Peter's Japan blog

After I found out that Minori Chihara is coming to the New York Anime Festival. She would be signing and holding a small concert, so I just had to go there.
As an extra, NYAF are selling special VIP packages with first access to floor and events, and one special package for Minori, to have a guaranteed seat for the concert. Extra benefits are not separate entrance to the venue, so no waiting in lines. And a VIP lounge where you can put your stuff away safe, so you don't have to carry too much around. And this for 150$ for the whole weekend ^^ (regular weekend ticket is $50)
But they were limited to 200 people,sooo when the exact moment the VIP tickets came out,I refresh the ticket site,and I got my special Minori Chihara VIP ticket !!! Me happy ;p Now I can book my flight and hotel!

Other Japanese guests include Puffy AmiYumi and VAMPS. I'm guessing there will be more :) American voice actors don't interest my much as I don't like dubs :)
On the other hand, it's actually two conventions as New York Comic-Con is held at the same dates and the same convention center. So when I looked at that guest list, I saw that also some TV/movie actors are going to be present for signing. One of them is Christopher Judge, whom I know very well for playing Teal'c in Stargate SG-1. Some of the others are Katee Sackhoff (whom I just recently got to know from the last season of 24) & James Marsters (saw him in Dragonball movie,and apparently he's quite famous from Buffy too). But more guests will probably be added later as it's still early, I hope more japanese guests as well :)
Soo, I'm pretty excited! I will be in New York from friday afternoon till sunday afternoon.

Danny Choo, you may know him better as the Dancing Storm Trooper, but also as an active blogger about Japan and Otaku culture (he no longer sees it as a sub-culture). He has been networking a lot, many collaborations and his company is gaining more and more momentum. He has come so far now that he started his own animation studio called Mirai Fusion. They will be producing their first anime called "Chinka".
The story is about a fire brigade of cute girls who will fight with water against an evil fire devil.
And of course, Mirai Suenaga makes an appearance as well. You can read more about the story on his blog: http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25532/Chinka+Illustrations.html

And here is the first preview of the new anime, enjoy:

Enjoy this new trailer for the third season of Black Lagoon, known to be an OVA called "El Baile de la Muerte" about Roberta, to be released somewhere this year. Let's hope there's enough Revy action left though ;p
And if this is the new title song, it's awesome, even if it's just an instrumental version.
Can't wait!

It's becoming more and more real!! A trailer for the movie has been posted on the official website and it's looking great! I haven't read the novels so I'm very curious about some of the cutscenes they show in the trailer. Especially the scene where Nagato has the blood splashes and is actually showing emotions. And Asakura Ryoko makes a reappearance too. Not much Haruhi though (well it's the disappearance ;p).

Enjoy the trailer:

It's already all over the internets by now, but for completeness sake, a Haruhi movie has been officially announced to be released in the Spring of 2010 (might be right during my Japan 2010 trip ^^). It will be the much awaited fan-favorite arc: The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, which was though to be in the second season. The story revolves a lot around Nagato Yuki and will feature a long-haired Haruhi. The long-haired Haruhi was used a promotion picture for the second season but has thus been postponed for the movie.

Let's just hope the people who thought up the 8-episode Endless Eight arc have been sacked and no more surprises will be come up, but knowing what we've seen in the past, the movie might just as well be released Spring 2011. But I still have hope :-)

Update: The movie supposed to be more than 2 hours long, that's almost 6 regular episodes!

Today arrived a package from CDJapan in the mail with 3 items in it ^^

- a cushion case from the Saki anime. Will post pictures of it soon, but you can see it through the link. I'm quite happy about it because these collectibles sell out very fast.

- Perfume in Happy de Ki-ni naru Chandelier House 3 DVD Box: DVD Box containing all 12 episodes of Perfume no Chandelier House and the best bits of their other 2 shows: HAPPY! and Ki-ni naru Ko-chan. Not subtitled though, but playable in Europe because Japan is also region 2 ;p I still have the full HD TV rips though :)

- K-ON! Sakurako Keionbu Official Band Yarouyo CD + Band score sheet music: the CD didn't interest me that much, but the band score is very nice. It's the complete band score of almost all the songs from K-ON including Cagayake Girls and Don't Say Lazy. The CD contains some full version of some of the songs but also short practice parts for every instrument.

P.S.: It's Ayu's birthday tomorrow (Oct 2nd), so Happy Birthday! Otanjoubi omedetou!