Patrik Macias: Pro-taku

Patrick Macias, acclaimed author of Cruising the Anime City, has been named Editor in Chief of a new magazine, Otaku USA. Want the inside scoop? Check out this interview with Nicole of the Asian Art Museum on the "Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga" blog!

Frederik L. Schodt in Santa Cruz!

Frederik L. Schodt, author of the highly anticipated upcoming book The Astro Boy Essays, has a busy week ahead of him!

Aside from translating for Yoshihiro Shimizu, General Manager of Tezuka Productions, at the opening day lectures for the totally amazing "Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga" exhibit at the Asian Art Museum on Saturday, June 2, the "anime and manga expert" will also be giving a free public talk at the University of California at Santa Cruz on Monday, June 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Humanities Lecture Hall. The talk is sponsored by the History Department.

For info on the UCSC event, contact Scott Rappaport (831) 459-2496.

Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga trailer now online!

Click here to watch the amazing new trailer for the upcoming "Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga" exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum.

Amazing!

Remember, Stone Bridge authors and local Bay Area anime and manga experts Frederik L. Schodt and Gilles Poitras will be at the museum for a special panel discussion on July 7. More info here. From the Asian Art Museum's website:

Blast-Off!
Saturday, July 7
11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Free with museum admission

Hit the Asian Art Museum for its first-ever manga, anime, and pop culture convention, featuring panel discussions, hands-on activities, artist demonstrations, music, cosplay (wearing costumes of characters from manga, anime, videogames, and other pop sources), docent and teen tours, and more. In conjunction with the special exhibition Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga.

• Hone your knowledge of manga and anime with panel discussions by local experts Frederik Schodt and Gilles Poitras.

New Stone Bridge Catalog Now Online!

The new Stone Bridge Press catalog, including Fall 2007 and Winter 2008, is now online! Check it out and get ready for our biggest season ever!

Author of Asia Shock Reports on the San Francisco International Film Festival

Writing in the Asian Reporter, Patrick Galloway, author of popular film guidebooks Asia Shock and Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves, recently weighed in on the wonderful selection of new Asian films at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival, the longest running international fim fest in the U.S.! Below is his review of Ghost Train, and you can read the entire article here -- a great preview for many films that might someday make it to DVD!

Ghost Train (Japan, 2006)

Director Takeshi Furusawa (former assistant director to chill-meister Kiyoshi Kurosawa) delivers the J-horror goods and then some in this innovative shocker about — you guessed it — a haunted train station. Unnerving makeup and sound design, along with a little H.P. Lovecraft influence, reinvigorate the medium. Recommended.

Gilles Poitras in person!

Gilles Poitras, a much-loved writer on anime, manga, and Japanese culture, author of the Anime Companion volumes 1 and 2, and Anime Essentials, has multiple dates lined up for public appearances throughout the Bay Area in the coming months, including a joint appearance with Frederik Schodt for the Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga exhibit at the Asian Art Museum. Stop by to learn about Japanese culture in anime and manga, and so much more!

A full listing of events can be found on Gilles' website.

San Jose, May 25-28
FanimeCon 2007
Gilles expects to do his popular Anime for Parents panel again.
San Jose Convention Center

San Francisco, Saturday, June 23
Japanese Culture in Japanese Animation
Gilles will be introducing the popular Japanese animated feature Whisper of the Heart (subtitled) from the internationally famous Studio Ghibli.
Afterwards there will be a Q&A session.
Event details on the SFPL Website.
1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
San Francisco Public Library
Main Library Koret Auditorium

San Francisco, Sunday, July 1
Japanese Culture in Japanese Animation
Gilles will be introducing the Japanese animated feature Millennium Actress (subtitled) directed by the internationally award winning Kon Satoshi.
Afterwards there will be a Q&A session.
1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
San Francisco Public Library
Main Library Koret Auditorium

San Francisco, Saturday, July 7
Blast Off!
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
As part of this day's events noted translator and Stone Bridge Press author Frederik Schodt and Gilles will be doing a panel on anime and manga.
This part of the Tezuka: Marvel of Manga exhibition.

San Francisco, Saturday, July 28
Anime and Manga for Beginners
Gilles will be doing an introduction to anime and manga detailing many interesting aspects of these forms of story telling. If you assume anime and manga are like American cartoons and comic books you should attend and discover why you are mistaken!
This part of the Tezuka: Marvel of Manga exhibition.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Samsung Hall.

Stone Bridge Press in Publishers Weekly

With our biggest season yet on the way in Fall 2007, Stone Bridge Press is delighted to share Calvin Reid's recent article in Publishers Weekly on this exciting expansion!

Read the whole thing here.

Reid is especially looking forward to The Astro Boy Essays by Frederik L. Schodt. He notes that Stone Bridge's "big book of the year will be The Astro Boy Essays, an examination of the life and work of the late manga and anime master Osamu Tezuka by manga and anime expert Frederik L. Schodt. The book will be published to coincide with “Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga,” an exhibition on Tezuka's manga legacy opening at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum in June. Stonebridge will also join publishers Viz, Vertical, Tokyopop and Dark Horse to supply manga titles to the exhibition's reading room, the Manga Lounge."

In the article, Stone Bridge Press founder and publisher Peter Goodman weighs in on the press' expansion into books about China:

“We're committed to offering detailed information on Japanese culture,” said Goodman, “and we want to do the same things for China. The acquisition by Yohan has helped us in many ways. It's been a good relationship.”

What is it with those Whales?

Have you heard the breaking news that a mother whale and her calf swam up the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta?!

Well, we have a very special book about a very special whale -- Humphrey -- who did just that, way back in 1984! The remarkable tale, Humphrey the Lost Whale, first published in 1986, was a Reading Rainbow feature book and has been delighting readers old and young for years. There are nearly 500,000 copies in print!

Wendy Tokuda, co-author of Humphrey the Lost Whale, is a well-known Bay Area news anchor, especially visible in the community for her inspirational "Students Rising Above" series.

Asia Shock in Collectors' Corner

Boyce McClain's Collectors' Corner, a mainstay of the comics industry, features Patrick Galloway's Asia Shock: Horror and Dark Cinema from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand on the front page of the new May 2007 issue, #172. Here's an excerpt from McClain's high praise for the essential guide to shocking Asian cinema:

The book looks into world of horror and fear as envisioned by some of the East's masters of horror and suspense. Look for interesting anecdotes, insights into the films and their symbolism, reviews, interviews and observations, coupled with photos from classic films...Prepare yourself to be shocked and surprised.

Asian Folktales Retold and In the Pool in the MultiCultural Review

The Spring 2007 issue of the MultiCultural Review includes discussion of the exciting new Asian Folktales Retold series from Stone Bridge Press. China Tells How the World Began! and Chinese Fables Remembered are described in the Editor's Shelf section, where Kathryn Mora notes that they were "created to capture the spirit of Asian folktales." Also in this issue, Hideo Okuda's In the Pool is reviewed by Al Hikida, who writes:

This satiric collection of stories skewers Japan's pressure-cooker society and image fixation...Okuda's eccentric doctor is a prescription for a stress-filled society.

Helen McCarthy on Resonance 104.4FM, and coming to A-Kon!

Helen McCarthy, co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised and Expanded Edition, appeared last night on Resonance 104.4FM, London's "first radio art station," for an extensive interview with Alex Fitch on his show, "Get Ready for Your Close-Up."

They talked about the anime Helen has been curating at the Barbican for the medium's 70th anniversary, and that little subject known as the entire history of Japanese animation!

Check it out here, or go to the complete download page at the Internet Archive (one of the best sites around, btw).

And don't forget, Helen McCarthy will be on American soil for a special appearance at A-Kon in Texas on the first weekend in June!