James Rasmussen: July 2010 Archives

Crunchyroll - The anime streaming website crunchyroll.com announced a partnership in Adobe's Mobile Flash program that will enable flash content support for Android mobile devices, and possible video game console support as well. A preview of what's to come is up on m.crunchyroll.com I tried it out myself with my Droid with the Skyfire browser and it worked great!

Bandai - Their biggest news was the licensing of the first season of K-ON!  The slice of life show is currently in it's second season in Japan, and has a devoted following. In other news both Gurren Lagann movies, will be on sale by the end of the month in their online store.

Funimation - has gotten the rights to the new Trigun movie "Trigun: Badlands Rumble," which had the trailer premier at last years AX which can be seen here. The 3rd season of Black Lagoon which will be an OVA was also announced, as well as Hellsing Ultimate chapters 5-7.

I have to give Aniplex some serious props for flying out Katsuyuki Konishi for an audience Q&A panel and to host "Gurren Lagann Night," he got the crowd all pumped up with nothing but his voice. Konishi hosted the event that sandwiched a Gurren Lagann cosplay contest in between both Gurren Lagann movies.

Some interesting notes from the audience Q&A with Konishi had him divulge that he got into voice acting because he never wanted a normal job, as a kid he wanted to become Ultra Man, and while playing Kamina he looked to himself for inspiration because he has the most in common with that character then any others he has done in the past.

This was the golden ticket for AX this year. To have just one of these artists would have been awesome, but to actually have both performing on stage together the music from Macross Frontier was something very special. Throw in famous Japanese pianist Yoko-Kanno, and you have a once in a lifetime party in Nokia Theater.

Both May'n and Nakajima mentioned it was their first time to the United States, and both were very adamant about spreading japanese animation and culture as well. While both artists are known for their work on Macross frontier, May'n the singing voice for Sheryl

Nome and Nakajima as the voice actress and singing voice of Ranka Lee, they both took time to sing new songs for the crowd so that we can start thinking about them as accomplished artists and not as their Macross Frontier characters. 

If you haven't seen Macross Frontier yet, I don't blame you since it has only been rerleased in Japan, and you would have to import the DVD's. But the show is definitely worth checking out as I have detailed in the past here. It's a mixture of Battlestar Galactica, Robotech, and a Disney movie all rolled into one series. When Macross Frontier finally does get licensed in America lets hope both these artists return for an encore performance.

No journey to Anime Expo is complete without a trip to artist alley. I'd like to share my favorite portrait I picked up this year, it might not be anime related, but as a die-hard Street Fighter fan, this was a must-buy when I saw it. I can't begin to tell you how awesome Zangief is in this picture, and the setting is just perfect.

Anime Expo 2010 kicked off July 4th weekend with some big talent visiting Los Angeles from the land of the rising sun. Japanese DJ's, musical groups, manga artists, and anime directors gathered in Nokia theater this morning to greet event attendees at opening ceremonies.

But It was a couple of voice actors that stole the show, and one of them wasn't even in Los Angeles yet. Masakazu Morita, voice of Kurosaki Ichigo from the popular anime series Bleach, got everybody's blood pumping this morning as he led the crowd in a cheer of, "Bleeeeach!"

While Katsuyuki Konishi, voice actor of Kamina in the series Gurren Lagaan, via video message from Japan, and in very energetic Kamina style, said that AX attendees will have a great time at the Gurren Lagaan movie premiere Saturday night. He promised that he will be there for the show, and to judge a cosplay contest taking place after his panel.

Other notable crowd favorites were musical artists AKB 48, who are a 63 all-female member musical group passionate about spreading Japanese pop culture to their American fans.

May'n, who is a singer who became popular through the Macross Frontier series character Sheryl Nome. I've talked about Macross Frontier before, and if you like sci-fi action, big robots, and awesome music then I would definitely suggest giving it a watch. May'n will be performing in concert Friday July 2nd, in Nokia Theatre with Megumi Nakajima, and will be singing songs from the Macross Frontier soundtrack.

Today attendees were treated to a concert by AKB 48 in the afternoon, and the last main event for the day was an Anime Music Video Contest. The AMV's are where artists splash together anime scenes and music of their choosing to create something original. There are different categories including: action, drama, and comedy. A replay and results panel for the AMV's will be held on Saturday July 3rd, in the Los Angeles Convention Center incase you missed the first show.

That's the report for Day 1, with guest of honor interviews and panel coverage coming soon.