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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Score big with Kawaii Kon mascot art
IT SEEMS as if opportunities for local anime- and manga-inspired artists to show off their talents and win cool swag pop up quite often in this column.
This time around, the art contest host is Kawaii Kon, Hawaii's annual three-day anime extravaganza. At stake for the winner: a three-day pass to next year's convention, a T-shirt and a table in the event's Artist Alley.
All it takes is an art piece featuring one, two, or all three of the convention's mascots: Ai-Chan, Takeshi and Nami. The trio, created by artist Holly Shinguji, debuted in convention advertising earlier this year.
Contest officials are looking for 2-D pieces that can be done in any media (Copic markers, paint, crayons, digital media, what have you) ... as long as the piece can be scanned and sent electronically, since that's the only way to submit entries. Submissions with a transparent background, or with a background on a separate layer, are preferred. And of course, the subject matter should be kept family friendly.
Deadline is Sept. 30; e-mail submissions to cmacedonio@gmail.com. There's no limit on how many entries can be turned in.
For complete contest details, visit www.kawaii-kon.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3952; for more on the backstory of the three mascots, visit www.kawaii-kon.org/info/mascots ...
animeOnline, off-line
The end was swift for a Web site that showed promise as a news outlet and social networking site for anime and manga fans, animeOnline, which suddenly ceased operations two days short of its five-month anniversary on July 20.
A message on the site, which was backed by Navarre Corporation, the parent company of anime publisher Funimation, cited "a number of technical issues discovered during the beta" as the reason for the shutdown.
I never was all that keen about the social networking aspect of the site. What I will miss, though, is the editorial content, which went beyond typical news stories about anime and manga to talk about things going on with Japanese pop culture as a whole, like crazy snack items or unusual shows on prime-time TV. When they did tackle anime and manga in depth, though, they did it well, with features on such topics as the worst of the "Naruto" filler episodes and a look at the worldwide phenomenon that is "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya."
The site may come back at a later time, but Anime News Network reported that editors Gia Manry and Dale North were already looking for employment elsewhere and were contributing on other Web sites and blogs ...
Meeting roll call
» MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists meets Sundays through August at the Academy Art Center, 1111 Victoria St. Check with the guard on the first floor for the exact room number. For more information, visit
mangabento.googlepages.com ...
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. Reach
Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com