By Danica Davidson

Detroit's 2011 Youmacon boasted its share of special guests and fun events, and everywhere you looked, there was cosplay, cosplay, cosplay. Of course a lot of people were dressed up as anime characters ( Soul Eater seemed like a favorite), but other people dressed as anything from Disney characters to Star Wars personas to… well, some just looked cool. Here are a few examples of what I saw at ...

By Fernando Ramos

With glimpses into Japanese subculture mostly supplied by the likes of Genshiken and the future of Japan given pessimistic overtones in Eden of the East —not to mention the countless headlines in the news at home and abroad of Japan's shrinking birthrate, debt-ridden economy and seemingly apathetic youth—finding the embers in the ashes is Morinosuke Kawaguchi. Working at the Arthur D. Little m...

By Darius Washington

So I went to visit the longest running anime convention in the US at the Sheraton Dallas hotel in Dallas, Texas. After 22 years, Project A-kon continues to grow in terms of attendance, with over 17,000 pre-registrations and over 3,000 3-day memberships at the door. The thing is… this may not necessarily be a good thing for the convention in its current form. That’s not to say there aren’t good...

By Mike Dent

Anime Central 2011 was absolute chaos, both logistically and literally! This year saw the return of X-Japan’s Yoshiki, the coming of the smash-hit band FLOW, and me scrambling to cover it all alongside my allies in arms. More coverage is forthcoming but in the meantime, here’s some of the amazing cosplay that appeared throughout the weekend!               &nb...

By Fernando Ramos

I’m just a guy who writes nice fluffy articles about cartoons. In talking about cartoons, you don’t expect to be involved in hard news like historical natural disasters. Oh sure, certain sites in town are labeled with bilingual notices clearly stating where the evacuation zones are, and frequent training is given should disaster strike, but, as with driving a car or drinking from someone else'...

By Patrick Macias

Warning: This cyber/neural transmission is under surveillance by “net-jackers” and could conclude at any moments. Here’s what you need to know: Tokyo. Again. Late February, 2011. I am dining on curry n’ nan in Shinjuku with the otherworldly Kiria Noir Arondight  and Franck Shigetora, he of the rather astounding neo-retro cyberpunk electro music unit VALKILLY .  The conversation, as i...

By Patrick Macias

By now, you probably know… the largest earthquake in Japan’s history has just struck the island nation. On Friday March 11, 2011, an 8.9 magnitude quake struck northeastern Japan, resulting in sweeping tsunami, incredible damage, and sadly, injury and loss of life in the hundreds.  As I sit and write this, night has fallen in Japan and, here in San Francisco and along the California coast...