TOKYOPOP Tour Hunts for America's Greatest Otaku
May 14, 2010
|
Fans of manga & anime should know that TOKYOPOP will undertake a 12,000-mile journey this summer to find America's Greatest Otaku, the person who best exemplifies a truly unique fervor and passion for all things influenced by Japanese pop culture.
This nationwide competition will be part of the “TOKYOPOP Tour" road show that takes a tour bus to hundreds of thousands of fans in dozens of cities across the U.S., including five fan conventions, to discover and embrace manga and anime fan culture around the nation. The tour kicks off in July at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, CA, runs through Chicago Comic-Con at the end of August, and culminates in a multi-episode reality show, premiering in the fall on a major online video site that reveals America's Greatest Otaku.
TOKYOPOP founder Stu Levy is the reality show’s Executive Producer. "Japanese pop culture has influenced many of us Americans in a number of ways, he said in a statement. “The goal of this show is to prove to the world that American otaku are just as talented -- if not more -- than their counterparts worldwide."
Joining Levy on the maiden voyage of the TOKYOPOP Tour bus will be the "Otaku Six", six college students acting as his apprentices in the search for America's Greatest Otaku. Selected from nearly one hundred candidates from 31 states and seven countries, the Otaku Six will reach out to fans and seek out each city’s Greatest Otaku.
|
The TOKYOPOP Tour is scheduled to visit the following cities:
|
City/Convention (where applicable) |
Date |
|
Los Angeles, CA (Anime Expo) |
July 3 |
|
San Francisco, CA |
July 5 |
|
Salt Lake City, UT |
July 8 |
|
Denver, CO |
July 11 |
|
Kansas City, MO |
July 13 |
|
Dallas, TX |
July 15 |
|
Albuquerque, NM |
July 18 |
|
Phoenix, AZ |
July 20 |
|
San Diego, CA (Comic-Con) |
July 23 |
|
Oklahoma City, OK |
July 27 |
|
Nashville, TN |
July 28 |
|
Washington, DC |
July 30 |
|
Baltimore, MD (Otakon) |
July 31 |
|
New York, NY |
August 3 |
|
Philadelphia, PA |
August 4 |
|
Indianapolis, IN (Gen Con) |
August 7 |
|
Louisville, KY |
August 9 |
|
Atlanta, GA |
August 11 |
|
New Orleans, LA |
August 14 |
|
Chicago, IL |
August 21 |
Entries to become America's Greatest Otaku are being accepted at http://tokyopoptour.ning.com, which includes a complete list of all stops, details for how to enter the competition, and application requirements. The site will also feature breaking city-by-city Otaku updates, road videos & blogs, giveaways (such as new manga, signed artwork, shirts, hats, & stickers), and more. New features, including the official America's Greatest Otaku merchandise store, will be added in the future.
For the full press release announcing America's Greatest Otaku and the TOKYOPOP Tour, click here.
