The online anime revolution has finally ignited in Japan
The first question after a panel I once chaired at an anime convention in the United States sounded innocent enough. “So, what do you guys think about Crunchyroll?” The response was ferocious. A...
View ArticlePop tourism gains traction
Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke...
View ArticleSocial clubbing takes off with iFlyer service
Clubbing in Japan is a kick. The country’s zeal for global pop trends and its prominent club scene draws big-name DJs and performers from the international circuit. Japan’s hodgepodge approach to urban...
View ArticlePreserving a classic Japanese art form: tokusatsu magic
Our monster is scaly, spiky, reptilian — a cross between a dinosaur and an irradiated insect that shrieks like an angry bird. Our hero is lean, faintly muscular in a rubbery skintight suit with...
View ArticleCan METI’s ¥50 billion fund unfreeze ‘Cool Japan’?
Naysaying is almost always risk-free, especially if you do it online. If you’re a cynic, you’re usually right, and if you’re wrong, you can just delete those errant tweets and posts and join the party....
View ArticleUrumaDelvi learn the importance of contacts
The husband-and-wife creative team known as UrumaDelvi has been cranking out quirky, quasi-psychedelic illustrations, animated shorts and music videos for over 20 years. They met in design school in...
View ArticleOtakon celebrates 20 years of anime fandom in the U.S.
The American anime convention, Otakon (“Otaku Convention”), begins with a costume parade before it officially opens. Last week I had a bird’s-eye view of the spectacle from my 14th-floor hotel room in...
View ArticleBacklash against Miyazaki is generational
If you haven’t lived in Japan, it’s hard to appreciate just how beloved are anime maestro Hayao Miyazaki and his creative hub, Studio Ghibli. Annual surveys of Japanese consumers often find that Ghibli...
View ArticleHas anime lost its cachet in America?
I had been invited to host a Q&A with renowned “Gundam” creator and sci-fi novelist Yoshiyuki Tomino at The New York Anime Festival. But when my handler and I arrived at the designated room, we...
View ArticleShueisha manga push hard into the global market
One week before Thanksgiving on Nov. 28, readers of The New York Times were greeted by a spiky-haired, wild-eyed manga character named Monkey D. Luffy, his fists clenched and chest bare, charging...
View ArticleAnime/manga experts hopeful for year ahead
Aside from Hayao Miyazaki’s sudden departure from filmmaking in September, the anime world saw some potentially hopeful developments in 2013. As I reported here, the government’s multibillion-yen Cool...
View ArticleThe symbiotic relationship between anime and games
Japan excels at making you play. From its flower arrangements to tea ceremonies to karaoke, nothing much happens until you get into the game, and a big part of Japan’s appeal to non-natives is its...
View ArticleMasuda’s mission to take Harajuku art global
New York is not a city one automatically associates with the Japanese concept of kawaii — lovably, irresistibly, dependably cute. But if Sebastian Masuda, the so-called “king of kawaii,” has his way,...
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