GRAB BAGS SUCK! ... I mean, AWA 2010

Hello and welcome to chansu’s amazing post of Anime Weekend Atlanta! The wiles, toils, and otherwise spoilers are yet to come! But first, what is AWA you ask?

Other than being the aforementioned acronym [Anime Weekend Atlanta], AWA is a 3 day convention for anime/manga/otakudom that took place in the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Panels ranged from “Artistic Bento” to “ Traveling to Japan” to “MANime- The Manly Anime Panel” along with a countless amount of others. Since the con went on in a Hotel, it was a 24 hour celebration that never slept!

My favorite panel/showings were Durarara! the anime, and AMV Hell. Durarara is a conglomerate of stories built into one, that all mesh together and serve as a backdrop for the mystery of the Headless Motorcycler that cruises around town as a “transporter,” ultimately doing good and saving people. But there is much more to this story than meets the eye...

AMV Hell was basically a “Robot Chicken” sort of arrangement of AMVs, all about 30 seconds and about complete randomness. Most times they were explicit and weird and creepy, but at the same time others were ingenious and made me laugh out loud. I had no clue what I was walking in to see, then I was walking out with tons of spoilers in my mind, unsettling thoughts, but most importantly laughing so hard it hurt. Don’t hate me, Deretsun, I gotta post this ;D

The major guest of honor was, of course, Vic Mignogna. The line for his autograph was perpetually longer than the line for free food, but at one point I walked past him and said, “Hey Vic!” at which he replied “Hey, stranger!” without a second glance.

Of course AWA had it’s share of cosplayers, but to be honest there was a smaller group of costume clad con-goers at this one. But as they say, quality makes up for quantity. Everyone who was in costume seemed to have worked really hard on their outfits:



Master Roshi!


Ukuu and Aya Shameimaru from Touhou!


Kimblee and Greed from Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood!


Luffy vs. Vegeta, who would win?


Hidan and Sasuke from Naruto Shippuden!


It was also really funny what you can see at a Hotel/Con. Good guys, bad guys, and weird guys doing normal person things:



Sasori and Deidara enjoy McDonalds...

But in the end they really gave me the desire and motivation to want to cosplay at the next convention I go to! Beware, AWA [and Animazement and possibly Otakon] 2011!

Interestingly enough, I spent the majority of my time in the Dealer’s room and Artist’s alley. I have to remark that their places of sale were by far the largest I have ever seen! It was amazing how they filled up such a space with such a density of shops and advertisements! The most interesting was Funimation’s “booth.” Where they had a huge screen playing Anime openings and trailers for things I’d never seen before, selling various [and possibly rare] DVDs, along with…

DVD grab bags.

The grab bag. Sometimes in the shape of a brown lunch bag, sometimes larger like a paper shopping bag. Sometimes it’s a “grab box.” But in the end, the grab bag is nothing but trouble unless luck has been your ally since birth. Grab bags are basically bags of random stuff that in the end have a greater retail price than what you pay for them, but in most cases consists of mostly stuff no one wants to buy. In the end you get a good deal for what you bought, but usually it’s not even close to what you wished for. I learned this the hard way. A $30 Funimation grab bag got my friend THREE full DVD sets for Welcome to the NHK, Tenchi Muyo, and Air. A $30 Funimation grab bag got me THREE full DVD sets for Shin-chan.

Go figure.

But in the end I bought more than I ever bought. I owe many kind souls various amounts of monetary dues, but the heist was fairly successful:

My favorite purchases are the Touhou artbook, and a random Mokona jumping figure:

And as you can some items are “?”ed out. I wonder what’s behind those mysterious question marks? ^^’



Well, that’s all for now folks! I highly recommend AWA for anyone close to Georgia! Show your otaku pride!



-chansu

Animazement 2010!!!! Chansu’s (EPIC) Review of DAY 2 (FRIDAY)

Hello my dearest readers, chansu is back with the most exciting day he’s had yet, so anticipate a post longer than any other that preceeded it! Please, I beg you, fasten your safety belts and set your seat trays in the upright and locked position, because you’re about to be shot through a gauntlet of:

RPGHero and Chansu’s 4 Day Animazement Journal

Day 2 – AMVs and Vocaloids and Noiz, oh My!

I honestly don’t know where to start with today, to do it proper justice. As usual, but to a much greater degree, cosplayers flooded the area! I saw every akatsuki member, 5 Bleach captains, the cast of Kingdom Hearts, more gothic lolitas than you can shake a stick at, creepy half-dressed catgirls, Miku Rin and Len, tootsie roll ninja’s dramatic return, and much MUCH more! Because RPGHero cosplayed as Usopp I got a few photos, but there was too much spectacle for me to properly capture with my measly cellular phone camera! Anime conventions are MOST DEFINITELY a place you must visit to understand.

Now, let’s discuss the panels/activities I had the opportunity to sit in on and take note of…

The first activity I visited was the “Video Game Room” which ran pretty much all day. Nonstop graphics and 8bit music relentlessly flooded from the room, not to mention the roar of gamers in heat. I only jest, but those are the only proper words I can think of to describe the game room. Everything from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, to nameless Japanese shmups (like Touhou), to the original Ice Climbers and Mario Bros., to even DDR and Rock Band 2; you name it, it was there. But one game in particular captured my heart quickly: Magical Drop.

I had tried Magical Drop for SNES quickly and found it tactless and boring, but boy was I wrong. Magical Drop is a game similar to both Tetris Attack and Bubble Bobble, in which the objective is to make three-in-a-row vertical colored arrangements to destroy colored bubbles. But in order to make combos, your 3+ vertical bubbles must destroy horizontal bubbles… hey, how about you watch this video and hopefully become less confused?

[watching is not as fun as playing, guaranteed. Especially when you’re playing for the sole purpose of pissing off people waiting in back of you]

Besides that, the video game room had very little room for people to like, share. I got to play Magical Drop for about a half hour and never again did that arcade machine open up for me…

Moving on! The next activity was “Anime Report from 2010” led by Koichi Tsunoda sensei, a famous animation director from back in theday. It was something of a pity that not that many people showed up (he expected about 60 people but got more like 20…) but what can you expect when the entire panel is a speech in Japanese occasionally interrupted by the translator to fill us in? Of course I only jest, that is probably what those who fled the panel thought, but I considered him to be very very intelligent and well-spoken. What little Japanese I understood was polite and thoughtful, and when I paid attention he even looked me in the eye! (I felt very proud of myself at that point, I successfully feigned comprehension of the Japanese language!)

Tsunoda-sensei is what we in America call a “trooper.” You know, that guy who always gets the short end of the stick and smiles happily regardless. I say this because his discussion was rife with the issue of illegal file sharing of anime and how it is ruining the future of anime. He himself only gets about 1000 yen in royalties A MONTH for an anime he directed, which is getting over 1000 a month on certain illicit pages.

Now, I could point fingers like he did, but I won’t. Let’s admit it, it’s hard to get our fix of anime in America without the cheesy English voices ruining it. What’s the difference between us watching “Bleach” from Dattebayo and Japanese kids watching Bleach on TV in Japan? It’s a little unreasonable for us to have to pay to see what they watch for free, don’t you think?

Well to wrap up this panel, the basic Report is as follows: anime peaked at 2006 but is in decline, it is ironic that anime revolves around TV views in Japan but online views in America, the anime movie industry (STUDIO GHIBLI) has the upper hand in the anime industry, J-music artists are in heated competition for spots making Opening and ending tracks for anime (which sell more than not-anime tracks in Japan), and that although anime is in decline it’s a stubborn business that will be here for years to come. Viola, you’re now informed!

Next panel! “AMV Contest.” Not much to say about this one, it had a huge turnout as expected and featured amazing AMVs. But two things hurt me: one is that all the AMVs had ENGLISH music tracks and two is that almost all the AMVs spoiled the plot of the series/movie. Why English songs, because they’re easy for us to understand and laugh at (when it’s funny)? Why spoil Code Geass, Ponyo, 5 cm/sec, and (for those who haven’t seen it) Tora Dora just for a 4 minute video? Geez. Besides that, there was some great directing but too much Geass/Evangelion/Cowboy Bebop/Toradora. That was 80% of the AMVs. I wonder who won…?

[“Like a Boss” parody song with Shinji from Evangelion. Warning, a few spoilers and lots of explicit lyrics.]

After the AMV contest I watched a bit of the “Karaoke Contest.” RPGHero was supposed to debut as TM Usopplution but we didn’t sign up in time. The acts were mediocre but entertaining. Last years winner was as flashy as he was before even without knocking down mic stands.

But leave it to Uchuu Sentai NOIZ to well… be “noizy.” Seeping into the Karaoke contest was the “Noiz Concert” that was being performed next door, which piqued my interest so I went to watch for a little. But, sorry for cliché once again but it was just noisy! They have rhythm and talent but they relied on their unbearable loudness to gather people, which pissed me off so much that I couldn’t stay for more than 20 minutes. Besides Vamps live in concert was ten times better.

The final panel I went to, and by far the most eye-opening was…

“VOCALOID: Hatsune Miku & Co. Sing For You!”

Now you may be thinking, “Hey, we already know about VOCALOID and sure enough you do too, chansu! So what was so great about hearing the same old songs again?!” Well, it was much more than just replaying some songs. Although I did get to hear and sing along to Just Be Friends, Double Lariat, and others that I’ve yet to upload, I also learned about the existence and splendor of the new wave of VOCALOIDs:

Gumi

Kaito

Gakupo

Meiko (Sakine)

SF-A2 Miki

Kaai Yuki

Hiyama Kiyoteru

Their beautiful music live has inspired me to extend “Vocaloid Track of the Whenever I Feel Like It” to these newcomers so that we can experience a new sensation in music! Also, starting on the 31^st, our Vocaloid series will be renamed “Vocaloid Track of the Day!” aptly to describe how many times I will be updating… everyday! I know you guys cannot wait!

And finally, during the late night when some sleep, RPGHero and I ventured into the “Anime Rave”! I have never been a fan of dances or anything involving other people, music, and me moving in an inspired manner, but I had so much fun that I would gladly host my own Anime Rave! Conga lines and throwing hands up is the best, especially to techno mixes of “Ready Steady Go,” “Resonance,” and “Go!!”. Perfect way to end one of the greatest nights in my anime history!!

Now! I will sleep so that I may go all out tomorrow! Saturday is the main event day! Be prepared for more antics and info! This is chansu, signin’ out!

-chansu

Animazement 2010!!!! Chansu's Review of Day One

Hey guys, chansu here with my first impressions of North Carolina's "Animazement" convention! This was only the preregistration day so there wasn't much to do, but right off the bat I'd like to say I was impressed with the turnout!

RPGHero and Chansu's 4 Day Animazement Journal!
Day 1 - "Pre-con"

So, after a sweaty hot tired 9 hours bus trip in the middle of the night and a little sleep, we were ready to venture into the grand world of Animazement! At first I expected us to be the only people there, mostly because only hardcore people make it to the pre-reg, but I was surprised to see a good amount, nearly 100 people, that showed up. The actual registration line was short and there wasn't much to do, but the excitement was the in the air.

It was a blur! I saw Master Chief, tootsie roll ninja, Maes Hughes (with a photo of little Elicia), Urahara Kisuke, and others in the blink of an eye. Everyone was very talkative, fast moving, and generally high spirited. Nothing like pre-con to get your juices flowing for the main event!

(If it was too fast for you, my excuse for no pictures was that everyone was heading left and right, oh wellz!)

So my group and I walked all around the place looking at different exhibits for a quick second, getting a gist of the convention center. The only panel we sat in for the entire duration was "A Crash Course in Tokusatsu" because I thought it was some kinda food. But silly me, I knew what Tokusatsu was before I even got there! It's, ya know, that thingie with the transforming superheroes....

["Samurai Sentai Shinkenger" Opening Song... yes, it takes a while to get used to this kind of thing...]

Okay to be more specific, Tokusatsu is Kamen Rider and other types of "Japanese Power Ranger" live-action shows that feature flashy transformation (or "HENSHIN!") scenes and baddies that look just like the giant ones in Power rangers. You may be thinking "Hey, I graduated from Power Rangers when I was like, 5, why would I watch any Tokatsu stuff? I love anime, not some live-action rip!" Well, as much as I agree with you dear fellow, Tokusatsu reveals a new dimension of action. I won't go as far as saying that it tops anime and manga, but if you need something new that progresses through a story (albeit cheesy and shallow) fairly quickly, then stuff like Super Sentai is your thing! Trust me!

But don't think you're an otaku if you don't like this stuff. This is but a small piece of what otakudom has to offer....

Well, chansu signing off! Be sure stick around for Day 2's antics!!

-chansu