In a few short years, Megatokyo
has become the voice of anime fandom and game-obsessed youth. Fred Gallagher,
the online comic's artist and lead writer, has become a hero who draws convention
crowds that want to share their lives and ideas with him. Megatokyo
connects with its readers in a way shown by the slogan "Relax, we understand
you." "It's like we understand all of these different things that make up
your life," explained Gallagher. "We're poking fun at the culture itself.
I hear a lot of comments that 'This reminds me of me and my friends.' There
are things that are funny to themselves but nobody else. Megatokyo is a window into those people. It's supposed to be a casual story about people and things in their lives."
From online popularity, Megatokyo has moved to print fame. IC Entertainment started selling Megatokyo
collections in January of 2003, and Gallagher said the first printing has
sold out, a second printing is underway and a third printing of the first
volume may be needed. While Gallagher modestly says that "I still don't know
why people read it," he has insights into its appeal. "The web comic is more
than a comic it's a community. You can watch as it grows and get feedback
from the people involved. Anime is so popular in this country but there's
a language barrier, and American and Japanese cultures don't mix very much.
One of the reasons Megatokyo's so popular that there's no language barrier and I'm accessible - people respond positively to it."
Gallagher shared one Sakura Con panel with the creators of the Penny Arcade web comic, and other online comics have been inspired by Megatokyo's
success. "If you encourage people to do creative things, that's great," he
said about Megatokyo's influence. The web comic is so popular that cosplayers
have made Megatokyo outfits, and character T-shirts with throwaway
phrases like "evil leet" have inspired fans to make their own shirts and
wear them to conventions. Gallagher's life is now consumed with Megatokyo.
He works all day on each week's episodes and feels that "I owe it to people
not to miss an episode - I don't want to let them down." The pressure to
succeed seems to come from an artist who cares about his fans. "It could
be really lame for two weeks and people would stop reading. If I don't keep
doing what I do, it could be dead in six weeks. People would continue to
like us in general, but they'd have no reason to come to the web site."
In a few short years, Megatokyo
has become the voice of anime fandom and game-obsessed youth. Fred Gallagher,
the online comic's artist and lead writer, has become a hero who draws convention
crowds that want to share their lives and ideas with him. Megatokyo
connects with its readers in a way shown by the slogan "Relax, we understand
you." "It's like we understand all of these different things that make up
your life," explained Gallagher. "We're poking fun at the culture itself.
I hear a lot of comments that 'This reminds me of me and my friends.' There
are things that are funny to themselves but nobody else. Megatokyo is a window into those people. It's supposed to be a casual story about people and things in their lives."
From online popularity, Megatokyo has moved to print fame. IC Entertainment started selling Megatokyo
collections in January of 2003, and Gallagher said the first printing has
sold out, a second printing is underway and a third printing of the first
volume may be needed. While Gallagher modestly says that "I still don't know
why people read it," he has insights into its appeal. "The web comic is more
than a comic it's a community. You can watch as it grows and get feedback
from the people involved. Anime is so popular in this country but there's
a language barrier, and American and Japanese cultures don't mix very much.
One of the reasons Megatokyo's so popular that there's no language barrier and I'm accessible - people respond positively to it."
Gallagher shared one Sakura Con panel with the creators of the Penny Arcade web comic, and other online comics have been inspired by Megatokyo's
success. "If you encourage people to do creative things, that's great," he
said about Megatokyo's influence. The web comic is so popular that cosplayers
have made Megatokyo outfits, and character T-shirts with throwaway
phrases like "evil leet" have inspired fans to make their own shirts and
wear them to conventions. Gallagher's life is now consumed with Megatokyo.
He works all day on each week's episodes and feels that "I owe it to people
not to miss an episode - I don't want to let them down." The pressure to
succeed seems to come from an artist who cares about his fans. "It could
be really lame for two weeks and people would stop reading. If I don't keep
doing what I do, it could be dead in six weeks. People would continue to
like us in general, but they'd have no reason to come to the web site."
