I am the new Bamboo Dong

It’s official. Starting next week I’ll be taking over Bamboo Dong’s1 “Shelf Life” column on Anime News Network. I’ll be reviewing anime on a weekly basis, for “…the #1 English language source for anime and manga news on the Internet”.

Five years ago, when I was reading Bamboo’s column, I never thought, “Oh, I bet someday I’ll be writing this!” I really liked her Nightshift Nurses 2 comic strip – and apparently so did everyone else, it’s her “longest viewed” column.

Back in 2004 I also asked the Answerman a question. I couldn’t really imagine that there would come a time in 2009 when I would be randomly hanging out with ANN staff over lunch at Tokyo Big Sight.

So next week please look forward to my review of Black Lagoon! Hopefully Noah will get his Black Lagoon podcast ready soon, too.

I’m trying to figure out what this will mean for the podcast. Our pace of shows is already really slow, (averaging once a month) so I can’t imagine it getting any worse. We will certainly be watching a lot more anime. Maybe we’ll give away DVDs once in a while.

1 Yes, that is her real name.

Last minute Otakon roommate?

Hey guys, we could use one to three more Otakon roommates. We’re staying at the Brookshire, which is not the cheapest, but has free breakfasts and free microbrew beer on Friday night. I arrive Thursday night, we’re leaving Sunday afternoon.

Contact: ninjaconsultant (at) gmail (dot) com

And no, we don’t want to move to another hotel to stay in your room. We love breakfast.

News: Ninja Consultants At Anime Boston 2009

Noah and I will be at Anime Boston but we won’t have an artist alley table this year. You might be able to find us bumming around ali-wildgoose‘s table. Erin will be on both of the following panels, but Noah is only on the Manga Genre Madness panel.

Even if you’ve attended my Manga Genre Panel before at AnimeNext or MangaNext, you should go again this time because I’ve added new content about political mahjong manga Legend of Koizumi, more manga about cats, more scans from Drops of God, and Chloe will help us translate the weird foods of Kishoku Hunter (Junk Food Hunter).

Please Save My Manga! Friday 10:00:00 AM – 11:00 AM in Panel Room 202

Underloved? Overrated? Or just plain out of print? Join a crack team of PopCultureShock.com reviewers as they discuss everything manga, from classics and favorites to overlooked gems and over-read failures. (Disclaimer: starry-eyed abandon, the occasional mean right hook may ensue.)

Manga Genre Madness 5:00 to 6:30 PM on Saturday in Panel Room 202

Manga covers every genre imaginable – and unimaginable! Thanks to the importing of manga you can read veterinarian manga, salaryman manga, fishing manga, manga about economics, and manga about baking bread! Erin and Noah from the Ninja Consultant podcast and special guest Chloe from PopCultureShock.com present the absolutely most insane manga titles available in English – and a few titles which won’t be translated anytime soon (wine connoisseur manga, for example).

MangaNext 2008 Panels!!

MangaNext 3 is this weekend! Noah and I won’t have a table, but we might be hanging out at Alison Wilgus’s Artist Alley table on Saturday. Actually Noah won’t be there Saturday at all. If you want to hang out, email ninjaconsultant (at) gmail.com.

Our panels are:

Culinary Manga Sunday, Panel 1, 11:00 AM
Crazy Manga Genres Sunday, Panel 1, 1:00 PM

If you went to AnimeNext this year, and attended our panels – I’ve added to the Crazy Manga Genres and spun off food manga into it’s own panel! It’s slightly improved content!

News: SITACon 2008

We’re leaving in the morning for SITACon 2008, where we are guests!

Here are some panels we’ll be on! (Schedule not final.)

Friday, October 10th
6:30 PM to 7:30 PM – Opening Ceremonies
11:00 PM to 12:00 AM – Japanese Commercial Apocalypse!

 

Saturday, October 11th
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM – Manga You Should Read (with Gerald, and Clarissa)
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM – Podcasters Unite (with R5, Gerald, and Clarissa)
5:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Manga Madness
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Comiket Survival

 

Sunday, October 12th
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM – Ninja Consultant Live Podcast

 
We’ve never done a live show before… at least, not in such a formal setting. I mean it won’t be live after I edit it in post. We’ll probably give away whatever T-shirts we haven’t sold in Artist Alley.

My panels for MangaNext got approved, so look forward to more Crazy Manga Genres and Culinary Manga at the end of the month!

News: New York Anime Festival 2008

Noah and I will be at NYAF in the Artist’s Alley, table number 15!

I will be on the OtakuUSA Magazine panel at 3 PM on Friday!

We’re sharing the table with the folks from the A!Pon vidcast, Chaotic Unicorn, this guy named Taz, and maybe even Dookie Poo. The Angry Otaku, whom we’ve had on our show in the past, will also be there.

A slight word of warning: Although I will be at the con on Friday, Noah will not, and I won’t be at the table much. Your best bet is to try to catch us on Saturday or mid-day on Sunday.

The T-shirts we have left are all Youth or XXL.