New York Anime Festival 2009
September 30, 2009
Everyone’s question was would NYAF live up to, exceed, or fail compared to the two previous conventions? There was quite a bit of talking with the announcement that NYAF would join with NYCC for 2010 so there was also the question of what would NYAF do as its last year as an independent convention? Although those are all pressing questions my main question was if I was going to have fun? Was I going to be able to do as much as I wanted to? We were also running two panels one of which had a lot of people looking forward to it. The Bloggers Roundtable had some big names on the marquee but it was a the first time we ever ran the panel. I had the most expectations for the panel because I felt it could succeed or fail so much more than any of our previous panels. On top of all that I had two guests staying at my humble abode during the convention so I had to play host as well as press.
It was no secret that we were looking forward to New York Anime Festival, probably more than any other con previously thanks to a killer guest, director Yoshiyuki Tomino. This sent NYAF which I always enjoy but never as much as say Otakon right to the front of the line this year. That being said, the rest of the con experience remained the same though I was happy to see quite a few license announcements this year. Since NYAF’s space has basically stayed the same from its first year, there weren’t too many surprises but that also means it still has some of the same problems. Javits, is Javits, its a bit of a walk from the train, the hotels, and most food. Though it also means that for the most part events went off without a hitch and things seemed to be well in hand with the staff.
The convention for me started on Thursday night since most of my main convention group went to see the Eureka Seven movie. Although not officially a part of the convention experience it felt like a great way to spend an evening before the big show. The movie itself was bizarre. I will never forget the line, “I am an enemy alien spy robot” as long as I live. It was a visually appealing movie but otherwise a utter train wreck. I appreciated their attempt to do something new with the original story but their execution left something to be desired. Though I was happy to watch a film with my friends and be able to talk about it afterward because I often feel like I hardly watch any anime at anime conventions. On Friday morning my two guests the spectacular OGT, the amazing PatzPrime, plus the remarkable SDShamshel all met up and went to the Javits center early to get Tomino autograph tickets. We were all a little worried when we heard that people were already starting to line up at 7am. We finally arrived at 10 and got progressively worried when we saw how the VIP line was growing but we were able to get our autograph tickets. Since we got there before the con officially started getting our press badges was a snap. We all went for some delicious Go Go Curry before starting the convention. Starting the con with curry is a tradition I could get behind.
Once again, the staff of NYAF as far as tickets goes were on top of it. Not a moment more than one was I in line for my press badge, which incidentally looks very different this year. This goes for the weekend con badges and VIP ones as well and only half for individual day passes. I’m not sure what to make of them, on the one hand I really like the hard plastic but on the other hand the badges aren’t very fun. Maybe that sounds like a stupid complaint, but too bad, many of us have a grand time trying to guess what show or characters will appear on the badges before going to a con. The speculations can even spawn forum threads, so it has become a popular and expected part of anime conventions. And I was surprised to not at the very least see the badges sporting the logo from this year’s contest winner. Since I never made it to the convention center before opening time, I have no idea what the lines looked like but from the massive crowds on Saturday I can imagine there was a pretty good wait in the morning. However, panels seemed to be well organized in this regard though having a press badge prevented any problems for me. The Javits space allotted for NYAF was insufficient for Saturday but was tolerable on Friday and Sunday. Happily this mean the Tomino panel was rightfully full.
Otakon 2009
July 27, 2009
If you have never been to Otakon, let me just say that it is like a whirlwind of anime, manga, costumes, music, fans, panels, guests, and friends. You are practically going non-stop from the moment you touch down in Baltimore. Maybe it is just the way my mind works, but it seemed to be ten-fold this year! The amount of things seen and done in just one day sound almost impossible. I distinctly remember some of us talking on Friday night about how things done that morning felt days in the past rather than just hours before. But I’m not complaining, I call Otakon the highlight of the summer for a reason! This year only went on to prove that statement further.
Otakon came and went in an amazing and thrilling blur. I remember the highlights but the details even a few days later are still sort of fuzzy in my head. So in many ways this con report is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading it. This is my chance to sort out what I felt and what I did in my own mind because there was just so much information to process. I was almost always doing something. In fact, I wore myself out so much there was two or three times I just had to stop and nap or get food even if it meant missing out on something awesome. At first I was worried that there were not going to be any Japanese guests worth talking about but in the last few weeks before the con they pulled some great guests out at the last second and turned my perception of how great this was going to be right around.
Friday
No Means No, Defense against Fanboys and Fangirls panel
Know Your Creators panel
Yutaka Yamamoto panel
Mobile Suit Gundam: Celebrating 30 Years panel
Anime Recruitment
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: History’s Future panel
Mecha Appreciation panel
Opening Ceremonies
Kikuko Inoue panel
I Can’t Believe You Haven’t Seen This!
MELL concert
Guess the Melons 18+ panel
Saturday
Gundam Model Building workshop
Funimation panel
MELL press conference
Maruyama, Ishiguro, Kikukawa, Matsubara press conference
Anime and Manga Studies panel
From Kenshiro to Kenshin: The Neo-Shonen Revolution panel
Fred Schodt panel
Fred Schodt autograph session
Return of the Anime Old Timers? panel
Otaku TV panel
The Problem with Otaku panel
Review Anime the Right Way panel
Sunday
Without Watching the Anime: Opening & Ending Themes panel
Hidenori Matsubara panel
Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, with Fred Schodt panel
Naomi Tamura concert
Narutak, Kohaku, and I all met up at my apartment. The anticipation was practically visible! Before we left I got an early birthday present of some very choice pencil boards, one of manga art Hayate No Gotoku and a cute Gakuen Kino one. We fortunately got a ride to the MegaBus pick up in front of Penn Station. I must agree with Mike Dent, MegaBus rocks! I will never ride a Greyhound again unless forced to. The free WiFi was awesome and the ride was smooth and clean. We took over the back of the bus where we pretty much had a pre-Otakon party. The Baltimore public transportation was a little slower than we had first anticipate but we arrived at our hotel by about 6:30PM. Here we encountered the first and only real major problem of the convention: the Radisson overbooked the con rooms. They tried to throw us into a super small single when we had booked a double. Thankfully Narutaki is a master of getting what he needs and they eventually gave us a bigger room.
If you saw the amount of stuff being lugged to Otakon, you would think we were moving there. Heck, at the very least you would have thought everyone was a cosplayer bringing gear, but no. However to be fair, when I say we, I mean 9 people and also a lot of it was free stuff for our panels and food that was quickly eaten up. I wouldn’t say I was nervous about MegaBus, I had done some research, but a new experience is always a little worrisome in these cases. Though really with so many friends along, a misstep can easily turn into an adventure! Luckily we didn’t have to prove that rule as the bus was great, well-organized, and on time. While the bus stop is certainly far out from the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, the price tipped my hand and everyone seemed satisfied. I was a bit miffed at the Radisson because they have served me so well in the past. In the end, things turned out fine once a larger room was acquired, remember: calm persistence! I will just mention that I use quite a bit of the tips in our Con Survival guide and they serve me quite well.
AnimeNEXT 2009
June 22, 2009
Narutaki and Hisui’s schedule:
Friday
Anime Through the Generations Panel
Anime’s Pirate Legacy Panel
Anime Princesses Rule Panel
Japanese Crime Fiction in Anime Panel
My Stereotypes are More Offensive than Yours Panel
These are a Few of My Favorite Scenes Panel
Saturday
I Can’t Believe You Haven’t Seen This! Panel
Psychology of Anime
Vertical Panel
ParaPara Dance Workshop
Directing! Panel
Funimation Panel
Bad Anime, Bad! Panel
As the Otaku Grows Panel
Sunday
History of Manga Panel
Otaku Perceptions and Misconceptions Panel
Anime Blogging Basics Panel
Aren’t cons exciting? No matter how many I go to, I always look forward to another one. This has become especially true in recent years as I meet more and more people from blogosphere and other outlets. AnimeNEXT usually kick starts my con season every year and this time around is no exception. It was one of those inbetween conventions that holds a special place because of the dates it usually lands on. There was a major location change this year so it the con had a bit of a unknown factor going in.
I have to agree with Narutaki. As I am more and more a part of the menagerie that is the anime community, I look forward to going to conventions more than ever. It is a great opportunity to see old friends, meet up with people you have only talked to on the Internet, and discover awesome people you have not yet met. I know people are always disappointed that I am not actually an emotionally dead red-headed magical maid when they meet me. Then again I am actually emotionally dead so that is something, right? AnimeNEXT also has very good panels thanks to some very knowledgeable old time fans attending every year. There is also a strong and growing blogging presence. Since the thing I like the most about anime conventions, besides Japanese guests, are the panels it is always nice to seem some quality lectures about fascinating topics.
Experiment: Crunchyroll Subscription, Sample Platter
April 13, 2009
So one of the biggest and most infamous fan-sub sites went too legit to quit. It did not happen overnight but it has become one of the forefront sites to see legitimate streaming anime near simultaneously with Japan. They have a mixture of new shows and old although they tend to put the emphasis on promoting the newer ones. They even have some live action shows. Does this mean that Crunchyroll’s detractors have forgiven them for the mistakes of the past? Heck no. The Internet neither forgives nor forgets. Does that mean that sane people should forgive them and patronize their site? We paid the price and took a look to let you know!
We grabbed the first time offered Anime Membership for Crunchyroll. This essentially means that we could watch certain shows, streaming, just a few hours after their Japanese release. We also had access to many older titles in their entirety. Without the membership people would have to wait about a week to view said episodes. Many things were added and taken away through the experiment and things certainly changed over the course of the three month period as Crunchyroll became more accustomed to their new program.
