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Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, vol. II has been released by Digital Manga Publishing. This novel continues the story of Setsura Aki and Doctor Mephisto, as they battle four evil Chinese vampires for control of a paranormal-drenched Shinjuku of the future. This is a series I'm very pleased to be the English adaptation writer on.
Both volumes I and II are available at my Amazon store in the sidebar of this blog. Volumes III and IV will be released later this year.
A bit of blog housekeeping: I've added a page that explains the kind of work I do in the anime and manga publishing industry, including a list of the books I've worked on.
http://jansuzukawa.blogspot.com/p/anime-and-manga-books.html
This page will be updated as I finish new books, and will always be listed as a link in the creatively-titled "My Lists" section in the sidebar. ;)
I've been swamped with work since returning from Anime Expo, including doing some copy editing on a very fun project. The picture above is a hint. Will return to posting actual content-driven blog entries when I can.
Anime Expo was a great experience for me this year. Here are a few notes and impressions of the con.
L.A. Live
I can recall when the old cliche about Los Angeles, "40 suburbs in search of a city," pretty much applied to the whole place. But with new centers of nightlife activity like L.A. Live above, one can believe that the City of Angels offers at least a few genuinely urban experiences today.
Nokia Plaza is composed of the state-of-the-art Nokia Theater, various restaurants, and finally this year - the brand-new J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live hotel. The buildings of L.A. Live are covered with an array of enormous video screens, and the trees are adorned with beautiful small blue lights. It looks like Blade Runner come to life, and being only two blocks from the L.A. Convention Center where AX was held, it provided the perfect futuristic Tokyo-style backdrop and gathering place for the anime fen.
You Know You Really Love This Movie When...
... You're about to leave the con for the evening on Day One, when you suddenly notice in the program guide that they're showing this movie in one of the screening rooms.
... And even though you actually own this movie on DVD at home, you find yourself literally running up the stairs to get to the screening room, because it's so much fun to watch this movie with an audience.
That's just how much I love Sword of the Stranger.
The Exhibit Hall and Artist's Alley
Although there were many dealers exhibiting this year, there's no question that there were fewer of them than last year. The space around the edges of the Exhibit Hall was... spacious. In other words, there weren't enough dealers to fill the hall to the edges.
The Artist's Alley was simply enormous this year - nearly a third of the entire Exhibit Hall. Someone told me that this was because some of the people that were dealers last year couldn't afford to pay the fee this year to be regular dealers - and so they were now "artists" in Artist's Alley. Uh, yikes.
Gundam Unicorn
The latest Gundam anime series has begun!
Apparently, there will be six one-hour episodes. Episode One played to a solidly-packed ballroom full of Gundam enthusiasts and curious others.
Gundam Unicorn is set in the original Gundam universe's timeline, and so the character design is deliberately somewhat dated-looking; a bit '80s-ish, but not annoyingly so. As is typical, Banagher, the main character, is a boy with some self-doubts, and the girl character Audrey is one of those determined and plucky types who rejects him at first. She loftily turns down his offer of help (after he's already rescued her once), sending him into a spiral of depression. (One suspects she's just trying to protect him... but we know that won't stop him. ;))
At one critical moment, Banagher is asked if he's ready to accept the challenge of fighting in the war that has just begun. Banagher replies that he's not sure, but that he just knows that he needs to make Audrey need him (causing a chorus of groans and cheers from the audience) - and that that's all that's important to him. I almost felt like yelling out, "Dude, you're the one who needs her - just admit it." Someone should write a book on the boy-girl relationships in Gundam...
There's always that fangasm moment of bliss in the opener of every Gundam series when the mecha gets revealed for the first time, and Gundam Unicorn is no exception. The slow pan from the mecha's feet all the way up its body, until the entire mecha from head to toe is revealed... complete with bombastic music played at a deafening volume (still barely heard over the screams of the fanboys, which were even louder)... it's corny and wonderful and just so... Gundam.
I'll be watching the rest of this series. ;)
The Last Episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
I'll be writing a post about FMA: Brotherhood soon, but just on the experience of watching the final episode in a room full of nearly-hyperventilating fans - it was something I was glad I didn't miss.
First, Romi Paku, Rie Kugimiya and Shinichiro Miki recorded a special video just for the screening, which was the U.S. premiere of the final episode. As they had just recorded the episode (and were in fact still sitting in the recording studio), it felt as fresh as if they were being shown live from Japan.
Next, they first played Episode 63 for those who hadn't seen it yet - and then rolled right into Episode 64. I won't spoil anything, but the final episode is as satisfying as you hoped it would be - plus a few surprises, too.
I was caught off-guard by the amount of emotion that came up for me, watching the final episode. The original Fullmetal Alchemist series was one of the first anime series that I fell in love with as a new anime fan. It's hard for me to admit, but in almost every way Brotherhood has topped the original. But again, I'll write more on that later...
I spent time with old friends and made new ones, cosplayed for the first time - for a few hours anyway ;) - and unexpectedly - had the best time I've ever had at an anime convention. It wasn't the same old, same old at AX for me this year; this one was special. I will definitely be back next year. :)
