Asides

Cons Near U: September Anime Conventions of 2017!!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Con Locations

September is now here, and the Labor Day weekend is almost coming to an end. You’ve gone to so many cons in August and have met so many awesome cosplayers, voice actors, and cool people. Now you’ve gotta get ready for college, work, and many other major responsibilities that you got to handle (even though you really don’t want to). Don’t fret anime fans, cuz’ D&A’s got you covered! We’ve got anime cons in the Northeast and Southbound regions of the U.S. you don’t wanna miss! (We’ve also got other cons that are repeats of last year, so if you’re a returning member, then you know what’s up!)

New Fanfic Post: Danganronpa Enoshima! (aka Danganshima!)

Aside D&A Anime Blog Blog Updates, Fanfiction

It was only just last year that the FUNimation dub for Danganronpa: The Animation and Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak (Future and Despair) came out. Of course if you’re a fan of visual novel video games then you’re already aware that the new Danganronpa V3 game is on it’s way! For us here at D&A Anime Blog, we’re big fans of Danganronpa, especially Yours Truly. That’s why we’ve decided to make this announcement about an upcoming Danganronpa fan fiction centered around the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima, as she continues her quest for world despair in our first Danganronpa fan fiction entitled “Danganronpa Enoshima” or “Danganshima“!

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Basically the plot goes a lil’ somethin’ like this…

The story takes place after the events of the Despair Arc of Danganronpa 3, less than 24 hours after Junko succeeded in her plans to bring total despair to Hope’s Peak Academy. A city just an hour away from Hope’s Peak called Yazuka City heard the news of all the chaos that was happening at the academy. Most of the remaining survivors managed to make their way to the city in hopes of escape from Junko’s newly-founded Remnants of Despair. Three days later Junko and her sister Muruko disguised themselves as they entered into Yazuka City, hoping to cause the same level of despair as they did at Hope’s Peak. While on this journey of despair they run into a series of events that are both despairingly funny, and comically dysfunctional.

Elsewhere Monokuma, who is “alive” of his own free will, decides to cause his own brand of despair at Yazuka City High School; where fifteen freshmen students are now forced to participate in the High School Freshmen Killing Game. This fan fiction is a dark comedy/parody that takes all the elements you love about Danganronpa, and mashing them up with parodies of Sharknado, Terminator, and The Walking Dead. Even though it’s only going to be 10 chapters long, we promise you that it’s going to be the most despairingly funny 10-chapter fan fiction you’ll ever read!

Danganshima will launch November 3, 2017! ๐Ÿ˜‰

D&A Friday’s! Where Being Undead Rocks!! (Sort of…)

Aside D&A Anime Blog D&A Friday's Anime & Manga, D&A Segments

With the Summer now leaving our grasp and the last snowball stand closing up for the season, it’s time to get ready for Fall and hit the back-to-school grind! Even though many of us dread the thought of going back to school, anime conventions are still happening all over the U.S. and overseas every single weekend! As we do with every new month, we’ll be bringing to you some awesome new cons to check out for the month of September, but for now let’s jump into the awesome-ness that is D&A Friday’s! ๐Ÿ™‚

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If you’re on the lookout for a laugh-out-loud supernatural magical girl comedy (with a touch of harem), then you’re gonna wanna check out this anime title known as Is This a Zombie? The series is about Ayumu Aikawa, who has died at the hands of a serial killer and has been brought back as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. While trying to enjoy life as the undead he encounters a magical girl named Haruna, and inadvertently absorbs some of her magical powers thus transforming him into a magical girl cross-dressing zombie. (Believe us, it’s a lot more funny in an anime title than it actually sounds in real life.)

Although he’s no longer living Ayumu has a few perks to being a zombie; such as super strength, near invincibility, magic absorption from weaker sources, and a few other things. He now finds himself battling with demons known as the Megalos alongside Haruna, Hellscythe, and a vampire-ninja named Seraphim. (Which is pretty ironic for a bloodsucking creature of the night, eh? O.O) You can stream this series on both FunimationNow and Crunchyroll.

As we mentioned before, this month brings with it some new anime conventions that we’re hoping you all get the chance to go to! We’ll be listing them on September 3rd, so be sure to stop by the blog when you get the chance for the latest con updates. We’ll also be in the process of making up our 2018 tour schedule for all the different cons we plan on going to for next year, with some help from our Patreon page of course!

Speaking of which we have two brand new exclusive features that we want to add to the blog. However, we can’t do it alone, so we’re going to need your help! One of the features includes a series of 10-minute DJ mixes featuring a wide variety of EDM genres that you’d hear at an anime convention’s rave party. The name of that feature, is RAVE10. The mixes will be produced by Groundzkontrol (Yours Truly) and will be posted on our forthcoming SoundCloud account.

The second feature is our podcasts! Fans have asked us if we’ve ever done any podcasts for the blog, to that we say “no”, but now we’re considering the idea. We would love to have some of our fans to be on our podcasts, as we talk about any and everything that has to do with anime; from the industry to its voice actors and what shows are trending. (Heck, we’ll even do a ‘live’ Cons Near U segment if the podcasts get big enough!)

Stay tune for more updates as well as Saturday nigh Toonami, which is now a half an hour longer! (11pm-4am!) Remember, make D&A a part of you, and we’ll make you a part of us! ๐Ÿ™‚

D&A Voice Actor Spotlight: J. Micheal Tatum!!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Filler Posts, Voice Actor Spotlight

There are so many words that can describe the next voice actor that we have for you on this special filler post series. Smooth, charming, witty, charismatic, creative, and sophisticated. When you look at this particular voice actor, you’d think that he looks more like a writer or a novelist than an actual voice actor for anime. Although he gives off that kind of aura when you see him at anime conventions, this anime voice actor can do it all! Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the most handsome man in the world…J. Micheal Tatum.

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Taken Otakon 2012 before we became D&A Anime Blog! ๐Ÿ™‚

Straight outta McKinney, Texas and born on May 25, 1976, J. Micheal Tatum is an ADR director, voice actor, and script writer for FUNimation/Okratron 5000. During a panel at Florida Supercon in 2015, Tatum was asked by a fan what his inspiration was that got him into the world of voice acting. When he was a young lad he had a speech impediment which would cause him to stutter upon speaking, so his speech coach had him get involved into theater.

While reciting and memorizing his lines, Tatum’s stuttering would disappear, and soon he would find himself doing theater and drama. In 2005 Tatum was discovered by FUNimation’s ADR Director Christopher Bevins, who cast Tatum as Rikichi in Samurai 7. Since then he would voice characters like Kyoya Ootori in Ouran High School Host Club, Sebastian Michealis in Black Butler, France in Hetalia: Axis Powers, and Erwin Smith in Attack on Titan.

You can also hear Tatum in Corpse Princess, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Stein’s Gate, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Free! – Eternal Summer and so much more! Upon numerous occasions J. Micheal Tatum has expressed his love for anime, Doctor Who, and William Shakespeare. He’s a great fellow with a lot of great stories to tell, so if you want to see him at your con, tell the convention staff to book him on the double!

You can find/follow J. Micheal Tatum on Twitter @JMichealTatum and on Facebook @jmtvoiceactor! Be sure to support him and all that he does for FUNimation and Okratron 5000.

Miscellany Monday: Family Letters From Beyond The Grave…?

Aside D&A Anime Blog D&A Segments, Lesser-Known Anime

What’s goin’ on anime fans! Here’s Yours Truly (D.J. Lewis) coming to you with some lesser-known anime goodness from Virginia Beach, VA! In our last post I mentioned that we’ll soon be changing up our posting schedule for the Fall and Winter, in order to better accommodate you guys (the fans). We’re also working hard to get our Patreon page up and running so that we ca do more for the blog, for anime voice actors, and most importantly…you! Here’s what we’ve got for you on this overcast Monday Night straight outta Virginia Beach, baby! ๐Ÿ˜‰

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If you’re an anime fan who’s on the lookout for a lesser-known fantasy-touched drama-filled psychological thriller, then Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed will be the title that you seek! The series follows the main character Fumika, as she is a Shigofumi who delivers mail to the family members of the deceased. The letters themselves contain things that the dead had wanted to say to their family and friends while they were alive, but could not bring themselves up to say what was on their mind before they died. Fumika travels with her talking staff Kanaka while they deliver the letters of the dead to the family members of the living, and if they’re not doing that, then they reside within the realm of Shigo. The Shigofumi themselves are actually now-dead mil carriers who don’t age, but Fumika herself is not yet dead, which means that she’ll age the same way every human does. You can stream this series on Crunchyroll or FunimationNow.

We’ll continue to keep you all posted on all the new happenings going on with the blog, as well as new information on our newest fanfiction; Danganronpa Enoshima! Are thoughts and prayers are also with the people, voice actors and anime fans who were effected by Hurricane Harvey within the past couple days. D&A loves you, and stay safe out there! ๐Ÿ™‚

D&A Voice Actor Spotlight: Felecia Angelle!!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Filler Posts, Voice Actor Spotlight

If you’re an anime fan, then you’ve probably heard this voice actor’s voice in a few of your favorite titles. If titles like The Devil is a Part-Timer! or Danganronpa sound familiar to you, then you’ve probably heard her voice before. She is one of the rising stars on the Funimation scene, as she has done various voice work on various anime titles that we all know and love. We at D&A Anime Blog would love to give a special welcome to the one and only…Felecia Angelle! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Coming to you from Lafayette, Louisiana (born July 27, 1986) Felecia Angelle is not only a voice actress for FUNimation, but an ADR director as well! She is best known for her role in the anime title known as Ben-To playing Hana Oshiroi, and has done various other voice work from television commercials to video games. You can hear her in titles like Danganronpa: The Animation/Danganronpa 3 (Aoi Asahina), High School DxD (Raynare/Yuma Amano), Heavy Object (Charlotte Zoom), Dimension W (Atsuko Hirose), Gangsta. (Alex Benedetto), and so much more! Felecia’s hobbies (when she’s not behind the mic) include reading and playing video games at a fair skill level, and looking for someone to write her bio. (Hopefully we’re doing a good job.) She’s awesome to talk to at anime conventions so if you want her to be a guest at your con, tell the convention staff to book her ASAP!

You can follow Felecia Angelle on Twitter @FeleciaAngelle and like her on Facebook @FeleciaAngelleVoice! We hope to hear more character voices from this awesome voice actress down the road, so keep your eyes out for her anime fans! ๐Ÿ˜‰

D&A Friday’s: Where Anime and Alternate Reality Are One!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Blog Updates, D&A Friday's Anime & Manga, D&A Segments

Welcome back fans! If you’ve missed us last Friday, that just means we were at SaikouCon in Allentown, PA! It was indeed a blast and there will be some video footage of the experience coming soon to our Youtube page. As always we do our best to bring you some awesome anime titles this side of the internet, so without further delay, here’s what we’ve got for you today! ๐Ÿ˜‰

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If you’re an anime fan who’s on the lookout for a supernatural comedy-drama, then Charlotte might be the answer you’ve been looking for. Taking place within an alternate reality, a comet called “Charlotte” passes by the earth every 75 years. during its travel it drops dust that soon becomes airborne, as the pre-adolescents who breathe in the comet’s particles suddenly gain supernatural abilities.

Yuu Otosaka just happens to be one of the pre-adolescent children who inhale the dust particles of the comet, and now possesses the ability to possess other people for a short time. He’s eventually found by Noa Tomori, and is thus transferred to Hoshinoumi Academy where she is the president of the school’s student council. The members of the student council also have gained supernatural abilities aside from just Yuu and Noa. Their overall mission is to protect others who possess supernatural powers from organizations that want to use and exploit them for their own personal gain. However, a mission of this caliber doesn’t come without a few heartaches and sacrifices along the way. The series itself balances out between comedic/corny, and serious/tragic, so if you’re looking for an anime title that’s of this nature, then by-all-means check out Charlotte! ๐Ÿ™‚

We’re hoping to launch our Patreon page between September and November, as all of your donations will help us pay the operational costs of the blog, and also keep its unique features going! If things go well with our Patreon page we’ll be able to offer you guys (the fans) the following:

  • More chances to see us at conventions (We’ll be able to travel more!)
  • Official D&A Anime Blog merchandise (Not just T-shirts!)
  • Mobile Podcasts (We’d love to do these with some of the Voice Actors!)
  • Exclusive DJ mixes (From Groundzkontrol, of course!)
  • More Original Content! (Convention Videos, Panel Videos!)

This is going to be a major step for us as we get ready to celebrate our upcoming two year anniversary on January 11, 2018! We thank each and every one of our fans as well as the voice actors, FUNimation, Crunchyroll, and all of the other anime distribution companies for giving us some awesome titles, and continued support for our blog!

Keep making D&A a part of you, and we’ll keep making you a part of us! ๐Ÿ™‚

A New Fanfic Title and some Changes for the Fall!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Blog Updates, Fanfiction

This is a quick update announcement to all of our fans right here on D&A Anime Blog! With the rush of ‘Back-to-School’ about to reach its peak as well as the upcoming unofficial end to Summer (Labor Day), we’ll be changing our posting schedule to help better suit the needs of all of our super supportive anime fans! For our Miscellany Monday segment, the new posting time will be between 7pm-12am starting on September 4, 2017. Our Throwback Thursday segment will temporarily come out of hiatus for the birthday month of D.J. Lewis, one of D&A’s founding members, and will start at its original time! For D&A Friday’s the new posting time will be between 6pm-12am starting on September 1, 2017. Although A. Goldman and Yours Truly are the founders of this awesome anime blog/website, both of us have some rather busy lives to the point where we aren’t able to get on our laptops as frequently often as we used to. (But we push ourselves the best we can! >.<)

On that note, we’ve got ourselves a brand new fanfiction story on the horizon! Due to a scheduling conflict on our part that we apologize for, we’ve decided to postpone our two previous fanfiction stories and release them on a later date in 2018. The title of this new fanfiction will be an original Danganronpa story featuring the Queen of Despair herself, Junko Enoshima, in this dark comedy fanfic known as Danganronpa Enoshima. The story takes place in a parallel timeline just before the events of Trigger Happy Havoc; where Junko and her sister are on a mission to throw the whole world into despair, but soon find out that it’s not as ‘easy’ as they thought it was going to be, while hilarity ensues in the process. We’ll keep you guys updated on when that fanfiction will be posted as well as share some info on a few anime conventions coming next month. All that, and a toilet, next time on D&A Anime Blog! It’s a part of you! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Miscellany Monday: Traveling Beyond the Anime Galaxy!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Blog Updates, D&A Segments, Lesser-Known Anime

Hey anime fans! Hopefully you’ve gotten the chance to see our first ever solar eclipse in the 20th/21st century. Make sure you wore protective shades during the event because if you didn’t, then you’re going to be one sad blind otaku. While we’re on the subject of solar eclipses, let’s talk about what kind of lesser-known anime titles we have for you on this eclipse-filled evening…

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If you’re on the lookout for a sci-fi supernatural anime title, then look no further than Toward the Terra! The series takes place during the 31st millennium where humans are now under the order of supercomputers known as the Superior Dominance. In the mist of the reign where the supercomputers are turning vitro-born humans into brainwashed functioning adults, a new breed of humans called the Mu are making it their mission to rescue every Mu-born child from the Superior Dominance, who wants nothing more than to have them destroyed. Led by Solider Blue (and then Solider Shin) the Mu only have one wish; to return to their beloved promised planet known as Terra. You can find this awesome series on Crunchyroll, FunimationNow, and even on YouTube.

If you guys haven’t heard the news yet, we’re hard-pressed on creating a Patreon page in order to bring you guys (the fans) more original content, more chances to see us at anime conventions, and hopefully some original features that you can’t find anywhere else on an anime blog! Our ultimate goal is to one day have our own 3-day anime convention known as Anime Escape, where fandoms of cosplay, anime, manga, video games, and superheroes can all come together and party with us! (That’s right, we will be having Friday and Saturday night raves at our con!)

We’ll continue to keep you updated on what our future plans are regarding the blog, as well as where as what places we’ll be heading/returning to, on our 2018 anime convention tour! Until next time, make D&A a part of you, and we’ll make you a part of us! ๐Ÿ™‚

D&A Post-Con Update: SaikouCon 2017!

Aside D&A Anime Blog Blog Updates, Filler Posts

Greetings anime friends! We have now returned to our humble abode after having such a great time with friends and fans at SaikouCon 2017! Shout-outs to all the vendors, the staff, the voice actors, the musicians and DJ’s for the rave party and concert, the panelists, and of course you guys (the fans)! For those of you who haven’t gotten the chance to go to this convention, let us tell you, this is the place to be if you’re looking for a more chilled down atmosphere at an anime convention. There are great panels and guests to be found here; such as this year’s Leah Clark (Voice Actress/ADR Director/Writer), Oscar Seung (Actor/Voice Actor), Greg Houser (Pro Voice Actor), and finally R. Bruce Elliott. As for what the “R” stands for…well, we really have no clue. You’ll just have to ask him yourself.

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From Left-to-Right (D.J. Lewis, A. Goldman, Oscar Seung, Leah Clark, and R. Bruce Elliott)

SaikouCon is located in Allentown, PA at the Holiday Inn on 904 West Hamilton Street. If you’re from Baltimore, MD (like us) then take Northbound I-83, Eastbound US Route 30, then Northbound US Route 222. Anywhere else, you’ll have to use either your GPS or Google Maps to get there. Fans have the option of picking 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day passes for the con, that way everyone will be able to have a good time even if they’re working with a small budget. The atmosphere is quite relaxed as you may even get the chance to have a one-on-one encounter with some of the voice actors. If you’re looking for some great deals on some anime merch, then be sure to stop by the Dealers Room (Merchant Hall) for some cool stuff!

If you want to take some cosplay pics then make sure you bring your camera. Although it may be a small con, there were a decent amount of cosplayers there (especially on Saturday, which is usually like the cosplay “peak day” sighting for just about all anime conventions). Speaking of which we now have our SaikouCon Cosplay Mosaic already uploaded on our Cons Near U drop down menu! You can click here if you wanna see them for yourself! ๐Ÿ™‚

Our next anime convention will fall on the birthday weekend of D.J. Lewis, one of the founding members of D&A Anime Blog! It will be held at Thy Geekdom Con at the Crown Royal Plaza in Claymont, DE on November 4-5, 2017. Don’t miss it! ๐Ÿ˜‰