I’m not sure if I’m really in the right frame of mind to blog, but I might forget to later (or have something else to blog about). So, here’s my take on Animania.

I was planning to write about UNSW Open Day last Saturday, but it was covered by everyone else already xD I spent the day visiting most of the science lectures. I guess I realised why I wanted to do Science at USyd, and why Med still sounds good. Lucky people who get the 99.95 for USyd, and don’t need to decide now.

Anyway! Animania.

So, after finding out that Andrea and Shirley couldn’t make it, I realised the downside of pre-reg tickets. Ah well. I planned to get there at about 10, but my morning and Sydney Buses had other plans. I reached Redfern at 11 or so, and realised that I didn’t really know how to get to the Australian Technology Park. Thankfully, I spotted Urahara’s hat in the distance, and just followed it. Turns out Platform 10 or so goes straight there =)

Australian Technology Park. It felt weird to be going there again – the first time I went was about December last year, for studying too much. Now I was going because I didn’t want to study at all.

My memory’s a bit sketchy after a week, so I’ll just summarise the next few hours. Overall, it was pretty interesting – I’m glad I went. Was it worth going completely broke? Possibly.

At the risk of quoting our Area of Study, I kind of felt… “un-belonging”. I finally learned the difference between a ‘geek’ and a ‘nerd’, I guess, as slack as that sounds. Sure, I love watching anime. But I guess there was an overall sense of obsessiveness with it. As unbelievable as it may seem, anime really is just entertainment to me in the end. It felt a bit like most of the people there took it beyond fangirling.

But whatever. I’ll accept that there are people very different to me.

The food also was a bit.. hmmm. I realised at about midday that I hadn’t eaten since UNSW Open Day, so I went for the noodles, which looked like the only non-sugar thing that wasn’t cooked with prawn. Realised in about 10 minutes that it was too expensive and oily for my liking. I’d bring my own food next year.

On a more positive note, the stalls were pretty decent. Bought some long overdue birthday presents. The animavericks’ stall was a bit strange though.

Guy: Here, look at some of our magazines!
Me: *flicks through*
Guy: Have you heard of us?!?
Me: Yeah, I’ve been to your website.
Guy: How about you have one of our magazines?
Me: …umm, how much is it?
Random other guy: It’s free with our $10 poster!
Me: ..no thanks.

Some of the karaoke competition entrants were pretty impressive. There was a really good cover of Ayaka’s ‘おかえり’ – I don’t personally like the song much though. I generally dislike songs that just show off someone’s range.

The ball jointed doll cosplay competition was awesome. There’s a better picture of Cloud over at the Animania site. Yeah, my photos from Animania suck – there wasn’t much light and I don’t have the skill to make them look good. I also can’t be stuffed using Photoshop.

I can't actually tell who most of them are cosplaying T_T

This was still being set up, so it's the best picture I could get without including people.

The highlight of the day was easily the cosplay.

The first two minutes of this video have most of the better parts from what I saw.

Highlights would be:
- the Code Geass group. I think they won first prize for group cosplay? They don’t seem to really turn up in the above video, but they’re on stage at about the 6:25 mark when they get their award.
- Dante. No, I haven’t played Devil May Cry. No, I haven’t ever seen what Dante is meant to look like. But he’d win my vote, along with most other females in the crowd xD
- Cardcaptor Sakura. Someone dressed their kid up (I’m guessing she was about 6?) as Kinomoto Sakura (I think. I don’t read it.) Once again, sorry to Alice for not taking a picture.
- the massive Bleach cosplay group. This is what I stuck around for. Hitsugaya’s wings were awesome, and I quite liked hollow Ichigo as well. But watching them make out was slightly disturbing.

The closeup I got of part of the Bleach group

Here’s two closeups of the wings. Again, apologies for the quality.

Why Belle, I never knew you were so talented!

Yeah, I had trouble fitting them into one shot.

And here is the kiss. Go straight to 2:43. I also found the bit from 2:02 – 2:27.. interesting.

I went home early, being Father’s Day and all. Maybe I should have stuck around to learn the Lucky Star dance, but I could probably learn off Youtube if I really wanted to.

Would I go back next year? Maybe. I don’t think it’s an event I’d need to go to every year, since I’m not that much of a crazy fan of anime (I’ve moved into the J-drama world instead) and it was pretty expensive overall. But hey, I wouldn’t mind going again

OMG MOM, LOOK, ITS SAILOR MOON!!!1

Pfft, they totally mixed seasons together… look, clearly Sailor Venus is in her SuperS outfit, while Sailor Saturn in in her S outfit… Sailor Moon could be from either, but, geez guys! Seriously!

Ahem.

Anyway, like I said before, there was good cosplay, there was bad cosplay, there was epic cosplay, there was weird cosplay, etc., etc. However, there was a lot less bad cosplay than I expected (this excluding folks who clearly went out of their way to have bad cosplay as opposed to legit bad cosplay)… although I could’ve done without the Mikuru whose skirt wasn’t long enough.

I didn’t get nearly as many pictures as I would’ve liked (I couldn’t get my camera engaged fast enough to get a shot of this HUGE line of Bleach cosplayers who were all on their way somewhere), but I did get quite a few good ones.

There were a few Shoujo Kakumei Utena cosplayers at the con, although the first one I saw was actually a Shiori, not an Anthy or Utena, surprisingly enough. I asked her to smile or make a Shiori-like face, and lol’d at her friend who informed me that Shiori ONLY smiles for Juri… it was pretty clear they were ShiorixJuri shippers, since the show itself makes it pretty clear that Shiori would make a point of not smiling for Juri. But, hey, points for going as a minor character from a show no one apparently watches any more!

I saw a few Sakuras running around, but not too many – about half of them were wearing this outfit. One of the other ones I saw was a little girl with her parents; I doubt she was older than four or five. I got her picture too, but because I figured her parents wouldn’t be too happy if her picture were on the internet, and since some of you are pedo-pervs, I decided not to post it =)

For shits and giggles, I briefly entertained the notion of crossplaying as Ciel from Kuroshitsuji from the episode were he crossdresses (I was never serious about the idea, since the dress was crazy). I didn’t expect that anyone actually would, so I was surprised to see not one, but three different girls crossplaying as him in the dress – I didn’t think the show was popular enough to get that many to go in an outfit that only appeared once. I actually saw this girl getting onto the escalator (her friend had to help her keep the skirt clear from the steps), and ended up going downstairs also to chase her down for the photo. She did a good job, but her right eye should really be covered by the hat since Ciel was covering up his eyepatch when he crossdressed =)

Gin from Bleach. This was the second shot, since his friend told him his eyes were “slitty” enough in the first one.

All the Utenas I saw were movie-version ones – everyone wants to be a pink-haired lesbian who turns into a car! I was happy since she sort of did the pose from one of the pieces of promotional art for the movie. (I saw an Anthy, but she wasn’t very good, so I didn’t take her picture.)

Digimon cosplayers! I thought I’d never see any! But here we have a Sora and a Hikari (Kari in the dub) from Digimon 02. I was stupidly happy when I saw them, and instantly asked the girls behind me in the Lolita Fashion panel line if they’d save my spot while I tracked these two down.

I really loved these Amu (Shugo Chara) cosplayers, as they were able to get her in all her transformations (or at least her initial three, as I think she might have some more much later on? I don’t follow Shugo Chara, so I can’t say for sure). Isn’t it good to have friends? (Wait, anime fans have friends? What the fuck?!)

Ok, so lolitas aren’t technically cosplayers… but its not as if that means we don’t like seeing their cute outfits anyway. I didn’t get many lolita pictures, sadly, but I loved this girl’s dress. I would actually say that it was during the lolita panel that I saw the most of bad outfits, which may account for the fact that I only got two pictures of lolitas in total.

Here’s the other Sakura I got a picture of – I liked hers because it took an outfit of Sakura’s that only appeared on the cover of one of the manga tankouban (volume six, if I’m not mistaken).

Here we have a Princess Serenity (manga-style – check out the silver hair) cosplayer. I just realized now that this means that only iteration of Sailor Moon I didn’t see was Usagi in her school uniform, since I saw Sailor Moon, Super Sailor Moon (earlier in this post), and Eternal Sailor Moon.

I saw a few Harukos around, but this one was the best of the lot… and actually brought the robot (although no Vespa, oddly enough).

Remember how I said having friends was great? Further proof – if you have friends, you can single-handedly be cooler than any other Ichigo cosplayer at the entire con! White Ichigo (this character may have a name, but I haven’t read Bleach in a long while) asked me what I wanted for a pose, and I said whatever they wanted was fine, so she said, “Oh, you know, I’ve never done this one and I’d like to…” and got into that position. The weird spot on regular Ichigo’s sword is a piece of dust on my camera’s lens.

One of only two Clannad cosplayers I saw at the con, and she was there as Ryou! My flash went off although I didn’t want it to, so her shirt is a tiny bit washed-out looking, but she had a great costume. She was also one of only TWO FREAKING CLANNAD COSPLAYERS so she kind of had an A+ in my book anyway. That and the fact that she was a minor character. I’m not sure who the other Clannad cosplayer was supposed to be, although I think it may’ve been Yukine… which would end up being kind of odd since this means no one picked a main character.

That wraps up the good cosplay pictures I have – a few pictures came out weird, which I didn’t realize until I got home and tossed them onto my computer. If you go look at my con posts from days one and two you can see a few more cosplay pictures, such as of Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service, duh) and a Team Rocket guy (from the Pokemon video games).

Per il secondo anno consecutivo i Phoenix hanno trionfato al Torino Comics 2009 vincendo il premio come migliore gruppo con “Bleach”.

Erano campioni uscenti dello stesso premio: l’anno scorso hanno vinto col gruppo di Hercules di cui ho fatto parte anch’io.

Quest’anno purtroppo non ho potuto partecipare causa esame importante proprio il giorno dopo. Ma è come se avessi vinto pure io.

E’ l’augurio che l’affiatamento di questo gruppo e l’impegno sempre più grande per l’unica fiera del fumetto della nostra città, Torino, non finisca mai.

Questo articolo lo dedico a loro.

Continuando a série da AnimeFriends 2008, hoje vamos ver algumas fotos da Sexta-feira, dia 18/07.

AnimeFriends 2008

Começanco com a Puchiko-chan de Digi Charat. Esse Gema tá parecendo meio esquisito/furry/de ponta cabeça?

Antes de sair do hotel, já tava com a câmera preparada.

AnimeFriends 2008

Rosalina de Super Mario Galaxy estava lá.
Alguns ótimos cosplayers estavam na minha caravana. ^^

AnimeFriends 2008

Love and Peace do Vash na fila de entrada das caravanas.
Tava meio quente com o solão na cara, então acho que ele também queria um ar condicionado…
Mas a recompensa de 60 bilhões é minha!

AnimeFriends 2008

Ishida de Bleach.
Imagino se foi ele que fez todos esses capuzes atrás dele…

AnimeFriends 2008

O pessoal de Bleach estavam posando na area da Press Start (games).
É uma nova constante entre cosplayers… também tinha um grupo no post do Imin Matsuri.

AnimeFriends 2008

Naruto versão feminina? Tipo Sexy no Jutsu…

AnimeFriends 2008

No lado dos games, Altair de Assassin’s Creed… versus… alguém me disse que é um Gunslinger de Ragnarok. Nunca joguei ou assisti, então não tenho certeza.

AnimeFriends 2008

Mikuru BEEAAMMMM!
Não consegui tirar uma foto melhor dela… meio triste, porque estava muito boa. O cosplay, quero dizer.

AnimeFriends 2008

Blade e um samurai emborrachado ou coisa assim… ^^’

AnimeFriends 2008

Um casal de Rurouni Kenshin. Outra coincidência? Também tinha um casal de Rurouni Kenshin nos posts do Imin Matsuri.

AnimeFriends 2008

Snorlax tava derretendo… e não sem razão. Estava muito quente…

AnimeFriends 2008

Ótimo Vincent de Final Fantasy 7 (Dirge of Cerberus).

AnimeFriends 2008

Mistureba. Quer dizer, eu sei que parte é de Shaman King… ou são todos de Shaman King? Vou precisar de ajuda nessa…

AnimeFriends 2008

Ryuuku estava saboreando uma deliciosa maçã. Gostei da máscara…

AnimeFriends 2008

Finalmente, uma foto não cosplay: Pergunta do dia.
Você é Otaku?
Uma pergunta que inventei na AnimeDreams deste ano… e agora faço em todos os eventos.

Vou fazer um post explicando melhor o significado da palavra e o porque que cria tanta controvérsia…

Eu estava meio cansado no dia, e acabei não tirando muitas fotos…
Mas continuem acessando o blog… tem mais evento pela frente!

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Following up the AnimeFriends series, today we’ll take a look at pics from Friday, 07/18.

AnimeFriends 2008

Beginning with Puchiko-chan from DiGi Charat. That Gema looks kinda weird/furry/upside down?

Before leaving the hotel, I already had the digicam fired up.

AnimeFriends 2008

Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy was there.

AnimeFriends 2008

Vash asking for love and peace on the entrance line.
It was kinda hot, so I imagine he wanted an air conditioning system too.
But the 60 billion reward is mine!

AnimeFriends 2008

Ishida from Bleach. I wonder if he’s the one who made all those hoodies behind him…

AnimeFriends 2008

The Bleach boys were present on the Press Start area.
A new trend on cosplaying… there was also a group on Imin Matsuri post.

AnimeFriends 2008

Naruto female version? Like Sexy no Jutsu…

AnimeFriends 2008

On the gaming side, Altair from Assassins Creed (versus) … someone said it’s a Gunslinger from Ragnarok. Never played/watched it, so I’m not shure.

AnimeFriends 2008

Mikuru BEEAAMMMM!
Couldn’t take a better pic of her… kinda sad, because she was very nice. The cosplay I mean.

AnimeFriends 2008

Blade and some rubber armor samurai thing… ^^’

AnimeFriends 2008

A Rurouni Kenshin couple. Another coincidence? Imin Matsuri posts also had a couple with Rurouni Kenshin cosplay.

AnimeFriends 2008

Snorlax was melting… not without reason. It was awfully hot…

AnimeFriends 2008

Very nice Vincent from FF7 (Dirge of Cerberus).

AnimeFriends 2008

Mixed stuff… I know it’s part Shaman King, part something else… or is it all Shaman King? HALP

AnimeFriends 2008

Ryuuku was savoring a delicious apple. Liked the handmade mask…

AnimeFriends 2008

Finally, a non-cosplay pic: Question of the day.
The question was: “Are you an Otaku?”.
I’ll explain what this is because I think it’s a brazillian anime convention thing… lots of people carry around this signboards with… well, anything that comes to mind.
From drawings, news, ads to questions, quizes and other stuff.
I had the idea of making this question on a previous convention, and now I do it in almost every convention.

I’m planning on doing a post about what the word means, and why it creates such a controversy around these parts.

Anyways, I was kinda tired and ended up not taking too many pics…
But keep in touch… the following two days are the most crowded ones!

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