Hold the presses!!!!! Clamp To make an apperence here in the US! (READ!)

[Kasawa Lanford]

Got this along the wire, saddly I can't attend it due to other commitments at the time

Details of CLAMP Autographing Sessions Announced
Famous Japanese Artists Scheduled to Appear at Anime Expo 2006

New York, NY (June 21, 2006) – Manga superstars CLAMP announced last month that they would be making their first-ever U.S. public appearance at Anime Expo held in Anaheim, California, July 1 to July 4.�  For manga and anime fans in the United States and throughout the world, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this influential group. The visit is being co-sponsored by Anime Expo, Del Rey Manga and FUNimation Entertainment. Details on CLAMP’s two autographing sessions at Anime Expo are as follows:

Attendees at CLAMP’s panel on 2 PM Saturday will be selected at random to attend one of two autographing sessions. The autographing sessions will be held on Sunday, July 2. CLAMP will be signing exclusive pre-printed paper boards (known in Japan as shikishi) featuring CLAMP characters.�  � 

About CLAMP

CLAMP consists of four female artists, Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona, who have created their own original story and characters in the Japanese graphic novel form known as “manga.” They made their debut as manga artists in Japan in 1989. Since then they have become bestselling authors, and animation films based on their work have been prominent on both TV and the cinema screen. CLAMP has also been at the spearhead of the current flux and rise in popularity of Japanese anime and manga in the U.S., with titles such as Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Chobits. Among the manga and anime audience, CLAMP is one of the single most recognized names. The two series that they are currently writing in Japan, Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC, are both being published in English by Del Rey Manga.

About Anime Expo

Located in Anaheim, California - Anime Expo®, the North America’s largest anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests of the general public and animation/ comics industry.�  This event serves as a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the industry to conduct business. AX 2006 will be held July 1 – 4, 2006 at the Anaheim Convention Center. More information can be found at its official website (www.anime-expo.org).

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization with a mission to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property – Anime Expo®.

Don't know if this is worthy of being a sticky or not =D

[xOLight_AngelOx]

ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! the people who go ther are soooooooooooooo freaking lucky *sob, sob*

[moezychan]

OMG!! I am so envious of any person that lives in California right now! (Gomen ne Suu-chan ) I wish I could go!!

[Ashlee]

OK, I'm stealing a plane. Who's coming!

Clamp, come over to canada, Sudbury is a great place *wink wink*

[xOLight_AngelOx]

i wish they came to toronto to the next anime con

[Kasawa Lanford]

I wish they would come one state over and into Nevada =P

But... *sigh* life is so cruel 

[Ashlee]

i wish they came to toronto to the next anime con

yeah. Then I can go too. I don't live that far from them. Its only a short drive.

[moezychan]

I wish they would come to Ohio!  I would love to see them!

[Arcademan]

Old news...this was noted a few months ago.

[Sya0ran]

Actually, I was scheduled to go along with three friends of mine but I can't go because of lack of money.  ;____;  Stupid convention is like 30 minutes away from me too!  @.@;

[Ashlee]

Actually, I was scheduled to go along with three friends of mine but I can't go because of lack of money. ;____; Stupid convention is like 30 minutes away from me too! @.@;

O_O

WHAT!!!!! I want to go how much is it anyway to go??

[Sya0ran]

Oh, I'm not sure actually.  o_O  My friends just told me to bring LOTS of money...pfft.  >>;  Its like a 3-4 days convention lasting from July 1-4 and in order to buy merchandise and all you need lots of money!  (come on!  doujinshi, trc merchandise, figurines, plushies, posters etc) ...  ;__;

And I just don't have that much at the moment.  Blah.  It sucks but my friend Erwin is going though.  I told him to get me something.  Heehee...XD  I hope he gets me something Syaoran or Sakura related but anything TRC-related is fine too.  lol

[Ashlee]

You are so lucky Sya0ran. I hate living in Canada, because we don't get clamp or anybody.

But I wish ya luck. You never know. You might be able to get in later.

[Sya0ran]

Thanks but I'd rather live in Canada!  XD  I hear its beautiful there.  ^^  Mhm.  I might but I wouldn't bet on it.  ;_;  I can't come up with money that fast.

Oh and if I do get something back from my friend and its TRC related I'll be sure to show you guys~  :]  <3

[Arcademan]

Heh. I knew this was posted before:

http://www.capturedwings.net/forums/index.php?topic=2634.0

Lesson learned...use the SEARCH function!!! 

[Kasawa Lanford]

Did use search function

But I didn't get any results =P

I get no results even NOW when I search for "Clamp"

[Arcademan]

Source: Animeondvd.com and the TOKYOPOP Forum:

On July 2nd, 2006 CLAMP made an appearance at Anime Expo in Anaheim as part of their first tour of the United States. CLAMP, the four person team consisting of Igarashi Satsuki, Mokona (who looked very cute in her flowery kimono), Nekoi Tsubaki, and Ohkawa Ageha, made two appearances, one at a packed fan panel and a second at a press panel at the anime convention.

The afternoon fan panel, which actually started about an hour later than scheduled because of the sheer volume of attendees, was mediated by representatives of FUNimation. FUNimation is handling the American release of Tsubasa Chronicles, the Tsubasa Chronicles movie, and xxxHOLiC movie, and they mentioned that auditions for the English sub are in progress and will be cast by this Friday, July 7. After showing a 20 minute video that documented CLAMP's history and works, the artists were introduced to the wildly enthusiastic crowd. CLAMP then proceeded to give a presentation of how they produce their work. They showed some slides of their actual work spaces including pictures of the Sony Vaio computer that Ohkawa uses for writing her scripts and Mokona and Nekoi's collection of Copic markers. While some manga-ka use assistants, CLAMP does all their work themselves. Nekoi mentioned that a xxxHOLiC novel is coming out soon in Japan, and the slide show showed a glimpse of them working on a sketch for that project. While all four artists spoke at certain points of the panel, Ohkawa did most of the presentation narration and fielded most questions in the following question and answer session.

Questions for the panel were selected from approximately 1000 questions submitted online. One of the questions asked, which was also asked during the press panel later that day, was how the team met. They explained that all of them, with the exception of Ohkawa, were high school classmates. Ohkawa was then introduced to the others through a mutual friend, and they began working together on doujinshi. Also during the Q&A session, they mentioned that they intend to continue the Kobato series in the Japanese animation magazine Newtype. After the question and answer session, CLAMP took their leave, and trailers for the xxxHOLiC movie, Tsubasa Chronicles movie, and Tsubasa Chronicles series were shown.

At 5:30pm that same day, CLAMP held a press panel. They expressed that their impressions of the United States and American fans were positive. They've really enjoyed seeing the cosplays of their work at AX and have been enjoying the California sunshine. Ohkawa mentioned that she has even had a chance to enjoy the great California champagne. In answer to questions about how they produce their work, they stated that Ohkawa chooses which projects they work on but scheduling is decided by Igarashi, although that is mainly dictated by which deadlines are coming up first. When asked which of their titles they would like to see turned into live action, CLAMP seemed to be in favor of Chobits, and Ohkawa stated if such a production were made in the United States she would have a strong preference as to who the lead actress would be. During the panel, they also mentioned that they will be resuming Legal Drug in the near future and that they will be completing the X series in Japan with a total of 21 volumes to match the 21 Tarot cards. However, they did not state any firm timeline for either title.

[Cardcaptor Takato]

Thanks for sharing that info, Arcademan.  Here's a more detailed transcript of Clamp's Q&A session for anyone who wants to read it: http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=2909&pg=1&comments=

[Ashlee]

Thanks for sharing that info, Arcademan. Here's a more detailed transcript of Clamp's Q&A session for anyone who wants to read it: http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=2909&pg=1&comments=

thank-you so much *cookie*

[augustserenade]

Thanks for sharing that info, Arcademan. Here's a more detailed transcript of Clamp's Q&A session for anyone who wants to read it: http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=2909&pg=1&comments=

Thanks for the link! ^_^
I put my experience at AX on my LJ which includes a description of the CLAMP panel too, if anyone's interested. ^^ Or you can skip directly towards the middle where I put the CLAMP panel description under an LJ cut.