Anime Insider

Anime Insider was a monthly magazine published by Wizard Entertainment, consisting of news and entertainment pieces relating to the Japanese anime and manga subculture. The magazine began in 2001 as a one-shot special publication under the name Anime Invasion, but soon changed its name to avoid trademark infringement with another company's brand. In its earliest incarnation, it was published from Fall 2001 till Fall 2002 as a series of quarterly specials under the title Anime Invasion. It then became a bi-monthly magazine in November 2002, and was renamed Anime Insider in April 2003. The magazine was changed to a monthly release schedule in July 2005, which remained its current cycle until it ceased publication in 2009.

Anime Insider was touted as the "#1 anime and manga magazine in America" in circulation. It contained informative features, such as interviews or exclusive reporting, and articles dedicated to satire or humor were often also included. A trademark feature in Wizard publications, word bubbles were added to printed pictures. With the demise of Newtype USA in February 2008, Anime Insider was cited as the English-language anime magazine with the highest distribution and sales across North America.

On March 26, 2009, it was announced that Anime Insider would be ending publication after running for eight years. Rob Bricken, a former editor of Anime Insider magazine, wrote that Wizard Entertainment was ending publication of the North American anime and manga periodical. The editorial staff has been laid off.

Anime Insider was also published in Indonesia since 2003. Both the magazines were available on Alfamart store, but the Indonesian edition of the magazine was ceased in May 2011, that means 2 years after the original of Anime Insider was ceased first in 2009.

The magazine included various sections and features. The News portion covered events and trends in the anime & manga industries as well as coverage of conventions. Animail, a combination of the words "anime" and "mail", was a section dedicated to answering questions submitted by readers. Results from Anime Insider's monthly web-poll, reader comments, and selected fan art were posted in this section.

Among the features were A.I. Five, which summarized a popular anime title debuting domestically that month by suggesting the top five reasons why viewers would enjoy this particular series/OVA/movie. In their Flash in Japan segment, an anime series that was currently airing on TVs in Japan was profiled for American audiences, prior to licensing in the U.S., with quotes from the shows' directors. The article Last Man Standing was a fictional story that put two anime characters that are similar in nature but are from different shows against each other in a type of imaginary match.

Each month, a new manga title scheduled to be released in America was previewed in Anime Insider, publishing a chapter from an upcoming volume. Some manga included Trigun Maximum and Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. The 41's manga preview was Disgaea 2.

Sections of the magazine were also dedicated to information regarding domestic DVD sales, this section had a listing of new releases for that month. Recurring segments include Lip Service (interviews with voice actors), Eastern Egg (extras in Japanese DVDs), Must See (new release recommendation), Free Swag (merchandise sold with discs), and Disc Drive (Japanese releases).

Another section focused on theatrical

releases of Japanese-produced films and anime. Casting Call (suggestions for actors portraying anime roles) was the recurring column for this section.

In all, Anime Insider played an important role in the anime and manga subculture in North America and beyon