Just a reminder to everyone that it's almost time to get in any letters and/or fan art for Vol. 26!

The deadline for submitting letters and fan art to Vol. 26 is January 15. After that, there's only one more chance, or chaaaaansu as Asuka would say. ^_^

The deadline has now passed for submitting letters and fan art to vol. 25, but of course, the invitation still stands for vol. 26!

I realize that Vol. 24 hasn't even come out yet, but it's already time to request your letters and fan art for Vol. 25, so please feel free to contribute!  :ehail:

In the immortal words of Professor Farnsworth, "Good news, everyone!" I just wanted to drop in to confirm that Excel Saga Vol. 24 is in fact coming out this November. I also wanted to ask (since we had such a good "Oubliette" last time) readers to contribute more fan art, photos, letters, etc., as the case may be. Unfortunately, time is very short to get Vol. 24 together, so I would need it by the end of the month...

Thank you very much for supporting Excel Saga!

Just in case you're worried as to whether Vol. 22 exists, here's a preview page ^_^

Thanks to reading Viz magazine every month, I at least recognize Jonathan Ross ("Jonathan Ross' Quest For a Toss") and Jimmy Carr, but not the goth-looking bloke. Of course, we'll never know if Sumiyoshi has chocolate eyes, too, because we never get to see them ^_^

I'm sure they'll have no trouble understanding her if they just float subtitles in mid-air...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12619718

P.S. She really does say "Erm..." like Sumiyoshi. It's so adorable!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us6EPrD_kKM

Okay, Pamplemousse, the *Excel Saga* manga panel now officially IS ON for Ohayocon. It will be on Saturday (i.e., January 30--a little over three weeks from now)...probably in the early afternoon. Bring your crew! Let's do this in a way that will uphold ACROSS's traditional twin standards of competency and clarity! :il_hahaha:

So I can bring:

1.) some copies of *Young King Ours*
2.) previews of the English edition Vol. 21 interiors, and of the Vol. 22 and 23 English edition covers
3.) some free copies of Vols. 19 and 20 to give away by raffle

Again, my suggestion for one thing to do on the panel (we can do other things, of course) is talk about certain scenes or characters and why the panelists like them. Pretty quickly, I need to get a list of such scenes you and your crew want to discuss, so I can be sure to scan the relevant page(s) to project at large size during the panel. Maybe I can whip up a flyer to advertise the forum, too. But I think this will be an exciting opportunity, because I don't think there's ever been a panel at a U.S. con dedicated just to the manga before.

--Carl

Something else I can do is bring some copies of Young King Ours magazine, so you can see the manga in its "natural habitat" ^_^

I guess there would be two main themes in the panel: 1.) Explaining why people should get into the manga, and 2.) Talking about the manga (and what's coming up...without too many spoilers ^_^) with people who are already into it.

I was thinking that for the first theme, it might be better if the other panelists (i.e., Pample and her crew) express their personal reasons and likes--i.e., what they want the ignorant masses to understand about Excel Saga. Maybe we can rig up a Skype connection so Dechan can overdub anything your friend dressed as Sumiyoshi says. If that proves impractical, just have him say the occasional "Whey-aye man."

One idea I have is to pick certain characters and scenes from the manga that you'd like to talk about. If you can let me know in advance what they are, I can put them into a slideshow, so we can project them as you talk. Especially if people are new to the series, we should have some visuals. Obviously, we'll want to promote the forum, too  :ehail:

I haven't gotten word from the convention yet about scheduling, but I'm guessing Saturday or Sunday (rather than Friday) would be most convenient for everyone? I don't think it's a holiday weekend...

Quote from: Pamplemousse on November 15, 2009, 10:31:43 PM
I have to admit, this made my day (and I had quite a fun day!) I'm already planning on going to Ohayocon and now Senor Horn will be there and wants to do an Excel Saga panel?!? Brilliant! I'll be cosplaying Excel Saga (Miwa, unless I magically learn to sew) and two other friends of mine will be going as Sumiyoshi and Nabeshin. I'll have to coerce convince more people to go as ES characters now!

Quote from: Foggle on November 15, 2009, 04:38:12 PM
Where is Ohayocon, even?

Ohayocon is in Columbus, Ohio. (http://www.ohayocon.org/)
YOU SHOULD ALL GO AND HAVE CRAZY FUN WITH PAMPLE!  :ehail:
...I'm actually going to have to start making definite plans about rooms and such now, I suppose...
Foggle, to tell the truth, I wouldn't cosplay any other fandom but Excel Saga. Miwa's just a fun character, even if she does sometimes look like a classy mad scientist skank skunk.
Oh dear, all these typos today!
And Elric, you totally need a break before the lameness of a job search in This Economy (I always feel like that phrase needs to be capitalized). ...A fun graduation party, at least!
Micki, I wish you lived closer. We would have SO MANY SHENANIGANS at this con. :D

In conclusion: I'll be so happy if the panel happens; it's a great idea!

It looks like I'll be at Ohayocon at the end of January (2010: the year we make contact). I was thinking of perhaps trying to organize some sort of Excel Saga panel, both for current fans, and to promote it to new people...?

I could do such things as show some previews from Vol. 21 (Vol. 20 will be out by then, of course) and give away some copies of recent volumes. I would be hoping for some members of the forum to speak about the series, especially if they could do so in cosplay ^_^

One of the things I like about Matsuya is the way she views Ropponmatsu II not as a person, but as a programmed machine (which of course, she is). Why do I like that? Not because I have anything against Nishiki, but because Matsuya's unsentimental attitude is somewhat unusual in manga, which has a tradition of treating robots as people that dates back to Astro Boy.

For a moment I thought you meant Purin (aka Jigglypuff), my favorite Pokémon. Well, except for Oddish.

Quote from: Dr. Iwata on February 10, 2008, 07:19:08 AM
The funny thing is though is that Watanabe is the only character I can think of who has had anything close to a love life.

I hadn't even thought of that, but you're right--there's a sharp irony there. He did live with Miss Ayasugi for a while, enjoying everything but the actual secks (like a lot of manga relationships actually...)

If I remember, Iwata is sobbing that he wants a little sister like Sumiyoshi has, and Watanabe mutters, "Well, I've got one too, but it's not all glasses and braids, you know." Watanabe's sister reminds me a little of Megumi from Oh My Goddess!