Red Fish Gifts

Items for ACen 2010

2010-04-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

We're continuing to get ready for ACen this year, and I wanted to post some of the items we'll have!

Anime bookmarks (the old classics, and some new ones)
Anime cellphone charms (a big hit last year)
Silk fans and paddle fans (hand painted!)
P-chan piggy banks (a signature item =)
Anime wallets and billfolds (new for this year)
And of course a slection of our Red Fish Gifts items

We may also have a few more special items... these are in the works, but we're not sur eif they'll be ready. In any case, we hope you'll check us out in the Artist's Alley!

Gearing up for ACen 2010!

2010-04-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Just a note that we're gearing up for Anime Central in May! ACen is our favorite convention, and the one we've been attending for the longest. We're getting all our anime items together for our booth in Artist's Alley. More info to come, but for now, check out their site:

Anime Central 2010
May 14-15, 2010
Rosemont, IL

Reactor Wrap-up

2009-09-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who visited us at Anime Reactor last weekend. We were glad to meet you: we had a good time with anime fans and talking with other artists! The location for the Artist's Alley was very nice; if only we were next to main programming at every con! ;)

We hope you had a great time at the anime con if you went, and if you didn't please feel free to check out our CafePress store to see the new designs we offered this year.

See you at the next convention!

Reactor Artist's Alley Hours

2009-09-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Anime Reactor is this coming weekend! And we just found out the hours that the Artist's Alley will be open:

Friday: 11:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday: 9:30 am to 6:30 pm
Sunday: 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

We hope you'll come out and see us there! We'll have the usual anime con merchandise (anime posters, bookmarks, and some of our Japanese fans) as well as some special items from Red Fish Gifts. See you this weekend!

Anime Reactor incoming!

2009-08-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Anime Reactor is only 3 weeks away and we're getting ready! We've printed up some anime bookmarks for the con, including a bunch that we'll be giving away to people who come to our booth!

One of Akane's main projects is the anime bookmarks she creates. She draws tons of anime-themed bookmarks, and people get them to keep their place in manga, or in any other book. They've been very popular so far, and this year we'll have even more. We're excited to be offering them at Anime Reactor for the first time this year too!

We'll have all our usual bookmarks, plus new ones featuring all the art currently up at Red Fish Gifts. We hope you'll come by and look at the bookmarks, or any of the other Japanese items there, or at least to look at the art. See you at the Reactor!

Feature: Lovely Lolcats

2009-08-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to feature two of Akane's lolcat-inspired pieces of art. They are both exceedingly cute and they are actually really good companion pieces.

Hugz plz!

The first one is this sad little guy here. Can it be hugz time now? This piece of art may remind you of a favorite pet, or perhaps a favorite lolcat, but one thing's for sure, someone needs a hug. ;)

This image is available as a Hugz plz! T-shirt, and on other items too. If you wear this shirt, get those puppy-dog eyes ready, and get ready to seek some affection!

Hurray!

Now, we don't want to end on a sad note like that, so let's look at a companion piece.

Perhaps this one features the same individual after receiving said hugz? In any case, this fella is a happy pet, and I hope you're happy too.

Getting a Hurray! We love the happy day! shirt is a great way to celebrate an anime con, comic convention, or just a Saturday off.

Both images are available on several shirts, as well as bags, water bottles, and more. Just let us know if you'd like it on another item and we can make it happen.

Anime Reactor Information

2009-08-08T12:54:00.001-07:00

Here's some information on the upcoming anime convention, The Reactor (also called Anime Reactor):

What: The Reactor
When: September 18-20, 2009
Where: Wyndham O'Hare hotel, in Rosemont, Illinois
What: convention for anime, comics, and more. Will have an exhibit hall, artist's alley (yay!), cosplay events, games, and some industry guests.

Get more information at the Reactor website.

This is the first year we're in the artist alley at Reactor, so we're pretty excited. More info to come!

The (Anime) Reactor

2009-08-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

Just a note that Akane will be at the Anime Convention, The Reactor, in September. The con used to be called Anime Reactor, but now it's just The Reactor. Anyway, the con info is:

The Reactor
September 18-20, 2009
Wyndham O'Hare, IL

There's going to be an artist's alley as well as an exhibitor's hall. It should be fun! This will be the first con we have Red Fish Gifts items as well as general anime items for sale.

In the coming weeks, I hope to make some more posts on the con, maybe some teaser images or other info. It's a month and a half away but we're already excited!

Hope to see you there!

On twitter! Tweet!

2009-08-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

We've set up a Twitter page to go along with this blog and Red Fish Gifts. It'll be Akane's Twitter page, for notes on art, anime, and other cool intarweb sightings. The link is: http://twitter.com/AkaneKatsuyama

About Us

2009-08-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog for Red Fish Gifts!

This is the blog for Red Fish Gifts, a project designed by Akane Katsuyama to bring you original anime-themed artwork and designs. All images are original works by Akane, and we hope you enjoy them.

Akane Katsuyama, artist

Akane Katsuyama is the artist. Her work features anime- and Japanese-themed art, as well as items from your favorite video games, manga, and internet memes. She is happy to offer these designs on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs, stickers, and more through the Red Fish Gifts store. She is also available to discuss custom designs and artwork.

Akane often makes appearances an at the Artist's Alleys of anime conventions like Anime Central and the Anime Reactor, where she sells artwork as well as anime-themed bookmarks, postcards, stickers, and more. Akane also does art showings and photography with her family. Her work has been shown in local art galleries and art guild shows.

Noshi, tech goon

Noshi is the "Chief Blogmonkey," which is to say the techie who makes sure the blog is blogging, the twitter is tweeting, and polls are polling, and the Red Fish are... fishing? Basically he makes sure the bits and bytes line up.

If you would like to contact us, please leave us a note on:

Red Fish Blue Fish

The "fish" in "Red Fish Gifts" come from Japanese tradition. When white paper has been developed, but before it was commonplace, it became traditional to use paper, folded in a formal way, to wrap a gift for good fortune. Customs developed about the way to fold the paper, and what colors to use. Heavy white paper and red/white paper were often used.

Over time, these ceremonial gift wrappers became known as "noshi," because it was also considered good luck to enclose a gift of "noshita awabi" (dried abalone meat) in the wrappers. This tradition evolved over the years, but small paper foldings are still attached to gifts in Japan, much as gift tags are used in the West.

If you'd like more information on this Japanese tradition, please visit:

Irasshaimase! Welcome!

2009-08-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Red Fish Gifts blog! Red Fish Gifts is all about unique anime-inspired artwork, designed by Akane Katsuyama. From engrish to anime, from Japanese art to manga, from video games to general humor, Akane and I love it all and want to bring it to you!

My name is Noshi, and I am the Chief Blogmonkey for Red Fish Gifts! We'll be posting some designs here, as well as information about the designs and their inspirations. We'll also try to post information on what anime conventions and other events we'll be at.

So welcome again, and hope you stick around for the ride!