Otaku Hourly

Join imagEn with special guest hyunicat on their first impressions attending Anime NYC 2023!

This is a story of boy meets girl, and it is not a love story.* Keisuke Uyama's popular novel follows a young couple who fall in love yet are separated due to a fatal illness that causes someone to age rapidly. Death looms over the couple's time and intimacy together, yet what if miscommunication is accelerating their demise? Host Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran and crew member Razelatte delves further into the book and its Netflix film adaptation by the same name as well as whether or not it can become an anime (and by who/what studio).

*For those who know this reference from 500 Days of Summer - kudos!

Hitting the year running, we're starting off with our experiences at Anime Los Angeles 19 (2024) and Anime Impulse Los Angeles 2024. Two VERY DIFFERENT conventions that occur right next to each other.

Members on the Show:

- Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran

- Matt "imagEn" Aquino

- Jon "No Jons" Sloan

- Jonathan "Ravarath" Garcia

Disclaimer: All opinions made are by the respective individuals.

Anime Los Angeles 2023 Highlight.

Interview with:

Mamoru Yokota - Animation Director of One Piece Film Red

Kenji Yokoyama - Animation Director & Key Animator of One Piece Film Red

Recorded originally in late September/early October, Jojo and imagEn have a lengthy hangout with Randy and Rachel; two prominent members of the Anime Impulse staff that have been around since almost the beginning. We talk about their origin, Anime Impulse's origin, their decisions behind the Anaheim Convention Center and expansion, and Jollibee.

Haven't gotten tickets yet for an Anime Impulse convention near you? Head over to Anime Impulse's website to find the closest convention and purchase a badge! FYI, Anime Impulse LA is coming REAL soon (January 13-14)

Many in the anime community consider this to be their Christmas movie - starts on Christmas with the Nativity scene and becomes a string of miraculous misadventures of three homeless people simply trying to find the parents of a baby they found in a dumpster.

Directed by the late Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress) this film is a gritty redemptive story of a group of outcasts becoming the unlikely heroes of the Christmas and New Year season. Your backdoor anime hangout went to watch this film in the theaters for AX Cinema Nights.

Many thanks to Erik Jansen for the press opportunity!

More information at https://www.ax-cinemanights.com/

Our thoughts on the US release of The Boy and the Heron, the latest film released by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Jojo really went hard on this one.

First half of the session is spoiler-free until 28:22.

Members on this episode:

Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran

Matthew "imagEn" Aquino

ANIME Impulse OC (along with K Play and Sneaker Expo) makes its debut in the legendary and expansive Anaheim Convention Center; the event space for D23 and VidCon to name a few). Considering its beginnings as an outdoor venue, your backdoor anime hangout talks about its transition into an airconditioned space as well as its focus on VTubers, specifically Nijisanji EN.

Crew:

- Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran

- Matt "imagEn"

- Shirocast

Many thanks to ANIME Impulse for this press oppotunity.

This time was a chill time, weather was pretty tolerable for a change and was "the best time to go to AX," according to one of our crew members. As to why - we'll get into that along with:

Many thanks to:

BringBackTheBubbleZone

We know Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet have you ever heard of the Tokyo Firebombing of 9-10 March 1945? This event left Tokyo's Shitamachi District in cinders and corpses, leaving 100,000 dead and a million homeless; a toll exceeding Hiroshima. Julia Morizawa's independent animated short film, Dragonfly, is an inspired account of her grandmother's survival from that chaotic night that changed Tokyo forever. We talk:

Dragonfly is currently in the festival circuit - release TBD

Information here

Many thanks to: