London MCM welcome Japanese artists in May

Following the popularity of Japanese music in the UK, London MCM Comic Con invite over the Japanese online music sensation Amatsuki and up-and-coming all-girl rock act Band-Maid who will both making their UK debut at this May’s MCM London Comic Con (27th-29th May 2016) – performing live, signing autographs and taking part in on-stage Q&As.

Amatsuki has achieved over 35 million views on NicoNico Douga, a Japanese videosharing service much like YouTube, with his covers of Vocaloid, anime and video game songs in addition to his original songs. He originally posted videos of himself singing along without thinking seriously about being a professional singer, yet he soon gathered a devoted following due to his powerful voice and charming and friendly character.

Amatsuki made the jump from internet stardom to mainstream success with his debut album HELLO WORLD, which reached number four in Japan’s national chart. His popularity has also reached further afield than just Japan, with one of his cover songs achieving a million hits after being uploaded by western fans on YouTube.

Amatsuki will attend all three days of MCM London Comic Con, taking place at ExCeL Centre, where they will perform live, participate in Q&A sessions and sign autographs with fans.

Amatsuki’s homepage: http://amatsuki.jp/
Amatsuki’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/amatsuki_info
Amatsuki’s NicoNico Douga: http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/16016171

Bands like Baby Metal have encouraged more of it's genre to rise and one such band is BAND-MAID, one of Japan’s hottest up-and-coming all-girl rock acts, will make their European debut with an appearance at MCM London Comic Con on 27-29 May 2016.

BAND-MAID‘s music videos “Thrill” and “Real Existence” went viral soon after release and have achieved over three million views on YouTube, gaining recognition from western media such as Guitar World, Team Rock and many more.

Formed in 2013, the band’s concept is based on founder Miku’s experiences in Akihabara’s maid cafes, and area of Tokyo famous for otaku (“geek”) culture, combined with a passion for rock music. BAND-MAID will attend all three days of MCM London Comic Con, taking place at ExCeL Centre, where they will perform live, participate in Q&A sessions and sign autographs with fans.

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bandmaid

Buy Tickets to London MCM Comic Con here: http://www.mcmcomiccon.com/london/

Watch my previous  interviews from London MCM Comic Con below:

Dimps (Masahiro Kashino)

Wit Studio Team

Blue Excorcist Team

NM4 Vultus Team from Honda

MCM Comic Con London May 2013 (friday madnnes)

I came, my feet died and I still managed to miss a few things, but that is what tomorrow and sunday are for!

PIKACHU do something... Article on animepicks focusing on top games at MCM expo London May:

http://animepicks.co.uk/2013/06/may-london-mcm-expo-the-games/

Lots of Deadpool but the Finn cosplay from Adventure Time was hilarious!

Lots and lots of Deadpool!

More stuffed pika's at Anime Nation stall

Catssssss

plusies from the game Wakafu sharing a stall with the Dofus game too.

MCM London 2012: Kawaii Stalls

Along my adventures at MCM, I came across a lot of unique and cute stalls – I have found a range of interesting items and brands you should all check out and show some love as it’s these independent companies that gives us the much loved trends aka the Llama frenzy – a must have companion for all Lolita’s brought to us by Tofu Cute.

http://www.facebook.com/TofuCute

Super kitch jewellery by Purple Rooster, it’s not just Pikachu made out of fimo clay, t’s a a pika-cake  some lovely designs wearable by men and women, I especially loved the Onyx necklace.

http://www.facebook.com/PurpleRoosterr

I found Pokemon fanatics where they were selling all things Poke-related, my favourite prizes from this stall were the awesome poke-badges form the first series!

Since the boom of the zombie craze has exploded in the UK, we had a stall with zombie mannequins including a zombe bride and a zombie nazi from ‘The Flesh Krafter’.

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/Pikachu

Beautiful plastic Jewelry with a Alice in Wonderland/Lolita –esque style from Fondant Warfare literally killer jewelry. I spent the longest time looking at their merchandise spanning from Disney characters, retro my little ponies to their own range of Halloween designs.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fondant-Warfare

A real treat was meeting the creator of ‘cyanaide and happiness’ comics and cartoons as seen on YouTube, he was happily setting up his branded stuff for MCM goers to ‘squee’ over and even did autographs and photographs for free, what a gent!

http://www.explosm.net/comics

I hope I’ve refreshed your memories on top stalls you visited and maybe showed a few more usual ones to look out for next time. Did you see any stalls you thought deserved a place in this article? Leave a comment below.

MCM Expo London 2012: Comic Village

London MCM Expo has created a new kind of stir around Halloween, new spooky twists on Cosplay, more emphasis on gaming and my favourite, the comic village. I spent most of the day speaking to a wide variety of independent artists.

Twisted Dark author Neil and his artist were chatting to passersby and offering their comics to people to read and enter the challenge of reading several chapters and not buying the book for 69p on a phone app! I like dark short stories so this was right up my alley, so I took a look the manga chapter that looked pretty but had a sinister story line. All the stories made you feel comfortable right until the end. Neil was also giving a talk at the Apple store on 15th November talking about how he left his career to make comics his mission and to try and integrate them into society and accepted as a real prestige.

Follow Neil and his endeavors on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TPublications

I spoke to kitsch looking Laura Watton, author of the manga Squishy Chan’s Adventure, Team Player 7 general artist for the super cute brand PinkAppleJam. She’s been publishing her own comics since the mid-90s and has always juggled her day job/education with making comics and illustrations as well as Neil. It really is great to meet dedicated artists, its part of their lifestyle and you could see from her brimming stall she has lots to offer.

Follow her on twitter: @PinkAppleJam and see more of her beautiful art here: http://www.pinkapplejam.com

We also had the Simon’s Cat stall kitted out in all it’s red glory, sadly the author was not about to chat to as he was on his honeymoon, congrats Simon Tofield.

Follow the antic’s on Simon’s cat here: http://www.simonscat.com

I spoke to Kai Anthony Lynn aka Di-San, her artwork is to be featured in an upcoming publication ‘The Complete Guide to Drawing Manga’. Selling her original art as well as fan art Laharl from Disgaea stood out from the crowd.

Check out her artwork and commissions on tumblr: http://endlessdusk.tumblr.com

And now for something different from subversive comics. After days on the road, running low on supplies and haunted by memories of his past, sleep deprivation finally catches up with Our Hero. Realising that there is no safe place in the open he is forced to take shelter in a makeshift fort ruled by a devious leader known only as the ‘Father’. Will our hero be able to escape the clutches of the Machiavellian Father? And will he be able to continue his quest to find the bear responsible for the Zombear Apocalypse? Click below to find out: http://subversivecomics.com

As I wondered away from the comic village across Miku-Piku’s art on the other side with merchandise which was confusing but was drawn to via the very cool raffle prizes, including signedStreet Fighter poser by Yoshino Ono! This made sense when she explained she was a video games artist and her art and fan art was undeniable easy on the eye especially for the guys. Request commissions online: http://www.facebook.com/Miku-Piku-Art

These are just a few of the lovely artists I came across at MCM, if you know of others showcasing and like me to include them in my next convention write up email me: aisha@animepicks.co.uk