NYAF Day 1 - 11~15% Unpredictable
I think for the most part, my earlier whine on NYAF hit the spot.
What didn’t hit the spot was that I’ve started to enjoy that party atmosphere at cons. I had to kill a few hours of time tonight so I sat in the Gundam 00 panel. The panelists were a couple Bandai dudes (that I ought to know the names since I’ve seen them more than a few times) and the dub actor for Setsuna. And the panel was surprisingly amusing, in the usual dub-actor-after-dark kind of way. So despite that there were no interesting programming (in fact, after the dealer room was closed, the con literally lost half of its floor space due to the way it’s set up), things were still kind of interesting. Kind of.
So what was predicted?
Go go curry on 8th and 38th. Somehow it feels kind of odd splitting a meal with Moy? But it was a lot of food relatively.
Yea, we ate into it already because it was already 4pm and I didn’t have anything to eat since 7am.
Not sure about food tomorrow–there’s too much stuff going on including a possible Rie Tanaka thing. UGH. Plus possible family obligations.
No sight of Rierie all day, which was kind of predicted.
Rain was well-predicted. It made some nice landscape shots…as long as you’re not being rained on.
That thing beyond the cloud? It’s not the promised place…just the good o’ Empire State Building. [Speaking of which there was this podcast about 5cm that I ought to plug, with yours truly being a total scattermind over at mistakesofyouth.]
There was also a lot of doujinshi. There were actually two relatively large vendors. At one end you got Hen Da Ne as usual, but the other was this shady Chinese operation that seems kind of, well, shady. Still they had some interesting wares.
The license announcements are also kind of predicted. Sola and True Tears are hot stuff and the iron needs to strike fast.
And I suppose lastly there was this, among the many (like finding Gia sitting at the anime journalism panel with the other press folks; or Moy’s funky Asian mixed drinks.), but not the least, notable and predictable items. Actually it was truer to life than you could imagine. Minus the dango.
Itazura na Kiss And Where You Can Go on a Train
There’s not a whole lot to say about the romance story of Itazura na Kiss. Yet at the same time, there’s a whole lot to say that should and will be said about a story that is integrated within societal norms, posed both from the perspective of the ones in love and the various viewpoints around the couple. You can look at Kotoko and Irie as an abstraction of a set of social norms. You could look at them as tvtropes. You could even look at them as parallels from your own life. I’m sure people will say what inspires them, as Itakiss is fundamentally inspirational.
Recently I’ve been finally reading Train Man, partly because of Saimoe. To me that book, much like 90% of asian dramas out there, tells the same kind of story. So on that end, much like what I think this guy is getting at, Itazura na Kiss offers more origin than originality to a tired genre that almost dare not touch its foundational core. Probably because it’s so played to the death from the mainstream media’s bombardment. At least in East Asia.
But from the Densha Otoko perspective, Itakiss is a story that approaches the opposites-attract concept in a wholly different manner. Itakiss has a friendly and relatively popular girl who chases a boy who’s hard-to-get despite his well-broadcasted virtues. Densha-san is however a self-professed outcast, gathering courage from others like him, to pursue a girl he likes.
The method between the two are the same–both Kotoko and Densha carries with them some inner virtue which translates into some overt behavior. The behavior did the talking despite each’s best effort of the contrary, just as much so as their steady chasing of their potential partners. However, the way the two romances are framed within society is the polar opposite. Kotoko and Irie’s family are part of their romance story. A bunch of random strangers on 2ch are who is behind Densha’s push to transformation and we don’t really hear about Hermes’s and Densha’s real life.
I guess that’s just how kids roll today. Itakiss started 18 years ago, and it makes me wonder just how far we have come in both the liberation of the individual affair as it clashes with the erosion of nuclear family ties. But maybe new ones are forming to compensate?
Back then I certainly would not have thought this kind of “Autumn Anime Preview” posts would be the only one worth reading. Enough of mainstream romance stories. Give me some Psychic Lover + Space Opera + …actual Opera? Is it me or is Shikabane-hime is kind of cool?
And that’s probably why the otaku is so withdrawn.
To note, I will be at the NY Anime Fest starting tomorrow, and hopefully at all three days. I can’t say what events I will cover but most likely the Rie Tanaka events and the anime blogging panel on Saturday. Others are all up in the air. Still going to charge my batteries and hope for the best. Here goes tomorrow’s prereg won’t be 4+hr linecon. And yes, I’ll be taking the train in, so coverage of it will be even more limited.
Xam’d Episode 11 - Bigger Badder More LOLWut?
Overall, episode 11 is an improvement over the past half dozen episodes. Granted for some, the emotional rush of Akiyuki meeting up with Haru marked a plateau between highs and lows that is the Xam’d rollercoaster, but for most episode 11 is where the action lives. ..More
New York Anime Fest Whine
To be honest I don’t really want to go to New York Anime Fest, but I am.
One big problem I have with it is the venue. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Javits Center, but it is a well-oiled convention machine. One first has to realize that most anime conventions here and elsewhere, domestic and abroad, are just giant shows where vendors of all kinds get together to peddle wares–from the actual goods to services to ads to licenses to shows and everything in between. The Javitz Center is a large space, and it is staffed with experienced people who grinds this kind of stuff through day in and day out. Big conventions happens in NYC just about weekly. It feels impersonal and “feels like work,” to be honest. It’s sort of far away, but I have to commute to go to it, so maybe that’s why.
Here is where being a local con actually worsens the experience, ironically. And it’s not a short commute. But at the same time because it is a much more pro exhibition, the odds of me missing out on some crazy night life involving VIPs and friends is much lower compared to a con inside of a hotel or at a more homely con. No big deal.
If I had my way I’d just go to one or two days; alas I pretty much have to go to day 3 and 2, and I will be in Midtown for day 1 even if I don’t go. Sigh.
It is hardly unexpected that the organizers of NYAF is a corporation that is trying to raise up this kind of geek fanfare; anime is under a spotlight. This year, unlike last, there’s actually a few guests that can and will draw fans. At least I can thank the Heavens that there’s no large jrock draw this year, but at the same time it looks like I have to really make a choice when it comes to programming.
For one, NYAF is one of the few cons where going to karaoke OUTSIDE the con center would make the most sense. Anyone? NYC is not a place where you are likely to run out of things to do, especially if you’re with a bunch of friends.
Maybe it’s just because I’m an old geezer when it comes to anime cons this day and age (and I haven’t been to that many, that long ago), I still remember the day when I could (and did) go and see Shoji Kawamori signing autographs at a table, in a hotel at Arlington, VA. So. Surreal. But no, these professionally-produced cons, as trends go, work the guests differently than pure fan cons. The total amount of a famed guest’s work product as a con guest is portioned out “professionally” among a growing number of fan attendees, each getting their slice of view behind seas of other bobbing heads in a panel room. Or in line for an autograph ticket. Or at a sponsored booth autograph session. What’s worse is that the fan has to focus on the guest programming to make it work.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se, but at the City that Never Sleeps, information and the US dollar are currency for the con goer to purchase some degree of comfort and happiness. This is why NYAF is/was selling “VIP” passes that let you skip lines, get first dibs at autographs and special events, some memorabilia and peace of mind if you’d pony up $150. The normal cost of the 3-day con pass is comparatively affordable at $55. Actually, NYAF has gone out of its way over the course of the past couple months to make new varieties of these VIP prices (focused on only certain guests and events) at $100 or $125 due to high demand. I don’t blame them; it’s a smart move that makes sense for this venue, this location and this organization. But it doesn’t rub you the right way.
Sadly due to my overwhelming apathy at first, I missed out on those $100 Rie Tanaka passes. Well, at least I have saved myself like $45? But that means I don’t get to save time, I have to camp lines, and I will have to do those 10-minute powerwalks from the Javitz Center to, say, 55curry or Burgers & Cupcakes for lunch. Hm, I should try out that Thai place down the block, maybe it’ll cost less per gimmick. Or better yet, I can just sneak in some Chipotle on the way there? Recommend good eats, if you got any–I prefer good location above all else, so maybe some choice Hell’s Kitchen eatery?
Sadly, what I am really whining about is just that I don’t want to camp for hours for a ticket, and then go get an autograph a couple hours later. I don’t want to camp panel lines either. That’s not to mention all the other line-con activities like getting pre-regged and going into the exhibit hall, or looking out where I should be camping ticket bright and early Sunday morning. Or my terrib-long commute Sunday morning with not a lot of sleep.
I want to hang out kool kats like Moy and JP, LOL along with Hinano, and say hi to some new and slightly less new faces. Maybe shake RieRie’s hand :3 So that is why I am still going, I guess.
If this is going to be a less taxing convention experience, I might actually try to enjoy myself at one of those industry panels, or at the Funimation state of the industry panel. I should go say hi to Sirabella because he is lol. And there’s still that Otaku USA thing with Patrick Macias. But alas, there’s only so much you can do in so little time, fighting so big of a crowd.
Or am I just whining that I should have but didn’t buy the expensive VIP passes, and now it’s sold out? Like this guy?
Form Without Power
[It’s weird to be posting things you’ve written 3 months ago.]
When things are done for the sake of itself, depleted of its underlying purpose, it is a type of powerlessness.
That is what a cliché is, and that is why they are bad. But cliché only are cliché when they become a form that lost its significance. The same form, but infused with importance, ceases to be a cliché even if the two looks exactly the same.
Before I got derailed by HaruSummer 2008, I think I was trying to say something about following through and having good form is no substitute for solid storytelling. But at the same time I praise Denno Coil, I end up reminding myself that I still am no fan of its gorgeous production and intelligent weaving of a child’s fantasy with adult sensibilities. Because, at the end, it still feels like a fable used to teach kids to look two sides before crossing the street. (Which, if you think about it, is Denno Coil in a nutshell.) The adult-child that I am longs for intercontinental ballistic missiles going off or long-necked dinosaurs going extinct, not admonishment for spending too much time in front of a computer. It was a blessing that I got both, but it feels like deception, like coating bitter medicine in a candy shell. And maybe it would sit well with me if I was younger. A lot younger.
The wholesale invalidation of its fantasy construct in Denno Coil’s conclusion may be repulsive to me simply because I’m an old geezer, beyond reprimand, but it is still good storytelling. It’s solid. It’s got style and it’s meaningful. Wall-E’s simple, Green and independent message is much the same. I just dig post-apocalyptic Earths much more than I do angry (or worse, worried) Asian parents. Or maybe it’s the inherent message about resistance to change in Denno Coil that bothers me?
The fact that one can discern and make an argument about Denno Coil’s message about resistance of the changing way of life is a testament of its quality. And in some twisted sense of ego-stroking sophistry I think the innate quality of an anime story can be measured in such a way…
But to me, that speaks power. But power here doesn’t mean merely having the guns and knives and bombs and tanks to do war, but the will and meaning behind the threat of force that can drive a nation to win one. Indeed, that is the ultimate problem with fanservice in general; porn and things like Megami Magazine–all for show. The whole moe subculture. There’s nothing behind it (at least at first).
