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ANNCast
Kurt in Earnest

by Zac Bertschy & Justin Sevakis,

ANNCast Episode 028 - Kurt in Earnest

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Justin returns to ANNCast this week with a thrilling tale of how the thieves at Habbo Hotel swiped his credit card number. Then we chat about Streamline Pictures' old Lupin III: Greatest Capers release, which comprised of the two old Lupin TV episodes that Miyazaki directed with all the personal subtlety of a sledgehammer. Of course, the eternal question is asked: why is Lupin III consistently a total bomb in America? After that it's a short chat about what's working with video streaming and what ain't (bonus this week: a blooper from this segment wherein Zac proves he is super professional) and then it's onward and upward.

Kurt Hassler, publishing director at major manga label Yen Press joins us next, with an eye-opening look at the world of manga retail in 2010 and just how much of an impact scanlations are having on it right now (here's a hint: they're not the ignored little brother of fansubs anymore!). We also talk about the strategy behind Yen Plus, their anthology magazine (featuring Gossip Girl!) and of course we have to discuss Yen Press' upcoming MASSIVE MONEY-PRINTING MACHINE, the Twilight graphic novel. After that it's Twitter time!



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NSFW Language Warning: Almost no swearing at all, except for the blooper!

ANNCast Episode 29 Breakdown

00:17 Host introductions and Justin's credit adventure

03:00 The Miyazaki Lupin III episodes and why the franchise tanks in the US

10:45 Streaming video: what works, what doesn't, and Crunchyroll's new Boxee app

16:40 Break time!

16:47 Kurt Hassler introduction and his history in publishing

17:46 Kurt being named "the most powerful man in manga" in 2006

19:01 The current state of the manga retail market

20:22 the mighty scourge of scanlations

24:55 Yen Press and Yen Plus, specifically

28:25 All those manga versions of popular young adult fiction - also Gossip Girl is pretty much just a shojo manga anyway

30:29 What's working for Yen Press at retail

33:36 Sparkly abstinent vampire manga chat begins here!!

38:41 What Kurt looks for in a manga license

39:36 Light novels and how that's doing

43:40 What Kurt personally likes

45:26 Twitter time! Korean titles, Light Novel license rescues, the Pig Bride review "controversy", Twilight's Times New Roman issue, and much much more!

And that's it! See you next week.

Have questions for the ANNCast crew? Tweet 'em to @ANNZac! Or check out the community forums thread about the show, or send email questions to zac@animenewsnetwork dot com!

Special thanks to Phillip Harrington for designing and creating the ANNCast logo.


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