So I went to the cartoon convention.
Truth be told, much of the enthusiasm I had for it had worn out by the time it came around, so I ended up playing Elder Scrolls 3 the whole Sat instead of picking up my pre-reg ticket as planned. Missed Mizuki “Aniki” Ichirou’s concert, which I kind of regret. Missed several screenings of MS Igloo too, though that wasn’t as bad since the DVDs were on sale. (Not that I bought any.)
Got to the convention at 1400 on Sun, the ticketing queue was pretty much non-existent. Started off by recce-ing the place, mainly to locate the main objective, i.e. the concert stage. The gameplan was to be at the stage by 1500 to ensure an optimum view of the concert, so that left me with an hour to check out the other exhibits. The crowd was quite sparse, most of the people were cluster-*ucking at the stage where the Cosplay contest was due to begin.
First thing I looked at was the Gunpla. The Gunpla and figure exhibits were kind of cool, but most of the floor space was taken up by merchandise. Hadn’t budgeted for merchandise, therefore window shop only. Was really itching to get that Zaku if not for the thought of eating nothing but rations for the next 3 months.
The so called Anime Blockbuster zone was a disappointment. This was what the website promised: “This special content area will showcase some of Asia’s best and most successful animes, delivered to visitors via exclusive footage, artifacts, and rare materials behind the creative scenes, such as storyboards, character design, background design, and prop designs.”
This was what I saw: Giant Poster with blurb and mini-intro of main characters. TV screen looping trailers. Obviously aimed at the intro-level for newcomers. Seriously, a one minute visit to ANN is much more informative. Considering that the shows on exhibit (Code Geass, Toradora etc) have been running for some time now or have already ended, shouldn’t they attempt to engage those who can spot the Code Geass spoofs in Lucky Star? Oops, I forgot it’s illegal to spot Code Geass spoofs in Lucky Star.
The Sky Crawlers booth wasn’t bad though, it was the only which delivered. Btw, let’s go watch the movie, I think it’ll be good. Opens on 27 Nov.
I was done with all the exhibits in less than half an hour, there’s really nothing much to do if you’re not into the goods. Off to the stage I went. The amount of unintentional humour at the cosplay thingy was superb. The Knightmare Frame field repair was entertaining. Mizuki, one of the cosplay contest judges, performed three songs, the themes for Mazinger, Babel II and Captain Harlock. One word: GAR. How I wished I had turned up the previous evening.
The crowd dispersed after the Cos thing - my cue to move in and occupy a choice spot for the concert, a spot which I was to occupy for the next 4 hours. Next up was a screening of 次元爆弾 by Studio 4°C. Stunning visuals, but the surrealism just went over the top of my head, i.e. I dun get it. Ya, I’m a shallow bastard who understands only harem comedy and yuri action. Point to note was that one of the seiyuu for that episode was Kanno Youko. Like wow.
The next 2 hours were spent waiting at my chosen spot. I think I had probably gone mad. But thanks to that madness I managed a first row spot in the free section, with a largely unobstructed view of the stage. Local band Quis came on stage at 1830. They sang jap songs, mostly from anime like GTO, FMA, Deathnote. The L’ arc En Ciel-like stuff. They were pretty good, could probably give the band wannabes on TV a run for their money. The lead guitarist needs to work on his “showmanship” stat though. He looked bored.
May’n came on stage at 1920. Fantastic stage presence. I think she’s been working on her performance too cos I see marked improvement since her appearance on TV some time ago (that video with the Original May’n Greeting TM). Scary.
Nothing much more I can add, since you’ve got to see it for yourself to appreciate it. Maybe there's some video on Youtube? Anw, here’s the list of songs performed, from first to last:
Welcome to my Fanclub’s Night
What ‘bout My Star
Infinity
妖精
Diamond Crab Ass
Northern Cross
射手座午後９時Don’t be late
That’s about all of Sheryl’s songs. Oh, someone taught her to speak english sunny island south of Truly Asia style or something. "Many many people", she said.
Truth be told, much of the enthusiasm I had for it had worn out by the time it came around, so I ended up playing Elder Scrolls 3 the whole Sat instead of picking up my pre-reg ticket as planned. Missed Mizuki “Aniki” Ichirou’s concert, which I kind of regret. Missed several screenings of MS Igloo too, though that wasn’t as bad since the DVDs were on sale. (Not that I bought any.)
Got to the convention at 1400 on Sun, the ticketing queue was pretty much non-existent. Started off by recce-ing the place, mainly to locate the main objective, i.e. the concert stage. The gameplan was to be at the stage by 1500 to ensure an optimum view of the concert, so that left me with an hour to check out the other exhibits. The crowd was quite sparse, most of the people were cluster-*ucking at the stage where the Cosplay contest was due to begin.
First thing I looked at was the Gunpla. The Gunpla and figure exhibits were kind of cool, but most of the floor space was taken up by merchandise. Hadn’t budgeted for merchandise, therefore window shop only. Was really itching to get that Zaku if not for the thought of eating nothing but rations for the next 3 months.
The so called Anime Blockbuster zone was a disappointment. This was what the website promised: “This special content area will showcase some of Asia’s best and most successful animes, delivered to visitors via exclusive footage, artifacts, and rare materials behind the creative scenes, such as storyboards, character design, background design, and prop designs.”
This was what I saw: Giant Poster with blurb and mini-intro of main characters. TV screen looping trailers. Obviously aimed at the intro-level for newcomers. Seriously, a one minute visit to ANN is much more informative. Considering that the shows on exhibit (Code Geass, Toradora etc) have been running for some time now or have already ended, shouldn’t they attempt to engage those who can spot the Code Geass spoofs in Lucky Star? Oops, I forgot it’s illegal to spot Code Geass spoofs in Lucky Star.
The Sky Crawlers booth wasn’t bad though, it was the only which delivered. Btw, let’s go watch the movie, I think it’ll be good. Opens on 27 Nov.
I was done with all the exhibits in less than half an hour, there’s really nothing much to do if you’re not into the goods. Off to the stage I went. The amount of unintentional humour at the cosplay thingy was superb. The Knightmare Frame field repair was entertaining. Mizuki, one of the cosplay contest judges, performed three songs, the themes for Mazinger, Babel II and Captain Harlock. One word: GAR. How I wished I had turned up the previous evening.
The crowd dispersed after the Cos thing - my cue to move in and occupy a choice spot for the concert, a spot which I was to occupy for the next 4 hours. Next up was a screening of 次元爆弾 by Studio 4°C. Stunning visuals, but the surrealism just went over the top of my head, i.e. I dun get it. Ya, I’m a shallow bastard who understands only harem comedy and yuri action. Point to note was that one of the seiyuu for that episode was Kanno Youko. Like wow.
The next 2 hours were spent waiting at my chosen spot. I think I had probably gone mad. But thanks to that madness I managed a first row spot in the free section, with a largely unobstructed view of the stage. Local band Quis came on stage at 1830. They sang jap songs, mostly from anime like GTO, FMA, Deathnote. The L’ arc En Ciel-like stuff. They were pretty good, could probably give the band wannabes on TV a run for their money. The lead guitarist needs to work on his “showmanship” stat though. He looked bored.
May’n came on stage at 1920. Fantastic stage presence. I think she’s been working on her performance too cos I see marked improvement since her appearance on TV some time ago (that video with the Original May’n Greeting TM). Scary.
Nothing much more I can add, since you’ve got to see it for yourself to appreciate it. Maybe there's some video on Youtube? Anw, here’s the list of songs performed, from first to last:
Welcome to my Fanclub’s Night
What ‘bout My Star
Infinity
妖精
Diamond Crab Ass
Northern Cross
射手座午後９時Don’t be late
That’s about all of Sheryl’s songs. Oh, someone taught her to speak english sunny island south of Truly Asia style or something. "Many many people", she said.
My voice is hoarse from the shouting and I sprained my left big toe from tiptoeing. Maybe I should cancel my leave and get an MC instead.
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