Sophia students in Akiba with gaijin GOKU

I am to the right of Goku's flaming head, laughing helplessly.

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--to John Fuller, Shigeharu Ono and the absurdly patient and kind staff of Kinokuniya NYC , to Marco Pavia and Mandy Willingham of TokyoPop , to Clyde Adams III of NYC Anime , to Peter Tatara of New York Anime Festival and Comic Con , to Taeko Baba and Justin Keesey of New York-Tokyo , to Wired magazine , to Lee-Sean Huang and JETAANY , to the four extraordinary manga artists, whose backgrounds (US-Hispanic; US Caucasian; Korean; Japanese) served to exemplify the japanamerica phenomenon--and to you, that glorious mob of you who attended, ranging in age from the teens to the 80s, in race and ethnicity from African American to Asian to White to Hispanic, and in costumes elaborate to mundane--I am, and remain, grateful. What a night in New York. [photos courtesy of marlene marino and lee-sean huang.]
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