Funimation announced dub cast Black Butler

Ok, so I was going to blog about cosplay this week....but I saw that Funimation just announced the dub cast for 3 shows. So, I'm going to postpone the cosplay post for a week(which will give me a little more time to research) to let you in on the castings.

First I'll start with the dub cast for Black Butler because:

1. I love this series
2. I've been waiting to see who the cast

• Sebastian~ J. Micheal Tatum(also known as France from Hetalia, Kyoya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club, Komui Lee from D. Gray-Man)
• Ciel~Brina Palencia(Chibitalia from Hetalia, Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece, Nina Tucker in FMA)
• Finnian~Jason Liebrecht(Millennium Earl from D. Gray-Man, Rob Lucci from One Piece, Syaoran from Tsubasa)
• Mei Lin~ Monica Rial(May Chang from FMA:Brotherhood, Renge Houshakuji from Ouran High School Host Club)
• Bardroy~Ian Sinclair(Romano from Hetalia, Dallas Genoard from Baccano!)
• Mr. Tanaka~R. Bruce Elliot(Conrad from RomeoXJuliet, Rubel from Claymore)
• Elizabeth~Cherami Leigh(Liechtenstein from Hetalia, Patty Thompson from Soul Eater, Road Camelot from D. Gray Man)
• Grell~Daniel Fredrick(new anime VA)
• Fred Abberline~Jonathan Brooks(Prussia from Hetalia, Ginjiro from Oh! Edo Rocket)
• Agni~Patrick Seitz(Germany from Hetalia, Franky from One Piece)
• Angela~Colleen Clinkenbeard(Riza Hawkye from FMA & FMA: Brotherhood, Miranda Lotto from D. Gray-Man)
• Ashe~Chuck Huber(Shou Tucker from FMA, Dr. Franken Stein from Soul Eater)
• Corraro~Bruce DuBose(new anime VA)
• Drossel~Sonny Strait(Maes Hughes from FMA, Skin Boric from D. Gray-Man)
• Druit~Todd Haberkorn(Italy from Hetalia, Hikaru from Ouran High School Host Club)
• Harold~Newton Pittman(Zwei from Phantom~Requiem for the Phantom~, other small parts)
• Lau~Jerry Jewell(Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket, Barry the Chopper from FMA & FMA:Brotherhood)
• Matilda~Leah Clark(Noah from FMA movie, Nodoka Miyazaki from Negima! & Negima!?)
• Paula~Jessica Cavanagh(new anime VA)
• Pluto~Z. Charles Bolton(Ryo-Ohki, other small parts)
• Rachel~Brina Palenica(same VA as Ciel)
• Randall~John Gremillion(Dracule Mihawk from One Piece, Hakuoro from Utawarerumono)
• Soma~Chris Ayres(Johnny from One Piece,Frieza from Dragon Ball Kai)
• Undertaker~John Swayze(Daiki Niwa from DNAngel, Lord Death from Soul Eater)
• Vincent~Robert McCollum(Kazuhiko Yukimi from Nabari no O, Goten from Dragon Ball GT)

Funimation also annouced the dub cast for Phantom~Requiem for the Phantom~ and Oh! Edo Rocket. I will post the cast tommorow and the day after.

Otakon, Dir en Grey North American tour, and Disney's Anime Exhibit

Hello Everyone! Konbanwa minna-san~!

For all you who will be attending Otakon, I have some news for you!
The cast of Hetalia:Axis Powers will be attending, the dub cast, of course.
Voice actors Attending:
Italy's VA: Todd Haberkorn
Germany's VA: Patrick Seitz
Japan's VA: Christopher Bevins
England's VA: Scott Freeman
France's VA: J. Michael Tatum
China's VA: Clarine Harp
Russia's VA: Jerry Jewell

Sadly America's VA: Eric Vale will not be attending, but there will be a special video appearance of him.
Otakon will premiere the first ten episodes of Hetalia and there will be two autograph sessions with the cast.
Also at FUNimation's booth there will be cosplayers from http://www.acparadise.com/ helping you making fan cards to be sent to the creator of Hetalia, Hidekaz Himaruya!
you can find all the details at: http://blog.funimation.com/2010/06/fresh-from-funicon-4-0-the-great-hetalia-fan-card-campaign/
On Saturday of Otakon weekend there will be a large Hetalia Cosplay gathering. Also at their booth will be a poster that you can have the voice cast to sign. They'll go fast!!

Other Guests to Otakon include:
Peter S. Beagle, Author of The Last Unicorn
Maile Flanagan, VA, known for being the voice of Naruto
Masashi Ishihama, Character Designer & Art Director
kanon, bassist of An Cafe & Video Game Producer
Hiroshi Koujina, Animator & Director
Masao Maruyama, Producer & Founder of Madhouse Studios(animation studio for anime)
Koji Masunari, Director
Vic Mignogna, VA & Singer/Songwriter
Yuji Mitsuya, Seiyuu(a person who voice acts in Japanese/a Japanese VA) & Voice/Sound Director
h.Naoto, Fashin Designer
Tomonori Ochikoshi, Producer
Takamasa Sakurai, Writer/Producer
Michael Sinterniklaas, Actor/Director/Producer
Felipe Smith, Manga-ka(manga creator)
Amy Howard Wilson, VA

Otakon takes place July 30-August 1 in Baltimore, Maryland
For more information on Otakon go to http://www.otakon.com/



The popular Japanese band, Dir en Grey, announced a North American Tour on August 23- September 11. Cities that have been announced are New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, ans Toronto.




Disney's Epcot Park opens an Anime/Folklore exhibit. In the Japan Pavilion of Walt Disney World Resort Epcot opened up an exhibit called "Spirit Beasts: From Ancient Stories to Anime Stars" The exhibit will feature creatures from Japanese folklore that have inspired anime and manga series. The creatures include, kappas(a water sprite that looks like a turtle), kitsunes(foxes), tsuru(cranes), saru(monkeys), and the famous "moon rabbit".

Hetalia Dub Cast!! Final Update!

For those who don't know the anime, Hetaila: Axis Powers is a parody on historical events. Though it's generally centered around the WWII era. Each character portrays a different country and the stereotypes that country possesses. For example: America is a hyper character who loves hamburgers and longs to be the HERO.

In this image left to right: Japan, Italy(Northern Italy), and Germany




Funimation has been posting the official since Wednesday of last week. The Axis and Allies have been announced one by one each week day.



So far the minor characters/countries are:

Lithuania: Josh Grelle
Estonia: Mike McFarland

Latvia: Ryan Reynolds(not the Hollywood actor)

Romano(Southern Italy): Ian Sinclair

Spain: Dave Trosko

Greece: Vic Mignogna(Greece is a very mellow character. Very different than the characters Vic normally does. I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.)

Liechtenstein: Cherami Leigh

Switzerland: John Burgmeier

Poland: Ryan Bijan

Ukraine: Lydia Mackay

Belarus: Monica Rial

Austria: Chuck Huber

Hungary: Luci Christian

Sealand: Maxey Whitehead

Holy Roman Empire: Chris Cason

Ancient Rome: Christopher R. Sabat

Chibitalia(a chibi version of young Northern Italy): Brina Palencia

Canada: Eric Vale(same as America)

Cuba: Bob Carter

Egypt: Scott Sager

Finland: Clint Bickham

Prussia: Jonathan Brooks

For the Axis and Allies, Funimation has been posting small clips of the anime with their dubbed voices. You can find them on YouTube under Funimation's account.

The Axis Powers:
Italy: Todd Haberkorn

Germany: Patrick Seitz

Japan: Christopher Bevins

The Allies:
America: unknown

UK(sometimes called Britain or England): Scott Freeman

France: J. Michael Tatum

China: Clarine Harp

Russia: Jerry Jewell

Here's the World Conference Clip from Episode 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGUQfJ7xfME

Intro to Anime and Manga

Konnichiwa Minna-san! Hello Everyone! I'm Kiyomi or Ki-chan.

Reasons for this blog:

• To give my reviews on anime/manga series
• To inform other of new series
• And the main reason: To post my opinions on certain anime issues

So you maybe wondering...What is anime/manga?? Well, no worries. I'll give you a brief history and definition.

Anime: Anime is the abbreviation of animation. This refers to Japanese animation specifically in western countries like the US. Although in Japan the term anime is used of all animation...yes even Disney movies. The first anime was in 1917. It was a two minute clip about a samurai testing a new sword. The success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs influenced the Japanese animators in 1937. In the 1960's a man known as Osamu Tezuka begin to simplify the animation techniques of Disney. Manga(see below) become more popular in the 1970's and many of them later became anime. Osamu has been called the Godfather of anime and the Father of manga. The most recognisable of his works is Astro Boy or Tetsuwan Atomu. Anime became mainstream in the 1980's when the series Gundam and The Super Dimension Fortress Marcross. Anime has increased in popularity since the 1990's.

Manga: Translated it means whimsical pictures. Manga is Japanese comics that read right-to-left. Early manga dates back to 1798 with the works of Santo Kyoden. The word manga came into the common language in 1814 with the works of Hokusai(know for his painting: The Great Wave off Kanagawa). Manga started getting more popular in 1914, but when Astro Boy was published in 1951 it really took off.

There are specific features that reoccur in most anime and manga. The main ones are:

• Eyes: Anime and manga character tend to have large eyes. The bigger, the cuter!
• Hair: Hairstyles come in any style you could possibly think of. From normal to outright insane! Hair colors just the same. You have your blonde, brunette, black, and redheads of course. But there's also pink, green, blue, purple....all colors
• Emotions and expressions are exaggerated.

Well, now you know what anime and maga actually is, but what anime is the best to get started on? Or what do you show your non-anime loving friend? I've prepared a list of good series, that aren't too out there(which anime can typically be).

Genres:

• Slice of Life(Normal, everyday life): Peach Girl, Ouran High School Host Club
• Shonen(boy. These are geared more toward boys, but girls love them too): Bleach, One Piece, and Naruto
• Shojo(girl. These are geared more toward girls, but guys like them too):Sailor Moon
• Horror(The series I'm putting here are ones I've seen personally. Now, Horror isn't a genre I watch that much, so this is a mild series. Probably most of you won't call this horror, but I do. Plus we're trying to get people started here, we don't want to over do it, like suggest Higurashi no naka kuro ni.): Death Note
• Fantasy(again, we're getting newbies started here. So nothing extereme.):Fruits Basket
• SciFi: Gundam(Any series) and Ghost in the Shell
• Comedy(Most slice of life, shonen, shojo, and fantasy can also be put here.):FLCL(Fooly Cooly, or Furi Kuri...whatever you want to call it.