First of all, given that this post has come a few days late given my lack of internet access and pending assignments, I have decided to give a more in-depth look at the panels held during Supanova Gold Coast 2014 rather than simply announcing what titles were available. With Hanabee Entertainment offering four announcements, you can skip the rest of this post and search for the individual announcements using “HanabeeAnnouncement0#” where # is between 1-4.
Due to Oz Comic-Con taking place the same weekend, Karen and Eric attended Adelaide while we had the lovely Zi make the longer trek up to the Gold Coast with acquisition announcements in tow.
Itadakimasu!
Food is quite expensive at any Supanova: Pop Culture Expo, and my stomach was rumbling by the time I had entered the Hanabee Entertainment panel held at 3AM on the Saturday. Rather than kick off with the announcements, presenters Zi and Nelly brought a number of snacks to the panel… and obtaining what I assume was a White Chocolate and Macadamia cookie for myself… it was delicious!
Can You Spell?
While there was still no announcements made, this doesn’t mean the attendees couldn’t still have some fun on a fuller stomach. Zi and Nelly held a Hana “Bee” Spelling Competition where willing attendees could test their spelling prowess in order to win a $20 online voucher. While starting with easy words such as “Hanabee”, they became significantly harder with anime titles such as BTOOOM! (Just how many O’s?) and La storia della Arcana Famiglia.
It eventually came down to two who were forced to do their best imitation of a cat, with most inevitably walking away with a prize.
A Gold Coast Anime Character
Continuing something they started in Perth earlier this year, Hanabee Entertainment asked the crowd what sort of anime character they could come up with that lives in the Gold Coast. The example given from Perth was:
A bald headed dole bludger pervert who was blind… wears a sparkly mankini and supports self love.
Unfortunately in that example my recording was interrupted by a burst of laughter. It seems like the Gold Coast attendees couldn’t keep away from the “surf city” stereotype and came up with:
A cake faced surfer with butt-cheeks hanging out of jeans with a fake tan. They have the outstanding ability to be shallow and works as a cop who opts to hit people with a surfboard
They will be posing this question to everyone who attends their panels in each state, then Karen who draws the “Daily Lives of Hanabee” etc will be drawing all of the anime characters.
Chinese Whispers… Gone Wrong
Finally it was announcement time, however Zi wasn’t going to let go of their first acquisition announcement so easily. With the room split into two it was time for competitive Chinese Whispers, where if you don’t know the rules of the game someone whispers a phrase in someone’s ear and then continue doing so around the room. Sitting on the left, I was about the fifth or sixth person all I had whispered in my ear was “Hanabee Proudly Presents Something Something”.
Great!
While I managed to get them back on track, by the end my team managed to come up with “Attack on Titan” which is already held by another company while the other team was slightly more accurate with “Hanabee presents something-or-rather on the 7th July”. The first announcement ended up being for:
Toradora! English Dub (HanabeeAnnouncement01)
Based on their first anime acquisition and release in Australia, Hanabee Entertainment confirmed that they will be publishing the English dub for Toradora! which was confirmed by US-published NIS America last month. A full release will be available on the 7th July 2014, but while specifics have yet to be confirmed they may be including both DVD and Blu-ray discs in the same set. No price has been confirmed.
Beware: Tiger ahead. Tread cautiously.
Tigers are fierce creatures and Taiga Aisaka is no exception. Coupled with a short temper, a height complex and a mean right hook, Taiga, nicknamed the Palmtop Tiger, is not someone to be messed with. Despite his less than stellar start, for one, Ryuji Takasu, handling such creatures will need to be his forte, when the one he has as a classmate is also his neighbour. But all isn’t that bad when it just might be that looks and first impressions can be deceptive and nothing is as it seems. Just like Ryuji, the school’s delinquent, may simply be a gentle guy at heart; Taiga might also sport a softer side under her harsh exterior.
…Suddenly tigers might not be all that fierce as Ryuji feared.
Anohana on Blu-ray (HanabeeAnnouncement02)
I love anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, so much that I ended up giving my North American Anime Release of the Year 2012 award of NIS America’s release of the series. While it was great to see Hanabee Entertainment license it for the Australian market… the one issue they had was that it lacked the much needed blu-ray release which it well and truly deserved.
While Japanese-dubbed blu-ray releases to date have been limited to big name titles such as Bakemonogatari, Hanabee have confirmed that they will be releasing the series on June 4th, 2014.
Jinta Yadomi and his group of childhood friends have become estranged after a tragic accident split them apart. Now in their high school years, a sudden surprise forces each of them to confront their guilt over what happened that day and come to terms with the ghosts of their past.
Beyond the Boundary (HanabeeAnnouncement03)
Described by Zi as their biggest announcement for the day, and the only truly new anime acquisition that they brought to Supanova Gold Coast, Hanabee Entertainment have announced their acquisition of Beyond the Boundary (Kyokai no Kanata). Unfortunately as this was a brand new announcement they haven’t been able to confirm any further details… but ask that people wait for more information during Melbourne Supanova next week.
Akihito Kanbara is a high school sophomore in the literature club who believes himself to be a “Meganest”, and although he appears to be human, he is actually half Yōmu, which makes him invulnerable to wounds, due to the fact that he can heal so quickly, and also immortal. One day, Akihito meets freshman Mirai Kuriyama when it appears as if she is about to attempt suicide by jumping off of the school rooftop. Mirai is isolated because of her ability to manipulate blood, which is considered heresy even among other members of the underworld, so she is shunned. Soon after Akihito saves Mirai, disturbing events begin to arise.
Beyond the Boundary Maid Cafe… at Melbourne Supanova (HanabeeAnnouncement04)
The final announcement today will hopefully stir up a bit more interest in getting Queenslander’s onto the Hanabee Entertainment social media channels to request that there is an interest for more events up here. Following the demand of their Maid Cafe and the decision by Manifest to not hold an event this year, the company has confirmed that they will be hosting the Hanabee Maid Cafe at Supanova Melbourne for the first time. In keeping with the company’s anime roots, this cafe will be themed around Beyond the Boundary.
The crew behind DokiDoki Station (Maids/Butlers) and La Petite Creperie (Caterers) join Hanabee once again to bring you another Maid Cafe experience. The outfits will be themed to Hanabee’s latest title announcement Beyond the Boundary, and patrons can look forward to an extensive Japanese drinks list, a fully themed crepe menu and half hourly maid performances. Polaroid’s are included in a menu combo or can be purchased a la carte.
The Hanabee Maid café will operate from 10am to 6pm on both Saturday April 12th and Sunday April 13th 2014. With a seating capacity of around 50, fans are encouraged to line up early to avoid a potentially long wait.
Zi Xie | Content and Promotions Manager at Hanabee
When we got Beyond the Boundary I knew we had to do something big with this title. We’ve learnt a lot from running the Maid Café the past two years and we’re so thrilled to bring the Maid Café experience to the Supanova Crowd!
Drew Tan | Event Programming Co-Ordinator at Supanova
We at Supanova are excited in working with Hanabee to be the first to bring the Maid Café experience to pop culture conventions in Australia. Already extremely popular within the anime community and conventions, we’re bringing another slice of anime culture straight to you. Have a taste – literally and metaphorically – of what it’s all about in Melbourne!!
Further Discussion
That pretty much wrapped up the main festivities of the panel, with Zi announcing the next few times that Hanabee will be flying up to Queensland (List pictured above), Nelly going into detail about Rooster Teeth and the Roo Teeth Australian community and a considerably long Q&A session. Given it is about 20 minutes long I won’t be immediately transcribing it, however if there is demand and I have some spare time I will down the line.
This panel highlighted the fun and community-based approach that it is clear that Hanabee is aiming towards! I can happily recommend attending this panel if you have free time during Melbourne Supanova as it isn’t just one of the representatives standing up and listing the titles on offer.
I was however left wondering why the Toradora! opening theme spontaneously played several times during the panel despite the theme never having a formal use in it. I suppose it is just one of those mysteries.
