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Showing posts from January, 2010

Umezz dance

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The honored guest of the first day of Taipei International Book Exhibition was Kazuo Umezz (official transliteration; most sources spell his family name as "Umezu"). Unlike most shy mangaka, 73-years-old Umezz-sensei is well known for his love of stage performance and attention. In addition to have danced at the opening ceremony , Umezz-sensei added two additional dances before his autograph session started! The first dance had strong Middle Eastern feel, and Umezz-sensei had long white robes to fit in the theme. At the moment I felt deja vu of his outfit but couldn't name it, only to have realized the likeliness of this colonel . Finishing the first song was far from the end. Umezz-sensei took off the long white robes, revealing his trademark red and white striped shirt. Umezz-sensei said hello to his fans with yet another trademark of his, the gwashi gesture. Umezz-sensei dancing with the music of "Gwashi!! Makoto-chan," related to the 1980 animate...

News of TIBE 2010 (updated on 1/15)

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More than three weeks have passed since the first wave of publicized guests of honor of Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE), and we've got some new updates: Kazuo Umezu, master of horror manga, will visit TIBE 2010 and hold an autograph session. d/books taipei has posted "Range Murata 2010 Combo Pack," thus confirming their role in inviting Murata. Coincidentally, Mardock Scramble , a novel by Tow Ubukata and was planned to be animated with Murata's character designs four years ago and meant to be the 15th anniversary of GONZO , later canceled abruptly in December 2006, was miraculously resurrected as a theatrical movie . I wonder if Murata still taking parts in the new movie edition. Update: Line art of a "China-dress girl" illustrated by Murata exclusively for TIBE 2010. Mighty Media has licensed Pandora Heart and CANAAN but didn't bother to announce at their own official website. Rather, their related merchandises are on sale now. ...

2009-12-19 Bahamut (www.gamer.com.tw) anniversary pictures uploaded

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Click here for the album (digital). The anniversary gathering of Bahamut (www.gamer.com.tw) is a real challenge for photographers: heavy overcast and drizzle outdoor; the gaming area is completely packed; the anime/manga area, while backgrounds and lightings were provided for photographers, the arrangement of those equipments were hastily prepared and I'd rather it had none. The most valuable experience I learned from this event was comparing digital and film photographs under the same composition and sensitivity (ISO). Surprisingly, the combination of Konica Auto S1.6 and Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 400 produced very high saturation and contrast (see below): Pictures taken by S100FS had to be increased 15% contrast and 30% saturation, respectively, in order to produce similar results.