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.

EUREKA SEVEN Day! Coming Soon!

Sunday, September 20th is EUREKA SEVEN Day at Kinokuniya Bookstore (1073 Ave of the Americas)! Celebrate the theatrical release of Bandai's EUREKA SEVEN - good night, sleep tight, young lovers - as well as the New York Anime Festival at this special day with giveaways, guests, and -- wait for it -- maids!

12 PM - EUREKA SEVEN Screening

1 PM - Learn Japanese with EUREKA SEVEN

2 PM - Meet the Maids

3 PM - Samurai Beat Radio

4:30 PM - EUREKA SEVEN Movie Preview and Raffle

And, for the ladies, Kinokuniya will be holding a Special Fall Preview Gothic Lolita Clothing Sale with discounts on selected items.

Mark September 20th on your calendar now, as EUREKA SEVEN Day is the start of a week of otaku milestones in NYC!

NYAF VIP Passes – Grab Yours By September 10!

Want swag? What access? Want to skip some lines? Then you want to be a NYAF VIP. NYAF VIPs are guaranteed Yui Makino autographs, get the first seats in all our main events, and can run wild in the Exhibition Hall before anyone else. There’s a catch – you gotta sign up by September 10. Time’s running out!

http://www.newyorkanimefestival.com/en/Tickets/VIP-Package-Details/

The Main Cast of Soul Eater comes to NYAF!

We've been sprinkling Soul Eater names out for the past few weeks, but as September's here, let's stop with the sprinkles and get to the downpour. The main cast of FUNimation Entertainment's upcoming Soul Eater -- Laura Bailey, Micah Solusod, Brittney Karbowski, Monica Rial, Todd Haberkorn, Jamie Marchi, and Cherami Leigh -- will appear together for the first time at NYAF, and this cast appearance will serve as the pinnacle of a weekend of Soul Eater activities, including the English language premiere of the series. The cast along with Soul Eater Director Zach Bolton and Producer Masazumi Kato will join Yoshiyuki Tomino -- the Director of Mobile Suit Gundam -- and Yui Makino -- the voice of Sakura in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle -- as guests at NYAF.

Producer Masazumi Kato will be coming all the way from Japan, where he's been in charge of the overall promotion for Soul Eater, including advertisements, publicity, and DVDs.

NYAF's Soul Eater activity schedule follows…

Yen Plus Giveaway
Be one of the first 200 fans to come by the FUNimation booth any day of the show to take home a free copy of the latest issue of Yen Press's Yen Plus magazine. Yen Press is the US publisher of the Soul Eater manga, and Soul Eater is serialized each month inside Yen Plus.
Friday - 1:00 PM - FUNimation Booth (303)
Saturday and Sunday - 10:00 AM - FUNimation Booth (303)

Cast Signing
Meet Laura Bailey (Maka), Micah Solusod (Soul), Brittney Karbowski (Black Star), Monica Rial (Tsubaki), Todd Haberkorn (Death The Kid), Jamie Marchi (Liz), Cherami Leigh (Patty), and Director Zach Bolton at a special signing at the FUNimation Booth!
Friday - 4:00 to 5:30 PM - FUNimation Booth (303)
Saturday - 3:30 to 5:00 PM - FUNimation Booth (303)

Chalk Mural
Eric Maruscak is an artist who specializes in massive murals drawn in chalk. He's appeared at New York Comic Con and other conventions around the country, and he's at NYAF this year creating a giant illustration of Maka, Black Star, and Death The Kid. Check out Eric's work throughout the show to see Soul Eater larger than life!
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - All Day - Front of Exhibit Hall

Soul Eater Panel and Screening
Laura Bailey (Maka), Micah Solusod (Soul), Brittney Karbowski (Black Star), Monica Rial (Tsubaki), Todd Haberkorn (Death The Kid), Jamie Marchi (Liz), Cherami Leigh (Patty), and Director Zach Bolton along with Producer Masazumi Kato and representatives from both FUNimation and Yen Press present the first three episodes of FUNimation's Soul Eater! Be one of the first fans to see what'll be one of 2010's biggest shows, and get the inside scoop about what's ahead from the women and men at Soul Eater's center!
Saturday - 1:00 to 3:00 PM - ANA Theater (1A08 )

Soul Eater Cosplay Meet Up
Come by chalk artist Eric Maruscak's Soul Eater mural on Sunday at 1 PM for a Soul Eater group photo! FUNimation's asking all Soul Eater cosplayers to show up to get their pictures taken with Eric's completed work of art and the American cast of Soul Eater, and, then, stay tuned to funimation.com and newyorkanimefestival.com for the photo once the show's over!
Sunday - 1:00 PM - Front of Exhibit Hall

You're welcome.

NYAF and Del Rey Pre-Party! With Cake!

NYAF starts September 25. What are you doing the night before? Getting in the mood for NYAF at our official Pre-Party! The New York Anime Festival and Del Rey Manga are proud to reveal we're partnering for a party from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on September 24 at Dave and Buster's (234 West 42nd Street) in NYC's Times Square. Jointly produced by NYAF and Del Rey Manga, this special event is both a celebration of this year's Anime Festival as well as a celebration of Del Rey Manga's Fifth Anniversary -- and to mark this special occasion, NYAF and Del Rey Manga are inviting fans and professionals to partake in food, drink, giveaways, and a cake crafted by Baltimore's famed Charm City Cakes specifically for Del Rey Manga and NYAF.

You heard me right.

Free and open to the public, the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party welcomes NYAF attendees, anime fans, manga readers, industry professionals, and casual New Yorkers interested in the world of Japanese pop culture. The party will take place in two parts…

Manga and Anime Raffle (5:30-6:30 PM) - Typically you give the birthday boy or girl gifts; however, to mark the occasion of Del Rey Manga's fifth birthday, we're giving gifts to the party's attendees. Come during the party's first hour to be entered to win a selection of manga spanning Del Rey Manga's five years as well as DVDs from NYAF partners including Bandai Entertainment and FUNimation. Further, the Charm City Cakes Del Rey Manga birthday cake will be on public display during this time, so fans, press, and pros interested in taking pictures of the party centerpiece should do so before the raffle ends.

Charm City Cakes Cutting (6:30-7:30 PM) - Once the raffle ends, the real party begins as representatives from Del Rey Manga and the New York Anime Festival will cut into the Charm City Cakes Del Rey Manga birthday cake. Created by the talents of Food Network's Ace of Cakes TV show, the Del Rey Manga birthday cake will take the form of a towering stack of manga, showcasing some of Del Rey Manga's landmark books from 2004 to today.

At 7:30, following the formal end of the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party, attendees are free to stay and enjoy Dave & Buster's or attend a special one-night-only screening of Bandai Entertainment's Eureka Seven - good night, sleep tight, young lovers - animated motion picture, presented at the AMC Empire 24 theater neighboring Dave & Buster's.

We've been planning this party with Del Rey for a long time. We're thrilled to see it now all come together, and we invite fans to come and celebrate five years of Del Rey Manga, three years of the New York Anime Festival, and one delicious cake!

You Can Interview Yoshiyuki Tomino!

30 years ago, Yoshiyuki Tomino changed the anime industry with the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and in the 30 years since, Gundam has influenced a generation of fans and professionals around the world. Now, Anime News Network, the New York Anime Festival, Sunrise, and Bandai Entertainment are giving his followers across the globe the chance to ask Tomino-san their deepest questions.

Yoshiyuki Tomino is attending the New York Anime Festival, Sept. 25-27 in New York City, and as part of his appearance at NYAF, he'll be doing a Q&A Panel with Anime News Network. Taking place Sept. 26, this panel will be a chance for fans in the room to ask Tomino-san questions, and - more than that - it will be an opportunity for fans anywhere on the planet to ask something to the Director of Mobile Suit Gundam... That's right, you get to be the interviewer!

From August 26 to September 6, you can submit your questions to Tomino-san right at AnimeNewsNetwork.com. Then, at NYAF, in front of a live audience, ANN will ask as many of your questions as they can.

ANN will be taking question submissions in their forum, and they invite people to help them develop the most interesting possible set of questions by pointing out answers that may have already been addressed elsewhere, and by adding details to already-asked questions. That's right, this is a collaborative Q&A panel, and you can help make it the best Tomino Q&A session ever!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2009/yoshiyuki-tomino-you-be-the-interviewer