The people at the SPJA (The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation) have let us know that the anime director and seiyu Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe will be an official Guest of Honor at 19th Anime Expo. For those of you who may not know him by name, some of his works include Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, The Wallflower, Tenchi Muyo! GXP and Nerima Daikon Brothers. At the convention “Nabeshin” will appear on guest panels, at meet-and-greet sessions and sign autographs for fans.

You also might know “Nabeshin” as a character in some anime shows (such as in the picture above) which he provided his own voice for, and some of those shows were Excel Saga, Puni Puni Poemy, Dotto Koni-Chan, EyeShield, Hayate no Gotoku and Tayutama. He’s known to attend events in the red blazer and afro wig get-up, so keep an eye out for him!

Anime Expo’s Convention Chair Joyce Lim:

“Anime Expo is thrilled to have Mr. Watanabe join our line-up,” said Joyce. “We are looking forward the excitement that he will bring to our convention!”

If you want to attend Anime Expo® 2010, head on over to the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California from July 1st – July 4th. Pre-registration has begun, and it will cost you $65 right at this moment, and then from May 1st it will increase to $75. More pricing information, and regular news updates can be found at www.anime-expo.org. You can also follow their Twitter at @animeexpo, or find them on Facebook at facebook.com/animeexpo!

Superfrog and LeBasse Projects have come together to provide an exhibit that consists of work from Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano. Amano is known for designing characters for the video game Final Fantasy as well as for anime films such as Vampire Hunter D, Guin Saga, Final Fantasy, and Front Mission. His DEVA LOKA exhibit first premiered in August at the Superfrog Gallery in San Francisco, and it’s now Amano’s first major show in Southern California in almost a decade.

The exhibit consists of 25 pieces, and be prepared for bright auto paint and metallic glitter which is said to be “an ode to the artist’s love of American comics, culture and automobiles”. The exhibit is launching TODAY (the 20th of February) in Los Angeles, and there will be a special opening reception starting at 7pm and running until 10pm if you would like to help celebrate the launch.

Yoshitaka Amano also has this to say about his exhibit:

“Between the late 60′s and the 70′s, and during my early years in the art world, I was greatly influenced by American comic books and pop culture. I’d like to show my gratitude for the inspiration America gave me with this exhibit. With the theme of DEVA LOKA, all of my concepts and influences are able to come together, centered in one place. I hope everyone enjoys my show.”

DEVA LOKA opens today and runs through March 13th at LeBasse Projects, located in Los Angeles’ Culver City Arts District and is located at 6023 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. For more information visit www.lebasseprojects.com.

A few GamingAngels staff are going to freak out about this, which means I better get something autographed for them. Tokyopop has announced that Tsuneo Goda, the creator of Domo character, will be appearing at the Northridge Borders store in Southern California on October 29, at 7pm. That’s the same borders I met Nathan Fillion, pretty popular stop.

Domo was originally created in 1998 as the mascot of Japanese public broadcaster NHK and now has stop-motion animated shorts for Japan and America. He’s also used in marketing for 7-Eleven and Target.

7-Eleven has posted the webisodes featuring Domo and has three collectible Slurpee cups.

[source via Ann.com]

LongBeach Comic Con

The very first Long Beach Comic Con was October 2-4, 2009 at the wonderful Long Beach Convention Center. I love that area because the convention center is very nice and there are plenty of restaurants or other places to visit while you are down there.

After checking in, it was apparent right away that this was a more casual, kickback event than other comic cons. At first panic set in because I like being extremely organized with my interview schedule. By the time I took the picture above, I realized that Long Beach Comic Con was going to be a more relaxed, convention and to just go with the flo. Unfortunately, I could not go every day of the con because last weekend was a huge weekend for events (IndieCade).

The showroom floor wasn’t tremendous but it was well organized. Another positive about the show floor was the placement of Artist Alley. I love that the Artist Alley was one of the largest sections allowing artists to sell prints and fans a chance to converse with their favorite artists. If only I had money, I saw several great prints.

The schedule had a good variety of events throughout the conference. I only went on Friday and missed the Star Wars uncut panel which I think would have been fun. Thomas Jane was about and debuting two movies over the convention and Stan Lee kicked things off at the opening ceremonies.

The only gaming company in attendance was Nintendo. I found it a little sad that they were the only gaming company with demos on the floor but no one else seemed to notice. Their booth was FULL the whole time with families enjoying themselves with new Wii Fit Plus games and the New Super Mario Bros. Wii title. I saw a young girl fighting her father in Punch-Out and included the pic of my own fiance playing the title.

The only sad part of the con was the actor’s alley. It was mostly B-list and that’s not a problem because sometimes you get time to meet some cool people, but it just looked sad. Pretty depressing in contrast to the rest of the con but perhaps it was busier during the other days of the con.

In conclusion, Long Beach Comic Con is definitely a great start in the right direction for bringing a comic book convention back to Southern California. It needs more support from more comic book companies, but in the end it showed what was important to the con guests…comics. I had a great time and can’t wait until next year. Some of my pictures are below and here is the official statement from the con confirming that they will be there next year!

Thank you for making the Inaugural Long Beach Comic Con an overwhelming success – needless to say, we could not have done it without you.

We’re still smiling at the memory of all of you from last weekend in Long Beach. We started off the weekend on Friday, with Stan Lee and Councilmember Garcia cutting the ribbon to open the show — and from that moment on, the convention hall came alive. There was a real sense of excitement; an electric vibe in the air… and that enthusiasm carried us throughout a spectacular, fun-filled weekend.

Check out some of the pics from the convention, taken by our staff at the LBCC Flickr Page!

And, we’ve started a Flickr group so that YOU can upload YOUR pictures, as well! We’d love to see them!

Again, thanks so much to each and every one of you who attended. It was an incredibly fun time. All of us at Long Beach Comic Con send our appreciation for your support and hope that we’ll see you again next year. There WILL be a next year — stay tuned for details.

Until then, keep smiling!

Warmly,
Martha Donato
Director
Long Beach Comic Con

David Peterson will be on a whirlwind tour through Southern California for five days where he’ll meet with fans and provide autographs. David will be at Long Beach Comic Con signing a limited number of exclusive prints each day (October 2-4). Those that may not be familiar with David Peterson’s works, he created Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 and Mouse Guard: Fall 1152.

The first stop will be at Comickaze in San Diego on September 30 and Secret Headquarters in Los Angeles on October 1st.

At Long Beach Comic Con, David will be at the Archaia Booth (#265) as well as their panel on Saturday, October 3 from 11 to 11:45 in room B.

The print above is available for purchase at the Atomic Apple booth (#555) for $20. Only 75 of the prints are being made with 25 allotted for sale each day. Peterson will be signing the prints each day at 4pm.

Here are the exact details:
Here are further details about David Petersen’s appearances in Southern California:

Wednesday, September 30, 4-7 p.m.
Comickaze Comics Books and More
5517 A/B Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Thursday, October 1, 7-9 p.m.
Secret Headquarters
3817 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca 90026

October 2-4, 4 p.m. daily at the Golden Apple Booth #555
Other times check at the Archaia booth, #265
Long Beach Comic Con at the Long Beach Convention Center
300 Ocean Boulevard Long Beach, CA 90802

Live Art and Music Party, Co-Sponsored by Atomic Apple, ComicVine.com and Archaia
Friday, October 2nd, 8:30 p.m.
Room #204
Long Beach Comic Con at the Long Beach Convention Center
300 Ocean Boulevard Long Beach, CA 90802

LongBeach Comic Con

Long Beach Comic Con is coming up and the programming is now official. There will be tons to do with premiers, comic panels, guests and exhibitors. The conference starts October 2 -4 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA.

For movie fans, there will be four movie screening events:

Trick R’ Treat, a Warner Brothers celebration of Halloween starring Anna Paquin and Brian Cox, screens Saturday, October 3rd at 3:00pm. Writer/Director Michael Dougherty will host the screening and host a Q&A session. Sony Pictures Dark Country in 3-D, which marks Thomas Jane’s directorial debut, and stars Jane and Ron Perlman, screens Friday, the 2nd at 7:00pm. The 3-D projection is being provided by Stereoscopic Projection courtesy of the 3D Movie Division of the Stereo Club of Southern California (la3dclub.com). Raw Entertainment’s, Give ’Em Hell Malone, an action flick starring Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible, Surrogates, Pulp Fiction) is Saturday, October 3rd at 6:00pm. On Sunday, October 4th at 1:00pm Anime fans will have a chance to check out Dixie Dynamite, a classic kung fu myth with redneck style!

On Saturday and Sunday there is a DC Nation Panel and a Robot Chicken panel. Archaia will also be hosting a panel about Mouse Guard with special guest David Peterson. IDW will have a Bloom County: Volume 1 panel with Berkeley Breathed. Marvel will be there conducting portfolio reviews all weekend.

Night programming includes Kirby Krackle, the comic book rock band from Seattle will be performing on Saturday Night at 8pm. Another event is the Atomic Apple live art show or Wolverine 100 preview party.

“The programming is set, the guests are booked and we are really looking forward to a great first show in Long Beach,” event planner Martha Donato, President of MAD Event Management. “We can’t wait for the ribbon cutting ceremony and officially opening the show floor on Friday, October 2.”

We’ll be there of course and for a complete list of events, guests, and information go to www.longbeachcomiccon.com.

I met Nolan Bushnell at the 8-bit Gallery opening a few months ago. While speaking with him and some other journalists, I learned that he had opened a new restaurant called UWink. The concept is simple, delicious food combined with a casual gaming experience. Nolan knows a thing or two about games and restaurants. He was the founder of Atari and the creator of Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese many of us can remember as being the go-to place for birthday parties with games, pizza and a dancing mouse.

The first UWink restaurant was opened in the Woodland Hills area in Southern California. When you walk into UWink it is very white and people everywhere are gathered around pyramid shaped screens at each table. The walls have various images broadcasted on them. I am surprised at the sophisticated, futuristic feel of UWink. I take time to glance around at the people eating at the restaurant. Get ready to wait for a table because the place is packed on the weekends. Surprisingly, the customers at UWink range from families to couples. Most people dressed up for a night out on the town and were completely engaged with the screens in front of them.

The friendly hostess walked us over to a table. She proceeded to go over the simple ordering system and handed us two cards. The most unique thing about UWink is that you use the touch screen terminals to order everything. Anything from your drink, to appetizers, to the specifics on how you want your meal made. Right away we punched in our drink orders and scanned our cards. A couple minutes later our drinks arrived. We punched in our dinner orders and took a look at the real reason we were here…to game.

I brought a group of “hardcore” gamers to watch their reaction to the casual games offered. Not surprisingly, within minutes everyone was on the touch screen becoming addicted to one game or another. Challenges are heard around the table. We try everything from Trivia to puzzle games. One girl at the table next to us started to stand up and sing. They are playing Truth or Dare. I learned from a server that parties can have trivia games or other games customized for their party.

At the end of the meal, it was very easy to pay up front, but getting your party to leave might be the hard part. If you can tear them away from the monitors, you still have to walk past two arcade tables where you can play six person foosball, yahtzee, or our favorite…pong. After repeatedly saying, “okay after this round”, our group finally left the restaurant.

It’s obvious that Mr. Bushnell has hit another one out of the park as everyone in the party agreed how much fun the night was and quickly planned another. Since going, I have been back three times, it doesn’t get old. I also enjoy watching families play together. People that otherwise might not sit and play a game, having fun. Perhaps this can encourage non-gamers to become gamers or encourage gamers to embrace casual gaming. Either way, UWink is definitely a place to go for entertainment. There are other UWink locations opening up, two more in Southern California (Howard Hughes and City Walk), and one location that just opened in Dallas, Texas.