BUZZ DOGS, If you like Tweeny Witches..., contests & more in episode 88!

GRIMES, IA, March 13, 2009 – Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Patrick Delahanty, of AnimeCons.com, to episode 88 of ANIME TODAY.

In this interview, Delahanty discusses the new monthly video podcast at AnimeCons.com. The podcast includes news about upcoming conventions and "how to" segments, plus feature stories, such as the "top 10 highly attended conventions of 2008" and a look at how anime cons compare to other types of fan-centered conventions.

Read More »

HIMAWARI, Miyazaki Q&A, reviews, contests & more in episode 83!

GRIMES, IA, December 31, 2008 – Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Gia Manry – the managing editor of ANIME VICE – to episode 83 of ANIME TODAY.

During this interview, Manry talks about the recently launched site's focus, its user-driven content and extensive wiki-style database, and its relationship with sibling sites Giant Bomb (gaming) and Comic Vine (comics). In addition to Anime Vice, her writing and reporting can be found in Anime Insider and has appeared online at theOtaku.com and animeOnline.com.

Read More »

From Papo de Budega comes an interview with Queenie Chan, creator of Tokyopop's The Dreaming, which is also being released in Brazil by Lumus.

From About.com:Manga comes an interview with Wendy Pini, the creator of Elfquest and a new yaoi manga-inspired adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death.

In this interview, Pini talks the backlash and criticism she has received from the comics industry from when Elfquest first debuted in 1978, mostly because of its anime-inspired character designs (which was unusual in 1978), her meeting with Candy Candy creator Yumiko Igarashi, and reactions from yaoi manga fans, straight and gay, when she debuted Masque of the Red Death at Yaoi-Con 2008.

Retailer news website ICv2 posted a four-part interview it conducted with CEO of Dark Horse Comics Mike Richardson. Richardson speaks on the impact of the ever-slowing economy on comic book sales, comic book online distribution, illegal file sharing, and also a hint at a "big" announcement for later this year.

"We have a huge announcement that I’ll tell you about later, very shortly. It will be a gigantic project working with another company. Obviously, that tidbit for you, to watch the skies..." Richardson told ICv2 regarding the announcement.

Fluid Friction Comics is a Hong Kong-based comic company that releases titles in English and Chinese internationally across the world.

Fluid Friction is perhaps one of the first companies in the world to have formed "a true East meets West team with local Chinese and Western artists and writers working seamlessly side by side to produce truly unique products." Below is an interview with Spencer Douglass, Fluid Friction's business development manager, who talks about Fluid Friction, its view of the comics market, as well as plans for the future:

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Spencer Douglass and I am the business development manager at Fluid Friction Comics. My job entails overseeing the production and timelines for the comics, setting up distribution across the world, organizing all the marketing, working with retailers to promote directly to their customers, handling PR, setting up and running our exhibits at various comic-cons and bringing in partners to work with us on things like possible films, games, TV series, merchandise, mobile content, etc.

So I suppose you could say I am essentially a "comic salesman." :-)

Read More »

About.com:Manga has talked with representatives from Digital Manga Publishing and got the official story about recent layoffs and restructuring at the Gardena, California-based
manga publisher:

Compared to the firestorm of commentary that accompanied the layoffs at TokyoPop earlier this year, the recent restructuring at Digital Manga Publishing was met with muted murmurs and conjecture. Now DMP is breaking their silence by confirming more details about their recent personnel changes, cutbacks and delays in their 2008 - 2009 release schedule, and putting to rest the rumor that their 801 Media yaoi manga imprint is folding.

From About:Manga comes another interview from Comic-Con. This time with Hiro Mashima, the creator of Fairy Tail, Rave Master and Monster Hunter Orage: "In our interview and from Q&A from his Comic-Con appearance, Mashima-sensei talks about the real-life inspirations for the wizards of Fairy Tail (like how he got the idea for Natsu's motion sickness) and how he creates both a weekly and a monthly manga series for both Shonen and Shonen Rival magazine and still find time to have fun."

From About.Manga comes an interview with Tite Kubo, the creator of Bleach, during SDCC: The life of a successful manga artist is a hectic one, especially for a creator like Tite Kubo who works on a hugely popular shonen manga series like Bleach. So it was a rare treat for U.S. manga fans to meet Kubo-sensei at San Diego Comic-Con. Besides catching his panel appearance, I also got a few moments with this shonen manga superstar to ask him about his beginnings as a manga artist, his early influences, his creative process and his most memorable Comic-Con moment.

From the Japan Times comes an article titled "Stan Lee's marvelous manga plans" by Patrick Macias, which looks at Ultimo, the new collaboration manga between Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei (mangaka of Shaman King).