Cel Shaded Jason Yadao

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Voice actress to perform in 2 concerts

As i noted in last week's column, Kawaii Kon is getting in a good mix of guests for this year -- U.S. and Japanese voice actors, artists, even a Japanese rock band.

But this year, Kawaii Kon isn't the only show in town that's attracting guests of interest to local anime fans. We turn now to another major celebration of Japanese culture (and the culture of the rest of the Asia-Pacific rim, to boot), next month's Honolulu Festival.

The 14th annual edition of the festival will welcome Japanese voice actress/singer Haruko "Halko" Momoi, who will perform live in two half-hour concerts, both at the Hawaii Convention Center: one March 15 from 11 to 11:30 a.m., the other March 16 from 2:30 to 3 p.m.

According to the Halko Momoi English Fanpage at www.halkomomoi.com: "Halko is a mega-cute Japanese idol with an impossibly cute voice. She is the voice actress of many cute anime and game characters."

(I think that means she's cute. Call it a hunch.)

Some of the characters depicted by the anointed Paragon of Cuteness herself include Komugi Nakahara from "The SoulTaker" and its spinoff, "Nurse Witch Komugi," and Chika Minazuki in "Ai Yori Aoshi."

She's also the voice of Ai Hayakawa in "Final Fantasy: Unlimited," but tag-team partner in fandom Wilma J., who hated "FF:U" so much that she couldn't make it past the first few episodes, forgives her for that lapse in judgment. For the most part.

Momoi's last prominent appearance in the United States, at Anime Expo in Long Beach, Calif., last year, was remarkable for the apparent roller-coaster ride of emotions that the entertainer expressed through her blog.

As chronicled at Anime News Network (www.animenewsnetwork.com), Momoi initially posted a long list of complaints about how she and her fans were mistreated at the event "in tears." A subsequent post and letter to North American fans was far more upbeat about her experience, thanking her fans and Anime Expo staff for a successful concert. Here's hoping things go much smoother for her stay in the islands.

For more information on this year's Honolulu Festival, visit www.honolulufestival.com ...

Bandai delays DVDs

It looks like fans of "Eureka Seven" and "Flag" are going to have to wait to buy the latest installments of their favorite anime series.

Animeondvd.com reports that publisher Bandai Entertainment has pushed back the release dates on "Flag" Vol. 3 and the regular and special editions of "Eureka Seven" Vol. 12. "Flag" has been bumped from March 4 to 18, and "Eureka Seven" from March 18 to April 15.

DVD manufacturing issues could be to blame ...

Coming up Sunday

Valentine's Day might have passed, but love's still on Wilma's mind as she looks at two short-story manga collections, Del Rey's "A Perfect Day for Love Letters" and Viz's "X2" ...

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