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I had an awesome day today. How about you?
As I sit here typing this entry, a cool breeze is blowing through my apartment -- rainy season here in Japan is to start next week or so. But that's not why I had an awesome day, though the not-sweltering weather probably contributed.
Today was Super Diner, a Supernatural-only fan event in Tokyo. Last week I had gone to a similarly advertised event, for Final Fantasy 7, which was a bit small and quiet (though had awesome cosplayers), so I wasn't expecting too much from this event. I headed out a bit before noon, to arrive halfway through the event.
Which was AMAZING.
This event was definitely bigger than I had anticipated, though still Japanese-style and thus entirely composed of what we call Artist's Alley in American conventions I've been to. It was... probably comparable to the Artist's Alley at AWA, size-wise. Anyway. Walked in to this lovely sight: <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view¤t=CA3D0073.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/th_CA3D0073.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 SuperDiner" ></a>
And after getting my little wristband (one of those rubber ones: yay souvenir!), I wandered around a bit. I was kinda being my quiet awkward self as I often am in social situations like, well, happens a lot in Japan, with the language barrier. (I can speak some, I can understand more, but I get easily flustered.) Bought doujinshi -- like lots of it. Yeah.
And then I found someone who had the Supernatural prequel comics at her table. The official, English ones published by Wildstorm? Damn was that an icebreaker. So I stood there, reading all four issues she had, and another girl had come up and was reading them after I finished each one, lol. Apparently the woman had bought them through auctions, but she said that they have them on Amazon, too. So, yes, mental barrier broken!
I then proceeded to wander more, shop more, and chat more. Got a free poster from one artist after it had fallen and I picked it up for her, and commented it was cute. Got stopped by one seller who said she was going to Vancouver in August for a Supernatural convention there! She was really excited -- so would I. So cool! And she spoke a little English after my Japanese came out all broken (I always get tripped up by past time phrases -- I'm starting to hate answering "When did you come to Japan?"). And then I went to another table, and the artist's friend who was hanging out with her was pretty comfortable with attempting English, at least, and so we were chatting half English, half Japanese, about the show and fandom. (By the way, internet, what is this about Misha milk-drinking pictures being posted on Twitter? They couldn't remember the account name, but then they asked their neighbor who said (in good English!) that I could find it on the SuperWiki. When Twitter resumes service, I will be going through twitter.com/mishacollins) They had a lot of questions -- did guys like the show in America too, or was is mainly a girl fanbase? Was there western fanart/comics, or mainly fanfic? Like that. It was fun to talk about, though I'm definitely not fully in the fandom, so it was difficult to answer sometimes. Heck, I only watched the first three episodes yesterday!
And the next table I went to, another fan started chatting with me in very very good English. Turned out she went to university in England. (Crap, I can't remember her name! ;;) And yeah. So I had a lot of fun talking to people. Got a few free things when I commented on how cute they were -- it was the end of the day, and I wonder if part of it was because of being a token foreigner there. Some people wondered how I had heard about the event -- I think they were expecting "the Internet", but I never would have known this existed had I not picked up the event flyer back at December's Comiket.
Really happy I decided to go.
On my way back to the station, I passed the Edo Museum (but decided to save that for another time), and stopped for cheap kitsune soba. Mmm, kistune-style.... And then at the station, on a neighboring platform, there was a taiko drumming performance going on. I happened to be standing next to a few other foreigners, and the leader/teacher guy called us over from across the tracks. Eventually found where the entrance was, and went to watch. Apparently, they were from a taiko-drumming school, and half of them were Westerners! The teacher/leader dude was doing things at least mostly bilingually, and dude, it was so awesome, I want to do that too! So I think, if I remain in the Kanto area, I have a new hobby. <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view¤t=CA3D0074.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/CA3D0074.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 Taiko"></a>
So. Assuming you got this far...
I have to move soon, but I keep buying stuff. A LOT of fan stuff. I'm kinda a compulsive shopper at conventions. Now, I'm not looking to get rid of it all, but if anyone is interested in fan merchandise for Supernatural, Final Fantasy 7, Bleach, or other series... well. I'll probably be putting up a sales post sometime. (Mostly doujinshi, but also things like calendars and other random shit.)
Today was Super Diner, a Supernatural-only fan event in Tokyo. Last week I had gone to a similarly advertised event, for Final Fantasy 7, which was a bit small and quiet (though had awesome cosplayers), so I wasn't expecting too much from this event. I headed out a bit before noon, to arrive halfway through the event.
Which was AMAZING.
This event was definitely bigger than I had anticipated, though still Japanese-style and thus entirely composed of what we call Artist's Alley in American conventions I've been to. It was... probably comparable to the Artist's Alley at AWA, size-wise. Anyway. Walked in to this lovely sight: <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view¤t=CA3D0073.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/th_CA3D0073.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 SuperDiner" ></a>
And after getting my little wristband (one of those rubber ones: yay souvenir!), I wandered around a bit. I was kinda being my quiet awkward self as I often am in social situations like, well, happens a lot in Japan, with the language barrier. (I can speak some, I can understand more, but I get easily flustered.) Bought doujinshi -- like lots of it. Yeah.
And then I found someone who had the Supernatural prequel comics at her table. The official, English ones published by Wildstorm? Damn was that an icebreaker. So I stood there, reading all four issues she had, and another girl had come up and was reading them after I finished each one, lol. Apparently the woman had bought them through auctions, but she said that they have them on Amazon, too. So, yes, mental barrier broken!
I then proceeded to wander more, shop more, and chat more. Got a free poster from one artist after it had fallen and I picked it up for her, and commented it was cute. Got stopped by one seller who said she was going to Vancouver in August for a Supernatural convention there! She was really excited -- so would I. So cool! And she spoke a little English after my Japanese came out all broken (I always get tripped up by past time phrases -- I'm starting to hate answering "When did you come to Japan?"). And then I went to another table, and the artist's friend who was hanging out with her was pretty comfortable with attempting English, at least, and so we were chatting half English, half Japanese, about the show and fandom. (By the way, internet, what is this about Misha milk-drinking pictures being posted on Twitter? They couldn't remember the account name, but then they asked their neighbor who said (in good English!) that I could find it on the SuperWiki. When Twitter resumes service, I will be going through twitter.com/mishacollins) They had a lot of questions -- did guys like the show in America too, or was is mainly a girl fanbase? Was there western fanart/comics, or mainly fanfic? Like that. It was fun to talk about, though I'm definitely not fully in the fandom, so it was difficult to answer sometimes. Heck, I only watched the first three episodes yesterday!
And the next table I went to, another fan started chatting with me in very very good English. Turned out she went to university in England. (Crap, I can't remember her name! ;;) And yeah. So I had a lot of fun talking to people. Got a few free things when I commented on how cute they were -- it was the end of the day, and I wonder if part of it was because of being a token foreigner there. Some people wondered how I had heard about the event -- I think they were expecting "the Internet", but I never would have known this existed had I not picked up the event flyer back at December's Comiket.
Really happy I decided to go.
On my way back to the station, I passed the Edo Museum (but decided to save that for another time), and stopped for cheap kitsune soba. Mmm, kistune-style.... And then at the station, on a neighboring platform, there was a taiko drumming performance going on. I happened to be standing next to a few other foreigners, and the leader/teacher guy called us over from across the tracks. Eventually found where the entrance was, and went to watch. Apparently, they were from a taiko-drumming school, and half of them were Westerners! The teacher/leader dude was doing things at least mostly bilingually, and dude, it was so awesome, I want to do that too! So I think, if I remain in the Kanto area, I have a new hobby. <a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/?action=view¤t=CA3D0074.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/feikoi/Japan/CA3D0074.jpg" border="0" alt="10.6.13 Taiko"></a>
So. Assuming you got this far...
I have to move soon, but I keep buying stuff. A LOT of fan stuff. I'm kinda a compulsive shopper at conventions. Now, I'm not looking to get rid of it all, but if anyone is interested in fan merchandise for Supernatural, Final Fantasy 7, Bleach, or other series... well. I'll probably be putting up a sales post sometime. (Mostly doujinshi, but also things like calendars and other random shit.)