We all know what an...interesting year it's been in the world of anime-related magazine publishing. Let's not dwell too much on the negative, shall we? How about some good news for a change? OK, how about this...

With issue number 7 hitting newsstands now, Otaku USA Magazine is celebrating the start of its second year in print. With a very broad range of otaku topics (o-topics?) from fringe film to those strange collectible figures you never knew existed, not to mention a metric ass-ton of manga coverage, the magazine seems to have found a stable niche in the suddenly rocky Japanese culture market.

While I'm sure its success is mostly due to the very hard work of its editors and publisher, I like to think that little old Japanator is beginning to bestow its surplus of awesome unto the magazine. For instance, in this new issue our own Zero-chan (Heidi Kemps IRL) has an incredible interview with artist and illustrator Kazuma Kaneko. Kaneko has worked on many video games, most notably the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. Heidi manages to squeeze a ton of info out of the man. Then there's me. Toot toot! I've got a rather lengthy interview with vis-kei mega band Versailles as well as a couple album reviews featuring Budo Grape and Polysics.

Overall, I must admit, our own brilliant contributions aside, it feels like this is the most solid issue of Otaku USA yet. I'm really hoping for good things to come in their next year. Go check it out now!