#female cosplayers will only interact with female audience

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

cosplay of daji妲己, a famous ancient chinese beauty transformed from the famous chinese yaoguai, jiuweihu九尾狐, i.e. nine tail fox (coser is shiba chongchuan十八重川)

[yarrayora]

i saw people being so surprised that sono bisque doll is like. made by a woman. because the protagonist is a gyaru cosplayer who isn't uncomfortable with being sexy. which. ok. fair. but for me i already suspected the author was a woman before checking because:

1. usually the male protagonists in a manga about cosplaying and otaku culture is depicted as. well. a gross otaku, but worse than that they're usually bland enough that the average japanese men can self-insert as a harem owner. gojo wakana has no harem and only one marin and most importantly he's appealing to the female audience which sadly not a lot of male authors are capable of doing

but most importantly

2. in manga about otaku culture written by men, when the characters visit a convention the mob characters they'll end up interacting with are usually sweaty people fitting every negative otaku stereotype under the sun including being mad at "normies" attending their "sacred ground" or whatever but instead for marin's first ever cosplay event we got people regardless of gender politely asking her for a photoshoot, and later on we got a crossplayer whose hobby isnt treated as some kind of gotcha and a bunch of working women trying to shill their interests to their friends instead of gatekeeping them

which is why it's no surprise to me that the author is a woman

[animeweebart]

A year or two.

It’s a way for me to express myself in a unique way.

Yes.

“Well that’s your opinion and I am happy with the outcome of all the hours I put into my cosplay.”

I do a little bit of both, like my female Kirishima fantasy au cosplay was a mistake of diy, past cosplay, and some store bought things.

I usually work alone but I have cosplayed with my boyfriend two times though the first one didn’t really count but he tried. I would love to get together with some friends and cosplay together I feel like you can do much more with other people you know and support you, you also have people that would stand up for you when someone is criticizing your cosplay and hobby.

I really like cosplaying Bakugou because I get that confidence that he has. I also love cosplaying Denki because he’s my brother/twin from a different universe.

Would probably be my mushroom elf D&D cosplay as I had to buy fabric and a whole outfit for it.

Probably my Bakugou and Deku because my friend gave me the wigs. I am working on making their hero costumes and some version of their fantasy au outfits.

I think dragon Kirishima has to be my favorite project, it was so fun to walk around renfair and feel confident in my cosplay and I actually met a married couple that was cosplaying Denki and Shinsou. They were really fun and nice and I even got their autograph which they signed as if they were Denki and Shinsou. They also gave us a card for their Toe Beans Cat Cafe. I will put their links at the bottom.

Only cosplaying one character and only buying the costume and not putting your own twist into your cosplay. Like I understand if you don’t have time to add to your cosplay but at least branch out and cosplay more than one character.

Making the cosplay can be fun but not when you burn yourself with a hot glue gun or when you stab yourself with pins. Sometimes it’s just the cosplaying part because there can be so many different types of people that will either comment, ignore, interact, or make fun of you.

I like both, photo are nice when you have a good background or something like that. Video let you interact with the audience or other cosplayers and you can make some good memories with others.

It depends on the cosplay for me, like for Bakugou you might want to photoshop an explosion to add more to the cosplay and image. Unshopped images are great too, you can show the details and how it actually looks.

I feel like I’m the character, and sometimes I just need to cosplay to get a little confidence boost.

I will get really into character and sometimes I’ll make a few adjustments so that the people around me feel comfortable. For example I was being Bakugou and I was being canon Bakugou and my boyfriend was uncomfortable with that and didn’t like that. So I decided to be the version that we made and he felt much more comfortable with me.

Wigs, I don’t always style them like I didn’t style Denki’s wig because it didn’t need to be styled. I do want to learn how to style wigs especially Bakugou’s wig and maybe Deku’s.

YouTube channels like…

Square One Cosplay

Denki Darling

Bukkit Brown

littleboffin

Inspectokros

DinoBunny Cosplay

AyoltsLani

Mindfully Mellow

One picture

I have two friends we have not cosplayed together YET! I am wanting to ask them if they would like to…. But I’m nervous

All the characters I’ve cosplayed in order

Uraraka

Mushroom elf D&D character

Dragon female or adult Kirishima

Denki

Halloween Denki

Elf waitress

Deku

Bakugou

Let me know if you have any more questions about my cosplay!

etsy.com/shop/ToeBeansCatCafe

TikTok/Instagram- @cats.coffee.cosplay

pinterest.com/CatsCoffeeCosplay

facebook.com/toebeanscatcafe

Cosplay interview

How long have you been cosplaying?

Why do you cosplay?

is cosplay a hobby you could see yourself doing in 10 years?

If someone told you they hated your cosplay, what would you do?

Homemade cosplay or bought/commissioned cosplay?

Do you prefer to work alone or with others?

Do you have a current cosplay favorite?

What is your most expensive cosplay?

What is your least expensive cosplay?

What is your favorite cosplay project?

What is a cosplay pet peeve of yours?

What is your least favorite part?

Videos or photography?

Photoshopped or unshopped images?

How do you view yourself as a cosplayer?

How far into character are you willing to go while in cosplay?

Wig or no wig? Do you prefer to style your wigs, commission a style or buy them pre styled?

What got you into cosplaying?

What is your funniest memory?

Do you have a friend group that cosplays and have you cosplayed together?

Who/What have you cosplayed?

[doorbloggr]

Thursday 21/4/22 - Media Recommendations #32

Tasteful(?) Fanservice

Content:

Keijo!!!!!!!! (Quick revisit)

My Dress-Up Darling

Highschool of the Dead

As I've most likely discussed at length in previous media recommendations, fan service is a contentious topic these days. Not just in anime and manga, but fictional entertainment in general. There's a question on if we really need fanservice.

Now fanservice is wide encompassing term, in the broadest sense it is content in a piece of media which is there to mainly please fans. It doesn't make the story better, just a crumb to please parts of the audience that know the reference. When I brought up this topic to my friend, he referred to this as "I clapped when I saw it" fanservice. Think Marvel movie credit stingers.

But what I mean by fanservice in this article is shameless eyecandy. What that same friend referred to as "Hey there's a butt on screen" fanservice. Since a lot of anime is aimed for older teens and young adults, there is commonly a healthy helping of unnecessary flashing, form fitting clothing, and convenient clumsiness in a variety of series.

As someone who has tried to explore a lot different anime genres, I have come across fanservice in many forms, and today I want to discuss where it is and is not appropriate. Using examples, I want to talk about 3 different types of fanservicey anime:

Fanservice is the draw of the anime, other aspects of the series are secondary to the fanservice.

Fanservice is not the focus, and while there is technically more fanservice than the story requires, it does not hurt the atmosphere.

Fanservice is out of place in the story and setting, it's inclusion is jarring and unnecessary, and actively ruins the mood of the story.

Hip Whip Girl: Keijo!!!!!!!

Keijo is a Sports/Shonen anime about girls fighting in bikini watersports. The series' draw is the fanservice and honestly, there wouldn't be much holding it together without it.

I've talked about Keijo before when discussing problematic recommendations, but as a basic rehash; the series follows Nozomi, a young girl who left a promising gymnast career to attend a women-only academy for athletes of the highly televisable sport: Keijo. In this sport, contestants stand on floating platforms in the centre of a pool and try to knock their opponent into the water without using their arms or legs. So of course, the butt and boobs become the main weapons of the series.

...I'm an ass-man

Keijo exists to show off the female body in action. The character designs are fun, but their personalities and story arcs are very basic. The action is flashy and fun, but again, it's just butts and boobs, but with special effects lol. Keijo is a fun watch, but don't expect anything deep.

My Dress-Up Darling

In the last week or so, I finished watching a newer series called My Dress-Up Darling. The series is a Slice of Life about the struggles of amateur cosplay. Given that the subject matter of the series involves dressing up and modelling, it makes sense that there's fanservice here and there, but in my opinion, it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Basic plot summation: we follow Gojo, a social outcast with a one-track mind obsession on making ornamental Hina Dolls at his grandfather's shop. This hobby has made him quite skilled at making custom clothing for the dolls, and this attracts the attention of popular classmate Marin, who reveals to him that she is a wannabe cosplayer but is hopeless at making costumes. He helps her put together cosplay outfits and through their interactions, they become very close friends, much to Gojo's surprise.

While many Slice of Life's tend to be stiff in terms of the actual animation, and linger on stills for that sweet fanservice, My Dress-Up Darling is surprisingly fluid. Characters movements are fun and dynamic, and even low energy moments have subtle cute little movements.

You just don't see movement this fluid in slice of life very often

As discussed above, the subject matter does warrant fanservice. Marin dresses down to lingerie for measurements and to try on fairly revealing outfits, and while the series does tend to linger a bit more than it needs to on these awooga moments, I never felt they ruined the atmosphere. The seeds of a romance are planted in this first season, so some flustered embarrassent doesn't hurt, but I feel this season was more about friendship than romance, and I like that.

If you're not a huge fan of fanservice, but the set up and concept appeal to you, it was a good watch, and the fanservice probably won't ruin it for you. If you do like fanservice, you'll like this.

Highschool of the Dead

Highschool of the Dead seems to be suffering from a conflicting personality problem. The setting and characters are being pulled into two opposing directions, and while some series can pull off the "blank story but with a unique twist" concept, I feel that fanservicey highschooler romcom and bloody zombie apocalypse action thriller is a combo that doesn't work.

Quick plot synopsis: a group of highschoolers and a school nurse are at school right as a zombie outbreak occurs. We follow the group as they escape the school and move from location to location through a mostly fallen city to find safe haven from the zombie threat.

This set up by itself works in concept, but for some reason, Highschool of the Dead is one of the horniest anime I've seen yet. There's lots of that goofy unintentional groping, and face full of boob when the male characters trip into their female classmates. There's a bath/sauna episode, where the girls lounge around teasingly in their towels. And every fanservice moment like this is minutes before or after a gruesome zombie attack where an unnamed crowd character gets mauled, or zombies are mowed down with powerful firearms, boobs jiggling all the while. It is so jarring.

The boob tripod is infamous

As someone who admittingly sought out the series for the fanservice, I feel the bloody violence and constant threat of a vicious death ruined any enjoyment of the lewdness. Conversely, if you sought out this series because it is a thriller, I feel like the unnecessary fanservice ruins the pacing and atmosphere of the action. Too gorey for a lewd romcom, too lewd for a gorey action thriller.

I know I'm discussing this anime in what it is usually a recommendation article series, but I feel this one is really hard to recommend. It is definitely a fanservicey anime but in my opinion, it doesn't work.

Thanks for Reading

If you have other examples of good or bad inclusion of fanservice you think are worth discussing, let me know. If you have series you think I'd enjoy based on past recommendations, I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Access my past recommendations on the Pinned Post on this blog. And to read what I said about Keijo last time, here's a link to Media (Maybe) Recommendations #6.

[astoria-cosplay]

ONTARIO AND TORONTO COSPLAY COMUNITY PLEASE READ: 

tw grooming, sexual themes/ fetishes, exploitation, predatory behavior towards minors

I have previously posted about Tom Savage (aka everage studios, Taryn savage fox, savagebradito) before but here is the full run down of what’s been happening. I know the local cosplay community on tumblr is very small but I want to get this warning out on as many platforms as I can. the purpose of this post is to warn and inform, not to encourage harassment of any kind. Please do not harass him. 

at this time we do not know who or how many cosplayers had their photos sold, and we may never get a full list of the victims. To be perfectly clear this is not an issue of unclear copyright laws, it is a moral issue of going behind someone's back to profit off of them. This is also not a case of kink shaming, but the issue of pressuring people (including minors) into participating in your fetishes. Please be careful of who you shoot with, and if you see Tom do not interact. 

captions of the slides are under the cut.  

Tom Savage AKA @Everage / everage studios is a cosplay “photographer” in the greater Toronto area. He frequents pretty much all local cons offering free shoots. He is an extremely manipulative person who uses the offer of free photoshoots to prey on members of the cosplay community, especially young fem presenting cosplayers. He will push cosplayers into poses that involve his fetishes, most famously asking cosplayers to remove their shoes. Not only does he pressure people, including minors, into posing for these photos, It has come to light that he has been selling the photos he takes of cosplayers without their consent. This post will contain information on both his unacceptable behavior toward the people he shoots with and those sales. It will include some screenshots of stories and interactions and well as evidence of him selling photos from buyers. For everyone’s protection they will remain anonymous in this post.

The selling of photos was done mainly through his deviant art, where he would post journals encouraging people to request sets. As most of this was done through his dms we have no way of knowing how far this spreads or knowing exactly how many peoples photos were sold behind their backs. We know for a fact he was selling shoots because a number of buyers reached out to the models involved, and more have come forward since an initial warning post went out. Some of his sales were worded as people donating towards things, such as a new camera or the cost of the studio. While it’s understandable that he may want to use the photography to pay for these things the issue remains: He did not have the vast majority of the models permission to use them and images of their bodies as a means of gaining donations. Tom has also claimed that he needed the money to make rent/ pay bills. However the 20 tattoos he got within 2019-2021 paint a very different story. Not only did Tom sell these photos without our permission but he lied when asked about it. Only coming clean when he was directly confronted with what he did. A majority of the sets we have confirmed were sold contained subject matter surrounding fetishes and often the models were in more revealing outfits or lingerie. These models were not consulted or aware their photos would be sold. At this time he has not offered a real apology nor has he reached out to the models whose photos he sold. We have also found evidence on his deviant art that he was taking commissions from people on how to pose the models attending these events, with the express intention of selling said photos. While some models were informed on some of the poses being suggested from the D.A. audience, the vast majority of us were not informed that these photos would be up for sale. We also have reason to believe he sold photos off Deviantart on other websites, most likely including fetish sites.   On top of selling photos without permission Tom has also posted some photos to his page after being told specifically said photos were private. He also posted sets from a number of models without informing them that he would be sharing the photos at all. He has doxxed people by listing the photos with the models real names on his posts. He has listed models by stage names and dead names on a number of photos as well. He does not show enough regard for the models safety to even bother listening when those shooting with him have asked him not to use certain names for them, even when he’s been repeatedly given an alternative name to use. 

Tom is a manipulative, narcissistic person who has pressured, lied to, and groomed a number of people in the local cosplay community. He uses the offer of free photography to lure people in, and many cosplayers with no means of affording better stay around him because of that. He uses excessive compliments followed by statements like “sorry  I’m being weird” to guilt people into telling him his behavior is okay, and thus allowing him to push boundaries further. He is practically famous for asking cosplayers to remove their shoes for photos, and does not take being told no well. Not only will he continue to ask even within the same shoot, but he’ll push for “compromises”, or if someone gives an excuse rather than a flat no he will find a way to remove the reason they can’t indulge him. For example pushing a cosplayer to cut open her tights just to get a photo of her feet when he’d already been told no. When cosplayers do not give in to his requests he acts like a petulant child. 

Tom uses his claim of being asexual as a means of manipulating people into feeling comfortable doing these shoots. Regardless of if he is genuinely Asexual or not his behavior is inappropriate and it is not acceptable for him to push his fetishes onto others. It gives the Ace community a bad name to have a predator using His asexuality as a shield for their behavior.

While he is most famous for his foot fetish shots he also pushes for models shooting with him to pose in ways that show their underarms, take photos wearing handcuffs or other forms of bondage, and to remove aspects of their cosplays to make them more revealing.( ie Asking 2B cosplayers to remove the skirt or asking cosplayers to let him shoot up skirt shots to get photos of their ass.) Also pressures cosplayers to shoot outfits and cosplays that fit his personal interests and aesthetics. Often pushing for people to cosplay female characters in more revealing outfits or outfits that show shoulders or lack in footwear. 

On it’s own these facts are upsetting enough as cosplayers should not have to deal with being pushed like that by anyone, especially not a photographer. The truly awful part of these stories is how young some of the cosplayers involved were. Many of these stories come from teenagers or happened to people who are now adults while they were still minors. There is no reason a 40+ year old man should be asking a minor to remove their shoes for a photo, and there is no excuse for this behavior.

[phgq]

World's best teams to join Dota 2 tourney in Singapore

#PHnews: World's best teams to join Dota 2 tourney in Singapore

MANILA -- The top 12 teams from around the world, including TNC Predator of the Philippines, will see action in the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium held from Dec. 20 to 22.

ONE Esports, a subsidiary of ONE Championship™ (ONE) which is the largest global sports media property in Asian history, has announced that Alliance, Evil Geniuses, Gambit, J.Storm, Natus Vincere, PSG.LGD, Team Aster, Team Liquid, Team Secret, Virtus.pro, Vici Gaming, and TNC Predator will join the tournament offering a total cash purse of USD500,000.

"Never before has Singapore hosted such a world-class esports event," said ONE Esports CEO Carlos Alimurung in a statement released to the media on Thursday.

"Nine teams were at the past International and competed for the USD34M prize pool. The best on-air talent will cast and commentate - 11 of them covered the last International as well. The best cosplayers will perform - one of which, Redemption Props, won the TI9 Best in Show award. And, with our partner, PGL, we will deliver a game-changing esports experience for the teams, fans, and spectators. The stage set-up alone will certainly wow everyone!," he added.

Select Dota 2 pro teams will have a one-hour meet-and-greet session with fans across all three days of the event, with priority lines for VIP and Cat 1 ticket holders.

The talent list includes renowned female host Sheever, top casters TobiWan, BSJ, ODPixel, Fogged, paired with analysts Black, Trent, and Capitalist. Joining them are content creators Kyle and Malystryx, as well as observers Weppas and Skrff.

Cosplay superstar, Redemption Props, will be at the three-day event to meet-and-greet with fans. Redemption Props is a full-time professional costume designer and cosplayer from India. He won TI9’s Best in Show award for his amazing Treant Protector costume. Redemption Props is set to come in as Dota2’s Drow Ranger with his award-winning costume design.

Cosplay winners from the KL Major, including Darryl Izzy (Dragon Knight) and Vinca Kazuki (Vengeful Spirit), and other cosplayers will also attend the event to meet and interact with fans.

"Fans should expect not only an amazing competition between the world's best Dota2 teams, but also amazing performances by the on-air talent and cosplayers. Moreover, the weekend will feature team meet-n-greet sessions, cosplay performances, exclusive event merchandise for sale, audience contests and giveaways, and many more activities to keep fans engaged and entertained,"Alimurung said.

Fans can win a trip for two to Singapore to be part of all the festivities by joining the “Our Game, Your Story” contest. They must share how Dota 2 has impacted their lives in a Facebook post, with the hashtags #ONEDota2 and #OGYS. Contest ends on December. 5.

The ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore World Pro Invitational is supported by AirAsia, KFC, JBL, and Secretlab. It is the first in the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational series, with the second ONE Esports Dota 2 Jakarta World Pro Invitational taking place on April 17-19, 2020 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "World's best teams to join Dota 2 tourney in Singapore." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1086028 (accessed November 15, 2019 at 04:55AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "World's best teams to join Dota 2 tourney in Singapore." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1086028 (archived).

[randomrichards]

OSCAR 2019 PREDICTIONS PART 2: THE TECHNICAL AWARDS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

·         COLD WAR

·         THE FAVOURITE

·         NEVER LOOK AWAY

·         ROMA

·         A STAR IS BORN

Who Will Win?

It can be no one else but Alfonso Cuaron and his magnum opus. With assistance from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Cuaron has grown to become a master of the long take in films like Children of Men and Gravity. For Roma, Cuaron makes his debut as Director of Photography.

Cuaron’s camera keeps a distant eye as it observes the everyday lives of housekeeper Cleo (Talitza Aparicio) and the middle-class family she cares for. And yet the camera wants to stay close to them as it follows them through their lives. Somehow, Cuaron finds a way to balance these traits while keeping the audience engaged.

The strength of black and white cinematography is how it can manipulate light to create abstract imagery. Cuaron uses light to showcase Mexico’s beauty in all its forms. Whether it’s the warm sunny skies or the neon lights of the city, this Mexican city always feels warm and inviting. There are even moments when Cuaron uses black and white imagery to further the storytelling. The perfect example is the New Year’s Eve sequence. Like Cleo, we watch what we think are sparks of fireworks behind black trees. Then we realize they’re embers from a forest fire. Cut to the family racing to put out the bright white flames.

There’s pure beauty in every scene.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

·         THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

·         BLACK PANTHER

·         THE FAVOURITE

·         MARY POPPINS RETURNS

·         MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Who Will Win?

I imagine this will be a battle between Ruth E. Carter and Sandy Powell.

Since School Daze, Carter has been a frequent collaborator with Spike Lee while designing costumes for black filmmakers like John Singleton, Ava Duvarney and even Keenan Ivory Wayans. She also has experience designing for geek culture through Joss Whedon’s Serenity. Now she brings that experience in Black Panther.

Carter seizes on this opportunity to honour her African heritage in all its forms. She not only draws inspiration from multiple African tribes like the Suri, the Tuareg and the Dogon but uses their styles to contrast Wakanda’s tribe (respectively The River Tribe, the Merchant Tribe and the Jorabi Tribe). She provides further contrast through different colours and patterns, from T’challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) black and royal purple to the all-female royal guard’s red.

The film is a cosplayer’s dream come true.

Carter faces strong competition in Powell, who is nominated for two films; The Favourite and Mary Poppins Returns. The question is which one? It’s a hard choice. As I’ve said before, the academy loves period piece, which would make the Favourite…the favourite. But it also loves colourful costumes, which defines Mary Poppins Returns.

It’s hard to choose, because the awards are less predictably than usual. So, I’m going to say its between Black Panther and the Favourite.

BEST FILM EDITING:

·         BLACKKKLANSMAN

·         BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

·         THE FAVOURITE

·         GREEN BOOK

·         VICE

Who Will Win?

The award will go to Vice thanks to its bold creativity. Hank Corwin makes a lot of daring choices with his editing style, accompanying Adam McKay’s unorthodox storytelling with a fast-paced approach. When the narrator discusses how Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) handles politics like a butterfly knife, we cut to a closeup of a hand doing butterfly knife tricks before cutting someone’s face. It also leads to some comedic moments. The film plays a fake epilogue when Cheney (Christian Bale) quits politics in the 90s, making it seem like they had a happy ending. But as the credits roll, you hear a phone ring and cut to George W Bush (Sam Rockwell) convincing Cheney to be his Veep. Unfortunately, the editing can come off as uneven as the story structure, even distracting. Despite all this, it remains the front runner

If there’s a dark horse who could beat Vice, it’s Bohemian Rhapsody. This award seems to favour music movies, giving awards to Chicago and Whiplash. Plus, the academy will enjoy the structured cutting to moments of Freddy Mercury’s lives. But I feel scenes are cut too short, never giving the audience time to process the scenes.

The one I think should win is BlackkKlansman. Spike Lee has a unique style to his filmmaking and frequent collaborator Barry Alexander Brown uses that style to create a unique visual experience for moviegoers. One moment where the editing shines is in the opening scene of Dr. Kennebrew Beauregard (Alec Baldwin) shooting a KKK recruitment video. Brown’s editing undercuts his racist rant with quick cuts of him flubbing his lines in between his rant. What results is a combination of a Jack Donaghy’s (also Baldwin) disastrous shooting of a commercial in 30 Rock and Ron Burgundy’s vocal warm ups.

Again, I think this award will go to Vice.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLE:

·         BORDER

·         MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

·         VICE

Who Will Win?

What other film could it be than Vice? When we first scene him in the role of Dick Cheney, you see no sign of Christian Bale through the makeup. You would think you were seeing the real Cheney.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

·         BLACK PANTHER

·         THE FAVOURITE

·         FIRST MAN

·         MARY POPPINS RETURNS

·         ROMA

Who Will Win?

This will Be another battle between Black Panther and The Favourite.

For Black Panther, Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart blend futuristic technology with African culture to create the environments of Wakanda. We witness a world that holds on to its traditions while looking ahead. The result is a unique metropolis you’d like to vacation.

In contrast, The Favourite combines realism and extravagance to deglamorize the monarchy. On the surface, you a classy environment of detailed paintings, tapestries and walls full of books. But look past the dark halls and Fiona Crombie and Alice Fenton reminds you that while the Aristocrats betting on duck races, the servants are sleeping on the floors.

It could go either way, but it looks like the odds are in favour of the Favourite.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

·         AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

·         CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

·         FIRST MAN

·         READY PLAYER ONE

·         SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

Who Will Win?

If it were up to me, this award would go to First Man. The effects in this film’s flight scenes leave all Superhero movies in the dust with their mind-blowing realism and it did so with little CGI. Director Justin Hurwitz could have used computer graphics to showcase Neil Armstrong’s flight tests and the eventual Apollo 11 flight. Instead, he took a lesson from Christopher Nolan and used as much practical effects as possible. For the flight scenes, effects supervisors Paul Lambert (Blade Runner 2049), Ian Hunter (Interstellar), Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm placed simulation planes in front of 10-foot LED Screens which would play images of soaring skies while the planes were rigged to move in synch with the screens. This way the actors can get into the moment and the audience can feel more like they’re in the moment. All of this comes together to create scenes more thrilling than most Marvel Movies could dream of.

And then we get to the moon and your mind is blown by how real all of this looks. All done with little to no CGI.

But the academy seems to lean in favour of CGI effects. And many agree its key competition is Avengers: Infinity War thanks to the motion capture effects of intergalactic supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) which I will give credit for is amazing. But I suspect the Academy will lean more towards Ready Player One. Say what you will about the film[1], but you must give credit to the incredible effects.

By now, Spielberg’s effects team have mastered the use of motion capture, with our heroes’ avatars looking just realistic enough for video game characters without entering uncanny valley. It looks more impressive when the avatars interact with live action characters.

But the highpoint of the film’s special effects comes in the moment Wade (Tye Sheridan) and his friends enter the Shining. It’s mind-blowing to see these CGI characters blend into this film classic. If only there was as much quality in the storytelling.

[1] And yes, there is a lot to be said about the plot, performances and questionable ideals.

[talkingsquidphd]

Review: Boston Comic Con

Cosplaying at a fan convention has been on my bucket list since I was about 12 and binging Bleach under the covers way past lights out. While such an endeavor once seemed as far-fetched as other big-ticket bucket items like stepping foot in Venice, living in Boston – a bastion of East-coast fan culture which boasts not one, not two, but three major cons – made it not only possible but as easy as a T ride to tick that box at Boston Comic Con this weekend.

The cosplay itself was years in the making – specifically, assembled fully for an all-in Halloween costume three years ago and then stuffed in a box in my closet for the intervening period. I played Levi Ackerman, humanity’s deadliest (and shortest) soldier from postapocalyptic anime Attack on Titan. While I have not an iota of Levi’s athleticism and coordination, we’re both neat freaks and my hair looks a bit like his, and that was enough for me. Compared to my costume of several years ago, I scaled down somewhat and went for a lighter “Summer Corps” version of Levi’s outfit, figuring if I wore full-length white skinny jeans, full military harness, and knee-high leather boots, I’d keel over from heat stroke the minute I walked out my front door.

[LTR: Full harness, Levi himself, and my most recent summerfied cosplay.]

Like a tourist craning their neck to take in their first real eyeful of New York skyscrapers, I took a simple, naïve pleasure in quiet spectacles of the con that more veteran attendees have no doubt long outgrown. I couldn’t help but crack a grin at the old-hat dissonance between the guests’ fantastical exteriors and the inescapable mundane – Link withdrawing cash from an ATM, Batman reading a monograph on Russian farming techniques in line for a panel, a fully armored Master Chief munching on a tray of nachos in the food court. I reveled in the unapologetic oddity of the wares – demonic contact lenses, Invisalign-esque vampire fangs, elf ears – and the seriousness with which folks debated their investments. An overheard retort from a husband to a wife clutching a replica Anduril: “yes, but how often are you going to use it?” Let naïve first experiences like this never be undervalued – it brought me such unique joy to see this con through a newbie’s eyes.

Thrilling and nervewracking in equal parts was the perpetual anticipation of fan interactions as I walked the halls and aisles. Characters in Attack on Titan, the show I was cosplaying from, often exchange a simple, iconic salute:

Like a freemason itching to share a secret handshake, I at first looked to other Attack on Titan-clad cosplayers to initiate it, but it came most often from the unlikeliest of places. As I passed the metal detectors on Saturday, an ultrafemme Princess Peach suddenly snapped to attention and did it; on Sunday, a bouncer on the main floor saluted as I showed him my wristband. Though I mildly botched these left-field salutations, I always felt a small rush of confidence and pride at having allies all around me, hidden in plain sight via another fandom’s cosplay.

Judging by the crowds – or lack thereof – my panel choices were a bit unconventional (no pun intended). While I peeked my head in an exit to the Main Theater to hear Charlie Cox answering questions in his disarming British accent and John Barrowman strutting up and down the stage in a fetching Tardis dress, I elected to skip many of the ‘big’ names in favor of smaller panels I wasn’t so confident would be back next year – mostly voice actors responsible for some of my favorite genre performances in recent years.

First up was Jennifer Hale, the iconic voice actress who brought to life the female version of Mass Effect protagonist Commander Shepard. While Shepard was far from the first strong female protagonist to grace video games, let alone the genre of sf, getting to roleplay a female RPG protagonist for whom (just like her male counterpart) saving the galaxy is just another Tuesday contributed hugely to making Mass Effect my favorite video game series of all time. Hale was a relentlessly positive guest, and even the most mundane questions afforded cute answers. Hale’s dream role? “Something where I get to sing, ride a horse, and be Commander Adama at the same time.” Hale’s opinion on the somewhat controversial term ‘FemShep’? “With female characters in gaming, we’re cutting through a lot of stuff, making the trail as we go. If ‘FemShep’ is an axe to cut through that, then I think we need it – I’m all for it.” It was particularly cool to hear Hale talk about the process of recording for voice acting – how she managed the performance she gave line-by-line, with little context and almost no retakes, is beyond me. True or not, it helped me recoup some of my dignity to hear Hale claim she had just as hard a time keeping dry eyes while recording some of the final scenes between Shepard and Garrus as I did watching them. And of course, as with any voice acting panel, Hale graciously obliged requests to say famous lines as Shepard.

[”I should go.”]

Sunday brought a double whammy of panels. I scooted into line just in time to catch Attack on Titan’s English voice actors Bryce Papenbrook (Eren Jaeger) and Trina Nishimura (Mikasa) doodling AoT-themed pictures on an overhead projector and taking questions from a gratifyingly packed room. The two had easy, goofy chemistry that made the panel a real pleasure. I was particularly tickled when, after admitting they’d almost never cosplayed their characters, they gave a kudos to the dedicated cosplayers in the audience who’d spent (on average!) an hour or two struggling their way into the show’s complex but inescapably characteristic military harnesses.

[Color coded for your convenience.]

I will say that for a brutal, anyone-can-die show which more than earns its TV-MA rating with frequent depictions of people being eaten alive in graphic slow motion, there were a disturbing number of relatively young kids in the audience. Still, they somehow consistently asked the best questions and never seemed hampered by starstruckness. A boy no older than seven or eight got up and asked what their favorite part being voice actors was, which the two ran with for some time. When asked to choose a favorite – a show, a ship, a scene – all the celebrity guests were predictably and diplomatically deferential, often turning the question back on its asker, but my favorite such response came from Papenbrook when asked to choose a favorite role. “Don’t make me choose!” he pleaded. “My roles are like my children, and my children are all screamy and angsty and live inside my head – I don’t want to make them mad.”

[I can’t blame him.]

Finally, I queued up for the Main Theater to sit in on a Q&A with Eliza Dushku, a Whedonverse actress primarily of Buffy and Dollhouse fame. While most of the questions referenced Dushku’s tenure as Faith, a pointed question about female representation in Dollhouse led her to acknowledge the show is in part “about human trafficking,” which both affirms and complicates the thrust of my research on the subject up to now. More than anything, Dushku played on being native to Boston, throwing out restaurant recommendations and referencing local stores where she’d assembled her audition costumes for characters like Faith. And, as always, you learn a new thing every day: Dushku’s family hails from Albania, where she is considered somewhat of a national hero for bringing attention to the small nation via her acting.

Having never attended a con before and therefore having few frames of reference for how most things were handled, the only real criticism I can level against the con this year was that the merch seemed strangely disconnected from the guest lineup which drew me to the con in the first place. No doubt taking cues from a spring and summer lineup of Marvel and DC blockbusters, vendors were stocked to the gills with superheroic souvenirs… despite the fact that the con’s biggest panels and most popular fan experiences drew more often from live-action TV, anime, and cosplay. Despite three midsize events organized around Attack on Titan, merch for the show was thin on the ground; though Jennifer Hale was billed first and foremost as the voice actress for FemShep, Mass Effect merch was nowhere to be found. I might chalk this up to an attempt by the con to differentiate itself from Anime Boston and Pax East (Boston’s video gaming convention), but nonetheless it left this fan a little bummed and almost emptyhanded after three or four full circuits of the vendor floor.

Still, Boston Comic Con was on the whole a great introduction to the world of fan gatherings for an enthusiastic first-timer. I’m already scheming a new cosplay for round two next year – or, at the very least, a visit to one of Boston’s other bustling cons in the intervening months.

[consentandcosplay-blog]

5. Fan Interactions

(image source)

The last factor this blog will address is the spectrum of fan interaction and responses to their media of choice. This can vary greatly depending on the demographic of consumer along with the type of media consumed.

When one looks at the demographic of heterosexual male gamers, it is hard to ignore the events of what became known as #GamerGate. This series of events started with a post authored by Eron Gjoni which detailed his supposedly messy break-up with Depression Quest (DQ) creator Zoe Quinn (Massanari 334). Through the social media systems discussed in an earlier blog post, Gjoni’s writing created a mass movement within the gamer community which Adam Baldwin dubbed GamerGate. Many within this movement see it as a force of pressure put on the gaming industry as well as gaming journalists to remain ethical in their current and future endeavors. On the contrary, however, many see what those in this movement do as harassment given that a number of users have used this hashtag to try and legitimize threats and lewd comments targeted towards many females in the gaming industry.

Another, less direct movement is present within the comic book community. The “Hawkeye Initiative” is not as focused with calling people out directly on social media, but rather exposing a strange trend in comic illustration. As was mentioned before, many female heroines belonging to mainstream comic publishers are posed in provocative ways while wearing revealing outfits. This initiative’s aim is to “be not just illustrative but also transformative: a ‘way that people can express the desire for [a change in the extreme sexism of modern comics] in a way that is both compelling and fun’” and as a result has created something that takes the comic book culture’s male gaze and turns it back in on itself (Scott 151).

In conjunction with these two movements comes the individual fan reactions to the show Heroes of Cosplay. Cosplaying being as general and open to choice as it is, allows it to be a part of many different fan bases and coexist within each and every one of them. The show follows a group of cosplayers who are trying to make a career out of their cosplaying. Keeping in mind that many cosplay for fun and with no intention of making a career out of their practice allows one to realize that this show is already partially alienating its target audience. Yet, those who do watch the show have different concerns and critiques all together. Scott argues that these concerns very much mirror society’s own gendering of labor and the sexism inherent within said gendering (150). Many confessions made anonymously by fans of the show seem to imply that the female cast members of the show do not fully appreciate where they stand professionally (151). Furthermore, male cast members are seen as unsung heroes that are stuck under the rule of their female counterparts due to unrequited love (152). Many fan responses frame the men of the show as the only ones who deserve their fame despite varying amounts of effort put in by cast members regardless of gender.

The varying levels of fan interactions displayed within these three examples are indicative of the diversity of the fans themselves. Despite nerd culture being a sub culture which many think is an inherent minority, it very much echoes trends present in mainstream society.

Works Cited

Massanari, Adrienne. “#Gamergate and The Fappening: How Reddit’s Algorithm, Governance, and Culture Support Toxic Technocultures.” New Media & Society, vol. 19, no. 3, 9 Oct. 2015, pp. 330–346.

Scott, Suzanne. “Cosplay Is Serious Business’: Gendering Material Fan Labor on Heroes of Cosplay.” Cinema Journal, vol. 54, no. 3, 2015, pp. 146–154.

Scott, Suzanne. “The Hawkeye Initiative: Pinning Down Transformative Feminisms in Comic-Book Culture through Superhero Crossplay Fan Art.” Cinema Journal, vol. 55, no. 1, 2015, pp. 150–160.

[hentaihunblog-blog]

Dangan Ronpa v3: Killing Harmony

New Post has been published on https://hentaihun.com/blog/2018/03/28/dangan-ronpa-v3-killing-harmony/

Dangan Ronpa v3: Killing Harmony

Welcome back to the World of Dangan Ronpa. Monochrome mascots, pink blood, 16 students locked in a closed area and murder around every corner. In this new game we follow protagonist Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist  as she wakes up in a strange enclosed cage containing a school, dorms, and various ‘Ultimate’ labs. They are being kept here by not just Monokuma, but also the monokubs. Monotaro, Monosuke, Monodam, Monokid and Monophanie. Who are apparently Monokuma’s children? Can robotic bears even have children? Who cares!?

In the prologue you go around and meet with the other Ultimate Students. This killing games roster of talents include. Ultimate Robot, Ultimate Supreme Leader, Ultimate Cosplayer, Ultimate Artist, Ultimate Entomologist, Ultimate “Mage” [Magiancian],Ultimate Astronaut, Ultimate Maid, Ultimate Anthropologist,Ultimate Child Caregiver, Ultimate Inventor, Ultimate Tennis Pro, Ultimate Detective and of course the Ultimate ???.

In the first chapter, Akamatsu teams up with the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara to try to find the ‘mastermind’ behind everything and investigate the mystery of why they are being kept locked up. Meanwhile, Monokuma introduces two motives to the group. The first motive, the “First blood perk.” meaning you could kill, own up for it, graduate, with no class trial involved. So basically, a get out of jail free card for the killer. The second motive, a time limit. If there has been no killing in two days time, they will all perish. So with this, it becomes imperative that they find the mastermind quickly.  Saihara discovers a hidden door in the library and the two of them come up with a plan to monitor it with hidden camera’s and catch the mastermind…

If only things went that well.

And honestly, this is all I can really say about the game without spoilers because this game does not pull it’s punches. When it first came out in Japan, I made the grave mistake of thinking and saying “It’s only chapter one. How much can it spoil?” I made the grave mistake of underestimating Kodaka. I will never be making this mistake again in any future games he is involved in. Also, another thing to be said, if you are here and are not going to make it past the picture of Monotaro because you want to avoid spoilers. I should note, that even by Dangan Ronpa standards the executions in this game are a little more brutal the the ones in the previous games. So if you liked the previous installments but struggled with watching the executions. That is something to note for V3.

With that being said as in my previous reviews of this game series, here’s a picture to distract you and let you leave if you want too before I start picking away at the spoilers. This time, check out this cool picture of Monotaro. Isn’t he a good boy?

Still with me? Good. So as the time limit approaches we see a group of the students head to the basement and then, the sensor goes off showing that the camera’s in the library have activated. Akamatsu and Saihara make their way to the basement and we find Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate ??? dead. This is unprecedented for a lot of reasons. First, this is the first game to kill the student with the unknown talent but also because Amami was featured heavily in the promotional materials and had a character design very reminiscent of Komaeda’s design from Super Dangan Ronpa 2. He was set up entirely as a red herring character and was made for the entire audience to think he was more important then he was. This was not the only deception from the promotional materials either though.

so at the end of chapter 1. We are left with the realization that all of the promotional material has duped us completely and that Akamatsu is not the protagonist but instead it’s Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, which is both a good and a bad thing if you ask me. It’s interesting to have a detective as the main character as opposed to a support character like in Dangan Ronpa 1. However, it takes away the satisfaction of having a female protagonist in a main series game, something that a lot of the fandom was really excited for. It was neat to have the character you were playing as up until this point be the killer though. With only a few omitted details of actions, you realize that you set up the entire murder for the most part…of course. If we are being blatant about spoilers by now, you know that Akamatsu did not kill anyone in fact and the mastermind was truly Amami’s killer but it doesn’t take away from the fact that she did set up a way to murder someone and had the intent.

I could sit here and reflect on my thoughts on every trial, but this review will probably be long enough as it is without that. So the story progresses from here in a very standard Dangan Ronpa manner. sometimes even more exaggerated then before, such as having a secret killer among the group. This time, there is two. Having the true talent of the Ultimate Child Caregiver be the Ultimate Assassin. Having the Anthropologist be a serial killer of women. The standard chapter 3 double murder. Having the big bara sweetheart die in chapter 4. Chapter 5 be the death of one of the trial point trio and to top it all off. The inevitable tie in to the rest of the series and the reappearance of  everyone’s favorite psycho, Junko Enoshima.[though this time, through her #1 fangirl, our mastermind, the Ultimate Cosplayer. Tsumugi Shirogane.]

This is where the writing becomes questionable and the fandom splits down the middle on how they feel about it. v3, the v being the roman numeral 50 is the 53rd season of a popular reality show produced by Team Dangan Ronpa. It claims that all 3 games have been a part of this franchise and none of it from the Hope’s Peak saga to now was real. You can take that at face value of course. The ‘never real’, ‘all a dream’, ‘all a tv show’ trope however is often viewed as poor writing. I can certainly see where Kodaka was going with it, he was making a commentary on not just his own series. The horror of writing a series about people killing one another and having thousands of people enjoying it. There is also some commentary to be said on what is expected from game sequels.

Oddly enough, I saw a post about the New Smash Brothers that reminded me of a lot of the points that v3 was trying to make. How fans want things to be the same, but different, but they don’t want anything changed and they want it the way it was in x game in the franchise.  That’s why v3 consisted of so many throwbacks and things that the fandom has come to expect.

However, true to the games ideas and nature of the idea of ‘Truth vs Lies’ in the after credits there is some doubt thrown in the idea that all of the series had been fictional. While v3 might have, the Hope’s Peak saga may of existed and it is ultimately left to the player to decide what they want to believe. What is the truth and what is the lie. I think if in fact the Hope’s Peak saga was real, it puts a even more chilling social commentary on the narrative. How we dramatize and fictionalize real life tragedies, and how this fictionalizations can become more known then the truth of the situation and the tragedy itself. [Example: People not knowing that the Titanic was real when the movie came out.]

This may not of been the intention that Kodaka was going for. Honestly, in the end, v3 left a lot of fans of the series polarized about how they felt. Which can be both a good and bad thing, was it the best ending for the franchise? No. Was it worth playing and exploring the ideas and getting to enjoy the colorful cast that Kodaka laid out for us this time? Absolutely. The writing was not perfect. It was ambitious, the game is collectively larger then the first two games combined and it was in production simultaneously with DR3 Future and Despair arcs. So the attention of the writers was drawn thin and both productions suffered.

What did not suffer though, was gameplay. For the most part, the trials functioned like the ones in the previous games however with slight improvements and new additions here and there. They certainly improved the Hangman’s gambit [Thank god], the logic dive was slightly easier this time around and other gameplay elements have been tweaked. However, by far the most popular addition to the trials was the scrum debates in which the cast is split down the middle and they have to argue their points against one another.

Outside of the main game there is plenty of side material as well. Of course, the standard school life mode [Salmon Mode], in which you can finish off the Free Time Events that you were unable to obtain in the main story and date the other members of the school. There is also the board game mode, called the Talent Development plan which is pretty much the cross game non-despair AU the fandom has wanted for ages. You collect character cards through a gacha machine by getting coins in the other side bonus mode. A rpg style dungeon with Monokuma shaped Monsters. The talent plan is fun and you get a lot of character interactions that are otherwise impossible. Such as Izuru Kamukura/Sakura Oogami or Kaito Momota/Mikan Tsumiki. Fair warning though, it may cause odd cross series crack shipping [please, can more people support Mukuro/Amami? It’s sooo good! Their interactions are so pure!] Last but not least of the side material for the game is the casino. In which you can play various mini-games to get tokens where you can either buy gifts for your classmate or unlock the Ultimate prize. A key to the Love Hotel.

The love hotel event will trigger when you have a key and pick a character and you will visit them in a dream. In which you can see their ideal fantasy. It’s um, something, and considering how many coins it is to get a Love Hotel key it’s very unlikely you’re going to go through and get all of these unless you are collecting clips for youtube or are just extremely obsessive about completion.

In conclusion, while the writing is spotty in places and the plot is a mess the game is still very fun and I honestly think it is more then worth the time it takes to play it. The characters are fun and the gameplay makes for a good experience. As for the ending, what is the truth? What is the lie? Was the entire series a reality show or was the tragedy real and it just faded into obscurity over time? I personally like to think it was the second one…but that’s just a theory…a…wait, best not get myself sued for copyright.

~MidnightDevont

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