Anime Central 2019 Press Report

Once again I was accepted as a member of the press for Anime Central 2019, and I’ve finally prepared my press report. No full transcript of my interviews will be posted(some will be incorporated into later work and others I’ll leave for my fellow members of the press to discuss) but I will give a quick recap of them before moving onto other traits of the con. If you’re not interested in reading all of what’s below, I’ll cut to the chase: as with last year, ACen 2019 was well-organized and enjoyable, absolutely remaining my favorite convention experience.

Yuri 101 | Birth of a Genre, Birth of a Nation

In 1853, Commodore Perry’s fleet of “black ships” reached Japan, demanding the end of the country’s Sakoku policy and the opening of ports. 15 years later, recognizing the need to shore up the state’s power lest the archipelago fall like to Western forces like the rest of Asia, the shogunate fell, and the Emperor’s power was restored after nearly a millennium. In this restoration, the capitalist class established itself its reign as the nation’s vanguard, subjugating the old nobility. It was the dawn of a new nation. On January 12, 1896, the 29th year of the Meiji era, Yoshiya Nobuko, godmother of yuri, was born to a petit-bourgeois family of samurai-descended bureaucrats. She would become one of the most well-known Japanese authors of the 20th century. It was the dawn of a new genre.

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 1 – Manga Review

Published by Kodansha Comics, Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier stars one Coco, a young girl with a fascination for the magic that exists within her world. Unfortunately for her, magic is something only possessed by those born with it, and she has not had that privelege. When a witch named Qifrey visits her mother’s shop, Coco discovers that magic might not be nearly as unreachable for her as she was led to believe. But this knowledge comes at a cost, one that may not be worth the value of what she receives…