my yearly excuse

Every year for the past, oh, 17 years, I have the same excuse as to why I can�t get much of anything done in the late August-September time frame. It�s all because I helped start an anime convention in Atlanta back in 1995, and AWA has been such a blast every year that I continue to be involved.



This year is no different, I�m handling several events and panels over the course of the weekend, and preparation for same has taken up the free time I�d normally use to write Let�s Anime columns.

What�s happening this year at AWA 2011? Thursday night at 7 we do this thing called the SUPER HAPPY FUN SELL, where anime fans dig through their closets and bring out their pre-loved manga, DVDs, old VHS and laserdiscs, toys, games, plushies, model kits, prints, cassette tapes, fans, kimono, record albums, and other less identifiable items to sell to you at bargain prices. I find neat stuff at this sale every year and I predict this one will not be any different. Bring money!



Then later on Thursday it�s Dave�s Old School Classroom. I wasn�t going to do it this year, mainly because at previous shows it�s always been this late night Saturday thing and I was tired of spending my Saturday night catching-up-with-friends time in a video room showing �Legend Of Marine Snow�. So this year it�s moved to Thursday at 10pm in the Kennesaw room and I�m going to take the audience through the anime work of Shotaro Ishinomori, including little-seen gems like Sabu & Ichi�s Detective Stories and 30,000 Miles Under The Sea. You�ll need your AWA badge for these events so show up early Thursday to get squared away!



Friday night is of course Japanese Anime Hell; I�ve been doing it at AWA since 1997, a two-hour compilation of entertaining and inexplicable found video that works within the themes of Japan or animation or both. Or neither. To be honest I never thought it would become as popular as it has, but I could say that about AWA in general, which will have more than 12,000 attendees this year.



There�s a whole bunch of stuff going on at the show on Saturday but all I�m responsible for (other than a certain gathering for fans of a certain show) is a panel at 7pm titled �Stone Age Mecha�, anime and manga robots of the pre-Mazinger Z era. Expect some Mitsuteru Yokoyama action in this one.

On Sunday at 1pm I�m on a panel with representatives from other Atlanta anime conventions, and we compare and contrast our various shows, talk about dealing with hotels and vendors, and generally swap trade secrets. I don�t live in Atlanta any more, so my eligibility as an AWA representative is dubious at best, but this gives me a chance to catch up on all the gossip. And that�s important.

At 3:30 there�s a talk entitled �My Life On The Super Robot D-List�, where experts like Richard Hoelsher and Drew Sutton and me discuss various robot anime shows that never quite caught on with the public. And there were a surprising number of these near-misses, some entertaining, some terrible. Then I have to run over next door at 4pm and do a panel on �Spooky Classic Anime�, all about Shigeru Mizuki�s Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro and Akuma-Kun, other shows like Yokai Ningen Bem, Obake Q-Taro and Kaibutsu-Kun, and even some Dororon Enma-Kun thrown in for good measure. And then before you know it the con is over for another year!



Of course AWA�s packed with attractions besides my humble involvement; guests include seiyu Naoko Matsui (Dream Hunter Rem, Katsumi Liqueur in Silent Mobius), artist Yoshitoshi �Serial Experiments Lain� Abe, voice actors Todd Haberkorn, Vic Mignogna, Amy �Nova� Howard-Wilson and Brina Palencia, industry figures like Carl Horn, Neil �Totally Lame Anime� Nadelman and David Williams, animation director Tim Eldred, artist Bob DeJesus, musical acts MOON STREAM and The Suzan, among others. There�s a formal ball, the famous AMV awards, a giant artists alley, classy costume contest, karaoke, maid cafes, video games, a manga library, a huge dealers hall, RPG games, three 24 hour anime video rooms showing damn near everything, a whole programming track dealing with cosplay, Midnight anime parody Madness, several loud dances, and this year a skit event, so you can shut up about your damn skits.

AWA 2011 happens September 29-October 2 at the Cobb Galleria Convention Center/Renaissance Waverly Hotel in what�s technically Atlanta GA! See you there!

what I did on my vacation

Been a few weeks since anything new popped up on the old Let's Anime. Why is that? Huh? It's because the end of summer is traditionally a time for reflection and contemplation, a time for spiritual and philosophical renewal, and also a time to squeeze in a little vacation. Which is what we did.



So we went to Tokyo and took a lot of pictures and did some sightseeing and bought a lot of neat stuff, and that's part of why there hasn't been any new Let's Anime action here. Another reason is the upcoming Anime Weekend Atlanta, happening September 18-20 in the Cobb Galleria Center and Renaissance Waverly Hotel in what is technically the city of Atlanta!

As one of the founders and a continuing bad influence I naturally have many important duties at AWA, one of which is the late Saturday night event known as "Old School Classroom". This video-room event is basically a clip show featuring snippets of those crazy old Japanese cartoons that have all the kids excited. This year's theme is "1960s" so that means everything from Astro Boy to Tiger Mask to Cyborg Big X to Cyborg 009. That event is going to wrap up with an entire episode of "Honey Honey", even though the cartoon is technically not from the 1960s. But it's my panel and I can do whatever I want.



Another AWA event I'll be at is the Sunday afternoon extravaganza known as "Thirty Years of Star Blazers". That's right, it's been thirty years since Star Blazers first burst forth upon American television sets, and we've assembled an all-star cast of fans and pros to talk about this seminal experience, including original Nova voice actress Amy Howard Wilson, Starblazers.com webmaster and comic author Tim Eldred, and other notables.

Friday afternoon I will be holding forth on a topic near and dear to my heart, a panel about Western literature that has inspired Japanese cartoons. This doesn't just mean Nippon Animation World Masterpiece shows, either! Lots of crazy stuff you never knew existed or didn't really feel the need to know existed awaits your eyeballs.

And of course Friday night at ten PM you must not fail to attend JAPANESE ANIME HELL, the original crazy clip show highlighting the weird and wacky, the failures and the fantastics, the disturbing and the damned paraded across the screen for your entertainment.



So if you happen to be anywhere near Georgia in the next week, you owe it to yourself and to future generations to attend this year's Anime Weekend Atlanta! Once it's over I promise regular posting here at Let's Anime will resume with all possible speed. Isn't that right, Inflatable Prince Planet?

AWA next weekend

It's been light on the posting here at Let's Anime, because I've been busy getting ready for the 14th annual Anime Weekend Atlanta, which happens next weekend in, yes, Atlanta. There will be a wide variety of classic anime programming at the show for you to enjoy, including an entire video room devoted to classic anime (it's the Tyndall Room, look it up in your program book when you get to the show).

Highlights?

Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr (Speed Racer, Trixie, Marine Boy, Ultraman, Thunderbirds 2086, etc) will be guests and doing panels and autographs, etc., throughout the weekend.



I'll be doing the Old School Classroom thing at 11pm on Saturday night in the Classic Anime room (Tyndall), which is a thing where I screen old clips and discuss their relative importance or lack thereof. This year I'm doing my Super Robots panel, which features clips from every super robot anime series from the 1970s (minus two).



Patrick (Otaku USA) and I will be doing a presentation on the 1978 film "Message From Space" on Saturday at 1pm.

I don't know if it counts as "classic" yet, but Walter Amos will be doing a panel on Legend Of Galactic Heroes at 11am on Saturday.



Ed Hill's Magical Girls panel at noon on Sunday focuses on the Studio Pierrot shows like Creamy Mami, Pelsia, and Magical Emi.



At 1pm on Sunday there's a panel about Rose of Versailles.



At 3 on Sunday Neil Nadelman and I are doing a two-hour thing called "Anime Time Machine" where we take a look at anime from 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years ago.

If you're an old-time anime veteran, you're welcome to drop by the "Veterans of Anime Fandom" panel on Friday at 5 and share your stories and reminisces with the crowd.

Thursday night AWA's trying something new; the SUPERHAPPYFUNSELL is a garage-sale style sale where individuals sell used and previously-loved anime DVDs, tapes, books, manga, cosplay items, you name it. So if you're at the show early, stop by and check it out.

See you at AWA!