On the surface, the game of karuta doesn’t appear to be particularly interesting or exciting, but the game’s simple nature belies the speed and intensity of competitive gameplay. The same could be said of the new show on Crunchyroll this season, Chihayafuru. On the surface, a series about the game of karuta does not sound all that compelling, but this simple premise belies the strength of the show’s artistry, characters, and storytelling.

09/15/12

Todd Haberkorn received his BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University and continues to work professionally, primarily in Los Angeles as an actor, director, producer, and writer.

09/15/12

As a voice actor, Sonny Strait is considered one of the most recognized in the business. Besides Dragonball Z’s Krillin he has played Full Metal Alchemist’s Maes Hughes, One Piece’s Usopp, Lupin III’s Lupin III, Cartoon Network’s Toonami Tom, Kenechi’s Apachai, Moon Phase’s Seiji, Black Butler’s Drocell, Kodacha’s Zenjiro and Samurai Seven’s Kyuzo.

09/15/12

Kyle Hebert is a Los Angeles-based anime and video game voice actor whose credits include Wreck-It Ralph/Street Fighter (Ryu), Naruto (Kiba), Bleach (Aizen, Ganju), X Men Arcade (all male voices) and Gurren Lagann (Kamina).

What would you do if you suddenly discovered that your favorite video game – normally an avenue for escapism and cathartic release – had real-world consequences for each of your actions? What if it’s your own life on the line, and if you die in-game, your real life is forfeit? That’s the kind of dilemma that the players of Sword Art Online, a new Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online RPG, face inside this summer’s anime of the same name.

They are known by many names: Pirates, Buccaneers, Privateers, Corsairs, Raiders, Filibusters, Freebooters. Their modus operandi is pretty much the same across the board: independent acts of robbery or violence, typically taking place on the sea, committed by one vessel against another vessel or town. Sometimes they are romanticized and revered, other times demonized and reviled; how they are seen depends on who they ultimately serve.

08/19/12

Yes, our hero Goku is coming back. The new “Dragon Ball Z” movie is scheduled for release on March 30, 2013. Believe it or not, it will have been be 17 years since the last “Dragon Ball Z” movie was released.

08/12/12

A-Kon is now doing reviews of some of your favorite anime, manga, books, and movies in our Blog section, The Good, The Bad, the WTF!?

07/26/12

Osamu Tezuka is a pop cultural icon and as such should not only be studied from a scholarly approach, but also as a storyteller who compares with the greatest writers and film makers of the twentieth century.

07/08/12

Hi there. I used to run Special Programs for A-Kon, but now I do other stuff. Mainly, my work is in making A-Kon awesome. Now I head up the social media efforts on Facebook and Twitter and such, and try to get info out to folks who ask questions. I also run the Fandom and Neomedia Studies (FANS) Conference. It’s a new effort we’re making to...