Tag: Seattle

Character Designer & Manga Artist Kenichi Sonoda Announced for Sakura-Con!

kenichisonoda_photoBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

One of anime’s biggest names is coming to the Seattle and will be found at Sakura-Con 2017, the Pacific Northwest’s largest anime convention. Celebrating 20 years, it is only fitting character designer, writer, and manga artist Kenichi Sonoda will be one of this year’s guests.

Sonoda’s career started in the mid-80’s at studio Artmic, where he became a character designer for some of Artmic’s best titles such as Bubblegum Crisis (where he produced the original look of the Knight Sabers team), Riding Bean, and the Gall Force series. Sonoda was also designer on long-time fan favourites Otaku no Video and the super-deformed special Scramble Wars: Tsuppashire! Genom Trophy Rally.

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Norman Lovett of Red Dwarf Announced for Anglicon!

NormanLovettBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

You may be forgiven if you only recognize Norman Lovett’s face and not the rest of his body. Lovett spent four series in the British science fiction comedy Red Dwarf delivering his deadpan humor from above the neckline. As Holly, the ship’s computer with an IQ of 6000, the crew of the Dwarf were sometimes left wondering why the other 5994 of it wasn’t used.

Born in Windsor, Berkshire, Lovett got a late start in the light entertainment business after becoming a stand-up comic while still in his thirties. Working with some of the top comic actors of the day (Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Lenny Henry) Lovett made early appearances on The Young Ones, Happy Families, Lenny Henry Tonite, Rab C. Nesbitt, and Keeping Up Appearances. Lovett originally auditioned for the role of Rimmer in Red Dwarf (the part went to Chris Barrie) but Producers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor realized Lovett’s unique comic style was perfect for the role of Holly the ship’s compter.

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Climb Aboard to See Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage 50th Anniversary Concert!

Michael Dorn’s voice guided the show. Shatner and Patrick Stewart also provided pre-recorded voice over in some sections, and it helps underscore the meaning of what Star Trek Generations is truly about.

Star Trek at 50 Years Anniversary LogoApr 15 – Regina
Conexus Art Centre

Apr 16 – Winnipeg
Burton Cummings Theatre

Please check local listings for other venues.

No Star Trek fan will want to miss The Ultimate Voyage: 50th Anniversary Concert Tour flying to select cities all across North America and beyond. This event is now into a Canadian leg of their show and they will return to the United States with more performances in May before taking a break. The event will cumulate to a special performance September 25, 2016, at the Palais des Congres in Paris, France. Had the date been Sept 8th, the broadcast date of Star Trek, the true die-hard would have noticed.

The Paramount Theatre was used in the Seattle, WA show as a fitting nod to the studio who owns this special property. The stage was decorated to resemble the bridge of the Enterprise from The Next Generation, and there was an effervescence glow. The lighting changed to establish the mood of each orchestral score. The music played perfectly in sync with the video montage (all of which was gloriously remastered for the big screen in Digital Cinema Package) of the series. Whoever put together this presentation really knew each Star Trek episode and film. To see the music played as Spock fought Kirk in “Amok Time” brought the same chills in me as I saw it back then, on television, for the first time. Another pivotal moment which stirred my emotions was when Picard was being transformed into a Borg and led the charge in “Best of Both Worlds.” The last frames showed Locutus before Riker said, “Fire!”

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The Vintage Tempest’s Emerald City Comic Con Journal 2016

Emerald City Comic Con

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

When Emerald City Comicon (ECCC) announced the addition of an extra day, I half expected the management would include some mainstream material for nerds to enjoy. What I heard instead was, “Why are the Seahawks important to such a comic-driven show?” A lot of people before the event said that and instead of the usual Friday to Sunday routine, I thought I’d look at what I could find to do at such an early start. It was mostly getting the key bits of shopping of items that I really wanted done and spend the rest of the days walking around and weighing in on if I really wanted that Jiji the cat music box from Kiki’s Delivery Service ar Kinokuniya’s table.

Thurs was not light on the people traffic at all. The venue was probably at two-thirds capacity for those who decided to visit that day. There was nothing of interest in the autograph / photo-ops floor except for those Seattle Seahawks fans wanting to meet Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner. I suspect they are nerds too and there was some interest. But as for how much, the majority has spoken online and at the show. I was keeping my ears tuned into what people were saying

ReedPOP, the parent organization, hosting the show had at the last minute offer a raffle to sell off their remaining Thurs tickets by asking if Jim Lee could attend this day and the lucky few spent time talking to him and getting their comics autographed. The marketing neglected to say that this contest was for USA residents only. Not everyone reads the terms of an agreement in any contest, and I did. Was I disappointed? No.

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Two of the Funniest Photos from Emerald City Comicon!

ecccLogoBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

I don’t normally share photos unless I think there will be a great interest in them. But these two photos are the exception, one of the photos is to provide context while the other two are just laugh out loud funny. Right now the annual Emerald City Comicon (ECCC) is being held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, from April 7-10. As described on the ECCC history page:

Emerald City Comicon is the premier comic book and pop culture convention in the Northwest, taking place in beautiful downtown Seattle, Washington.

In 2015, Emerald City Comicon soared to 80,000 people over three days and featured hundreds of comic book guests, celebrity guests and more!

Emerald City Comicon is another killer event by ReedPOP. ReedPOP also runs New York Comic Con, C2E2, PAX Prime, PAX East, Star Wars Celebration, Special Edition: NYC, BookCon, Oz Comic-Con and many more. For more info on ReedPOP, be sure to check out ReedPOP.com.

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The Beauty of the Pageantry at Sakura Con 2016

SakuraConEmblemBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Sakura-Con 2016 has come and gone but a wake of photographs and videos are left behind as evidence of the fun had by all. The beauty of the pageantry that’s created by cosplayers can be seen in the following videos shot by Alfred Lim of Parabellum Productions and Larry Tong Lee of LTLCinematics. Thanks must go to both of these artists for their keen eyes at capturing their subjects.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA36Kqsf8-E&w=560&h=315%5D

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4JG7uJ1cCQ&w=560&h=315%5D

Sakura-Con will return next year. And if you wish to be a part of it (costume or not), you can follow Sakura-Con’s official sites and plan your trip:

Sakura-Con official website.

Sakura-Con Twitter.

Sakura-Con Facebook.

Source(s): Alfred Lim, Larry Tong Lee, and the Sakura-Con Photoshoots/Gatherings Facebook group.

Video Source(s): oilerfan1983 and Parabellum Productions.