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Archive for the Contests Category

Viz Media and We Love Fine Team Up for Shirt Design Contest

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, March 27, 2014

Sharpen your pencils and plug in your tablet – Viz Media and We Love Fine have teamed up to hold a Bleach t-shirt design contest! And it’s awfully cool.

The rules are pretty simple – do an original t-shirt design using Bleach characters or symbols, and submit! You can’t use any official artwork or the Bleach logo, but fanart and snazzy designs are accepted and encouraged.

The grand prize includes a paid-trip to Anime Expo, and multiple cash prizes through the tiers of winners. One design will be chosen to be sold as t-shirts in Hot Topic, while all winning designs will be considered for print and sale through We Love Fine.

The judges for the contest are nothing to sneeze at either – Crunchyroll, Hot Topic, Masashi Kudo (editor of the Bleach manga), Yujiro Hattori (character designer from the anime) and Kubo Tite himself, creator of Bleach!

The deadline to submit is April 8th, 2014. Good luck and much fun to all those who submit!

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Categories: Contests
Tags: Bleach, Tite Kubo, Viz Media

Sharpen Your Pencils – Shonen Jump Launches Multi-Language Manga Contest

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, May 31, 2013

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Exciting news, comic artists! Shonen Jump has launched a contest awarding winners with not only a nice chunk of change, but also the chance to have their work published in Shonen Jump. Can you imagine seeing your name and work next to mega behemoths like One Piece and Dragonball?!

Artists looking to participate are asked to submit original, one-shot stories that are either 15, 19, 31 or 45 pages in length. The contest is open to submissions in three languages – English, Japanese and Chinese.

I only occasionally dabble in artwork these days, but contests like this really make me want to use the ol’ Wacom for something other than logos and photo restorations. The idea that something I wrote or drew being looked at by the editors of the world’s most popular comics… It makes a person’s heart flutter doesn’t it?

The deadline for the content is October 1st, 2013 and winners will be announced in November, with their works available to read come December. For now you can read all the ins, outs, whos and hows on the contest application page, and don’t forget to spread the word.

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Categories: Contests, News
Tags: Global Manga, Manga, Shonen Jump

Games With Me Omnibus Available for Pre-Order With A Chance to Win!

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 13, 2012

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A shout-out today to promote some new and upcoming releases of Games With Me, a gorgeously drawn boys’ love story written by Tina Anderson and with art by Lynsley Brito. It’s a darker themed mini-series with lots of eye-candy. BL fans who are always on the search for ‘something different’ should definitely take the time to check it out!

“Ex Civil-War surgeon George Callahan is a man haunted by his past. Unwilling to deal with the demons of his childhood, he turns to opium and finds back alley employment with the heartless brothel keepers of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Dr. George Callahan searches for a Chinese woman from his past, and soon finds himself unwittingly drawn to dim-witted male prostitute Jun, whose own life is complicated by the unwanted attentions of an aggressive bouncer named Roan Baxter.”

One of the story’s leads is a young man named Jun who works in a brothel. The fact that he has a mental handicap may be a down point for some readers, yet I found it was handled well as Jun still seemed self-aware of things that were going on. This contrasts with a manga series it reminded me of for that reason, Brilliant Blue – a series which, though I enjoyed it overall, had a character with a similar personality but who seemed too innocent about sexual situations for me to be totally okay with what was happening. A warning, however, that Games With Me is rated 18+ and includes some violence and non-consensual scenes so not for the kiddies!

Volume one is available to purchase digitally via the Kindle or Nook.
Volume two is available to purchase digitally via the Kindle or Nook.

For those who prefer their shininess on paper, Games with Me is also going to print in a two-volume omnibus edition! It’s currently available to pre-order on Amazon.com. Unfortunately there’s no listing for Amazon.ca, but I’ll update here if it pops up! The 286 page book will only be $10.99 and released later this week – yay!

Tina Anderson is also holding a giveaway on her website where anyone who submits reviews of volumes one or two of Games With Me (based on their digital formats), will be entered into a drawing to win a print edition of the omnibus. The giveaway is open until June 15.

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Categories: Contests, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Global Manga

August 1st is Yaoi Day with DMP!

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, July 28, 2011

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August 1st – or 8/01 – has been proclaimed Yaoi Day! Not a bad thing to celebrate mid-summer – nice and hot, right? Well, unless you’re living on the East Coast of Canada… but that’s a different matter!

Digital Manga is ready to celebrate Yaoi Day with sales and contests, the deals of which are lasting all week. Curious what they’ve got to offer? It’s all available to readers around the world and you can read all the details below:

Answer Questions, Win A (Itazura na) Kiss!

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, January 23, 2011

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In celebration of their shoujo series, Itazura na Kiss, making the YALSA’s Great Graphic Novel for Teens list, Digital Manga is holding a contest over on their blog for readers to win some copies of the omnibus-released series.

To enter the contest, you must correctly answer twenty trivia questions about the series and submit it via e-mail. The contest is also open (based on the rules given there) to readers around the world instead of being restricted to the United States – yay! Winners who submit the correct answers will then be chosen by random draw.

The prize? “You can win any volume(s) or all of the series, including future releases. It’s a your pick prize!” So in theory you could request one volume, two volume, future volumes… all volumes? It’s a little vague but who would only pick one volume when you can have them all? No complaints from me to be given the option to choose to be sent all future volumes! Consider me some definite competition shoujo-fans.

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Categories: Contests
Tags: DMP

ANN and The Great Canadian Evangelion Ticket Giveaway Again

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, January 8, 2011

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Anime News Network is holding a contest to give away theatre-showing tickets to the upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.0! The site had a similar contest for the first movie last year. This time they’re giving away not one, not two but 240 tickets – that’s five for each of the theatre showings across the country. It’s a simple enter-your-info-to-be-qualified contest and with that many tickets to give away, chances are good!

The showing is a single-night event on January 20th. Along with the contest, ANN’s site also has the complete list of theatres confirmed as playing the movie.

January 13, 2011: Winners announced – congrats folks!

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Categories: Contests
Tags: Canada, Movies, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Win a Trip to Japan with ANN and PTJ, Win eCash with Netcomics

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, November 19, 2010

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Time for some winnings! A few interesting contests going on right now that are worth a gander and an enter.

Firstly, AnimeNewsNetwork has teamed with Aniplex (from whom they’ve licensed their two simulcasting series) and Pop Travel Japan (the tour-company of Digital Manga) to offer a contest where the winner gets a fully-paid trip to Japan!

There are two trip packages to be won – Tokyo Anime Fair Tour: an Otaku-centric tour of Japan including a trip to the Tokyo Anime Fair and Akihabara; and Fangirl Paradise Tour: a more boys’ love fan-central tour that includes the infamous Otome Road and a visit to an “authentic butler cafe”.

Entrants for the Fangirl Paradise Tour are required to take pictures of themselves in togainu no chi cosplay, with one of the two images having a sign proclaiming ‘ANN Please Send Me To Japan!’. For the Tokyo Anime Fair Tour contest, participants are to draw some Oreimo fanart and submit for the judges to see (with the ANN logo included somewhere in the picture all not-sneaky-like).

The winning packages include airfare, hotel accommodations, transportation while there, tour guides and customized guidebooks. Us Canadians (alas excluding myself) are able to enter the contest as well, though in place of airfare, there will be $500 given towards booking your own flight to Japan. Full guidelines and rules of course available over on the website.

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On their Twitter account, NetComics announced a fun little contest with the winner receiving $100 in e-Cash to go towards reading manga and manhwa on their website. With chapters for $.025, that’s a lot of reading!

1) Choose your favorite series.
2) Identify a scene/panel to recreate.
3) Do yer thang: bubbles, illustrations, etc.–the whole nine yards.
4) Q yourself whether or not your work is compelling/original.
5) Tweet it like there’s no tomorrow.

The deadline for NetComics’ contest is November 30th.

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RightStuf also runs numerous small contests, a current one being a draw for a random bag of swag. And though not really a contest but still for the artistically-inclined, a reminder that Yen Press’s current talent search is still on-going with a deadline of January 3, 2011.

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Categories: Contests
Tags: Anime, Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, Netcomics, Yen Press

PR: PJT contest launches on Anime News Network today

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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Aniplex, Anime News Network and Pop Japan Travel join forces to offer trips to Japan!

Gardena, CA (November 17, 2010) – In recognition of the simulcast of the Aniplex anime titles Oreimo and togainu no chi ~Bloody Curs~ on Anime News Network (ANN), Aniplex of America, ANN, and Pop Japan Travel (PJT) have teamed up to offer Oreimo and togainu no chi fans something very special: the chance to win one of two trips to Japan!

The simulcast of Oreimo and togainu no chi were first announced by Aniplex and ANN earlier this fall and give fans the chance to view two of Japan’s hottest new anime series right after they are first broadcast in Japan. As a way of saying “thanks” to the anime fans that tune in to the simulcasts, viewers will be able to participate in a contest to win one of two trips to Japan courtesy of Pop Japan Travel, the leader in Pop Culture tours to Japan.

The contest details can only be accessed by watching the two series on ANN. The prize for the winner of the Oreimo contest will be a trip to Japan on PJT’s Tokyo Anime Fair Tour in March 2011, while the winner of the togainu no chi contest will get to join the Fangirl Paradise Tour in May 2011.

Start Your Pencils – NYAF 2010 Mascot Design Contest

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, May 9, 2010

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Covention season is upon us and that means a lot of things – but for the sake of this post, it means art contests! New York Anime Fest (which is joining with New York Comic Con for the first time this year) has opened up its annual mascot design contest with snazzy prizes and a one month submission time.

“Announced May 1 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Sakura Matsuri and running until May 20th, Kinokuniya, theOtaku.com, Del Rey Manga, and the New York Anime Festival welcome artists and anime fans from around America to think about what “Anime”, “New York City”, and (because we’re in October) “Halloween”, mean to them and draw these thoughts into an original character. Whether it’s big, small, a towering mecha, or chibi, we want to see your entries!”

The grand-prize winner will not only have the fun of seeing their artwork used on all NYAF”s official merchandise but will also receive a copy of all the material the art is used on, 10 free passes to the event and 50 volumes of Del Rey manga!

All entries are due May 20th with the finalists announced on June 1st. Then, after a month of voting at their Kinokuniya bookstore in New York, the official grand-prize winner will be revealed at the end of June.

Good luck to all the entrants!

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Categories: Contests
Tags: Conventions, Del Rey, NYAF 2010

Manga Stuff Sunday – Contests and Continuations

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, January 24, 2010

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A bunch of interesting news and previews this past week – what better way to spend a lazy Sunday than getting caught up on a bunch of them! From contests to continuations, there should be a little something for everyone in this lengthy round-up of the week’s what-have-yous:

RightStuf’s most recent sale is on Tokyopop books, including their boys’ love imprint, BLU. Until February 1st, you’ll save at least 33% on each book. Perfect time to get caught up some series and get your hands on the recent ones – which include lots of fantastic new licenses including Alice in the Country of Hearts and Deadman Wonderland.

More information about Yen Press’s upcoming adaptation of Twilight has been released. The book will be a hardcover edition costing $19.99. It’s already one of the top-selling books on Amazon right now! Entertainment Weekly has an image of the cover and an interior preview. On a related note, Shannon Garrity has a great – and amusing – post comparing Twilight with most modern-day shoujo manga.

Fans of the series rejoice – Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei) is returning! After an eight year hiatus the supernatural manga laced with all that glorious homoerotic tension (perhaps biggest understatement of the new year so far) will be returning to publication with the release of its twelth volume in Japan. Viz Media has the English license to the series and has published up to volume eleven, last released in 2006.

DeviantArt is currently holding a contest: Ponyo Make A Splash – Online Banner Creation Contest. They’re looking for ad banners designed for use on the website to promote the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release of Studio Ghibli/Disney’s Ponyo. There are four different banner templates for designers to submit banners in. As for the prizes, “…each of the four winners will recieve a $500 Visa gift card, a devWEAR bag of Winner’s choice, a copy of Ponyo on DVD, a devWEAR shirt of Winner’s choice, and a one year Premium Membership to deviantART.”

After the continuation was pushed back to Spring 2010in early 2009, it looks like Yu Watase is finally able to put Fushigi Yuugi‘s prequel series, Genbu Kaiden, back into her busy production schedule! She posts about it over on her personal blog, though no complete translation is yet publicly posted of the entry. Viz Media has released the currently available nine volumes of the series. (via Manga Xanadu)

Lastly, the fairly-silent-in-recent-months publisher, GoComi has posted an update of their status via their forums. There isn’t a lot of specific news but they assure readers that despite some economic problems, they’re still plugging forward and going at it their best. Unfortunately a number of titles have gone on hold. You can read the whole post over there which also includes information of the potential future of their website community, the popularity of 07-Ghost and word about the status of books sold through their online store. (via @danielle_leigh1)

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Categories: Contests, News
Tags: Fushigi Yugi, GoComi, Manga, Tokyopop