May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

AMIN writers Melanie Braverman, Jessica Dawson, Christina Jacildo, and myself have been hard at work for the past few weeks. Why? Because Otakon 2010 is this weekend! The four of us will be attending this large anime convention to bring you all coverage of the guests and other events. Some of the guests that will be appearing are kanon from the popular J-Rock band An Cafe, Home Made Kazoku, fashion designer h.naoto, The Yoshida Brothers, Yoshiki & Sugizo of X Japan and more. The four of us (going under the name of the Straight Line Association) will also be participating in the masquerade, a  where Yoshiki & Sugizo of X Japan will also be performing. kanon of An Cafe will also be DJing during Otakon's nightly rave, the Otakurave.

Come to Otakon July 30 - April 1 at the Baltimore Convention Center and join us for a whole weekend of fun!

Source: Otakon

We all know DeAndre Cortez Way as Soulja Boy Tell Em', the 19-year old who became famous with songs such as "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" and "Kiss Me Thru the Phone." With Soulja Boy's newest album titled "Dre" just released, some songs have made their way onto the internet before it's release. Two of these songs are titled "Anime" and "Goku."

In the past, Soulja Boy has shown that he indeed does love anime. He previously released a mixtape that has been inspired by Death Note. Even one of the tracks on the mixtape samples from the Death Note soundtrack. Soulja Boy also has an account with the popular art site, DeviantArt. On the site, he wrote in his journal:

I had an idea of me in the year 3054 flying cars, floating cities, underwater civilizations. And there is an evil dude thats controlling the world through fear and power. And then I come in and murk his ass and save the day and become the youngest hero lol.... How does that sound? Quite an imagination huh? Think about it though futuristic effects, bullet time, fights, shootouts, the whole 9 lol im just brainstorming!

But mark my words ONE DAY I will complete my vision.. ha ha. Ok back to work I'm going to go in the studio and finishing mixing the pro tools sessions to my hard drive.

That journal entry was written in late May. Two months later, we get these two songs. These songs instantly became popular with lyrics such as "Bitch, I look like Goku" and "I look like Gohan, smoking marijuana." Many netizens agree that the best part of both these songs is when it ended.

Well Soulja Boy, I think you have another hit on your hands with that "Super Saiyan swagger" of yours.

Take a listen to Soulja Boy's "Anime" and "Goku!"

Credit: Otakon

Popular anime convention, Otakon, has just recently announced that Yoshiki and Sugizo of Japanese rock band X Japan will be appearing at the masquerade and perform a quick acoustic piece and do a quick Q&A. The masquerade takes place on Saturday, July 31st.

Keep checking back with AMIN as we will be covering the events at Otakon!

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Hello to our readers! This is our first installment of our new weekly segment called "Pick of the Week." This gives our writers their time to shine on a topic of their choice.  The "Pick of the Week" is updated every Sunday at 3PM EST. Keep checking back every Sunday for the new topic. This week, we're taking a look into the new legendary Pokemon for the new upcoming games in the Pokemon franchise, Pokemon Black & White.

When the first American version of the Pokemon games (Red and Blue) debuted, I was only about nine years old.  I wasn’t able to fully appreciate everything there was to those games, but even then I was able to understand the ferocity and beauty that were the legendary Pokemon.  When I found out about Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from a friend, I wanted to catch them more than anything else in the world.  Although I was unsuccessful in my attempts, my fascination with legendary Pokemon traveled with me to Pokemon Gold and Silver with the introduction of Entei, Raiko, Suicune, Lugia, and Ho-oh.  However, I personally found the Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum legendaries to be disappointing.  Dialga, the legendary version-mascot of Diamond, reminded me of Littlefoot from “A Land Before Time” cosplaying as Suicune. Palkia, the legendary version-mascot was a disproportionate, pink dinosaur-like creature.  Finally, the legendary version-mascot of Platinum Giratina was just a giant version of a creepy-crawler you find in the shower wearing a gothic head piece.

Recently however, the makers of Pokemon Black and White released the official pictures of the new games version-mascots:  Reshiram representing Pokemon Black, and Zekrom representing Pokemon White.  These legendaries have been the first in the series since the legendary birds to make me stop and go “wow.”  Reshiram and Zekrom are both intimidating and beautiful to look at.  Reshiram is colored white, Zekrom is black, and they are both accented with an aqua blue.  It was also recently announced that Zekrom and Reshiram are both Dragon-type pokemon, but no secondary type class has been announced for the two new legendaries thus far.

I can’t wait to buy my copy of Pokemon White or Black and begin my journey to catch one of the two newest, and possibly best designed legendaries since the series’ beginnings.

Recently on the official website for the upcoming live-action movie "Kimi ni Todoke," the first teaser for the movie was released. The film is set to star Mikako Tabe and Haruma Miura.

The original manga by Karuho Shiina follows a young girl by the name of Sawako Kuronuma who is often called Sadako (a famous horror movie character from the film The Ring) because of her gloomy looks and rumors that she is able to curse people. In actuality, Sawako is just misunderstood and wants to become friends with everyone. She is later befriended by her school idol Shota Kazehaya who is one of the school's most popular boys. After becoming friends with Kazehaya, Sawako is faced with a new outlook on life: making friends, enemies, and falling in love.

The series has won the Best Shōjo Manga award in the 32nd Annual Kodansha Manga Award. It has also has been adapted into an anime that began airing late last year.

The live-action film is set to be released September 25, 2010.

Take a look at the teaser for the upcoming film "Kimi ni Todoke!"

Source: Kimi ni Todoke Movie Official Website

Hollywood is at it again. They are trying to justify the replacement of the cast for The Last Airbender movie, which is an Asian animated series,  with a majority White cast. It doesn't make it more ok to "yellow face" actors just because the writer and director is of Asian descent. In my book that makes it even worst. After much protest from many people, some of the characters in The Last Airbender movie have been replaced with a few people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent.

We don't like taking crumbs. Hollywood has decided to place these "ethnically correct" actors in stereotypical roles. The hero is White and he/she must save the poor, helpless minorities. They also threw in people of African descent into the Earth Kingdom to satisfy those who fight for diversity yet there are no African people of descent in the Earth Kingdom. It sounds like a huge mess. Hollywood is just throwing things in here and there to make us shut up. Thinking of making people shut up, the Facebook group, "People Against Racebending: Protest of the Cast of The Last Airbender Movie" was removed on March 15 by whom? We can only speculate. Word spread fast about the group being taken down. People mobilized through emails and other means of communication. It worked, someone was watching. The group was restored on March 17.

When I first saw the preview for The Last Airbender I was very disappointed. I am a fan of this animated series. It is downright racist to replace Asian people with White, Black, or any other non-Asian race or ethnicity on the movie screen. Hollywood has done this countless times over and over again. They did it with Charlie Chan, The Good Earth, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Norbit, Prince of Persia, and countless other movies.

I really appreciate it, more than anyone could imagine, when Asian directors do NOT sell out. For instance,  director Justin Lin who filmed the famed movie Fast and the Furious and following sequels, was offered the money to film his movie Better Luck Tomorrow if he would change the characters to an all White cast. That's racist Hollywood no matter which way you cut it. So thank you Justin Lin! Keep the hope alive!

A movie shouldn't be popular just because it has White or Black actors in it. What's sad is that a lot of America still feels this way. It takes US to change this mindset. You can join the Racebending group, "People Against Racebending: Protest of the Cast of The Last Airbender Movie", here: Facebook.

Cats have always been important throughout the history of the world. In many places, cats are revered and worshiped especially in places like Egypt, China, Japan, and of course, our own homes. [hidepost] Nyan Koi!, a manga by Sato Fujiwara, is a story of a young man, Junpei Kōsaka, who is in his second year of high school. He is incredibly allergic to cats and despises being around them. He admires a girl in his class, Kaede Mizuno, who unfortunately for Junpei is infatuated with cats. In an unfortunate twist of events, Junpei accidentally breaks the local neko-jizō-sama (guardian deity of cats) statue. Now, Junpei is cursed and must help 100 cats to break the curse or else he will be turned into one himself and die from his own allergies. Junpei gains the ability to communicate with the cats but unfortunately, he is still incredibly allergic to them. With each chapter comes a hilarious story of how Junpei can help cats without looking strange or harming himself. This manga has also just begun to air as an anime this season and is receiving great praise from its viewers. Take some time to check this series out! It's definitely something to read when you need a pick-me-up!

Watch the opening to the anime Nyan Koi!
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Another drama remake is being made! This time it's the hit Japanese drama Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend). [hidepost] The Korean drama will be directed by PD Kim Min-shik who directed Queen of Housewives and Before and After: Plastic Surgery.

Actress Jeon Ji-hyun of My Sassy Girl and Windstruck fame is considered for the main role. The casting had even considered U-Know of the popular boyband TVXQ for the male lead role as well but instead he moved on to another drama currently being filmed, Heading to the Ground. Honestly, I would've loved to have seen him in this drama instead! The Japanese drama starred Hayami Mokomichi as the leading male, Night Tenjo and Aibu Saki starred as the leading female Riiko Izawa. Mizushima Hiro also co-starred as Soshi Asamoto.

The original story is based off of a Japanese manga by Yuu Watase (mangaka of the famous Fushigi Yugi). It begins with a girl named Riiko Izawa. Riiko has never had a boyfriend and it constantly rejected. After a fateful encounter with a salesman, she expresses her wish to have a boyfriend. The salesman, Gaku Namikiri, redirects her to his company's website, Kronos Heaven. When Riiko visits the site, she begins to fill out a survey of her "absolute boyfriend." Within a day, a large package arrives at her home containing a naked man inside! By following the manual that came with the body, she realizes that this man is a robot and must be activated by a kiss. The robot is then activated and Riiko names him "Night." A few days later, Gaku arrives and tells Riiko that she must pay the 100,000,000 yen for Night. Both of them negotiate and instead Riiko must help Gaku collect information on how to perfect the "absolute boyfriend." Of course with every drama, there is a love triangle. While Riiko is trying to keep Night's secret of being a robot, Soshi, Riiko's childhood friend, declares his love for her out of fear of losing her. Now Riiko must choose between her "absolute boyfriend" and her childhood friend.

The Korean version of the drama will have a slightly different plot surrounding a 30-year-old woman who is a stylist at a beauty salon. Unfortunately, her salon is a bit difficult and does not have many clients. Her first love then betrays her and becomes and overnight movie star. Due to the betrayal and the pain, she decides to order her "absolute boyfriend."

Being an avid shojo manga reader, I've read this series many times and have seen the original Japanese drama. I'm not so sure if I'm ready for the Korean version but I will give it a try. This story will definitely make those with a soft heart tear up!

Watch the ending theme to the Japanese drama "Zettai Kareshi!"

Video Credit: Egsthefreak123[/hidepost]

MADHOUSE, the animation studio which released popular anime hits such as Chobits, Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note, and popular animated film Paprika, is set to release their newest animated film Mai Mai Miracle (マイマイ新子と千年の魔法 Maimai Shinko to Sen-nen no Maho) this November 21st in Japan. [hidepost]
The book is based on Nobuko Takagi's novel of her autobiography. The plot centers around nine-year old Shinko Aoki who is a young girl growing up in a small town in Japan in 1955. She discovers that she has a family connection to a thousand-year-old province of a legend called Suō. Along with her classmate Kiiko Shimazu, the  two young children go on a journey full of magic to find out about a girl named Nagiko Kiyohara who lived on the same land 1,000 years ago.
At the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair, the film and its new director, Sunao Katabuchi, were announced. The trailer to the film shows somewhat of a Hayao Miyazaki feel to it. That's because Katabuchi had worked with Miyazaki himself on the Studio Ghibli animated film, Sherlock Hound.

MADHOUSE never lets down! Look forward to the new film by director Sunao Katabuchi!

Didn't I go through this before with ANOTHER drama? Some things shouldn't be remade, seriously. Group Eight has now bought the rights to "Mischievous Kiss." The Korea drama will go under the name "Playful Kiss." By the way, this is the same group that bought the rights to "Boys Over Flowers" as well. This drama has already had success with the Taiwanese drama "It Started With a Kiss." There is also a Japanese version to this drama called "Itazura no Kiss." Once again, this is another drama that has been based off of the original manga. Out of all of the remakes, the Taiwanese keeps loyal to the story and even ends abruptly due to the unfinished story. Unfortunately, the manga's author, Kaoru Tada, had passed away in an accident before she was able to finish her work. [hidepost]

A representative from Group Eight has stated that since the manga doesn't have a definite ending, they with either keep to the original or creat their own "Korean-style ending." That statement alone gives me the chills. I don't think I'm prepared for this. But, the show must go on. The drama is set for release hopefully sometime next summer. We'll just have to see if this becomes a huge success as well. [/hidepost]