Japanese Entertainment News & Pop Culture since 1993
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I can remember in the earlier years of AnimeJapan and how you could literally count the number of cosplayers in two hands and those who were NOT booth girls or guys. In fact, most of the memories of the earlier years of AnimeJapan were of Read More …
I remember several years ago when E3 made the stance to feature less booth girls, as the event featured a lot of them. And remember thinking, why? They were a big part of the event and I understand the event wanting people to be focused Read More …
As I visited each booth in one exhibit room and busy taking photos of booths and booth girls/guys, the attendees haven’t arrived yet but already I was starting to sense the enormity of this event and how it has changed compared to previous years. I Read More …
From March 23-24, AnimeJapan 2019’s public event took place at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward. While we have covered AnimeJapan since Tokyo International Anime Fair and Anime Contents Expo (and those two events prior to AnimeJapan), one thing that interested us in seeing how Read More …
With the announcement of the “PSYCHO-PASS” Stage Version for April-May 2019, we present a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Q&A Rewind from May 2013 by J!-ENT’s Dennis A. Amith and Michelle Tymon from Sakura Con 2013 in Seattle, Washington. In Japan,Motohiro Katsuyuki is a respected director. From directing Read More …
Back in 2013, an all-female rock band known as Band-Maid made their debut. What started with vocalist/guitarist Miku recruiting fellow guitarist Kanami, drummer Akane and bass player, Misa to the band, the band would eventually recruit lead vocalist Saiki and perform at the P Festival Read More …
I have been to many galleries, exhibits and museums in Japan and have had the opportunity to meet a variety of Japanese artists. There are those who have their own significant unique style when they showcase their creative style on canvas. But there is one Read More …
When I first discovered Puffy AmiYumi (known as “Puffy” in Japan), they took Japan by their storm with their simple style of t-shirts, blue jeans and sneakers. Bucking the fashion trend and dance choreography of other Japanese female music artists during the 1990’s, Puffy AmiYumi Read More …
It was back in 2012, when Babyraids JAPAN made their debut through their agency LesPros Entertainment. Babyraids JAPAN consists of Rikako Ooya, Erika Denya, Manatsu Hayashi, Nao Takami and Rio Watanabe. The group made their debut with the single “Babyraids”, followed by “Baby Revolution” Read More …
Interview by Dennis A. Amith Years before anime publications in English such as “Animerica”, “Anime UK” and “Protoculture Addicts” were released in magazine and comic book shops, anime fans would have to obtain news and information through BBS and text-based zines. “Anime Stuff”, which was Read More …
Akiyoshi Rikako is an author who debuted with her novel “Snow Flower” back in 2009. A winner of the third Yahoo! JAPAN Literature Award back in 2008 (out of the 1,675 works that were entered in the competition), “Snow Flower” would be made into a Read More …
VOFAN is perhaps one of the most popular artists from Taiwan that has created many wonderful illustrations that have attracted fans of his work worldwide. Best known as the illustrator for the popular “Monogatari” light novels and his use of color and depiction of natural Read More …
The following interview was done by Dennis A. Amith (for our sister site, J!-ENT) with Iwasa Misaki AKB48 has dominated the Japanese music charts for numerous years and while many may recognize the main core members of the group, there is one former AKB48 member Read More …
In Japan, Hiroshi Nagahama is well-known for directing animated films such as “Mushishi”, “Detroit Metal City”, “The Flowers of Evil” and most recently for 2017, Nagahama directed “The Reflection”, which he co-created alongside with Stan Lee. A hardcore comic book fan, Nagahama was a special Read More …
Q&A with Kenichi Sonoda (by Michelle Tymon, Dennis A. Amith and Photos by Rhiannan Smith) When it comes to world renown artists and animators, one man who received international attention before anime would become part of international pop culture was Kenichi Sonoda. Working for the Read More …