Anime Expo '08: Friday's Manga Highlights

While the rest of Los Angeles celebrates America's birthday, Anime Expo 2008 at L.A. Convention Center will be attracting fans of Japanese pop culture. According to the press release sent out this morning, 18,000 attendees have checked in for a weekend full of anime, manga, games and fun, with more to come today. Here's a few manga-centric highlights of today's action:

• 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Aurora Publishing 1st Birthday Party, Room 515A
  After making their debut at AX '07, the Aurora Publishing / Deux Press crew is back again, this time to celebrate their first year of bringing shojo, yaoi and josei manga to America.
• 12:00 – 1:00 pm: VIZ Media Anime and Manga Panel, Room 502
  The folks who brought you Bleach, Naruto and Vampire Knight will likely be making some squeal-worthy announcements of coming attractions for 2008 and probably 2009 too.
• 1:00 – 2:15 pm: Dark Horse 20th Anniversary Panel, Room 502
  According to the description in the Anime Expo program, Dark Horse will also "discuss our upcoming original Mangettes project with CLAMP, so we'll see if any new details are spilled about this hotly-anticipated project set for a 2009 debut.
• 1:30 – 3:00 pm: Coloring Manga With Copic Markers, Room 304
  Oooh and ahh as you see Copic Markers reps demonstrate how to get professional-looking results with their permanent pens for artists.
• 2:00 – 5:00 pm: Yaoi Manga Creators le Peruggine, Yaoi Press booth
  Say benvenuto (welcome) to Italian manga creator duo le Peruggine and get your copies of Cain and Winter Demon signed.
• 3:00 – 4:00 pm: Coloring and Screentoning in Photoshop 101, Room 304
  So you want to take your manga artistry to the next level? Check out this tutorial featuring tips and tricks for digital drawing, coloring and toning.
• 4:00 – 5:00 pm: ADV Industry Panel, Room 502
  Ah, ADV. Given all the chatter about their manga operations being on hold but their general tight-lipped response so far, it's anyone's guess if ADV will give fans any new answers about their stalled publishing schedule and the fate of Yotsuba&! Volume 6.
• 4:00 – 5:00 pm: Aimee Major Steinberger's Japan Ai, Room 515A
  Animator, cosplayer and doll collector extraordinaire Steinberger will share some of her fun travel tales about her journeys in Japan.
• 6:30 – 7:30 pm: Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death, Room 502
  She unveiled this project at last year's Anime Expo, and now Wendy Pini is back to share the latest about her sexy multimedia adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death, and its upcoming print edition debut set for October 2008 from Go! Comi. Bring your ID, because you've got to be 18 or older to attend this one.
• 6:30 – 8:00 pm: EigoManga's How to Draw Manga I, Room 304
  In this first session of three planned classes, EigoManga editors and artists will be on hand to teach the fundamentals of drawing manga.
• 7:00 –9:00 pm: The Art of Glowsticking, Room 511
  Oh, this has nothing to do with manga, but I just had to share my pick for today's most ridiculous-sounding panel. I just might have to check it out to take photos…
• 8:30 – 9:30 pm: June Manga and 801 Media Inc Industry Panel, Room 515A
  After dark, it's time for the grown-ups to come out and play. At this adults-only panel, June Manga and 801 Media will be revealing their upcoming boys love / yaoi manga releases for the rest of the year and beyond.

Image credit: © Deb Aoki