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Hey, all-
It's been way, way too long, and I apologize for the silence.
It's scary how much things have changed over the summer. At work, the internal structure was rearranged and my job became much more specialized (and stressful). Health-wise, I haven't been quite right for a while--and the results of last month's annual health check call for further tests for possible breast cancer and diabetes, yikes! I don't yet have a car or Japanese driver's license, so that's now a top priority; otherwise, being in the boonies without much public transport, getting between the hospital and work is going to be difficult.
On the good side, my private book "The Soul Man of Anison: Akira Kushida" was gratifyingly well received, and I was commissioned to head up a similar one on a similar topic; code-named Operation Umanami, it goes to press in just over a month so has been making my nights pretty crunchy. There's interest on three fronts in my singable-English translations of anime and tokusatsu songs; I did three songs for the first, am working on one for the second, and learned about the third just last Sunday. On Sept. 26, I get to sing "Ai Senshi" at a live house in Roppongi as part of MIQ's VLOMIQ class happyoukai (still need a ton of practice, though), and am working on an English second verse for "Crystal Knights Necrime" for my entry in next month's MoJo x2 Nodo Jiman.
That hasn't left time for much else. But I have family on Facebook, so have been trying to get on there, read and post once a day. Not always successful, but having a character limit there is actually encouraging, since I don't feel obligated to ramble on, and so don't put it off because I'm feeling too whupped to write anything that might turn out to run long; write a few lines and it's did.
I'm trying to keep to a schedule of updating Anison Central on Tuesday nights (and my Baldios cel site on Monday nights). But for now, think it might be best to have this journal on a back-burner until some of the current crop of projects and worries are safely past.
In the meantime, you're certainly welcome to do the friend thing with me on Facebook, if you like; I do write some about anison (f'rinstance, I shot photos of Ken Narita and MIQ last weekend, and posted them there yesterday and today).
Thanks so much for your patience, and I hope to be back soon! |
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This was written June 12 but posted June 15 (interrupted by June 13-14's "One-Third of One Thousand" anime song marathon):
...Okay. Let's try this again...
In retrospect, the latter half of May I was so out of whack, have got to wonder whether the fabled "mid-life crisis" had at dreaded last munched my rump.
Why had I ever voluntarily moved half a world away from my family? Why had I ever left beautiful Battle Creek?
Well, of course you can't be both here and there. I miss my family, and friends, and home track (Jackson Harness Raceway closed in December; I visited the place for another farewell that trip) and horses--but I also love Japan, am happy in my house, am crazy for my job. This is just one point in the river's flow; earlier was different, later will be too. But still, those questions kept me down the hole a good while.
Looming the last weekend of May was the 11th renewal of the MoJo Two Days event, limited to 60 attendees. I had missed the 10-minute signup window while in the U.S., but friend SA-san had kindly made an extra reservation. Having to figure out which song to do in the second day's MoJox2 Nodo Jiman contest got me back out to karaoke for the first time in weeks. Gave everything MoJo in the catalog a try--even one I'd long avoided, Tsurikichi Sanpei opening theme "Wakaki Tabibito" ("Young Traveler"), because it was sure to be just too difficult:
But I tried it. And it was hard. It would need a ton of practice, on top of the time I'd need to write a singable English translation of the second verse. But grappling with the consequences of being a traveler myself, it really spoke to me--and with two weeks to get it done, I submitted it as my song choice.
Was busy on that when I happened to read about book-design software supplied by a print-on-demand publisher. Checked further into it, and got fired up by a sudden thought: If I could put together a quick book, that would be a memorable present for a certain performer having a 40th-anniversary event in June.
Commuting time became write-verse-two-of-"Wakaki Tabibito" time, and three nights a week I drilled on the song at the Karaoke Hangout of Justice. The rest of the hours after work went into sifting through my years of photos, laying out the book, and composing the text around the photos. I was a wee bit obsessed.
The MoJo Two Days arrived before the book's completion. The first day was the fantastic MoJo Zone Vol. 11 concert, and being back together with fellow fans, getting to enjoy MoJo's full-blast performance at close range, was great medicine!
Afterwards, as folks hung out and ordered from the bar, MoJo went from table to table to sit a bit and talk with fans. I mentioned that after my mom passed away last month, I'd been questioning why I'd ever left home and come to Japan, but that this had made me remember why. He was sympathetic and said that there's no getting around the fact that someday each of us will go--but until then, we should enjoy the time we have, and be as happy as we can.
The next day, I was super-nervous. After singing low for almost two years, I was going to switch back to soprano. Except for my glasses, everything I was wearing came from Battle Creek (including my doofy hat, a 1980 K-mart purchase that Mom dyed from white to red in the kitchen sink so I could have a hat like Joe Yabuki's). And I was going to sing this with the thought that my folks, together again at long last, might somehow hear it.
It was a huge relief to finish the song; my legs were shaking, and my voice had to have been, too. But I'd hit the notes I'd been worried about, and was going to be able to sit back down with no regrets--something that doesn't happen often.
At song's end, emcee Shocker Oh!No! commented on how moving it had been. Usually MoJo joins you onstage either between verses or at the end for a souvenir photo, but he seemed delayed in coming up...and I was stunned to see, grabbing a glance back at his seat in the music booth, that he seemed to be wiping away tears. That had to just be my imagination--but no, here he came, still teary-eyed. (Usually my singing just brings tears to people's ears...! ;^) ) That made me all misty too.
I had been lucky enough to win the women's grand prize three events ago, but starting this year, the rules had changed: Rather than awarding 10 various prizes, including a men's grand prize and a women's grand prize, there would now just be one prize awarded. In February, at this year's first of three planned MoJox2 Nodo Jiman contests (the third is slated for October), CB-san had won the tremendously deserved honors.
This time, to me it was a three-way race between Go-san's enormous "Kibou no Siren Builder," Nano-san's dynamite "Eyes of Justice," and Kou-san's deeply moving "Jinsei no Teishaeki"-- although I was rooting too for Shin-san to get rewarded after one of the guttiest performances ever, pro or no, finishing "Seiun Kamen Machineman" from the floor after landing flat on his back when his knee separated in landing from a flying kick.
Nimble and hilarious, crowd-pleasin' Shin-san always comes up with a wildly original delivery heaped with hee-hees--so when he went down with a mighty crash, it seemed like a breathtakingly skillful pratfall. But then he stayed down, with just one arm moving, feeling feebly for his dropped mike. No sooner had startled whispers started--"Was that not supposed to happen?" "Is he okay?"--then the front row surged up out of their seats, heading to his aid! Shocker and MoJo beat them there and helped him sit up, and he finished the song with dead-game gusto, propped on MoJo's shoulder.
I was still thinking about that, admiring Shin-san's guts, when MoJo announced the grand championship. "There were so many great performances," he said, "but to me, one especially stood out..."
Gotta be Shin-san!
"...Makibakooooooooo!"
Well, I sat there and cried until Ku-san made me go up, and then I stood up there and cried while MoJo and Shocker said kind things about my performance and fan activity, and then I had to speak. Usually speaking Japanese in public is my biggest bugaboo--but all the woulda-coulda-shouldas from after I stammered around when awarded the women's grand championship last year kicked in, and what I'd been regretting not saying then finally got to come out now.
I said that there are people all over the world who love anime and anime songs, and we see in anime magazines that in Japan there are events where you could meet the creators of your favorites, and concerts where you can hear the actual anime song performers sing. People dream of getting to Japan someday...and I'm one of the relatively few lucky ones who got to do it. I was drawn here by heroes and adventure--but now that I'm here, what I'm most grateful for isn't the anime and manga all around, but the comrades I've met, and the fun we have celebrating our favorites, and the willingness of stars like MoJo and Shocker to help keep that alive and provide fans opportunities like this.
Afterwards, as I was about to head out to grab the last train to Gunma, CB-san offered me a handshake at the door. Only then did it strike me--we're the only two overall grand champions. It's an honor that never, ever occurred to me could be the end result when I was racing the clock to get ready, ekeing out the English second verse line by scribbled line on jouncy bus rides and shoehorning in late-night karaoke practice.
A few days later I finished the book and sent it off for a test print run of 5. When it comes back, it'll be hardcover and 32 all-color pages long...and it's even expected to ship in time for the event (knock wood)! Need to keep it secret until then, but, here's a peek at the upper 1/5-or-so of its front cover:
That double dose of therapy projects had me pretty whupped...but so far it seems to have gotten me out of the hole. Am feeling a little more normal now--and thank goodness, 'cause the anything-but-normal annual anison karaoke marathon is just around the corner, yeeeee-hahhh!! |
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It's hard to start back.
I was almost done with a longish LJ entry, quit for the night intending to tinker more in the morning before posting it...but then woke to a phone call in the wee hours from my brother. Two days of scrambling later, I was on a plane back to the U.S. for Mom's funeral.
Most of what's after that is a blur of grief and jet lag, but being back with family broke several bright spots through those clouds (my birth mother showing up was memorable, too, let's just say). And way too soon, I was back on the plane, then back in Japan--with us kept on the plane an extra hour as a squad of docs in surgical blues examined us--and then, allowed to enter the country but instructed to wear a mask for 10 days, had to speak daily with the city health department until May 12, when the prefectural health department was officially satisfied that I didn't have the flu.
But even free of flu, it's been hard to find the enthusiasm to do much after work other than sack out with a book or veg out in front of the TV. I kinda recall being like this after Dad died. But it's probably time to climb out of the hole.
From here, need to update the web site, and catch up on e-mail...but first, here's the darn LJ entry from April 22!
( Four concerts in three days ) |
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From friend Rad-san comes word that today Tatsuya Maeda learned that vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Casey Rankin, who he'd first met 28 years ago and performed with most recently in 2002, died on January 2 after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.
Born in Kansas, Rankin moved to Japan in 1971. According to his history at Pure Records' Casey Rankin Site, in 1976 his band Short Hope became the "First All foriegn band in Japanese industry to record and tour domesticaly."
In 1983, Rankin became possibly the first foreigner to record a TV anime theme song (he was predated by at least Mary MacGregor ["Sayonara," from "Adieu Galaxy Express 999," 1981] and Dara Sedaka ["Hoshizora no Angel Queen," from "Queen Millennia," 1982] in recording anime songs, but those had been for movies) when he not only performed "Orguss" opening and ending themes "Hyouryuu ~Sky Hurricane~" and "Kokoro wa Gypsy," but also wrote their tunes (the lyrics were by Kouji Miura):
The moment I first heard it back in '83, "Kokoro wa Gypsy" copped a near-top spot on my all-time anime hit parade, and hasn't slipped since. Have happy memories of friends gathered in various living rooms back in the day, all singing along with it between third-gen-copy "Orguss" episodes on VHS tapes...*sigh*
Am sorry there never got to be more Casey Rankin songs in the genre...but am mighty grateful to him for the two we have.
Edit: More info is on his MySpace page. |
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Today the Give-A-Showa Projector salutes one of my guiltiest pleasures, the 1984 Kokusai Eigasha series "Chou Kousoku Galvion":
(And the very next day, February 4, 1984, saw the debut of "Heavy Metal L-Gaim"...so chalk up another quarter-century celebrant tomorrow! [That's the date its first actual animated episode aired; the previous week was a solid half-hour introductory special (we called it "episode zero" in those callow days of North American fandom), with a Tominocious jaw-fest punctuated with occasional shots of Mamoru Nagano drawing lifesize "L-Gaim" characters on clear upright panels around the set. So, anyway: celebrate with confidence! ;^) ])
Man, "Giant Gorg" hits the big 2-5 this year too, on April 5...Heck, get your calendar ready...
( Here's this year's quarter-century party plan! ) |
| » "Anime Japan Fes 2009 'Fuyu no Jin,'" 1/11/2009 |
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 Had to survive feeling a hella lot of cosmo to get this special MAKE-UP CD of new recordings of Saint Seiya themes "Pegasus Fantasy" and "Eien Blue"...!
The Sunday morning before last, still ouchy after a recent traffic accident and sure to be more sore after the hours of standing that would be involved, I actually found myself debating whether or not to go to that afternoon's Anime Japan Fes concert.
The debate lasted some 33 seconds. ;^) Two factors decided it quick: My ticket's number, 298, was low enough to have a shot at entering the venue in time to get a position with a rail to lean against (which is thankfully what happened; wound up in the fifth row, parked on the rail that separates the front left and center sections)...and this concert's lineup of stars made it one I really did not want to miss!
Safely survived the concert, and headed with relief out to the lobby, looking forward to checking out the tables of CDs and DVDs for sale there...and then trouble struck. Who knew a simple CD would stir up an atypically aggressive mob that almost shoved over its sales table, crunching a few folks enroute? ...But I'm getting ahead of the story...
( Anime Japan Fes 2009 Fuyu no Jin! )
Coming up next: the 24-Hour-Endurance Anison 1,000-Song Medley event report!
Jan. 21st, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
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| » Who'da Thunk It? '09 |
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Hey, look what's coming out tomorrow that Amazon.co.jp delivered today:
This two-CD set of all songs Go-onger is in for some pretty constant playing over the next month, 'cause in the lottery for tickets for the big February 11 "Project.R 1st Live: Song Grand Prix" concert, the group of friends I ordered with was mind-meltingly lucky in the draw: After none of us ever having gotten a ticket numbered under 200 in years of trying, we're suddenly the pole-axed holders of tickets whose first two of three digits are 01! Ohmigosh, we're gonna be in the front row! At a concert that's likely to have a DVD release! (And, uh-oh, has some songs with dances that I 'way cannot do...*gulp!*)
Still a little woozy after the last two days' double dose of fan manna, Anime Japan Fes Anison Spirits and the 24-Hour-Endurance Anison 1,000-Song Medley--so will call it a night, and then get banging away on their event reports tomorrow!
Jan. 13th, 2009 @ 11:10 pm
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| » A Quick Look at Comiket |
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Shot from an adjacent outside walkway as Spoony, Naye and I made our escape after a three-hour feeding frenzy, here's a glimpse inside Big Sight's East Hall 1-2-3 on the first day of the Dec. 28-30 Winter Comic Market (with Spoony and Naye discussing its size)! This was just about a third of the doujinshi selling area; East Hall 4-5-6 was its mirror image, and West Hall 1-2 was crammed full too (West Hall 3-4 was the commercial vendors' area)...and of course, adding to the urgency, there'd be different circles at the tables on each of the event's three days.
Glad to have survived--and for the, uh...(let's see: winter '97, both in '98, winter '99, winter '00, winter '01, both in '02, both in '03, both in '04, both in '05, summer '06, both in '07, both in '08)...19th time, at that! ...yikes...
Jan. 6th, 2009 @ 01:24 pm
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| » Happy Holidaze...! |
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Akemashite omedetou! Hope this finds the New Year treating you right!
December is crazy season from gate to wire, especially in the toy-selling biz--but work aside, this time two Christmas get-togethers, a half-dozen bounenkai forget-the-year parties (five of 'em anison-related!), two days of Comiket, and a countdown-to-the-New-Year concert wound 2008 up in a wonderful whirl.
Trying to fight off a colossal cold now so this will be short, but for now, here's a peek at two nifty Christmas gifts:
At MoJo's MoJox2 X'mas show on Dec. 20, which included special-guest performances by grand-prize winners in his MoJox2 Nodo Jiman events, friend Satomi-san and I were given the chance to debut our half-Japanese, half-English duet version of "Engine Gattai Engine-O G6"--and MoJo added even further to the thrill by leaping in on the final chorus, the three of us going like blazes! Wild beyond words!
Annndo on Almost-Christmas Day, the first Saturday after it's-a-weekday-so-of-course-it's-a-workday Dec. 25, Mighty M and Finder J and Spoony and I had our traditional get-together, where this "Dai Apollon"ophile received an astonishing item I hadn't known existed...
( Farts real fire!!... )
Jan. 5th, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
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| » Extreeeeeme Close-up! Lawson's Yamato Mechanic Collection |
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In celebration of the 35th anniversary of "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" (also known outside Japan as "Star Blazers") coming up in 2009, Japanese convenience store chain Lawson will offer eight different miniature spacecraft from the series, sold coupled with certain canned coffees, starting next week...and they kicked off the campaign with this hoot of a commercial!
Hey, the local denkiya has put its Sanyo Xacti video cameras on sale so cheap, couldn't help but give one a home tonight... That Lawson commercial is the first thing I tried shooting with it. Definitely plan on bringing it along to Tokyo tomorrow, in the hopes of grabbing a glimpse of something fun!
Dec. 6th, 2008 @ 01:08 am
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| » Suuuuuuuper Sentai...SPIRITS! |
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Still spinning after a whirlwind of a weekend...! Saturday started with a field trip to the Tokyo Dome City's Sky Theater for its fourth "Engine Sentai Go-onger" hero show (I shot some video there and posted a couple clips on YouTube), followed by the "Super Sentai Spirits III: The 20th Century Version" concert, and then unwinding with friends over a nice meal at a beef specialty place. Things got rolling again Sunday at noon with a solid-sentai karaoke party in Shibuya, and then it was on to nearby venue Shibuya O-East for the dynamite "21st Century Version" conclusion of Super Sentai Spirits III...!
Unlike the past two Super Sentai Spirits concerts, this third edition unfortunately was not filmed for DVD, and no plans for a CD release were announced. (What does seem like a candidate for a DVD or CD release is the "Project.R 1st Live: Song Grand Prix" concert slated for February 11, also at Shibuya O-East. From the full-page flyer distributed at Super Sentai Spirits, it looks like this event just might include every "Go-onger" song there is! Project.R's pile of members will be joined by special guests Akira Kushida, MoJo, and Takayuki Miyauchi. This is a super-short-notice event; advance tickets are on sale today through Friday via Birthday Song, with regular tickets through the regular vendors starting Dec. 13. More info is on the events list at Anison Central.)
And nowww...the set lists (and a few observations)!
( 11/29 - SUPER SENTAI SPIRITS III: The 20th Century Version )
( 11/30 - SUPER SENTAI SPIRITS III: The 21st Century Version )
Dec. 2nd, 2008 @ 12:30 am
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| » She Can Fly Like No Other |
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Was thinking about manga image albums the other day...and soon after, something startling and sorta-related crossed my desk at work: the "secret item" in Takara's 2004 World Wings Museum blind-boxed collectible series of 1/200 Phantom jets--Phantom 680, a Phantom II F-4EJ marked with a "680" up front and "47-8680" along the tail.
Big deal? Absolutely: Phantom 680 is the primary plane in "Phantom Burai," one of my favorite manga! Written by Shou Fumimura, drawn by Kaoru Shintani, and serialized from 1978-83, this Shounen Sunday staple revolved around the peacetime pranks and perils of pilot Tetsuo Kanda, navigator Hiroyoshi Kurihara, and other Japan Self-Defense Force airmen at Hyakuri Air Base. It's mostly a hoot, but gathers power all the while to sneak up and get you in some serious moments.
I first checked it out, yow, 24 years ago now, 'cause I liked Shintani's "Area 88" so well--and wound up liking the less-angsty but just-as-engaging "Phantom Burai" even more. The two are much different animals, thanks to Shou Fumimura--which is actually one of a couple of pen names of Yoshiyuki Okamura; he used his second one, Buronson, when writing "Hokuto no Ken."
"Phantom Burai" was neither animated nor attempted in live action. It did not have squat for merchandising. But in 1986, it gained a new dimension when the Futureland label of Toshiba EMI subsidiary Youmex brought out an LP record of songs and instrumental pieces for it (concurrent release on CD and cassette tape was planned; I have yet to see it surface in either of those forms, but keep searching for the CD...)--part of the flock of manga-inspired "image album" LP record releases, thickest in the '80s, that help test fan interest and pay the rent for music-makers.
Image albums predated the anime incarnations of several manga ("Arion," "Honoo no Tenkousei," "Justy," and "Ring ni Kakero" come right to mind, but just because I have those LPs; there were scads of others). But even if an image album ultimately didn't prove to be a manga's springboard to other media, the record itself could certainly still be worthwhile for fans--and that was the case with "Phantom Burai." (Heck, I about wore ruts in mine after Mighty M found the LP for me in '87!)
Written and arranged by Hiroya Watanabe--who also scored the "Justy" OVA and its preceding King Records image album, as well as TV series "Shurato" and OVA "Devil Hunter Yohko," to name just a few--"Phantom Burai" featured songs performed by Shoko Yamagiwa (who also sang on image albums for "Area 88" and "Yami no Purple Eyes"...and who blazed into TV anime with "Galvion" insert song "Be A Hero"!), Miki Kakizawa (who sang two of the end themes in the "Iczer-1" OVAs), and Rove Bard (Shigeyuki Shibano, Osamu Hikita, and Hiroaki Suzuki), a guy-group so mainstream that this didn't even make their online discography.
But, hollld the bus--the search for anime-related tidbits on Rove Bard uncovered something that floored me:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm1304099
That's a near-42-minute chunk of buried treasure on Niconico Douga, coupling the audio of the entire album with footage of real Phantoms!! (An account and password will be needed.) Wow, technology really is your friend...! I'm a happy, happy camper.
...Anyway! FIgured had best blah-blah on "Phantom Burai" before this weekend's wall-to-wall sentai celebration gets underway. Saturday early afternoon is a field trip with fellow anison fans to the storied Sky Theater for the Go-onger hero show, and then it's on to Shibuya for the Super Sentai Spirits III: 20th Century concert. Super Sentai Spirits III will conclude on Sunday with the 21st Century concert.
And then it's back to Earth--where this niftay li'l Phantom 680 is sure to remind me again how great things can be when manga and music merge.
Nov. 29th, 2008 @ 01:22 am
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| » Ureshikutte Gomen Nasai! Part 3 |
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This will be a quickie--gotta scram within the hour to start the trek to the airport for a few days out of town. Got a late start on packing for it, what with going to yesterday's MoJo and Takayuki Miyauchi concert being a, heh-heh, higher priority...
This was their third "Ureshikutte Gomen Nasai!" team-up--and like the second in Osaka the year before last, it was a hoot, with their trading stories and commentary between tremendous tunes.
One of the highlights was "Densentsu," usually performed by the Tamashii no 3 Kyoudai trio of MoJo, Miyauchi-san, and Akira Kushida. With Qu-cy elsewhere that day, MoJo and Miya'nii searched the audience for a replacement, and selected fan Naniwa No Goinkyou-san--who surprised both them and us with a great gravelly Qu-cy imitation!
The mighty MoJo was in fantastic full force, turning himself almost inside-out time after time after time--"Eyes of Justice," "Kibou no Siren Builder," "Engine Gattai Engine-o G6"...! (Think all of us about turned ourselves inside-out on "G6"!) And Miya'nii was in super-smooth powerful voice; it was great to get to hear "Unmei no Senshi," "Dareka ga Kimi o Aishiteiru," and "1000 Nen Senshi."
URESHIKUTTE GOMEN NASAI! Part 3
November 16, 2008 at Shinjuku Headpower, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Featuring MoJo and Takayuki Miyauchi, with special guest Shocker OH!NO!
1. Kousoku Denjin Albegas (Albegas op): MoJo
2. Choudenshi Bioman (Bioman op): Takayuki Miyauchi
3. Eyes of Justice (Gaoranger ins): MoJo
4. 1000 Nen Senshi (Timeranger ins): Takayuki Miyauchi
5. Seiun Kamen Machineman (Machineman op): MoJo
6. Denko Action Machineman (Machineman ins): MoJo
7. Ore no Na wa Machineman (Machineman ed): MoJo
8. Kamen Rider Black RX (Kamen Rider Black RX op): Takayuki Miyauchi
9. Unmei no Senshi (Kamen Rider Black RX ins): Takayuki Miyauchi
10. Dareka ga Kimi o Aishiteiru (Kamen Rider Black RX ed): Takayuki Miyauchi
11. Kibou no Siren Builder (Boukenger ins): MoJo
12. Moeyo Gekijuuken! (Gekiranger ins): Takayuki Miyauchi
13. Sukkiri: MoJo
14. Domino Taoshi: Takayuki Miyauchi
15. Ore wa Seigi da! Juspion (Juspion op): MoJo & Takayuki Miyauchi
16. Densetsu (Boukenger VS Super Sentai ed): Mojo, Takayuki Miyauchi, and fan Naniwa No Goinkyou-san
17. Jinsei no Teishaeki (999 im): MoJo
18. Ore no Heart wa Yume Jikake (Dynaman ins): MoJo
19. Goal wa Mirai (Exceedraft ed): Takayuki Miyauchi
20. Engine Gattai Engine-o G6 (Go-onger ins): MoJo
21. G9! Tune-up (Go-onger ins): Takayuki Miyauchi
Encore 22. Super Sentai Medley Battle Fever J/Dai Sentai Goggle V/Kagaku Sentai Dynaman: MoJo w/Shocker OH!NO!
23. Rescue Medley Tokkei Winspector/Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain/Tokusou Exceedraft: Takayuki Miyauchi
Less than two weeks to go now 'til the huge Super Sentai Spirits III concerts! ...And, yikes, a whole lot less than that 'til my train leaves... Back in a few days!
Nov. 17th, 2008 @ 10:39 am
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| » It Can't Be That I'm Not Otaku Enough... |
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This throwing words at the Web, man...it's not print.
I miss seeing words reemerge on honest-to-gosh coated stock, sometimes weeks, sometimes months after rattling 'em into the PC. *sigh* Happened every month for 11 years...but I left it to come to Japan.
Lately, though, have had the urge to try to do something print-wise with what I've seen and learned here, and with industry contacts I've been lucky to meet. Have been tremendously impressed with Otaku USA (even bought a subscription, instead of just reading the advertiser copies at work), so I was hoping they might be interested...and pitched a half-dozen ideas on October 3 to the address their website lists as the one for people who want to write for the magazine, otakuusa at gmail.com (titling my e-mail "Missive to the Mighty Macias," natch).
A month passed. No answer.
A week ago, I updated the e-mail and sent it again to the same address. I also used their website's contact form to ask if the otakuusa at gmail.com address was still correct, since there'd been no answer.
No answer, and no answer.
So, I dunno if that means there's no interest, or folks are too busy, or I'm just not one of the cool kids. ('Cause it sure as hell can't be that I'm not otaku enough. ;^) )
Sit tight a while longer, 'cause this might be typical before time is found for a yea or nay? Or feel free to head elsewhere now, 'cause no news by now likely means no interest then, now, or beyond? Would really appreciate any advice...!
Nov. 12th, 2008 @ 09:40 pm
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| » Who'da Thunk It?! |
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With the end-of-the-year bounenkai season edging closer, groups are getting their party dates and locations lined up. I'll be going to at least four--the company party, and ones for the vocal class and two anison karaoke circles I'm a member of. The first sometimes includes karaoke; the latter three definitely will.
Hope to sing something at the parties that most folks haven't heard me do before--a song I love to pieces but haven't done in front of anyone else since 2006 (when it earned me my fan nickname) for fear it would get old. So, since I'd be finishing Space Cobra opening "Cobra" today in vocal class and would need to choose a new song to work on, I brought along the prospective tune's CD single.
Before this, I'd only picked songs that M-sensei recorded (yep, that includes "Cobra"; she did an album of anime song covers for label Apollon in the mid-1980s ;^) )--don't want to miss the opportunity for guidance as absolutely expert as it gets! But this possible new pick would be so-o-o obscure...
"I'd kind of like to do this next," I explained, handing over the CD single and pointing out the last track, "but, do you know this song...?"
"Know it?" she grinned. "I love it! I really liked the anime, too--the characters, the story...I watched it every week." She belted out the song's first few double-entendre-riffic lines from memory, as my jaw dropped nearly to my knees-- she not only knows Midori no Makibaoh end theme "Tottemo Umanami," she was a fan of the show, too! 8^D
Nov. 9th, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
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| » So This Is Where They Meet On The Graph... |
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I MUST!!!
But...
...I CANNOT!!!
*heavy sigh*
The CM's Corporation Baldios arrived at work just before close of business for the weekend, so will spend a quiet couple of days in the warehouse before orders are filled.
(For once, I'm looking forward to a Monday...!)
Nov. 7th, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
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| » Anison Power 2008...The Prelude |
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Hey, check it out--the first 15 seconds of the first clip below are on the spectacular Anison Power 2008 concert at Nakano Zero on Sept. 27, the grand finale of this year's Nakano Anime Bunkasai!
The rest is on the event that became the when-will-it-end? prelude to Anison Power--the All-Japan Wotagei Dance Grand Prix--and its winsome winners, the Nakano Broadway Cats.
The Grand Prix had not originally been scheduled to take place on the same day on the same stage. It was not even part of the Nakano Anime Bunkasai...but, the Bunkasai's producer later explained, Bunkasai organizers were asked if the Wotagei event could please be shoehorned in to use the stage before the concert, so that it could be filmed for TV. They were given the go-ahead...and then held their event at a leisurely pace and even did an extra take of the winning dance, delaying the start of Anison Power for nearly an hour while a sullen full house of 1,300 mostly sat on their hands.
Not sure how long those two quick clips will stay up, but, they're from the TBS (the Japanese TV network, not that U.S. biggie) nighttime program "Lincoln" (featuring Japanese comedy guys secure enough in their manhood to mock otaku, not that U.S. biggie). Was startled to stumble across it last night while flipping channels; "There's Japanese George Lucas!" Spoony yelped, I made a dive for the video camera, and we couldn't look away from the show's coverage of what happened leading up to and behind the scenes of the event that had simultaneously frustrated and fascinated us a little over a month ago as we awaited the start of epic Anison Power 2008.
In the "Lincoln" feature, which filled most of the hour, reporter Goto is initially skeptical of the average-age-40 Nakano Broadway Cats he's interviewing after hours in a shuttered-store-lined hallway of mania mecca Nakano Broadway...but finds himself becoming a substitute member of the group when apple-obsessed Neko (the "animated piece of beef jerky" in Spoony's observations below) is hospitalized from exhaustion as the Cats practice for the upcoming Grand Prix. They practice after hours in parks. They practice at the beach. They practice in the mountain-shack "secret base" of cat-ninja-esque member Nyao, arriving to find that vandals have spray-painted insults on the place both inside ("Baka no Heya") and out ("Baka no Ke"). Their practice there gets sidetracked by their manager disappearing into the forest; when the cameraman's light at last finds him in the darkness, he's sobbing his way through an identity crisis. Neko eventually rejoins them but "Lincoln" liaison Goto stays on, they all dance their hearts out in the Grand Prix--and they're awarded the grand championship! Then comes the Cats' tearful farewell to Goto, who can't help weeping in response...and who looks almost like Ichirou Mizuki when he does so, the manly comedians in the studio jibe their returned reporter.
(Not shown in the clips above was the feature's claim that the Wotagei Grand Prix was part of the Nakano Anime Bunkasai--complete with a shot of the Bunkasai's distinctive red flyer, followed by a faked "close-up" of a blurb on the Wotagei event--text on a background the same red color as the flyer--to make it look like it had been listed among the Bunkasai's other events on the flyer. Sleazy.)
That's the Japanese Reality TV take on it. For an entertaining take from someone who'd been unexposed to wotagei--and who'd been happier that way--before that fateful September day, heeeeere's Spoony!
( Spoony sez: It was kind of off the WTF-meter... )
Nov. 5th, 2008 @ 09:28 pm
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| » Halloween Weirdity |
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With this year being the 50th anniversary of manga weeklies Shounen Magazine and Shounen Sunday, there've been some bizarro new goods for their major manga alumni...with an especially scary sort surfacing just in time for Halloween: strawberry/melon/banana-mix suckers, including these for two of my favorites, "Devilman" and "Ashita no Joe"!
They were a Halloween gift from Big A at work, reminding me that Halloween would be that night--not only the perfect time for ghosts and witches to be on the prowl, but ideal cover for super robots to come out, too. This could be a great chance to finally meet some of my favorites! So I got some candy ready, turned on the light out front...
Unfortunately, the ambulance took Gold Lightan away before I could get his autograph...oh well, maybe next year...
Nov. 3rd, 2008 @ 07:54 pm
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| » J9 Brothers! Nante Sugoi Honey-Honey Night!! |
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Starting with this entry, my user name has changed from "toki_o_koete" to "ii_jidai"... something I've wanted to do since first hearing that phrase on the remarkable night recounted below. In black and white, ii jidai means a fine era. In less stuffy spoken words--ones that can't help but have a note of gratitude and wonder, if you were there both then and now--you'd say, "These are great times."
Nestled on a Tokyo side street shadowed by Kanda Station's trestles, Magical Night is every inch magical...for the initiated.
This cosplay kyabakura, or cabaret club, is a favorite of the anime-inclined. Several in Magical Night's flock of talent study voice with famed anisongstress MIQ. And about every three months, Magical Night outdoes even its name, welcoming star anison performers for special concerts on a stage so intimate, the furthest seats are only 22 feet away.
While these events are advertised on Magical Night's website, reservations must be made directly to the tenchou, or head of the establishment. That doesn't make it easy for one of these special nights to be your first-ever visit--and so for a good year now, I've just watched the news about each show come and go. The first headliner was MIQ, and then Akira Kushida was featured, and then MIQ returned, followed by Takayuki Miyauchi.
No-san, a fellow student of M-sensei, went to see her both times and assured me Magical Night was a fun place, although "it's kind of a guy thing." Well, sure, that's understandable for a place featuring gals in costumes. But having expected maid cafes in Akihabara to have strictly male clientele, and finding that wasn't the case last year when I was cramming on that Akiba aspect for "TV Champion," that part had me just a little worried. But, how to make the reservation in the first place, that had me buffaloed... buffaloed and beside myself when June's special event was announced: The extremely-busy-on-other-things pair of Isao Taira and Yukio Yamagata would make a rare appearance, teaming up for a first-ever show as the "J9 Brothers"!
There would be two shows on June 29...but my intentions to try to do something about it got swamped by real life as the day neared (especially with June 28 being the on-stage "final exam" happyoukai to conclude the spring semester of M-sensei's class; memorization ain't my strong point, but putting a metric mazillion hours into "Men of Destiny" somehow got the job done). But things took a lucky turn at the happyoukai: No-san mentioned he'd be going to the second of Magical Night's two J9 Brothers shows, and I asked if there was any chance they'd have same-day tickets if any seats were left. He e-mailed a friend working there to see if there were any cancellations... and there was one first-show seat, if I wanted to reserve it!
It would not be cheap. The way the system worked, the total cost would be the cost of the concert, plus two hours' worth of an hourly charge that would bring the total bill to more than double the cost of the concert. I swallowed hard, hoped like crazy for a good summer bonus at work, and went for it.
( J9 Brothers! Nante Sugoi Honey-Honey Night!! )
Oct. 30th, 2008 @ 01:19 am
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| » (Not So) Secret Desire, Aha... |
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Catching up after a week spent offline the hard way, arrggh... Just in case they might be of interest, here are a couple videos I shot Oct. 18 of some of the eye-widening vintage wonders on display in the All-Japan Modeling Hobby Show's "50 Years of Japanese Plastic Models" exhibit:
...and my pick for Greatest Future Gotta-Get of the Show: the initial entry in MegaHouse's tentatively-titled "Adventure Hero Collection" line, Cobra & Air Bike! Cobra's articulation looks outstanding on this awaiting-approval prototype. The set is currently being aimed for release next spring, for 15,000 yen.
Glad to be back!
Oct. 28th, 2008 @ 01:28 pm
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