Anime & Doujinshi Events in Japan 1

Area - Tokyo

Evangelion and Japanese Swords (11/23 - 12/23)
There is an event at Mori Art Museum in Ueno, Tokyo. Opens at 10am to 5pm but be careful if you intend to visit on Monday as it is usually close (Happened to me last Monday) . It cost Y1,000 for adult unless you are Japanese high school/elementary student then there is a discount. 
Website: http://www.eva-and-swords.com

 


Love Live! @ UDX Building Akihabara (12/21 - 12/31)
A special movie screening at 18:03, 19.03, 20.03. I am not sure about the details but I guess they are going to air it at UDX big screen. I found the detail on Akiba Gamers before checking the website. For those that understand Japanese better than me please translate~~ *Thank you*
Website: http://news.lovelive-anime.jp/app-def/S-102/news/


Sunshine Creation 63 @ Ikebukuro Sunshine City (2014/4/13)
A doujinshi event at Ikebukuro area, starts at 11am - 3.30pm. It worth to have a good at the artist booth as some of them try to sell the leftover from Comiket or could not participate on the event. I had been there once two years ago, the crowd is smaller than Comiket so for those that hate long queue then it is for you. The contents in the booths were mostly for guys. (Come early if you want the good stuffs)
Website: http://www.creation.gr.jp

 



Comic1☆8 @ Tokyo Big Sight, East Hall 4,5,6 (2014/4/29)
A doujinshi event that held at the same place as Comiket but at a smaller scale. Starts at 10.30am - 3.30pm(TBA). From the pamphlet that I have there are contents for both guys and girls. So basically for all type of anime and game otaku (^з^)-☆
Website: http://www.comic1.jp

 


To be continue with events around Osaka and more. By the way, I am currently in Tokyo for my holiday, will update what is new around Akiba and etc. ^_^v

Otaku Day 3 & 4 - Anime Festival Asia Day 2 & 3 (Singapore)

AFA Day 2

After a good 8 hours sleep when to toastbox to have my breakkie before going the MRT station to meet up with my other friend. We reached the hall around 10.30am. I planned to go to the main stage to watch SAO anime showcase but there was already a messy queue of people waiting infront of the door and the organizer did not expect this much people. The entry was almost like a riot. The audiences really have no control of themselves cutting queue and running in the main stage hall like kids (please grow up a bit people).  (ｰ ｰ;)

The SAO showcase was pretty decent nothing much just the director and producer talking about the anime while being interviewed by Reiko and Hisanori Yoshida. I wished there were a QnA session with fans, liked last year where Danny used twitter as a source of communication for fans with the director or producer. After that the Horipro artist showcase started with Valerie, Ayaka Ohashi, Azusa Tadokoro and May'n. each lady got their time to introduce themselves and sang a songs for the fans. I watched until Azusa sang and then left for lunch with my group. 

When lunch break was over we parted our ways since each of us had different objective for going to AFA. For me was taking cosplayer pictures, watching anime screening and listening to anime producer and director speaking. I was joined with a friend in the photo taking walkabout. I walked around the hall taking pictures for almost 4 hours and before realizing I missed Pyscho- Pass and Love Live! Anime showcase （；￣ェ￣). I didn't hear my phone alarm *sigh*. I have to admit the level of cosplay kept improving in Singapore.

Cosplayers photos link:

AFA Day 2 Pictures

AFA Day 3 Pictures

We took a break at the 3rd floor and found some guys showing off their dollfies so decided to take pictures of their wife or daughters. After that we continued to take pictures until my battery was out of battery. Later we meet up with another friend and three of us decided to go for an early dinner and rest before going into the booths hall to buy some goodies ( less crowded during 7+). Here is my share of goodies:

Freebies & Goodies

Cosplayers & Dollfie Pics from Day 2 (more @ FB)                                                                             

Otaku Day 2 - Anime Festival Asia Day 1 (Singapore)

AFA 2013 Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of Anime Festival Asia in Singapore which held in Suntec City Convention Hall near city area. The Convention Hall has just been renovated and everything looks new. The number of booths increase but it looked smaller compared to last year in Expo. The crowd was mediocre since it was Friday so for those real anime otaku merchandises grabbing buyers it was the best day to visit since the stock of goodies and freebies were available.

I reached the Hall around 9.30am and there were already a long line. The door was supposed to be open at 10.30am but due to the long queue, the organizer opened the door half an hour earlier *\(^o^)/* I managed to get in around 15 minutes later and decided to browsed around the "Creator's Hub" aka doujinshi booth and found out some of the artists were from the neighboring countries too. Most of the items that were selling were badges, pins, postcard, posters and some doujinshi books (these items cost range from SGD3 to SGD50). The effort and love that put into the making these quality items can be seen from the excited and tired looking faces. Great Work guys ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノAlong the way, I met an old face at the booth selling his artwork from a forum that i used to hangout, we chit-chatted a bit and later parted my way to meet my friend. 

There was not a lot of cosplayers on standby during Day 1 so I mostly spent my time in the main stage with my friend, watching anime screening (Gintama Movie, Little Witch Academia and Pyscho-Pass). The seats were pretty empty with an estimation of 50 people on their seats to watch the anime screening. But it was fun watching anime screening with fellow anime otaku. We could laughed loudly together without having people staring and thinking we were watching kiddy stuff. 

After the anime screening was over my friend and I parted ways as he was working night shift. I went for another round in the hall this time taking pictures of figurines from Good Smile, Bandai and Tamashii. The displayed figurines were mostly showcase from last year, Saint Seiya, Gundam series,One Piece and etc. The newer ones were Valvrare, Shingeki no Kyojin and Kuroko no Basket figures. 

Along the way, Magical Witch Madoka, Sword Art Online, Love Live and Shingeki no Kyojin had their respective booth selling official items like T-shirts, posters and etc. There was a group of hardcore idol fans that made into the facebook news page when they were bowing and praying homage to Love Live characters behind the booth area. I did not managed to get a picture of them doing it but will post the fb pic. There were other booths like Danny Choo's CJ, Toyota promoting their Na*Su*Bi mascots, anime and backing by idol group called "A応P" aka Anime Ouen Project, "Million Arthur" having pre-registration event and IE-Tan booth where I got by T-shirt.

Around 6 pm I left the hall looking half dead but with a big big smile on my face. Tell you guys the truth, I could not sleep the night before feeling so so excited like a kid going for his first trip to the theme park, in the end only had 4 hours of sleep in total. Haha very pathetic indeed ^o^

Anime Festival Asia Day 1 Pictures

https://www.facebook.com/aoi.je.9/media_set?set=a.226489847516148.1073741833.100004654028054&type=3

Day 1 Queue

Love Live! Followers (Source)

         One of Na*Su*Bi Mascot                                                                   Colossal Titan's Head

Maid & Butler Cafe

         Valerie & Danny Choo on Stage                                                                     IE-Tan

                -Valvrare-                                                                         Love Live! Booth

LiSA signing on her Booth!

Otaku Day 1 - Manga Festival 2013 in NUS (Singapore)

Just got back from Manga Festival 2013 that held in NUS Campus. Top management, producer and professor on the field of Anime and Manga meet together to discuss about the industry. I enjoyed the event as it gave me a new prospective on the history of anime and manga. In addition, the session on Shingeki no Kyojin really gave a few insights on the anime industry. Lastly, the panels session with students and guests on the topic of anime and manga (turn out bad).

Some posters and drawing

 

Session 1 - Overview
By Eiji Otsuka-san talked mainly about the history of manga and the progress of manga drawing. It started with Otsuka-san giving us the main two accepted theories by most Japanese of the origins of manga. Firstly, artwork in manga can be traced back to the Edo periods by the great Ukiyo-e & Printermaker artist, Hokusai. However, Otsuka-san rejected that theory because Hokusai worked uses "Choujuu-giga" style, while he believed that manga got it influenced by Avant-garde, Montage and Disney-style drawing. Otsuka-san also explained about popularity of early Disney's work in Japan that there were "faked Mickey Mouse" being drawn by Japanese artist.
Secondly, post-WWII worked from Ozamu Tezuka started the manga bloom which again Otsuka-san rejected that theory because he found an early manga by Suihou Tagawa (1925) kept by Kodansha. Here, he also explained more about how Tagawa-san decided to draw this way. Later, he explained how some animations in Japan influenced Ozamu Tezuka and also the used of animations as war propaganda by Imamura Taihei.

Full Lecture by Eiji Otsuka (In Concordia University)

 The Topic Lecture

Mr Eiji Otsuka making his Intro.

The Difference of Drawing Style

First known manga created by Suihou Tagawa

Japanese Anime used as War Propaganda

Session 2 - Overview
Talked about the process of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titans) from manga to anime. The three panels were:      
                   Right: Tateishi Kensuke, Center: Kawakubo Shintaro, Left: Kinoshita Tetsuya

Tateishi-san (S. Manager of Kodansha Licensing Dept) started out the session by interacting with fans and guests and later by introducing AoT to the fans by showing trailers of the anime.
Next, Kawakubo-san (Editor of Weekly Shonen Magazine) recalling his past meeting with Hajime Isoyama-sensei (Mangaka of AoT) described how he felt the first proposed draft by Isayama-sensei's was so bad that he kept criticizing his worked for 3 years before the work was accepted to be published. He also described during those 3 hard years Isayama-sensei worked hard to improve his drawing and story plot. In addition, Kawakubo-san shared with us of the stages of being a Mangaka in Japan.

First submitted draft of AoT

 Character Concept Artwork

Lastly, Kinoshita-san (Production Dept of Pony Canyon) shared how the proposed project of making AoT into an anime. He explained the difficulty of a producer on getting investor to invest on the making and airing of the anime. He had troubled with TV Boardcaster in Japan in getting to air the anime due to the gore and violent contents of the anime and they had their doubt of the popularity of it. Later, he described the details on the complexity of Isayama-sensei's drawing on the characters and weapons during the making of the anime.

The complexity of the anime OP

Armored Titan, first introduced to the animation staffs

Early design of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment 

Anime design of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment

Session 3
It was supposed to be a panel discussion between manga industry members and students which I truly believed turned out to be CRAP! Firstly, due to an incompetent translator! (Serious just sack her!) Secondly, one of the student on the panel took up about 20 minutes of the time talking about himself! (Dude it is not a speech contest but a discussion! REMEMBER THAT) Lastly, most of the questions being asked are not related to the manga industry!(Just my personal opinion) Why you ask??? Well, the manga industry panels does not come from the anime industry (That is why they can't answer most of the Qs), some of them are not in the Sales Dept and most of them come from publication industry. I seriously have pity for those industry guys, they looked bored and dumbfounded by the questions.

Kamisama no Iutoori (神さまの言うとおり) Manga

Short Overview
Kamisama no Iutoori means "As God says" is a manga written by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and drawn by Fujimura Akeji. The main protagonists are Takahata Shun a bored high schooler, Amaya Takeru a mad dog and Akimoto Ichika. The story starts out suddenly when one of the teacher's head grow out a "Daruma" and with this would start Shun's trials. Along the way, he would meet Ichika and then Amaya who show up in a brutal way. Akimoto and Shun will face a lot of physical and emotional trial by "Kamimaru" the main antagonist who create a lot of weird children games and in order to survive they need to win the games. While Amaya would be smiling and happily particulate all of Kamimaru's games. (This manga is not recommended for kids ^_^)

Shun & co (L) and Kamimaru (R)

Amaya & Shun

Artwork
The artwork can be very gorily and brutal at times with head getting blown off or body get cut into half and etc (sorry won't post it here). Gore aside, what I like about the artwork are the games which the characters have encounter. It might looks like an innocent old Japanese children games that can turn so crazily violent!!

Amaya after killing some innocent participants 

Don't be fool by this simple game ^_^

Overall

If you like how Gantz begins than I bet this is for you!! Shun and Amaya are like your ecstasy pills in this manga. Their crazy and risky action would excite you all the way until the manga end. In addition, especially in the case of Shun and Akimoto they would slowly shows their true inner self with each games they participate. 

PS: I would warn that the ending might be very WTF to some readers as there is no clear ending since the mangaka writes a new season with characters that do have connection with the 1st season characters. However, I do hope that he would one day connect both story as he continues to work on the story plot.

Read here: http://www.mangareader.net/kamisama-no-iutoori-fujimura-akeji
Please do support the mangaka if you like his works when the English version is for sell ^_^v

JTB offers 'Wolf Children' area stay

Wolf Children aka 'Ookami no Kodomo Ame to Yuki' real life location is being promoted by JTB, looks like JTB is trying to tap into anime fan by making this tour package. A bit disappointed that JTB only have limited dates for the tour package but guess it is in trial period. Hope my friend have plan to go~~ I would love to go if I am in Japan now!

I really enjoyed this type of trip by going to anime location during my time spent in Japan. I remember going to Jimbocho in search of the famous Yomiko's (from Read or Die) basement bookstore with my friend who guided me around. Well sadly there is no basement when we check the elevator (lol).

Some other famous location is Lucky Star where the anime is taken place in Saitama, Tari Tari in Enoshima Island, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi in Hyogo Pref and other more like Hanasaku Iroha, OreImo and K-ON!.

Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/AJ201310290046

Tour info: http://toyamagurashi.com/

Manga Festival 2013 (Singapore)

An event that clash with AFA 13 !!!! I so wanna kill those organizer >=( why why of all weekend the same week as AFA!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!! Anyway done with my fanboy nagging~~~

So what so interesting about this mini-event???  Well you get to meet with mangaka from Beelzebub, Pokemon Adventure and Say "I Love You". However, the most notable appearance of illustrator Kei Garou aka KEI who illustrated some of VOCALOID characters like Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin & Len and Megurine Luka is the one that I got attracted to. Lets hope I can get his signature ^^v

By the way, along the Japanese book section that distribute free weekly Japanese magazine corner, there are free anime/manga postcards being distribute! Try to get it before its finish~~~