May Pang's Asian Media Internet News

This past Saturday, I was able to attend the ever-glorious New York Comic Con/New York Anime Festival (NYCC/NYAF) held in the Jacob Javits Center. This is my 4th year attending the convention and every time I go, I gradually grow more and more impressed with the outcome. As I walked in, it was hard to even fathom how many people attended. The convention center itself is fairly large but the number of people attending was massive. The day passes for Saturday had even sold out. The popularity of the convention is just growing larger with each year.

Starting just last year, NYCC and NYAF had combine both conventions into one. I was definitely surprised with how they handled this situation this year. They moved NYAF upstairs into a larger, more spacious room that had access to the outside area. It was definitely nicely handled. NYCC itself had the largest areas to itself. The amount of vendors and booths there were outrageous. As I first walked in, I noticed the amount of video game booths that had been attending. There was Square Enix, Nintendo, Capcom, and more. Square Enix focused on Final Fantasy XIII-2 (the sequel to Final Fantasy XIII) that will be released early 2012. There were many trailers and figurines that could be bought from the series. Nintendo focused on promoting a select few games for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii. It’s main focus was letting con-goers demo the upcoming Legend of Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Nintendo also pushed the new Nintendo 3DS game, Professor Layton and the Last Spectre (a prequel to the previous Layton games). There was also an exclusive screening of the animated movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. Capcom held tournaments for their hit game Marvel vs. Capcom 3 while promoting their reboot, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The crowd that showed to view and participate was overwhelming but fun.

There was something for everyone at this convention. There was a Sesame Street booth along with various video games, comics, and even K-pop being viewed and sold. Of course the only downfall to any convention is the large crowd but it’s incredibly worth the experience. We even got to see some great costumes worn by con-goers as well as costumes on display. The upcoming movie, The Avengers, had a large promotion and even had a costume contest as well as the costume from the movie Captain America on display (I snagged me an Avengers poster for myself). In another section of the convention, a view of the Dark Knight’s costume could be seen on display.

The amount of shopping, browsing, activities, and more someone could do is just simply astounding. Every year it seems like there’s just more and more to do. The guests that had attended this year are gradually getting more and more exciting and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.

Here are various links you can check out for more information:

http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

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It’s been two weeks since Otakon 2011 has come to an end and we still can’t stop talking about it! This year, AMIN writers Melanie Braverman and Joseph Erman, along with myself, attended Otakon and cosplayed together, as we normally do. If you’ve seen our last year’s coverage, you can see that the amount of people who attended was over 29,000 people. How did Otakon fair this year? Of course they topped their record and had a total of 31,348 attendees!

This year’s gust lineup was pretty amazing as well. As I had reported before, musical guest Chemistry performed! Their Friday night concert was amazing as the audience jumped to their feet with excitement. Their setlist comprised of these songs:

Go Alone
TOGETHER
merry-go-round
Wings of words
This Night
Life goes on
Shawty
Period
Independence
Keep your Love

A personal favorite of mine is ‘Shawty.’ Although Chemistry is known for their ballads and amazing duets, they also have an amazing R&B feel to their songs. We’ll have more of these fine young men later since I was able to sit down with them and have an exclusive interview.

Saturday is always the most fun, in my opinion. Tons of cosplayers were out, sweating in the sun or simply hanging out in the convention center. Here at AMIN, we do what we do best: get ready for the masquerade! Our staff was getting ready to perform for the cosplay competition where we cosplayed as doctors from the hit game series Trauma Center. This year, the competition was fun and there were a ton of new people. It was a great experience to be back at the Otakon masquerade. We were afraid of the outcome because of something special happening around the same time. Full Metal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos had made it’s American debut (with Japanese audio and English subtitles). Although we missed the first airing, we made it for the Sunday airing.

Before we knew it, Otakon 2011 had come to a close. It’s always a thrilling experience for our staff and we hope to have an even more successful Otakon experience next year! See you in 2012!

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credit: SONY MUSIC

The Korean wave is still in full force out in Japan and continues with SECRET stepping in showing their stuff. Today the 4-member girl group held a special showcase at the Harajuku Laforet Museum. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans lined the staircase with colorful signs in hand ready to cheer.

SECRET opened up with their hit Korean single “Magic” and sang other songs such as, “Lalala,” “Empty with you.” Nishio Hidetaka of X-GUN also made an appearance and held a special talk with the girls. He asked which places they would like to visit to in Japan to which they responded Disneyland. They also enjoyed the large Japanese department Donki Hodei. Member Sunhwa wanted to find the right words to express her feelings to the fans so she even pulled out her Japanese text book to tell them all how wonderful everyone was.

SECRET closed with the Japanese version of their hit song “Madonna” which is set to be released in Japan on August 3rd this year.

From what I have heard,  SECRET has come a long way. The girls got really emotional on stage. They talked about how happy they were to have performed today and that they will never forget the feeling. I wish them luck!

This year marks the 5th Anniversary of Japan Day. This years event will be held in New York City’s Central park on May 22nd. In light of the devastating Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11th in the Tohoku region, this years theme at Japan Day is “Ganbare Japan!” which means “Good luck Japan!”

On May 8th at Central Park, there will be a 4 mile Japan Run called “Run for Hope” and will help with Tsunami relief efforts. Anyone can pledge to walk or run to support by doing a 4-Mile Virtual Run/Walk for hope between May 1 and May 8.

Since the first event in 2007, Japan Day @ Central Park has had three goals: 1) to build bridges of cultural understanding between the people of Japan and the U.S., 2) to say “Thank you, New York!” for providing such a nurturing home to America’s largest Japanese community, and 3) to facilitate stronger grassroots connections within the local Japanese community.

Our guest performers  will include Circus, Senri Oe, DMC, AISHA, Keiko Matsui, Mai Fukui, Yuka Takara, Lainie Sakakura and TEN-YOU, who is also our Official Artist for this year’s event.

For more information check out the main website at www.japandaynyc.org

Sounds like an awesome event. AMIN staff will definitely be there to support. Hope to see you all there!

For those of you who may know, May Pang’s AMIN attended Otakon 2010 last year and hung out with fans and musical guests. It’s 2011 and Otakon 2011 is coming in a few months. Who’s the musical guest this year? It’s none other then Japanese R&B duo CHEMISTRY and dance group SYNERGY!

Here’s an excerpt from the press release from Otakorp:

Baltimore, MD (April 14, 2011) – CHEMISTRY, with an amazing six #1 albums on the Oricon National Charts, along with 4 person dance group Synergy are making their U.S. debut this summer at Otakon 2011 July 29-31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore MD. Recent anime songs by CHEMISTRY include “Period” for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and “merry-go-round” in the recent OVA of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
CHEMISTRY is a Japanese R&B duo, composed of, Yoshikuni Dōchin and Kaname Kawabata. After winning the Asayan audition in 2000 which was organized by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, they debuted in 2001 with three #1 singles (“Pieces of Dreams,” “Point of No Return,” and “You Go Your Way”) and a #1 album (The Way We Are).
In June 2002, CHEMISTRY participated in “Voices of KOREA/JAPAN,” a Korean/Japanese collaboration vocal unit that sang the official theme song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They co-recorded the first Korean/Japanese collaboration song entitled “Let’s Get Together Now.” The song, performed at the pre-opening festival of the World Cup held in Korea, was hailed as the first national broadcast of a Japanese language song in Korea since WWII. Their performance at the World Cup opening ceremony was broadcast in 160 countries worldwide.
Not ones to rest on their laurels, CHEMISTRY went on to produce #1 album after #1 album. Hits include songs “Your Name Never Gone” and “Tōkage feat. John Legend.”
In August 2010, CHEMISTRY recorded “a better tomorrow,” the world wide theme song for a Korean remake of the Hong Kong film “A Better Tomorrow” starring Song Seung- Heon.
The year saw the duo building on their successful career within Japan as well as highlights of increasing their presence in the rest of Asia including their endeavor to sing in Korean for the first time and in November, performing at the M-net Asian Music Awards held in Macao, receiving the Best Asian Male Artist award.
Also in 2010, CHEMISTRY worked together with the 4-person dance group Synergy to release “Shawty.” Another joint work of the two groups was released November 3, 2010, titled “Keep Your Love.”
This March, CHEMISTRY released their best of album, “CHEMISTRY 2001-2011,” which commemorates their first decade together as a duo.
To preview some music from CHEMISTRY, go to CHEMISTRY’s official site at:

http://www.chemistryclub.net

Otakon 2011 will be held July 29 – 31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland

Who else is ridiculously excited about this?! I only got into CHEMISTRY in recent months but their vocals are excellent and I’m in love with their song “Shawty.” Synergy also brings an amazing vibe to the song as it shows a whole new CHEMISTRY as well. Those boys are definitely talented in singing and dancing.

For more information, visit Otakon’s official website!

Check out the music video for “Shawty”!

That’s right! Nintendo World in NYC plans on holding a Pokemon Black and White Launch Celebration! Attendees will be able to purchase the game a day early and join in the festivities.

Some of the festivities include:
•Debut of the new Pokemon song by the band The Presidents of the United States of America
•Purchase the new Pokemon Black and White games
•Get your passport to Unova (the new Pokemon region) and visit fun Pokemon stations
•Meet Pikachu!

Join in on the fun on Saturday, March 5th at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, NYC at Nintendo World. The fun starts at 3PM and continues until 6PM!

For more information, visit the official website for Pokemon Black and White.

I know I’ll be attending and purchasing my copy early. I’ve been waiting for this game to be released in English!

For those of you who can’t attend this event, check out how to plan your own Pokemon party here!

Has anyone else ever notice that the Japanese love to portray Christianity as a religion full of the biggest bad asses in the world? Alexander Anderson, from Hellsing, is the craziest, most violent, kick-ass priest I have ever seen. He shoots hundreds of cleavers out of his jacket for crying out loud! Then of course there is Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun, who is obviously amazing in and of himself, with his gun-toting cross backpack! But no anime has the sheer number of “Christian” priests doing the “Lord’s work” than Trinity Blood.

Trinity Blood was originally a light novel that was adapted into both a manga and an anime. The anime was released in 2005 by Gonzo. Funimation bought the licensed the rights and aired a dubbed version for North America in 2006.

Vampires, Catholicism, and all the poor fools who stand between them… a tale truly as old as time. However in this run through of the story, the main protagonist and antagonist are brother hybrid-esc vampires called Crusniks. There are aptly named Cain and Abel (for those who know the Christian Bible, try to guess which one the bad guy is). As a twist they feed on other vampires. Hah! I was glad to see the creators knock those cocky vampires down a few pegs without having to rely on werewolves. God I hate Twilight… *shiver* Anyway, I don’t know how the Christian Church works in this world, but it seems to be made up of elite warriors with trademark abilities and fighting styles. Just how I like’m!

The story revolves around Abel Nightroad and his love interest, the cliché naïve nun Esther Blanchett. She is a young, kind, free spirited, redhead who will follow you to til end if you give her a deep intimate stare and say, “trust me.” The main baddy, Cain, is trying to start a global war between the Terrans (humans), the Vatican (Church), and the Methuselah (vampires).  But Abel and his priestly S.W.A.T team is going to make him go through them first, which he does on a few occasions.

Abel in Crusnik mode

The show has a lot of espionage and mystery in it which gives the story some driving force besides purely relying on the Dragon Ball Z style LETS WIN BY BEATING UP THE BAD GUY plot device. The animation and fight scenes are beautifully animated. I’m usually not a big fan of the overly black Vampire Knight clothing style where everyone’s apparel look incredibly dramatic, but it worked for me in Trinity Blood. The one criticism I had with the show was honestly that it ended before I really felt full closure. There is a semi-final battle that ends the immediate threat, but leaves the main problems still open ended. There was an extreme sense of “we have won the battle but have yet to win the war.” I guess that is sometimes the problem that arises when one watches a twenty-four episode show. That’s just me though; I wouldn’t let my troubles with the ending deter anyone from watching the show. Its a great series and here is a quick preview from the opening to better emphasize what I’ve been talking about.

Recently, Nintendo announced that their new handheld gaming system, the Nintendo 3DS will be available on March 27, 2011 for $249.99; the same original Wii and PSP price. Although this is a heavy price tag for a handheld system, The 3DS will offer a pedometer, an activity tracker, 3 cameras (2 on the front and one on the back; one camera will have the ability to take 3D pictures), a “Mii Maker” which helps you create your own identical Mii with the aid of the “Face Camera”, an “analog stick”, comes packaged with a 2G SD card, and will have the ability to play 3D movies.

I’ve been working as a waitress since December to make sure I have enough money saved to buy the 3DS on its release date, and recently, Nintendo announced 16 3D games will be available for purchase the same as the 3DS.

Here’s the list:
Pilotwings Resort –Nintendo
Steel Diver – Nintendo
nintendogs + cats – Nintendo
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition – CAPCOM
The Sims 3 – EA
Madden NFL Football – EA SPORTS
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars – LucasArts
RIDGE RACER 3D – NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
Super Monkey Ball 3D – SEGA
BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE – Square-Enix, Inc.
SAMURAI WARRIORS: Chronicles – TECMO KOEI AMERICA Corp.
Asphalt 3D – UBISOFT
Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D – UBISOFT
Rayman 3D – UBISOFT
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars – UBISOFT

© Universal Japan

Japanese hip-hop reggae group ET-KING has just held their “ONE MAN TOUR” this past month. I had the pleasure of attending their stop in Tokyo at the CC Lemon Hall in Shibuya.

Formed in Daikokucho, Osaka in 1999, ET-KING is a unique group that consist of 5 MCs, 1 DJ and a presenter. Their musical style includes a mixture of reggae, hip-hop, techno, and even traditional Japanese Enka. ET-KING uses the theme of “Matsuri,” or Japanese festival, during their live performances. While wearing traditional festival clothing called “happi,” ET-KING shares with the audience extreme festival energy with nothing but pure fun.

I first encountered ET-KING at Kazoku Fes 10′ where they performed a long side Abingdon Boys School, HOME MADE KAZOKU, and many others. The group performed a short set that day and it was very entertaining, so I was really excited to see what their whole show would be like.

Many fans were lined up out side, equipped with ET-KING T-shirts and towels, waiting in the cold for the doors to open. They started off with a few songs about the joys of drinking alcohol. They even had giant blow up beer mugs as props. I’m pretty sure that influenced the crowed to grab a drink or two all in the “Matsuri” spirit.

© Universal Japan

The group performed songs from their new latest album “Renai Kashuu” which was released last December. Songs included “Sugao no mamade,” “Otoko no shudaika” and “Shiroi Doresu.” Special guest Chiaki also appeared to perform “Hajimari no kotoba.” ET-KING also performed their hits “Hareruya” and “Gift,” which was featured on their previous album “Soul Laundry.”

Towards the end ET-KING gave the fans a  special treat and sang their new single “PRIDE～Kimi ga kureta mono～,” which is scheduled to be released soon on March 2nd. This is an up lifting song that inspires one to keep fighting even through tough times. I definitely recommend it!

Overall, I had a great time at this concert. The group were always in high spirits and had good stage presence. If your ever out in Japan you should totally try to make it out to an ET-KING show. For more information please visit the official website www.et-king.com

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! It’s officially the year of the rabbit!

Chinatown in NYC has always been a hotspot for huge a huge New Year celebration. On Thursday, February 3rd (the actual day of Chinese New Year),  the Chinese New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival had taken place. Today, the 12th Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade was held and a couple of friends and I, including AMIN writer Jon Yung, decided to celebrate with the rest of NYC’s Chinatown. It was a beautiful day full of dragon and lion dances, rabbit costumes, party poppers, and little kids in excitement.

While walking through the parade, we noticed a couple people dressing up in Asian garb to see this parade. I even spotted someone dressed as Miku Hatsune and some other cosplayers in the crowd. Luckily, we had fantastic weather so it wasn’t too cold to leave home without a coat.

The parade itself was filled with dragon and lion dances, drummers, a marching band, advertisements from health care to cellular service, and lastly a truck of rabbits up for adoption. The audience had fun taking pictures and videos of the many people marching in the parade and had an amazing time.

We at the AMIN staff would once again like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year!

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