If you're still with me, I'll spend this portion just talking about some of the various things that I liked and did during the 2 or 3 hours I was wandering the fair. Feel free to move along, as this will likely get heavily anime-centric.
Still here? Pop a squat. This could take a while... (WARNING, this is a REALLY LONG POST!)
Walking in, there's quite a lot to try to take in all at once. Apart from the sea of people, there are booths of various sizes. Some of the larger booths actually incorporated stages or performance areas. I did notice an "Overseas" booth that was meant to assist attendees that were at the show for business reasons like purchasing. What it meant for me, is that if I gave a business card, they would give me a program, business guide, map and tote bag to hold all the free stuff I would eventually accumulate. Good times. (And who knows, maybe I can start a company that will have business reasons to be at TAF.) -- side note -- An interesting thing about crowds in Japan, is that no matter how many people there are or how congested things may look, it is very very rare that you will actually make physical contact with anyone. People of all ages and genders had a remarkable ability to avoid contact. It didn't matter what neighborhood I was in, or what train station or what time of the day it was. It was really refreshing. Of course, that all went out the window once I got to TAF, I was getting pushed, and bumped so many times I thought I was back in America or a bumper car. Oh well. -- end side note --On to the first display that drew me in. Darn you Kimi ni Todoke and your adorable romantic and comedic slice of life stories!
Kurumi-chan, one of my favorite characters from the series:
(It's a coincidence who her seiyuu is, I swear!)Ponyo! I really did enjoy this movie.
Every subsequent Studio Ghibli movie seems to get more and more life-like to me. I absolutely enjoy any running scene in a Studio Ghibli. There is just something beautiful and mesmerizing about it. (Sample running at 1:53 and at 2:00) Ponyo even had midnight showings in major cities like Chicago when it came out here in the United States! Did you you know that? Er...I didn't either. I've got to say that my first and favorite Studio Ghibli movie is Princess Mononoke. More on Studio Ghibli when I go to the museum. I can't lie. I heard the strains of a familiar opening theme in the distance, and I was immediately drawn to pay homage. It's Starchild Records!
The opening theme in question is Kiiroi Vacances, one of the opening themes for Pani Poni Dash! An hour or two later, I would get sucked in to listen to music from Toradora. And if that didn't get me, I would have been ensnarled by music from Minami-ke. Any guesses on which of these series I've watched?
Durarara! (Or should it be Dulalala!) Based on a light novel, the story telling and characters are quite deep and entertaining. It helped that they gradually unveiled the story for the first half of the season, which made for some nice and well paced story telling. The depiction of the Ikekuburo neighborhood of Tokyo seriously made me consider visiting. I will definitely make my way there next time.A quick word on the promo gals handing out free flyers.
I had no idea on what the proper etiquette was as far as picture taking goes. So a lot of my early photographs happen from distance. It turns out that a lot of them are ok with taking pictures, and will try to accommodate your picture taking needs by striking multiple poses until you feel that you have enough poses. Basically, you just need to give them a heads up that you are planning to take a picture, and then just snap a picture. ("Hai, chee-su" works really well here.) A lot of people at the Toei Animation booth presentation!
These mascots were oddly cute.
...while I can't stand these cartoon characters at all. A sort of Raving Rabbits mutation that doesn't work for me.
Watching both seasons of Spice and Wolf drew me in to buying the first volume of the light novel series as well, which I also enjoyed. I did grab some Spice and Wolf art later in the trip, as the illustrations from the novel are quite nice. A nice album cover looking poster for one of my favorite series, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. Also based on excellent source material, a light novel series which I own as well.
Haruhi says "Don't compare to see if there is a common seiyuu in these series."
Kagami-chan, Tsukasa, and a mini-Konata from Lucky Star! Have I mentioned that there are a TON of QR codes everywhere?
Various items from Nodame Cantabile and Eden of the East. Alert readers will note the Napoleon-pose by the S-Oke. You also may not know that Oasis performed the Opening Theme song for Eden of the East.
Now enjoy a short montage of promotional girls that I have nothing to say about.
Angel Beats! The pedigree of this series (creator and production studio) is pretty high. We'll see if it lives up to the hype.
After a period of time, I took a little bit of a break from watching a lot of anime. Being away from college, and people that constantly watch anime gave me fewer avenues for acquisition and recommendations. Once I started traveling heavily for work, a co-worker and friend of mine, got me back on track to watching anime again. One of his recommendations was a series called Fullmetal Alchemist.
A nice blend of heavy themes, story lines, deep characterizations, action, comedy, friendship, religion, science and mystery. I was hooked again. I'm still unsure if I should curse him or thank him. (Just kidding...I think!)
Here are two series that were based on light novels (again, really?), but I would really like to progress my reading comprehension to read them fully in Japanese. A lot of the real action is conversation based, and the story never really goes where you expect it to, but it always ends in a satisfying way.
The series on the left is Bakemonogatari and the series on the right is the once a month Katanagatari. The author is NisiOisiN. And some replica katanas from Katanagatari.
Major. Early on, the storyline wasn't very predictable and it was quite entertaining. Since the first couple of seasons, it's become somewhat more predictable, and it's turned into a sort of Dragonball Z of sorts, where Goro will alternate between looking invincible until a new rival appears, which makes him look weak, and have to work to learn a "new move". Rinse, and repeat.
Even though this was for a trading card game, I was very excited when I got to see the cut outs for K-On! Yui!
Mio!
Azu-nyah!
Mugi!
Oops. No Ritsu. Oh well!A lot of detail for this car.
Want to get interviewed by local Japanese television stations? You'll increase your odds by dressing up as anime character at the anime fair. How do I know?
Sasuke from Naruto:
And Ichimaru from Bleach:
I haven't watched the Heroman anime yet, but I walked by your display multiple times, so...you win?
Shana-chan from Shakugan no Shana! Yakitate!! may have introduced me to melon-pan, but Shana mirrored my love for the bread. The series may have moved away from the action and strong story driven elements to focus on the fan-preferred love triangle or love quadrangle elements, but I still found it enjoyable regardless.
The best Miku Hatsune that I saw that day. (there were more than one versions walking around)
If this wasn't an outfit inspired by any particular series, then overall it was just a great outfit worn really well.
By the way, I did take some breaks in between. Here was a short break to enjoy some ice cream.
And some time to look at some new models from the Good Smile Company.Saber from Fate/stay night:
Senjougahara Hitagi from Bakemonogatari:
I left a little message (Wes desu! // It's Wes). Leave a comment if you can tell me what color I wrote my message in.
...and the whole chalkboard...
Ok, if you're somehow still reading this, I'll end here with the last few images of my favorite promotional girls.
Whew! See you again, same time same place?-- Tokyo Anime Fair end --
