The Pain of the Importer
If you order something from Amiami, the biggest online dealer of Japanese toys, from outside of Japan, they'll be glad to send it over. They'll also send you a very polite little note thanking
A Dissection of the Media Blasters DVD Table At The Average Dealer's Room
Depending on whether you ask Media Blasters or the State of New York, Media Blasters is a US anime distributor which may or may not still exist.
Cultural Mismatches and the Story of Nymphet (Kodomo no Jikan)
What can't you try and sell American anime/manga fans? Note I'm not asking what American otaku aren't willing to buy: that's actually a long list, one with “anything that looks old” at the top.
Totally Unexpected, Not Kids' Stuff
At the start of many DVDs from the now-sort-of-defunct ADV Films, a promotional video would play that explained the question “What is anime?”.
The American Anime Fan Lexicon - “Glomp”
Let's explain another word that came out of American anime fans. Unfortunately I don't have a first-person account of the creation of the word “glomp”,
“Original English Language” Manga – You Have To Call It MANGA, Okay?
The fact that American otaku specifically use the words “anime” and “manga” for Japanese cartoons and comics-- and for nothing else-- has led to weird conflicts over the years.
“That's Not Anime!”, It's The Real Thing - What ISN'T Anime to American Otaku?
Alright, I've told you how to make fun of American otaku, now I'm going to tell you how to make a lot of them mad. What can I say? When you write about anime
In NYC, Sakura Matsuri is an Otaku Event
This past weekend the Brooklyn Botanical Garden had Sakura Matsuri, which I likely don't need to explain to you. However, viewing the cherry blossoms is a bit of a different situation here.
Followup on “Enter The Anime Rave” - Not As Bad As We Thought
I wanted to come back to this distasteful story, because there are only so many developing stories in the world of American otaku right now.
The Impact of Voltron
This column was a long time coming. If you ask any young American person of my generation about the word “Voltron” they'll probably get nostalgic, and then perhaps excited.
Skullgirls, the American “Anime Game”
American fighting game players very widely use the term “anime game”. It's all but official terminology! When we do so, we're talking about a very particular sort of game in the genre: games descended from Darkstalkers (Vampire),
The Masquerade
Let's talk about one more event that leads to lines around the convention center. There's the rave, there's the concert,
The American Otaku and Japan-- with Peepo Choo
I noticed Felipe Smith's Peepo Choo on the front page of animeanime back when I started with this column, and I was curious what a Japanese audience would think of a comic that takes so much
The American Anime Fan Lexicon - “Weeaboo”
A friend of mine doesn't like to talk about it, but he singlehandedly put the word “weeaboo” into regular usage among American anime fans.
Japanese Video Prices: “I'm Sorry, Great Five!”
A friend of mine-- I'll withhold his name to protect his identity-- has an otaku secret that he doesn't want his buddies to know about.
Trading Tapes In A Dark Room
The earliest American anime fans were people at science fiction conventions watching tapes untranslated: if they were lucky there was a translated script in their hands, or
American Anime Fans and “100% Authenticity”
Years ago I briefly dated a Japanese-American otaku girl who very sincerely asked me, “Dave, am I Japanese enough for you?” The question was
“Dude, The Cops Raided Anime Boston” – Enter The Anime Rave
And so it was that at two in the morning during a round of Dodonpachi with a friend, I found out that Anime Boston had been shut down by the police.
