We discuss San Diego Comic Con International 2019

Special episode discussing SDCC2018 The bag I discuss

You might have noticed the site looks a little different. It will continue to change slightly as we update things and add graphics. We decided to launch the new look incomplete so that we could get feedback as it’s being put together. Let us know what you think.

What’s this business? Is something no one in their right mind would ever say unless they’d recently suffered a head injury after entering a Big Lots(the business is keeping people from noticing they’re in a Big Lots). This wouldn’t be something you would ask of Sailor Business. Not to be confused with Business Sailor, a meme that failed to gain traction after the popularity of Business Hotdog and Cheez Face McGee. Our very own Vanessa did a guest spot over at Sailor Business. They are a podcast dedicated to episode by episode discussion of the original run of Sailor Moon. In preparation of this, Vanessa watched a couple episodes with … Continue reading "Sailor Business Guest Spot"

Here are the photos from Animeland Wasabi 2015. I’ll be adding some of E’s to it later. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.902575569802049.1073741828.883192405073699&type=1&l=db1bb94787

Weltall and E report on Animeland Wasabi 2015. We had a good time but… Listen to find out. All our pictures from the con can be found at our facebook page…(Pictures still uploading) Links: Coming soon Check back to this page for links in the next days

Animeland Wasabi is coming this weekend February 27 through March 1, and is Hosted by SUKOSHI CON. We will be there, will you? We are expecting a great time with lots of great events and guests. Check out their Facebook page here. Check out some of the video from last years wasabi:

NDK 2014 our thought and views.

Here is a not so short episode were Tim the Enchanter sits down with Vanessa and they discuss how the convention went for them.

We are back and discuss the last day and wrap up 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International. All the pictures are up on our facebook page here.

We were sober this time…

Go back and check out the new pictures added to our album on facebook.

Hopefully we won’t have to re record this…

We have some of the pictures so far from San Diego Comic-Con up on our facebook page go check them out.

Here we are at day one.

Here is a short episode were Weltall sits down with E and they discuss how the convention went for them.

We Discuss Denver Comic Con 2014. This is the first of a few shows about the convention. To enter into the Dice Ring giveaway from CritSuccess comment on this episode and we will pick one comment to win. Pictures from the Convention

THE ANIMELAND WASABI MAID CAFE WAS WONDERFUL~~!!!! It was kind of unexpected, but it ended up being one of the highlights of the weekend for me! Silly me, I didn’t think much of it when I saw they were having this on the website, but I’m glad I changed my mind and dragged Weltall in with me. Adorable maids and charming butlers entertained us throughout our session with games, jokes, and dancing. They served us onigiri and omurice (on which a maid kindly drew a picture in ketchup for me) with delicious green-tea roll cakes and fruit tarts or parfaits for dessert. Not to be biased or anything, but I … Continue reading "E & Weltall's Super Awesome Maid Café Adventure @animeland Wasabi 2014"

Originally, we were only scheduled to have an interview with Laura Post. Lucky for us, she brought along some friends of hers, who just happened to also be guests! So we sat down for a nice little chat with Laura (Ahri in League of Legends, Rosalia in Sword Art Online), Lisle Wilkerson (Tekken, Street Fighter), and Julie Rei Goldstein (Risai in Paradise Kiss and Precia Testarossa in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha). These three ladies were a blast to talk with! They talked to us, not as guests, but as peers. They were all fans of animation, just like you or I, before they ended up working in the industry. The … Continue reading "Laura Post, Lisle Wilkerson & Julie Rei Goldstein @animeland Wasabi 2014"

E here! No lie– this was one of my favorite parts of Animeland Wasabi. Walking through the dining area, I heard the faint serenade of the Tetris theme. I grabbed Weltall and drug him through the crowd to the piano to get a closer look. The guy at the piano looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place his face. Then I saw the yellow feather tucked behind his ear, and I realized!! “Oh! It’s that Chocobo guy!” We pulled out our cameras and started recording this fella hammering on the piano. People gathered around to listen. Attendees walked by with a smile on their face as Warky dished out … Continue reading "Warky's Impromptu Performance @ Animeland Wasabi 2014"

Matthew G Gray is a very interesting man. He does special effects make up and cakes. Both are really cool. Matthew has been doing special effects makeup over two decades per the Animeland Wasabi site has ties to Face Off, WETA Workshop, and the make-up contacts at Doctor Who. He is well known for his Star Trek makeup especially his original Klingon; though we also saw him walking around Sunday in something quite awesome and quite detailed. As for his cakes, well he talks some about them in the interview including a kraken destroying a ship but he has done other cakes with moving parts. You will find his official … Continue reading "Matthew G. Gray @ Animeland Wasabi 2014"

Weltall and I dropped by Animeland Wasabi for an easygoing weekend of nerdy fun! We interviewed some fantastic guests, photographed some crazy-awesome costumes, dined in a maid cafe, and spent altogether too much money in the dealer’s room. (Oh wait, that was just me…) Here’s a few of the videos that should be coming out over the next week or so on our coverage of Animeland Wasabi: Interviews -David Vincent -Matthew G. Gray -Erica Schroeder (audio only- will be available for download at www.anime-pulse.com or in the iTunes store) -Eric Wile -Press conference with Angel Anatomy, Warky T. Chocobo, Erica Schroeder, Danielle McRae, and Uncle Yo -Group interview with Laura … Continue reading "Animeland Wasabi 2014 Sneak Peek"

Please head on over to PodCastAwards.com and vote for us. * Each Person / IP will be allowed to vote "once a day". * A verification e-mail with clickable link will be e-mailed to you so that you will have to verify the vote. * Voting is going to last 15 days and in all circumstances will end at 2359 HST on the published last day of voting. * 100% e-mail verification of all votes will take place, failure to click on a vote will result in no vote being placed. * Non verification of votes is not contestable it is the voters responsibility to insure that the e-mail address provided is valid.

I just wanted to let all of our listeners know that Tim and Myself will be taking over the administration of Anime-Pulse.com. If you would like to contact Ichigo you will need to email him directly at Ichigo@anime-pulse.com. Thank you Weltall

Here is our official wrap up of con coverage. Don’t worry we will be talking about it on shows to come and of course the video will be coming out over the next few days to weeks. We will be giving away swag and such on the next few regular episodes.

This is a short clip of one of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's panels from San Diego Comic Con 2013. Please support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund they are constantly fighting for our rights. http://cbldf.org/

It's day three and I feel like a guard who can't adventure anymore. Seriously it's pretty pathetic I was using the camera tripod as a walking staff. Getting old sucks, but Comic Con is awesome. Listen in to find out why.

The alcohol is making it hard to write anything witty or important here. So listen in and enjoy.

It's day one of SDCC and things are hot. Listen in to hear how it's going and what we thought of it so far.

Ouran interviews Trina Nishimura who is known for her work as Capella Titis in Birdy the Mighty: Decode, Lan Fan in FMA: Brotherhood, and Mizune in Soul Eater. Listen in and enjoy.

After a grueling afternoon of sitting around Con-Ops, I manage to snag an interview with Kyle Hebert who is known for his voice acting as Aizen in Bleach, the Narrator in DBZ, and Kamina in Gurren Lagann. Hope you enjoy.

During this panel recorded at Tora-Con 2012, Trina Nishimura, Kyle Hebert, Caitlin Glass, and J. Michael Tatum talk about FullMetal Alchemist and voice acting in general. Listen and enjoy.

This year was great as always. I'll update this with relevant info as I find it, such as the artist in the dealers room that we always talk about. Listen in to hear about this year's NDK and hear some great con advise.

Geth and Ouran interview Brina Palencia. She is known for her roles as Holo in Spice & Wolf, Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece, and Miso in Duke Nukem Forever. Ouran, Geth, and Brina talk about her time as a voice actor, and about her new web series.

Ouran and Geth talk to the lovely ladies who founded Onmyodo Shoes. They talk about the unfortunate closing of Onmyodo, and what may happen in the future. Enjoy the high energy, and the background noise that the dealer's room provides.

Alex, Geth, and Ouran wrap up their time at Otakon 2012. They talk about the wonders of press badges, cosplay photo shoots, and yummiful pie.

The title says it all, here be pictures from Fan Pulse’s time at Otakon in Baltimore, Maryland. Enjoy the amazing costumes. The audio coverage and interviews will be out soon. https://picasaweb.google.com/107809797163363817725/Otakon12

Alex, Geth, and Ouran talk about Thursday and Friday of Otakon 2012. They talk about what they did, the lines that they did and didn't stand in, and continue the tradition of randomness that is Fan Pulse.

This is our talk about our last day at Comic Con and we overview the whole convention. We also give our tips for cons and traveling.

It's the Second official day of Comic Con and things are heating up. Well for us anyways, the Enchanter is on fire, I think I should take care of that. If you aren't already following the con from my twitter feed you might want to start. @AP_Weltall

Day 1 is here, and SDCC is officially started. If you are following me on twitter, @AP_Weltall you already know some of todays events. Listen in to get the juicy details of this years con.

Here is our first report from SDCC 2012.

That's right it's out and available for purchase. http://www.rifftrax.com/iriffs/aggro-pulse-dragonball-evolution

Congratulations to premium subscribers dragonofthewest and Zoneykid! They were the winners of the two tickets that we were giving away for AX 2012.

On this very short bit of con coverage I talk about what I got up to at Tora-Con. Sadly tiredness got the better of me, thus the shortness. Listen in to find out what other exciting things I'll be releasing in the near future!!

Hi Everyone, There wasn't a new AP episode last week, and there won't be one for the next couple weeks either. The reason? My wife gave birth to my son last Friday. So welcome the son of Ichigo :-)

Anime might seem an entirely different world from online roulette games on the surface but more and more casino and gambling themes are popping up in anime, including several series where gambling plays a very central role. Chalk it up to basic human nature and a penchant for taking a risk and trusting in fate and fortune to provide, but it's very likely that we'll continue to see various anime incorporate a wide range of gambling themes, especially since it appeals to the same young, hip audience that gravitates to anime and manga.

The New York Anime Festival and New York Comic Con 2011 was October 14-16 this year at the Javits Center. The attendance was up significantly compared to previous years. This year might have had the largest attendance in the past 4 years.

Here is the Enchanter, Weltall and peoples another news outlets interviewing Yutaka Yamamoto at NDK 2011.

Here is the Enchanter and Weltall interviewing Patrick Seitz at NDK 2011.

We, well Weltall and other people from the press, Interview Vic Mignogna at NDK 2011.

So we did this a very long time ago, and some how it never go put up on iRiff so here it is to purchase. If you are a subscriber it’s been available for quite some time… http://www.rifftrax.com/iriffs/aggro-pulse-ninja-scroll

We headed on over to Nan Desu Kan and brought you this amazing special. Also coming soon, interviews with peoples. Who are they? well I guess in the next few days you'll find out; of if you listen to the con coverage... Pictures of the event can be found at: https://picasaweb.google.com/Weltall42/NDK2011 NDK official Page: http://ndkdenver.org/

If you're a fan of slash fanfic, or just want to hear Goku kick Hitler's ass, then head over to Pamachu Productions to hear a voice acting collaborative fanfic with appearances by yours truly. http://pamachu-productions.blogspot.com/

It’s our Wrap Up were we discuss everting that happen.

Guess what day it is now…

It’s day one, and we are tired. But we do a short recap of the day for you guys.

Now available...

Thanks to Rangiku, our East Coast Correspondent, we have the photos from Anime Boston up on the web, you can view them here.

So as many of you have seen on the TV or the internet, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit about 80 miles off the coast of Sendai, Japan. Over the following 3 hours about 13 6+ magnitude aftershocks also hit. Sendai was hit by a catastrophic tsunami, Tokyo ground to a halt, lots of chaos. I just wanted to let you all know that I am fine, my wife and the rest of my family and friends in Osaka and Tokyo are all ok. Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and queries via email and twitter.

Just a quick announcement, I’ve finally decided to start tweeting, on the twitter. But someone camped on the “animepulse” id, so if you’re that guy email me. You can follow me at “AP_Ichigo”. Have a happy new year.

Digital Manga Publishing is trying something crazy. They will be starting Digital Manga Guild, it's a community that will allow anyone with the skills needed to help translate, edit and letter thousands of previously untranslated manga. You will even get paid for your work, as they will be selling them digitally, that's right Digitally. Go check it out and listen to their CEO say the words himself.

My wife and I at Kasuga Taisha (春日大社). Married on 09/19/2010.

Weltall and Tim the Enchanter are in SDCC this is episode 2 of 2, recorded live at comic con. It's the exciting conclusion...

Our three shows have been reviewed over at Podcast Squared and it includes an interview with yours truly. Andrew, the host, makes some good points about all the shows, so go check it out.

New shirts, see the original post for details.

Available now at our store.

Today was slim pickings, but there’s some quality ones. Funny Girls Funny Girls Wilder Invitation girls PEACH&CREAM LOVE SOMEONE DOWN PEACH&CREAM IT IS POSSIBLE IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE TERRIBLE We play together so as to always forget time. We are very happy. Because we compete every day, a level of all rises steadily.

This is the kind of healing I need. If only it was payday 🙂

I’m sad today. I got a lot of shirts, but no ElJohn. I guess it was too good to last. Well, enjoy your dose of good times. BAD BOY Make your move Dominating the …. BAD BOY LOS ANGELES 1982 EVERY OUNCE OF SWEAT We’ll see you out there CREATING A NEW WORLD ORDER, BREAKING THE MOLD Never out of style, never boring, no doubts, wear it case you want to CREATING A NEW WORLD ORDER, BREAKING THE MOLD Peace & Laugh Peace & Laugh 1973 CATCH THE DREAM A FINE WAY WHERE TOO PeacesWorld One only beautiful ligh was found IMPORTANT THING FOUND IN THIS WORLD Have a lovely … Continue reading "Engrish Shirts #4"

Today was a slow day, but it wouldn’t be complete without another ElJohn (seriously, do they love him here or what?). On the plus side, one of the kids said “what, are you going to put this in a blog or something?” to which I replied “Of course not, I’m just going to show it to some friends” (all 300 billion of them on the internet :D) ELJOHN!!! (and I don’t understand their capitalization logic) Left Side: ELJOHN EJ Serenity Of Mind Becoming A Person Who Is Identified With the clouds In The Sky And The Stream Below Right Side: FULL-BLOWN ELJOHN DIGNITY 58 flux and reflux of the tides … Continue reading "Engrish Shirts #3"

Have you had your creepy dose of mannequins today? If not I’ve got you covered. What’s wrong with their heads?

I’m back, with a full load of pics, and not blurry like yesterdays. Here we go. Hope you like these as much as I do. The best part is explaining why I want to take pictures of their shirts. Where’s spellcheck when you need it? ANGEL POTATO CUTE GIRL AGEL POTATO CUTE GIRL Really? Free Accuracy? FREE ACCURACY MORALE SERIOUSNESS ’85 PROSPECT When one feels a man… Feeling of a presence. Grace Emblem When one feels a man, it’s the moment to make the biggest decision in life. Huh? Is it trying to say attack Heaven? 736 DYNAMITE HEAVEN NEW-YORK CLOSE END TEXAS The colors make me hurt Sweet and … Continue reading "Engrish Shirts #2"

Armed with a new camera that can withstand the brunt of energetic kids (the Olympus Stylus-8000 Tough), I bring you the first pictures of fun Engrish shirts. A bit deeper than I expect when I think “Airwalk”, but I guess it ties in. AIRWALK A DAILY DOSE OF FREEDOM inner peace and enlightenment can only be achieved after there are no places left on your body to bruise Airwalk A DAILY DOSE OF FREEDOM when this happens, take a moment to look down, and realize you’ve found the ground whether you’re ready or not upon the attempt to transcend the metaphysical one can easily get lost alone One word… “ElJohn”? … Continue reading "Engrish Shirts #1"

If you have purchased the app in the past you can now upgrade to v1.1.1. One of the key new features is the addition of Resume Playback. The app now keeps track of where you are in an episode, so if you get a call or quit out of the app while playing (other than hitting the done button) the app will take you back to where you were the next time you open it up or after the call ends. The new version also improves stability and load times. Don’t forget about all the other benefits you get by purchasing the app – such as special bonus content, ease … Continue reading "iPhone App Updated"

I want to give a big thanks to everyone who's bought our iPhone App so far. Our app is currently on the front page of the iTunes App Store under the Staff Picks section so apparently someone at Apple likes it too. If you haven't checked it out yet and own an iPhone or iPod Touch, go and get it now!

Denver’s premiere anime convention celebrates 13th anniversary DENVER, COLORADO – AUGUST 22, 2009 — Nan Desu Kan (NDK), Denver’s premier anime convention, will return Sept. 11-13 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center. For thirteen years NDK has celebrated Japanese animation, music and culture. This year, NDK continues its tradition of bringing acclaimed guests directly to the fans, welcoming voice actors Aaron Dismuke (Fullmetal Alchemist, Trinity Blood), Todd Haberkorn (Claymore, Suzuka), Michael McConnohie (Disgaea, Transformers, World of Warcraft), Melodee Spevack (Digimon, Ergo Proxy, Star Trek: Enterprise), and Cristina Vee (Izo, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Rozen Maiden). Returning guests include industry veterans Robert and Emily DeJeasus (Studio Capsule), as well as Jason … Continue reading "Nan Desu Kan Announces 2009 Guests"

For episode 200 I am planning to do something similar to our 1-year anniversary show and put together a best-of set of clips from the past 4 years. So what I need from all of you is to think of your favorite moments. If you want to contribute to this show (and get your handle in the show notes) then go here and post your ideas. It’s been a great 4 years, so let’s see what you can come up with.

So, I spent some time with the Gundam. We got up close and personal, I hesitate to call it a "thing", but there was a connection there. I approached slowly.

Alright, I'm back, unpacked, and ready to talk about Comiket. I'm sure you've already heard, but this was a record attendance event. Over 560,000 over the three days. Talk about crazy. Since I've already talked about Day 1 in my previous post, let's talk about Day 2. First off, after finally getting a chance to go through the Catalog, I have a better feel for the event. Day 1 appears to be a lot of Yaoi stuff, Day 2 is a lot of Game/Videos and Day 3 is a lot of the male-oriented doujin. Of course, every day has lots of doujin, but that's the emphasis. So, plan in hand, I was ready.

So I just got back from Comiket 76, Day 1. It was a wild time. I left the hotel just after 8am, got to the Rinkai line, Kokusai-Tenjijou station around 8:45 or so. The crowds weren't bad until I saw the actual line. Then I followed the traffic around to the end of the line, almost a kilometer away!

I just wanted to share some pictures from Comic Con 2009 with everyone. Click Here

Ok I know it was a while ago, but I realized I never put up any of the pictures from it. So if you guys want to check it out go here

That's right it's out and available for purchase. http://www.rifftrax.com/iriffs/aggro-pulse-speed-racer

Don't get so excited, it's not out... yet. But we do have the sample video up for you to see. Final editing is almost finished and it should be available for purchase, within days; assuming no hard drive crashes or anything. The sample can be seen here.

So I just got my notification in the mail. I took the level 2 JLPT test on December 7th and passed! I passed by the skin on my teeth, but I still passed. The passing level was 240 out of 400 and I passed with 272. I thought you had to pass each section, but apparently you only had to pass on the total score. My reading/grammer score was 5 points below the 60% cutoff, but I still passed.

That's right the long awaited Porco Rosso Aggro Pulse is out and available for purchase at RiffTrax

Wonder what you're missing as a non-subscriber? It's lots of wackiness. Here is the first of more (maybe) chatlogs from our ventrilo server before and during the recording of the shows. Next time I will have timestamps, but this time just know that it's about three hours of chat, starting 50 minutes prior to the start of theO show and going through the end of the AP show. Let me know if you enjoy this. If not I won't do it again. Read it as you're listening, maybe you'll be able to figure out where things happen, next time I will do the time stamps, as well as mark where shows start and end.

Hi everybody, let me start off by saying that it’s good to be back, and even better that I don’t have to try and reconstruct any data. So on the 6th I got this email from our hosting company We will be performing a hardware upgrade on all of our nodes in our current Dallas location on Friday November 7, 2008. The upgrade window will take place from 1:00AM-3:00AM EST. During this time your server will be unavailable for up to 45 minutes. I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed that the server was down when I checked at 9 AM Friday. I sent a support ticket and … Continue reading "So… the site was down for a few days"

So I went to my first movie in Japan. What was interesting about it was how much was similar and how much was just different enough. The theater I went to was the Warner Brothers "Mycal" theater in the Aeon shopping center just down the street, a mile or so away. This was a 10 screen theater or so, and had a lot of movies playing. Of course, the big American ones had opened, Mummy 3, Hancock, Dark Knight, with Wanted opening in a couple days. I decided to go and see Sky Crawlers, the new Mamoru Oshii film.

Sorry it's been a while since I posted details of my travels. I was down on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea (the name of the straight that runs between the islands of Honshu and Shikoku) for a week with no computer. Then after a day trip to Iga it was time for my first week of work, and I immediately proceeded to get sick and spent pretty much any time not at work in bed. I'm better now, and finally feel up to doing some blogging.

So earlier this week I decided to treat myself and went out to Hakone, where I visited a spa that was recommended to me by Kaitar. It was a complex with areas called Yunnesun and Mori no Yu. Yunnesun consisted of the title area and Yutopia. Yu means hot water, so it's both accurate and a pun, classic Japanese humor.

Last Friday and Saturday I hung out with Rowensage from the forums. We went around Odaiba and Ueno. First, on the way to Odaiba I shot a picture of Hachiko, the ever faithful dog outside of Shibuya station.

After my last day in Kyoto I caught the Hikari shinkansen to Shin-Osaka (New Osaka) station. There my friend Mori-san picked me up and drove me to his house in Kashiwara-shi, which is a city to the SE of Osaka. It’s about 30 minutes by car, and right on the Yamatoji line that runs between Osaka and Nara. His parents Ryo and Toyoko are very nice people. Ryo knows a decent amount of English, and they both speak clearly enough that I don’t have trouble understanding their Kansai-ben. Then Mori-san’s friend Kazumi-kun came over, and the three of us went out for Okonomiyaki and then to Karaoke. I’ve discovered why … Continue reading "Osaka and Nara wanderings"

Hi everyone. Sorry it’s been a few days since my last post. I’ve been busy all day and either too tired or no internet at night. I’m posting this from my friend Mori-san’s laptop in Osaka before I head out to Nara this morning. Ok, where to start. On the 12th I headed out from Asakusa to Kyoto. I caught the Hikari Shinkansen (bullet train) down to Kyoto. It was about a 2:30 trip, and very nice. I actually talked for the whole time to a guy named Hide-san who was originally from Chiba but had lived in the states for 18 years, currently in Chicago. After arriving in Kyoto … Continue reading "Kyoto wanderings"

Note, some of these are things I already knew, but now have first-hand experience. If this is what I know from four days, imagine what I’ll know after three months. The gaijin zone/force-field. Oh yeah baby. No one will make eye contact, but they’ll stare at you. And few will talk to you. Luckily I’m only barely over the average male height, so I’m not the giant in the street. Police don’t patrol the streets, except in Akihabara (since the truck/knife attack last month), where they’re on every other street corner. At least two, usually three. If you’re in a department store, even if all the sections on a floor … Continue reading "Things I've learned in my first four days in Japan"

Welcome to the AP news team Fazman. He is our first non-host member of the news team and will be posting Japan and Industry related news. Join me in welcoming him.

Full day #2. I decided to spent more time in Akihabara this time. So I headed over there in the morning. I spent a lot of time just browsing the stores, played a bit more of the Gundam game. I have decided that yesterday must have been a fluke, because this time I got my ass handed to me. Instead of being the top out of both teams, I was near the bottom this time. Plus I was against people with much more advanced mechs, either they had played a lot more or had paid a lot more. I found a great CD called CROSSFIRE BARRAGE by CROW’SCLAW which I’m … Continue reading "Tokyo Wanderings #2"

After getting settled into my hotel, I went out to find some food in Ikebukuro. I found this great little nook of a noodle shop. I was advertised as a Ramen place, but I ordered the Mori Yasai (もり野菜) which was pretty interesting. It was a thicker noodle closer to soba. They gave me a bowl full of cold noodles, and a bowl full of broth with veggies in it. I put the noodles in the broth and then ate them up. Tasty. Add to that the 600 Yen (around $6) Asahi beer which was a 633ml bottle (that's a lot of beer for $6), and I was satisfied. The meal was 800 Yen, so the whole night was $14. I strolled through a Pachinko parlor, but I was too tired to figure out where to get balls to start playing, I'll work on that another day.

I’m currently sitting in my tiny hotel room in Ikebukuro, having been up over 24 hours, checking email and watching the “Wall Crash” game show on tv. I’m going to get some food, take a bath and then go to sleep. I’ll try to have some pictures for you all tomorrow after I stroll around Tokyo a bit.

As you can see, I put together a new layout with a new mascot character that we commissioned from Jason and Heather from ArtPlayMix.com. I hope you like it and let us know of any bugs you find.

Ok, ok. I know, I'm way behind on these updates. All I can say is sorry and jump right into it. After NYC, we went to Philadelphia to see the birthplace of the nation, and visit Marajsky. First off, the Liberty Bell.

Well, since I’m being harangued by my listeners, here is my overdue first post on my travels around the states. First step was moving out. I had a lot of stuff to sell. I was able to sell a lot of it, and then donated what they would take and threw the rest away. All my remaining possessions (including my motorcycle) was stored in a 10’x10′ storage unit. It was both sad and liberating. The day after I left my townhouse I flew out to Rochester, NY. I stayed with my friend Darren and his wife Kelly in Batavia, NY. I hung out around town for a day, and then … Continue reading "Ichigo's Travels Part 1: Moving out through New York City"

So I’ve moved over to a new server, hopefully we’ll all see a real increase in performance. If you encounter any other problems please leave a comment here about it so I can get on it. Thanks, Ichigo

Well, the weekend is over, and so is StarFest 2008, Denver, CO. I was flying solo this weekend, as my co-host had to work. So since my car isn't running, and I didn't feel like riding my motorcycle 50 miles each way each day (Max had some teeth out, so I had to come back at night to give him his meds), I hitched a ride with Jason and Heather Martin from ArtPlayMix.com. Getting in was no problem. I went up and told them who I was, the lady looked, unsuccessfully, for a list of press people, gave up and just gave me the worth-more-than-it-weighs-in-gold "All Access" badge, and I was on my way. Turns out Anime Pulse drove the most traffic to the StarFest site out of any sites doing banner ads for them. Since I "won", they gave me two free autograph/photograph tickets, which I immediately used for Adam Baldwin (see pic below.. Oh Yeah!).

Sakura-con 2008 Day 2 started off well. I had breakfast with a friend who lives in Seattle while Batou slept in. Then we went and caught some of Yutaka Izubuchi’s Q&A panel. After that we went to theOtaku.com meetup. A funny thing happened on the way to the meetup. Batou and I grabbed a snack in the lobby of the convention center. While we were eating he finished his sandwich and said he was going to see if he could figure out where a store where he could buy a tripod (he forgot his at home). So he walks 10 feet away to the information center. Someguy walks up just … Continue reading "Sakura-con 2008: Days 2&3 summary"

So Batou and I didn’t get into Sakura-con until 2pm because our plane was delayed out of Denver for two hours, and then the shuttle driver skipped our stop. Idiot. Anyways, we got there in time to catch some of Penny Arcade’s panel. Then we spent some time getting a feel for the center and going through the Exhibition hall. There is a really good selection of stuff here, especially if you want swords or cat ears for some reason. Then we met up with Someguy, MissAnonymous and friends for a quick snack, as we hadn’t eaten since basically 8am Pacific time. We snapped some cosplay photos, took a quick … Continue reading "Sakura-con 2008: Day 1 summary"

Well, Anime Wasabi 2008 has come and gone. I had a good time, and here is the run down. Friday afternoon/evening was pretty quiet. It started off a bit disorganized, with some of the early panels not happening, no schedules, etc. But people were showing up, the artists were there, and the mood was friendly and mellow. Later in the evening the panels got better, Jan Scott-Frazier’s panel was a lot of fun, check out the audio in the previous post. Saturday was a lot busier. Many more people showed up, I estimate between 750-1000. There were some good panels, including Kyle Hebert’s Dubbing 101 panel, the artist’s alley was … Continue reading "Anime Wasabi 2008: Recap"

NDK started off pretty good. No real programming until 5:30, but we had some great Taiko drummers to launch us off. After that we had opening ceremonies, followed by a Madhouse panel/Q&A and then rounding out the evening with a concert by Lisa Furukawa. All in all it was a great day. Below is links to pictures from the various events as well as some short videos of the Taiko drummers. Mirai Daiko Opening Ceremonies Madhouse Lisa Furukawa Taiko Drummer Videos

Hey guys, Just wanted to let you know that I was invited to sit in on a show of Podtoid-san over at Japanator. You can check it out here.

Anime Pulse is on the slate for the People’s Choice award and the best Arts/Cultural award. Voting starts on 7/28 and ends 8/11. You can vote once per day. Votes will be confirmed via email, so be sure to use a valid email that you check regularly. Thanks!

Here is the promo video for Anime Expo 2007, enjoy the show.

Here is the explanation of the recent downtime. Mind of Ichigo

We’ve created a donation fund to help theOtaku.com purchase the prizes promised by AnimeFF. See the below link for all the details. Every bit helps. Thanks, http://www.anime-pulse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3708

theOtaku.com is having pretty much the coolest Anime art competition I have ever seen. As part of the AnimeFF convention in Mid-Jan in Vegas, theOtaku.com is doing an art competition that will have as prizes: 2 PS3s 6 Wiis Check it out here!

RightStuf International has just announced a new sale through October 8th in which you can save 40% off on many Bandai titles and boxsets. Check it out at the above link, just click on the “SKY-SURF” button on the top right of their home page. Don’t forget to use the coupon “SKYSURF” when checking out for the discounts!

Illumitoon Entertainment, Ltd. announced today that it will be utilizing Westlake Entertainment Inc. for home video distribution on its new acquisitions, including “Beet the Vandel Buster†and “AM Driver.†The announcement comes on the heels of Westlake Entertainment’s announcement of the company’s repositioning in the marketplace to release first-run features, including theatrical and new title acquisitions in other key core categories.

Anime Pulse has brought home the gold for best “Cultural/Arts” podcast in 2006! Thanks to all of you for your support, for without our fans this wouldn’t have been possible. Podcast Awards Site

It’s official. Piano “Michael Gluck” Squall will be coming to Nan Desu Kan 2006 in Denver. His concert will be on Saturday October 7th in the Main Events. The time is yet to be determined. Everyone celebrate! http://www.pianosquall.com

Details of CLAMP Autographing Sessions Announced Famous Japanese Artists Scheduled to Appear at Anime Expo 2006 New York, NY (June 21, 2006) Manga superstars CLAMP announced last month that they would be making their first-ever U.S. public appearance at Anime Expo held in Anaheim, California, July 1 to July 4. For manga and anime fans in the United States and throughout the world, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this influential group. The visit is being co-sponsored by Anime Expo, Del Rey Manga and Funimation Entertainment. Details on CLAMP’s two autographing sessions at Anime Expo are as follows: Attendees at CLAMP’s panel on 2 PM Saturday … Continue reading "AX CLAMP Autograph Details"

Hey everyone. Just thought I’ll shoot an FYI that we got a section in Scott Green’s column AnimeAICN. Here is the link to the article. http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23583

Hey everybody. Our very own East Coast Correspondent has her own blog. Check it out to see what she has to say and see pictures from her various endeavors.