Animarathon Recap
Yesterday, I attended Animarathon VI with one goal: to determine whether or not I like watching anime. I hadn't really seen much to date. Some Miyazaki films and most of the first (only?) season of Nana. B. has tried to show me some other ones, but none of them have really clicked. Was it possible that I only liked Nana, and nothing else was going to measure up in my mind?
The day got off to a bit of a disappointing start. To get in the proper frame of mind, I'd planned to listen to my Kodo drummers CD. However, the CD has mysteriously disappeared from its cover, and I have no idea where it went. As I didn't discover this in time to replace it, the drive to Bowling Green was relatively music free. (B. did play a new song for me by Jem, but otherwise we mostly just talked on the way down.
Fortunately, that disappointment was really the only one for the day. B. & I arrived in plenty of time to see the first anime on my list, Crest of the Stars. We only saw the first few episodes, but I'm hooked! And the Abh are hot! It must be the pointy ears.
Take away: You mean there is science fiction anime? 0_0
As we were leaving the room where we watched Crest of the Stars, we ran into Erik. W00t! We chatted briefly as he waited for Sarah, to whom he introduced us upon her arrival. Sadly, we didn't get to talk much with them, as I didn't want to delay them further from their intended viewing, a Bleach musical, if I'm not mistaken.
B. & I headed to the dealers' room. We snagged some pocky and some interesting flavors of KitKats - carmel & something else. Why didn't I get one of the vanilla bean ones too? I also found a set of Nana playing cards, which I decided to buy. I even watched a demo of Sen So, a ninja battle game. B. managed to find the replacement key chain he was looking for, but left the room otherwise unscathed.
We had some time to kill before the next thing I wanted to see, so we wandered around upstairs. There was rock band, but I couldn't figure out who to ask if I could play. I just watched instead, happy with knowledge that I'd have been able to hold my own if I had played. There didn't seem to be much happening in the analog gaming room, but I didn't spend much looking since I didn't want to get involved in playing a game and miss the next thing I wanted to watch.
Next up was a taiko performance by a student taiko group. It was simply amazing. My only complaint - it was too short. I'd have been perfectly happy to listen to them play the same songs over and over for the entire hour. On the positive side, I enjoyed listening to their descriptions of how they built the drums and the comparison of the sticks they use to hit them. Following their performance, they invited us all up on stage to bang the drums (what an amazing rush!), and to talk with them more.
They mentioned that they have another performance coming up, April 17 for World Percussion Night. I'm considering going down to it, though it means that I'll be missing a Japanese class.
We did stop briefly to chat with (or perhaps just listen to) Erik, Sarah, Alisha (sp?), and Bill. Bill mentioned that he had purchased a copy of Sen So. More importantly, he mentioned that you can play with ninjas fighting pirates. We took a trip back to the dealers room where I played a demo game (and lost horribly), earning a free promotional card. Needless to say, I thought this would be a good addition to the bucket of games, so I purchased a copy for myself.
After that, it was back to viewing anime. We saw the ending of Place Promised in Our Early Days. This wasn't one that was on my list of things to see, but I did find myself intrigued by the ending enough that I now want to see the whole thing.
I did get to see the first few episodes of .Hack//Sign, the name of which I was having trouble remembering all day. (I even referred to it as ".Net" and "Hack and Slash" various points. ;) Though this one wasn't so science fiction related, it is one that I'd like to see more of. The idea of not being able to log out from an online game is fascinating. Though it is not really like either of them, upon reading the description of it in the program, my first thoughts were of Tron and The Matrix, which was enough to make me think I might like it.
Finishing out my viewing for the day, I saw Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie. I will admit that I had a bit of trouble getting into this one initially, primarily because of the youth of the main character. Nonetheless, it was an amusing story and I wasn't at all lost, even though I didn't know anything about the back story besides the main character's name, and her pursuit of Clow cards. Toward the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sakura displayed more emotional maturity than one would normally expect from someone her age. With that in mind, I may find that I can enjoy this series as well.
I had to get back home to take care of Ding, so B. & I weren't able to stay for the raffle. Fortunately, we ran into Ben for the second time that day, so I gave my tickets to him, and asked him to deliver a bag of lemon kisses to Erik for me. B. & I had dinner downtown at the Canyon Cafe (El Zarappe was packed), after which we headed home, making it back just 5 minutes outside our allotted 12 hour window.
There were a few things I'd marked in the program that I wanted to see, but did not actually get a chance to do so: Jubei-chan, Full Metal Alchemist, and The Big O. As it turns out, B. may have some of these already, so it will make it much simpler for me to watch them.
Based upon this positive experience, I'm now considering going to Youmacon in the fall. I didn't have much fun the first time I went, but if I go with the intent of primarily watching anime, I think that may make it a much more enjoyable experience. After all, if I haven't watched the anime, none of the cosplay will make much sense, nor will the panels.
Only 365-ish days until Animaraton VII!
The day got off to a bit of a disappointing start. To get in the proper frame of mind, I'd planned to listen to my Kodo drummers CD. However, the CD has mysteriously disappeared from its cover, and I have no idea where it went. As I didn't discover this in time to replace it, the drive to Bowling Green was relatively music free. (B. did play a new song for me by Jem, but otherwise we mostly just talked on the way down.
Fortunately, that disappointment was really the only one for the day. B. & I arrived in plenty of time to see the first anime on my list, Crest of the Stars. We only saw the first few episodes, but I'm hooked! And the Abh are hot! It must be the pointy ears.
Take away: You mean there is science fiction anime? 0_0
As we were leaving the room where we watched Crest of the Stars, we ran into Erik. W00t! We chatted briefly as he waited for Sarah, to whom he introduced us upon her arrival. Sadly, we didn't get to talk much with them, as I didn't want to delay them further from their intended viewing, a Bleach musical, if I'm not mistaken.
B. & I headed to the dealers' room. We snagged some pocky and some interesting flavors of KitKats - carmel & something else. Why didn't I get one of the vanilla bean ones too? I also found a set of Nana playing cards, which I decided to buy. I even watched a demo of Sen So, a ninja battle game. B. managed to find the replacement key chain he was looking for, but left the room otherwise unscathed.
We had some time to kill before the next thing I wanted to see, so we wandered around upstairs. There was rock band, but I couldn't figure out who to ask if I could play. I just watched instead, happy with knowledge that I'd have been able to hold my own if I had played. There didn't seem to be much happening in the analog gaming room, but I didn't spend much looking since I didn't want to get involved in playing a game and miss the next thing I wanted to watch.
Next up was a taiko performance by a student taiko group. It was simply amazing. My only complaint - it was too short. I'd have been perfectly happy to listen to them play the same songs over and over for the entire hour. On the positive side, I enjoyed listening to their descriptions of how they built the drums and the comparison of the sticks they use to hit them. Following their performance, they invited us all up on stage to bang the drums (what an amazing rush!), and to talk with them more.
They mentioned that they have another performance coming up, April 17 for World Percussion Night. I'm considering going down to it, though it means that I'll be missing a Japanese class.
We did stop briefly to chat with (or perhaps just listen to) Erik, Sarah, Alisha (sp?), and Bill. Bill mentioned that he had purchased a copy of Sen So. More importantly, he mentioned that you can play with ninjas fighting pirates. We took a trip back to the dealers room where I played a demo game (and lost horribly), earning a free promotional card. Needless to say, I thought this would be a good addition to the bucket of games, so I purchased a copy for myself.
After that, it was back to viewing anime. We saw the ending of Place Promised in Our Early Days. This wasn't one that was on my list of things to see, but I did find myself intrigued by the ending enough that I now want to see the whole thing.
I did get to see the first few episodes of .Hack//Sign, the name of which I was having trouble remembering all day. (I even referred to it as ".Net" and "Hack and Slash" various points. ;) Though this one wasn't so science fiction related, it is one that I'd like to see more of. The idea of not being able to log out from an online game is fascinating. Though it is not really like either of them, upon reading the description of it in the program, my first thoughts were of Tron and The Matrix, which was enough to make me think I might like it.
Finishing out my viewing for the day, I saw Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie. I will admit that I had a bit of trouble getting into this one initially, primarily because of the youth of the main character. Nonetheless, it was an amusing story and I wasn't at all lost, even though I didn't know anything about the back story besides the main character's name, and her pursuit of Clow cards. Toward the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sakura displayed more emotional maturity than one would normally expect from someone her age. With that in mind, I may find that I can enjoy this series as well.
I had to get back home to take care of Ding, so B. & I weren't able to stay for the raffle. Fortunately, we ran into Ben for the second time that day, so I gave my tickets to him, and asked him to deliver a bag of lemon kisses to Erik for me. B. & I had dinner downtown at the Canyon Cafe (El Zarappe was packed), after which we headed home, making it back just 5 minutes outside our allotted 12 hour window.
There were a few things I'd marked in the program that I wanted to see, but did not actually get a chance to do so: Jubei-chan, Full Metal Alchemist, and The Big O. As it turns out, B. may have some of these already, so it will make it much simpler for me to watch them.
Based upon this positive experience, I'm now considering going to Youmacon in the fall. I didn't have much fun the first time I went, but if I go with the intent of primarily watching anime, I think that may make it a much more enjoyable experience. After all, if I haven't watched the anime, none of the cosplay will make much sense, nor will the panels.
Only 365-ish days until Animaraton VII!