May 1, 2010 is Free Comic Book Day

Go check out your locate comic book stores for free comics and special events!

Here is a list of possible comics you may come across:
2010 Gold and Silver Comics

Here is a store locator:
FBCD and International Store Locator

Get there early or the goodies may be gone!
Enjoy!
© 2010 Linda Thai

My Thoughts on Cencoroll

Article by Chet Royer

Hello there! Here is another review by me, Chet a.k.a. Ninja101! (...I might as well put that in there) At NYAF 2009, a short animated feature known as Cencoroll was shown. This anime was created completely by one person, Atsuya Uki. According to NYAF, Atsuya created this anime all on his own. He did everything. It’s a very impressive anime to behold, but learning that a single person did all of it on their own is even more impressive.

Anime Leader Tops 8 Million On-Demand Views in March

Record Breaking Year for
FUNimation Entertainment Video Platform
Anime Leader Tops 8 Million On-Demand Views in March

Flower Mound, Texas (April 23, 2010) -- FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Navarre Corporation, today reports an over 200% annual increase in the number of episode views on its streaming video on demand network.

Tatami Galaxy debuts on April 22, 2010

New series and episodes continue on in Fuji TV’s noitaminA block and you can catch them here in North America within one hour of their Japanese television debut on www.funimation.com/video.

This week, on Thursday, April 22 at 11:45 a.m. CDT, FUNimation will stream the first episode of “The Tatami Galaxy”. The series premieres on Fuji TV at 12:45 a.m. early Friday morning, April 23rd.

Yen Plus In Print is No More

Yes, it is true. Yen Plus will cease its publication with the July 2010 issue, because "industry changes and old models are eclipsed by new." However, the manga anthology will be made available online to all your fans out there, "while giving those same readers an option to peruse manga (and maybe some light novels?) legitimately online." Now I got quite a few questions on how this is going to work. Is this going to be an online subscription? If not, how and where is the money to support the online edition? One needs some kind of financial backing for such a big this project. Will it be compatible for all operating systems and browsers? If it is something that I have to pay for, I would like to have the ability to access it...Let's hope that Yen Press will get back to us with the details.
© 2010 Linda Thai

Check out the link below for more information:
The future of YEN PLUS by Hassler, Yen Press, April 21st, 2010

2009 Is The Year Of Low Sales

According to the ICv2 White Paper, comics and graphic novels sales in the United States and Canada has fallen "with periodical comics slipping 3% and graphic novels declining by 6% for an overall drop of 5% as the total market receded from an estimated $715 million in 2008 to $680 million in 2009." A difference of $35 million is a lot of money. Not only did the comic and graphic novel sales drop, manga sales in the said countries has fallen for a second straight year. In 2007, manga reached its high point of $210 million in sales. However, in 2008, the sales was $175 million with the difference being $35 million, which is similar to the comic and graphic novel sales drop. Then in 2009, sales declined to $140 million and the damage is another $35 million. So, the difference between 2007 and 2009 is $70 million. When will the decline in sales stop? To learn more about the sales situation, check out the links below.
© 2010 Linda Thai

FUNimation Entertainment and Fuji TV

FUNimation Entertainment Enters Simulcast Partnership with
Fuji TV for NoitaminA Block
Anime Leader to Stream Episodes within
One Hour of Japanese Television Debut

Flower Mound, TX – April 15, 2010 -- FUNimation® Entertainment is partnering with the leading and largest Japanese broadcast television network, Fuji Television Network, Inc., to simulcast anime series featured in its late-night noitaminA programming block airing in Japan on Thursday nights. The partnership gives the American anime leader rights to the online streaming and simulcast of the series in noitaminA in the U.S.

Afro Samurai on PlayStation®Network HOME

Watch the first episode of Afro Samurai for FREE in the PlayStation®Network HOME theater. Starting April 15th you can walk your happy little avatar into the virtual theater space to enjoy the intense action of Afro Samurai courtesy of FUNimation, GONZO and Sony. It’s only available until April 21, 2010, so get your online friends together this weekend and have a virtual watching party.

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES
“VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL”
FROM ELEVEN ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

Flower Mound, Texas (April 14, 2010) - FUNimation® Entertainment today announced it has acquired home entertainment, digital and merchandising rights to the live action horror comedy VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL from Eleven Arts Entertainment.

To Bayonetta or Not To Bayonetta

Article by Chet Royer

Monsters, sexy witches, guns and fast paced action. That is what awaits you in Bayonetta. This is Chet again, and this a review on the Bayonetta demo that I played at NYAF 2009. I am aware that Bayonetta has been out for some time now. However, if you are interested in this game and have not purchased it yet, this may be just the push you need to make a decision.

C2E2 Hosts ICv2 White Paper

C2E2 Hosts ICv2 White Paper
Annual Comic Market Overview

April 13, 2010. ICv2 publisher Milton Griepp will present the company’s Comic Industry White Paper at C2E2 on Friday at C2E2 at McCormick Place in Chicago, the company announced today. The annual ICv2 White Paper, which has been presented for the last four years at New York Comic Con, is the definitive source of information each year on the comics business.

Reed Exhibitions Acquires Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention

EXHIBITIONS ACQUIRES
SINGAPORE TOY,GAMES & COMIC CONVENTION
Leading Event Organizer Extends Pop Culture Influence;
Seeks Fans in World Communities

Norwalk, CT, April 13, 2010: Reed Exhibitions, the world’s leading organizer of trade and consumer events, has today announced that it has acquired the Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention (STGCC). Launched in 2008 and owned and operated by local event planner PI Events, STGCC is a strategic fit for Reed Exhibitions, which has an existing office in Singapore, and which has consolidated a team of professionals in its North American office to work exclusively on pop culture events. The new pop culture team will work closely with the Reed Exhibitions Singapore staff as well as maintain a strategic partnership with PI Events to stage a preeminent event in the Asian market which fits with other events in the Reed pop culture portfolio, including New York Comic Con (NYCC) and the soon to be launched Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). The last STGCC took place in August, 2009. The next STGCC will take place from December 10-12, 2010 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre (www.suntecsingapore.com).

Cast of Kick-Ass To Appear At C2E2!!

CAST MEMBERS OF KICK-ASS
TO APPEAR AT C2E2 ON
FRIDAY, APRIL 16!!

Norwalk, CT, April 12, 2010: C2E2, Lionsgate, and IGN will jointly present the Chicago premiere of Kick-Ass on Thursday, April 15. This red carpet event will feature appearances by and a Q&A with Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass), Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl), and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist).

Garden State Equals Next YuGiOh TCG Championship April 24-25, 2010

KONAMI DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT, INC CHOOSES THE GARDEN STATE AS THE SITE OF ITS MILESTONE MARKING THE 75TH Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME SHONEN JUMP CHAMPIONSHIP
Thousands of players from around the world to attend premier
Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME event

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – April 12 2010 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDE) will bring its Guinness World Record best-selling Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) to the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center on April 24-25 for its next SHONEN JUMP Championship. The event in New Jersey will mark the 75th SHONEN JUMP Championship since the arrival of the global phenomenon Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in the U.S. in 2002. Almost 35,000 competitors have experienced the friendship and competition at the SHONEN JUMP Championships over the years.

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG The Shining Darkness

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s TRADING CARD GAME STEPS INTO
THE SHINING DARKNESS
Collect Powerful New Monsters, Spells, and Traps

El Segundo, CA (April 7, 2010) – The Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) is kicking it up a notch on May 11, as The Shining Darkness booster packs make a ton of powerful new cards available to Duelists everywhere.

New York Anime Festival 2009 Masquerade

The New York Anime Festival 2009 Yume Cosplay Masquerade was held on Saturday, September 26, 2009, started after 6:30pm and ended close to 11:00pm. The big cosplay event was held in the ANA Theater, which were rooms 1A08-12, and the overflow rooms 1A24 and 1A23. The ANA Theater had the stage and live performance, while the overflow rooms had a screen displaying a live feed of the stage performances. Because of the excitement, many waited eagerly for the doors to open. The waiting area was too small for a continuous straight line, but that did not stop the event from happening. The line was probably longer than a python, and it curved and swung around like a snake. Convention attendees wanted to see the cosplayers and what the performers had in store for them.

New Manga Publisher on the Block, Fantagraphics.

Actually, the company has been in America for more than 20 years. In 1976, Fantagraphics was born by publishing a trade magazine titled, The Comics Journal. According to the publisher's website, the company "has been a leading proponent of comics as a legitimate form of art and literature" and "advocacy publisher that specialized in seeking out and publishing the kind of innovative work that traditional comics corporations who dealt almost exclusively in super-heroes and fantasy either didn’t know existed or wouldn’t touch: serious, dramatic, historical, journalistic, political, and satirical work by a new generation of alternative cartoonists." In another words, underground comics. Now the company is expanding to include manga. Beginning in September 2010, it will publish a collection of short stories titled A Drunken Dream by Moto Hagio. Then in December 2010, a transgendered-centric manga, Wandering Son, by Shimura Takako will become available to all manga-lovers. To learn more about the company and the launch of the new manga line, check out the links below!

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Chobits

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Chobits

Flower Mound, TX (April 3, 2010) – FUNimation® Entertainment today announced that it has acquired the home entertainment, broadcast, digital and merchandise rights to the anime comedy “Chobits” from Kodansha.

The 26-episode series is directed by Morio Asaka (“Cardcaptor Sakura,” “Gunslinger Girl,” and “CLAMP in Wonderland”) and based on the CLAMP manga series of the same name about computers known as Persocoms that can be designed to look like toy figures, animals, even people!

FUNimation Entertainment will release the series on DVD and Blu-ray in 2011.

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FUNimation Entertainment Press Release

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires Eden of the East Movies

FUNimation Entertainment Acquires
Eden of the East Movies from Fuji Creative

Flower Mound, TX (April 3, 2010) – FUNimation® Entertainment today announced that it has acquired the home entertainment, broadcast, digital and merchandise rights to three anime movies which continue the story of the series “Eden of the East” (known in Japan as “Higashi no Eden”) from Fuji Creative Corporation.