Yes you would have to have microscopic vision to see it, but in a nutshell, the image above was my schedule for MangaNEXT. The purpose of this entry is to highlight a portion of panels I was able to attend, yet do not have as much notes or tweets about, so I can easily sum up these panels in a nutshell.
MangaNEXT panels were split into either Industry or fan panels that spoke about manga recommendations, the process of creating manga, or Q&A’s with invited Mangakas. There were also other panels that interested attendees.
Friday
Opening Ceremony began slightly delayed, and was the only panel I saw that had a line before it began. Normally convention guests would be at the Opening ceremony, but there were none at this one, so convention chair Ezara Cudjoe spoke thanking the audience for their support.
Manga is relatively one of the subsets within this umbrella of Japanese culture, it is an established industry in Japan, but succeeding in the United States is another story. Still anyone attending MangaNEXT shows proof that there are fans.
After attending a couple of anime conventions last year.. and missing this event every single time. I am finally able to see a portion of this at MangaNEXT . Yes you have to be 18+, and no you can’t take photographs. So armed with a set of earplugs. I made my way over to the Burlesque with my friends. Participants in this show showed up in cosplay and stripped down to undies and pasties. Cell phones were also not allowed at this event. One thing I can say that was a memorable act, was the Angry Birds skit.
Sunday
I happened to attend Ed Chavez’s Indie Manga panel, that was woefully cut short due to technical difficulties. Hopefully Ed would be having the powerpoint up soon. Heard Natsume Ono’s name several times. Felipe Smith was also in the audience, so there was an interesting dialogue between these two industry people.
