Anime Expo 2014 | Geekscape

Geekscape Interviews: FAKKU is Back for Anime Expo ’16!

by Kari LaneJune 24, 2016

Next week Anime Expo returns to the Los Angeles convention center and FAKKU will be there! I interviewed Mike Ingraham, Creative Director at FAKKU, about their exciting new changes and special event at AX 2016!

No idea who/what FAKKU is? Read our 2014 interview with them to learn all bout this hentai website/company.

******WARNING***** Adult content discussed below!

Gearing up for AX 2016, how do you feel?

Haha, what’s the best way to put this? Nervous yet excited. It’s another big year for us and there are a lot of odds and ends to wrap up before the big weekend!

What can fans look forward to at the expo?

FAKKU has a lot going on this year at Anime Expo 2016! Where to start… Besides our booth in the Exhibit Hall (booth #705), we are bringing out two Japanese guest artists, Napata and saitom. They will be doing signings and panels over the course of the weekend so be sure to come check them out! We have some limited merchandise including a dakimakura with art by Napata, and a 6 doujinshi box set of saitom’s work. Really excited to have those for the convention!

This year, FAKKU is also an official sponsor of Anime Expo! We’re throwing a big party on June 3rd at Lounge 21 at the convention center! It’ll be from 9PM-1AM and we’ll have an area for photos with the guests, drinks, giveaways, and live music! There will be three sets by HentaiDude, Revolution Boi, and Meishi Smile. It’s the first time we’ll be hosting an event of this size and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m ready to party! And anyone who comes through the door gets a free 7 day subscription to FAKKU. Be there!

Since our last interview, FAKKU got into publishing. How has that been going?

It has been quite a year for FAKKU publishing. Not only have we published 24 books but we also launched our magazine subscription service. The magazine service publishes ~1,200 pages of brand new content straight from Japan every month. We get comic Kairakuten, Shitsurakuten, and X-EROS that have some of the most top tier artists. A subscription costs $12.95 a month and that’s roughly the same amount it would cost to purchase these 3 magazines in Japan.

Any other new changes?

As most people know, FAKKU removed all unlicensed content some months ago. It caused somewhat of an uproar but we are proud to have made this change.

What started these new changes for the site/company?

It was inevitable that we would have to take down unlicensed content . Hosting unlicensed content is how we started to combat the service problem of getting high quality hentai in English but we have now gone through the motions to remedy that. We now have new content flowing in every month where the artists get royalties from us.

Were there any difficulties in changing things up?

There were no immediate difficulties other than hiring enough people to put out this much content haha. Our team has grown significantly over the year and I’m happy to have everyone that works for us. People were upset that we lost so much free content and that’s perfectly understandable. But we have a lot of support and subscribers and I’m thankful for that. It keeps us afloat and gives FAKKU the potential to grow and do even more things in the future.

What are you most proud of regarding FAKKU’s new adventures?

I’m proud of everything FAKKU has done! Seeing our people work on daily magazine releases, new books, t-shirts, web development, and everything that makes FAKKU run is truly inspiring. We have some passionate people here and I’m proud of us. If I had to pick one recent project that I’m personally proud of, it would be the saitom box set that we are selling at Anime Expo. It was awesome speaking with saitom and his design team directly and working to bring this set to fruition. The last doujin in the set is Wrapping 2, which will be released by us before Japan even sees it. That’s a major milestone in my mind and I’m happy FAKKU has the opportunity to be a part of it. I hope you all enjoy it!

What are some of the recent conventions FAKKU has had a booth at? And how did things go with the fans?

FAKKU was recently at Phoenix Comic Con, Kawaiicon, and Fanime to name a few. We love going to conventions and meeting all the fans that support us. It’s kind of funny because our convention staff is typically just our work staff. When you go to a con you will meet the people who are working in the office. Graphic designers, typesetters, project managers, etc. All the people who are working on the content itself are the ones selling your hentai! Most people don’t know that and we are always happy when customers are happy with the product we worked so hard to create.

How has the feedback been from fans online and at the conventions?

The feedback has been great! It’s really something when, in one way or another, people let you know they’ve fapped to your work haha. But the fans make it all worthwhile. I love it when people come up and talk about the content we’ve published, offer some suggestions for books, or just stop to say hello.

Anything else new that you can share?

We just recently put up a Kickstarter for Toshio Maeda’s Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend. We’re super pumped to have the opportunity to work on Toshio’s work! There’s a lot of really cool tiers including original artwork by Toshio, and even dinner with him in Japan! I hope we get enough backers so we can release this awesome series for everyone. Of course, we have some secret things in the works that we hope we can announce the second half of this year.

Where can people find out more?

Be sure to check out our website (www.fakku.net) and follow us on Twitter (@FAKKU)!

Anime Expo 2014: FAKKU Interview Mature Content

by Kari LaneJuly 10, 2014

******WARNING***** Adult content discussed below!

A few years ago, Anime Expo added adult (18+) panels to their line up. These were well received with people lining up over an hour in advance and rooms filling to capacity. ‘Hentai Worth Watching’ hosted by FAKKU, was one of the first adult panels and has been back every year since. Obviously people are curious to know which hentai IS worth watching. During Anime Expo 2014, I interviewed Mike Ingraham, Project Director at FAKKU. Read on to learn more!

So for those who may not know, what is FAKKU?

M– FAKKU is the largest English speaking hentai website in the world and we just recently became publishers. We will be printing English uncensored copies of WANI Magazine’s ero manga. FAKKU has grown into so much more than just a hentai website as well. We have a great community and it is always so much fun coming to Anime Expo and meeting all these friendly faces in person.

How would you describe hentai?

M– Funny thing, hentai actually means perverted/creepy person, deviate, etc. in Japanese. It’s actually a rather harsh term! To the Western community, however, it has become the term we use for all adult material with the Japanese anime style. Manga, doujinshi, anime, anything adult themed could be referred to as hentai. What I love about hentai is that the possibilities are endless. You could have the sweetest love story or the funniest, most ridiculous scenario ever imagined.

How did FAKKU get started?

M– It started with Jacob wanting to start a doujinshi site because at the time they were all less than credible pay sites. He made the website in college and had it sitting for a while until he came across the word “fakku” which is slang Japanese for… well I’m sure you can guess! He then decided to put it on the web in 2007 and it has been growing since. I joined FAKKU a couple years later as a moderator on the forums and I have been going to cons and doing panels with him ever since!

Mike Ingraham, Momoka cosplayer and Jacob Grady

How many years has FAKKU had a panel at conventions and about how many conventions have you attended?

M– Wow, how long has it been? Haha. I think our first panel was at Anime Boston in 2009. Since then we have been doing them all over the United States and even Otakuthon in Montreal. As for conventions I’ve attended, I think I’ve only been an “attendee” at two conventions, but working booths and doing panels… that’s a whole different story! It must be pushing 50+ by now…

How many years has FAKKU had a booth at Anime Expo?

M– I believe this is the 3rd or 4th year that we have had a booth at Anime Expo.

How was Anime Expo for FAKKU this year?

M– Absolutely unbelievable. I had so much fun meeting with all sorts of people, new fans and old ones. We had great reception about our deal with WANI Magazine and it’s just the kind of encouragement that I needed. To know that the community is happy for us and completely supporting us makes the job worth it. I’ve been a fan of hentai for a long time and to know that my peers are excited and looking forward to our releases is the best feeling. The panels are always fun and to get people laughing and asking us questions is why we do it!

Can you please give a brief description about the panel(s) you hosted at Anime Expo?

M– We had 3 panels this year, our first was ‘Manga and Doujinshi’. We talked about what ero manga and doujinshi were, the process, and our new deal with WANI Magazine. ‘Hentai Worth Watching’ is us showing a few of our favorite hentai anime titles, new and old, and giving some commentary of our own about them. This is a fan favorite, as well as a personal favorite of ours. Our last panel was the FAKKU Q&A. Fans line up to ask us questions about anything! This one can usually get a little personal but it’s all in good fun!

Jacob and Mike hosting ‘Hentai Worth Watching’ at Anime Expo 2012 – Bicycle Fairy

Congratulations on getting a bigger room this year for your panel! It seems there is quite a demand to attend your panel. Any comments?

M– Why do so many people want to see us!? We’re just a couple of blokes talking about hentai! Haha. But on a serious note, it’s great that so many people want to come see us but I heard that there were still hundreds of people that weren’t able to make it in because we hit maximum capacity. Hopefully next year we can get an even bigger room and not let anybody down!

What is it like talking to a room of hundreds of people about hentai?

M– You would think it would be strange or awkward but it’s so much fun! That’s what I love about what FAKKU has become, it’s more of a community of people with similar interests and Japanese anime pornography just happens to be one of them. I don’t get nervous or anxious because we’re all just friends hanging out and having a good time. We joke, laugh, share our thoughts, our favorite hentai or anime or manga, our waifus and husbandos, and anything else that comes to mind.

How do you choose the material you talk about in your panels?

M– Like I said earlier, we are just huge fans at our core. All of the stuff that we choose are things that we like or have seen that has made an impact on us as fans. Things that we want to share with everyone and think fans similar to us would enjoy.

Congrats on becoming publishers! Could you please tell our readers a little about FAKKU’s new chapter?

M– Thank you! We are very excited to announce FAKKU Books! Recently FAKKU has made a deal with WANI Magazine, one of Japan’s top ero manga publishers. We have the rights to release their work in English and completely uncensored! I have been a huge fan of WANI Magazine for a very long time, so this deal is still so unreal to me. They have worked with over 300 artists and chances are there is a favorite among them for everyone! Our first releases will be “Renai Sample” by Homunculus, “PuniKano” by Pyon-Kti, and “TiTiKei” by Ishikei.

Anything else you would like to share about your company?

M– I just want to say I’m so happy that I can work with FAKKU and bring porn to all the good people of the world. FAKKU Books is only the beginning and we hope to do even more amazing things in the future. Keep an eye out for our new releases and I can’t wait to see everyone again at Anime Expo 2015!

Momoka by Cross_Over