Not a Joke, Not an Imaginary Story
'Otaku USA Magazine' Launching in June
Patrick Macias Named Editor in Chief
February 28, 2007
Sovereign Media Inc., an active interest niche magazine publishing company that publishes SCI FI -- the official magazine of the SCI FI Channel, is launching Otaku USA Magazine in June. Patrick Macias, a correspondent for the NHK World Television show Tokyo Eye and author of Cruising the Anime City: an Otaku Guide to Neo-Tokyo, and Tokyoscope: The Japanese Cult film companion, will be editing the new magazine, which he described as follows: "Each issue of OtakuUSA will be oversized 9 x 10 7/8, with a poster bound in the center spread, and a DVD inserted onto the front cover, with full- length Anime features and game demos. In addition, each issue of Otaku USA will include a full manga feature, printed as a pull-out section. My aim is to make Otaku USA the best, most comprehensive Japanese pop culture magazine in the marketplace."
The typical issue of Otaku USA, which will have a cover price of $9.99 ($11.99 in Canada), will be at least 150 pages long and printed in full color on glossy paper. The bimonthly magazine will cover manga, anime, computer games and J-Pop, and it will be written by an American staff from an American point of view.
Curtis Circulation Company, a division of Hachette, will be handling all national and international newsstand distribution of the magazine. Using Curtis' connections Sovereign Media has purchased checkout display pockets at every Borders, Barnes & Noble, Walden Books, Hastings and Books-a-Million in the U.S. According to Sovereign Media's CEO Mark Hintz, "Our targeted first issue distribution is well in excess of 125,000 copies."
Well! WELL NOW!
Congratulations and well done, sir, well done!
Will your editorship be patterned after Perry White or J.J.Jamison? Or maybe more like the Japanese manga editor, where you drive to the writer's house to shout in his ear "PRODUCE! PRODUCE!" and wack him with a bamboo kendo sword...
Posted by: Steve Harrison | February 28, 2007 at 07:38 AM
Cool, shall look out for it in the next solicitation on Previews.
Just a thought: is there a hierarchy of snobbery among non-Japanese otakus? (e.g. ethnic East Asian otakus looking down on their non-East Asian brethren, just like how Arab Muslims think they're superior to non-Arab Muslims?)
Posted by: Zer0 | February 28, 2007 at 08:04 AM
This sounds kinda cool. But I doubt such a niché magazine will ever make it to Norway.
Anyway: Congratulations! Sounds like you yet again answered the question in the sub-header :P
Posted by: Jostein | February 28, 2007 at 08:08 AM
I will buy this magazine, Patrick :-)
Posted by: Ｓｈｕｊｉ | February 28, 2007 at 08:18 AM
I'll echo the congrats above. I'm looking forward to it!
Posted by: Brian Ruh | February 28, 2007 at 08:51 AM
I am _SO_ there...
Posted by: SurfPenguin | February 28, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Congratulations Patrick!!
The Children of Greenhaven are crying tears of joy!
Posted by: Matt Gray | February 28, 2007 at 09:21 AM
Awesome news! "An Eternal Thought..." has been my primary Japanese pop-culture fix for the last few years, so I think you're the only one who could do this right.
Posted by: HABE | February 28, 2007 at 09:22 AM
Congratulations! This looks excellent already, I can't wait to see it on the stands in the summer.
Posted by: Ko Ransom | February 28, 2007 at 10:34 AM
This sounds really awesome. Newtype has been leaving a bad taste in my mouth for awhile, so I'm all over this.
Posted by: aaron | February 28, 2007 at 10:54 AM
I will only buy this product if Steve Harrison is employed in some capacity. And that Matt Alt kid, too.
Posted by: danno | February 28, 2007 at 10:55 AM
I hope it's a grown-up version of NewType USA with like, a Pulp flavor, and also, a lower subscription price than NewType.
Posted by: Erin | February 28, 2007 at 12:13 PM
At risk of starting a cascade or sounding like some internet whiny butt...
I *AM* Available.....
*eh HNNNN*
sorry.
Posted by: Steve Harrison | February 28, 2007 at 12:21 PM
I expect the content to be MANNLLYYYY!
Posted by: Gilles Poitras | February 28, 2007 at 01:42 PM
OHHHHHH YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Finally more people with taste are reaching positions of power! Skull-crushing power!!
Posted by: dave merrill | February 28, 2007 at 01:46 PM
So where do we pitch ideas? I mean... subscribe?
Posted by: Bill | February 28, 2007 at 01:55 PM
Awesome! Where do I get my subscription?
Posted by: Doug | February 28, 2007 at 03:09 PM
I'm hoping for J.J. Jameson style, myself.
Posted by: Joseph Luster | February 28, 2007 at 04:21 PM
This is the greatest news of 2007!!!!
Posted by: Paperboi | February 28, 2007 at 08:31 PM
Sweet! I am SO there.
Are you going to be flogging it at San Diego Comic-Con?
Posted by: Ms. Geek | February 28, 2007 at 08:57 PM
What can I say? Fantastic, fantastic news!
Posted by: Anders HJ | March 01, 2007 at 04:41 AM
when you say dvd's with full length anime, do you mean subbed, raw, or dubbed? and the manga? who handles the translations?
Posted by: wes | March 01, 2007 at 04:13 PM
I also vote for Pulp style against the overly shonen ai/shoujo sap filled Newtype USA. Sure, you're reflecting current trends but we need to teach the kids respeck for both old things and the ol' ultraviolence.
Might I recommend a multipage cover story of Reiko the Zombie Shop?
Posted by: TheBigGSN5 | March 01, 2007 at 05:05 PM
I'll only buy it if these Steve Harrison and Matt Alt fellows AREN'T involved...
Posted by: hillsy | March 13, 2007 at 06:24 PM
What th'!?
That's it! soon as Patrick ships me a Masked Bakuc mask I've COMIN' FOR YA! STEEL CAGE MATCH IN VEGAS, YEAAAAAAAHH BOOOY!
Posted by: Steve Harrison | March 13, 2007 at 07:22 PM