Taiwan 01: CWT
For the first two weeks of August, I went off to Taiwan~. Been back from the trip for around a week (busy busy trying to settle in with work and catch up with stuff). It's been 17 years since I've traveled there. Boy, do I remember very little of Taiwan. Some things haven't changed though, while some stuff has changed a lot. But what's different about this trip is that I had places and events I wanted to cram in, with a shorter stay than any of my previous trips to Taiwan, so it was a trip with a super full itinerary. Went out bright and early every day and didn't get home until around 11 pm every night. Walked my feet off. XD There was no rest at all. I became very familiar with the public transit. I also got to see my relatives who I haven't seen in just as long as I haven't been back to Taiwan. 17 years!! (I was so tiny back then.)
I visited a lot of places! But first up is CWT.
CWT: Comic World Taiwan
Went to attend this event the day after arriving in Taiwan. Goodness was I tired from not sleeping at all on the plane! It was held at the National Taiwan University's stadium, with two floors of artists and writers selling stuff. (People, people everywhere!) I've always sought people out online to help me buy stuff from CWT. It's great to finally be able to attend one myself! I had to get in a pretty long line that baked in the sun to buy a ticket (Person in line told me that we could actually buy tickets from the convenience store. I wish I had known!), and then get in another line to get inside the building. Luckily, though the lines were long, they moved fast. I just wish I had brought an umbrella like all the other attendees! (It was pretty amusing looking across the field to see a line of umbrellas. I then proceeded to buy a total of 4 umbrellas on my trip. I was that envious of their umbrellas. That, and the umbrellas in Taiwan were just very nice.) Sadly, by the time I got my ticket, they were already out of guides. It would have been a nice souvenir...
Once I managed to squeeze inside the stadium, I was immediately greeted by 飛燕文創/冒險者天堂, and snatched myself a 1/2 Prince bag. ♥ They don't have a lot of 1/2 Prince merchandise anymore, but it's nice to see some stuff still about. I then proceeded to squeeze my way through to the third floor where I'd marked several people I wanted to buy stuff from, including Yu Wo's table!
The first table there that I saw belonged to J.U.~ I glanced at her stuff from afar (the crowd was too much. She did have some 39 LSK stuff that I'd already bought~) and made my way down that row, and lo and behold, Yu Wo was in the same row. I glanced up to see Yu Wo behind her table, selling her Gonghua booklet. XD
I didn't say anything except for "I want to buy this" to her. :'D (BTW, she was wearing a maid outfit). I kind of wish I had said something. XD;; Like... I'm a fan from America! It was lovely getting to see one of my favorite authors though~. It was like, wow, I've only just gotten off the plane, and already I've accomplished something I'd wanted to do for years. XD
(It was also neat to see people walking around with LSK bags and stuff. Not that common, but still cool to see.)
The crowd was really quite something. I feel like the crowd was even tougher to navigate than the crowds at AX. Everyone was ruthless trying to get to what they wanted to buy. :'D That, and the weather just killed me. Everyone seemed really used to the humid weather, while I was fanning myself nonstop. :'D My relatives asked me later that night, "Did you cosplay?" My immediate answer was NO WAY. No way could I have cosplayed in that weather. Props to all those who did. I looked at all of them in wonder. :'D All those layers... The makeup too. It would've been dripping down my face. I wouldn't have been able to shop in cosplay. XD; I was definitely there to shop, haha.
I was also too embarrassed to go up to people and ask them for their pic. There's something about asking in Chinese that makes me wonder if I'll make a blunder and not get it right. Don't know if the etiquette is the same for photo taking of cosplayers either. In any case, I saw a lot of cosplayers wandering about in the humid, humid weather. There was a bunch touching up on their wigs and makeup on the top floors outside the windows. There was even a huge tent there for changing. I wonder if that was set up by the event or brought by an attendee. Most cosplayers though, were standing around outside and getting their photos taken by photographers. I only took one pic (the one above) only because someone else was already taking a pic, so I piggy backed on and asked too.
In addition to getting to Yu Wo's table, I wanted to look at Icicle's stuff. Got myself a few more sticker sheets of Dominion's End~. I've been a fan of her LSK doujinshi from way back when. She doesn't draw LSK anymore, but I still wanted to see her stuff. :3 The DE badges are from a different artist~.
Afterwards, I went down to the 1st floor to buy Shui Quan's new Sunken Moon doujinshi, another book featuring Jin Shi x Fan Tong. They actually might be my favorite pairing from Sunken Moon, haha. Mostly because Jin Shi has gone up to favorite character spot.
I also picked up the latest volumes of "Second Life," an epic LSK x Unique Legend crossover fanfic series. (My previous post about it is over here). She's still writing the series, and just about one of the only people selling LSK fanwork at the convention. :3;; It's really amazing how long her story is! Haha, I showed her a pic of her books so she could help me figure out what I don't have. I'm pretty confused by the titles and which volume is which. I'm not up to date with the story, but I figure I should buy it now, since it'd be much harder later. I wish I'd been able to attend CWT when LSK was at the height of its popularity. There was so much fanwork and merch back then!
After I'd gotten to all of the tables I marked, I then started browsing around and buying random stuff. I was really surprised by all of the Amuro/Akai Detective Conan doujinshi and fanwork. Such a popular pairing! I'd never seen it mentioned at all in English fandom, but it sure seems big in both Taiwan and Japan. I'd say, even more than Kid/Shinichi. I guess I can sort of see it, especially after watching movie 20. (I watched it right before heading off to Taiwan~. That Amuro and Akaii fight scene on top of the ferris wheel was quite something, hahaha). There were all sorts of merchandise of them. Doujinshi, charms, plushies, you name it. I only snatched Conan and Kid, however. *forever a Kid fan* (I mostly bought the doujinshi because I wanted the free card of Kid...) I'm really not used to seeing so much Detective Conan stuff around though. XDDD (It was like heaven, hahahaha)
There was absolutely no Fire Emblem stuff or much video game stuff at all (has Fire Emblem Heroes been released in Taiwan? I know FGO has been. Maybe FEH hasn't been...? Or maybe it's only animanga at the con). Unlike cons over here. So much video game fanwork here. But I think there was one mobile game that had a lot of fanwork there. I didn't know what the game was though.
My Hero Academia was also very popular, as well as Touken Ranbu. There wasn't as much doujinshi as I thought there'd be. Instead, there was a lot of charms (which I do adore) and other merchandise, but I did want some doujinshi. Froppy~~. I wanted some non pairing merch.
I picked up a Natsume Yuujinchou x Hoozuki no Reitetsu crossover doujinshi, mostly because it was pretty and I was pretty surprised there was a crossover doujinshi. That's rare! I also found myself an Aldnoah doujinshi. :DDD I'm not big on pairings, but I do like Slaine/Inaho quite a lot. The artist was all, "This is an old volume," and I answered, "That's okay! I don't have any." :'D
It was a bit difficult making some of my purchases though. I was going, "Um, I'd like to buy this character!" *Lucathia points at a charm of Teshima Junta* "Which character?" "This guy." *Lucathia holds the charm up* I really have no clue what Teshima Junta's name is in Chinese. I had the same dilemma for most of my purchases. =x
By the end of my shopping, my back was killing me from the weight of my purchases. It was only my first full day in Taiwan, and I was already dead. XD;; My ticket was good for two days, but I pretty much finished my shopping in one day. I took a rest on the fourth floor for a bit afterwards. It has bleachers that overlook the third floor. Pretty cool! Anyway, I had other plans for the next day. There was just too much to do to repeat anything. XD I was all sweaty and gross when I went to visit my relatives after the event... OTL. (And I proceeded to pick up tons of boxes of merchandise I had shipped to their house in advance, ahahahaha)
(On my way out~)
All in all, it felt very much like a convention with only the Artist Alley part.
(All of the purchases together)
I still have lots more I want to say about Taiwan. To be continued in another post, I guess. o/ I also typed up a good portion of my Anime Expo 2017 report on the plane. So that'll surface... Eventually.
This entry was originally posted at http://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/349514.html. You can comment here or there.
I visited a lot of places! But first up is CWT.
CWT: Comic World Taiwan
Went to attend this event the day after arriving in Taiwan. Goodness was I tired from not sleeping at all on the plane! It was held at the National Taiwan University's stadium, with two floors of artists and writers selling stuff. (People, people everywhere!) I've always sought people out online to help me buy stuff from CWT. It's great to finally be able to attend one myself! I had to get in a pretty long line that baked in the sun to buy a ticket (Person in line told me that we could actually buy tickets from the convenience store. I wish I had known!), and then get in another line to get inside the building. Luckily, though the lines were long, they moved fast. I just wish I had brought an umbrella like all the other attendees! (It was pretty amusing looking across the field to see a line of umbrellas. I then proceeded to buy a total of 4 umbrellas on my trip. I was that envious of their umbrellas. That, and the umbrellas in Taiwan were just very nice.) Sadly, by the time I got my ticket, they were already out of guides. It would have been a nice souvenir...
Once I managed to squeeze inside the stadium, I was immediately greeted by 飛燕文創/冒險者天堂, and snatched myself a 1/2 Prince bag. ♥ They don't have a lot of 1/2 Prince merchandise anymore, but it's nice to see some stuff still about. I then proceeded to squeeze my way through to the third floor where I'd marked several people I wanted to buy stuff from, including Yu Wo's table!
The first table there that I saw belonged to J.U.~ I glanced at her stuff from afar (the crowd was too much. She did have some 39 LSK stuff that I'd already bought~) and made my way down that row, and lo and behold, Yu Wo was in the same row. I glanced up to see Yu Wo behind her table, selling her Gonghua booklet. XD
I didn't say anything except for "I want to buy this" to her. :'D (BTW, she was wearing a maid outfit). I kind of wish I had said something. XD;; Like... I'm a fan from America! It was lovely getting to see one of my favorite authors though~. It was like, wow, I've only just gotten off the plane, and already I've accomplished something I'd wanted to do for years. XD
(It was also neat to see people walking around with LSK bags and stuff. Not that common, but still cool to see.)
The crowd was really quite something. I feel like the crowd was even tougher to navigate than the crowds at AX. Everyone was ruthless trying to get to what they wanted to buy. :'D That, and the weather just killed me. Everyone seemed really used to the humid weather, while I was fanning myself nonstop. :'D My relatives asked me later that night, "Did you cosplay?" My immediate answer was NO WAY. No way could I have cosplayed in that weather. Props to all those who did. I looked at all of them in wonder. :'D All those layers... The makeup too. It would've been dripping down my face. I wouldn't have been able to shop in cosplay. XD; I was definitely there to shop, haha.
I was also too embarrassed to go up to people and ask them for their pic. There's something about asking in Chinese that makes me wonder if I'll make a blunder and not get it right. Don't know if the etiquette is the same for photo taking of cosplayers either. In any case, I saw a lot of cosplayers wandering about in the humid, humid weather. There was a bunch touching up on their wigs and makeup on the top floors outside the windows. There was even a huge tent there for changing. I wonder if that was set up by the event or brought by an attendee. Most cosplayers though, were standing around outside and getting their photos taken by photographers. I only took one pic (the one above) only because someone else was already taking a pic, so I piggy backed on and asked too.
In addition to getting to Yu Wo's table, I wanted to look at Icicle's stuff. Got myself a few more sticker sheets of Dominion's End~. I've been a fan of her LSK doujinshi from way back when. She doesn't draw LSK anymore, but I still wanted to see her stuff. :3 The DE badges are from a different artist~.
Afterwards, I went down to the 1st floor to buy Shui Quan's new Sunken Moon doujinshi, another book featuring Jin Shi x Fan Tong. They actually might be my favorite pairing from Sunken Moon, haha. Mostly because Jin Shi has gone up to favorite character spot.
I also picked up the latest volumes of "Second Life," an epic LSK x Unique Legend crossover fanfic series. (My previous post about it is over here). She's still writing the series, and just about one of the only people selling LSK fanwork at the convention. :3;; It's really amazing how long her story is! Haha, I showed her a pic of her books so she could help me figure out what I don't have. I'm pretty confused by the titles and which volume is which. I'm not up to date with the story, but I figure I should buy it now, since it'd be much harder later. I wish I'd been able to attend CWT when LSK was at the height of its popularity. There was so much fanwork and merch back then!
After I'd gotten to all of the tables I marked, I then started browsing around and buying random stuff. I was really surprised by all of the Amuro/Akai Detective Conan doujinshi and fanwork. Such a popular pairing! I'd never seen it mentioned at all in English fandom, but it sure seems big in both Taiwan and Japan. I'd say, even more than Kid/Shinichi. I guess I can sort of see it, especially after watching movie 20. (I watched it right before heading off to Taiwan~. That Amuro and Akaii fight scene on top of the ferris wheel was quite something, hahaha). There were all sorts of merchandise of them. Doujinshi, charms, plushies, you name it. I only snatched Conan and Kid, however. *forever a Kid fan* (I mostly bought the doujinshi because I wanted the free card of Kid...) I'm really not used to seeing so much Detective Conan stuff around though. XDDD (It was like heaven, hahahaha)
There was absolutely no Fire Emblem stuff or much video game stuff at all (has Fire Emblem Heroes been released in Taiwan? I know FGO has been. Maybe FEH hasn't been...? Or maybe it's only animanga at the con). Unlike cons over here. So much video game fanwork here. But I think there was one mobile game that had a lot of fanwork there. I didn't know what the game was though.
My Hero Academia was also very popular, as well as Touken Ranbu. There wasn't as much doujinshi as I thought there'd be. Instead, there was a lot of charms (which I do adore) and other merchandise, but I did want some doujinshi. Froppy~~. I wanted some non pairing merch.
I picked up a Natsume Yuujinchou x Hoozuki no Reitetsu crossover doujinshi, mostly because it was pretty and I was pretty surprised there was a crossover doujinshi. That's rare! I also found myself an Aldnoah doujinshi. :DDD I'm not big on pairings, but I do like Slaine/Inaho quite a lot. The artist was all, "This is an old volume," and I answered, "That's okay! I don't have any." :'D
It was a bit difficult making some of my purchases though. I was going, "Um, I'd like to buy this character!" *Lucathia points at a charm of Teshima Junta* "Which character?" "This guy." *Lucathia holds the charm up* I really have no clue what Teshima Junta's name is in Chinese. I had the same dilemma for most of my purchases. =x
By the end of my shopping, my back was killing me from the weight of my purchases. It was only my first full day in Taiwan, and I was already dead. XD;; My ticket was good for two days, but I pretty much finished my shopping in one day. I took a rest on the fourth floor for a bit afterwards. It has bleachers that overlook the third floor. Pretty cool! Anyway, I had other plans for the next day. There was just too much to do to repeat anything. XD I was all sweaty and gross when I went to visit my relatives after the event... OTL. (And I proceeded to pick up tons of boxes of merchandise I had shipped to their house in advance, ahahahaha)
(On my way out~)
All in all, it felt very much like a convention with only the Artist Alley part.
(All of the purchases together)
I still have lots more I want to say about Taiwan. To be continued in another post, I guess. o/ I also typed up a good portion of my Anime Expo 2017 report on the plane. So that'll surface... Eventually.
This entry was originally posted at http://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/349514.html. You can comment here or there.