Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

At Comiket Day 3 Nippon Banzai levels get shot into overdrive and manifest in completely bias incoherent ramblings in line. At Comiket Day 4, fatigue levels get shot into overdrive and manifest in simple incoherent ramblings. But it’s like that guy said, it’s all about catching that moment, that instant in our lives.

And you can listen to it, if you want!

We did end up meeting Kono Azure. Missed Ryu Moto, though.

Guests

• Chris (Hen Da Ne)
• Anonymous

Songs

• Opening Song– “Yume no Naka E” by Inoue Yousui
• Ending Song– “Ending Chorus: Beginning of the Universe” by Hattori Takayuki

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Once upon a time, there was a Comic Market. Unlike the previous 75 Comic Markets before it, this one was a little different: I was in attendance.

This is the first half of a two-part series that covers my adventures–as well as the adventures of those with me–at Comic Market 76.

Guests

• Mouse
• Chris (Hen Da Ne)

Songs

• Opening Song– “My Pace Daiou” by Manzo
• Ending Song– “I’m Feeling You” by Capsule

The anime calendar has been something of an addiction of mine for the past five years. It has gotten better over time–what was once four calendars a year has now turned into one–but I still love these things as much as I did when my set of coveted anime calendars arrived at my door during my senior year of high school.

For those who don’t know, the made-in-Japan anime calendars don’t really function as calendars. They’re giant B2 pads that contain seven pages illustrations; a cover page, and six other pages that cover two months each. Dates are shoved into a small area of each page, and aren’t easy to mark off to make a notes or something. These calendars are in effect a set of very nice posters that you change every two months, and what makes or breaks a calendar is obviously the quality of the illustrations at hand.

Generally the illustrations aren’t anything ambitious, but they tend to be a step up from generic stock artwork and sit more on level with anime magazine pinups. In the case of an otaku-oriented program like Sora Kake Girl, the pages of its respective calendar are all about the girls looking cute–often times in very little clothing.

The girls in Sora Kake Girl all sparkle with their own unique brand of cuteness, and each page does well to make sure their good sides are showing. These good sides are of course their breasts, butts and legs. Whether it’s Nami thrusting out her tight body while grinning maniacally, Itsuki adjusting her bikini bottom with her butt to the camera, or simply Akiha striking Japan’s favourite V-sign, each illustration is executed with professionalism.

It goes without saying that the quality of these illustrations is better than a random screencap. What’s on display here happily occupies the realm of DVD cover or Megami poster illustrations. The colours are rich and bright, and extra care is taken with the shading and lighting effects. The highlights glow, and the shades are made deeper with choice use of gradients. Dirty pencil lines are obvious up close, but that becomes a given when one’s room is filled with Megami posters. It’s nothing ambitious–like I said before–but it’s all well done.

There are some issues, however. Firstly, only five of the seven illustrations are originals (to my knowledge) and the remaining two are simply re-used Megami posters. They aren’t bad illustrations, but it is rather lazy. That said, the images are printed in the calendar’s larger dimensions, and their colouring comes out more brilliant than their respective Megami pinups’. Secondly, the paper isn’t really strong stuff. My Hayate no Gotoku and Zettai Karen Children posters from years previous were printed on more resilient stock. Because of this, the pages took something of a beating during shipping, and it shows if you look closely.

Putting those nagging issues aside, however, this calendar is a great buy if you’re both a fan of Sora Kake Girl and need a calendar for the year. It’s not the gold standard of anime calendars that Kyoto Animation calendars are, but it’s a nice set of cute T&A pictures to compliment all the others hanging up on your wall.

And since I couldn’t think of a good place to dump these, here’s some bad photos of each page. There’s no scan of this calendar to my knowledge, so if you want it, you have to buy it! Don’t worry! You still have until the end of February before that first page becomes useless!

Before I launch into this unorganized mess of thoughts, I just thought it would be prudent to inform you that this post is in fact an unorganized mess of thoughts. Enjoy!

After a year or so, OS (or that guy I used to talk to on AIM a lot) made a post on the latest incarnation of his blog saying he’s outta here. Gone for gone. Packing his bags. While his post in itself didn’t offend me, it was a comment left by Hung that inspired noticeable levels of rage. Long story short, OS has lost interest in anime, and feels kinda bad about it. His post is allegedly a look back to the “good ol’ days” of anime blogging (i.e. probably no more than four or five years ago), but it reads more like a giant apology for no longer being a nerd and instead taking pleasure in watching football and fuckin’ women. Hung–who never ever has anything good to say, really–weighs in with his far more bleak point of view, suggesting that anime is only something you do when you’ve got nothing else, and by god he doesn’t wanna go back!!

I see nothing wrong with losing interest in a hobby. I’m not the huge Star Wars fan I was when I was a kid, and I don’t feel bad for it. However, I do see something really negative in losing interest in a hobby, then showing disdain for it. Especially showing disdain on a blog about the hobby that you’re showing disdain for!

Every situation is different, but I can see Hung’s story plain as day without even speaking to the guy. This dude got into anime in college–at the very earliest, senior year of highschool–and was blown away at the fact that drawings filmed together in a sequence could tell actual stories! These cartoons weren’t concerned about whether or not it was rabbit season, nor were they about one-hundred-and-one talking dalmatians. They had real human characters, man! This shit had drama, this shit had comedy, this shit had MARTIAL ARTS, and it was all STRAIGHT FROM FUCKING JAPAN, MAN. This shit was so exciting, young Hung didn’t know what to fucking do. He did crazy things like start some fuckin’ anime blog and some fuckin’ anime blog aggregator. Dude was doing whole bunch of crazy things just because he liked these cartoons. Then after the 1000th summer season of love comedies and sad girls in snow, the dude got sick of it all. To put it all briefly, the dude got burned out.

My story is a little different. I discovered anime at the impressionable age of ten, watched a bunch of shit I should have and should not have, and I had a good time. There also wasn’t a lot available to me, so I couldn’t really binge on torrents or anything. But above all of that, I saw anime as simply an extension to my already very active enthusiasm towards animation in general. Anime wasn’t something new and weird that was automatically better than everything else. It was simply an addition to the types of media I enjoyed taking in. Okay, so it was new and weird, but not so much that I lost track of myself.

I’m not saying I’m better than the people who only got into anime in college, but I think perhaps my lack of access and early time of entry has positively effected my longevity as a fan. I think my gradual easing into the medium as I aged did well to defuse any disappointment I may have had a as result of noticing that all of these cartoons aren’t that wonderful, only some of them are. If anything, Hung’s case is just tragic, and it happens to a lot of ex-fans. That’s why there’s a lot of dead blogs out there. That’s why Garten finally stopped writing. “The Hung Method”, as it were, oftentimes leads to jadedness. This isn’t bad in itself, but shit gets personal when you start making your jaded nature known to other fans happily taking in this stuff. That’s basically what I’ve been trying to say across these 700 words and counting.

A jaded fan is someone who sees absolutely nothing redeeming in what he’s a fan of anymore. However, since he’s still a “fan” he sticks around and chimes in with his often uninformed and cynical viewpoint from time-to-time. (For an example, take a look at Hung’s latest masterpiece!) By all means, this person should get the fuck out and stop bothering us. But no, they stay. Hung is still around in some form, and Zac Bertschy and Justin Sevakis still work at Anime News Network.

In fact, I have to thank Zac and Justin for wonderfully illustrating just what distinguishes a jaded fan from other fans. Especially those fans who may be perceived as jaded because they come off as overwhelmingly negative and critical. It was in their episode of the ANN Cast where Daryl Surat guest starred. Before that point Daryl Surat was, in my mind, something of a jaded fan. This was before I came to the definition that I outlined in the above paragraph, mind you. But after listening to Zac and Justin talk about how just how awful everything is, then listening to their conversation with Daryl, things became very clear: Daryl is a huge fan. Daryl is excited about anime.  He just has very specific tastes. (Correct me if I’m wrong, Daryl.) It’s the same with all those Brazen Braggarts over at Colony Drop. Between reading their blog posts and speaking to them on IRC, I don’t think any of these guys are jaded, they just have very specific tastes. Even Sean, who is arguably the most cynical, and who I’ve argued with on numerous occasions (he wins because I can’t think straight) gets excited about some things.

In an attempt to bring this all together, the difference between the legions of jaded Hung-like fans who just couldn’t replicate that first high and our friends at CD and the AWO is fire. Passion. If you’re not excited about this hobby, you should just leave. Even if you disagree with them (I’m sure a lot of my readership does.) Daryl and CD have something to say, and they mean it with all their hearts. Hung doesn’t. This has fire. This doesn’t.

(And before anyone gets on my case for jumping on Hung, I’m simply using him as an example for an trend I’ve noticed across my time as a fan. He’s just the closest thing in my sights at the moment.)

Today is December 3rd, and you know what that means!!

It’s Nagi-tan’s birthday!!

She’s a little shy, but she eventually ate her cake. She did insist on the Rei cup, however.

You can celebrate Nagi-tan’s birthday, too! And in many different ways! Either do it the way I did it above, or this next way!

(more…)

There was other media represented in the book, but I didn’t care about any of them except for Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. And I guess Railgun.

I paid 60 bucks for this, and considering I got a nice dakimakura cover out of it, I think it was a good deal. Would have rather had paid 2000 yen at Mandarake or something though.

Yeesh, just when this blog was getting classy with reviews of obscure manga shorts and interviews with cool people, I throw it all away. Now Matt Alt won’t ever want to link to the interview.

Ｉ’m going to pretend this dinner was made by Kaede and it was actually very delicious and not crappy.

She for some reason went from one state of undress to another when I brought the cake out, don’t know why.

I think I will keep a record of the birthdays of all my favourite characters then eat cake with them to make this blog even more kimoota.

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Part II of the Matt Alt interview! Topics covered include MOE anime, Gundam, Eva and Tokusatsu film. My many thanks go out to Mr. Alt for agreeing to come on this dirty show.

Guests

• Matt Alt

Songs

• Opening Song– “Senaka goshi ni Sentimental” by Miyasato Kumi
• Ending Song– “Anime Ja Nai” by Arai Masato

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

At long last, my interview with Matt Alt! At least the first part. A variety of interesting topics are covered, such as Matt’s early encounters in Japan, translation philosophies and why old anime is cool!

Yeah, the quality is shit. But you can hear 95% of it, and the remaining 5% are bad quips by me.

Guests

• Matt Alt

Songs

• Opening Song– “Macross” by Fujiwara Makoto
• Ending Song– “Suna no Juujika” by Yashiki Takajin

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.

Just taking a little shot I took at C76 and making it look cooler.

I still want to do some write-ups on both Comic Market and Wonder Festival, along with perhaps another piece on my time in Japan. There are however a million other real blog posts I want to do, and it’s difficult to find time between school and me doing silly impulse posts like this.

Hopefully I can throw together some quick NYAF impressions by tomorrow, though.

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Wonder Festival may be long over, but our Beauty Memories live on… in the form of a podcast! The content of this show is true to the title for the first 10 or so minutes (believe it or not, there was even more of just me talking that was edited out) but after that there’s a good review of the event overall between me and lastarial. We learned quite quickly that it would be impossible to catch any audio at the event itself.

We actually talked about a bunch of fascinating things in line, but I never know when to switch on the recorder. Oops.

Some old photos.

Guests

• Lastarial

Songs

• Opening Song– “Mr. Noone Special (Reprise)” by Cymbals
• Ending Song– “Muzak Cycle” by Cymbals

GODS, WHY MUST YOU FORSAKE ME!?

NYANTYPE!!! Why do you put THIS issue out just after I’ve left Japan?! Ok, the Nagato poster in the issue I actually bought was neat and all, but she’s not really my favourite, you know? Ugh. I guess I can find this used on my next trip over. Shouldn’t be too hard to find…

I am sad that I have no Mikuru posters gracing my walls. I guess another thing to do on the next Japan trip is along with picking up this issue of Nyantype, I’ll have to pick up Haruhi-era Megami issues.

Ok, man. It’s time to chill.

Background music.

(more…)

Ok guys, an NYAF report will come soon, with podcasts coming in like… probably a month or so, but for now I need to talk about something of an issue that’s often brought up in my neck of the internet, and was brought up while I was behind the Hen Da Ne table at NYAF, so it’s fresh in my mind.

That issue being, what’s with these fuckin’ moe shows that have NO STORY AT ALL, MAN. WHAT’S WITH THIS SHALLOW MODERN ANIME?!

When people talk about how much they fucking hate shows like Lucky Star, K-ON! or whatever, their first criticism is that these shows have no story. I don’t honestly think story is a requirement for most entertainment media. While story driven things are great, there’s nothing wrong with a show that relies solely on its characters.

The next thing that people fire at me–and this is specifically aimed at K-ON!, since it’s the show of the hour–is that THIS SHIT ISN’T FUNNY. And you know, in all honesty, I’m not too crazy about K-ON! I too don’t think it’s very funny. Actually, when I was flipping through the original manga back in Japan, it seemed the joke delivery in there was funnier than it was in the anime. I do, however, feel it is a good show. It’s really just about some girls hanging out and living life, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You can feel free to not like it, but don’t say that it’s bad because it’s doing exactly what it’s setting out to do.

The problem here is that people can’t really differentiate between their own tastes and what a show sets out to do. I have the same problem. But then again, there’s also people who just don’t approve of what a show sets out to do from the get go, but those people are probably just stuck in a time before 1989, so they’re impossible to help.

After all this, the finishing blow goes something like, “these moe shows are condemning otaku to a fake reality from which they are unable to escape, making them unable to function in the real world.” This is an awful, sweeping generalization. Then again, I can’t quite say my rebuttal to this is entirely in the right considering it’s based off of limited experience, but this experience is certainly more thorough than that of the people who haven’t even been to Japan to meet these otaku they just love to badmouth.

The stereotypical otaku still exists in Japan. You see them around, especially at events. I’ve spoken to some of them. They’re not bad guys, but they are pretty easy to look down upon. However, what you find to be more common these days is an otaku who is–quite honestly–kind of like these Yappies Matt Alt has been talking about lately. I mean, they’re not crazy and don’t carry around anime log books and shit, but if you were to walk into my manga club at Jouchi University, you’d be surprised at how fucking hip these people look. Part of it is because in Japan–generally–young people just tend to dress up nicer than American young people. This is also because as the years have gone by, being an otaku has slowly worked its way into the mainstream. It’s still niche as fuck, but I don’t think fandom today takes as much pride in putting on the wife-beater and headband just to be a cultural outlaw.

That’s not to say that these guys don’t enjoy indulging in these “moe anime” (I hate saying that by the way, since “moe” isn’t a genre) and some of these cool dudes even snuggle up with their dakimakura–just like me! Remember this guy? Dude fucking loves dakimakura, figures and tapestries. However, in addition to writing about that stuff on his mixi, he also talks about shopping at high-end clothing stores, and let me tell you–the dude was sharply dressed whenever I saw him. In addition to that, he was very sociable with everyone and you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell he was an otaku unless he told you he bought that Fate dakimakura because he loves Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha so fucking much.

Most of the fans I met in Japan just–on the whole–just seemed a lot more socially adept than most American fandom. You know Shima Shima? Guy who draws lots of Cardcaptor Sakura doujinshi? The dude is chill as fuck. I’d go out for Hoppy with him. At this point, I think being an otaku has simply evolved into a lifestyle, and the requirement to be weird about it is slowly fading away. And these guys know how to poke fun at themselves, too. It’s not as if they’re shutting themselves in a fantasy world. They’re just living a different kind of lifestyle from most other people, and are cool about it.

So basically, all y’all are wrong.