#i am a HUGE seiyuu fangirl

[alicemitch09writes]

hiiiiiiii author-saaaaaaaan! um, do you play geshin impact? and if you do, WILL YOU WRITE GENSHIN FICS!!!?!?!?!?!?

Aha, nope. I am overly familiar with it, thanks to @hitsuackerman and Twitter (and no thanks to its toxic "fANs" who ruin it). But nope, I don't play it, not now, NOT EVER.

And besides, it's a gacha game. I don't trust gacha games and, as a pessimist, know just how low my chances are with winning stuff and all.

I am familiar with the story, a bit of its lore, the characters, and more importantly, its Japanese voice actors - because majority, if not, of the cast are in Haikyuu!! I will say though, the day they get my top faves (Nakamura Yuichi, Hosoya Yoshimasa, Namikawa Daisuke, Uchida Yuuma) will be casted...I'll nervously sweat (・・；)

Though, I am rooting for Enoki Junya (Itadori Yuuji from Jujutsu Kaisen, Jack from Beastars) to get a role!

And Nobunaga Shimazaki (Suna Rintarou from Haikyuu!!, Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket, Nanase Haruka from Free!) just got casted as Kazuha!

And to answer your second question, I'm not really confident about writing for Genshin Impact. Maybe not now, I'll need A LOT of research and thorough study of the lore.

[yaoisex]

Hello! I love your content 😍, I've been watching your blog for a year now, I think?? IDK. Okay, so, as a rabid hypmic fan, I am on the fence about Paradox Live. I feel like it's stepping on hypmic's territory a bit too much. However, I am curious about your opinion on it and how it compares to it's forefathers (lol). What do you think?

Hi, thank you very much!! 

Hmm, I don’t even feel like comparing between them? I see many fans doing that but I’ve never felt like there’s a competition or anything. I love both! 

Tbh, I got into both projects because of the seiyuu. So for me it’s more about them than about the actual songs, story etc (though I do like them too of course). 

Regarding Paradox Live, you can check out my previous posts about it. I was fangirling quite a lot because of the seiyuu combos etc. Later I also got into the songs more than I initially expected (because I’m not a huge fan of hip hop). 

So I think you should give it a try! If you haven’t yet - maybe watch the music videos and listen to the songs? 

Again, I don’t think you should feel like you’re stepping into any territory, because both projects are pretty different. And even if they were very similar, to me it doesn’t matter because it’s still different seiyuu, art style and beat all in all. 

[atomicshitpost]

minor ship rambling

Talking (for lack of a better word) to some karjina (karna x jinako) haters (i had a few of those in my inbox), i guess i understand now a bit why some are very against it, from a consumer perspective...

1. If you heavily favor karna x guda/mc/self-insert, the whole ganesha thing feels blindsided especially if you don't know ccc. That can be very disheartening if you are THAT invested in the character.

2. From their perspective, BL ships (junakar/karjuna/ashkar and all the variations) is less annoying because it's pure fantasy, so it is easily avoidable/easier to tune out. 

3. Reiterating the 'sibling' part between them is important because it enables karjina haters (who mostly are big Karna fans) to not hate Jinako, since many of his character development/fun backstories were tied to Jinako/Ganesha.

4. Therefore, it is grating to see them coupled, especially if there will be more in official stories. It makes (some) them starting to resent Ganesha.

5. Some just plain dislike Jinako as a character, finding her ugly/not interesting or just not your preference. Harsh, but still valid.

While i love Karjina, I am not THAT personally invested to the point i need to ruin anyone else's enjoyment by publicly refuting ships (???)

It's ok to dislike a ship, but set it as a personal preference, not framing this particularly as 'character ruining' or 'morally incorrect' because let's face it, that's just plain silly.

But i now understand where some of these hate are coming from, so i will just close my eyes. I wont stop fangirling, but i also won't judge you for your hate or dislikes.

Ps: Btw Yuuki Aoi's words as Jinako's Seiyuu can be used as a strong and super valid argument against Karjina ship ( via her doraemon and nobita analogy on the fgo radio show). In fact, i also enjoy that analogy. But she's also a huge karna x arjuna fan (Y.aoi is her stage name after all lol) and apparently a seiiyuu's interpretations are not necessarily always canon, although this is highly debatable since she did explain in some manner of authority in the radio show, on par with Arjuna's VA with his interpretation of Arjuna.

[discoursecatharsis]

I think asian fandom has it worse when it comes to real life celeb. Korean netizen are extremely mean towards idols, try looking up 'black ocean'. Young asian celebs are mostly screwed if it's ever found out that they are dating someone (esp if that one's a normal person). In some cases, idols even had to apologize to their fans for dating someone. Death threats and such are pretty common. Asian fandom can get really rabid when it's real celebs but are pretty chill when it comes to fiction char.

I DO see a lot of Asian celebrities getting hate for revealing that they’re in a relationship, it’s so ridiculous. Happens with Japanese voice actors often. There are some seiyuu that I love and am a huge fangirl of, but if they ever get married? Big whoop, not like I ever had a chance with them anyway lol. I’m sure it’s even worse for celebriteis who are idols

[adurnah]

REPORT: Aqours 2nd Live HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR in NAGOYA - Day 1

(Disclaimer: this report will not be a serious and professional one because I just can’t contain the fangirling; also I may and probably will be biased towards Aikyan and Shuka I’m sorry- Also I’m sorry but I can’t really understand Japanese so I don’t know a lot of the things they said and what the Intermission PV was about, but maybe I will be able to update it later Last, there will probably be a lot of mistakes since I’m writing this on my phone (since I’m going back home to Italy only after Comiket next week)

Sorry this took me a lot of time! So, on Saturday I’ve been to the first day of Aqours 2nd Live Tour in Nagoya and I wanted to write a report of it for curious people and also for me to remember it better :)

My seat was on the last floor, but we were really close to the stage and the arena is rather small compared to Yokohama Arena (to which I’ve also been) so it was a really good seat. The stage was on two floors, connected with two stairs at the sides and the usual three monitors behind. Above there was the lit-up Aqours logo that changed with the singer’s colour and had all of them flashing when they were singing together. All around the stage there were neon lines that resembled railways; altogether the scenography was amazing. There was also a squared stage in the rear part of the arena, but with no aisle to connect it with the main stage.

The live started perfectly in time, as always with the introduction video. This time it didn’t really have any new animation of the girls, it was just the Happy Party Train from the PV soaring though the sky at an incredible speed and passing through Nagoya Station, and it also had the introductions of the characters.

Just after that the music from HPT started and the upper stage literally split in two and A WHOLE TRAIN CAME FORWARD. THE TRAIN FROM THE PV. WTF. And all of them were in front of it in their HPT outfits! I loved them, they were really accurate and had a central vertical area in sparkling blue fabric (you probably already saw them at this point from the seiyuu’s twitter), and altogether they were really beautiful. I have to say I like the design more than before now that I’ve seen the live version. At this point, even if this wasn’t the first time I attended a live, I’ve started crying for just how happy I was to see them in person again. The performance of HPT was amazing, Suwawa has improved a lot since First Live, her solos were really good and her high notes were amazing. All of the other girls solos where super good too, I am so impressed by their huge improvement. During the closing MC Rikyako said that she sang Yoshiko’s lyrics instead of hers and I’m so ashamed to say I didn’t noticed lol how did I missed it?? (I was probably still crying lol) Then in the last part, as everyone expected, the costumes lit up like in the PV! They were amazing. At this point they were only yellow and static, but in Shoujo Ijou later they also changed colour.

After HPT they went on right away with Pops Heart. Nothing to say here, since it’s a song that’s already been performed.

Then they did their introductions. Unfortunately I can’t tell you a lot of what they said because I can’t understand a lot of Japanese, but basically it was all the same as always. One particular thing that happened was that during Suwawa’s introduction, the lateral monitors showed the second years and Anchan and Shukashuu talking and laughing by themselves (anshuka cough—) and then at the Hagu shiyo part Suwawa LITERALLY RAN TOWARDS AINYA TO HUG HER and then Shuka made a face like “ah she didn’t hug me today” BUT THEN BOTH ANCHAN AND ARISHA HUGGED HER IT WAS SO CUTE- Also Suwawa admitted that her voice is not good and she isn’t the best at singing but then Anchan encouraged her by saying that the HPTT wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her and Kanan-chan and everyone cheered for her. Then after the introductions they made a little skit to remember people to drink, basically Arisha faked a collapse saying that she was thirsty and was sweating so she needed to drink and then something like offering us to drink her sweat (this may be wrong I’m sorry). They also showed their outfits by turning around, this time guided by Suwawa who brought out a whistle and made them turn by whistling it.

After this skit they went on with the next song, Shoujo Ijou no Koi ga Shitai! As I said before this time the costumes lit up but each one in their respective image colour, and they were also flashing from time to time, it was amazing! The performance was really good (yeah I will be repetitive about this, I won’t stress it enough they were incredibly good I can’t even believe they improved so much in such a short time) and the choreograpy was really cute, I remember Aikyan and Shuka turning around arm in arm for their duet. This song also had CG on the main screen, with hearts floating at the sides.

During the final chorus the second years disappeared from the stage, and in fact right after Shoujo Ijou there was Sora mo Kokoro mo Hareru Kara. The girls were sitting on a bench on the higher floor of the stage, and had cute white outfits with details in blue and their image color (this fanart by Nanotsuki catches them perfectly). The monitor right behind them showed a sky in different moments of the day (morning, sunset, night). Their singing in this song was really amazing, probably their best performance in the live, all of them shined a lot in their respective solos PLUS SHUKA MADE ONE OF HER GLORIOUS SOLO DANCE DURING THE INSTRUMENTAL PART AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL I CRIED HOW CAN SHE BE REAL

When the song ended the first years arrived right away in the stage for Waku Waku Week. Their outfits were… well… a patchwork of colours and patterns… I can’t say I liked them a lot. But their performance was super cute and funny! I’ve always thought that Waku Waku was a perfect song for the comedians of Aqours (the first years seiyuu) and I wasn’t wrong, they seemed like they were having a lot of fun just singing and dancing together! Something that bothered me, at the end of the song I expected people to do the “giran”, “zura” and “pigi” instead of the usual “uh-uh” (the words even appeared on the monitors) but everyone just did that again, I was a bit surprised. (Well I’m still a bit disappointed that no one does the yousoroad during KoiAqua but whatever lol)

After them it was the third years’ turn and OH MY GOD THE OUTFITS. THE OUTFITS. I was wondering if they would actually have ballroom gowns and I wasn’t disappointed (this fanart is one of the most faithful), the dresses were absolutely gorgeous, in fine fabrics like beautiful organza, satin, tulle… I was speechless. I think that with all of those gorgeous fabrics they were probably the most expensive outfits of the live, they went all out with them. Also, the dresses were sleeveless… can you imagine Arisha in a sleeveless red gown? I can tell you, no you can’t. It’s beyond imagination. I can’t believe I witnessed a beauty like that. And it wasn’t all! Toward the end of the song the other six girls came back with black dresses with short tulle skirts, they were all amazing! And they danced (waltz?) in turn together with the third years, first Aiai with Arisha, Shuka with Ainya and Aikyan with Suwawa, then Anchan with Arisha and… I’m really sorry I didn’t see who King and Rikyako danced with. The other girls also gave a kiss on the hand of the third years while dancing, like they were the “men” of the dancing couple. It was a really nice touch that I didn’t expected (also those black dresses were asdfghjkl. Yeah.)

After a short MC when they talked about the dresses and the songs, they went away and an intermission PV started. No clue what it was about, sorry, looked like they were talking about Nagoya history.

And after that my favorite part of the live started. First of all was KoiAqua and WITH THE ORIGINAL OUTFITS!! I WAS SO HAPPY!!! I was super sad that during First Live they didn’t have them, and I expected that this time they either left the song out completely or do it with the original outfits and I wasn’t disappointed!! They were gorgeous too, really faithful and the colours were amazing, like when they were all lined up the beautiful colours of their outifts really stood up. Also, I was absolutely shocked by the fact that the outfit was actually split in two parts (top and bottom) and YES IT SHOWED THEIR MIDRIFFS. Like. Wow. Just a little bit, not like in the anime, but at one point Shuka was waving while she was on the monitors and I literally saw half of her midriff I died omfgsdfghjkl ANYWAY—  I was so happy to be able to listen to KoiAqua live again! Shuka improved a lot too and her solo was really good, I loved it.

Then they did an MC right away, talking about the song and the outfit. This time to do the turnaround, Aikyan said something like “daten!” with her datenshi pose and at first only Shuka turned and they were like “eh? Why did only me turn? www” then Aikyan did it again and everyone did their turning and the little demon pose lol- they also showed the rear part of their outfits, which were very decorated and if I understood that corrected they said that Anchan’s, Suwawa’s, Rikyako’s and King’s rear part looked like from samba dancers lol

After this, well, I almost cried when they announced Daydream Warrior, one of my absolutely favourite songs. I have no words to describe how awesome this whole performance was. Their singing was super good, their low voices were amazing; the one that hit me the most was incredibly Furirin’s solo, you can’t even imagine how good her voice was. The best part was probably the choreography: it was absolutely intense and really really difficult, at one point I started wondering how the hell they were still singing like that, they really built up an incredible amount of stamina. There was this part in which just Aikyan, Shuka and Anchan were dancing (an instrumental part) which was super intense, I was really impressed… I am absolutely sure no other Love Live choreo has anything at this level. Even their expressions were so intense, they added a whole level to the performance. The only thing that “”“ruined”“” it a bit was that they had those super colourful outfits while singing about war and impossible love, it was a bit out of place. But overall it was a really intense and powerful performance.

And! We didn’t even have time to catch a breath because after that was fucking Thrilling One Way!!! I can say that this was absolutely the most hype song, the arena was LITERALLY ON FIRE: their background monitors showed images of flames, there were jets of smoke (like the flames in Saitama Super Arena, but with just smoke) from the front part of the stage, I saw really a lot of UOs and the overall volume of the audience’s calls was absolutely higher than before. Like I said, literally on fire. And much to my amazement this song choreo was as intense as the Daydream Warrior one HOW DO THEY DO IT THEY ARE NOT REAL. I am amazed I love them so much they work so hard……. After this medley of kakkoi songs I was basically drenching in sweat. Me. And they were there singing and dancing. h o w.

Anyway, after another Intermission PV (which was about uirou, a Japanese sweet typical in Nagoya) it was subunit time! Of course CYaRon arrived first singing Kin Mirai Happy End. They had their pirate outfits from the CD jacket and they were suuuper cute in them! The monitors this time showed the deck of a pirate ship with a CYaRon flag, making it seem like they were dancing on the ship. They also had flags with a new CYR logo, which they said during the MC was designed by Furirin. During the MC they said the usual things like talking about the song and the outfits. Then, before singing Kaigan Doori, they showed us a move to do during the chorus, like the CYaRon sign (the number three with one hand) with your left hand and a salute with the right.

When they finished Kaigan Doori it was AZALEA time! For Galaxy HidE and SeeK, Arisha started singing while being alone on the center stage, which was elevated, and on the monitors there were astronomic photos of galaxies. Her singing was really amazing! Then the other two members suddenly appeared from hidden carts, then joined Arisha in the central stage and then back to the main one. Their performance was really wonderful, they all improved a lot in their singing. Oh, they were dressed in their CD jacket outfits too, white and pink, and they also had angel wings. They also took out some magic candy (?) similar to the magic wands they had for First Live. And as in First Live, during the MC they did the torikoriko spell to change the audience’s penlight colours, this time by also making us change to their respective image colour. Then they sang INNOCENT BIRD, another favorite of mine, which was really good. They had these fake microphones in their hand and they were dancing and using their cables like a lazo. Unfortunately as much as I love this song at this point my mind was already on the next song…

Guilty Kiss appeared on the central stage, in their CD jacket outfits too (they were a bit different though, if I remember correctly- but still good, I love them more than the Strawberry Trapper one, they were so hot in those pants oh my god I’m gay). I’m sorry but all of my biased will come out here because Aikyan in Kowareyasuki was simply the best. I wanted to cry at all of her solo parts. Her scream during the instrumental gave me so many chills. She was so so so so so so good. Absolutely gets the award for best singer in Aqours, hands down. So good. I died and resurrected. I love her too much. Anyway, of course all of them were super good and the whole song was LIT AF exactly as I imagined it. After the usual MC with the usual things and a bit of cnrk (Aikyan put an arm around Rikyako’s shoulders to apologize to her because she involuntary interrupted her), they started with Shadow Gate of Love. The monitors had CG for this but I wasn’t really looking at them since the seiyuus were on the carts and I was looking at them, but once I saw Aikyan on the monitor making a heart with her hands and the CG followed her hands. The choreo of this song was really sensual, I loved it. At the end they made a final pose with their backs to the audience and making a heart with their hands behind them, it was such a cute touch.

Then another intermission started and surprise surprise! BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE!!! I was so happy, I LOVE seeing them during their training! It really shows how hard they work. They always wear their characters T-shirts during their training, it was so cute to see them with all of the different T-shirts that came out (I remember Aikyan wearing the COSPA “emotional series” T-shirt, and Ainya with the one with Mari in swimsuit) Unfortunately they were just really short clips of training, one for each of them, together with some messages from them to the audience. One thing I clearly remember is Furirin’s clip, because they showed her practising the chorus of Thrilling One Way and she looked so cool.

After this intermission they came on the stage again with KimiKoko outfits and sang the ONLY anime song of the whole 2nd live, Aozora Jumping Heart. Nothing to say, this has been performed countless time.

Right after that it came another one of my favs, a song that I didn’t expected them to perform at this point (so many new songs already, and they also already did the kakkoi songs together) so I was surprised again: SKY JOURNEY. I will be repetitive again they were so good so good soooo good I don’t know what else to say they are so good I love them. The monitors were showing beautiful images of stars behind them, that really added emphasis to the whole performance.

After that it was another old song, KimiKoko. At the end of it they started waving and going behind the stage, but of course the lights didn’t turn off which was our cue to start calling the encore.

After some minutes an animated PV started, showing the girls with the yellow live T-shirts on the HPT. Suddenly the train stopped because it didn’t have any more energy (?). They said (sorry I can’t remember who said what) that they needed everyone’s power to make it start again, but that their power as only nine girls wasn’t enough. Then I think Kanan said that “we’re not just nine” and asked us to call “Aqours! Aqours!”, at which the train filled with energy and started again, bringing us to the encore.

When the PV finished the stage split in two again and the HPT came out, this time with Uchicchi in front of it!! The audience went wild, he is clearly everyone’s best girl. He had a big red fan with the kanji 祭 (“matsuri”, festival) written on it, bringing us into the atmosphere for the next song, Sunshine Pikka Pika Ondo! When the music started the girls appeared on the center stage, wearing the yellow Nagoya shirts and the happis above them, with Anchan in the central elevated part of the stage, with a big taiko and lanterns all around her stage, and the other girls all around her in the lower stage holding big and small red fans. It really felt like being at a natsu matsuri, the scenography was amazing! Also I love so much this song, I was so happy that they went all out with it, it was so funny! (I won’t say that of course their singing was so good you already know it at this point.) During the final part they went on the carts and back to the main stage, where they did a MC thanking us for the encore. I can’t remember anything special about this except what I already said about Rikyako (that she admitted her error during HPT) and that Aikyan was a bit teary-eyed (as always, my precious child).

After which they removed their happis announcing the very last song… everyone at some point in the live expected Mirai Ticket since Nippon Gaishi Hall is the arena in which they sing it in the anime, but much to everyone’s surprise it wasn’t even the last, which was instead Taiyou o Oikakerou. Not that I’m complaining, I like the song and the performance was so cute! They went back and forth on the stage while marching and waving at us all. The cutest moment was when Suwawa went to hug Shuka (to make up for before, uh), and then Arisha went to hug Suwawa from behind and then Ainya hugged Arisha! A Happy Party Train of hugs lol ♡ At the end they just waved at us saying thank you and went behind the stage, to which the lights on the arena went on again, marking the end of the concert.

Final considerations:

All of this live was so unexpected to me. I expected a live with S1 songs, PV songs and a bit of new songs, I hoped for the BD bonus songs but I didn’t have a lot of hope… instead we got a live with no anime songs and SO MANY NEW SONGS. ALL IN DAY1. This is better than anything I could have ever imagined I am so. So. Impressed. They are so good.

My feeling of attending a live has kinda changed, the first time (Aqours First Live) seemed unreal to be there and I was so shocked the whole live, this time I was able to be more present, I guess I needed to get used to the sudden and unusual burst of emotions.

A thing that I really liked about this live more than any other are the coreographies, and since I already talked about the girls’ awesome performance and no one ever talks about her I’m making a special mention to Yumi Ichikawa, the coreographer of Love Live. Her coreos improved so much, they are not only the typical idol moves anymore, they… well, when you’ll see Daydream Warrior you’ll understand what I mean. It’s so good.

Before every live I think to all of the money I spent to arrive here and obtain a ticket and I say this will be the last for some time, I have to save up for my future and more serious things but then when I’m there I can’t help to say HOW CAN I MISS THIS MY PRECIOUS GIRLS I WANT TO SEE THEM ALWAYS Don’t start going to lives kids it will ruin your life

TL;DR they’re good girls Brent

[kaitsunnonichijou]

Me as soon as OP kicks in.

Damn, it’s been a seriously long time since the prequel TV series. Do you know how much I’ve waited for this?

THIS MUCH.

… although that’s kind of an understatement.

I’m a huge fan of both Negima and UQ Holder manga series, so I might go into complete fangirl mode throughout this article. So, what do we talk about first? I thought about dividing this first impression review into three categories that highlights this episode’s strengths and weaknesses. But before that, episode synopsis below. Let’s start!

Highlight and read at your own risk!

Years after the Great Magic War and the existence of magic finally acknowledged on Earth, Konoe Touta and his group of friends continuously pursued Yukihime, his foster guardian, to take them to the other side of the “tower”. When the seemingly effective plan from another teacher took a completely different turn, Yukihime’s secret about Touta’s real identity was revealed.

General Impressions:

Here I am, after 80 years: The anticipation

Watching this episode felt like reading Chapter 1 of UQ Holder all over again, with quite a few alterations here and there. But the changes didn’t matter to me because I was so impressed with how good this episode turned out to be. It was solid from flashback start until the ending credits to the point I was satisfied and proud of this fandom that I’ve involved myself in. The Negima manga series holds a special place in my heart (more than K-ON, I admit) to the point that I felt complete and empty at the same time when the original manga ended five years ago. I wanted to continue on my journey with them. I wanted to know what happened after the Great Magic War. I wanted to see them again… until UQ Holder came and answered all questions Negima has left.

Being as a sequel, it’s peculiar to see that one doesn’t need to watch the entire first season because honestly, the prequel was a downer and didn’t do justice to the original manga. Also, some of the events on UQ Holder won’t make that much sense if you only watched the prequel anime. I advise everyone to read the Negima manga completely just so you won’t be confused with UQ Holder.

To be honest, I feel like talking about theories like immortality and how does it feel like for this episode but I think that topic’s gonna pop out more in the following episodes, so I’m just keeping the hype going and talk about the episode in general. But, seriously. Yukihime has so far given us a perfect answer; as expected of a vampire who has lived for more than 700 years.

Touta Konoe and Yukihime: Animation and characters

I don’t think I have the right to say this since I haven’t completely watched the anime adaptations but J.C. Staff did a major step-up with their game. J.C. Staff isn’t the best when it comes to animation (in my own opinion, because I’m a KyoAni fag) but they’re quite consistent with most adaptations under their name that their own strength, with regards to animation, is their own weakness as well. But honestly, they didn’t really need to go extraordinary with UQ Holder’s animation at this point. Just something worth noting for: I’m glad J.C. Staff didn’t shy about detailing the violence and blood in this episode. Yes for no censorship!

As for the characters, I have no qualms about them because I think they’re pretty much alive and on-point. Also, no hair color changes and exaggerated character traits!  Plus, they’re like carbon copies of the manga’s original designs. I love it! The voice acting didn’t stand out too much for me, they’re good but nothing exceptional. I realized Yukihime’s seiyuu is the same as the Evangeline from the prequel 15 years ago (yes, it was that long). Right now, I’m very much excited for Kirie’s appearance since she’s best girl and voiced by Kayano Ai, one of my all-time favorite seiyuu.

By the way, I don’t know what’s with me but the opening sequence reminded me of Working!! anime lmao the shapes aren’t even the same but the yellow is so misleading pleaseforgiveme.jpg

Negi Springfield: What to look forward to

Judging from the way things are going with this first episode, It’s hard to say whether they’d do a faithful (or even close to) adaptation of the manga or decide on an original ending. I get that the first chapter being entirely used for the first episode makes sense, and then there’s this foreshadowing of about two to three chapters going on with the next episode, but with no information of how many episodes J.C. Staff’s planning to make, you can never tell. Nevertheless, the website is showing a teaser photo of UQ Holder facing against… Ala Alba? If that’s the case, I am so much looking forward to it!

Verdict: 10 Chamo “thumbs-up”s

– It was a solid episode with little to no loopholes. – Great to see Negi, Eva, and the 3-A students again. – Opening theme OMG SO NOSTALGIC AAAAAAAA – BRING IT ON, EPISODE TWO! BECAUSE I’M READY!

  Next episode:  You can’t hate someone you met naked.「裸で出会えば友達(ダチ)になる。」

Here’s a (random) slideshow of this episode’s screenshots!

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UQ Holder 01 – The Beauty and the Boy 「美女と少年」

[kaitsunnonichijou]

This is not a “Guide to Wonder Festival / Comic Market” post. Close, but no.

I was planning to write a blog about my summer otaku event experiences but almost a week passed after Comiket and I can’t stop playing TS4, so I just had to do something about this procrastination.

Summer WonFes billboard at Makuhari Messe

About Wonder Festival – Wonfes

Having been around for more than three decades, Wonder Festival or Wonfes is best known for its massive toys and figures exhibition. Every year, Japan’s top toy manufacturing companies as well as huge names in the anime industry gather around to showcase hot and upcoming anime figures and merchandises Wonder Festival is also home to various independent toy makers, giving them a chance to showcase their works.

Wonfes is held biannually (Summer and Winter seasons) at Makuhari Messe in Makuhari, Chiba.

About Comic Market – Comiket

Entering its’ 46th time this year, Comic Market, or more commonly known as Comiket, is the biggest hobby convention in Japan, running biannually (Summer and Winter season) for three days (Fridays and Weekends). Comiket is home for self-published materials like books, music, softwares, etc., but also caters official publications as well.

Comiket’s venue is Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, Tokyo.

Comiket and Wonfes catalog books

Of course, you probably know about the stuff I wrote up there, but here’s something most of the foreign people don’t know:

Wonfes isn’t a free admission event – you have to buy the Wonfes catalog book. The catalog book double-serves as an entrance ticket and your guide map to the event! Cool, right?

Comiket is free. (Ay, so you know that huh?) Also, you don’t really need to buy the catalog book as there are hall maps all around Big Sight.

You can explore Wonfes in a single day, as long as you don’t stay around taking pictures of all the figure exhibits.

You can’t explore the whole Comiket event in a single day! No!

Follow up your favorite artists on twitter if you want to see them on Comiket. You don’t want to miss them by coming in the wrong day!

Don’t worry if you’re a foreigner who can’t speak/understand Japanese, because there are international desks around the events where you can ask in English (or in your own language, if you’re lucky)!

July 30, 2017 – Wonder Festival 2017 [Summer]

Summer Wonfes was my second time to attend the event and the first time I attended during the Summer season. The catalog books are available in advance and can be bought in major anime book stores around Tokyo, so I decided to grab one to prepare for the event.

Map of Halls 1-3, where most of the big shots are.

I marked those exhibits I want to see the most.

Since I live really close to Makuhari (I can just literally walk from my apartment to Makuhari), I thought of not using the train and going to the event with my bicycle… which is a bad idea because it rained that morning! I took a bus instead to Makuhari Messe and arrived at the venue around 10:30-ish, only to be greeted by a very long line outside the event halls. We went a full circle around Makuhari Messe before eventually going inside.

And then my first Otaku Summer War begins.

Not the actual crowd. It was way jam-packed than this.

A few tips before going to Wonfes:

Make sure to charge your phone and camera before the event because you’re gonna have a lot of photography to do.

Summer events tend to be really hot and humid, so bring water / extra shirt / towels.

On the opposite, Winter events are quite cold, so wear warm and comfortable clothing.

There are food stalls inside the event, so don’t worry about food. Alternatively, you can also bring your own food inside. The konbini is your best friend.

Bring extra shopping bags with you in case you want to buy a lot.

Or better yet, bring your empty luggage with you. (As the say, do as the Romans Japanese do.)

While at the event:

No touching of figures!

Show proper courtesy! Do not push in line or even try to squeeze in.

Most of the time, taking a photo of a certain figure will took you time because of the line. Again, show proper courtesy and wait for your turn.

Be considerate in taking photos, as there are others waiting for their turn.

Some figures on display around the event are marked with 撮影禁止, which means no photography. Do not take photos of those figures!

Do not loiter inside the halls. Ask the food stalls for trash bins or you can bring an extra plastic bag with you to carry your trash before throwing it in its proper place.

Segregate your trash. This is basic Japanese law and everyone is expected to follow.

There is a special stage event at Wonfes where seiyuus usually make appearances. You cannot take photos or even shoot a video while a stage program is taking place.

Good Smile Company and Max Factory usually has the biggest space at Wonfes, but famous toy companies such as Alter, Kotobukiya, and Sega are also present.

Here are some of the photos I took:

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I had the rest of the photos uploaded on Facebook in which I posted as Public, you can just find them there.

Not only did Wonfes have anime and manga-related figures on display, but the event’s main sponsor, Prime1, showcased an impressive line of realistic scale figures of popular game and foreign comic characters.

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I was roaming around Halls 1-3 for the entire event and only got the chance to see the opposite halls around 4:30PM, right when people are starting to pack their stuff and sellers making discounts on their remaining items. After much inner fangirl debating, I only got one figure and that’s….

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Shigure Kai Ni!!

I am not complaining, though; I LOVE HERRR (Next to WaiFubuki and Hatsushimo)

August 11 and 13, 2017 – Comic Market 92

For Comiket, I had to take trains and transfer at two stations before arriving at Kokusai-Tenjijo station, the main station for Comiket guests. It took me around an hour of travel, but I didn’t mind because I get to seat inside the trains. Albeit the light rain last Friday, because August 11 is a National holiday in Japan, there was more people than ever.

For first timers, going to Comic Market will be tough because of the huge venue and the crowd. People are literally gonna bump into you every time, but that’s fine. Usually if it’s your first time going to an event, you get excited and might want to see everything, but the technique to conquering Comiket is knowing what you’re actually there for.

Which comes down to the use of those catalog books. Like Wonfes’ catalog books, Comiket catalog books has everything you need to know around: full list of doujin circles grouped by the three dates of Comiket, a map of Tokyo Big Sight’s halls (West 1-4 and East 1-7), as well as a complete list of companies selling official merchandise. As I have said, you really don’t need to buy the catalog book, but it is always better to plan ahead for war.

Alternatively, there’s a free guide map of the West Halls, where all the official merchandise are. There are also maps pinned up around the halls, so long as you can read Japanese.

This guide map for the West halls can be found at the staff tables. They’re free.

If you are aiming for the East Halls where all the doujin material are and wouldn’t like to spend money for the catalog book (~2,000 yen), a good way to prepare is to navigate Twitter. A lot of doujin circles (some companies as well) use Twitter to promote their stuff. They add this information in their Twitter names in order; what day they will attend / location. For example:

@3日目東1-A62a This means that the doujin circle will be participating on the third day and their table location is at East Hall 1, A62a. (The doujin circle who was at that space this Summer was QP:flapper, just so you know).

More tips before going to Comiket:

Make a list of all the booths you want to visit beforehand.

If you’re going during the Summer, stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. For Winter, wear warm but not too bulky clothes because you’ll do a lot of walking. Srsly.

Bring extra towels with you. Never mind an extra shirt; you’ll need more time to spend around Comiket than going to the toilet and changing shirts.

Bring food with you, or you can just buy food inside the venue.

Sleep well the night before the event. You will need a lot of energy falling in line for goods.

Wake up early, arrive early, and head straight for the East halls first if you are targeting for the doujin stuff. Chances are the popular ones will ran out of stock before 1PM. (That happened to me huhuhu)

Bring shopping bags with you (or you can buy the official Comiket huge bag for 1000 yen).

This year’s shopping bag design for Summer Comiket.

What to remember when at the event:

Always keep you things in check! Japan is generally a safe place but there are still instances of losing stuff in a huge crowd like Comiket.

Patiently wait in line for the goods. You will get your turn soon.

Watch out for free stuff! Companies and other doujin circles sometimes give extra items so try to keep an eye on your surroundings.

Throw your trash properly. Separate plastic bags, papers, and PET bottles.

Can’t understand Japanese? Look for the International Help Desk at the 2nd floor of the East hall!

I only attended days one and three for Comiket. I would have loved to go to day two as well, but I too tired from walking and carrying stuff on first day, plus my allowance won’t let me.

Main reason for attending day one – TOKOTOKO CDS!

I didn’t get to take a lot of photos for Comiket because it was super crowded you can’t just stay put on a certain area to take a picture without people bumping you from both sides. I just took what I can and went ahead to explore.

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Fate/Grand Order was a huge hit even at Comiket, so there were tall prints around the West halls for the FGO girls.

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This is all that I got after Comiket. Most of what I got are for free, can you guess which?

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For those who are planning to go to next season’s Wonder Festival and Comic Market, they are scheduled on February 18, 2018 and December 29-31, 2017. Book your flights now and remember to plan ahead before the Cold Wars.

Otaku Summer Wars: A Wonfes + Comiket post by Kaitsun This is not a "Guide to Wonder Festival / Comic Market" post. Close, but no. I was planning to write a blog about my summer otaku event experiences but almost a week passed after Comiket and I can't stop playing TS4, so I just had to do something about this procrastination.