March 1, 2005
News for Metrocon 2005:
Metrocon announces Lupin the 3rd creator, Monkey Punch, as guest
TAMPA BAY, FL, March 1, 2005 - As announced at Megacon, AnimeMetro is pleased to announce Lupin the 3rd creator Monkey Punch as the Guest of Honor at METROCON 3.
Born in Hokkaido in 1937, Monkey Punch started contributing his manga works for local newspapers from his childhood. Influenced by the American comic book "MAD," he made his debut by Playboy Nyumon (Playboy School) with his original drawing style. 1967 was the year that his series work, "Lupin the 3rd" was published, and he, along with the work, came to fame. He also won the INKPOT prize at San Diego Comic Convention in 1981.
Monkey Punch got his interest in digital manga creation and in its potential about 20 years ago. He is now creating many of his works digitally. His other works are as follows: Isshuku Ippan (Bed & Breakfast), Gyaku Isoppu Monogatari (Reverse Aesop's Fables), Lupin Kozou (Lupin, the Kid), Shamu-neko (Siamese Cat).
Monkey Punch is also Chairman of the Digital Manga Association. The goal of the organization is the sharing wisdom and knowledge about the technology necessary for creating cartoons based on digital expression; pursuing the methods of research and study to obtain more effective means of expression; and looking into copyright issues that will develop from digitization.
The Tampa Bay, Florida-based anime convention is scheduled for June 24-26, 2005, at the Tampa Convention Center in Downtown Tampa, FL.
METROCON is a weekend-long celebration of the numerous facets of Japanese popular entertainment ñ from anime (Japanese animation), manga (Japanese comics), J-pop and J-Rock (Japanese pop and rock music, performed by "idols") to cosplay (costume design and performance) and video games.
Events at METROCON this year includes: - The "Anime Human Chess Match"- Year 2, "Anime Idol" J-Pop/J-Rock Competition; - Artists' Alley; - A "gong show style" cosplay competition; costume contest; dealers'/exhibition room; "DDR Extreme" Tournaments; - An Anime Music Video contest (AMVs); - Official convention screenings of new North American releases; - Panels with North American anime industry guests; - Live Celebrity Commentaries with the industry guests;- Dances and karaoke; - The METROCADE video game room; and finally, continuous hours of Japanese anime and related programming.
Membership rates for METROCON 2005 are as follows:
Three-Day Membership (Friday, Saturday and Sunday):
Adults:
$25 to 2/28/2005
$30 to 3/31/2005
$35 to 4/30/2005
$40 to 5/31/2005
Children, 6-12:
$20 to 2/28/2005
$25 to 5/31/2005
Children, under 5:
Free, with paid adult admission.
For more information about pre-registration rates for groups of 10 or more, e-mail info@animemetro.com.
Visit www.metroconventions.com for more information.
