On the 1st of December, they released a new manga under the Shojo Beat imprint named “BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS”. The story follows Choko Kuze, the daughter of a dignified family who went bankrupt. She takes a job at a real-estate company as an entry-level office worker, but she soon finds her boss is much harder on her than any of her workmates. After he slips up one day and addresses her as “milady”, Choko soon clicks to the fact that he was a servant boy that she knew from her childhood. While he is hard on her at work, after hours he treats her as though she were a woman of nobility. So with all this going on, is it possible that romance is in their future?

Candice Uyloan, Director Brand Marketing, VIZ Media:
“BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS is a josei manga, a comic aimed primarily at female readers over the age of 18,” says Candice. “Readers familiar with the genre will enjoy this lighthearted story that is often funny and more than a bit sexy. As shojo manga readers mature and their interests expand, we are delighted to be able to offer titles that are aimed at a grown up audience. We look forward to readers discovering this zany romantic comedy.”

BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS Vol 1 is available from VIZ Media, is rated ‘M’ for Mature and is priced at $9.99US. If you like this manga, you can expect Vol 2 to come out in March 2010 (at the moment) and will also be rated ‘M’ and priced at $9.99US.

You can also find it in our RightStuf store for $7.49US right now!

GOGO MONSTER centres around a Third Grader named Yuki Tachibana, and he lives in two worlds. In one world, Yuki is a loner. He is teased by his classmates and scolded by his teachers for his stories about supernatural beings that only Yuki can see. In the other world, these supernatural beings are battling for power opposite evil spirits who are making things in the students’ lives, at the school, and in nature itself chaotic.

Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President Sales & Marketing, VIZ Media:

“Taiyo Matsumoto’s clever stories and striking art have placed him among the best of a new generation of influential manga artists and we are privileged to present GOGO MONSTER to U.S. audiences,” says Gonzalo. “This story continues to show Matsumoto’s fascination with youth as he seamlessly blends themes of alienation with the paranormal. For anyone with an overactive imagination or has even just daydreamed during class, GOGO MONSTER offers an emotional tale that shows how what we see and imagine, whether real or imaginary, shapes our personality in profound ways.”

GOGO MONSTER will be out on November 17th. It will be rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will cost $27.99 U.S, or $36.00 CAN. For more information on ths and any other manga titles available from VIZ, you can visit www.VizSignature.com or www.Sigikki.com.

If you’re stuck for something to do on a weekend, what is better than attending a convention full of awesome things you love? Nothing – that’s why I went to Sydney Animania 2009 at the Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh on September 5th!

After being given my media pass, I wandered around to take some pictures of the various stalls and areas before the massive crowd of people outside were allowed in. Once they started letting people in you could tell at least half the amount attending were all about the cosplay!

There were a lot of really well made costumes, and a few that weren’t. However, being that that they made the effort why would I knock them right? Out of the better ones, the highlight for me was the guy (below) dressed as the wonder chef from Tales of Symphonia. I gave him a GA sticker to say thanks for having his photo taken, and he surprised me by handing me a recipe! I am going to try it out soon, and if it’s any good I will post it up for you all.

The stalls were filled with a lot of awesome goodies to waste my money on: figurines, gashapons, hats, shirts, cushions, costume items… the list goes on and on. Animania also had their own merchandise for sale. I bought a coaster as well as their first ever cosplay calendar! So I get to spend 2010 with some awesome cosplayers and their outfits… kind of. And guess what – Trina, I finally got kitty ears!!

Of course the folks from Madman were there selling Anime, Manga and Eastern Eye DVDs to the masses. I’ve grown more accustomed to the fact that when they are at an event you’ll be lucky to get a spot at the stall front. They also had a computer set up for visitors to take a survey about certain things that are Madman associated (e.g. Anime on DVD or online streaming?), and for doing so you were given a DVD sampler. It has full length episodes of 4 different Anime series, some Anime trailers, Adult Swim & some more stuff to check out when I get the chance. I was disappointed that a few stalls were taking advantage of the patrons by excessively pricing some of their wares. I understand that it’s a common practice to do so at conventions, but I would also expect them to be legitimate or worth that amount before I was willing to fork my money out.

There were plenty of workshops, games, panels and demonstrations throughout the day. One demonstration in particular was about the use (and training) of Aikido by Aikido Yoshinkai NSW, pictured below.

There was also a screening theatre (for anime viewing), a karaoke area, and a main stage. They held a game show on the main stage which I stopped to watch for a little while. They also held the cosplay competition there which I wasn’t able to stay for, but seeing the cosplayers in attendance assures me it would have been hard to choose a winner!

Artists of various calibres were also at Animania, from deviantARTists to those from universities, and a few seemingly professional artists as well. There was also a graffiti wall for visitors to leave their mark – which I did. Hopefully my poor attempt at GA’s flying game controller (minus the wings – oops!) will draw some more Aussies into our community.

As well as the fun activities there was food! Japanese food to be exact, although there was a French bakery stall for those who weren’t willing to try any Japanese. Takoyaki was popular on the day and not having tried it before of course I had to give it a go! It was interesting, let me put it that way.

All in all, it was a fun day out and I will most likely go again. Thank you to all of the friendly and helpful Animania staff for making my first visit enjoyable, and an even bigger thank you to all of the cosplayers that stopped and allowed their photo to be taken!

Want more pics? Have a look through this slideshow for more:

(If you were one of the cosplayers and would like a copy of your photo please send me an email at naomi@gamingangels.com, and I will send you the original!)

Individuals must appear to be between the ages of 16 and 28 and must
identify as a fanboy/fangirl. Interested applicants can click on the True
Life² link on the Anime Expo® website (www.anime-expo.org) to be part of this ground breaking documentary series.

Definitely apply and let me know if you get in

This year Anime Expo has moved to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The good part is they get to use the Nokia Theatre for their main events. The bad news is the main events will require tickets to enter because of limited seating.

Here are the three ways you can get a ticket for a main event:
· Reserve a hotel room within the Anime Expo® hotel room block through our online hotel reservation service (www.anime-expo.org) by Sunday, June 15, 2008, 11:59 PM, PDT and obtain one (1) guaranteed event ticket of choice per registered guest (up to a maximum of four (4) tickets per room), based on availability
· Purchase a Reserved Seating ticket ($20.00 U.S.) for the desired
event(s) (events only include Masquerade and Concert Events) before Sunday, June 15, 2008, 11:59 PM, PDT. Reserved Seating tickets are considered prime seats within the ³floor²/orchestra area and allow attendees to be up close to the event stage for maximum viewing pleasure. Attendees are limited to one (1) ticket per event per unique registration ID for a maximum of three (3) unique tickets
· Line up in the Standby Line at the east entrance of the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live three (3) hours before show time on the day of the desired event. The number of tickets given out is based on availability. Please note that queuing for tickets at this time does not guarantee entrance into the event

What are the main events? They include the AMV contest, AX Idol, the main Cosplay contest and any concerts. Go to www.anime-expo.org to keep up on all the news about what to expect at the upcoming convention.