Wizard World announced that the brand new ACen Aftershock, a supplement anime convention to the usual annual Anime Central, will be a part of this year's Chicago Comic-Con. This is the first time ever that ACen will be expanding beyond its usual three-day convention event in May. It's not yet known how big a presence ACen Aftershock will be at CCC, but they do promise that there will be anime exhibitors, artists, showings, panel events, cosplay, contests, & more throughout the four days.

Chicago Comic-Con (which shouldn't be confused with the official New York Comic Con sanctioned Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo debuting next year) will run from August 6 to August 9, so only one month away.

Source: http://www.wizardworld.com/acen.html

I blogged about the big news that came out of Anime Central this year already, but why bother talking about the rest when others can do it for me? I mean we live in the age of YouTube. You can find fan recorded video of pretty much any panel online these days. Case in point, the Ouran High School Host Club Panel, with Vic Mignogna (Tamaki), Caitlin Glass (Haruhi, dub director), & Colleen Clinkenbeard (Eclair)!

Ouran has become a huge title among English anime fandom (mainly because of Vic fangirls), & it's one of my favorite NebsTV series of all time to boot. So naturally I had to attend. While I was indeed there, the video above (& continued below) isn't mine. But if you like Ouran, the panel was pretty fun so make sure to check it out. Plus even more links on what went on at ACen this year! Hit the jump below:

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Megami Magazine, you've got competition. Enter NyanType Magazine, the new NewType Magazine spin-off that aims to compete against Megami by providing tons of posters featuring anime girls. I saw this first issue, the June 2009 issue, while browsing through the Exhibit Hall at ACen this past weekend. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it. After all, I've been subscribing to Megami for years now. I had to see what the new kid in town has to offer. & I must say, it's pretty good.

The cover for the first issue is of Nanoha, which makes sense (regardless of my feelings for her series) considering this issue features news on the new movie & it also contains the new manga sequel 4th series. Unfortunately, unlike Megami, NyanType didn't have a giant pullout poster. Whether if that was only because this is the first issue & later ones will have it, or if the mag just wont have it at all, remains to be seen. It did however have the double-sided "long poster," which used to be a staple for Megami but recently has been more on again - off again. & both sides were of Haruhi! Pretty weird to include a series that isn't airing new episodes on TV or DVD... that is unless new episodes ARE about to air. One side features a wet Haruhi (drool) & the other side has the three SOS girls in bed together (drool again):

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A quick update on stuff I've found out on the first day of Anime Central today, before I catch some sleep.

I asked some Media Blasters people at their booth what was going on with Moribito & Adult Swim. According to them, Moribito will indeed be coming back to AS & will be showing the entire series this time around, rather than just the first 10 eps AS originally aired over & over again. It'll be back on TV this summer. (July 25 I think is the date they gave me. Wish I had wrote it down.)

During the opening ceremonies when ADV head Matt Greenfield was introduced, someone in the crowd shouted a question about if we'll ever see the long-promised live-action Neon Genesis Evangelion movie. "Soon, & I'm not kidding" was Mr. Greenfield's response. He clarified a bit later that evening during an Evangelion panel, saying the closer he gets to sealing the deal the less he can say anything about it. & the fact that he can't say anything at all anymore should be a clear sign to us how close the deal really is. He seemed pretty confident.

There was also a marriage proposal during Anime Hell. Pretty cool. Finally, God Len from Japanator is also attending ACen, & he took some pics of the new fashion show we got going on this year. Check out his gallery here:

http://www.japanator.com/elephant/post.phtml?pk=9877

Many anime convention goers will likely know what I'm talking about when I mention Evangelion ReDeath. No, it has nothing to do with Re-Take, so don't even go there.

Every year at Anime Central after Anime Hell, we have Midnight Madness- a few hours of anime fandubbed parodies. Think along the lines of Abridged Series, only longer (about half-hour to an hour each). In fact, these kind of fandubbed parodies predate Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. Well every year, Midnight Madness starts off with a new parody work, followed by a classic from years past. But after that, they always show the classic that started it all- "Evangelion ReDeath" by Studio Sokodei.

Despite its age, Eva ReDeath was redone recently to make use of the clearer, remastered DVDs of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series & movies. Thus, ReDeath now looks as good as new. & to celebrate the clarity, Sokodei opened up their own YouTube channel & uploaded the entire movie there! In a couple parts, of course. In addition to ReDeath, they got a couple other goodies up as well, such as Nescaflowne (there parody work of Escaflowne, natch), their (serious & legitimate) fansubs of the Cowboy Bebop PS2 game, & a few other goodies.

But most importantly, check out Evangelion ReDeath if you haven't had the privilege of seeing it at a con yet. It's not quite the same experience without watching in a room with hundreds of other fans at 2am, quoting lines as they are shown & clapping along to "It's Gendo," but it's a fun & classic parody nonetheless. Part 1's above, followed by the rest below:

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That's me cosplaying as Yusei Fudo (from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's) for ACen. I don't know if you can tell, but yes I do have his yellow face mark on. =b Made it all myself. Anyway, ever since ACen started last weekend, I haven't had much time to update. But just because I was taking a break doesn't mean the news was. Here's a roundup of what's been going on the past week while I've been away. There is some more, but I'll be making those in separate posts:

• Kanokon to get even sexier for its upcoming DVD release: http://www.animenation.net/blog/2008/05/08/kanokon-to-get-even-sexier/
• Colored images of DragonBall Movie: http://dbthemovie.com/2008/05/15/exclusive-weekly-young-jump-scans/
• Pokemon Platinum Announced for Fall: http://kotaku.com/390693/pokemon-platinum-announced-due-in-the-fall
• Cameron's not planning for Battle Angel film after Avatar: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-05-16/cameron-not-planning-on-battle-angel-after-avatar-film
• Ben 10 Alien Force will be replacing Blue Dragon on Toonami: http://www.toonamiinfolink.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1170
• Black Lagoon novel in the works: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-05-20/nitro+s-gen-urobuchi-to-write-black-lagoon-novel
• Russia Plagiarizes Haruhi Suzumiya: http://www.new-akiba.com/archives/2008/05/post_15468.html
• A Totally Spies movie is in the works: http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8344
• A look at Tokyo Character Street: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20080516TDY13004.htm
• More Colored DragonBall Movie pics: http://dbthemovie.com/2008/05/22/more-scans-yamcha-and-chi-chi-revealed/
• Kanokon's ecchi-ness has gotten too extreme for video sites: http://zepy.momotato.com/2008/05/21/kanokon-too-extreme-for-online-streaming/
• IGN Movie Trailers:
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So I have Internet here on vacation, so I decided to do a quick news roundup on what happened at ACen this weekend. I might put a more detailed post up later about all the fun panels & things I did, but for now I'll just mention the industry stuff.

Bandai Entertainment was up first, & were SUPPOSED to announce a new license. But due to last minute happenings, they had to hold back on it for a little while longer. However, something strange has been going on with their website since then. The first page has the words "A burst of energy consumes everything in its path. Something is coming this way." When you click on the hyperlink, a countdown shows up that counts to this Saturday. Assumingly it's for a licensing announcement, & assuming that I'll also assume that it's the same announcement that they were supposed to do at ACen.

Besides that, they gave away a lot of posters & showed a lot of trailers, including the (edited but still NSFW) Agent AIka R-16 trailer shown above. It's the same as the Japanese one we've seen before, only translated... & censored. At the panel they confirmed that all 3 episodes of the ecchi OVA will be released on one DVD, coming out in only 2 weeks! Not surprising but still good to hear it'll all be on one, since this is America & not Japan. We showed the first ep here on NebsTV last year, but couldn't get to the others before it got licensed. So if you fell in love with that series like I did after only one ep, make sure to pick this up!

FUNimation was next, & they officially announced "Romeo & Juliet" & unofficially announced D.Gray-man. To figure out D.Gray-man, they put up a special announcement page where you had the guess the series. & since that was the very first show I thought of, I got it right on the first try. =b I had a feeling for a long time that Funi would get that series. I know it's a Shonen Jump title, which usually go to Viz, but I just sensed that Funi would be getting it (they do have other Jump shows too, like Claymore, Black Cat, YuYu Hakusho, & DBZ). Methinks this long-running series will get a TV run on Cartoon Network. It is currently as epic as Naruto & Bleach, after all.

Oh, & they said to expect something big as far as Ouran Host Club goes real soon! Vic Mignogna said at one of his panels said he'd love to play Tamaki, so who knows, maybe he got the role.

Finally, both ADV & Viz were no-shows. ADV was announced right away that they wouldn't be showing up, but apparently Viz didn't say anything & the audience was just sitting there waiting for a half-hour before they took over the panel & put on their own discussion. Luckily I missed out on the waiting for Viz, since after the ADV panel ended & I went out to take a break, some bad news came up that left me running around the entire convention (don't worry, everything came up all right in the end). I caught the tail end of the "fan-panel" though, which was actually quite hilarious. A friend of mine even stuck around for the whole thing. =b & that's the ACen news for 2008! Till next year~!

So yeah, it's been pretty slow around here these past few days because I've been rocking out at Anime Central all weekend (finally got to meet Gia!). & today once ACen ends, I'll be heading directly to the airport to go to Florida for a week. So continue to expect limited updates (if any at all) over the next few days. Don't miss me too much now. Till then!

I totally pwned God Len in DS Tetris. =b That is all. Sleeeep....

http://www.japanator.com/

Halcali wasn't the only guest announced this week for Anime Central. Three formal Power Rangers will also be appearing at the convention this May- Jason David Frank (Tommy), Steve Cardenas (Rocky), & Karan Ashley (Aisha). Anime & sentai action are close enough in the fandom, so I can see the connection. Not to mention I know a lot of people who are still Ranger fans to this day. & while I stopped following Power Rangers closely after "In Space" (although Time Force & Ninja Storm were both good), my inner child is quite happy about this news.

The only thing we need now is the still awesome Johnny Yong Bosch to appear with his fellow old Rangers as well. Come on Johnny, you even appeared at the same time as Rocky & Aisha! Not to mention your Trigun buddy Jeff Nimoy will be there as well. You have to come!

Source: http://www.acen.org/index.php?categoryid=9&p2_articleid=45

Anime Central is upon us again! The big anime convention (& the only one I attend every year) is 4 months away, & they've already started announcing some big guests. On the music side of things, ACen has landed the singing duo Halcali to perform at the convention. Among their many songs include a few anime themes, such as the Eureka 7 ending song "Tip Taps Tip" (the video above) & the Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z ending song "Look" (the video below). They'll be releasing their first American CD right around the same time as their appearance at ACen, perfect for getting autographed.

Source: http://www.acen.org/index.php?categoryid=9&p2_articleid=46

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It's about time I gave a "brief" report on the happenings at Anime Central 2007, the 10th anniversary of ACen. This is about various different interesting panels that I observed & other fun activities. If you're looking for reports on the industry panels, you can find those here. So let's get started.

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I'm still working on my personal report on Anime Central from over the weekend, but in the meantime you can check out Anime News Networks coverage of the industry panels from the convention. For now I'll just say that ACen was a total blast as usual. =) But check out ANN's news, including new licensing announcements, here:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2007/anime-central

Some more news has come forth for Anime Central this weekend. Very surprising & exciting news at that, especially for NebsTV shows Yu-Gi-Oh GX & Haruhi (as well as older shows like FullMetal Alchemist & Evangelion). GX & Haruhi both mentioned in a single post? It's as crazy a mishmash as the above video!

It turns out that this Friday, the first day of the convention, there will be a 2-hour panel entitled "Yu-Gi-Oh GX is Not Just for 12 Years Old." Needless to say, I'll be there & will try to cover it in some way or another. XD The trouble is I don't know if I'll be able to stay for all of it since there's so much other cool things going on at the same time (Trigun panel with the creators, High & Mighty Color live concert (BLEACH!), playing the Nintendo Wii with the guests, shoujo-ai panel, Kirk Thornton panel, Shinichi Watanabe autograph session, ...). But we'll see what happens.

The ASOS website, which has gone over another makeover, announced that some of the staff behind Haruhi will be at ACen as well. According to the site, Producer Otsuka may also have interesting thing to show you at panel. Speaking of interesting Haruhi things, check out this awesome AMV for the hit Nebs TV series (spoiler warning for those who haven't seen the end of the series yet):

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