the latest iteration

[davemerrill]

One of the attractions of Otakon was the booth for "Super Kawaii Magazine", the publishers of which apparently have determined people are willing to shell out $15 for a magazine full of photos of cosplayers.



Something about the feverish worship of attention-whore culture and the barely-there editorial content about 'cutest websites' and 'cosplay tips' reminds me of something... what could it be... oh yeah.



Will "Super Kawaii Magazine" be as charmingly typo-filled as "Anime Iku"? Will the prospects of a second issue vanish into an accusatory mist of blog posts and unkept promises? Will the curse of the Canadian anime-lifestyle magazine never be broken? Only the space-age dollar bins of the future will answer these questions!!

Yeah, "Super Kawaii" is Canadian. You can tell by the blurb for "Storm Hawks." A stunningly ugly YTV show, "Storm Hawks" is one of those wannabe fake anime series that features jet planes that AMAZINGLY transform into... different jet planes. Our tax dollars at work!!

Comments

[warpig1979.livejournal.com]

Does it actually say "$14.99" on the cover of that thing? The hell?

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could buy 3 issues of Oprah's magazine for that. Or four new Archie digests. Or 15 OLD Archie digests.

[warpig1979.livejournal.com]

I mean, it would have been believable maybe 10 years ago, but Canadian dollars are real money now.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

See, it HAS to be $14.99 because that's what a Japanese import mag (800 Yen) costs at the Japanese bookstores, so this is how you make it legit.

It's expensive so it MUST be good!

[sobieniak.livejournal.com]

That mindset certainly works wonders!

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Doomed to fail. Their first voice actor interviews aren't of Vic Magnolia..Melenoma...Macarana....whatever.

Storm Hawks sounds familiar. Isn't that a Bandai sponsored joint?

[dave-iii.livejournal.com]

It's pronounced 'Manyana'. I know the guy, he's pretty cool actually. Just the kind of guy to brighten up a con guest list... annoying teenage fangirls aside, though it should be pointed out that their money is green like everyone else's.

[kikaiju.livejournal.com]

As long as everyone is clear, the main point of cons is to raise cash to pay for stuff. Doing those things costs mucho dinero.

That's fine. If the bills get paid and the audience gets what they want, everyone goes home happy.

The whole thing falls apart when the effort to raise cash is forgotten against the "hey let's SPEND on this!" effort.

[dave-iii.livejournal.com]

....What? I have no idea what you're referring to.

[kikaiju.livejournal.com]

Wait. You says Vic is extra OK 'cause he helps bring in the teen girls and their cash and suddenly you don't know what I'm talking about?

You're the one who implied he's basically a money machine.

I'd hope there's a little more to him than that, but if he comes to a con and everybody wins, who cares?

[dave-iii.livejournal.com]

Uh, no. I said he's a super cool guy, who can make a con line up that much cooler, in spite of the annoying teenage fans-- who have money, so they shouldn't be dismissed entirely.

He's a cool guy because he's a cool guy. Where did you get "money machine" from? I mean seriously, does that sound like something I'd say?

[dave-iii.livejournal.com]

If it was a genuinely serious costumer periodical (the word "cosplay" makes me spit up bile) with articles, interviews, and advertisements geared toward the amateur and the "professional" alike, then I say Pip Pip and Jolly Good. If it doesn't even compare in quality as a magazine to those fashion rags at the supermarket checkout, then Meh.

I'm bettin' it's the latter, though.

And I liked Storm Hawks, at least the first nine episodes or so. It does deserve some derision as a transparent toy commercial, and yes the designs are clearly geared for the anime generation-- but then, ALL cartoons today are. But for a amusingly stupid adventure show to stick in an otherwise empty broadcasting slot, I rather liked it.

[sobieniak.livejournal.com]

At least they're trying, give 'em credit for that.

[kken.livejournal.com]

these are actual print magazines? who the hell is funding these abortions? full color perfect bound magazines ain't cheap!

[kikaiju.livejournal.com]

Easy: credit cards, cashing out retirement, etc. Most of those tricks work in Canada too.

It's just like doing a con program book without the hassle of actually doing a con.

They'll all fail. Somebody will buy one copy and scan it and that will be almost the only copy sold.

The magazine publishing industry roads are lined with the corpses of magazines that put out one or two issues and folded when the readers and money and motivation (in that order) ran out. The trend is actually worse in the anime fan mag industry. Industry is too strong a word. Anybody with business sense would do something else.

[hillsy2k.livejournal.com]

I'm not terribly surprised...go into any Asahiya or Kinokuniya and there are various import cosplay mags to choose from. There does seem to be a bit of a market for it, though, and pricing seems on par with the price one would pay for one of the import mags, like Steve mentioned. Not to say the mag will sell well here, especially for that price.