Being an anime fan in the Bay Area of California is great for a lot of reasons, but one of the main pulls is the fact that we have so many outlets for Japanese pop culture. For example, this past August saw the latest iteration of the J-Pop Summit Festival, a fun street fair conglomeration of all things related to J-Pop. Since it was based in San Francisco's very own Japantown, traveling was easy and the setting was familiar to all attendees. Even if you're not big into J-Pop, the whole thing is like a miniature version of the Cherry Blossom Festival which means food stands and vendors in the street, plenty of cosplay, and an all around good time. If you weren't in Japantown in San Francisco on August 27th or 28th, sit tight and I'll fill you in on what you missed.
One of the largest anime convention in North America is sure to attract some of the best cosplays from all around. Check our gallery now!
For those of you who were not able to watch the Hatsune Miku concert, Mikunopolis at Anime Expo, you can check out the 8 minute highlight footage below. Video provided courtesy of the organizers of Mikunopolis.
Stay tuned for our own recording of the first 6 songs of the concert, impressions, as well as an interview with the creative force behind Vocaloid, Crypton Future Media CEO Hiroyuki Itoh and Producer Wataru Sasaki.
© MIKUNOPOLIS 2011
Video used with permission, please do not reproduce.
In an interesting twist, a hacker had apparently broke into new comer anime convention, AM2 site over the weekend and fabricated a false message stating the convention had been cancelled and that the musical guests would be performing at Anime Expo.
We have contacted AM2 in regards to the possible compromise of account information, and Chase Wang, who is an organizer for the event, has reassured us that no data was lost or breached.
Wang also had commented earlier this morning, "I am extremely disappointed that there are individuals out there that are so willing to stoop to such levels to disrupt and harm our event after all the work and planning that has been done to bring as much fun to our attendees as possible."
AM2 will be hosted from July 1 to 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center on the same weekend as North America's largest anime convention, Anime Expo. There is clearly a rivalry between these two conventions...
We've been hearing chatter within the industry lines for the past few months that Japanese voice actresses for a popular anime series about a high school girl band may be making an appearance at this year's Anime Expo, North America's largest anime convention.
Further speculation has flared recently when Bandai Entertainment, the American license holder of the series, posted this on their official Twitter page last week:
This posts suggests that there will be some type of performance from the K-ON! series at Anime Expo, though it could be very well just the American voice acting cast.
With only 2 weeks away, and a rather sparse guest list for their twentieth anniversary, we should be hearing the exact details soon. In the meantime, feel free to take guesses in the comments.
UPDATE: Bandai has confirmed on their official Facebook page that the English voice cast will be present at Anime Expo performing at their booth.
"SATURDAY JULY 2
2:00 - 3:30pm @ Bandai/Aniplex Booth 901 > K-ON! Musical event and Autograph session with Stephanie Sheh, Cristina Vee, Cassandra Lee Morris, Shelby Lindley, and Christine Marie Cabanas"
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