New York Anime Festival 2009

Wow! It doesn't get much better than this, my friends. This was another freakishly awesome weekend and I'm now very depressed that it's over. I went to my very first anime convention, the New York Anime Festival--a three-day extravaganza celebrating otaku culture with merchandise, panels, screenings, gaming, art, performances, and more! Needless to say, my bank account has been all but vanquished.

The fun began on Friday after school. I sort of decided to skip Math class (ssshhh, don't tell anyone!) so that I could go straight to the convention center with my friend Shirley after our Japanese Culture class was over. We spent most of our time on Friday exploring the exhibitors/dealers room (whatever you want to call it). There was everything and anything an otaku could ever ask for--manga, DVDs, toys, costumes, games, swords, and more. I had my eye out for DragonBall merchandise, of course, but as expected there was relatively little. However, there was a hell of a lot of yaoi--and yaoi fans! I saw tons of people carrying around those infamous yaoi paddles or otherwise carrying some form of expression of their love for yaoi.

I didn't actually end up buying anything on Friday, because I just wanted to scope everything out first, if you know what I mean. Anyways, that evening we also went to a great panel called "Know Your Creators" featuring two guys named Rym and Scott who spoke about important creators/directors in the anime world. It was quite educational and I've got some new anime creators and films to look into! How am I ever going to see all I need to see? Rym and Scott were a couple of very smart and very fun guys to listen to. Apparently they're regulars at anime conventions across the east coast and they host their own podcast--check out their website.

Saturday was the convention's biggest day. The place was absolutely packed to the brim. And how about all those cosplayers! There were many really great costumes, and some not so great. But good or bad, it's so fun to see otakus express their creativity with their home-made costumes of their favorite characters. I should tell you that I took relatively few photos at the con because as usual, my camera wouldn't cooperate. I could hardly get a clear picture. Plus, I was frankly having more fun just looking at all the cosplayers than taking pictures of them. Furthermore, I seriously had no idea who most of the characters were. I know very little about the more popular anime series like Naruto or Bleach. There were just a few DragonBall cosplayers that I saw, including two Gokus, two Trunks, and Android #17. I also saw just a handful of Avatar: The Last Airbender cosplayers, and that made me happy whenever I saw them.

Another fun part of the convention was the "Artists Alley," where anime fan artists were selling prints and such of their original artwork. I'm telling you, there were some truly spectacular artists there, and I could not resist buying a few pieces. I bought a cool Naruto poster by an artist named Kevin Yan--and I barely know anything about Naruto at all! But this piece is just so incredible. When I saw it, I was so struck by it that I just had to get it. I also bought a print of a painting of the twins from Ouran High School Host Club, and a small print of an Avatar piece. Back on the exhibitors floor, I got three prints from a poster vendor: a beautiful Japanese Castle in the Sky poster (which I was really excited about because I saw a pic of it on the internet and thought it was so beautiful), a Japanese Princess Mononoke poster, and a poster with a picture of the Avatar gang. While we're on the topic of the shopping I did at the con, on Saturday I got a couple of awesome DBGT figures (SS4 Goku and Vegeta by Banpresto). On Sunday I got a couple nifty mini DBZ figures at the Funimation booth... oh, and another little art print.

Okay, I'm not keeping my thoughts organized here, but I figure it's not worth it to treat every blog entry like an essay. Let's move on to other activities I did besides shopping for awesome anime stuffage. So, back to Saturday. After shopping, I went to see if I could join Shirley and Shovana at a Q & A Panel with none other than the creator of the anime phenomenon Gundam Yoshiyuki Tomino! Alas, I got there too late and the room was packed so they wouldn't let me in. Well, at least it's not like I'm really into Gundam, so it wasn't an enormous letdown. Later, I peeked in a screening of Galaxy Express 999 but left after a little bit to join my friends at a nearby McDonald's for a meal break. I swore I would never set foot in a McDonald's ever again, but that's where they were going and I didn't want to be left out. I got some unappetizing chicken nuggets. Remind me not to cave in again.

Anyways, after that we checked out an event called "Iron Cosplay" where the audience watched as two teams were given random raw materials to make a character costume within a 30-minute time limit. It was a slightly dissappointing show, but fun enough. Later, we got in line for the Cosplay Masquerade thingy, but I didn't want to just sit there in line, so I went off browsing/shopping again. However, I didn't make it back in line with the others in time so I got split up from them. I was shuffled into the overflow section where people could watch the show on a screen. I wasn't sure what the show was supposed to be, even after it actually began. I guess it was supposed to be cosplayers doing little skits and stuff, but I have to be honest it was just painful and embarrassing to watch and I don't get what the big deal was. I left shortly to go see a panel, featuring the same guys from the night before--Rym and Scott--this time presenting "Anime Every Fan Should See." It was another very enjoyable discussion on anime essentials.

On Sunday, upon returning to the convention center around noon, I struggled within myself as to whether I should buy more stuff. As I mentioned before, I did indeed buy more stuff. Oops. Later, my friends and I went to a panel featuring Japanese singer/voice actress Yui Makino (who was one of the guests of honor at the con) and a few American voice actors, all talking about their experience in the anime voice acting business and a few other related topics. So that was pretty neat. After that was over, we tried to get into "Funimation Sneak Peaks" (I'm a big supporter of Funimation and a fan of the wonderful anime properties they bring to America), but it was too full to get in. Damn it. Well, we pretty much just went over to the Artists Alley again to gawk at all the gorgeous anime art, so it's all good. There was always more to look at. I also went around to take a few more photos as the convention was sadly winding down. And in a flash, the fun was over.

As I mentioned, I took relatively few photos (I did, however, take a bunch of short videos which turned out to be a better way to capture my experience in snippets), but here I present to you the best of my photos in a slideshow. Click on "View All Images" below to see descriptions for each photo so you know what it's all about!

Pride Rally, Kinokuniya, and Burnt DVDs for Rental

Saturday kicked off the GLBT Pride festivities (in spite of still more rain) with the Rally in Bryant Park, featuring a slew of activist speakers, comedians, singers, and other performers supporting our pride and promoting the cause of gay rights. I checked it out after I got lost in Times Square (as seen above) for a little bit. The crowd at the Rally was surprisingly small, maybe because of the weather. When I arrived there, I barely caught the end of Dustin Lance Black's speech--he's the young Oscar-winning screenwriter of the film Milk! So he's kind of a big deal and all. I was mad I didn't get there in time for his whole speech. But it's awesome that I saw him in person. As a matter of fact, he walked out amongst the audience casually and he literally walked right behind me! Right behind me! Like not even two inches away! As I farted around all star-struck, I contemplated the idea of asking to get a photo with him-- I mean, what an opportunity right? But you know what? I freaking didn't. Because I'm a freaking moron and I don't take hold of the chances that are right in front of my freaking face. IDIOT. He left the park a few minutes later and I will most likely never get the chance to get a photo with Dustin Lance Black ever again.

This is the best photo I could grab of him, or rather the back of him (he's the guy with the white shirt tucked in, carrying a cup of coffee), with my slow camera. Lame, I know.




Here's a shot of the whole rally.


After battling with my dissappointment in myself, I left. Well, I also just got bored of standing around watching the show by myself. There were some cute guys around that I was checking out, but I suck at talking to people so I didn't meet anybody. Geez, me being an idiot again. GAH.

Well, here's some pretty pics in and around Bryant Park.






Anyways, one of my favorite stores in all of New York City happens to be right across from Bryant Park--Kinokuniya Books. It's a Barnes & Noble-esque bookstore dedicated predominately to Japan and all things Japanese, including a basement floor comprised entirely of books in Japanese. But the best thing of all is the second floor, where they have an incredible selection of domestic and imported manga and manga artbooks, plus a decent selection of anime. I couldn't buy anything since I spent money back at Forbidden Planet. Sad face. Frustrated face!

And by the way, to take full advantage of the awesomeness that New York City has to offer, one needs money. And to get money, one needs a job. I hate job searching. Hate it. But I'm freaking dying here. So much manga, so little money! Well. I'll let you know how that job search goes.

Um, Sunday's not really worth mentioning apparently because I can't remember it.

On Monday, I was supposed to have an appointment at Hunter with an academic advisor, but to make a long story short, the bus was really late and the traffic was bad so I missed my appointment. That frustrating experienced started off my day badly and it didn't really get interesting after that anyways.

The past couple of days, I've felt a little down. It's hard to explain, but I think I'm just lonely and frustrated because I don't have any friends to hang out with. I don't mind hanging out with my parents, but the conversation can only cover so much, you know what I mean? My nights have often been spent watching anime by myself, which is all good, but it would just be so much more fun if I had someone here named Mike with whom to analyze and discuss it.

I watched an incredible anime movie this week called Metropolis. It's a modern classic with great characters, dazzling animation, and interesting themes. Hm. That statement was a pretty generic comment that goes for pretty much any great anime film, wasn't it? Well, let's just say Metropolis is probably one of my new favorites. You should watch it.

On Tuesday, I checked out our local library on 100th St. It's a small and humble library, but they actually had a decent selection of manga including a single yaoi manga. I was amused. But I have to get a library card before I can check anything out and I applied for one online. I can't wait to get it because since I can't buy manga, I'm definitely down to check it out for free!

Here's a random pretty church I found in the neighborhood while looking for the library:




Today I had a successful appointment with an advisor at Hunter. I went over some questions I had about... collegiate stuff. You know. After that, I took the 6 train down to Grand Central Station and got lost for a while trying to find a Japanese video rental store. When I finally found it... well, let's just say their merch wasn't exactly legit. Ha. Okay, you know what, I'll just tell you: their DVDs were burnt discs with photocopied covers on the cases. No lie. Cute, huh?

New York Living: Day Something or Other

Monday was an important day. That morning, I had my transfer student orientation at Hunter College, where I learned about registration, general ed requirements, and all of that exciting stuff. My preparation for my new college has just begun though; my list of things to do has greatly increased since I learned all the things I have to take care of before school starts. Ah, well. All part of being a student.

Hunter's facilities frankly aren't very attractive, except for the cool old building you see below. The quality of the education is supposed to be great, though. It sure as hell better be, haha. Their Film program seems promising but I have to say I'm dissappointed with their offerings of Japan-related classes. They have a whole program dedicated to China and the Chinese language, but Japanese is merely thrown into the "Classical and Oriental Studies" category. Apparently I won't be getting a minor in Japanese at Hunter. Honestly, it makes me have second thoughts about finishing school there; maybe I'll transfer yet again to another school in New York that has more Japanese offerings--if there is one.


Speaking of things Japanese, after orientation I checked out this beautiful shop nearby called Things Japanese. They had all kinds of genuine Japanese antiques, woodblock prints, paintings, decorations, dishes, and such. And I do mean genuine; this wasn't the cheap, touristy Asian gift shop I'm used to seeing. They had real, old Japanese stuff. That equals tres pricey, my friends. So, I couldn't afford anything, and I just gazed around and dreamt of the day when I'll be a wealthy film maker picking out all sorts of nifty decorations for my apartment on Central Park West. Or Riverside Drive. Or 76th Street.

On my way back home, I walked through Central Park because it was such a gorgeous sunny day. Here's some photos.




On Tuesday, my mom and I spent the afternoon shopping for groceries and other household necessities. It was actually kinda fun checking out our neighborhood. I also peeked in a store called Futonland, which had some nice futon furniture, shoji screens, and shoji lamps--which I loved because they're exactly the type of Japanese-style lamps I've always wanted to buy. But they were kind of overpriced.

On Wednesday, I headed to Pier 1 Imports, but before I found that, I stumbled upon a cool comic book shop called Time Machine. They didn't have much in the way of manga, though, so I didn't stay long. Anyways, after buying a cushion (for my desk chair) at Pier 1, and getting some good ol' New York style pizza, I walked to Forbidden Planet (near Union Square), a paradise for comic book and manga enthusiasts. They have lots of decently priced action figures from all the biggest franchises--mostly Western, some Japanese--but they didn't have much DragonBall stuff this time around. However, I spent the rest of my afternoon on the second floor, which is dedicated to manga and anime. Their selection is pretty fantastic, and of course my personal favorite thing about Forbidden Planet is their outstanding selection of yaoi manga. I have never seen another store with such a large section dedicated solely to the genre. For that matter, I've never seen another store with a yaoi section at all. Freakin' sweet. I bought some, not gonna lie.

But enough of my gayness. Thursday, the heavy rains came back and I just spent my day doing things around the house and writing up lists for college-related tasks. It's been quite a process getting our decorations up and it's still not even done. I've still got to figure out exactly where I'm hanging things in my room. But last night we did get my shoji screen up behind my bed to act as a decorative headboard. It looks pretty awesome. Today, I drove myself crazy working on arranging and rearranging my room again, and mom and I took a walk down Broadway.

No pictures of our place yet. Sorry. All in good time.