Anime: Expo 2011 Announces Over US$25,000 In Masquerade Cash & Prizes In LA

Anime Expo, North America’s largest anime and manga event which attracts tens of thousands of elaborately costumed fans for one of the world’s largest masquerade events, will reward its most creative “cosplayers” with $25,000 in cash and prizes in 2011. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Anime Expo returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center and L.A. Live from July 1 – 4, 2011 with the biggest exhibition and program in its history. A non-stop marathon of Japanese pop culture that’s been likened to Halloween in July, Anime Expo (AX) fully immerses guests into the world of Japanese animation, manga (comic books), music and fashion.

Anime Expo 2011, themed “The Year of the Fan,” will award a spectacular $10,000 cash prize to the “Best of Show” winner in the wildly popular Masquerade competition, in which fans transform themselves into their favorite anime and manga characters through creative costuming, accessories and make-up and put on their own show before an audience of thousands in the stunning Nokia Theater. The $10,000 award will make it the richest anime costume competition in North America. Masquerade second and third place winners will receive $2,500 and $1,000 respectively, while winners of the Midnight Tea, Pop Shock Masquerade and other Anime Expo cosplay competitions will split close to $12,000 in cash and prizes.

“The fans who work so hard on their costumes and performances all year long and who make Anime Expo so exciting will be well rewarded in 2011,” said Marc Perez, Chairman and CEO of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the non-profit that produces the event. “In addition to the large awards in the formal Anime Expo competitions, we’ll have a roving team of judges giving on-the-spot prizes like tickets to exclusive events and valuable collectibles to outstanding cosplayers they see anywhere throughout the Convention Center.”

Anime Expo gives fans the rare opportunity to meet and hear from some of the most famous anime, manga and musical artists from Japan and get into the action through everything from costume play, karaoke and video competitions to exclusive screenings, non-stop video gaming competitions and the Masquerade. Returning this year, Anime Expo will incorporate an authentic Japanese Street Fair that will take over the LA Convention Center and LA Live area with music, martial arts demonstrations, games, food and much more.

Tickets
Ticket prices range from $45 for a one-day adult pass to $75 for a four-day adult pass. A one day for children ages 5 – 12 is $25. Children 1 – 4 are free.

Hours: Los Angeles Convention Center & L.A. Live
Friday, July 1 9 a.m. – 4 a.m.
Saturday, July 2 & Sunday, July 3 9 a.m. – 4 a.m.
Monday, July 4 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
*After hours dancing at Club Nokia till 2 a.m.

Address
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org or call 805-654-0171

About the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property, Anime Expo®. 

 

Read more...

Anime: Welcome To The Space Show, Time Of Eve Screened In NYC

The New York Int'l Children's Film Festival, which will run from March 4 to March 27, will show the science fiction anime movies Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW and Time of Eve. Both films will have English subtitles.

Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW debuted last February during the Berlin Film Festival, where it screened alongside Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars. Directed by Koji Masunari (Read or Die) and animated by A-1 Pictures, Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW is a science-fiction adventure in which four children from rural Japan are stranded in space during summer camp. Aniplex of America currently streams the first 22 minutes of the movie on its official YouTube channel. This film will have three showings on Sunday, March 6; Saturday, March 12; and Sunday, March 20. 

The Time of Eve film is a compilation of the original six-part Internet animated series which began in 2008. The story of Rikuo and his home robot Sammy explores the interaction between man and machine, questioning the theme of artificial intelligence and the moral implications of a human/android relationship. This film will have two showings on Saturday, March 12 and Saturday, March 19.

 

Read more...

Anime: The Best Sites On The Web

Just like most of you (probably), I like to waste time. I do this by trying to bring the nerd in me to a higher level, discovering new things, and watching movies. Especially watching movies and series, actually.

One thing that I’ve learned over the years, is that anime is heavily underrated. A lot of people associate ‘BeyBlade’ and ‘Pokémon’, with anime – which it is, but anime includes so much more!

All kinds of stories exist in the anime world, both good and bad ones, serious and funny series, traditional and frotiering.

Today, we’ll take a look at a number of anime websites on the internet.

The Best Anime Info Sites

Anime News Network

The Anime News Network is one of the most complete sources of anime information.

Besides extended reviews and news articles, the site hosts in-depth information profiles exist for almost any anime you can possibly think of in their Encyclopedia and many anime trailers in their videos section.

You’ll also be able to find various lists here, like the most underrated or most viewed anime series.

Anime-Planet

Also a nice place to get to know new anime. The site uses a ‘recommendation system’ to rate the anime series and also features a lot of reviews.

AnimeNfo

A big internet anime database, with all kinds of information on the anime series, characters, and such. You’ll also be able to find release dates, reviews and various lists.

The Best Place to Watch Anime Online

ZOMGAnime

Anime That! is one of those websites. The website hosts tons of different anime series, and countless episodes and movies. If the anime you’re looking for can be viewed online, the chances are pretty good that you’ll find it here.

Though they’re hosted on some of the popular online video sites, the videos are streamed from within the site itself, in their own player. Loading times are decent and registration is not required.

New anime is added constantly, and there’s a forum for the socialisers among us. An anime top 100 is also available, so you can get ‘inspiration’ without leaving the site.

Anime Crunch

Anime Crunch is my second favourite one. Hosts tons of videos as well and doesn’t require registration. Streaming is pretty similar to ZOMGAnime.

Anime Fuel

Also a great site, and perfectly worthy as a runner-up. If there’s a video that you can’t find on the above sites, you can always take a look here.

The Best Anime Download Sites

Zone-Anime

Zone-Anime is one of the biggest direct-download databases available. All download links are provided by the staff and website users, and the site requires no sign-up.

On one side, this explains the number of series available (over 600), but also because of this none of the files are available on the private server. About all downloads go through file hosting sites, like RapidShare or MegaUpload, which means that you’ll probably encounter waiting times. If you want DDL from a private server, check realityLAPSE in the runner ups.

You can browse through the anime by name, but also by genre, or by using search queries.

Next to anime series, you can also go to Zone-Anime for your daily dose of anime music and manga.

realityLAPSE
All the files are listed on a private server, though they have a much more limited collection and require registration. Several other limitations apply to free users, like slower downloads, and only one at a time.

Anime A
A wonderful site. It’s also pretty similar to Zone-Anime, as it doesn’t host anything private either, but has a somewhat more limited collection.

BoxTorrent
Another public anime tracker. Also hosts a great deal of torrents, but requires registration for advanced browsing.

DownloadAnime
You can expect to find about all anime releases here, but the site lacks advanced browsing. In short, a great site to discover and download new anime, but not so great if you’re looking for something very specific.

Wolf's Rain: Anime Legends - Perfect Collection

Read more...