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Each year, we go to SM Megamall’s Megatrade Hall for ToyCon 2015 — and while most things haven’t changed (merchandise sales, the toy gallery, Alodia’s presence, cosplay competitions, movie promotions, etc.), there are a few tweaks here and there in each iteration (such as the addition of iflix to the fray of presenters, DC Comics-licensed hoodies, new toys and, so forth) which gives a different flavor. It’s like fried chicken — last year was spicy (no thanks to the Lap Dance skit on Day 1 — I have not yet moved on from this even though I missed it), but this year is delicious … so delicious that it should remind you of the good old times. ...

The October 2014 issue of Otaku USA Magazine featuring a preview for the Shokugeki no Soma Manga that is distributed by Viz Media in the United States. [File Photo] We’ve recently released a news post that VIVA-PSICOM Publishing (to be referred henceforth in this piece as PSICOM — take note that the main PSICOM and VIVA-PSICOM are still treated as two entities) will be releasing Filipino editions of Fairy Tail and Attack on Titan manga series by next month through a launch event at SM Megatrade Hall 3 in Mandaluyong. Now, I’ve read some reactions off Facebook saying that they’d rather prefer PSICOM to release the titles in English. I’m going to put up my stand on this with the intention of convincing everyone here that PSICOM’s move is a viable, if not the only choice. ...

I’ve watched the 2008 of Yatterman on local TV, so I am surprised that they did a different take on this. Yoru no Yatterman (Yatterman Night) is a 12-episode series done by Tatsunoko Production as part of the Time Bokan series that has celebrated its 40th anniversary. This stars Eri Kitamura, Kenta Miyake, Shizuka Itou, Hiroyuki Yoshino among others, and tells the story of Yatterman different from the one we’re used to. ...

That’s a lot of Rilakkuma plushies out there. [Photo by Al Barcenas] Last week, yours truly was speaking with Fredrik about the recurring discussion of whether Anime Festival Asia will be coming into the country or not — I remember the last time when I said the rule on this* — but then again, we have this discussion at hand once more. ...

I went to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines for the first time in my life, and I covered Japanime 2015 there. Its organizer, the Otaku Urule organization, have been running for five years now — a month older than us, apparently. As with most of our event reports, I will be discussing this chronologically. The PUP Freedom Plaza [Google Earth], with a view of the event venue as of 4:45p.m. [Inset] ...

When I got tipped of the news about the March 15 episode of GMA News TV’s magazine show Ang Pinaka listing out ten (10) Filipina Cosplayers, I made sure that I will watch. For this post, I will use a subjective stance. To begin with, the program’s panel include Marko Villaluz, Sam Beltran and Guy Singzon. Villaluz has participated the Cosplay Tournament of Champions as part of the Adventure Team years ago, wherein Singzon was among the hosts. Beltran wrote the “Top 20 Cosplayers to Watch Out for” article on When in Manila that drew the ire of yours truly. ...

[Top Photo] Vispathè cinema, in Campi Bisenzio, Italy. (Wikimedia Commons); Director Reyes’ self-portrait with broadcaster Mike Enriquez (Instagram) I was lucky to participate in the 1st De La Salle University Communication Conference held last 27 February 2015, and I am still on a hangover a week after. After all, this is the first conference in La Salle since the launch of their Communication Arts program forty years ago. Various speakers from different industries gather to share insights on the communication landscape in the country, among the things that I’ve taken note of there, Director Jose Javier Reyes‘ talk on the Film and Movie industry made me think the most. In this post, I will write about what I have understood in his talk; meaning that alongside the information and the arguments he shared with the audience, I will try to make sense of each of it. ...

I have decided to write something about MyAnimeList after all these times, these 12,000 years of aishite — okay, okay, a long time, I mean. It’s been long since I tracked my Anime fix — which I did just now for my Fifty (Anime) Ships segment — and I’ve tried to gather my MyAnimeList and Hummingbird.me data to do that. There’s only one thing that made me curious about MyAnimeList now — almost a month ago, they’ve been divested from CraveOnline, LLC. This means that they are now MyAnimeList, LLC, which has a different set of investors with them. Not only that, they also now have their own Facebook and Google+ profiles — after, again; all these times, these 12,000 years of aishi– okay, I’m shutting up on that now (I barely know the series where I got that track). So, what happened? ...

[Left] The St. Thomas Aquinas Building of Siena College of Taytay; [Right] The Stage for their school fair’s Gakuen Clash Year 3. (Photos: Ricky, JustForPics; Francis Laus, Team Prank Multimedia) Just yesterday, I spent almost the whole day at Siena College of Taytay to observe what seems to be my first experience of a Cosplay event inside and academic institution. Siena Taytay is celebrating their school fair, with the theme “Saya pa more sa [More fun at] Siena Taytay,” and their annual Cosplay competition is at its third year. In this post, we’re not just profiling the event, but I’m going to put the spotlight on one Cosplayer that I’ve just met. ...

This photo released by the staff of anison singer LiSA shows the audience reception and the viability of the event — the one marked in the balcony area is this writer. [@LiSA_STAFF on Twitter] There’s a little bit of a story before this event happened — weeks before this, I actually had tantrums as I was thinking of the worst possible scenario of not actually being able to come here, but then one day Al gave me a ticket to the balcony because it’s just too hard to miss, and he want me to narrate the situation. I will not delve further on what he did, but please, let’s focus on the report. ...