Ahoy, I'm Peter Tatara. In brief, I'm left-handed, a vegetarian, and my blood type is A. I work for the New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival and have a cute girlfriend and a Space: Above & Beyond boxset. I'm generally a happy guy.
- [Sponsor: Moon Costumes - Anime Cosplay Shop!]
- Created By ptatara
Anime USA Masquerade Winners!
Earlier this year, the New York Anime Festival started the Yume Cosplay Prize -- a contest which awards two cosplayers a dream vacation to Tokyo, Japan. Yaya Han and Anna Raper won the first Yume Cosplay Prize (and will be traveling to the Tokyo Anime Fair in the Spring). Next year's Yume Cosplay Prize will be given out in the 2010 New York Anime Festival, but you don't need to wait until next Fall to enter.
See, NYAF and the Yume Cosplay Prize are working with conventions throughout the USA to hold regionals, with every regional winner winning a trip to NYC and guaranteed place in the NYAF Yume Cosplay Prize Masquerade. (You can find all the details at www.yumecosplay.com.) And, the South East regional for the 2010 Yume Cosplay Prize was just held at Anime USA this past weekend in Virginia.
Who took home the prize? Tiffany Tezna (white wings) and Cassandra May (metal wings). Tiffany and Cassandra call themselves the Cosplay Cupcakes, and they'll be bringing their brand of sugar-coated costumes to NYAF 2010 as they compete for a trip to Japan!
The grotesque underbelly of Japan's kawaii culture...
The grotesque underbelly of Japan's kawaii culture... That got your attention? Good, because that's the theme of an upcoming event at NYC's Japan Society. From December 3-5, Japan Society will present the world premiere of its commission to Bessie Award-winning American choreographer Jeremy Wade.
Titled "there is no end to more", the dance will take a playful and cynical look at Japanese kawaii culture -- from the infantile fluff of Hello Kitty to teenage doe-eyed love portrayed in anime -- exploring its ubiquitous influence on the world today using a bold and violent juxtaposition of movement, text, and animation.
Wade, who is based in Berlin, directs "there is no end to more", which features actor/dancer Jared Gradinger in collaboration with Brooklyn-based Japanese manga artist/illustrator Hiroki Otsuka, Berlin-based video artist Veith Michel, and musician Brendan Dougherty. The set was designed by architects Katja Mitte and Henning Ströh and text cowritten by Wade and visual artist/writer Marcos Rosales.
"there is no end to more" will be preformed December 3-5 at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street)...
Thursday, December 3, 7:30 PM
Friday, December 4, 7:30 PM — Post-Performance Discussion
Saturday, December 5, 7:30 PM
Tickets are $20 (or $15 for Japan Society members). For tickets and to learn more, visit http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=6aa0bf5.
ZAMZA Plays Webster Hall
Japanese Rock Band ZAMZA is releasing their first US CD -- Manga Rock -- and to celebrate, the band will be performing a special CD release show at The Studio at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003) on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 7:00 PM.
Bass player "Banshee Aliouxce" (Yoshihito Onda) and drummer "Kohta" (Kohta Igarashi) originally hail from the band Judy and Mary. Guitarist “Hiroki” (Hiroki Ito) and vocalist “Zinc White” (Jinsei Tsuji) are from the band Echoes. Zinc is also a well-respected movie director and an award-winning novelist.
Tickets for the show are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. The show is for those 19 and up. Please visit: www.websterhall.com/thestudio to purchase tickets. For more information on ZAMZA, visit www.myspace.com/zamzaus or www.zamza.us.
Hikaru Utada Concert in NYC!
Saints be praised, Hikaru Utada is singing in NYC! Utada -- the Queen of Japanese Pop -- is launching a US and UK tour in 2010, with one of her stops in New York City! Utada will be performing on February 8, 2010 at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. The show starts at 8 PM, is for ages 16 and up, and tickets go on sale November 13 at 12 PM EST right here…
http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/414781
Here are the full tour dates of Utada's "In The Flesh" Tour…
Honolulu, HI @ Pipeline Cafe / 01.15
Seattle, WA @ The Showbox / 01.21
San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore / 01.24
Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues / 01.30
Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues / 02.02
Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club / 02.05
New York City, NY @ Irving Plaza / 02.08
London, England @ O2 Academy Islington / 02.12
So, skip lunch tomorrow and camp out for tickets. Please note, though, Programming Director Peter Tatara is kinda a big Hikki fan, and if you get tickets and he doesn't, he will hurt you.
Boom Boom Satellites Play NYC
Boom Boom Satellites need no introduction, do they? Their music is on the Appleseed and Vexille soundtracks, they've played with Moby, their fans include Oliver Stone and Luc Besson, and on November 24, they're coming to NYC! Our friends at Superglorious are hosting an incredible -- and free -- night of music featuring Boom Boom Satellites, and all you need to do to go is sign up.
RSVP for the Boom Boom Satellites by clicking right here…
http://www.superglorious.com/boom-boom-satellites-at-santos
Boom Boom Satellites will headline a night of music at Santos Party House (96 Lafayette Street), also including Me You Us Them and DJs Hipstarr and Hotline. Doors open at 7 PM, and the music starts at 8. You must be 18 or older to attend.
The Boom Boom Satellites Santos Party House show is going to be an awesome experience and one of the reasons why NYC is the place to be -- and all credit has to go to our friends at Superglorious. We've worked with them for NYAF 08 and 09, and we're already planning some secret stuff for 2010. We're big supporters of all that they do, and after you sign up for your Boom Boom Satellites tickets, be sure to follow @superglorious on Twitter, too!
