Category Archives: genshiken

Save the NYAF, BALDIIIIIIOS

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The second New York Anime Festival ran for this past weekend, oddly three months earlier when compared to last year. NYAF is a professionally-run con, and it shows in a number of ways for better and worse.

Perhaps because NYAF is so young as a convention, there were rarely any issues with lines in order to pick up badges. Both this year and last, I arrived on Friday and obtained a badge with minimal wait, though there was a bit of a hassle due to some poor wording on the website in regards to on-site registration. After that, a friend and I wandered around checking out the dealer’s room which comprises the majority of the convention. After buying a shirt from Sub, we decided that there was nothing much left to do at the con Friday and decided to turn our attentions outwards and towards karaoke.

Somewhat sadly, karaoke was probably the highlight of the con, though that might have to do with the fact that this was no ordinary karaoke get-together but an ultra-manly (and occasionally girly) tour de force spanning the history of anime. After I started things off with the Rose of Versailles OP, Sub followed with a powerful rendition of Holy Lonely Light. We then sang songs from Baldios, Gold Lightan, Hokuto no Ken, Zambot 3, Hajime no Ippo, Southern Cross, Macross, Dragon Ball Z, Overman King Gainer, Albegas, Gaogaigar, Pokemon, Pretty Cure, Soul Taker, and others I think I forgot. We ended, fittingly, with the ending theme to Golion, titled “Gonin de Hitotsu” or “Five as One.” In total, two hours were spent there.

Saturday was naturally much busier than Friday, though I found that there wasn’t all that much to do, or at least not much that interested me. After watching the Top o Nerae movie I went to the anime blogging panel curious as to what they had to say. It was overall good advice, though one thing I want to point to any anime bloggers out there, current, future, and potential, is that anime’s history is 1800 40 years old and if there’s nothing in the new seasons you like you can always look backwards. Other than that, there was nothing particularly important, though in skipping out on the Masquerade I found out I missed the chance to hear Tanaka Rie sing on-stage. If only I had hated myself enough to actually go as I had planned. I also bought a sketchbook at the con and decided to put it and my new black copic to use.

Ogimus Prime

An Anime Con Attendee

Taniguchi Goro

Taison Sanders, the Girl with Fried Chicken Wings

GET IT?

The Ultimate Yaoi Bishounen (with Optimus Prime Arms)

Sunday I woke up early to get the ticket for the Tanaka Rie signing but found out 90 minutes early was still not early enough. I attended the Rie panel, and she was a class act, even accepting gifts. Like all voice actor panels, there were the clowns who tried to speak to Rie in Japanese despite not being able to. Word of advice: DON’T DO THIS. You just waste time and make things difficult for the rest of the audience. The panel does not consist of just you and the voice actor. Now that I think about it, this never happens with the non-voice-actor guests. Go to hell, the lot of you.

A friend of mine had a VIP pass and thus a ticket for the Rie signing, but was unable to find the merchandise he wanted signed. I gave him my Gundam SEED pencil board, and when he returned we hesitated as to who should have it, like two women in front of Solomon, or three kids with a Radioactive Man #1. After much difficulty, I handed over the pencil board as he is a far bigger Lacus fan compared to me. If this were Shindou Naomi and a Cagalli pencil board, things would have been different.

I met the Reverse Thieves at their panel, which was meant to be an introduction of obscure anime to fans. Now not everything on their list was super obscure, but one has to remember that the con-going crowd is not that up-to-date with everything. I mean, Hayate no Gotoku was on their list, and rightfully so. They also mentioned Rose of Versailles, which makes them A-OK.

One major problem with NYAF is that it contained many of the undesirable elements that have been excised from other cons. I speak mainly of yaoi paddles, hug me signs, and the kind of behavior that results from them. There are reasons these things have been banned from other cons, chief among them being that they promote idiocy. Now I have nothing against people liking yaoi, or even advertising the fact that they like yaoi or just showing that yes, they are anime fans. But I don’t see that. I see people using anime, yaoi, naruto, whatever, as an excuse to disregard others and act like jackasses. Guys purposely kissing each other to get a reaction from a crowd, people carrying hug me signs, what I am opposed to is not the actions but the real reasons behind those actions, which generally amount to wanting immediate attention.

The supposed “Anonymous” at NYAF were the same, in that they understood the letter but not the spirit of being “Anonymous.” Anonymous does not Caramell Dansen. This goes double for that guy who was walking around in a Guy Fawkes mask playing Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. When you walk around blasting it and announcing yourself from many feet away, it is NOT a Rickroll. It defeats the purpose OF a Rickroll, which is to be a SURPRISE. You are no more a surprise than a stereotypical asian man lost in the forest tasked with searching for materials useful for survival.

That said, I didn’t think the con was absolutely dominated by this sort of thing. Will I go next year? Well, as with every con I go to (which isn’t many), I’ll have to see who’s there first.

Oh, and the weirdest thing I did at the con was that I stood RIGHT in front of a Cirno cosplayer for a few seconds.

IT IS DONE

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Not pictured but still in my possession are the Genshiken Light Novel, and Kujibiki Unbalance Volume 2 with the Genshiken extra at the end.

Thanks go out to kransom, Asahiya Bookstore in NY, that Book Off in Hon-Atsugi, Kanagawa, and the Electric Town Akihabara.

Ogiue the Moldbreaker

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My fondness for Daidouji Tomoyo predates my obsession with Ogiue by a number of years. At one point, pre-Ogiue, I was talking with someone online, who mentioned that in his opinion Hotaru from Sailor Moon is a “better” Tomoyo. I held nothing against him despite his being completely wrong, but remembering this brief conversation got me to thinking about how many characters I would call variations of Ogiue’s character-type. Ogi-esque, if you will. After much deliberation, it dawned on me that no such other characters exist. Other fujoshi characters bear little resemblance to Ogiue, and are typically much more cheerful. It’s easy to call Ogiue a tsundere, but her tsundere is like nothing else. It’s not even a stronger type of tsundere, like with Kugimiya characters, but it’s a unique flavor full of body and depth that leaves you satisfied.

I think it has to do with Ogiue being a very balanced, well-rounded character. She has this mix of passion and repression that comes out in everything she does. Her simple one-word responses speak volumes as to the kind of person she actually is, particularly because throughout the story she tries her best to hide her true self. And certainly there are characters who often don’t say what they actually think or feel, but this attribute occurs much more frequently on far more aggressive characters.

Or maybe I’m just incredibly biased. Which I am. But I’m still right.

My Friend the Nattou

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Following a Sunday where I delighted myself with a traditional Irish breakfast (blood pudding is delicious), I spent Labor Day with friends at the New Jersey Japanese-based Mall known as Mitsuwa. The last time I was there was over a year ago, and I looked to relive some of that experience, particularly when it came to my dining experience. I knew before I even went that I had to get the Nattou Set, otherwise known as a traditional Japanese breakfast. And just as the idea of a pudding made of blood turns some off, so does the sticky stringy fermented soybean dish known as nattou.

I am well aware of the fact that nattou is easily purchasable in New York City, but I tend to not buy it these days as a courtesy to others. I owe a lot to nattou, as it was the key food in keeping me healthy and keeping my wallet fat while I studied in Japan. It is perhaps as important to my time in Japan as my bicycle and Ogiue (Ogiue riding a bike while eating nattou?) The traditional nattou-based breakfast is a combination of rice, nattou, and raw egg. Each bite was a combination of satisfaction, strong-yet-pleasant flavor, and nostalgia.

It is delicious, if you’re me. A friend of mine who accompanied me to Mitsuwa knew of my affinity for nattou, and so he decided to try it for the first time. One whiff and he decided to hand it over to me. I was happy to oblige.

As an aside, I thought of purchasing some manga or something while I was there, and I had my eye on a volume of the original Japanese Kino’s Journey light novel. I then realized that, having seen the anime, I already knew much of the story and decided to hold off on it, at least for now. Oh, but Volume 7 of La Sommeliere is out. I’m only up to volume 3, so I can’t jump the gun just yet. Sadly I couldn’t find Patrick Macias’ “Otaku in USA,” though I’m sure Kinokuniya or something has it. No worries there.

801-chan Eliminated: Behold My Might, For I Have None Who Can Oppose Me

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There are reports that Kyoto Animation has dropped Tonari no 801-chan but no one is really sure why.

No one, except for me.

I told you that I wouldn’t let any lesser fujoshi usurp her throne, and now you see my power. I hope, as you read your latest volume of Nodame Cantabile, that you are trembling, knowing that Ogiue Maniax is not just a name, but a power source capable of destroying anime in their infancy with but a single gesture.

(In all seriousness, I’m kind of sad this happened. I was looking forward to what KyoAni could have been accomplished.)

(Maybe they’ll go the Xam’d PS3 downloadables route.)

One of the few gripes I have with Genshiken

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In the earlier volumes of Genshiken, there would always be writings by the various members of Genshiken pertaining to particular topics, and always under a psuedonym. They were always a fun window into each character, and early on it was interesting figuring who exactly was who.

Ogiue never had a chance to write.

By the time Ogiue comes around, even Ohno at first is contributing here and there, but in the later volumes it turns into Madarame and Sasahara discussing things like Kujibiki Unbalance preliminary character sketches.

Maybe it’s because Ogiue is more a story-oriented writer, or even that because we the readers are so privvy to her innermost thoughts that it becomes somewhat unnecessary, but the writings were never really “innermost thoughts,” much like how this blog isn’t in the strictest sense.

I mean, I can’t be the only one who’d like to know which Kujibiki Unbalance fighting game character Ogiue prefers, right?

Kyoto Animation to do 801-chan, Hiyorin and Konata cameos deemed inevitable

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When I first heard that Tonari no 801-chan was getting an anime, I was interested in seeing how they would adapt it to a full show. I figured that it would be something fairly low-budget and a decent show, but with the news that they of Haruhi and Lucky Star, those lords of chaos known as KyoAni, are going to be animating the show, well that changes things. 801-chan now has the potential to not only be a show that everyone’s talking about, but the show everyone’s talking about. I for one welcome new shows centered around the concept of the fujoshi.

One problem.

With KyoAni being the engine behind 801-chan, there’s a chance that Yaoi-chan will be the most popular fujoshi around.

And I cannot allow that to happen.

More Than Enough: Otakon 2008

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I went to Otakon with one purpose in mind: to go see JAM Project. Everything else on my priorities list could be postponed or sacrificed as long as I would be able to not turn away, and not show my tears, because I have the power of love to take back tomorrow. I am glad to say that not only did I see JAM Project, but the overall experience of Otakon 2008 has made it one of the best times o my life. It’s a culmination of various parts of a long weekend which turned out to be all too short.

I arrived Thursday afternoon by train along with a number of friends who I’ve known for some varying numbers of years. The first pleasant surprise was the hotel itself. We had taken two rooms in the Radisson, and found the rooms to be spacious, far more spacious than the place we stayed at last year. This was very fortunate, as it meant sleep would be comfortable and not the hassle it usually is at a con. We were later joined by kransom and astrange of welcome datacomp, two happening guys, one of whom is currently on a plane to Japan.

Actually, scratch that. My first pleasant surprise was on the train watching episodes of Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san. I can’t believe how good that show is.

Thursday night was spent sitting back and playing Smash Bros Brawl with friends in the hotel room. The character choices among everyone were quite diverse, and this became a mainstay of practically every day we were there. As is always the case, Smash is simply a great way to unwind during conventions. kransom also showed me a copy of Patrick Macias‘ new book, Otaku in USA. The book is in Japanese, but it doesn’t seem to be a difficult read so I may pick it up at some point.

Friday morning, I went to the dealer’s room. While browsing DVDs, a dealer asked me what I was looking for, to which I responded, “Something for JAM Project to sign.” Luckily, a female dealer standing nearby pointed me out to a Gravion + Gravion Zwei combined thinpack that she was selling. She mentioned to me that the only reason she was here in the dealer’s room was so that she could be at Otakon to see JAM Project. To the kind woman who helped me out, I thank you, whoever you are. Other than that, I also accomplished another major objective that day.

(I also got an Eureka Seven poster.)

My first sighting of JAM Project was at the opening ceremony for Otakon, though I arrived pretty much just as they were leaving. I was there to see the Madhouse-produced opening animation, which basically involved Otakon’s two lackluster mascots fighting every anime character ever on their way to the convention center. Could have been worse, could have gone without it, the result was that I applaud their desire to celebrate their 10th anniversary with something big.

The JAM Project concert was to be held at the 1st Mariner Arena, a few blocks away from the convention center. After a bit of hassle, I managed to find a place in line with Sub from Subatomic Brainfreeze, and his friends, who I’ve met in the past thanks to a mutual friend of ours. There, we spent time enjoying the wonder and prestige of Sasaki Isao English renditions of Maginzer Z themes, who teaches us that, although humans can fight for good, give it all they’ve got, men are weak and they’re flesh and blood. Mazinger, however, is not. I could not think of a better way to pass the time.

At 7:00 we walked inside, me carrying a glowstick which I accidentally snapped. Sitting only a few rows away from the stage got me feeling anxious as I chatted it up a little with the people around me. Smoke began to fill the stage as I realized I was without my DS and could not participate in the inevitable pictochat. This only made me more anxious, as I knew it was almost upon us, the Japanese Animesong Musicians Project, albeit minus a few members I would like to have seen.

I am not a concert-goer, but I do not think any concert will ever top this one again. JAM Project are the masters of keeping the crowd excited with both their choice of music and musical style, and their sheer stage presence. JAM Project introduced themselves in English. You had the Lover of Amateur Rock Music Yoshiki Fukuyama , the Only Female There Masami Okui, the Youngest Member of JAM Project Hiroshi Kitadani aka Dani, the Most POWERFUL Member of JAM Project Masaaki Endoh (said while flexing his bicep), and the Leader Hironobu Kageyama. With an introduction like that, greatness was inevitable.

Their set included a large number of their combined efforts, such as Nageki no Rosario, Hagane no Messiah, and Breakout, as well as individual songs for which they were famous, which included Chala Head Chala, We Are!, Rinbu Revolution, Angel Voice, and Yuushaoh Tanjou! Knowing I had plans for karaoke the next day, I sang my heart out anyway, actively trying to destroy my throat as I yelled GOLDION HANMAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH. Totally worth it.

Especially impressive during the concert was Ms. Okui, who without Rica around had to sing twice as many lines as she normally would. Not only that, but Okui sounded better than I’ve ever heard her sing before. Usually her live voice is different from her studio voice, but on this night the two were one in the same. This, of course, is not to say that the others were anything less than outstanding. You could tell they enjoy their careers, and have a genuine love for anime music.

They finished off the main concert with GONG, then followed up with an encore comprised of Soul Taker and SKILL. I really couldn’t have asked for anything more, besides the presence of the God of Anime Songs Ichirou Mizuki! Sadly, my “Mizuki” chant did not work. By the way, that’s how I think Kageyama would have introduced him.

After the concert, a woman walked by with a sign saying,”Give your message to JAM Project!” All I could do was close my eyes and smile while clapping. I then gave a deep bow to them to show my gratitude. I hope you see it, JAM Project.

With the concert over, this was already the best con ever. I could have gone home that evening and been totally satisfied. Fortunately, the weekend was not over. After greeting Erin from Ninja Consultant (she asked me what I thought of the concert and my first response was to pump my fists), I ended up eating dinner with a mighty group indeed, perhaps the mightiest ensemble in all of Baltimore that evening had JAM Project not been around. This group consisted of myself, astrange and kransom, Mike Toole (whose panel I attended earlier in the day), ricequeen, Daryl Surat, and Gerald Rathkolb. It was an enjoyable dinner at a humble chain-like mexican food restaurant, where we discussed various anime-related topics. Kingdoms fell at our feet, while my ears continued to ring from being too close to the speakers during the concert.

The social aspect of the convention, which I was concerned about prior to attending, turned out to not be a problem, and was in fact one of the most enjoyable aspects of Otakon. While I ate with some anime titans of the internet on Friday, I ate with a different group of people every night that I was in Baltimore. Thursday night, I enjoyed extremely delicious Brazilian buffet at Fogo de Chão with my close friends from New York and college in Pittsburgh. There, while chowing down on lambchop, leg of lamb, pork sausage, garlic beef, filet mignon, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in bacon, etc (I tried to eat as wide a variety as I could), I talked to a waiter from Brazil. He mentioned his fondness for Saint Seiya and Evangelion.

Fogo de Chão is very pricey, so I wouldn’t recommend it as “con food” but as a place to enjoy the company of others while stuffing one’s face with protein-based brilliance, it is worth checking out.

Saturday evening, I ate with the internet. It was a Vegeta-mongling good time.

Afterwards, I ran to attend karaoke, where I gave a poor performance of Disarm Dreamer. There, along with astrange and kransom, I sat down and had a grand old time with wildarmsheero, Link, Omo, Anna, among others. You’ll forgive me if I forgot all of your names, but you were many. I sang along with a number of tunes, including Pegasus Fantasy, English and Japanese Pokemon themes, and SKILL, and tried my hardest to do my Souther impression for wildarmsheero. Watch out for it on his site. I was surprised to find someone singing the ending theme to the Sega Saturn racing game, Sonic R. I salute you as well. Unfortunately I did not have time to sing Minna Daisuki from Shugo Chara, which I had also planned.

While signing up for karaoke, one of the people working there asked me where I got my badge (see all the way up top), to which I said I made it myself. As he looked closer at my badge he suddenly said, “I read your blog!” Thank you, SSJSquall. You made my day in a day full of things which can make days with little difficulty.

On the same day was the JAM Project Q&A, which was a good time for all. There were many highlights to the whole session, but the absolute best was when Masami did an incredible Mizuki impression. Very few things in life will ever top Masami going, “[Mazinger] ZEEEET!” but one of them might be Fukuyama’s sheer antics. This guy is a joker through and through.

Sadly, I missed the Katsura panel because it interfered with the JAM Project autograph session, but I managed to attend the Maruyama/Madhouse panel, which is always a treat. I also sat in for the Fansubbers and Industry panel, which was informative if disappointingly peaceful. John Sirabella, head of Mediablasters, was a blast with his crotchety-yet-informative ways. I wanted to ask how buying region 2 dvds directly affects the region 1 industry if at all, but I was cut off. Maybe next year.

As for the JAM Project autograph session itself, I got to shake hands with them. As Kageyama signed my Gravion box, I pointed and said, “Sparking!” to which he responded in kind. After my friends and I all got our swag autographed, we got together in the dealer’s room to do a Whoa Bundy, the second Whoa Bundy of the day.

I also saw two incredible cosplays during the convention. First was a girl cosplaying as Rosalie from Rose of Versailles. Her outfit was this bright pastel blue, perfect for a shoujo character, and it was as if she stepped out of the pages of Riyoko Ikeda’s work. Second was a cosplay of Billy Mitchell, the first man to ever conquer Pac-Man. I failed to check if he had a bottle of Rickey’s Hot Sauce in hand.

At the train station, I saw Erin and Noah from Ninja Consultant, and wildarmsheero. Along with the friends who I came with, we had a good conversation to wind down the convention, and one of my friends read my blog for the first time. I hope it’s as frightening for you as I think it is.

There are two main lessons I took away from Otakon 2008. First is that on the internet it can become very easy to caricaturize those you talk to, to focus on only one aspect of their character and personality. In real life, we can get along without necessarily needing to debate or to try and make things “interesting.” Those things will come in time.

Second is that, according to Kageyama, this was one GAY 2008.

(It actually says 9 Aug 2008)

Priorities for Otakon

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-JAM Project concert, that Katsura comedian guy.

-Finding something for JAM Project to sign, preferrably a cool, relevant poster or a DVD box set. Something like Scrapped Princess for example, or Gravion.

-Ogiue merchandise. I will not be denied again, unless it’s of course by virtue of there not being anything.

-Meeting with cool people.

-Avoiding the Yamaguchi Kappei line, as much as I’d like to meet the man who voiced Sai Saici. He plays L (from Death Note) and Inuyasha (from Pokemon). The fangirl barrier will be impenetrable.

-I may or may not want to watch a few episodes of the classic Casshern anime.

-Kick, Attack, Lightspeed Punch

Otakon and the Social Con

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As we approach Otakon 2008, which promises to be full of auditory burning passion the likes of which will scar the very cement and bedrock on which the Baltimore Convention lies, albeit without Matsumoto Rica (which looks to be some kind of last-minute decision).

Aside from JAM Project and this awesome guy though, I’m not really beholden to the events schedule. However, after the previous two years, I’m still not sure what is the ideal ratio of attending panels, hanging out with friends, shopping in the dealer’s room, etc. is for me. I’ve somehow ended up as a part of many groups over the years, and while I would want to hang out with most, if not all of them, preferrably over lunch or dinner, there’s only so many lunches and dinners in a day unless you’re a hobbit (note to self: chop off shins). Whereas once I could just go with the flow, it becomes increasingly difficult to do everything I want and still remain relaxed.

I’m sure I’ll be on some degree of autopilot anyway during Otakon, but the question for me becomes, WHY do I go to Otakon?

For JAM Project, of course, but other than that, why?

Otakon is designed for as many people (who like Japanese culture) to enjoy themselves in the way they want. That’s why there’s a gaming room. That’s why there are cosplay and AMV contests. That’s why there’s anime at all. And of course with a con I get to meet people I don’t see normally, and there’s even the off chance I’ll get to know people I’ve never met before, online or off.

I think my worry is that the pressure of a schedule is the last thing I want from Otakon. That said, I’m sure it won’t happen when the time comes.

See you guys there. I’ll be mostly indistinguishable from the rest of the nerds, but you might be able to find me as I scour the dealer’s room for Ogiue merchandise.

…And I also might be wearing an Ogiue badge. Maybe.