May 28, 2014

Anime North 2014: Wrap

By omo

Day Three of Anime North is just like Day Two, just minus the brunch and more casual. Most of the JP Ps went back to their hotels after closing ceremony was over; Harami and Mai both attended that event, and that ended at 7pm. Most cons don’t end this late, for a weekend-type con. We ended up eating at a tex mex place down the road and it turned out a lot more affordable and about as delicious. It was also a little bit of an acrobatic act; originally it was a dinner with just some local Ps and the HPT guys, but some JP guys wanted to tag along so the party size changed from 13 to 26 and back to 16. I again tipped well.

Did I mention that on Saturday’s off-kai at the local steakhouse chain (it’s not as upscale as, say, Ruth Chris’s) we did RE@DY? We were able to get a whole corner of the place to ourselves and a few JP Ps went off on it.

After hanging out with all these new-found Ps, it was kind of moving. By day three we were sufficiently bonded with some JP Producers that we had a tough goodbye at the parking lot. We came back to the hotel and did more calls and lightstick waving. Hacked the hotel TV so we can watch 8th live. Remember the glamours AI LIKE HAMBURGER routine.

And this is how Anime North feels like a 4-day con even if it’s just 3 days long. On Monday we got up at a reasonable hour and walked around Niagara Falls. It’s always fun to see the largest watering hole on earth.

Yukari puppet

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1 comment | posted in Conventions and Concerts

May 25, 2014

Anime North 2014: Day 0-2

By omo

Well, the party ditched us, so we’re at the hotel typing up the con report and what not. That’s the bad news.

That and I didn’t get a Harami autograph on day 2, which is not too bad because the good news is that so far everything else at the con has gone according to plan. This means we had a great time at the offkai talking to some gents from Japan who really like Harami.

Harami sure played it like an idol, which is okay given that has become somewhat expected of her, who announced her first solo live and what not.

Exciel-P has got the charisma and enough organization powers to pull things together. I did what little I can to pitch in, and Paranda is baller as usual. Moy made a good tsukkomi partner. FirstP brings us back to earth with his student-like attitude about the world.

So far Anime North is proving its status as third crowded, and unlike last week’s Anime Central the whole affair feels distinctly international, and not just because there are more than 30 JP Ps here (or maybe better put as Hanamaru Cluster) because it’s gotten “so bad” that the Ps here are talking about how they are kind of ruining AN for the locals who also love Harami.

The brunch experience is tops, and I recommend it again for any AN goer next year.

This also marks the second cosplay I did, back to back cons… Man.

Roll with the best

PS. Mai Goto is like a cuter Chiwa Saito lol.

2 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop

May 19, 2014

Anime Central 2014: Wrap

By omo

So the hotel I stayed at had paid-for wireless, but we didn’t feel like it. I suppose if I didn’t lug my laptop around I could’ve left it there to set up internet sharing, but screw that. It also means no mid-con update posts.

WUG

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2 comments | posted in Conventions and Concerts

May 15, 2014

Anime Central 2014: Day 0

By omo

Nanami

I’m actually not at the con yet, but I figured there are notes I can share.

First off, ACEN is the third largest con last year in US and Canada. That’s really impressive. This also means if you didn’t book a hotel room way ahead, it’s real hard to get a room. Unlike AX or Otakon, the area near the con is not exactly the most pedestrian friendly either. Somehow we got rooms. It’ll be a little crammed but it’s not too bad. It might also be a hike, but I’ll live. The last time I visited ACEN was 2005 so I expect everything to change greatly, including the crowding.

Second, WUG is here courtesy of Crunchyroll. They’ll be rolling all their autograph sessions at their booth. Details can be found here. And here. Bottom of that post also has a list of events at the con for WUG and Yamakan/Hiro-san.

Acen guest guy camps the forum well, so it’s cool. JP WUGners are coming as mentioned.

Angela landed and will have goods. They have a booth autograph in addition of the ACEN ones. Details in the link. Good, I like goods.

I’ll be draining LPs and rocking out my 3DS streetpass games while bouncing between scheduled conflicts. Yeah. This is also the first time doing Press for ACEN, and I vaguely remember some issues they had with Press, which explains why their Press process is kind of horrific.

I mean, I think I’m going to miss all the Final Fantasy chamber music stuff. Terrible.

 

1 comment | posted in Conventions and Concerts

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!