Category Archives: Introspectives

December 30, 2014

Year in Review 2014: Event Log

By omo

I only write about eventing because I do it, okay? It’s not because I have any special insight or anything, but it would be nice to put into words why I spend so much time and money doing it, and how that time and money is spent. So here are some events I attended in 2014. I think I’m done attending for the year…

Mocho Nansu Sora

In this style—

1. IM@S Butai Aisatsu @Saitama with Nu/Kido/Mikku/Yuiton/Zekki – I was less than a meter away from them at one point. The yojos impressed but the cosplaying kansaijin cutie impressed more. Also how many more Haruka/Miki/Producer shikishi am I going to get?

2. Yukari Tamura Fruits Furits Cherry SSA (Saturday) – Dodged snow in US to fly to Japan only to find more snow. My first Yukarin live was pretty much an eye-opening experience too, and it’s definitely not the ideal sort of live for newbies. I had a good time and I can see how much fun it could have been if I knew the songs a lot better (and the calls a lot better).

3. IM@S Butai Aisatsu @Wald9 with Azumin/Mocho/Nansu/Tenchan- Mocho was Mocho on first sight. I became smitten with Mocho on first sight. Tenchan was strikingly beautiful. Nansu was not much to look at (literally, I was a little far from the stage and she is small) but she delivered her speech with conviction. Azumin was already in senpai mode. Also a long story behind this butai aisatsu to share if you poke me in person.

4. KOTOKO Kuuchu Puzzle bonus Live – It was great finally hanging out with Momotato after his ordeal, and doubly mind-warping learning about KOTOKO’s Raleigh trip at the same time as this live. KOTOKO showed her guts while I tried to not trip on the uneven flooring I was standing on half the time.

5. M@STERS of IDOL WORLD – Changed my life perhaps for the better. Also went to my first JP-style offkai, let alone my first IM@S live and all that jazz. A lot of other firsts too. HPT was born.

6. Nonnonbiyori live recording – I didn’t know Rieshon and Ayaneru can be this restrained. Sasuga Asumiss. Koiwai is also a cute.

7. Sakuracon – ELISA is gracious and lovely. Ishikawa Yui is kind of cute but pretty fresh. Most memorable part was talking about IM@S with the Aniplex animators throughout the con. I’m glad Aniplex/A-1 is doing their anime now. It just can’t be anyone else.

8. Anime Boston – JAM Project was great. Live Mask was dream-come-true, bucket list stuff. Good to see Asa-nee and Minaguchi-san again. Had a nice chat with Dai Sato that I really should publish…

9. Anime Central – Meeting Myu and the WUGs was wonderful, besides that I froze up. WUGner dinner/offkai was totally set up off-the-cuff, but big shoutout to the JP crew for being so cool. I had a great time at dinner despite the language barrier. JTV was born. I later marathoned Knight of Sidonia because of Angela’s OP. Hello Mr. Yamamoto, Mr. Hiro.

10. Anime North (Haramii North) – Seiyuu-wise, Haramii is the best personality I’ve met, on par with Noto. Hanamaru Cluster are cool guys, sup Ninbin, Sky)ry. Mai Goto was a cute. Shibata-san was legendary.

11. Anime Next – Luna is a cute nerd. Haruhi pose works well even if it’s pointed the wrong way aaaah. Luna NA fanclub start unofficially ww. Koyama and Waka are awesome. I guess you can expect as much behind the two people who made Inferno Cop.

12. Anime Expo – Terrible con aside, Angela was great. Lunatic Joker is wonderful. Kill la Kill crew is top. Aniplex delivers again. So many good guests actually. Good times were had.

13. Otakon – Doing Cyber Cyber with ALTIMA. Ojou and Motsu are cool, Sats is affable. Their Warner manager asked about my Myu happi. I have no words again. Hayamin was lovely and earnest. I will cheer for her. Also so many Ps! So many livers! Hanging out with my OG crew feels like the world is all one.

14. AWA – Ardith is almost guest-class by herself. Loverin Tamurin is solid. Shonen Knife even better. MiQ is top tier. There were BBQ and watching WUGchans getting scared in a hotel room, and watching @Paranda_update repping Hibiki with a VocaloidP once the Nunu connection is shown. Vocaloid force is stronger than ever. Attended my second Nihongo de OK ever in the same year.

15-18. Idol attack NYC series: Miku, Babymetal, Morning Musume ’14, Perfume. Local crew. Local brew. Maspi burger. Will do it again every time, except hopefully be able to book Yakiniku West for once. East Coast represent.

In 2015 I already have the following prospective events:

  • 1/16-17 – Lantis Festival Las Vegas – All set
  • 3/1 – Idolmaster Station!!! Public recording/concert – Ticket secured, TBD if PTO/Flight doable
  • 3/8 – WUG Solo Live (Myu) – Ticket secured
  • 3/13 – Masami Okui birthday live – In process
  • 3/14 – TryAngle Harmony public recording #3 – round 1 lottery in a couple weeks
  • 3/15 – I’ve 15th Anniversary Live – Ippan in progress
  • 4/4-4/5 – IDOLM@STER Million Live 2nd – round 1 lottery in 3 weeks
  • 4/3-4/5 – Anime Boston – First guest announced, alternative to ML 2nd.
  • ??? – IDOLM@STER 10th Anniversary Live – Logo revealed today LOL.
  • June – Anime Next – Local con don’t hurt to go.
  • July – Otakon – Semi-local con don’t hurt to go (usually).

Welp, maybe I’ll hit status even before 10th at this rate.

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Leave a comment | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Introspectives

December 22, 2014

Year in Review: Why You’d Have to Wake Me Up, Girl?

By omo

A work-related thing happened right around the time when I was going to go to Japan in February this year, and as a result of that I have no time to do much recreational stuff. Blogging had to take a back seat, because I just didn’t have the time. The day job deserves its dues. [That said I still put in some solid time in One For All this year and I’m not sure how it happened.]

A hobby-related thing happened right around the time when I was going to go to Japan in February this year, and as a result of that my mind is pretty much honed in a biblical, your-money-is-where-your-mind-is-also kind of way. If we think of idols as gods, isn’t this just the second coming of Shintoism? I feel the energy just sap right out of me.

But a part of that isn’t just Omo-san@ganbaranai, but also for the first time in a long time I feel a major squeeze between the various aspects of my life. Maybe I re-prioritized my tastes, likes and hobbies, but it kind of sucks to have to re-prioritize everything else too. It’s like being a new-born dad, except your waifu is also your daughteru, and in my case none of them are ships.

So as I begin to thought-dump 2014 into the open and public internet, hopefully for mutual benefit, let me just say that no matter if you did one or a hundred fan things, as long as you can go home with some sweet memories and as few regrets as possible, you have won at the game of life. At least, that is how I am modeling it personally. And it only works if you introspect, if only to know if you’ve actually won or not.

「WakeUp，Radio！（生）」（第5回）_学研パブリッシング_ch2582330.flv_snapshot_00.32.29_[2014.12.22_00.48.37]

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1 comment | posted in Introspectives, Wake Up Girls!

December 20, 2014

Year in Review 2014: IM@S PSYCHO

By omo

Belated Happy Birthday Iku! Great way to ring in the new year!

アイマス最高

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1 comment | posted in Idolmaster, Introspectives

May 12, 2014

The WUG Life Chose Me: WUGners’ Valkyries and the DD

By omo

Intro

In the opera house, the Ride, which takes around eight minutes, begins in the prelude to the Act, building up successive layers of accompaniment until the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four of the eight Valkyrie sisters of Brünnhilde have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla. As they are joined by the other four, the familiar tune is carried by the orchestra, while, above it, the Valkyries greet each other and sing their battle-cry. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_of_the_Valkyries

The WUG and WUGners

https://twitter.com/yamacane_0901/status/381692162141720578

The Wake Up, Girls! are formed in 2013. The anime and related activities went into full swing late 2013-early 2014. In September of 2013, Yamakan and company coined the term for what WUG fans are. The intent to call the seven-girl idol team WUG was also pretty clear cut early on.

It’s not clear why Yamakan called them WUGners. It’s also not clear why WUG was named after a love hotel in the anime.

The flight

The WUG are coming to America, visiting Chicago’s (and the US Midwest’s) premiere anime convention, Anime Central. ACEN 2014 will also host 15 WUGners from Japan, if not more. The Japanese fans are somewhat organized. For me, it’s almost adorable to see oversea folks do logistics like how we did logistics for the trip we pulled earlier this year. Thankfully Chicago is a well-connected US city from Narita. Thanks to the internet, you can track them down on Twitter, and on various online locations. There are no lotteries for tickets, no proxy really necessary. You can sign up for Crunchyroll even if you are in Japan.

In usual fashion, Japanese WUGners will bring their cheer and some green glowsticks to spread said cheer.

On arrival, the Japanese WUGners will face the usual hurdles one faces at a large anime convention. From the registration line to the apathetic concert crowd at the usual con concert, how will they handle the adversity? The difficulty communicating in a foreign language? Trying to do their best in the context of a foreign culture? Will WUG themselves be enough of a unifying force? Will others, WUGners or not, lend their hands?

The life of a DD

And here lies the rub.

Let me flash my hand real quick: it’s almost like a proof to a existential question. What I want to know is why can I write what I just did. Do I even like Wake Up, Girls? I am going to say yes. After all, one of the WUGners (the one that posted in Acen forums, actually) is also a fan of Yamakan. What a coincidence! Glad to see I am not alone out there. While I admit I don’t always agree with Yamakan or his methods, and surely I can see where he would likewise disagree with my beliefs, I think on the whole he’s on the right track. So it’s not just a superficial cute-girls-from-Japan-that’s-also-from-an-anime kind of thing that is getting me all excited about ACEN or flying out there to see WUG. Maybe.

It isn’t that I am prone to liking idol stuff–I think my tastes for media entertainment developed contrary to mainstream hooks for such things. With proliferation of the cute girls variety show that passes for the independent or underground idol scene, it’s not a surprise to see someone who consumes so much media to find something he likes. I think that’s just the way it works. The problem is that pureed mix of what passes for chic critical thinking and what passes for merely jadedness as a form of self-selection or self-protection. That’s bullocks.

How do you make of the people who enjoyed Yamakan’s works? Or just anime with a splash of spice and flair? How about the people who post videos of themselves dancing to anime themes on Youtube or Nico, or the cosplayers that chase the year’s hottest character trends? Friends, this is the life of a “daredemo daisuki” (DD) scenester. It’s not like just because I call myself a MakotoP, I like only Makoto. Just because I put her in the front of a series of greater-than signs doesn’t mean I don’t care about anyone else. And it’s with the realization that even among those who are considered “hardcore” you have people who does it with some sort of perspective, a bit like a cross between spring fever and someone who can play a bunch of different MMORPGs and still get his homework done.

You take those two concepts and you get what is clearly the next step: defining the Live Lover.

Outro

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one in a group of female figures who decide which soldiers die in battle and which live. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre

Instead of idol wars, let’s check out the most excellent way.

PS. “Love live” is as bible as it gets.

1 comment | posted in Introspectives, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop, Wake Up Girls!

February 16, 2014

Thought-Dump Japan 2014 Part 1

By omo

So what kills blogging is not twitter, it’s a grueling schedule of a) line up early for goods/events/etc b) events c) post-event hangout d) post-even hangout pt 2. e) oh hey it’s 4am. f) repeat.

But I’ll take this time to write up some stuff. I hope to go to bed soon so should be short. Right.

Bunny berry pink penlight

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2 comments | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Introspectives, Off Topic, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop