Happy New Year!

Protoculture wishes you a Happy New Year and the best of everything for 2009.

Orders shipped 2008/12/30

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/12/19 and 2008/12/28 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/12/19

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/11/21 and 2008/12/18 shipped today.

ANN will stream two anime TV series

Anime News Networks has announced on 2008-12-10 that it will stream two more anime, Girl's High and Ramen Fighter Miki. Starting December 15, both series will be available as free, ad-supported VOD streams, with one new episode being posted every Monday for 12 weeks. The series were licensed from North American anime publisher Media Blasters, and as such will only be available to viewers in North America (US & Canada). Justin Sevakis, ANN director of New Media, has stated that “There's more coming”.

ANN is already streaming the OVA Kite Liberator.

(Source: ANN).

ANN launches its streaming anime service

Anime News Networks has launched its streaming anime service on Tuesday 2008/12/09 with Kite: Liberator. The OVA, released on DVD by Media Blasters, is streamed (in six parts) in both subbed and dubbed versions, but only for North American viewers (US & Canada).

Give it a look!

(Source: ANN).

Orders shipped 2008/11/21

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/11/06 and 2008/11/20 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/11/06

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/10/31 and 2008/11/05 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/10/31

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/10/08 and 2008/10/30 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/10/09

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/10/02 and 2008/10/07 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/10/03

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/09/26 and 2008/10/01 shipped Thursday (2008/10/02, for Canadian orders) and Friday (2008/10/03, for US & Intl orders).

Orders shipped 2008/09/26

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/09/18 and 2008/09/25 shipped Thursday (for Canadian orders) and Friday (for US & Intl orders).

Chibi-Pa

Next week-end, Claude J Pelletier and Miyako Matsuda will attend Chibi-Pa in Florida. If you can, come to the convention and talk to them.

Orders shipped 2008/09/19

All new orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/9/12 and 2008/9/17 shipped yesterday (for Canadian orders) and today (for US & Intl orders).

Protoculture Staff Openings: Editorial Intern Wanted

Protoculture Addicts is seeking an editorial intern to assist in editorial duties and earn valuable on-the-job editing experience with a professional publication.

Some editing experience is required; blog editing experience is acceptable.

Applicants should expect to spend 10-12 hours a week performing tasks for Protoculture Addicts, including writing, copy editing and content editing. Strict adherence to deadlines will be expected. Full details of the position will be provided to serious applicants.

To apply, submit your resume and a short cover letter to zac [at] animenewsnetwork [dot] com.

This is an unpaid internship, but it may be eligible for school credit (talk to your school).

Orders shipped 2008/09/12

All new orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/8/22 and 2008/9/11 shipped yesterday.

PA #97 available in Digital Edition!

For the first time a digital edition of Protoculture Addicts is available at the same time than its print edition!

You can order the digital edition of Protoculture Addicts #97 from DriveThruRPG.com for $4.99 US (instead of $5.95 plus shipping for the print edition), but you can also get it at the special price of $3.99 US if you order from the Protoculture's catalog or through this link.

Issue #97 is dedicated to Aria: The Animation, Black Cat, Claymore, Doujin Work, Gurren-Lagann, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, Kujibiki Unbalance, Maria Watches Over Us, Mokke, Mononoke, Shigurui: Death Frenzy, etc..

If you cannot find the magazine in your local stores, you don't have any excuses not to purchase it as you can now not only mail-order the print edition from our catalog but you can also instantly download the digital edition from DriveThruRPG.com!

Digital editions are the cheapest and fastest way to read the magazine. Give it a try!

A bunch of recent issues also added as eBooks

We are now up to date with the digital editions as the newest back issues have been converted in the eBook format. There is now fifty (50) Protoculture Addicts issues or products available in this format from DriveThruRPG.com!

The latest additions are issues #93 to #96. Click the images to order them with a special discount ($3.99 US instead of $4.99 US on DTRPG or instead of $5.95 plus shipping for the print editions):

         

They are all excellent issues. #93 covers Air, Code Geass, D.Grey-Man, Ghost Hunt, Hataraki-man, La Corda d'Oro, My-Otome, Nodame Cantabile, School Rumble, The Story of Saiunkoku, etc.. #94 covers Bartender, Darker Than Black, Kekkaishi, Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky, Robotech, Rocket Girls, Soukou no Strain, etc. #95 covers 5 Centimeter Per Second, Appleseed: Ex Machina, Emma: A Victorian Romance Second Act, Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, Gurren-Lagann, Kanon, Kaze no Shoujo Emily, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Romeo x Juliet, Sisters of Wellber, Toward the Terra, etc. #96 covers Angel Heart, Blood+, Cluster Edge, Dennou Coil, Genius Party, iDol Master Xenoglossia, Moyashimon, Ookiku Furikabutte, Rec, xxxHOLiC, etc.

Digital editions are the cheapest and fastest way to read the magazine. Give it a try!

PA #59 is now available as eBook

Protoculture Addicts #59 had been sold out for a while and we have been asked many times when it would be available in a digital edition. Our busy schedule have delayed the conversion for a long time, but wait no more as the eBook of #59 is finally here!

As usual, the eBook is available from DriveThruRPG.com for $3.99 US (instead of $4.95 plus shipping for the print edition--now sold out anyway), but you can also get it at the special price of $2.99 US if you order from the Protoculture's catalog or through this link.

Issue #59 was very popular as it covers Gundam Wings, as well as Gundam 8th MS Team, Corrector Yui, Orphen, The Crest of the Star and Trigun.

Digital editions are the cheapest and fastest way to read the magazine. Give it a try!

Website updates

We have made minor updates to the website: clean-up of the top page, updated the top menu, updated the “Essential Links” (in the menu), updated the catalog with the newest eBooks, updated the production schedule and the Essential Bibliography.

We have also created a “Follower” section for this blog (located just below the Google Ads), where you can register as an official follower of the blog.

In the same spirit, to help our readers show their interest and support for the magazine, we have created a Facebook group for the fans & supporter of PA.

Please check those out.

A blog for the voice of Minmei

Rebecca Forstadt, probably better known for being the voice of Lynn Minmei in Robotech (under the name Reba West)—but she is also credited for over eighty voiceworks on the IMDb, has just started a blog and a Facebook group:

http://rebeccaforstadtanime.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22293804834

PA #97 & new orders shipped

All orders received between 2008/08/08 and 2008/08/22 and orders for Protoculture Addicts #97 (including single copies, subscriptions and distributors' copies) have been shipped.

Distributors (like Diamond Comics Distributor) were shipped last week and got their copies earlier this week. Therefore the magazine should be in comic book stores this week-end (or by the middle of next week).

Canadian subscriptions & small distributors copies shipped yesterday by Canada Post standard lettermail. Canadian subscribers should expect to receive their copies within a few days to a week.

US & Intl standard subscriptions shipped yesterday by Canada Post surface mail and subscribers should expect their copies within 2 to 4 weeks in the USA and within 3 to 6+ weeks overseas.

US & Intl First Class subscriptions, comp list & small distributors copies shipped today by USPS First Class and Priority Mail. First Class / Air Mail subscribers should expect their copies within 2 to 10 days in the USA and within 6 to 10 days overseas.

If you cannot find the magazine in your local stores you can order it directly from us. Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

More information on this issue is available on the Protoculture Addicts #97 web page (click the links for details). It's a pretty good issue and we hope you will enjoy it!

As usual, your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please let us know what you think of this issue either by e-mail or in the forum!

New orders shipped 2008/08/08

All back issues' orders received between 2008/06/26 and 2008/08/07 shipped today.

That excludes all #97 single-issue and subscription orders that will ship a little later.

Update on delayed orders

Our quite small staff was so busy with the production of the magazine lately that we couldn't process orders for a while. All orders received since 2008/6/26 were delayed because of this. We apologize for this delay.

We have now started processing those orders. Some should ship at the end of the week and we should be done catching up on this delay in processing by August 22nd.

For new subscribers, your subscription is starting with the next issue to be released, Protoculture Addicts #97, which is currently at the printer and should ship soon.

Again, we are sorry for this delay and any inconveniences it may have caused you.

We strongly recommand to all our customers to carefully read the information on the web page (shipping policy and Order Status entries) before ordering and to contact us directly if they have a problem. If you have questions about the status of your order, please read this blog entry first.

For now, it is useless to email us inquiries about your order (particularly if your order is less than two weeks old! The use of the internet really makes people impatient...). We cannot process orders if we are all busy answering emails about order status! It is even more useless to file a dispute or claim with PayPal before even emailing us to inquire about the status of your order. First, doing so is rather impolite and, since PayPal freeze the payment for three weeks when a dispute is filed, it will only cause further delay for your order.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Momiji Award

See also this and that blog entries.

Otakuthon 2008

This week-end PA will be at Otakuthon. Come and visit us if you can. We'll be glad to chat with you.

We will be in the dealers' room saturday & sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, table #400. Bring your wallet: we'll have lots of goodies.

We will also have a panel on Saturday, 15:00 to 16:00 in room “Panel 2 / 523b.” Come participate to our Q&A as well as our focus group!

Fantasia 2008

The 12th edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, North America's premier genre cinema event, will be held from July 3rd to July 21st, 2008 in three theatres (Hall, J.A. DeSeve and D.B. Clarke) of Montreal's Concordia University. This year it offers more than 100 feature films, over 200 shorts, 7 documentaries and there will be also more than fifty guests present to introduce their movies. The Program Book will be on sale Sunday June 29th at the cost of $5. Tickets will be available from July 3rd for $8.00 or $70 for 10 tickets.

The programming includes 56 Asian movies: 23 from Japan, 1 from China, 10 from Hong Kong, 16 from Korea, 5 from Thailand and 1 from Vietnam.

The selection of anime is rather thin this year: Batman: Gotham Knight (a USA/Japan coproduction that give the Animatrix treatment to Batman with six animated shorts directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kuboka, Hiroshi Morioka, Shoujirou Nishimi and Nam Jong-sik) and Genius Party (the experimental animated anthology from studio 4'C that we talked about in PA#96).

However, the selection offers more live-action movies based on manga. The most obvious is L: Change the World (Hideo Nakata's [Ring] prequel based on Death Note), but there's also Akanbo Shoujo (directed by Yudai Yamaguchi based on the popular Kazuo Umezu's popular manga), Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (dir. by Takashi Yamazaki and adapted from Yohei Saigan's manga Sanchome no Yuhi: Yuyake no Uta), Be a Man! Samurai School (dir. by Tak Sakaguchi, based on Akira Miyashita's manga Sakigake! Otoko Juku) and Le Grand Chef (a Korean movie dir. by Jeon Yun-su and based on a popular Manhwa).

The festival will also show three Nikkatsu action movies from the 60s: A Colt is my Passport (1967), Gangster VIP (1968), and Velvet Hustler (1967).

The other Japanese movies are: Accuracy of Death, Adrift in Tokyo, Black Belt, Chanbara Beauty, The Chasing World, Gachi Boy: Wresling with a Memory, Machine Girl (a coproduction with the USA), The Most Beautiful Night in the World, Negative Happy Chain Saw Edge, Robo Rock, Sasori (a coproduction with HK), The Shadow Spirit, Shamo (a coproduction with HK), Sukiyaki Western Django (the latest Takashi Miike), Tokyo Gore Police and X-Cross.

Another notable movie is The Midnight Meat Train (a USA movie dir. by Ryuhei Kitamura [Versus, Aragami] and based on a story by Clive Barker).

The Japanese guests will be Tak Sakaguchi (Tokyo Gore Police, Be a Man! Samurai School), Isao Karasawa (Be a Man! Samurai School), Ryuhei Kitamura (Midnight Meat Train), Eihi Shiina (Tokyo Gore Police), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) and we must also mention Mark Schilling (the movie historian, who will present A Colt Is my Passport).

Happy Festival!

Orders shipped 2008/06/26

All new orders received between 2008/6/20 and 2008/6/25 shipped today.

The next shipping for U.S. and International orders will be at the same time we ship / mail PA #97 around mid-August.

Orders shipped 2008/06/20

All new orders received between 2008/6/13 and 2008/6/19 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2008/06/13

All new orders received between 2008/6/6 and 2008/6/12 shipped today.

Orders Shipped 2008/06/06

All new orders received between 2008/5/30 and 2008/6/5 shipped today.

SPJA Nomination for PA

We were so busy working on the magazine back in April that we forgot to mention that Protoculture Addicts was nominated in the “Best Publication” category for the 2008 Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Industry Award.

It is an honor to be (finally!) a finalist nominated along with Anime Insider, Newtype, Otaku USA and Shojo Beat. It is unfortunately too late to vote (poll closed on May 15th), but the results will be announced during the SPJA Industry Reception at Anime Expo® 2008.

See Anime News Network for more details on the SPJA Industry Award.

ANN congratulates Claude J Pelletier

Anime News Network congratulates Claude J Pelletier, Protoculture Addicts' editor-in-chief, for receiving the Momiji Award. [Link]

PA #92 Now Available As eBook

There is now a total of 44 issues of Protoculture Addicts available in eBook format from Drive Thru RPG! The latest addition is issue #92.

Click the image to order it from Drive Thru RPG with a special discount ($3.99 US instead of the regular eBook price of $4.99 US or the print cover price of $5.95 US/CDN).

Issue #92 (Le Chevalier d'Eon, Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 009-1, Gintama, Hell Girl, Ouran High School Host Club, Shonen Onmyouji, Ayakashi Ayashi, The Wallflower, etc.) is an excellent way to sample, at a great price, the new full color format of the magazine. It can also be ordered from Protoculture's online catalog.

Orders shipped 2008/5/30

All new orders received between 2008/5/21 and 2008/5/29 shipped today.

Update

The distribution and subscription information sections of the web page have been updated.

Protoculture Addicts is now available in the U.S. in over a thousand bookstores, mostly Borders (including subsidiaries like Waldenbooks or Brentano's), but also Barnes & Noble, Follett and a few others.

International / overseas standard subscriptions (surface mail) seem to work fine for most of Western Europe and Mexico, but for other overseas destinations (Asia, Australia) or countries with "slow" postal service (like Africa, Italy or the Middle-East) -- where delivery can take up to ten (10) weeks -- we STRONGLY recommend subscribing to the more expensive Overseas Air Mail option to avoid long delays or problems.

Anime North

Claude J Pelletier and Miyako Matsuda will be at Anime North this week-end. Come and meet with them if you can!

PA #96 in stores

Protoculture Addicts #96 has now been shipped or mailed to all distributors (last week) and subscribers (this week). Therefore, in most cases, it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores by the end of the month -- if not already.

Please keep in mind that regular subscriptions are sent by surface mail (unless you have a first class or air mail subscription), so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within a few days to a week in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in the USA (within a few days for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6+ weeks overseas (1 to 2 weeks for Air Mail subscribers). Please don't email us to inquire about the status of your order until this shipping period has passed. Check the order status note on our blog or our Ordering & Shipping Policy for details.

As usual, your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please let us know of any sighting of PA #96 in your local stores, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum!

We are quite satisfied with this issue (the best we've ever made!!!) and hope you will enjoy it.

New orders shipped 2008/05/21

All new orders received between 2008/3/21 and 2008/5/20 shipped today along with the last bits of #96's mailing (small distributors & stores, First Class & Air Mail subscriptions, comp list).

Delay in orders

Our small staff was so busy with the production of the magazine that we couldn't process orders for a while. All orders received since 2008/3/21 will ship with issue #96 next week. We apologize for this delay.

PA#96 available for order

Protoculture Addicts #96 is on its way (it has shipped to all major distributors) and is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #96 on the web page (click the links for details).

The magazine will ship next week (to small distributors, stores and subscribers) and should be in stores by the end of the month.

PA#95 Survey

With Protoculture Addicts #96 due out any day now, Anime News Network is once again running a survey to see what readers thought of issue #95. Please let us know so that we can continue improving the magazine.

Link to survey

Thanks!

Movie reviews

We've just put online a bunch of movie reviews from last year's Montreal World Film Festival.

You can access them either on the eZine's live-action reviews, festival reviews or directly at the Montreal World Film Festival 2007 review page.

PA's Editor-in-chief to receive Momiji Award

Anime North will honor Protoculture Addicts' founder and Editor-in-chief, Claude J Pelletier, with the Momiji Award at the May 23-25 2008 convention in Toronto, Canada.

This Canadian Award honours “people who laid the foundations and helped to nurture the world-wide love of anime and manga that we all share.” The Award was previously presented to Fred Ladd (2001), Tezuka Studio's Takayuki Matsutani (2002), Frank Miller (2003), Hayao Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli (2004), Carl Macek (2005), Go Nagai (2006), and Peter Fernandez & Corinne Orr (2007).

Claude J Pelletier will also be a guest at Otakuthon (July 26-27) and Chibi-PA (September 27-28).

More information on Anime News Network.

Fantasia to get subsidies from the SODEC [updated]

The free newspaper 24 Heures announced today that the Festival Fantasia will finally received governmental subsidies from the SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles / Society for the development of cultural ventures).

The subsidies were announced by the SODEC yesterday.

Six movie festivals in Quebec (including four in Montreal) will share subsidies of $825, 000.

The other festival include the Montreal World Film Festival (getting $225,000), le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (getting $220,000), le Carrousel International du Film de Rimouski (getting $120,000), le Festival du Cinéma International D'Abitibi-Témiscamingue (getting $115,000) and Les Recontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal (getting $95,000).

Fantasia will receive a $50,000 subsidy from the SODEC. It is an improvement since they only got $35,000 in 2007 from the Municipal & Regional Affairs Ministry. It is a little disappointing, since the festival deserves more, but it will certainly means a few improvement to the festival this year (more movies? more guests?). Fantasia has yet to comment or emit a press release on the SODEC announcement.

The 12th edition of Fantasia, the North American Premier Genre Film Festival (known for showing lots of edgy Japanese live-action and anime), will be held July 3-21 2008.

[updated 2008/04/17 with details from The Gazette 2008/04/16: D5]

PA in The Gazette

Protoculture Addicts and Anime News Network are mentioned in a newspaper article of the Montreal's Gazette (Saturday 2008/03/29: B2 “City Subculture: Anime fans have lots to choose from”) discussing the local fandom (clubs, stores & publications):

“One of those shows, Robotech, inspired Montreal’s Claude Pelletier to start Protoculture Addicts in 1988. It’s now North America’s longest-running anime magazine, and currently associated with Montreal-based Anime News Network, which publisher Christopher MacDonald describes as “arguably the most trafficked anime website in the world.”

MacDonald says Quebec’s anime and manga fans are lucky. Access to manga translated by producers in France and the U.S. makes Quebec “the second-best place” to be a fan.

“After Japan, of course.””

The full article can be read here.

Thanks to Al Kratina for the article.

PA#95 & new orders shipped (2008/3/21)

All new orders received between 2008/3/10 and 2008/3/20 shipped today, along with the last part of #95's mailing (small distributors & stores, First Class & Air Mail subscriptions, comp list).

Protoculture Addicts #95 has now been shipped or mailed to all distributors (on 2008/3/11) and subscribers (on 2008/3/18). Therefore, in most cases, it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores by the end of the month.

Please keep in mind that regular subscriptions are sent by surface mail (unless you have a first class or air mail subscription), so subscribers should expect to receive their copies within a week in Canada, 2 to 4 weeks in the USA (within a week for First Class subscribers) and 3 to 6+ weeks overseas (1 to 2 weeks for Air Mail subscribers). Please don't email us to inquire about the status of your order until this shipping period has passed. Check this blog entry or our Ordering & Shipping Policy for details.

We are quite satisfied with this issue and hope you will enjoy it.

As usual, your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please let us know of any sighting of PA #95 in your local stores, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum!

Have a nice Easter week-end!

Survey on PA#94

If you have read issue #94, you can answer a survey on what you think of that particular issue. That would greatly help us know what you think of the magazine and improve Protoculture Addicts. Thanks! [Link]

Update 2008/03/11

The upcoming issues and release schedule pages of the website have been updated.

PA#91 Now Available in eBooks Format!

There is now a total of 43 issues of Protoculture Addicts available in eBook format from Drive Thru RPG! The latest addition is issue #91.

Click the image to order it from Drive Thru RPG with a special discount ($3.99 US instead of the regular eBook price of $4.99 US or the print cover price of $5.95 US/CDN).

Issue #91 (Witchblade, Wings of Honneamise, Death Note, Flag, Gedo Senki, Night Head Genesis, Pumpkin Scissors, etc.) is an excellent way to sample, at a great price, the new full color format of the magazine. It can also be ordered from Protoculture's online catalog.

PA#95 available for order

Protoculture Addicts #95 is now available for order.

To get a copy you can either order it directly from us, get a subscription or check your local store. If they are not carrying the magazine, please encourage them to do so. Retailers can order it directly from us or they can order it from several distributors (our web page has a list of distributors that carry the magazine). Remember: the best way to support the magazine is by the word of mouth. Tell your friends about Protoculture Addicts and encourage them to buy it as well.

We have just updated all the information related to Protoculture Addicts #95 on the web page (click the links for details).

The magazine will ship next week and should be in stores by the end of the month.

New orders shipped 2008/3/10

All the orders received between 2008/2/15 and 2008/3/9 shipped today (excluding orders for issue #95).

New orders will ship with issue #95 (individual orders, subscriptions, stores & small distributors) later this week or early next week.

New orders shipped 2008/2/15

All the orders received between 2008/2/8 and 2008/2/14 shipped today.

New orders shipped 2008/2/8

All the orders received between 2008/2/1 and 2008/2/7 shipped today.

New orders shipped 2008/2/1

All the orders received between 2008/1/22 and 2008/1/31 shipped today.

New orders shipped 2008/1/22

All the orders received between 2008/1/10 and 2008/1/21 shipped today.

Update 2008/01/12

The Special Deals section of the Catalog, as well as the How To Order and Ordering & Shipping Policy pages have been updated. Please have a look.

The release schedule was also updated.

New orders shipped 2008/1/11

All the orders received between 2007/12/18 and 2008/1/9 shipped today.

New Protoculture Addicts eBooks Available

There is now a total of 42 issues of Protoculture Addicts available in eBook format from Drive Thru RPG! The latest additions are issues #50, 89 and 90.

Click the images to order them with a special discount of $2.99 US (instead of $3.99) for #50 and $3.99 US each (instead of $4.99) for #89-90:

      

Issue #50 was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the magazine with features on Macross 7 and Robotech. It is a great companion to #94 (the 20th Anniversary issue).

Both issues #89 (Ultimate Hellsing, Mushishi, Voltron) and #90 (Haruhi Suzumiya, Top 9 Directors, Visual Novels) are an excellent way to sample the new full color format of the magazine at a great discount.

Update 2008/01/01

The catalog has been adjusted to reflect the tax change in Canada.