Okamoto Kitchen has been around since 2015, since then, they’ve been catering to hungry anime fans across southern California.
Recently they’ve announced and funded their newest project; their anime series based on their real-life experiences in the food truck business as portrayed by their mascot, Haru-chan!
Okamoto Kitchen founder, Gerald Abraham, spoke to us exclusively about their newest project, their food, and future plans. Watch our exclusive interview:
Hungry For more? Okamoto Kitchen took us behind the scene in this overview video of their delicious J.F.C. (Japanese Fried Chicken) Plate.
To learn more about Okamoto Kitchen, their food & their anime project visit their official website here.
On March 15, 2019, Sentai Filmworks hosted the Los Angeles red carpet premiere of the dark fantasy and adventure anime film MADE IN ABYSS: Journey’s Dawn at the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE 14. Journey’s Dawn is the first film in the two-part MADE IN ABYSS compendium.
In attendance was the talented and famed anime director Masayuki Kojima, composer Kevin Penkin, music producer Hiromitsu Iijima and producer Shimpei Yamashita.
Made In Abyss television series took audiences by surprise and garnered ecstatic reviews with its disarming facade that shrouded a dark masterpiece and although the film is a compilation of the series’s episodes, however, it features brand new scenes by Kojima & Yamashita.
We spoke with Made In Abyss film director Masayuki Kojima & the film’s music composer, Kevin Penkin during the red carpet premiere:
The enigmatic Abyss is an unforgiving and deadly place. Despite the dangers, it still captures the imagination of explorers such as Riko who wishes to follow in her mother’s footsteps and trains hard to become a Cave Raider. One day, she receives news that her mother died in the Abyss, yet a mysterious note tells Riko that her mother may still be alive. Vowing to uncover the truth about her mother’s fate, Riko embarks on a journey with a humanoid robot boy name Reg. Together, they will discover if they have what it takes to survive where so many others have perished.
Photo gallery from Sentai Filmworks’ Los Angeles red carpet premiere of MADE IN ABYSS: Journey’s Dawn at the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE 14
The Kitsune Network would like to thank the wonderful and talented people of Sentai Filmworks & Rogers & Cowan.
AniFest is a yearly anime convention and festival dedicated to celebrating the arts and culture of Japanese animation. Cosplayers, vendors, partners, sponsors, performers, and event producers all come together in one day to bring you the best that an anime convention has to offer, but without the high price!
Why Should I attend?
Aside from special guests appearances by VampyBitMe, D-Piddy, キーング X KING!, and yours truly, AniFest will also feature musical performances by Stephanie Yanez, Tune in Tokyo, Phoebe Chan & Arcane Maid Cafe Idols. There’ll be many anime and fashion vendors, entertainment and photo ops during the event! As an added bonus, AniFest will be in partnership with Avex Pictures of Japan to host the veryfirst U.S. screening of Trinity Seven 2*!
There’ll plenty of activities to part take during this 8-hour event such as Anisong Dance Festival Event, AniFest Cosplay Showcase, Itasha Anime Car Showcase, Pine Wind Japanese Garden Experience & more. (See their official schedule here for more information). All this and more at AniFest! Held at the Torrence Cultural Arts Center in Torrence, CA on March 23rd 2019, in just 16 days!
…OR you can try your luck here! We are proud to announce that we are working alongside AniFest to bring you this special giveaway**, so enter for your chance to win a (1) ticket to AniFest 2019!
Gallery Nucleus held a special exhibition in honour of Mamoru Hosoda works, featuring artwork from his various filmed such as Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and more recently, Mirai.
Check out Hosoda’s inspiration for drawing here. Brought to you by GKIDS Films.
Ever wanted to see Japanese manga students at work? Are you a fan of anime art? Are you an artist anime yourself or just enjoy artist alley? Come and join the students from J.A.M. (or the Japanese Animation & Manga College) On Saturday December 1st at Little Tokyo’s Miyako Hotel.
JAM are bringing several of their students from their art college in Japan over to Los Angeles for a ONE DAY fundraiser event. If this is anything as their first fundraiser, last year’s, there’ll be freebies from JAM (Art samples books, DVD Animation demos, ETC) in addition, you’ll be able to purchase art, hangout with manga students, watch live drawings, get your a portrait drawing, photo ops and more!
Last year, we stumbled on their first fundraiser by chance and had so much fun, we figured we’d share this event for more anime fans to join the fun!
Inside Miyako Hotel – Ballroom
Self portrait from JAM student artist
Splatoon sketch made by JAM student artist
See you there! & as always, we’ll be bring coverage from the event.
Watch the final interview we had during Hentai Con 2018 with a special guest of honour, voice actress, Kayli Mills! Watch as she sits down with Krystal and speaks about her roles as Emilia in RE:Zero, Fiore in Fate/Apocrypha, & her newest role in The Testament of Sister New Devil BURST as Yuki Nonaka. Stay til the end of the video for a special announcement!
~Catch up on our other interview filmed during Hentai Con 2018 ~
KAHO SHIBUYA
Newly retired JAV actress, speaks about her future life outside AV and current projects in this エッチ and fun interview!
JACKIE LASTRA
Watch as voice actress, Jackie Lastra speaks about her roles in: The Testament Of Sister New Devil, GranBlue Fantasy, YS VII & more in our first interview from Hentai Con 2018
Missed Hentai Con? Take a look at our Hentai Con video showcasing the con’s exhibit hall (Video has been Age-restricted, youtube account required):
I had threeamazing guest interviews during my time at the fristeverHENTAI CON in Burbank, California! Here’s the first interview from the trio; You may recognize her from, Grand Blue Fantasy as IO, YS VII: Lacrimosa of dana as Ricotta and BeyBlade Burst as Nika Aoi, watch as voice actress, Jackie Lastra speaks about her newest roles in, The Testament Of Sister New Devil & more in this awesome interview.
Remember to subscribe to The Kitsune Network’s YouTube here to get notified of my upcoming interviews from Hentai Con and more!
Sword Art Online: Alicization had its EARLY season premiere on Saturday Sept. 15th 2018 at Hollywood’s The Montalbán theatre!
The Montalbán theatre
The Montalbán theatre
The Montalbán theatre
Set to be released on October 6 2018, Fans got the opportunity to watch the first, one-hour season premiere of SAO’s newest season, Sword Art Online Alicization. Along this one-day primere, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Russia and South Korea also had their own special screening.
Fans waiting to enter the Montalbán theater…
Some were in cosplay.
SAO standee that stood outside the theatre
Aniplex had exclusive SAO items for those attending this special screening and set up shop, selling SAO exclusives and Alicization merchandise.
SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]
Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono’s Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito’s English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]
SAO merchandise that was available for purchase during the event, including some exclusive SAO: Alicization merchandise.
An acrylic ‘Alice’ standee, one of few SAO: Alicization merchandise that was available for purchase
Although we will not spoil the episode for you guys, the episode continues from where it left off in Ordinal Scale; This new season shines light on old characters from season one & two as well as, a new series director, Manabu Ono known for Hellsing, Saki, The Asterisk War & Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere.
Manabu Ono during Japan Expo 2017. Photo Credit: Coyote Mag via Twitter
For those who do not know, Alicization takes place during volumes 9(Alicization Beginning)through volume 18(Alicization Lasting) of Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online Alicization arc.
Sword Art Online Vol. 9 – Alicization Beginning
Sword Art Online Vol. 18 – Alicization Lasting
After the screening, we meet up with some special surprise guests, Bryce PapenBrook (Kirito) and Michelle Ruff (Sinon)
Bryce Papenbrook and I (Krystal)
Michelle Ruff and I (FUN FACT: Me and Michelle go WAY to 2016, She was the very first voice actor we interviewed for The Kitsune Network).
Check out our photoset for this event:
SAO setup inside theatre
Fans filling The Montalbán
Eugeo and Kirito cosplayers
Fans waiting for the episode to begin
Fans waiting for the episode to begin
Title card
An exclusive acrylic ‘Alice’ standee
Alice, Kirito and myself
SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]
Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono’s Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito’s English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]
Aside from newest SAO season, there are loads in store for Kawahara’s series, beginning with its new video game app,
Integral Factor is the newest addition to SAO’s video game apps, taking place during the Aincrad arc. The player takes control of ‘a former beta tester’ who becomes trapped inside Aincrad.
Protagonist
Koharu
During the game, you meet a young inexperienced female player named, Koharu and much like Kirito and Asuna, they both take on the dangerous world of Aincrad, ‘this is a story that might of happened in Aincrad’
The game is now available for download on Google Play and the Apple Store, make sure to read the official prologue manga, illustrated by Yu Uonuma, here! Learn more about the game on its official website, SAO: Internal Factor.
Since its initial release, Sword Art Online has been Kawahara’s most popular series with Accel World as a runner up and much like many popular mainstream anime series, they get a live action adaptation;
Sword Art Online: The Television Series.
Back in 2016, Television production company SkyDance Media, announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Sword Art Online and are currently working with producer & writer, Patrick Massett, John Zinman (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; The Blacklist; Friday Night Lights) & Laeta Kalogridis (Alita: Battle Angel; Terminator Genisys) whom are currently writing the pilot episode. Since the announcement, not much as been released regarding the progress of the series, however SkyDance Media release a small summary via the series’s official IMDB page stating:
“The series will follow a brilliant young beta tester Kirito and his group of friends when they are trapped – alongside 10,000 other people – in a next-generation virtual reality online role-playing game. The game is a world unto itself: filled with sword fighting, monsters and mystery, where the stakes are life and death. Kirito and an ensemble of diverse characters must fight their way through this hostile environment while making lives for themselves in the fantastical world that is known as Sword Art Online.”
![SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]](https://thekitsunetwork.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/dsc1421.jpg?w=269&h=365 "_DSC1421")
![Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono's Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito's English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]](https://thekitsunetwork.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/dsc1426.jpg?w=327&h=365 "_DSC1426")
![SAO: Alicization poster that was given out to attendees [this particular poster is signed by some of the English cast of SAO]](https://thekitsunetwork.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/dsc1421.jpg?w=178&h=242 "_DSC1421")
![Exclusive Shishiki of Manabu Ono's Kirito sketch [This was signed by Kirito's English voice actor, Bryce Papenbrook]](https://thekitsunetwork.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/dsc1426.jpg?w=217&h=242 "_DSC1426")
Integral Factor is the newest addition to SAO’s video game apps, taking place during the Aincrad arc. The player takes control of ‘a former beta tester’ who becomes trapped inside Aincrad.
