Anime North 2012 - Return of the Otaku!

OMG, where to start! God, I hardly even remember what I did first!

Wait, that’s not true… the first thing I did was go and register at the media office to get my pass. It was here that I once again got to meet up and see Louisa and Charlie from last year. That’s right – Charlie!! That Charlie!! You guys know Charlie, right? The one who got me hopelessly hooked on One Piece.

Well, he once again earned a place in my writing, since he moved heaven and earth to get me an interview with J. Michael Tatum!!!! Who is J. Michael Tatum, you ask? Well, he is a prolific voice actor from Texas, having voiced such iconic characters as Kyoya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club, Sebastian Michaelis (the butler) from Black Butler, and – my personal favourite – Doumeki from xxxHolic!!! I have made my love of Doumeki very clear in this blog space before, so I’m sure at this point you can imagine how excited I was!

Okay, I have to slow down. I’m using way too many exclamation points.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in…

Nope, can’t hold it in:

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!*

These, of course, were just some of the main highlights. I also got to go to a host club, of sorts, got to see Sailor Moon Battle Chess, see some amazing Cosplayers, watch some anime I haven’t purchased yet, learn about the start of the convention and the ins and outs of how it works, learn about the style and culture of actual male hosts in Japan, and just enjoymyself surrounded by fellow otaku!

Needless to say, it was a packed weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will retell one story from the Masquerade, witnessed by one of my travelling companions and photographers.

First, a quick description of what the masquerade is, for those who don’t know. For all of the convention’s participants who dress up in cosplay, there is a sort of talent show/fashion show where they can compete for the best costume. You have to sign up ahead of time to participate, and you have to get your tickets as a spectator ahead of time as well. This is because it is the most popular event at the convention – by a long shot.

So, this year, one of the entries was a pair dressed as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, dancing a waltz as the well-known piano theme played. All of a sudden, there were some scratches as the music was interrupted, and a voice came over the system. It was a male voice, saying: “My partner doesn’t know about this, but I actually have another reason for being here. I’m here to ask her to marry me.” He then gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring.

This, my lovely readers, is Otaku love. The audience went wild, Sailor Moon went into hyper-embarrassment-mode, and she also said yes. I wish I had been there, but I’m glad I at least got to hear the story.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll be bringing you other stories about the con, and links to articles about my interview with J. Michael Tatum, the resurgence of Sailor Moon, and maybe even about Cosplay culture in general.

Let me know if there is anything else you guys want to hear about!

Until then,

Jya ne!

Why Naruto?

I was trolling for ideas to write about today, and one of my closest friends said: “Well, with all this stuff you write about One Piece, why do you still like Naruto better? That’s something I’d like to read.” I shall, henceforth, fulfill said desire!

Yes, lately I have been writing a lot about One Piece, the super-franchise that has taken Japan by storm and is now making its way westward. Before I was introduced to the pirates of East Blue, I was an honorary citizen of Konohagakure – the Village Hidden in the Leaves – where Naruto was known as the number one knucklehead ninja! As silly as it sound, the level of serious drama that lines the pages keep it from being considered ridiculous (as I imagined One Piece was), but has a humour that seems a perfect balance of silly and clever. I think a lot of that comes from the fact that the title character is really the only one who is lacking in the intelligence department, and he actually learns as he progresses through the trials and tribulations before him. I think the other big difference between Naruto and his shonen compatriots is that he genuinely works hard to improve himself. We watch him train, figure out how to do things, and get frustrated when he doesn’t understand. We've all been there, trying hard to be better, to be who we want to be, and finding nothing but hurdles and dissenters along the way.

I could go on and on, and probably will at a later time. For now, I leave you with this.

Finally watching One Piece

Today I had another box arrive, but this time it was a big one!! It's one I've been looking forward to, and was happily surprised at its early arrival! I now finally have my first two volumes of the Blue Exorcist manga, season 1 of Honey and Clover, Sora no Woto (Sound of the Sky) complete series, and....

...drum roll....

.....

One Piece Collection One!!!! I've had Collection two on my shelf for about a month now, so having the first 26 episodes is beyond exciting! For those who haven't read my article in (Cult)ure Magazine, I became completely obsessed with the manga after Anime North 2011. Now that I'm all caught up with the manga, I am ecstatic about being able to watch the anime! I remember clearly stating in my conversation with the article's title character - Charlie - that my original revulsion for the show came from the horrible job that 4Kids! Entertainment did for it first, and that my half-asleep impression of it was: "Wow, this is stupid."

With my newly refurbished interest in this show about pirates (ninjas still rule) I have placed disc one within my DVD player, enjoying its "new DVD smell" and all! I can already tell that the first airing of the show in Japan was a while ago, simply from the animation and art quality. Fortunately, my FAVOURITE SEIYUU OF ALL TIME, KAZUYA NAKAI, does the voice for Zoro, who has recently become one of my FAVOURITE CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME!!!! Yes, I am happy to be watching this, and listening to it.

I was about to say: "Hey! I'll let you know how it is after I've watched it a bit", but lets be honest... Kazyua Nakai + Zoro = happy camper. It could be garbage, and I wouldn't care. I'm going to return to my TV now, and watch Zoro wield some awesome swords.

Ja nai!