Letters to the Editor: Tim Law, your ever lovin' editor, decides to cop out and get other people to answer this batch of letters. Thanks for playing!
03/19/02
03/13/02 by Luis Reyes
Power to the People: San Jose, California public television station KTEH introduces their new anime block expanding on past tradition and garnering new support for public broadcasting.
03/08/02 by Luis Reyes
2002 A.D.: #1 anime distributor in North America A.D. Vision reveals their plans for the year in an exclusive interview with Matt Greenfield.
03/01/02 by Gerry Poulos
02/06/02 by Tim Law
Commandingly Timid: An in-depth interview with leading shoujo-manga artist Watase Yu. From developing character conflict to dropping out of art school, Luis Reyes explores how she stays on top.
02/01/02 by Luis Reyes
01/30/02 by Olivier de Doncker
01/30/02 by Olivier de Doncker
Letters to the Editor: Featuring an exclusive Newtype update! Plus - Die Dubbers Die versus Reading's Really Rong.
01/28/02
Ohayocon 2002: Days 2 & 3. Gerry Poulos continues his report of Cleveland's "Biggest Little Con."
01/25/02 by Gerry Poulos
01/25/02 by Gerry Poulos
Ohayocon 2002: Day 1. Gerry Poulos details the successes, and mishaps, of Cleveland's "Biggest Little Con."
01/23/02 by Gerry Poulos
01/16/02 by Luis Reyes and Olivier de Doncker
01/11/02 by Luis Reyes
Just a Chat Before I Go: Kenji Kawai, anime composer extraordinaire responsible for scoring such titles as
Ghost in the Shell and the recent
Avalon, had a few minutes to spare on a promotional trip to Paris. Lucian James puts the man in context.
12/19/01 by Lucian James
From Guide to Encyclopedia: A review of Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements' recent publication. Luis Reyes polishes off
The Anime Encyclopedia
12/17/01 by Luis Reyes
Ghibli & Chips: UK correspondent Dan Barry
delivers an exclusive across-the-pond look at
Studio Ghibli: The Art of Japanese Animation held at
London's Barbican Art Centre.
12/10/01 by Dan Barry
Amusing Himself to Death: Back in August, Owen
Thomas sat down with
FLCL director Kazuyo Tsurumaki.
Akadot tried to go Exploding Plastic Inevitable as well, but
we couldn't help sticking to a few more conventions than
Tsurumaki's post-post-modern masterpiece.
10/17/01 by Owen Thomas
L.A.'s New Toy Box: Located in West Los Angeles directly across
from the trendy Westside Pavilion, OmochaBox makes its persence known with the Grand Opening celebration of its
highly anticipated retail store.
10/17/01 by Tim Law
10/03/01 by Luis Reyes and Tim Law
Letters to the Editor: Akadot's level-headed
editor, Luis Reyes, steadies himself for the praise and abuse of our esteemed readers in our latest installment
of Letters to the Editor.
09/28/01
No Limits: Singer-songwriter Mari Iijima, best
known for her role as Lynn Minmei in "Macross," talks about the duality of her fame between Japan and the US.
09/26/01 by Luis Reyes
Cartoon or Bust - Part II: Catch part 2 of
Warner Brother's animation head Ken Duer's candid assessment of the animation industry in the US and
how it may change because of the Japanese industry. Also read
part 1.
09/24/01 by Tim Law and Luis Reyes
"D" is for Distribution: The new thetrical release
"Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust"features an original English language script and production credits on
both sides of the Pacific. This stunning American-Japanese co-production is sure to satisfy audiences
worldwide with its cross-cultural themes and direction.
09/24/01 by Tim Law
09/19/01 by Luis Reyes
The "Lockdown" Monster: Cartoon
Network launches into their second highly anticipated "Total Immersion Cartoon" event today.
This time, TOM and Sara enlist the viewers to defend the animated action-adventure
programming block, "Toonami."
09/17/01 by Tim Law
Cartoon or Bust - Part I: Ken Duer,
head of Warner Brothers Animation, speaks candidly about the current lull in the animation
industry - the scaling back of production, the closure of several major animation studios -
and purports a light at the end of the tunnel in part one of a two part interview.
09/14/01 by Tim Law and Luis Reyes
09/06/01 by Bill Alexander
Michael Dobson on "Jin-Roh": The voice of "Jin-Roh's" lead, Kazuki Fuse,
speaks about his career, his involvement with this film, and killing his voice acting brother, Paul.
Luis Reyes interviews the Canadian dub seiyuu at the premiere of "Jin-Roh."
09/03/01 by Luis Reyes
As Lucid As it is Awesome, "Millennium Actress": Madhouse,
Klockworx and Genco masterminded Satoshi Kon's follow up to his much lauded "Perfect Blue," "Millennium Actress," which has yet
to even be released in Japan but has enjoyed accolades at film festivals around the world.
Luis Reyes takes a look at the film as well as its marketing effort here in the United States. And he introduces
Sara Ellis' interview with writer Sadayuki Murai, who teams up with Kon again after their successful partnership for
"Perfect Blue." Also, check out Anime News Network's report on
"Millennium Actress" at the
Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.
08/31/01 by Sara Ellis and Luis Reyes
Luis Reyes steals about twenty minutes away from him at San Diego's ComicCon.
08/29/01 by Luis Reyes
Now the title invades the small screen with a new OVA and television series. Tim Law lays down the facts.
08/27/01 by Tim Law
Ghost in the Web: Twelve years after his death, Osamu Tezuka's manga
are still being animated.
Madhouse has tackled his "Metropolis," while a far more modest endeavor undertaken by Tezuka Production Co. and
CONTENTS JAPAN brings some of his other classic manga to life online and for a price.
08/20/01 by Tim Law
The XYZ Affair: Over the last year, Akadot has spoken with
myriad of animators in different capacities, all of whom had fascinating views on both the Japanese and American animation
industries.
Here is an interview with three animators more interested in picking our brains for how Americans understand
anime than answering questions about how the Japanese understand the American scene.
08/17/01 by Akadot Staff
I.G's president, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, chats candidly with Akadot editor Luis Reyes about how he's approaching all of this
work.
08/15/01 by Luis Reyes
Cosplay Nation: Occasionally readers approach Akadot about
running pieces on various aspects of the fan community.
This week Rachael Faught offers this report on the cosplay contingency of fandom.
08/15/01 by Rachael Faught
Kenji Kamiyama on Anime: "Blood" script writer Kenji Kamiyama
speaks with Akadot's Japan correspondent Sara Ellis about vampires, wolves and how the anime industry is changing.
08/13/01 by Sara Ellis and Luis Reyes
Writing Anime for a New Age: Sadayuki Murai has written for some
of the most provocative, edgy and challenging anime around including "Perfect Blue," "Cowboy Bebop" and Madhouse's recent
"Boogiepop Phantom."
Straight from Tokyo, Sara Ellis speaks face to face with the screenwriter about his more popular works thus far in this
first in a trilogy of interviews with the compelling writer that will appear on Akadot in the coming months.
08/10/01 by Sara Ellis and Luis Reyes
Toonami's Tom: Having spent over a decade in the trenches of
voice acting, Steve Blum now voices the robot Tom for the Cartoon Network's Toonami action block.
Akadot Editor Luis Reyes chats with him about role preparation, the consanguinity betwixt man and machine, and going to
work in your shorts.
08/08/01 by Luis Reyes
"Bebop" Sets out for Uncharted Waters: "Cowboy Bebop's" role as standard bearer for non-children oriented
Japanese animation is speculated in light of Cartoon Network's announcement that it would begin
airing the bounty hunter/buddy series as part of its Adult Swim block on September 2.
08/08/01 by Tim Law
08/06/01 by Joe Palermo
New Generation Talks Shop: Jonathan Klein, president of
New Generation Pictures, and Taliesin Jaffe, ADR writer for "3 X 3 Eyes" and an ADR director with New Generation, have
been showing up at conventions, speaking to fans, and demonstrating that they want a strong connection with the fan
community.
As an accompanying piece to this month's Dub Track by Ryan Mathews, Akadot issues this interview with New
Generation about how they approached the dub for "3 X 3 Eyes."
08/03/01 by Luis Reyes
Irate in Northern Europe: Niels Viveen, a Dutch anime fan,
speaks out about the deplorable state of anime distribution in Holland and implores the world anime community to
take a more opportunistic gander at the country.
08/03/01
Portrait of an Otaku: The winner of Akadot's "World's
Greatest Otaku" contest, Ron Ferrara, speaks one on one with Akadot staff writer Tony Cupo about his hobby, his life
and anime fandom as a collective community.
08/01/01 by Tony Cupo
Shawna James glimpses the UK anime terrain.
07/20/01 by Shawna James
A Young One, Hisashi Abe: In the upward trajectory from
animator to director, Hisashi Abe has proved his mettle as a crackerjack animation director on work ranging
from Clamp's various projects to the upcoming "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust."
He has flexed his artistic
muscle as the character designer for, among others, "Petshop of Horrors" and "Twilight of the Dark Master."
Luis Reyes speaks with the animator who believes that at eighteen years in the industry, he's a young one.
07/20/01 by Luis Reyes
07/20/01
The Two Noelles - The Angels Did Sing: The English language
dub voice for Noelle, Diana Kou, and the Japanese seiyuu for Noelle, Tomoko Kawakami may live half a world apart,
but they each have similar instincts when it comes to their little angel.
Luis Reyes speaks with each of them about their experience with "Tenshi ni Narumon."
07/20/01 by Luis Reyes
That New Fangled Synch-Point Sound: Barely out of the
starting gate, Synch-Point has already released it's first VHS tape and has several big releases on the horizon,
including "FLCL" and "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure."
Luis Reyes probes the inner workings of the newest anime production house and attempts to answer lingering
questions about where the company may be heading.
07/18/01 by Luis Reyes
Paul Sudlow concludes his history of the "Gundam" phenomenon with this final installment, which delves into the
franchise's sojourn to the United States and the boost that Cartoon Network gave it.
07/16/01 by Paul Sudlow
Paul Sudlow continues his chronicle of this global mecha phenomenon in the second part of his three part
history of "Gundam," "The Universal Century and the Alternate Universes."
07/13/01 by Paul Sudlow
As a precursor to Cartoon Network's broadcast of the original "Mobile Suit Gundam" and "The 08th MS Team" later
this month, Paul Sudlow looks back on over twenty years of "Gundam."
07/11/01 by Paul Sudlow
Packaging Delights: ADV, Bandai and Pioneer have so far
been the only US companies to package DVDs with reversible covers.
Shawna James speculates about the slow but steady development of this industry practice.
07/09/01 by Shawna James
Anime On High: Shawna James takes a brief look at an
anime club with a towering mascot. Meet the Tokyo Tower Anime Club.
07/06/01 by Shawna James
Luis Reyes takes a look
at how Gamers' parent company, Broccoli Co., Ltd., has merchandised millions out of its mascot and what the company
plans for the US.
07/04/01 by Luis Reyes
Luis Reyes speaks to Anime-Love.com founder Tena Mastrangelo about the triumphs and travails about running this
site dedicated to matchmaking for anime fans.
06/29/01 by Luis Reyes
06/27/01 by Luis Reyes
Summer of Love Part One - Hentai: The desire for one man to do what
they say can't be done.
Akadot staff speaks to convention organizer Brad Jackson about the Sisyphusian task of
launching HentaiCon.
06/25/01 by Luis Reyes
06/22/01 by Luis Reyes
06/22/01 by Luis Reyes
The Death of the Wolf: Mamoru Oshii speaks about "Jin-Roh" as an elegy to, and perhaps a re-birth of, the wolf spirit
06/22/01 by Luis Reyes
The Duality of "Card Captor Sakura": A shoujo idiom in a politically correct market
Lisa Klassen and Luis Reyes take a look at where "Cardcaptors" has gone in a year and the disparate public opinion it's
left in its wake.
06/20/01 by Luis Reyes and Lisa Klassen
Re-Visiting "Robotech:" Carl Macek's creation was driven by capitalism but sustained a life of its own
Len Cutler interviews writer/producer Carl Macek on "Robotech's" re-release from ADV and the long and winding road getting there.
06/15/01 by Len Cutler
Broccoli Stocks America: Gamers is taking a bite out of the US market
An incarnation of Broccoli's Japanese-based Gamers store will hit Los Angeles in July, joining the ranks of anime
merchandise super-store Animate and used goods bargain basement Mandarake. Luis Reyes examines how the latest
Japanese émigré sizes up.
06/11/01 by Luis Reyes
The "Jin-Roh" Theatrical Premiere: Bandai and Viz push for the Oscar
No sci-fi elements; no
comedic relief; no apologies. Luis Reyes wonders if Production I.G's
drama will be able to impact the US theatrical market?
06/06/01 by Luis Reyes
The O.G. OAV: A Look into Oxford Anime Vision and their penchant for shoujo
Shawna James reaches across the Atlantic for this month's anime club profile by taking a look at Oxford Anime Vision,
an anime club in the midst of one of the most famous educational institutions in the world.
06/06/01 by Shawna James
"Blue Submarine No. 6" Revisited: The US voice cast casts a couple of penny's at the broader meaning of Gonzo's technical marvel
Akadot sits down with the US voice cast to muse on the story of a show
lauded primarily for its technical innovations (or aberrations, as the case may be). Michael Granberry,
Juliet Cesario and Scott Simpson offer their insight on this apocalyptic tale.
06/01/01 by Luis Reyes
05/25/01
Anime Bigger Than Life: The summer of 2001 welcomes an ambitious run of anime feature films, and all the rumors that precede and follow
05/25/01 by Lisa Klassen (with an addendum by Luis Reyes)
05/21/01 by Shawna James
05/21/01 by Luis Reyes
05/18/01 by Shizuki Yamashita
05/16/01 by Luis Reyes
05/07/01 by Jenna Leigh
05/07/01 by Shawna James
05/02/01 by Luis Reyes
04/30/01 by Sara Ellis and Luis Reyes
Rocking the Boat: Megumi Ogata on the heights of fandom and the depths of the
Japanese animation industry
04/27/01 by Dany Johnson
04/23/01 by Luis Reyes
04/20/01 by Shawna James
04/16/01 by Luis Reyes
04/13/01 by Len Cutler
04/11/01 by Sara Ellis
04/06/01 by Luis Reyes
04/06/01 by Luis Reyes
03/28/01 by Luis Reyes
03/23/01 by Ardith Santiago
03/16/01 by Shizuki Yamashita
03/09/01 by Shawna James
03/02/01 by Shawna James
02/23/01 by Sara Ellis
02/19/01 by Shizuki Yamashita
02/08/01 by Ardith Santiago
02/05/01
02/02/01 by Owen Thomas
02/02/01 by Shawna James
01/31/01 by Luis Reyes
01/12/01 by Luis Reyes
01/12/01 by Sara K. Ellis
01/06/01 by Lisa Klassen
12/30/00 by Sandy Yang and Luis Reyes
12/15/00 by Luis Reyes
Aka Kon: Anime in the Great White North
Akadot's Luis Reyes reflects on Vancouver's first anime convention.
12/09/00 by Luis Reyes
Stranger in a Stranger Land: An outsider's look at cosplaying
Akadot staff writer Owen Thomas explores the cultural dynamic between cosplayer and fan.
12/02/00 by Owen Thomas
12/01/00 by Jonah Morgan and Luis Reyes
11/25/00 by Sandy Yang
11/17/00 by Luis Reyes
11/11/00 by Maxwell Porter
11/03/00 by Luis Reyes
11/03/00 by Michael Rosen-Molina
9/01/00 by Stephanie Sheh
8/01/00 by Luis Reyes