NEO Magazine #9 artwork & interview

To coincide with the revamped and improved ninth issue of NEO (the UK’s only “Asian pop culture magazine” with a heavy emphasis on anime and manga), UK-Anime.net have run a series of features on the magazine, including an interview with NEO editor Stu Taylor and the revamped issue #9 cover-art. The interview is particularly interesting, revealing that NEO has so far been a success and is going from “strength to strength”.NEO’s Stu Taylor:
“I’d like to think that in five years time NEO will still be on the shelves. Whether I’ll still be editing it then, who knows? It would be great if it has the longevity and reputation of something like Starburst, DVD Review or SFX. But then we could end up being a victim of our success – one of the publishing ‘big boys’ could muscle in, chuck pots of cash at sticking a DVD on the cover and drive us out of the market.”

“That might sound pessimistic, but that’s the harsh reality of publishing: if you’re doing well, it’s unlikely to be long before someone else wades in looking for a slice of the pie. I guess I would just need to have faith that the people who are buying the magazine are picking it up for the quality of the editorial, and would not be so easily swayed by a shameless ‘me too!’ product with a shiny DVD hastily stuck on its cover for a fast buck.”You can read the full interview at UK-Anime.net along with scoping out the new logo and cover-art (featuring MVM’s August-bound Samurai Champloo).