a concise con summary
Straight, fictional guys who act flamboyant are fun to read.
Okay, Ohayocon. What can I say? A lot of fun stuff went on, this weekend. The hotel accommodations were convenient, especially because we were right on top of the convention center, which was all thanks to Ashley, who picked us up (machi_neko and S) at 6am and drove us three hours to our destination. We couldn't check into our room until 3pm, but that wasn't so bad. Registration was a bit of a hassle, though no more than last year.
The anime convention was full of, as usual, brightly dressed human beings. There were tons of Death Note people and proud Narutards. Otherwise, a lot of people dressed as a lot of different characters, both anime and video game, Japanese entertainment and American. I chose a character from Bleach, mainly because I wanted an excuse to wear those hair pins that I, yes, purchased from eBay.
I was excited to go to the Make Your Own Webcomic forum, mainly because it was hosted by Something Positive cartoonist, R. Milholland, a surly yet approachable writer who I admire very much. He gave some great tips, specifically the part about the photo blue pencil and using 300dpi. Otherwise, his anecdotes were wonderfully funny. I saw him briefly before the forum began, and was able to get a sketch of his filler character, Boy-Toy with the caption, "I'm a real boy where it counts." I'm thinking about emailing him to ask if he'll be at next year's Ohayocon, which seems to get bigger every year.
Also on Saturday, among other events, was the Bleach photo shoot, where I and fellow cosplayers paraded around and took pictures of each other. It was sort of fun to be one of two Orihimes. One of the organizers for the photo shoot told me I looked cute in my costume, which made me very happy.
The dealer room was jam-packed full of crazy. I ended up buying manga (which I'll write about in a moment), a Chinese zodiac sticker, and a button in Artist's Alley.
Saturday night was the Cosplay Masquerade. Some of the skits were cute, though a couple sort of bombed. Unlike last year, there was no stripping Vash, though there were certainly plenty of jokes. The AMV contest afterward was all right, but the videos got pretty boring a little too quickly. I felt bad I didn't go for the comedy vids, but c'est la vie.
Later that night, we went to the rave. I danced and jumped around until my feet blistered and, before I left at 2am, caught a glow stick that was thrown by the DJ.
Sunday was less eventful, though we met up with friends and had lunch at a sushi place (where else?) in the city. I had curry, and was pleasantly surprised at its deliciousness. We discussed a bit of this and that, including the various deaths in the last Harry Potter book and whether or not they were written well. On our way out of the market, there was a man playing a tuba and singing a folk song. It was a surreal sight, though considering some of our dear friends were dressed in con garb, perhaps we were a bit more peculiar.
Back at the convention, there wasn't much to do after lunch besides hang out and head back to the dealer's room and Artist's Alley. We said a prolonged goodbye and headed home at about three or four in the afternoon. I was home in time for dinner.
I wrote down the titles of some anime series I would like to watch this year. This would include RaXephon, Last Exile, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kaleido Star, and Nerima Daikan Brothers. I also picked up some manga. Shounen-ai and manga-ka, Fumi Yoshinaga, seemed to be the common theme.
Gerard and Jacques Volumes 1 & 2. Fumi Yoshinaga. Like Lovers in the Night, the Gerard and Jacques series involves French history and the master-servant dynamic. Gerard is a "commoner" who has made a lot of money from writing pornography. Despite his more unseemly and violent tendencies, he's a generally decent man who believes in the virtues of class equality and, of course, free love. He wears an eye-patch that screams romantic-hero-with-a-rough-exterior and has a sordid past which explains his bitterness fairly well. Jacques is Gerard's far younger servant, a noble who was originally sold into a brothel as collateral by his family. Gerard frees Jacques, though not before taking advantage of him in a particularly graphic scene; though don't worry, the romance that develops is unlikely, but not unrealistic. Yoshinaga does a wonderful job with this story, historically and dramatically. There are dark bits and humorous moments, all mixed together with sex and a compelling plot.
Challengers Volume 4. Hinako Takanaga. The concluding volume of Tatsumi and Kurokawa's romance. Light comedy, light romance, and light-heartedness. The female co-worker who develops an interest in Mitsugu is sort of dumb and flat, but otherwise, the book was a nice way to tie up the series. A lot of the jokes are pretty funny. I guess I'll try and look for more books by Drama Queen publishing in the future.
Don't Say Anymore, Darling. Fumi Yoshinaga. A collection of short stories by Yoshinaga, though I have a lot of mixed feelings about this volume. The title story is well done and pretty hilarious. Its the best story in the book, hands down. Kouhei and Tadashi are warm, wonderful characters.
The second story, My Eternal Sweetheart, is strange, dealing with technology is a future that looks a bit like Edwardian England. Arthur, the main character, is kept in isolation in a beautiful house with only androids for company; he is in contact with his brother, Ruffwood, who agrees to make him "sexadroids." The story is fun, but the ending isn't very satisfying.
Fairyland, the third comic, had a promising beginning and an interesting sci-fi, post-apocalyptic premise; otherwise, I completely hated it. I don't mind sad stories, but I want a goddamn point, okay?
One May Day, the fourth story, was an improvement. It was also sad, with an aging professor marrying a younger woman, but the characters were sympathetic. This story felt a bit like a Malamud piece, with ordinary people in an unfortunate but unavoidable situation. I'm not in love with this comic, but it certainly isn't bad.
The last story, Pianist, was sarcastic and funny, but not nearly as entertaining as the first. The occasional fantasies of the main character are great, but his depressing situation - a washed-up idol - weighs the entire piece down. There's a glimmer of self-ironic hope at the end, but it's just not enough.
Garden Dreams. Fumi Yoshinaga. While Don't Say Anymore brought me down, this book brought me back up. It's refreshing to read Yoshinaga writing about an earlier part of European history. The manga takes place in Medieval France (or an approximation of it) where a sad baron owns a beautiful castle with a beautiful garden. There are no magic elements within the story, but that's fine, because the bitter-sweet romance and familial love certainly make up for it. This is non-slash, by the way, though there are hints and certainly a lot of male bonding. It's a beautiful, sad, and eventually gentle story. I really enjoyed it.
Anyway, my vacation is drawing to a close. It's sad, but it's about time, too. The next semester is close, and I hope it's a good one.
Okay, Ohayocon. What can I say? A lot of fun stuff went on, this weekend. The hotel accommodations were convenient, especially because we were right on top of the convention center, which was all thanks to Ashley, who picked us up (machi_neko and S) at 6am and drove us three hours to our destination. We couldn't check into our room until 3pm, but that wasn't so bad. Registration was a bit of a hassle, though no more than last year.
The anime convention was full of, as usual, brightly dressed human beings. There were tons of Death Note people and proud Narutards. Otherwise, a lot of people dressed as a lot of different characters, both anime and video game, Japanese entertainment and American. I chose a character from Bleach, mainly because I wanted an excuse to wear those hair pins that I, yes, purchased from eBay.
I was excited to go to the Make Your Own Webcomic forum, mainly because it was hosted by Something Positive cartoonist, R. Milholland, a surly yet approachable writer who I admire very much. He gave some great tips, specifically the part about the photo blue pencil and using 300dpi. Otherwise, his anecdotes were wonderfully funny. I saw him briefly before the forum began, and was able to get a sketch of his filler character, Boy-Toy with the caption, "I'm a real boy where it counts." I'm thinking about emailing him to ask if he'll be at next year's Ohayocon, which seems to get bigger every year.
Also on Saturday, among other events, was the Bleach photo shoot, where I and fellow cosplayers paraded around and took pictures of each other. It was sort of fun to be one of two Orihimes. One of the organizers for the photo shoot told me I looked cute in my costume, which made me very happy.
The dealer room was jam-packed full of crazy. I ended up buying manga (which I'll write about in a moment), a Chinese zodiac sticker, and a button in Artist's Alley.
Saturday night was the Cosplay Masquerade. Some of the skits were cute, though a couple sort of bombed. Unlike last year, there was no stripping Vash, though there were certainly plenty of jokes. The AMV contest afterward was all right, but the videos got pretty boring a little too quickly. I felt bad I didn't go for the comedy vids, but c'est la vie.
Later that night, we went to the rave. I danced and jumped around until my feet blistered and, before I left at 2am, caught a glow stick that was thrown by the DJ.
Sunday was less eventful, though we met up with friends and had lunch at a sushi place (where else?) in the city. I had curry, and was pleasantly surprised at its deliciousness. We discussed a bit of this and that, including the various deaths in the last Harry Potter book and whether or not they were written well. On our way out of the market, there was a man playing a tuba and singing a folk song. It was a surreal sight, though considering some of our dear friends were dressed in con garb, perhaps we were a bit more peculiar.
Back at the convention, there wasn't much to do after lunch besides hang out and head back to the dealer's room and Artist's Alley. We said a prolonged goodbye and headed home at about three or four in the afternoon. I was home in time for dinner.
I wrote down the titles of some anime series I would like to watch this year. This would include RaXephon, Last Exile, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kaleido Star, and Nerima Daikan Brothers. I also picked up some manga. Shounen-ai and manga-ka, Fumi Yoshinaga, seemed to be the common theme.
Gerard and Jacques Volumes 1 & 2. Fumi Yoshinaga. Like Lovers in the Night, the Gerard and Jacques series involves French history and the master-servant dynamic. Gerard is a "commoner" who has made a lot of money from writing pornography. Despite his more unseemly and violent tendencies, he's a generally decent man who believes in the virtues of class equality and, of course, free love. He wears an eye-patch that screams romantic-hero-with-a-rough-exterior and has a sordid past which explains his bitterness fairly well. Jacques is Gerard's far younger servant, a noble who was originally sold into a brothel as collateral by his family. Gerard frees Jacques, though not before taking advantage of him in a particularly graphic scene; though don't worry, the romance that develops is unlikely, but not unrealistic. Yoshinaga does a wonderful job with this story, historically and dramatically. There are dark bits and humorous moments, all mixed together with sex and a compelling plot.
Challengers Volume 4. Hinako Takanaga. The concluding volume of Tatsumi and Kurokawa's romance. Light comedy, light romance, and light-heartedness. The female co-worker who develops an interest in Mitsugu is sort of dumb and flat, but otherwise, the book was a nice way to tie up the series. A lot of the jokes are pretty funny. I guess I'll try and look for more books by Drama Queen publishing in the future.
Don't Say Anymore, Darling. Fumi Yoshinaga. A collection of short stories by Yoshinaga, though I have a lot of mixed feelings about this volume. The title story is well done and pretty hilarious. Its the best story in the book, hands down. Kouhei and Tadashi are warm, wonderful characters.
The second story, My Eternal Sweetheart, is strange, dealing with technology is a future that looks a bit like Edwardian England. Arthur, the main character, is kept in isolation in a beautiful house with only androids for company; he is in contact with his brother, Ruffwood, who agrees to make him "sexadroids." The story is fun, but the ending isn't very satisfying.
Fairyland, the third comic, had a promising beginning and an interesting sci-fi, post-apocalyptic premise; otherwise, I completely hated it. I don't mind sad stories, but I want a goddamn point, okay?
One May Day, the fourth story, was an improvement. It was also sad, with an aging professor marrying a younger woman, but the characters were sympathetic. This story felt a bit like a Malamud piece, with ordinary people in an unfortunate but unavoidable situation. I'm not in love with this comic, but it certainly isn't bad.
The last story, Pianist, was sarcastic and funny, but not nearly as entertaining as the first. The occasional fantasies of the main character are great, but his depressing situation - a washed-up idol - weighs the entire piece down. There's a glimmer of self-ironic hope at the end, but it's just not enough.
Garden Dreams. Fumi Yoshinaga. While Don't Say Anymore brought me down, this book brought me back up. It's refreshing to read Yoshinaga writing about an earlier part of European history. The manga takes place in Medieval France (or an approximation of it) where a sad baron owns a beautiful castle with a beautiful garden. There are no magic elements within the story, but that's fine, because the bitter-sweet romance and familial love certainly make up for it. This is non-slash, by the way, though there are hints and certainly a lot of male bonding. It's a beautiful, sad, and eventually gentle story. I really enjoyed it.
Anyway, my vacation is drawing to a close. It's sad, but it's about time, too. The next semester is close, and I hope it's a good one.