Wondercon is a small comic book turned pop media convention which makes its home in San Francisco. The easy way to think about it: Comic Con's little sister. Even though it's a fraction of the size, Wondercon still packs a wallop every year. This time around T-ono caught some face-time with Hyung Min-Woo, some great panels, and awesome cosplay. Read on for what you missed at Wondercon 2011!
New anime convention AM2, set launch later this year on July 1-3 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, has revealed their official mascot, Nyanchala. Creatively, the character is based on the Japanese Lucky Cat, Maneki Neko, though we can't help but notice the character proportions and most notably its wings resemble the guardian beast, Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura.
Full press release inside.
Seattle based anime convention Sakura-Con has announced Vofan, illustrator for the original Bakemonogatari light novel series, as a guest of honor. Interestingly, Vofan is one of the first Taiwanese artist to have entered the anime industry successfully in Japan. Bakemonogatari was originally written by Nisio Isin and later adapted into an anime series with character designs provided by Akio Watanabe.
Sakura-Con will be held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center on April 22-24.
Latest hot button news: Anime Expo is holding two contests, and one of them has a grand prize of $10,000! You can submit your magnum opus AMV for fame with the fans, or show off your amazing needlework in the masquerade for a chance at the cash. Read more after the jump.
"All girl super group Berryz Kobo originally hails from Hello! Project and consists of Saki Shimizu, Momoko Tsugunaga, Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Yurina Kumai and Risako Sugaya. With 7 Albums and 24 singles to their credit, Berryz Kobo's first North American appearance is a dream come true for many fans.
Berryz Kobo had their debut single, "Anata nashi dewa ikite ikenai" on Girls Day (March 3rd) in 2004, and have been consistently impressing fans ever since. There are many highlights to their 6+ year history, including their 2005 Oricon top 10 hit "Special Generation". In 2007, Berryz Kobo gave sold out performances in the Saitama Super Arena (20,000 seats), becoming the youngest band to perform in this arena with an average age below 14 years. One year later, they won the Best Newcomer Award at the Asia song Festival in South Korea and then the Nihon Yuusen Taishou Award for their cover song of "Dschinghis Khan". In March 2010, Berryz Kobo was the first all girl Japanese group to perform in Bangkok Thailand. Their latest single "Shining Power", released on November 10th is an ending theme for the anime "Inazuma Eleven". Berryz Kobo are excited to perform in the USA for their international fans!
Berryz Kobo appear courtesy of Up Front Agency and Japanfiles.com"
[Source: Sakura-Con via JapanFiles Newsletter]
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