons, and so I took a break after my last venture to regroup and figure out just what I was looking for in terms of convention experiences.
I’ll write more about the convention in general in a separate post. What’s relevant to this post is the fact that I wasn’t planning to attend this year’s Anime Central either until I saw some news about the guest list – members of animation studio Kinema Citrus, including staff members who performed key production roles on two of my recent favorite series (Made in Abyss and Revue Starlight) were slated to attend and speak. Because my local medium-sized convention rarely gets Japanese guests in the first place, and because both of those anime series affected me deeply, the con suddenly went from being a distant “maybe” to an absolute must-do event.
Hi friends! My husband J.C. and I will be attending the Anime Central anime convention this upcoming weekend outside of Chicago, IL. I tend to stop by this convention about once every five years or so – this is the first time I’ve been back since 2014. I’m excited to see how the convention has changed and grown in the interim (and to spend a lot of money in the dealers’ room)!
As of now, our schedule is very light; we’re presenting one panel on Friday morning. But we’ll definitely be around, so if you see us, come say hi! Below is our “official” schedule (Note: if you’ve attended “Women in Anime” before, there won’t be much new material, but there’s always been a lively discussion in the past so it might be worthwhile to stop by).
Friday, May 17th
10:30am – 12:00pm, Panel Room 8 (Convention Center) : Women in Anime – a critical look at female characters and their portrayals in anime. We’ll discuss (generally) the good and the more challenging examples, and talk about ways to examine these portrayals through a critical eye. One thing to note is that this is meant to be an overall positive panel, so we’re not going to be spending energy picking at/insulting specifically bad/problematic examples. The purpose is meant to help viewers develop their critical eye and decide for themselves.
That’s it! If you’re going to be at the convention, I hope to see you there!
An increase in villain activity has the Hero Organization worried that the “Earthdoom prophecy” will soon come to pass. In an effort to alleviate the overworked heroes, they turn to villains themselves for help. The decision looks ill-advised as at least one villain is more interested in helping the prophecy along than preventing it. – ANN
Streaming: Hulu
Episodes: TBA
Source: Manga
Episode Summary: Following Saitama’s climactic extraterrestrial conflict, things settle down a bit in M City. Saitama still serves in a mentorship role for cyborg hero Genos, though from the looks of it Genos is pretty capable of handling himself. Unfortunately, the appearance rate of lower-level baddies has increased quite a bit, so there’s little time for rest and relaxation. As they soon discover, a new S-Class hero named “King” has been getting quite the reputation lately. When King makes an appearance, his threatening aura intimidates evil-doers and excites his adoring public. Saitama is curious enough about the man that he decides to follow King and watch as he does battle with a giant, rampaging cyborg foe.
As it turns out, King’s reputation is just that – only a reputation. He just happens to be someone whose bad luck attracts bad guys, but no matter how many confrontations he has, it’s always someone else who punches out the antagonists in the end. Saitama uncovers this during a video-gaming session with King. In exchange, Saitama recommends a strength-building regimen to help the poser gain some confidence (this is, of course, as Saitama destroys a winged monster one-handed). In the meantime, the Hero Association is struggling to address the culmination of a prophecy, which seems imminent due to the increased criminal activity in the region. They choose to take an unorthodox route in addressing this by welcoming all of the city’s low-level thugs and inviting them to join forces. Some seem to be on board with this, but there are others whose motivations seem directly opposed to cooperation.
Please Note: This post contains character and plot spoilers for several anime series and films, including A Place Further Than the Universe, The Promised Neverland, Made in Abyss, and Mirai.
Last year around Mothers’ Day, I used the opportunity to feature one of my favorite anime mothers from the previous year. While I’d originally wanted to do the same thing this year, I ran into a bit of an issue – nothing that I’d watched from the past year or so struck me as having a really central, memorable mother (or mother-type) character who wasn’t already missing or dead. Too often, nurturing family members are sacrificed at the altar of “character development,” allowing a protagonist to develop pathos as their earthly familial connections are ripped away in return. This leaves one with very few choices of motherly role-models. This isn’t to say that there weren’t great moms this year, but I was unfortunately not lucky enough to view anything in which a mother’s story was detailed, complete, and plot-central.
As someone still attempting to become a mother, even as the world around me does its best to demonstrate its hostility toward me and other women (mothers or not), what I’m consistently reminded of is the fact that motherhood itself is a complicated and messy state of being, filled with decisions that have no correct answers. While I hesitate to assert that all mothers have their children’s best interests in mind (unfortunately, abusive situations exist and I think it would be unjust to folks who’ve experienced them to say otherwise), I do believe that the majority of parents out there are trying to do the best with what resources they have. I think that anime and manga might honestly be better at featuring the messier aspects of parenthood than the average, mostly-positive ones that (hopefully) exist in reality.