Just when I was getting back on my rhythm, NYAF throws me off. Here’s a cheap filler comic. Real one should be up by the end of this week. It’s written, but not sketched or anything. It involves Enjou Kousai. That’s all I’ll say.
My big ol’ NYAF report can be read here.
A bunch of other cool guys have already put up their reports on NYAF, and since mine will materialize formally as a podcast (in likely a month or so) this report here is going to brief.
I wasn’t really planning on going to NYAF, but as the guest list grew to become quite dangerous, along with the announcement of a CENCOROLL screening, I decided that it may actually not be too difficult to make my way over there without spending too much. I lucked out–I managed to get my train ticket covered, stayed with omo, and got in as press. And man, let me tell you, I’m so glad I went to this con for free. There’s no way I’d ever pay for this.
To put it bluntly–the con was run as if it was run by a bunch of children. This is professionally run, right? How is it that a fan run con like Otakon–with all of its issues–can be run better than something put up by alleged pros? Actually, how is it that a event the size of Comic Market, which had 560,000 attendees this year, can be run in a better fashion than what was going on at NYAF? Seriously, man.
Let me outline for you what was going on at this anime con. It was easy as hell to just butt into line as the Dealers Room was opening up, my friends’ VIP badges didn’t really help them do anything (except give us freeloading press some free baggage check) and, well, they fucked up the Cencoroll screening big time. Also, that Tomino translator? I could have done better. Really. And let me tell you, my Japanese is bad. You should read it on my mixi sometime!
But, you know? I had no expectations. And I wasn’t disappointed, really. Actually, I came out rather satisfied with the con despite all of its issues. I got listen to Tomino rant on about modern day film (yet, sadly missed his Q&A due to my own forgetfulness, 若さ故の過ち and stuff like that), got Tomino to sign my vintage Gundam movie program, got a picture with Tomino and… well, a bunch of other not Tomino stuff happened as well.
I really got to know Makino Yui during this con. Going in I didn’t know much about her aside from the fact that she was Nakahara Misaki in NHK ni Youkoso!, but coming out, I’m almost a fan. Her concert was real nice, despite obvious audio issues, and she’s a really cute girl herself. I regret not getting anything signed by her (though we did exchange words when I was getting something signed for a friend) and I’ll probably see about obtaining one of her CDs.
I also regret not doing much with the AKB48 side of the con. They did however pass me by more than a few times in the Dealers Room, and one time one of them waved and said hi to me. Because I was staring at her like a creep. Anyway, their real big concert would have been impossible for me to go anyway, but I do regret missing the mini-show that they put on. I guess if I find time I’ll pick up an album of theirs, too. Man, I sure love underage idols!
The Dealers Room was the typical con Dealers Room, and even though I swore never to buy anything in America ever again, it’s pretty hard to turn down buying things in America at Japanese prices. Ryu Moto–who I missed at Comic Market–was there selling his FuyuComi book way early, so of course I got an issue of that signed. Bkub was also there keeping it real, and–as you saw earlier–I picked up his freebie comic and got him to sign it. It now hangs proudly on my wall. There was another awesome booth there, and its name escapes me at the moment, but they were selling Japanese artbooks and magazines for under Japanese retail price. Here’s how it worked–none of the books had a price tag on them, there was simply a giant sign that said “Ask for price.” So I ask for the price of an issue of Megami Creators I kind of want, and expect to get ripped off. The guy looks at the 980円 price tag and produces a most curious figure of 7 dollars. I bought it without a second thought. Their selection wasn’t stellar, but if they happened to have something that you wanted, it was the place to be. They were selling this book for less than I bought it for in Japan!
All in all though, NYAF was the social con. New York city has a very large concentration of anime bloggers, and the promise of guests like Tomino naturally drew in attendance from states all over. I mainly hung with omo and crew (the crew being AlexD and StarCreator) but met up with a bunch of other cool guys like rabidkimba, Sub, SDS, SushiD, Centimetre (for a split second, as always), The Reverse Thieves, VamptVo, Patz, The Hendane Crew (always chill as fuck guys), along with a whole host of other people who were cool. One notable guy was OGT–someone I’ve had some tension with in the past, but we were able to settle these differences over some french fries. I doubt the dude will blogroll me or anything, but he is following me on the Tweeter. Though, by doing that he’ll probably quickly start to hate me again. I’m a real dick on the Tweeter.
Another interesting social aspect of the con was how many people recognized me because of the Strike Witches cap. In fact, right when I got off of the train a reader told me that he read my blog, and guided me to the Javits center. I don’t know what I would have done without him, since I totally forgot to print out directions! We had a good conversation that I probably should have caught on tape, but I didn’t want to shove the mic in front of some random person I didn’t know and had just met.
And that’s it for the New York Anime Festival. I didn’t know I was going to write this much. 1000 words isn’t terribly brief, huh? Expect a podcast in the future.
And now, loot.
Yeah, that’s about $12 dollars spent right there. The Kannagi DVD was free from the ANN panel, so I can’t hate them anymore. Even if Zac is a shitty little douchebag.
rabidkimba got me that Zetsubou Sensei book from Hendane in exchange for the four or five things I got him at C76. Since five doujin in Japanese money is one doujin in American money. That’s just how the world works.
Here’s the Tomino signature. There’s already a picture of it on the flickr taken after the fact, but here’s a better view.
Speaking of the flickr, I have uploaded some boring, badly shot photos from the con. The only real cosplay shot I took was of my buddy Misuzu (also part of the Hendane Illuminati) dressed as Kagamine Len. Other than that, the cosplay level at the con was pretty weak.
Badass Gundam illustration by Naochika Morishita, because Gundam is always relevant. Also taken from a flagrantly ILLEGAL scan of his book. I’ll buy it one day!
As per the title, Mistakes of Youth will be going to The Anime Con, with the anime con in this case being New York Anime Festival. I tweeted about this on the Tweeter, and meant to drop a note on the blog earlier, but forgot. I was only really reminded by this guy, who is incidentally letting me crash at his place.
So yeah, I’ll be there in all my glory. Hopefully with cut hair. Look for the Strike Witches cap.
Dark and beautiful Tsukuyomi illustration by CHOCO. I actually have a printed collection of these Tsukuyomi end cards, so I feel less guilty posting this up. Also, Hazuki is–much like Gundam–always relevant.
This’ll be another short, bullet point post.
Later!
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We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when– BUT I KNOW WE’LL MEET AGAIN, SOME SUNNY DAY!!
Cast of Characters in order of appearance
Songs
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The battle continues!
Cast of Characters in order of appearance
Songs
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In the dark recesses of your most horrible nightmares, there lies a place called OTAKON. Fearless warriors make pilgrimage to this far-off land annually, but always come out defeated. This year is no different than the previous ones that came before, what with my fellow compatriots and I taking the challenge on once again, but this time with only VICTORY in mind. Can we do it? Can we survive? WHO WILL SURVIVE?! Listen, and find out…!
Cast of Characters in order of appearance
Songs
Otakon 2008 was the best Otakon ever and the worst Otakon ever. It was the best in that I finally managed to pull off the magical balancing act of hanging out with all of my friends from various different communities for equal amounts of time, and it was the worst in that the con programming was, in a word, terrible. But who cares about all that– JAM Project was there!
But, yes, aside from JAM Project, the con’s programming was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Much like last year, they had stupid people on panel duty, so instead of getting cool and funny panels on Nico Nico Douga, we got “How To Wear 8-Inch Heels” or “Otaku Bellydancing 101.” It’s not like I’m one for panels anyway, but the lack of good panels cut down on the urge to walk into random panel rooms late at night, as I sometimes do. The guests weren’t anything to write home about either, with none of them being female seiyuu, and almost all of them being lame fangirl bait. Or some dumb no-name models.
JAM Project saved the day with the concert, though, and it was quite awesome. I wish they would have brought their instruments along, and I also wish that the person working the sound knew a thing about sound design, but whatever– IT WAS MOTHERFUCKING JAM PROJECT.
The rest of the con (read: The Dealers Room) was pretty good, with my buddies at Hen Da Ne being all too kind to me all of the time, and the rest of of the Otaku-friendly booths offering up some hot stuff (usually too hot for my budget, sadly.) I came out of there completely broke come Saturday.
Socially, I had a blast. Like I mentioned earlier, this was the first time that I really managed to hang out with just about everyone I knew for mostly equal amounts of time. I hung out with internet people slightly more than my IRL friends, but only because I see my IRL friends a lot and my internet friends… not a lot. And really, that’s what made the con great. I even got to meet Daryl Surat!
Quick notes
Later.
…and with this strip, the entire comic takes place in Massachusetts. Well, I guess that was already the case when I made the characters hanging out at T Stations, but still. The location of the comic has always been a vague thing, but lately I’ve been opting to make the characters hang out in real locations… sometimes. I’m not in Boston right now, however, so I’m unable to snap locations and work off of them, but once I get back that’ll probably be happening. It makes for more realistic backgrounds! Anyways, I think this comic turned out fine. Some of the facial expressions are wacky, but overall I think it’s ok. The script is fine too, I guess.
One complaint this comic often gets from the Peanut Gallery– aside from the art being atrocious– is that it’s not funny. I’m inclined to agree; I’m not a good writer. I’m still trying my best to carve out jokes while staying true to my character’s thinly defined traits, along with only making comics based around anime fandom. It’s a hard thing to do, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. Comics need to be funny, and if they’re not they fail, full stop. If I had to look at my work completely objectively, I’d say that most of it would barely garner a modest chuckle. So, I’m asking you guys– what do you find funny about anime and its fandom? What would you like to see lampooned? What kind of humour makes you go nuts? Or is the current style of the comic fine? Not sure how many of these responses I’ll actually implement, but it’d be interesting to read them. So, leave a comment!
Anyways, moving on to a less angsty subject (?)– Otakon. It’s in a week, and a few updates ago people said they wanted to meet up, so a meet up will happen. As of right now, I’m thinking 1:30pm on Friday would be good. IIRC it’s 90 minutes after the Dealer’s Room opens, and 30 minutes before the opening ceremonies, giving you time to shop, and time before the opening ceremonies if you wish to attend those (I kind of want to see the opening animation out of morbid curiosity.) That’s the plan for now– if any of the people meeting up have issues with that time, leave a message. The meeting place will be that coffee shop (I believe it’s a Starbucks) near the registration booths and by one of the main entrances. I hope everyone knows where that is. I’ll be wearing a hat.
Saimoe has apparently started, but I think I’ll watch it from the sidelines this year. It was fun to participate, but getting around Comcast blocks was a total pain. Once it gets to the point where I reside in Japan, I will participate no problem, but until then… I’ll just catch the highlights. Also, Kaede probably isn’t in the running, so what’s the point? :V
This anime season is really brutal. I’ve dropped Telepathy Shoujo Ran since I was three episodes behind, and it didn’t seem all that hot anyway. If for some reason it gets crazy good praise then I’ll get back on it, but for right now it’s dead. I’m enjoying the rest of what I’ve ended up with, but I’m still always stuck in backlog. Like I keep saying each week… I’ll try and finish that backlog off today. It’s only about four episodes now…!
And with that I’m off. Later.
At one point I decided I was going to make a determined effort to make comics about all the shows I care about this season, and as such I decided I’d move from Strike Witches to my second favourite of the season, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (while throwing in a Kanokon joke on the side.) This felt funny when I wrote it, but I’m not sure now. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been working on this script for so long that it’s become boring to me, but generally I feel it could have been better. Maybe if I got rid of the last speech bubble– I dunno. I mostly like how the art came out here. The background for panel one is kind of weird, but it works. I’m happy with all of the character art, and have few complaints on that front.
It seems people want to meet up at Otakon, so a meet up will be happening. I won’t schedule anything concrete at this point given the convention schedule isn’t up yet, but chances are most times will be ok since all the panels suck, and the only real event worth going to is the JAM Project concert. For now, I’m planning something on Friday at around mid-day. We’d meet up someplace for a bit, then run down to the Dealer’s Room to buy shit or something. It’ll be fly.
After a long hiatus, the Mistakes of Youth podcast is BACK with a new episode all about Kure-nai. Unlike the last podcast, which was kind of random, this one will mostly focus on in depth, spoilerific discussions of anime. The aim is to provide intelligent discussions on shows– the kind of thing you may be interested in listening to after you finished a series. This first episode isn’t the best since I wasn’t really in top form, but Omo and Link are great so listen to it for them. Expect two new episodes each month.
Like I said earlier, Strike Witches and Nogizaka Haruka are my favourites of the season so far. Strike Witches is just great because of the high moe factor and all of the fanservice. I could care less about the story, but the girls are all very cute, both in personalities and looks, and I love seeing their tight butts and cute crotches every couple of seconds. This is true man’s anime. Nogizaka Haruka also has a high moe factor, but this time in the form of a very cute otaku girlfriend voiced by Teh Mamiko. With this one, I’m mostly watching it for the developing romance between Haruka and Yuuto, and I also like seeing a cute moe girl doing otaku things. It warms my cold, jaded heart right up! I even made a crappy wallpaper for the show!
On the other hand, one show which I was really liking for a bit has gotten way too stupid, and that show is Code Geass R2. In the first Code Geass, I could brush off the stupid and laugh at it, but the amount of stupid in this latest season is overwhelming. It’s still entertaining, but when I start laughing at like… character deaths, that’s not good. Though, I will admit to honestly liking the Geass origin story, but that was balanced out by stupid shit like Lulu’s exploding mirrors and Viletta and Ohgi’s soap opera moment.
Anyways, I should cut off here since I still have a huge backlog of anime to get through, so I’m going to try and burn through at least half of that now. Later!
This comic originally ended differently, but for some reason that old version just didn’t seem right. After a lot of thinking, I just opted to have Rets not speak at all, and just stare. I think it’s funnier. However, the funniest part about this comic is how Tina thinks Strike Witches is “great.” Yeah, Tina’s character is basically 100% wish fulfillment for all us lonely geeks out there (though honestly, I think Nagi, Haruka and Ohno are a lot better, but I try) but making her like a show like Strike Witches– a show that can only appeal to men– is kind of lol. At least I balance it out with making her complain about the lack of pants, which has generally been a real point of conflict with this show. I really like how the art came out this one, and have no complaints.
As of a couple of weeks ago, I’m officially going to Otakon. Now that my payment and stuff is all sorted out, I figure it’s a good time to try my hand at hosting a MoY meet up. I’ve offered this in the past, but no one has really shown any interest. I’m guessing that’s because no one actually wants me to meet creepy ol’ me, or that simply not enough people read the comic. I think I have a pretty good readership now, so I’m trying again. If anyone’s interested in meeting up, leave a comment and if there’s enough interested, we can arrange something.
I’ve really fallen behind on recent anime, and currently have something like ten episodes sitting on my desktop. I’ll try to get through as much as I can this weekend, but it’ll be tough between all the other things I wanna get done (such as a number of erotic pieces for my neglected art site) so with that I’ll be cutting this week’s rant short, too.
My con experiences aren’t defined by events, but more by general emotions and feelings. As such, I can’t really write proper con reports, since I can barely remember what even happens event by event. I can however give you a general rundown of the kinds of things that went on in the Hynes on that cold weekend in March.
It’s not a mystery by now that the con was sub-par. I mean, Anime Boston isn’t exactly known for its stellar guest list, which is part of the reason why I go to cons. I couldn’t care less for the guests this year, except for maybe The Pillows (who I ended up missing, anyway.) So before the con even started, I had nothing to be excited about (at least they had Imagawa last year!) However, even with my low expectations going in, I still got disappointed. The only thing that really made me sour was the lines though, but this sour feeling permeated throughout con by way of the various con goers, thusly putting something of a damper on things. Other than the line issue, the con didn’t have much in the way of interesting panels either, which I kind of expected. The only good panel was Mike Toole’s black and white anime panel, and the rest ranged from serviceable to garbage. The two industry panels I hit up, FUNi and ADV, were fine but nothing of note happened. There was a doujinshi panel which was almost horrible, but I kind of liked it since it was about doujinshi. Note to those panelists, though: when your attendance knows more than you do, there is a problem. It’s not all death and destruction, though. The Dealer’s Room managed to put a big ol’ hole in my wallet, and I hung out with various fun internet personalities, so that stuff almost made up for the crappiness of the con itself.
Seems interest in mainstream fandom has shifted towards Death Note, and for some reason I’m noticing more yaoi appreciation than ever before. Let’s hope it’s just a fad. Nothing wrong with Death Note, mind you. I just don’t see how people can make countless AMVs from the show given it consists entirely of talking, thinking and staring. Oh well, better than Naruto, I suppose. Or, god forbid, Bleach. But why is Kingdom Hearts so popular? That’s not even an anime! Oh, silly US fandom.
Overall I had a good time, despite the organization mishaps. That stuff did bleed into my enjoyment of the con, but not by much. By Sunday, I didn’t care anymore. I won’t be going back next year, but hopefully that’ll be because I’m in Japan studying abroad~
Loot
Podcasts
Photos
This is almost the last of my Anime Boston coverage. A comic, which has already been completed, will go up on Saturday, finishing off this series of madness.
Cast of Characters (in order of appearance)
Seiya and I geek out on the Final Day. Topics of discussion include second-hand towels, old magazines and trading figures.
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