Yamato One: Sri Lanka's first Anime and Manga Startup

The Yamato One Team. Arigato! 

The Yamato One Team. Arigato! 

There are plenty of things harder than starting a business. Going to war. Doing surgery on yourself. Watching Transformers. But few trials are as a sustained as starting a business, especially in a town with so many negative nancies.  You give up a full-time income. You work 12+ hour days. Your friends wait patiently, for you to fail. 

But you do it. And sometimes, you're the one who succeeds.

"Lots of people advised us that anime is not popular in Sri Lanka," said Tami Fukii, co-founder of Yamato One. "But we thought there must be lots of anime/manga fans here and just need an opportunity." 

Tami and fellow founder Clinton de Kretser, had had the idea of starting a dedicated anime and manga business in Sri Lanka, for years. It would be something new and fun for Sri Lanka, especially for teenagers and adults. "You see toddler's shops full of toys, but it's hard to get gifts for teenagers, isn't it?"

While some say anime is childish, Clinton and Tami hold it to be entertainment for all ages. Topics range from romance and adventure, all the way to sports (Slam Dunk, Initial D), to biographies (Osamu Tezuka), even food (Yakitate).

The product was there; but was the market? 

“Lots of people advised us that anime is not popular in Sri Lanka.”
— Tami Fukii

After a trial event, they decided to take the plunge, and and bought a stall at Lanka Comic Con 2016. "We we're hoping, hoping, and hoping that people would come along who knew anime and manga," said Tami. "We underestimated Sri Lankan anime fans. Their knowledge and passion for anime/manga was amazing."

Yamato One is now the most popular anime and manga seller in the country. They actively engage their enthusiastic customer base on their Facebook page. They have an online store that delivers Island-wide. Next, they are opening physical store in Rajagiriya. "It's in a shopping complex under construction at the Rajagiriya junction. If the complex is completed soon, the store will be open by the end of the year." 

“We underestimated Sri Lankan anime fans. Their knowledge and passion for anime/manga was amazing.”
— Tami Fukii

Tami ami and Clinton have a larger vision than just buying and selling, and want to support the anime/manga community.  "We'd like to do a project with local anime and manga artists and fans." 

Yamato One will be at Lanka Comic Con, 2017. 

Seer: Death Sight - a Sri Lankan directed, Sci-Fi Action Series

Seer: Death Sight is a sci-fi action web series, starring Joey Ansah (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Christian Howard (Street Fighter: Assassin's fist). It was written, directed, and produced by Sandun Seneviratne. Together with executive producers Ray Martenstyn and Udana Fonseka they are Grindout Productions, a Sri Lankan production and distribution company.  

You can see the video, here (or click the picture, above).

“Human beings are hardwired to enjoy and tell stories.”
— Sandun Seneviratne

Sci-Fi Storytelling

"Human beings are hardwired to enjoy and tell stories," said Sandun, who has wanted to make films since he was a child.  "That's how we make sense of the world."

To Sandun, film-making is about telling stories through moving images. Hollywood genre movies in particular, he finds to be the most accessible and entertaining storytelling, in our culture.

"I am also a huge fan of Science Fiction," he added,  "it looks to the future and examines the limitless potential of humankind."

Seer: Death Sight is a web series about a psychic assassin, in a nuclear ruined world dominated by corporations. "I wanted to prove that it is possible to make a genre film with high level production value, stunts and visual effects with a limited budget," said Sandun. "My goal is to make these types of movies in Sri lanka, using Sri Lankan resources and involving Sri Lankan and international talent, which will appeal to a global audience."  

Hollywood Actors

If you find the actors in Death Sight familiar, it's because you should. 

"I was looking for the right leading man with the necessary action chops," said Sandun. "We were at the cinema watching The Bourne Ultimatum when we saw this mesmerizing action sequence where Matt Damon Fights an assassin (Joey Ansah) on the rooftops in Morocco. The sequence is still one of the best action scenes ever put on film. We found out that the actor who played the bad guy 'Desh' was living in London and decided to contact him. He loved the script and not only wanted to be involved but also brought in his stunt team and choreographed a brilliant action/martial arts sequence on a small budget."

Here's that fight scene. 

Ansah has also played the villain opposite John Cusack in The Numbers Station and appeared in smaller roles in several films including Snow White and the Huntsman He also wrote, directed and starred in the popular Web series Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist and its sequel TV series Street Fighter: Resurrection. In Street Fighter, he plays the main villain 'Akuma'. 

Christian Howard who plays bad guy 'Kano' in Seer: Death Sight appears as the the main character 'Ken' in the series 'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist' and 'Street Fighter: Resurrection'.

'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist' 2014

Tsuwayuki Saotome who plays another villain has appeared in 'London has Fallen', the sequel to 'Olympus Has Fallen,' opposite Gerard Butler.

Touring Conventions

 Seer: Death Sight has been screened at many top Sci-fi film festivals, including the Phoenix Comic Con Film Festival, Intl Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival of Athens and Fantastic Planet: Sydney. It will be screened at Lanka Comic Con, where you can also meet the Grindout team. Grindout will be joining a panel on independent film making. 

“Science Fiction it looks to the future and examines the limitless potential of humankind.”
— Sandun Seneviratne

Inside Comic Con: Akila Weerasinghe creates a Tuk Tuk Hero

Last year we held a logo competition, for Lanka Comic Con 2016. We were so pleased with Akila Weerasinghe's entry, we decided to make it an official logo for Lanka Comic Con, period.

I talked to Akila about "Tuk Tuk Man," and how he came up with the design. 

"Firstly," he said, "this was an event celebrating things that I hold so dear, I wanted to try and make some contribution. Secondly, I was just stepping out as a designer and wanted more exposure."

Akila wanted to make the logo feel truly Sri Lankan, one people could look at and immediately see a connection. Like so many Sri Lankans, Akila grew up abroad, and the Tuk Tuk was always part and parcel of visits home.  

“I looked towards something I loved about Sri Lanka from my times spent here. Tuk-tuk, three wheeler, trishaw, whatever you wanna call it, was definitely something Sri Lankan.”
— Akila Weerasinghe, Graphics Designer

 

Version 1

His ever-supportive mother suggested he ditch his more complicated initial design, for plain colored, silhouettes:

 

 

 

 

 

Version 2

Later, his friend Sinthujan suggested adding boots, gloves, and an eye mask to bring out the superhero in the character. This design is what won the competition.

 

 

 

 

Version 3 

Finally, after consulting with the Comic Con team, Akila changed the font and made the colors match the national flag. 

 

 

 

 

An Early Calling

Since early childhood, Akila has been drawing. His parents encouraged him and sent him for art classes, where his interests broadened. Pencil portraits, watercolor landscapes, even pen and marker to graffiti. 

For the past four years Akila has worked in digital illustration and design. What started as a university pastime, has grown considerably. To see more of his work or for commissions, you can contact Akila on his page.
 

Lanka Comic Con wins Interim Injunction Against Raveen Wijayatilake

In December 2015, we discovered that Raveen Wijayatilake had acquired LankaComicCon.com, .net, and .org urls through GoDaddy.com. This was immediately following the breakdown in our relationship with him, after he demanded we give him the Lanka Comic Con trademark, which we refused. 
 
We then requested the urls be returned to us, and were ignored. We then made a second request, which was also ignored. We were informed by GoDaddy.com that we needed a legal decision before they would give us the urls, so we filed an injunction against him (H.C. (Civil) Case No. 33/2016/IP), in July of 2016. 
 
The injunction was that: 
He could not interfere with our event in any way
He could not infringe on our trademark
 
Following this, Raveen Wijayatilake announced along with his own event, SLCG, “Colombo Comic Con”. Further infringement followed by proxy, through mislead partners and vendors. For example: 
 

Interim Injunction

We received the interim injunction in our favor, on May 30th. It remains in place until we receive the permanent injunction. As such please be advised, that: 

Raveen Wijayatilake and/or his agents and/or his servants and/or any third party acting through him, are now prohibited by law, from using the Trade Mark ‘Lanka Comic Con’ and or any variations of it in any way including inter alia in any promotional activities or events or brochures, internet sites and/or domain names. 

 “We are pleased we won the interim injunction," said Thilani Samarasinha, Head of Lanka Comic Con. "Now we’re just going through the motions till we get the permanent one. It is high time this nonsense ended though. Comic Con is for all geeks to come together and celebrate our shared culture. It is not a celebration of personal egos.”

Documents

Domain Registration, LankaComicCon.COM
Domain Registration, LankaComicCon.NET
Domain Registration, LankaComicCon.ORG

Edit: Previously, we had stated SLCG had been rebranded as "Colombo Comic Con." This has been corrected.

Monday is the last day to get your Comic Con stall at 40% off

Comic Con stalls and tables are at 40% off, only until Monday (May 15th). 

If you want a stall (18,000 LKR) or a table (6,000 LKR) ** : 

1)  contact us here*
2) Make the payment to:

The Lanka Comic Con Trust
Commercial Bank, Thummulla Branch,
Current Account: 111 602 2457

3) Send us a pic of the payment slip

From Tuesday, the prices go up, to 20% off.   

*Do NOT Facebook me.
** Stalls get preferential placement over tables. For full details, click here.

Get a Comic Con All Access Pass, at Free Comic Book Day

We're selling all access badges to Asus Lanka Comic Con 2017, at the Free Comic Book Day and Geek Art Show.

Badges are 150/-. For that you: 

- Can attend BOTH days (and save 50 bucks! That's like 3 french fries) 
- Go the front of queues, for celebrity autographs and such. 
- Edit: They are limited souvenirs! 

These will NOT be available at Asus Lanka Comic Con. If you want to get one, you got to come to Free Comic Book Day. 

Come early, these are going to sell out. 

Asus Joins Lanka Comic Con as Our Biggest Partner

The computer maker and gaming industry leader, Asus, is now Lanka Comic Con’s principal partner. They are also our title sponsor: Lanka Comic Con 2017, is now the Asus Lanka Comic Con 2017.
 
“We’re delighted to partner with Lanka Comic Con, our country’s Geek cultural festival,” said Ishkey Irshard, country channel manager for Asus. I came to the 2016 show and was impressed with the event and potential, as a result was very keen to come on board and sponsor the event."

Many of us know Asus from when we used to assemble our own computers. Asus motherboards and graphics cards were top choices. Since then, Asus has become the world leader in gaming laptops, sponsoring its own gaming tournament, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Masters. The ROG prize pool by the way, is 200,000 USD.  


 
Asus is also lifestyle company, providing notebooks for all users. Whether you need something to read on, watch movies, or just to work, Asus has a big range and many price points. We’ll be talking about these, and giving people chances to test out, and even win, Asus notebooks.
 
The Asus Lanka Comic Con 2017, will take place on August 26th and 27th at the SLECC.

“Asus is the biggest patron of Geek culture in Sri Lanka.”
— Thilani Samarasinha, Lanka Comic Con Principal Organizer

Free Comic Book Day, and the Geek Art Show

Free Comic Book Day... 

Local comic store startup, Red Dot Geek, is bringing Free Comic Book Day to Sri Lanka. They'll be giving away 2000 comics. Everyone gets 2 free (till they run out). Be early!

 

... And The Geek Art Show...

We'll also be having an art show, just for Sri Lankan Geek Art. Artists will be both displaying and selling their work. 

Feautured artist will be: 

Aishwarya Tennekoon
Prabath Wijeyantha
Orlando Magic (performance art) 
Shanya Kulasekera
Druon De Silva
Kalath Warnakulasuriya
Lakal Chamikara Priyantha
Ruwanthi Sulanjali
Nipuni Rio Manuthunga
Vishwa Thishakya
Paintedfigs

If you would like to exhibit or sell your art at the Geek Art Show, please use this form. 

 

... And Other Stuff

With the LARP Guild, make your own armor, and test it out in a foam weapon fight. Fight for honor, fun, or to be dastardly. 

Paint miniatures with Paintedfigs. You've seen these around. Come and learn how its done.

We're also having a small cosplay design challenge. Make a costume to time, with the available materials. 

Where is this happening? 

At the JDA Perera Gallery, on the 6th of May. Don't drive, there isn't much parking there. 

Info here, and you can follow the Facebook event page, here. 

 

Lanka Comic Con Supports the Empowerment of Young Women

Lanka Comic Con congratulates the students, staff, and families of Musaeus and Visakha, for claiming their half of the national sport. 

You're doing good work changing ideas about what women do in Sri Lanka.

We hope your example reminds young Sri Lankan women, that they too, can do anything.