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New to Anime? Click here for an interview with anime fan Kevin Lillard
If you still had energy after attending all of the events and exhibitions you could
participate in the game room finals and try your talents with the popular dancing simulation hit Dance Dance Revolution machine.
Or you could stop by the animators exhibition area and have a personalized sketch made of you by an anime artist. AC Team members Wendy Chan and Suzanne Kai were sketched by artist Kidkoum "Saka" Visarutvanit, age 21, who last year moved from Thailand to California to
team up with fellow artists Long Vo and Charles Park. All three met through anime newsgroups on the Internet and are now artists for the hit sci-fi comic book series "Echo" produced by Dreamwave Productions. These young talented artists have great careers ahead.
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 | | | Standing L to R: Charles Park, Long Vo, and Kidkoum Visarutvanit |
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The Hollywood Reporter reports that Fox 2000 recently
paid mid-six figures for the feature film rights to "Echo."
[Click here to see a cover of the "Echo" Comic.] Thai
Helmer Kaos has adapted the material and will direct the project for
producer Chris Lee from Columbia Pictures-based Chris Lee Productions.
Japanese anime seems to come from many different origins and media. Pokemon began as a children's animation show in Japan. It
caught on in popularity in the U.S. when the animation was released on TV in the mornings. Then came Pokemon, the card games, then video games, then everywhere, from movies to collectibles and into the consciousness of mainstream America - including those little toy figures offered in Burger King kid's meals.
Some of the anime characters don't have their own TV cartoon shows, CD's, videos
or manga (Japanese comics). They exist only in video games.
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| Fan with his own "anime" style! |
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Anime is big on the Internet with new websites popping up. Companies from Japan and the U.S. were at the conference doing focus group studies.
One attendee created his own personalized anime look not based on any anime character at all.
AC Team asks anime fan Kevin Lillard, creator of anime fan site http://www.fansview.com to describe anime to people new to the art form:
AC Team: Can you describe Anime? What exactly is Anime?
Ken: I'd say that "Anime" is animation created and produced by Japanese animation
studios, mostly for Japanese audiences and from a Japanese perspective. The plots have a melodramatic, humane quality that make them fascinating to people of most cultures.
AC Team: Why is it so popular in the U.S. and worldwide?
Ken: It's a mixture of the exotic and the familiar. Anime artists are influenced by American artists and movies, and that shows in the plots. However, the Japanese world view also is part of the genre, so the shows are "different." It's much like the appeal of the Beatles, who repackaged the familiar (American blues) in an unfamiliar, exotic way for their time.
AC Team: For people new to Anime, what do they look for besides attending the annual AX convention to learn more about anime? Websites? TV shows? Video games? Magazines?
Ken: Read three magazines: Animerica, Protoculture Addicts and Manga Max.
AC Team: What's the deal about Anime porn - is that part of the subculture of Anime, or is that a major part of the Anime audience?
Ken: No one in the Anime industry will ever admit how much money they make from
porn.
AC Team: For true core anime enthusiasts - what are the current trends, or passions for anime enthusiasts?
Ken: Hard core fans want every show ever made to be released, subtitled, on DVD's.
The rest of the world is looking for the next Pokemon. And video games are rising as an influence on Anime.
AC Team: Thanks!
-- Contributors to this report: Suzanne Kai, Dennis A. Amith, Wendy Chan
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Anime
Expo 2000 Photo Gallery