Protoculture News & Updates

Otakuthon 2011

2011-08-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

As usual we will be at Otakuthon, although this year it will not be as a guest but simply as exhibitors.

The convention will be held August 12-14 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal (201, Viger Avenue West, near Métro Place d'Armes). Check the Otakuthon website for details.

We will be at table #502 in the Exhibition Hall (opened Friday from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Saturday from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm and Sunday from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm) and will have LOTS of anime & manga goodies to sell at very good price.

Come meet and discuss with us!

Moving update

2011-08-05T00:15:00.011-04:00

Many are wondering what's happening so here's an update.

Moving ended up a longer and much more complicated experience than expected. Everything was (and is) done by volunteers who are available at best one or two days per weeks (we all have jobs and families to take care of and keep us sane) so the work was progressing slowly. I want to take this opportunity to deeply thanks everybody who gave us their time and moral support (particularly Martin and Bob). You can't even begin to know how much it is appreciated.

First we had to pack the content of the office and warehouse in preparation of the move. Since we were moving into a smaller space we also had to identify the material that was obsolete or no longer needed in order to get rid of it (by recycling or donating). Easier said than done... It's incredible the quantity of material we can accumulate over the years. There was LOTS of stuff to go through and pack.

The move itself was a long and excruciating process that left most of us physically and mentally exhausted (I've grown muscles that I didn't know I had!), so we had to take a few weeks to recover before passing to the next step. (Anyway, buying a new property is a long, tiring and complicated process in itself and there was a few delay before we could take possession of the place).

Reorganizing the office (as a usable working area) as well as the warehouse and the shipping area was quite a challenge considering that the new location offered less space. Everything was quite crowded at first. And, considering that the move was a little disorganized and that boxes were often not or mis-labelled (or simply buried under a pile), it was complicated to gather all the material we were used to work with (I am still looking for some stuff). We were half through that when disaster first stroke...

It happens that the city street in front of the new warehouse is badly designed and has defective water drainage. The warehouse was flooded with the first big thunderstorm of the summer. The previous owner had failed to notify us of the problem and therefore we failed to anticipate such situation. Some precious reference material (temporarilly stored during the office reorganization) and stock back issues were damaged by water. We had to go through all the boxes to identify what was salvageable and what was not. That process took a while. Such flood have reoccur many times since then, but with a lesser impact (everything is now stored at a safe distance from the floor), but it still creates lots of humidity and makes the working space less comfortable. We are working with city officials to solve that situation. Unfortunately it has caused some more, unexpected, delays.

It took a while to have the phone and internet connections back in order and I have been quite busy at work lately (at it six days per week). The heatwave didn't help, nor the fact that we are in the busiest part of the summer (with two festivals to cover and a convention to prepare for). That's why the move that I thought *might* hinder shipping orders for a couple of months ended up definitely causing a much bigger delay. We are sincerely sorry for this.

We are now trying to finish organizing the shipping and process orders as fast as we can. Hopefully everything should be shipped by september. Again, we are quite sorry for this extraordinary delay -- hopefully we'll be back to our “regular delay” soon ;) ...

I am not sure we'll have time to email individually all of you who made order inquiries and were concerned about their orders (but we'll try).

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Super Discount Updated

2011-03-09T04:00:00.010-05:00

S u p e r D i s c o u n t !

Pick any 30 B&W issues for $45.00 !
OR

Pick any 5 B&W issues for $15.00 !
OR

Pick any 5 Color issues for $20.00 !
OR
Get all Color issues for $35.00 !

Order Now !

(Make sure you read carefully our ordering & shipping policy first
and please also check the Order Status and Order Inquiries information on our blog)

Moving

2011-03-08T18:00:00.007-05:00

We are currently in the process of moving our offices to a new location. For the next couple of months, this *might* cause some delay in order processing.

Orders shipped 2011/02/11

2011-02-12T21:35:00.000-05:00

All new orders for back issues of the magazine were shipped today. They should be received within a week (for Canada & USA) or two (for overseas).

We're quite sorry for this exceptional delay.

Orders shipped 2010/10/01

2010-10-01T22:10:00.003-04:00

All back issues orders received between 2010/08/02 and 2010/09/30 were shipped today. They should be received within a week (for Canada & USA) or two (for overseas).

Orders shipped 2010/08/03

2010-08-03T18:00:00.001-04:00

All back issues orders received between 2010/06/07 and 2010/08/01 were shipped today.

Otakuthon 2010

2010-07-27T20:41:00.027-04:00

As usual Protoculture will be at Otakuthon.

The convention will be held August 13-15 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal (201, Viger Avenue West, near Métro Place d'Armes). Check the Otakuthon website for details.

We will have a table in the Exhibition Hall (opened Friday from 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm, Saturday from 10:30 am - 7:00 pm and Sunday from 10:30 am - 5:00 pm) and will have LOTS of anime & manga goodies to sell at very good price.

Come meet and discuss with us!

Fantasia 2010

2010-07-03T08:50:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, Fantasia announced the highlights of its programming and posted all the details on its website.

The 14th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival, one of the largest events dedicated to genre cinema, will be held from July 8th to July 28th, at Concordia University's Hall Theatre and a few other venues in Montreal. This year, with more government subsidies, the festival has widened and diversified even more its impressive programming. It offers nearly 300 movies, including over 120 feature-length films and several hundreds shorts, as well as a variety of documentaries, panel discussions, stage plays, outdoor screenings and many guests will be there to introduce and discuss their work.

The festival will open with Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice and close with Eli Craig's horror film satire Tucker & Dale's vs. Evil. Other notable events of the festival are the screenings of Fritz Lang's restored Metropolis (with 25 min. of previously lost footage), Jean Cocteau's Le Sang d'un Poête, and Ken Russell's The Devils (who has a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and will also receive an award for his unique contribution to cinema). Animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman will also receive a dual lifetime achievement award. Among the movies from the West that intrigues me, I must also mention Centurion, “a breathtaking rollercoaster” set in roman time, directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent).

Of course, the most interesting part of the festival for us is its Asian programming. It offers 55 Asian movies (including 24 from Japan, 14 from Korea, 9 from Hong Kong, 3 from Thailand, 2 from China as well as from Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia).

The Japanese movies include eight anime features (twice as much as last year): Evangelion 2.0: You Can(Not) Advance, First Squad: The Moment of Truth (a Japan/Russia co-production), Gintama: The Movie, King of Thorn, Mai Mai Miracle, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, Space Battleship Yamato: Resurrection, and Summer Wars (best animated feature at the 2010 Japanese Academy Awards). Other notable animations are The Land Before Time (USA, Don Bluth), Technotise: Edit & I (Serbia) and What is not Romance? (Korea).

The live-action Japanese movies includes (click on the link for details): Air Doll (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda), Alien Vs Ninja, Battle in Outer Space (a 1960 classic dir. by Ishiro Honda), Boys on the Run, Brass Knuckle Boys, Crows Zero 2 (Dir. Takashi Miike), Fish Story, Golden Slumber, Higanjima, Kuroneko (a 1968 classic), Mutant Girls Squad, Raise the Castle!, Rinco's Restaurant, Sawako Decides, Symbol, and Van Von Hunter (a USA/Japan co-production written & directed by Tokyopop's Stu Levy and Steven Calcote).

The Japanese and anime-related guests include: Yoshinori Chiba (Dir. of Alien Vs Ninja), Stu Levy (founder of Tokyopop and co-dir. of Van Von Hunter), Yuri Lowenthal (popular voice-actor (Bleach, Code Geass, Naruto) and actor in Van Von Hunter), Yoshihiro Nishimura (co-dir. of Mutant Girls Squad), Tara Platt (voice-actress (Buso Renkin, Naruto) and panelist), and Mai Tominaga (dir. of Rinco's Restaurant).

Finally, two of the panels might be of interest for the animation fans: “The Current and Future State of Traditional Animation Cinema: Death, Comeback and Resurrection” (Sunday July 18th 1:00 pm, at the EV-01.615 amphitheatre (1515 Ste-Catherine W), with Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gerard Potterton and Luc Chamberland) and “Voice Over, Voice Actor” (Sunday July 18th 3:00 pm, at the EV-01.615 amphitheatre (1515 Ste-Catherine W), with Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt).

Enjoy the festival!

Production & shipping update

2010-06-18T17:19:00.004-04:00

All back issues orders received between 2010/03/05 and 2010/06/16 were shipped Wednesday (for Canadian orders) and today (for U.S. and International orders). They should be received within a week (for Canada & USA) or two (for overseas). We're sorry for this exceptionally long delay and will do our best to ship your future orders as quickly as possible.

We would like to remind you that, as stated in our ordering & shipping policy, we generally do not answer order inquiries. All answers to your questions should be found in our detailed “ordering & shipping policy” or the “order inquiries” and “order status” entries of the blog. Also, we do our best to ship orders every month or so—sometimes we can do it every two weeks but it can also takes up to two months (or even more, like it was the case lately). Unfortunately we have quite a small staff and we ship orders whenever we can drive to the closest USPS outlet. Finally, please do not file a dispute with PayPal “resolution center” because it would only cause more delay to your order (since in such cases PayPal is freezing payments and—the money having been withdrawn from our account—we would never ship an order for which we don't have the payment...). Please, just be patient.

Lots of people are wondering what's happening with the magazine and that's understandable. Well, it is still going on, but at a much slower pace. As it was previously announced, the magazine has cut its staff, reduced its frequency and temporarily suspended publication in order to implement production and distribution changes. Unfortunately, this hiatus has been much longer than anticipated because we misjuged the production capability of a reduced staff and encountered several production problems. We are quite sorry for this situation and be assured that our small staff of part-timers and volunteers is doing the best they can. Most of us are professionals (with “day jobs” in the anime or publishing-related industries) and we are working as hard as we can on the magazine, as a service to fellow anime fans, because of our love for anime and manga.

We might have stopped taking new subscriptions, but—don't worry—the magazine will still be available on an issue-by-issue basis, current subscriptions will still be honored and the next issue will come out eventually. Yes, we are way behind schedule and we had to change some of the content, but it is coming out. As Zac recently said in the forum about issue 98's release: “We're closer now than we've ever been. However we have a whopping staff of 2 people working on it and that's part-time. Slow boat, but it'll be done sooner rather than later.” And, just to be sure, we won't announce a street date until the issue is done and being printed. Again, please just be patient. You won't be disappointed...

Stay tuned, we still have many projects to come...

Orders shipped 2010/03/05

2010-03-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

All orders (including the last of the new subscriptions) received between 2009/12/11 and 2010/03/04 were shipped yesterday (for Canadian orders) and today (for U.S. and International orders).

We're quite sorry for this delay.

Subscriptions no longer available

2010-02-25T20:02:00.002-05:00

Due to the magazine's now irregular schedule, we have decided to stop selling subscriptions. Please note that we will continue to honor existing subscriptions and that you can still order the magazine issue by issue.

To order the magazine please visit our online catalog.

For more information you can read our updated ordering & shipping policy.

Delay processing orders

2010-02-15T22:52:00.007-05:00

Sorry, there was a delay in processing orders because we were closed during the Holidays and we're quite busy as well as short on staff. We are doing our best to catch up and all new orders placed since December should ship soon.

Happy Holidays to all !

2009-12-24T17:29:00.000-05:00

Merry Holidays & Happy New Year to all from Miyako, myself and all the staff of Protoculture!

May 2010 brings you all that you wish...

Orders shipped 2009/12/11

2009-12-11T18:20:00.000-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions starting with issue #97) received between 2009/11/20 and 2009/12/10 were shipped today.

Super Holidays Discount !

2009-12-01T12:53:00.020-05:00

Pick any 30 B&W issues for $45.00 !
OR

Pick any 5 B&W issues for $15.00 !
OR

Pick any 5 Color issues for $20.00 !

Order Now !

Orders shipped 2009/11/20

2009-11-20T23:31:00.001-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions starting with issue #97) received between 2009/11/06 and 2009/11/19 were shipped today.

Orders shipped 2009/11/07

2009-11-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions starting with issue #97) received between 2009/10/11 and 2009/11/05 were shipped friday (Can) and today (US & Intl).

Orders shipped 2009/10/10

2009-10-10T21:42:00.002-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/09/19 and 2009/10/10 were shipped today.

Orders shipped 2009/09/19

2009-09-19T20:21:00.000-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/07/30 and 2009/09/18 were shipped today.

Hiroaki Inoue

2009-08-07T01:20:00.003-04:00

For those interested: Hiroaki Inoue, co-founder of Gainax, is currently in Montreal attending the 67th WorldCon.

WorldCon

2009-08-06T11:02:00.002-04:00

The 67th WorldCon, Anticipation, is held this week-end (6 - 10 August 2009) at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal. There are lots of interesting anime & manga related panels.

Panel cancellation

2009-08-03T19:33:00.002-04:00

We apologize to all the people who came to our Otakuthon panel.

Unfortunately, a member of the staff had a medical emergency that prevented us to present the panel.

Otakuthon

2009-07-31T10:22:00.003-04:00

This week-end Protoculture will be at Otakuthon.

We have tables in the Exhibition Hall (#406 & #411) offering lots of affordable goodies and back issues of the magazine.

We will also have a quick panel on Saturday, Aug. 1st from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm in Panel 3 (room 522ab). Please come meet Claude J Pelletier, ask questions and, most importantly, give feedback & suggestions.

Orders shipped 2009/07/30

2009-07-30T22:15:00.002-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/06/05 and 2009/07/30 were shipped today.

Sorry for, again, skipping a month (most of the time we try to ship every couple of weeks or at least every month) but -- as usual -- we are quite busy with several projects as well as with the festival & convention season.

Fantasia 2009

2009-06-30T00:50:00.020-04:00

In a press conference held on Monday June 29th Fantasia announced the highlights of its programmation:

The 13th edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, North America's largest genre cinema event, will be held from July 9th to July 29th, 2009 at Concordia University's Hall Theatre in Montreal. This year the festival offers over 115 feature-length films, as well as an impressive selection of shorts, documentaries, panel discussions, outdoor screenings and more than fifty guests that will be there to introduce their movies. The programmation's details will be available online for free and the Program Book will be on sale Friday July 3rd at the cost of $5. Tickets will be available from July 7th for $8.00 or $70 for 10 tickets. There are also 8 “Fantastic Week-End” programs (including 6 to 13 films) available for $8 each.

The programming offers over 50 Asian movies (including 35 from Japan, 15 from Korea, 6 from China/Hong Kong and 3 from Thailand).

This year the festival is a little weak on the anime side as it includes only four Japanese animated features: Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (Dir.: Tomoyuki Kyoda), Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Dir.: Hideaki Anno), Genius Party Beyond (a shorts anthology by 4'C Studio) and Hells (Dir.: Yoshiki Yamakawa, Madhouse Studio). There's also Cencoroll (a short shown with Genius Party Beyond).

The most interesting Japanese movies of the festival (interesting to us because they are anime & manga related) definitely are 20th Century Boys: Chapter One and 20th Century Boys: Chapter Two—The Last Hope (based on Naoki Urasawa's manga and directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi), M.W. (based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka and directed by Hitoshi Iwamoto) and Yatterman (based on Tatsunoko's 1977-79 anime TV series Time Bokan 2: Yattāman (or its 2008 remake); directed by Takashi Miike, it's the opening film of the festival hosted by producer Yoshinori Chiba).

There's also an anime & manga-related Korean movie: Antique (Dir.: Min Kyu-dong; based on the Japanese manga Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga).

The other Japanese movies includes Battle League in Kyoto (Dir.: Katsuhide Motoki, based on a fantasy novel by Manabu Makime), The Clone Returns Home (Dir.: Kanji Nakajima), Crime or Punishment?!? (Dir.: Keralino Sandorovich), Cyborg She (dir.: Kwak Jae-young), Fine, Totally Fine (Dir.: Yosuke Fujita), GS Wonderland (dir.: Ry˚ichi Honda), Hard Revenge, Milly and Hard Revenge, Milly: Bloody Battle (hosted by writer/director Takanori Tsujimoto), House (Dir.: Nobuhiko Obayashi), Instant Swamp (Dir.: Satoshi Miki), K-20: Legend of the Mask (Dir.: Shimako Sato), Lalapipo (Dir.: Masayuki Miyano), Love Exposure (Dir.: Sion Sono), Nightmare Detective 2 (Dir.: Shinya Tsukamoto), Orochi (Dir.: Norio Tsurata), Paco and the Magic Book (Dir.: Tetsuya Nakashima), Samurai Princess (Dir.: Kengo Kaji), Tokyo OnlyPic 2008 (Dir.: Riichiro Mashima), Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl (Dir.: Naoyuki Tomomatsu & Yoshihiro Nishimura) and With Rain (a short shown as part of “Celluloid Experiments”).

The festival, in association with the Cinémathèque Québécoise and Ciné-Asie, also presents “Behind the Pink Curtain,” a line-up of Japanese erotic films (pinku eiga): Blue Film Woman (1969), Gushing Prayer (1971), S&M Hunter (1986), Secret Hot Spring Resort: Star Fish at Night (1970) and Yariman (2008).

Fantasia also presents a “Classic Daikaiju Special” that will include a documentary, Bringing Godzilla Down to Size: The Art of Japanese Special Effects, a short, Gehara the Dark and Long Haired Monster, and a classic monster movie, Mothra (1961)!

As part of its “Fantasia Under the Stars” segment, the festival will also presents outdoor screenings of Tokyo Zombie (Dir.: Sakichi Sato) on 7/17 and Adrift in Tokyo (Dir.: Satoshi Miki) on 7/18 at 21:00 in the Parc de la Paix (St-Laurent boulevard between Ste-Catherine’s and René-Lévesque).

Notable is the recent French documentary by Yves Montmayeur: Yakuza Eiga: Une Histoire Secrète du Cinéma Japonais (“Yakuza Eiga: A Secret History of Japanese Cinema”).

The Japanese guests list includes Yoshinori Chia (Yatterman producer), Tomohiro Hayashi (Yatterman producer), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Vampire Girl Vs Frankenstein Girl director), and Takanori Tsujimoto (Hard Revenge, Milly writer & director).

We will add more details as they are available (updated: 7/4, 7/5, 7/8).

View a calendar of the Japanese movies' screenings.

Bon festival!

Press Release: Protoculture Addicts To Release 80 Anime You Must Watch!

2009-06-16T14:27:00.006-04:00

Montreal QC, June 15, 2009 — Anime News Network and Protoculture Inc. present the all new Protoculture Addicts guide to 80 Anime You Must Watch! Whether you're a long time anime fan, or just getting started, this guide will introduce you to some of the most interesting anime you've never heard of. We've selected the best anime, the most thought-provoking anime, the funniest anime, and the most unique anime, and brought them together in one place. A perfect starting point for new anime fans, and a damn good way for the veteran otaku to find the best anime they've missed. Also includes the ten most overrated anime, ten best soundtracks and several other “top-10” lists. The Protoculture Addicts guide to 80 Anime You Must Watch! is priced at $7.95 and offers 100 pages of your best guide to anime culture!

In a letter sent to subscribers and posted on the magazine's blog (http://protoculture-mag.blogspot.com/), Protoculture Inc., the publisher of Anime News Network's Protoculture Addicts, explained why the magazine has not been published for several months and is detailed the magazine's new schedule and format.

The letter revealed that the magazine was experiencing difficulty due to the combined effects of multiple factors (not only the global recession, but also a crisis in both the anime and magazine publishing industries, as well as the fact that the editor-in-chief was having health issues). Therefore, like many other anime industry companies, Protoculture had to make cutbacks and delay the release of the magazine in order to restructure its production process and adjust the magazine format to make it more appealing to readers.

“No, Protoculture Addicts is not dead”, reassures Claude J Pelletier, co-publisher and production manager. “It is just experiencing a longer hiatus than usual. However, most of our readers are probably used to such delays since the magazine has always been somewhat irregular. Strangely, what can be seen at first as a major inconvenience, can sometimes become a blessing. The fact that we have a small (but very dedicated) staff sometimes presents problems, but it can also become our greatest asset during such challenging times. It makes us more flexible and versatile, and that's why the magazine has survived for so long and will endure even longer.”

In order to make the magazine more competitive during the current economic challenge, Protoculture is, for the moment, reducing the frequency of the magazine to two or three issues per year. The magazine's focus is also changing, making of each release a special issue dedicated entirely to one topic. “It's a complete departure from our previous magazine format”, says publisher Christopher Macdonald, “as it is now designed to be less of a periodical and more of a collector's magazine.” However, Macdonald insists that if the magazine had to adapt to the changing media world by providing contents with a longer shelf-life, its mission remains the same. “We still seek to introduce you to exciting facets of anime culture that you may not have previously explored.”

For 2009, Protoculture is planning only two thematic issues, one to be released in Summer (around late-July) and the other in Fall. The first thematic issue (officially issue #98) will be 80 Anime You Must Watch!

The magazine will be available to retailers from Distributors such as Diamond, AAA Anime, Disticor and directly from Protoculture. While it will not be available to consumers from regular book and newstand magazine stores such as Borders, readers can request it at their local comic-book & hobby shop or order it directly from Protoculture's website (http://www.protoculture-mag.com). The subscription fee remains at $30.00 US/CND for six issues despite the cover price change to $7.95 US/CND.

Anyone interested in Advertising should contact Christopher Macdonald at advertising@animenewsnetwork.com.

ABOUT ANIME NEWS NETWORK:

With over 30 million impressions a month and one hundred thousand visits a day, Anime News Network (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com) is the Internet's leading source of anime and manga news. ANN provides North American readers with up to date news, views and reviews regarding the North American and Japanese anime industries.

ABOUT PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS:

Protoculture Addicts is North America's longest running anime and manga magazine, first published in 1987. In 2005 Protoculture Addicts joined Anime News Network to take advantage of one of the most dynamic rosters of writers and contributors in the North American anime industry.

80 Anime You Must Watch!

2009-06-13T19:22:00.005-04:00

Anime News Network presents the all new Protoculture Addicts guide to 80 Anime You Must Watch!

Whether you're a long time anime fan, or just getting started, this guide will introduce you to some of the most interesting anime you've never heard of. We've selected the best anime, the most thought-provoking anime, the funniest anime, and the most unique anime, and brought them together in one place. A perfect starting point for new anime fans, and a damn good way for the veteran otaku to find the best anime they've missed. Also includes the ten most overrated anime, ten best soundtracks and several other “top-10” lists. (Not final cover artwork)

The Protoculture Addicts guide to 80 Anime You Must Watch! is priced at $7.95 and offers in full color 100 pages of your best guide to anime culture! Don't miss it!

Available this Summer in all good comic-book or hobby specialty stores (from Distributors such as Diamond or AAA Anime) or directly from Protoculture.

Letter to the readers

2009-06-12T22:43:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers:

You are certainly well aware of the current difficult economic situation that affects us all in our daily life. Unfortunately, on top of this challenging economic situation, there are many other factors that are also hurting magazine publishers like Protoculture.

Even before the global recession, both the Japanese and the North American anime industries were going through a small crisis that has forced many anime companies to restructure and implement cut-backs. While they are going through this process, anime companies are considerably reducing their advertising budgets and this in turn makes things very hard for anime magazines.

Magazine publishers, in general, were already having a hard time, because their readership is relying more and more on the Internet to access information and is moving away from print publications. At the same time, the bookstore and newsstand distribution system is falling apart. The distribution system is already rather inefficient and wasteful (only 30-40% of magazine copies are sold and the rest are trashed), but it is also getting more expensive for publishers, as distributors seek to increase their fees. Because of problems with our distributor, we had to stop distributing Protoculture Addicts in bookstores and newsstands with issue #97 and we are now trying our best to find alternate solutions.

Finally, at the beginning of the year, our editor-in-chief was repeatedly sick and needed some time to recover.

All those factors have forced us to follow the example of many anime industry companies. We had to lay-off some of our staff, make cut backs, and take some time to restructure our production process. It was necessary to delay the release of the magazine in order to adjust its format and make it more appealing to readers.

Such lengthy production delays are nothing new for Protoculture Addicts. The magazine has always been irregular (we released only two issues in 2004, six issues in 2005, two only again in 2006, five issues in 2007 and three in 2008) and most of our readers are probably used to this situation. Strangely, what can be seen at first as a major inconvenience, can sometimes become a blessing. The fact that we have a small (but very dedicated) staff sometimes presents challenges, but it can also become our greatest asset during such challenging times. It makes us more flexible and versatile, and that's why the magazine has survived for so long and will endure even longer.

In conclusion, there is no need to worry: Protoculture Addicts is not dead, it is only on a longer than usual hiatus while we restructure the magazine. We hope you like the result of our work, as it will be a bit of a departure from our previous work. In recognition of the changing media world, we will be changing the magazine's focus. Each issue will be a special issue focused entirely on one topic; we call them "thematic issues". This might seem like a huge change from our previous format, but in reality, our mission remains the same. We seek to introduce you to exciting facets of anime culture that you may not have previously explored. We'll just be going about it in a different format than before.

We will also, for the moment, reduce the frequency of the magazine to two or three issues per year. For 2009, we are planning only two thematic issues, one to be released in the Summer (around late-July) and the other in late Fall (around mid-November).

The first thematic issue (technically it will be issue #98) will be titled 80 Anime You Must Watch! Whether you're a long time anime fan, or just getting started, this guide will introduce you to some of the most interesting anime you've never heard of. We've selected the best anime, the most thought-provoking anime, the funniest anime, and the most unique anime, and brought them together in one place. A perfect starting point for new anime fans, and a damn good way for the veteran otaku to find the best anime they've missed. It also includes the ten most overrated anime, ten best soundtracks and several other “top-10” lists. The Protoculture Addicts guide to 80 Anime You Must Watch! will be 100-page and priced at $7.95 US/CND. Protoculture Addicts is your best guide to anime culture!

We remind subscribers that their subscription to Protoculture Addicts is not a yearly membership fee but rather a commitment on our part to deliver to you six issues. Therefore, if you subscribed to the magazine, you will definitely receive six issues (or the number of issues remaining in your subscription), no matter how many issues are released in one given year. Please also note that, despite the price change to $7.95, the subscription fee remains at $30.00 US/CND.

We thank you for your understanding and support and we apologize profusely for this lengthy publication delay.

Check the web site (www.protoculture-mag.com) or the magazine's blog (protoculture-mag.blogspot.com) for further announcements.

-Protoculture

Orders shipped 2009/06/05

2009-06-05T21:44:00.005-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/04/25 and 2009/06/04 were shipped Thursday (Canada) and today (US and International).

Sorry to all our customers for this delay. We usually try to ship every two weeks or at least every month, but the month of May has been rather crazy...

Conventions Summer 2009

2009-05-11T14:58:00.007-04:00

So far the two conventions Protoculture staff will be attending this summer are:

Otakuthon 2009 held from July 31st to August 2nd 2009

and

Anticipation, the 67th WorldCon, held on 6 - 10 August 2009

See you there!

Orders shipped 2009/04/25

2009-04-25T20:54:00.005-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/03/19 and 2009/04/24 were shipped friday (Canada) and today (US and International).

A letter was also sent to all subscribers to inform them of the new schedule of the magazine.

Orders shipped 2009/03/20

2009-03-20T14:46:00.001-04:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/02/13 and 2009/03/18 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2009/02/13

2009-02-13T18:13:00.002-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/01/22 and 2009/02/12 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2009/01/23

2009-01-23T17:26:00.002-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2009/01/07 and 2009/01/21 shipped today.

Orders shipped 2009/01/09

2009-01-09T20:54:00.003-05:00

All orders (including new subscriptions) received between 2008/12/29 and 2009/01/06 shipped today.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T23:59:00.002-05:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/12/30

2008-12-30T15:48:00.001-05:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/12/19

2008-12-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

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

ANN will stream two anime TV series

2008-12-10T13:20:00.012-05:00

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

2008-12-09T00:30:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-21T22:35:00.002-05:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/11/06

2008-11-06T19:00:00.001-05:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/10/31

2008-10-31T20:35:00.000-04:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/10/09

2008-10-09T18:38:00.000-04:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/10/03

2008-10-04T15:58:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-27T01:08:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-23T03:54:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-19T16:59:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-17T20:53:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-13T17:47:00.001-04:00

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

PA #97 available in Digital Edition!

2008-09-08T04:14:00.006-04:00

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

2008-09-08T03:29:00.014-04:00

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

2008-09-08T02:36:00.011-04:00

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

2008-09-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-31T22:09:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-22T22:41:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-09T00:08:00.001-04:00

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

2008-08-07T00:51:00.008-04:00

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

2008-08-04T17:12:00.000-04:00

Otakuthon 2008

2008-07-25T21:32:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-26T18:41:00.018-04:00

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

2008-06-26T18:07:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

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

Orders shipped 2008/06/13

2008-06-13T23:51:00.000-04:00

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

Orders Shipped 2008/06/06

2008-06-06T16:48:00.001-04:00

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

SPJA Nomination for PA

2008-06-02T19:31:00.005-04:00

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

2008-06-02T19:24:00.002-04:00

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

PA #92 Now Available As eBook

2008-06-01T03:15:00.002-04:00

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

2008-05-30T19:26:00.000-04:00

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

Update

2008-05-29T01:02:00.003-04:00

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

2008-05-21T23:49:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-21T23:40:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-21T23:36:00.002-04:00

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

2008-05-14T22:52:00.002-04:00

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

2008-05-14T21:12:00.002-04:00

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

2008-05-13T22:12:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-13T20:00:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-08T03:17:00.004-04:00

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]

2008-04-16T20:03:00.003-04:00

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

2008-03-29T16:36:00.005-04:00

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)

2008-03-21T21:53:00.007-04:00

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

2008-03-15T01:42:00.002-04:00

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

2008-03-11T20:00:00.000-04:00

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

PA#91 Now Available in eBooks Format!

2008-03-11T19:30:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-11T18:58:00.003-04:00

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

2008-03-10T19:38:00.003-04:00

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

2008-02-15T19:28:00.001-05:00

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

New orders shipped 2008/2/8

2008-02-08T18:06:00.000-05:00

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

New orders shipped 2008/2/1

2008-02-01T18:45:00.001-05:00

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

New orders shipped 2008/1/22

2008-01-22T20:11:00.001-05:00

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

Update 2008/01/12

2008-01-13T16:56:00.001-05:00

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

2008-01-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

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

New Protoculture Addicts eBooks Available

2008-01-08T03:22:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-02T19:27:00.000-05:00

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

New: eBook Compilation of the first 10 issues!

2007-12-31T20:11:00.000-05:00

This new eBook compiles together the first ten (10) issues of Protoculture Addicts. It covers the early days of the magazine from its creation in Fall 1987 to the end of 1990. That's the period when the magazine was the “Official Robotech fanzine.”

It offers 362 pages for only $12.99 US (nearly half the combined cover price!) or $9.99 US if ordered from Protoculture's web site. All those issues have not been available in print for years! They are now made available in a single volume to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the magazine.

This volume contains short fanfics and comics, Robotech trivia, Uh?! (a series of funny articles that chronicles oddities in the Robotech TV series), optional RPG rules (Robotech, Mekton, Teenagers From Outer Space), plenty of news & reviews and cover several aspects of Robotech (The Zentraedi Way, What's Protoculture, Lyrics, comics, novels, etc.) but also of anime (Introduction to Japanimation, Project A-ko, OsamuTezuka, Iczer-One, Laputa, Megazone 23, Akira, Dangaio, Gunbuster, etc.). It also includes several interviews (Carl Macek, Kevin Siembieda, Jack McKinney, Toren Smith, Robert Napton & David Riddick, Jerry Beck, Tom Mason & Chris Ulm).

Going through those articles, news & reviews will allow you to retrace not only the beginnings of Protoculture Addicts but also the history of anime & manga in North America. It is a reading that is both amazing and amusing!

Purchased separately, all those issues would cost $23.25 (or $33.25 with shipping)! Purchase it now from Drive Thru RPG at the regular eBook price ($12.99 US) or from here (or anywhere else on Protoculture's webpage) with an exclusive discount (only $9.99 US). Click on the icon to purchase:

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:11:00.000-05:00

PA wishes to all readers the best for 2008.

Index

2007-12-29T00:36:00.000-05:00

As promised in Protoculture Addicts #94 we have added to the web page a content index for the magazine.

It is something that we wanted to do for a long time but it requires lots of data compilation and we were not sure of the way to present it, so it took some time to implement. However, we have started gathering the data and have decided to go with the simplest presentation.

The index is only available through the Top Menu: PA Magazine: Index: Protoculture Addicts: by Subjects:

Anime Stories / Spotlights (#1-50)

Anime World

Fan Fics / Comics

Interviews / Anecdotes With

Japanese Music

Role-Playing Games

More indexes (Anime Stories for #51+, Convention reports, Live-Action, Reviews, etc.) will be added whenever it is possible.

Such an index can be quite useful to find stuff in your collection of back issues without spending hours flipping through it. And, if you don't have lots of back issues yet (but you should consider ordering those back issues because even in old magazines there is a treasure trove of information!), it can help you determine which issues can offer subjects that would particularly interest you.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

PA wishes to you all Happy Holidays!

PA #94 has shipped

2007-12-20T03:02:00.000-05:00

Protoculture Addicts #94 has now been shipped or mailed to all distributors (last week), subscribers and stores (earlier this week) so, in most cases, it should be on your doorsteps or in your local stores before the end of the month.

All the orders received between 2007/11/9 and 2007/12/17 also shipped at the same time.

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 for details.

Finally, you can let us know if you see PA#94 in your local store, how long it took for your subscription copy to arrive or what you think of this issue, by e-mail or in the forum! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!