Otaku USA Magazine?

[Randycat]

Not sure if this is the right forum, or the topic's already been posted, but did anyone pick up issue 1 of this magazine? How do you like it? (Especially, compared to the other anime magazines out there)?

[Dicrel Seijin]

When did it come out? I haven't seen it on the stands.

Is this an up-and-comer against Newtype USA?

[HitokiriShadow]

I believe it came out last week. I plan to find it and pick it up within the next week or so.

[Randycat]

It seems to be competing against Newtype USA, from some things I've heard...you can probably find it at a Chapters or other big book store, they had a bunch last time I was there..

[TheGreenMan]

I bought it for the School Rumble episode.

[dragonclaw]

I picked it up a Borders yesterday. It's $9.99, and it comes with a preview dvd and poster and manga insert.

The dvd contains an episode of Boogiepop Phantom, School Rumble, and Ninja Nonsense. It has trailers for Shingu, The Third, and something called Akihabara Trilogy:Legend of the Doll and Akihabara Trilogy:Cat Girl Kiki. Game trailers for Naruto Ultimate Nija 2, Pheonix Wright Ace Attorny 3, and Megaman.

The manga is Princess Resurrection/Del Rey and a sample of Gon/CMX.

The posters are Highlander, Transformers, and Captain Maxx.

As for the actual magazine content, I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, but I can tell you that it seems to really resemble Newtype except for the direction that it is printed. This one is printed opposite than Newtype.

They did flip the manga so you can read it the way it's supposed to be read, but it's kinda annoying because you have to turn the magazine upside down to read it.

[akcoll99]

They did flip the manga so you can read it the way it's supposed to be read, but it's kinda annoying because you have to turn the magazine upside down to read it.

That threw me a little at first too. I thought I had found a porinting error. :D

I haven't had the chance to read through it in depth either, but it looks really nice, with some good production values. They do a nice job of touching on just about all the aspects of otaku culture, from mecha to cosplay. Reviews also get a sizable portion of the magazine, with lots of manga and anime looked at and discussed. I like what I've seen so far and plan on looking into the second issue when it comes out.

[Lego]

Thats my only real criticism of Newtype as it's more of a "ooo a picture and the shows vital stats" page after page. If Otaku USA can keep up what they did in volume one, I might become a regular buyer.

[Relwarc]

Well, I just read the magazine from cover to cover and it's pretty good. Not as glossy and "purty" as NewType USA, but that's all to the good in my mind. The short reviews, for one, are certainly more "editorial" although I wished that the feature stories, GitS: SSS, Highlander, etc., contained more review than summary. The manga breakdown was a nice touch, too.

I say buy it. It's just about the best anime/Japanese culture magazine on the market.

[BurtKenobi]

I really enjoyed Otaku USA #1 - it felt like the spirit of "Pulp" magazine had been reborn in a more general interest anime magazine. I love Newtype USA to bits, but sometimes it's a bit of a bimbo....

[Otaku Surf]

I had a chance to pick up the magazine and read it over and it was pretty good. It covered a whole lot of aspects otaku, from new anime in Japan to the Gundam Factory in Shizuoka. I didn't really like the sections that they devoted to Japanese live action/godzilla movies but that's something I'm not into anyways.

On a side note: They recently had a panel at AMA7, and I got to to meet people from the magazine. I included some bits and pics about the panel in this report (http://otakusurf.wordpress.com/2007/06/17/anime-mid-atlantic-7-short-bits-and-pieces/)

[Lafielgirl]

Well, I don't know about you all but I am sealing this magazine. First volumes are expensive to get after a while. Plus I thought it was a good set up and start to compete against Newtype USA. I think I might just subscribe to it and see how it fairs.

[Mint Chocolate]

I got it yesterday at Chapters. I watched the episodes on the dvd which was cool. Haven't read the actual magazine yet, but noticed on the cover they spelled Haruhi as Haruchi, which is just disappointing :(

[Kevbox]

I didn't know about it, but I will go out and look for it now. There's nothing wrong with a little competition among anime publications. Plus there will be more covering of anime-related stuff, even if there is some crossover.