Tag Archives: anime

Neon Dream #12: 芸能山城組 – Kaneda

Posted on by necromoonyeti

If you are looking for a careful plot showcasing the new challenges of a technologically advanced, post-apocalyptic earth, then Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 classic Akira is not a great option. The film does not try to raise any questions, the story is vague, and it revolves around characters who are empowered supernaturally, not enhanced through technology. Akira‘s legacy lies in its music, art, and shock value.

Set in a dystopian Neo-Tokyo in 2019, 31 years after the ubiquitous cataclysm uproots every tenet of modern society, Akira displays a violent, futuristic world where law and order amounts to little more than brute force. The military police force is ruthless. Suspects are executed in public spaces with no concern for who might get caught in the cross-fire. When protests turn to riots, machine guns and tanks bulldoze down all opposition to the state. In one memorable scene, a group of protesters is bombarded with tear gas, and a choking helpless civilian staggers into an unclouded space that happens to be occupied by a policeman. After a moment’s pause, he blasts him in the stomach with a smoke grenade at point blank range. The incessant violence permeates everything. Within the first ten minutes, the hero, Kaneda, has murdered a half dozen members of a rival gang for entering his turf. The antagonist, Tetsuo, while certainly not evil, does not think twice about slaughtering the millenarian following attracted to his psychic powers.

Akira keeps you attentive with an endless escalation of weirdness and destruction. At every turn, events outpace your expectations, culminating in a transformation sequence that is not even worth trying to explain. I suppose it does raise one question, and only one: “What the fuck did I just watch?” It only works, though, because the art is so distinct that it leaves little to the imagination. Akira is a visual tour through everything that the most dystopian, vulgar cyberpunk city is supposed to be.

The soundtrack, composed by Tsutomu Ōhashi of Geinoh Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組), is inescapable throughout the film. It’s a bit of a counterbalance to the grim, futuristic visuals, relying heavily on Japanese and Indonesian traditional instrumentation and avant-garde vocals. It focuses more on capturing Akira‘s supernatural side, both in style and in strangeness. The opening track, “Kaneda”, does this while racing full speed into the heart of a towering metropolis.

AMV of the Day: Another Fanny Service Video (Kemeko DX)

Posted on by Arleigh

AnotherFannyService

I’ve been remiss about posting the winners of the Sakura-Con 2015 AMV Contest. This particular video won the “Fun” category and it’s a production from one of my favorite AMV creators, IleaiAMVs.

“Another Fanny Service Video” is a short, but to the point AMV that combines not just the romance-comedy anime series Kemeko Deluxke! but also the Jason Derulo song “Wiggle.” It’s a pairing made to order and just goes to show that an AMV doesn’t have to use an epic length song (though nothing bad about those).

Ileai has always been very using timed edits to her chosen song to tell the particular story her video are trying to tell. Whether the original intent of the anime being used comes across doesn’t matter. She could take a super serious anime and turn it hilarious through clever editing and the correct choice of music. This time around this video doesn’t stray too far from the comedic aspect of the anime Kemeko Deluxe! and instead highlights the ecchi sequences from the series.

The video has already won several AMV Contest awards reaching back to last year and all accolades Ileai’s way have been well-deserved.

Anime: Kemeko Deluxe!

Song: “Wiggle” by Jason Derulo (feat. Snoop Dogg)

Creator: IleaiAMVs

Past AMVs of the Day

Neon Dream #1: Maserati – Inventions

Posted on by necromoonyeti

On a bit of a lark, I posted an article last week about some of my odd experiences as a kid on the internet in the 90s. That got me listening to a bunch of music that has no obvious connection to the things I wrote about. My metal choices became more industrial. I fired up the Lost in Translation soundtrack for the first time in ages. I fell in love with vaporwave’s sardonic spin on muzak and smooth jazz… Hey, this sounds like an excuse to post a music series!

90s internet was obsessed with fantasy and science fiction. “Nerds” were more likely to be online. (My family got dial-up because my mother was a computer programmer.) Free online gaming was dominated by MUDs and forum RPGs, as they were well suited for text-based environments and stemmed from a long tradition. Most of all, it was the easiest place for that demographic to congregate. (Why do we have Sports Bars but not Dungeon Masters’ Taverns?) If you came to the internet enjoying console RPGs, you might well leave loving anime and Dungeons & Dragons, too, and sharing an odd obsession with that island off the east coast of Asia that gave us so much of it. Japan was an exotic world full of technologically advanced cities, as I imagined it, and its number one export for me was high-tech fiction.

That is how I came to engage futuristic universes like Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Japan brought cyberpunk into the mainstream for my generation. (It was years before I watched Blade Runner.) The internet was the new frontier of technology, so the genre sort of resonated with the medium through which I encountered it. Ghost in the Shell in particular asked a lot of relevant questions regarding how technology impacted identity. On the internet, anonymity was a sort of virtue, and that always fascinated me. I also saw, as time went by, a lot of commonalities between the internet and cyberpunk’s dystopian societies. Corporate monopolies replaced niche vendors. Advertising expanded wildly, still all in-your-face pop-up adds pushing pornography and all-you-can-eat, 0%-down, free trial chances to become an instant winner. Forums became overcrowded, scaling up from hundreds of active users to tens of thousands. Screen names ceased to provide even temporary identification as people no longer bothered looking at them. Copycat conformity and superficial cheap thrills dominated where people had once engaged each other with thought and imagination.

In both cyberpunk and the internet, you had an acknowledged gap between the corporate world and the masses. In Final Fantasy VII, for instance, Midgar’s dark, towering inner city emitted a filth of neon commercial sleaze and ill-earned luxury that opposed the sunshine and suffering warmth of its dilapidated ghettos. This disparity was clear, both to the player and to Midgar’s fictional inhabitants. The antagonists were balding, broad-wasted businessmen and corporate gangsters. The heroes toppled the system through sabotage, creating a ripple effect that rocked the masses and–not so much in FF7, but definitely elsewhere–turned them against their corporate overlords. The fact that capitalism felt evil or sleazy, both online and in the fiction, proved awareness of the gap. If the system was working properly, the masses would willingly accept their position and not eye commercialism warily or respond to tremors beneath. There would be no vulnerability–no means to revolution–and subsequently, in a lot of these stories, nothing to drive the plot forward.

The gap emerged in fiction because it made for an interesting story. It emerged in real life because the internet simply hadn’t been reigned in yet. Corporations were still scrambling to keep up with rapidly changing demands emanating from an unregulated hive mind. In both cases, the appeal was a sense of empowerment. Anonymity within an unstable system enabled anyone, theoretically, to mastermind changes in behavior of the masses and then slip back into the shadows. It was a utopian dystopia. It was too easy.

Today’s social media, integrated subliminal advertising, and tailor-made instant-gratification entertainment indicate a highly functional, invulnerable corporate society. The internet is a bleak, soulless place where people narrate their artificial lives to the wind, proudly displaying every ounce of their shallow identities. You might grasp the banality for a moment and try to spread the word, but open ears are hard to come by, and before you seek them you just have to watch this Youtube video about the 10 craziest moments in… something. C’est la vie.

But that is why internet and the 90s makes me reflect nostalgically on sweaty used car dealers in crooked toupees; Tokyo as an exotic, futuristic world; Groomed corporate elites snorting cocaine on their private jets; Sleazy, shameless advertising; Revolutions begun by untraceable, nameless figures in archaic chatrooms; The machine consuming itself and collapsing into anarchy; Most of all, the freedom to roam a vast, incomprehensible urban landscape without consequence.

Maserati are a post-rock band from the music capital of the southeast: Athens, Georgia. “Inventions” appears on their 2007 release, Inventions for the New Season (which I always thought was a really awkward title). Their line-up at the time included the late Jerry Fuchs, who was involved in a lot of significant acts before his tragic death: !!!, MSTRKRFT, LCD Soundsystem.

This song found its way into my mix as a result of my brief foray into RPGMaker. I got it in my head to make a cyberpunk RPG based loosely around a collaborative story that I took part in back on the Nintendo.com forums in ’98. Futuristic tile sets were pretty hard to come by, and I turned to music to set the tone of the game. I put “Inventions” to work when the player finished up the introduction sequence and became free to explore. The song captured for me the feeling of walking along the massive streets of a futuristic city in the dead of night.

AMV of the Day: Cosplay Bargain Bin (Various)

Posted on by Arleigh

CosplayBargainBin

This past weekend saw myself and fellow site contributor pantsukudasai56 over in Seattle attending Sakura-Con 2015. One of the activities we ended up participating in (meaning we sat down and watched) was in the AMV panels. While we never made it for the AMV Contest panel itself where people got to vote on the videos themselves we did manage to sit down and watch some of the videos. One of these days I will dedicate an entire con to just watching AMVs (well, at least go to the contest itself).

So, for the next week or so I shall be posting the videos we did catch and the one’s which ended up winning awards.

The first “AMV of the Day” Sakura-Con 2015 Edition made it as a finalist for the “Best Fun” Category. It’s “Cosplay Bargain Bin” by TarageAMV and is an amalgamation of over 30 or so anime clips edited to the tune of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.”

While it didn’t win in the end, this video from TarageAMV was actually quite funny and does a great job of spoofing the hardships and stress that cosplayers must go through to get ready for the next anime convention. As someone who broke his cosplay cherry this year with a simple enough costume (and I was still stressed that I couldn’t get all the pieces) I think I have a much better appreciation of the lengths and dedication cosplayers put into getting their cosplays ready.

Anime: Acchi Kocchi, Aquarion Evol, Attack on Titan, Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts, Black Butler, Black Rock Shooter, Bleach, Bodacious Space Pirates, Chobits, Clannad, Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion, Cowboy Bebop, Daily Lives of High School Boys, Darker Than Black, Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, Neon Genesis Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, Genshiken Second Season, Gj-Bu, Golden Boy, Great Teacher Onizuka, Hayate the Combat Butler, Heaven’s Lost Property Forte, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II, Inu Yasha, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kill la Kill, Log Horizon, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Mayo Chiki!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, My Little Monster, Naruto Shippuden, Occult Academy, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Plastic Nee-san, Robotics;Notes, Sailor Moon: Crystal, Spice and Wolf, Stein:Gate, Yuru Yuri

Song: “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (feat. Wanz)

Creator: TarageAMV

Past AMVs of the Day

 

 

 

 

Star Wars: TIE Fighter Anime Short Film

Posted on by Arleigh

StarWarsTIEFighter

There’s always been great combos throughout history. Whether it was Lee and Stonewall, Grant and Sherman right up to peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes two things alone and by themselves are very good, but only reach the level of greatness when put together.

This short anime film by animator Paul Johnson (Youtube user Otaking77077) done over four years in the traditional anime style is turning out to be one of the best things to come out this year. It combines two things that were already great on their own, anime and Star Wars, but when put together has reached epicness status.

It even puts the narrative (scored with heavy metal fashion by Zakir Rahman) completely on the side of the Galactic Empire. This is a narrative we rarely get to see since everyone seems to be all in Team Rebel Alliance.

Enough talk…just watch and enjoy.

AMV of the Day: Can Can Pantsu (Various) NSFW

Posted on by pantsukudasai56

The following AMV of the Day is decidedly NSFW, unless you work at a place that is very lenient with what they allow their employees to watch.  Which you probably don’t.  So don’t watch this at work.  Seriously, it’s not porn but it’s still very NSFW.  Not sure if I’ve stressed this enough, but this is NSFW, and Through the Shattered Lens takes no responsibility for any discipline handed out for those that still haven’t paid close enough attention to what I’ve said.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way, this is an AMV that I first saw when I was at Another Anime Convention back in October.  They had the great idea of having a room dedicated solely to the showing of various AMVs all day every day of the convention.  It was great to be able to relax and catch a few AMVs in between various panels that caught my interest.  It was typically broken up into blocks that specialized in certain themes, and one of their late night themes was for various ecchi, or racy but not full blown porn AMVs. (They had a block for hentai, or porn AMVs, but that’s another story)  The one thing I wish they had done different was that they didn’t always list the name and creator of the AMVs they were showing, so while I was aware that this one existed for some time, I didn’t have any luck finding it until Arleigh found it and showed it to me.

While I have seen a lot of ecchi anime in my day, this is made up of some 35 different anime, some of which I haven’t seen, and even further surprising to me was that there were even two that I had never heard of before.  After viewing this AMV, I believe that’s an oversight I’ll have to correct.  One wouldn’t necessarily think that the Can Can would work for this, but it is so perfectly done with just a rapid fire string of panty shots that I can only hope that someday the creator decides to do another like this except with boob shots.  I was a little confused as to who the creator is, since at the end of the AMV it says it was made by Potato, but according to animemusicvideos.org, which is pretty much THE authority on AMVs, the creator’s name is FlamingMangos.  Due to the racy nature of the AMV (did I mention this is NSFW?) I don’t believe that it’s been featured in any formal AMV contests.  It’s too much for a general audience AMV contest, but not really bad enough to be in a hentai AMV contest.  Still, its lack of awards is in no means a measure of it’s fun qualities.  At the very least, I doubt you’ll be able to hear the Can Can and not have this AMV come to mind.

Anime: Akane-Iro Ni Somaru Saka, Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan, Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan 2, Demon King Daimao, Freezing, Freezing Vibration, Green Green, Gundam Seed Destiny, Hagure Yuusha no Estetica, Heaven’s Lost Property Forte, High School DxD, High School DxD New, Kanokon, Kyou no Asuka Show, Ladies Versus Butlers!, Maji de Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai!! S, Majimoji Rurumo, Manyuu Hiken-chou, Onī-chan dakedo Ai sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne!, R-15, Rosario + Vampire, Rosario + Vampire Capu2, Samurai Girls, Seikon no Qwaser, Sekirei, Sekirei: Pure Engagement, Shuffle!, Shukufuku no Campanella, Sora no Otoshimono Final: Eternal My Master, To Love-RU (OAV), To Love-RU (TV), To Love-RU – Darkness, Tonagura!, Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!, We Without Wings

Song: “The Infernal Galop” by Jacques Offenbach

Creator: FlamingMangos

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Warriors (Various)

Posted on by Arleigh

warriors-mep-960x540

The latest “AMV of the Day” is one of those rare, but impressive anime music videos which happens to have a several creators working together to make one video. These are called MEP which stands for Multi-Editor Project.

“Warriors” is a video collaboration between nine video editors by the names of Mycathatesyou, Kireblue, Xophilarus, Shin (aka tehninjarox), Obsidian Zero, Warlike Swans, Warlike Cygnet, PieandBeer and Rhianic. I always found it impressive that so many imaginative and creative individuals could work together to make one product. While collaboration between such people are not rare I’ve found that sometimes ego plays a huge part in making such things fail more than succeed.

As this video shows they’ve definitely succeeded in creating an anime music video which sticks to the theme of the Imagine Dragons’ song “Warriors”.

Anime: Kill la Kill, C-Bu: Stella, Women’s Academy, Kara no Kyokai, Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, Pokemon, Slayers Evolution-R, No Game No Life, Fate/Zero

Song: “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons

Creator: Mycathatesyou, Kireblue, Xophilarus, Shin (aka tehninjarox), Obsidian Zero, Warlike Swans, Warlike Cygnet, PieandBeer, Rhianic

Past AMVs of the Day

Best anime of 2014

Posted on by pantsukudasai56

Arleigh has pointed something very important out to me.  I have been drinking a lot, and the end of the year is nearing.  (EDIT- I started this post on December 28th, and proceeded to get too drunk to continue.  Then I forgot I had started it, got drunk several more times, and now on January 5th, I remembered it and am proceeding to get drunk again, so perfect time to actually finish this)  Pretty much the best time I can think of to make one of my few posts this year.  Again, one thing I should point out is that this year there were 149 series released, and I only watched 44 series.  Basically, no one other than the biggest loser on earth could have possibly watched every single series released each year.  If you know of anyone going by the name of Ryan Saotome, he’s one of those losers.  Punch him one for me.  But, I like to think that I have pretty good taste, and those 44 I watched were the cream of the crop.  So of those best of the best, the best that I’ve watched was easily a series that came out this spring, a title by the name of No Game, No Life.

No game no lifeThis show is pretty much an otaku dream.  The basic premise is that “siblings” (I’m not 100% sure that they actually are related) Shiro and Sora are a couple of hikikomori, which are basically shut ins who don’t associate with other people, and they are the best gamers out there going by the nickname Blank.  Blank is infamous in the online community because no matter what, they never lose.  One day they get an invitation to play a game of chess.  Naturally they win, although they have to struggle to actually do so.  Upon winning, they are warped to the land of Disboard, where the God of that world, Tet, has decreed that all war is abolished and all conflicts between the races will be resolved via games.  They quickly become rulers of the weakest faction in the world, humans, and set about to challenge all the races and eventually challenge God himself.

This is based on an ongoing light novel series, incidentally written by a native born Brazilian/Japanese, Yuu Kamiya real name Thiago Furukawa Lucas.  Generally speaking, non-native Japanese do not find a lot of success in the Japanese light novel/manga/anime scene, so the fact that this has been highly popular speaks volumes about how well written it is.  The anime sticks quite closely to the light novel, which works great for this first season, since there’s enough source material to cover it.  Perhaps this means that any future anime adaptations will have to wait, or won’t be as good, but since most anime these days are basically just advertisements for the light novels/manga, I suspect that they won’t be in a rush to adapt more until either there’s more source material, or the light novel’s sales start to slip.  Still, with it moving on average over 6,000 BDs per volume (and unlike in the US and other countries, Japan tends to only have 2 episodes per volume even with BDs so an average 13 episode series will still have 6 volumes) that’s showing there’s enough money out there to support a second season easily.  I don’t follow light novel releases in Japan, because I can’t read Japanese, so I’m not sure what the sales were like prior to the anime showing, but I do know that for the year the releases averaged over 140,000 per volume, for 6 volumes, which is a pretty decent amount of sales.  Combine that with the BD sales, and it’s pretty likely that the light novels got a decent boost, and so a second season is highly likely.

But what about this series makes it work?  Well, first off, it’s insanely cute.  We all know that Japan does cute better than anyone, but this just strikes a chord with even me, who has seen more cute than you can shake a stick full of kittens at.  How cute is cute?  Well, in a scene near the end, when the duo is panicking over thinking they’ve been transported to the real world (something hikikomori dread more than anything) Shiro is at her most adorable. SoraNo one can tell me that isn’t super adorable.  You can try, you are wrong.

It also has one of the catchiest ending themes of the year.

Some of my favorite moments in the series come at the expense of Stephanie Dola.  Prior to Shiro and Sora’s arrival in Disboard, she is attempting to be the representative of humanity, but she is inexperienced in the way of games and can’t see when an opponent is cheating, nor can she overcome that.  Her naivety leads Shiro to basically begin using her name as an insult, calling her “Such a Steph”.  She is constantly being somewhat humiliated by Shiro and Sora, but it never really and truly comes across as malicious.  They do embarrass her often, but it seems more like they’re doing it to try and cure her of her naivety and teach her how to become a better ruler of humanity for when they either inevitably become the gods of the world, or return to their world.

Even though you know that Shiro and Sora are going to win (the heroes almost always win, especially in shows like this) the suspense and intrigue isn’t with the if, but the how.  Their fight against the Werebeasts showed that even if they’re going to win, it was going to be tough, and most importantly, it wasn’t a bullshit type of win.  It was certainly a come from behind, wow I didn’t see that coming, kind of win, but once it was explained, it makes good sense.  The fact that the series ends on a major cliffhanger, to me all but assures there being a second season, but since I’m not currently in charge of Japan, and me and Japan don’t always agree upon what makes perfect sense, we shall see.

In all actuality, this was another good year for anime.  Anyone saying that anime was better in the 90’s is a crazy person.  It only seemed that way because anime was fairly new here, and so licensors were cherry picking titles.  These days we get damn near everything, either through streaming, or through physical releases, so naturally there’s gonna be a lot more average titles, and a lot more stinkers.  There has never been a better time to be an anime fan than now, and for 2o14, I say the best thing you could do is sit down and watch No Game No Life.  Here’s to looking forward to what 2015 brings us, and I hope that I have a ton of must watch anime to think about writing about (but ultimately never do) in the coming year!

AMV of the Day: Sweet Dreams

Posted on by Arleigh

SweetDreams

It’s that time of the year when we should all be celebrating peace and love (and lots of presents and alcoholic festive drinks) yet the world of late has turned meaner, sadder and just plain not-fun. People really just need to chill and let the holidays move them.

This latest “AMV of the Day” is just plain fun and smile-inducing. No leaked emails here. No threats that lead to censorships. Not even a cynical pixel to be found.

So, let us just sit back and watch some Hall & Oates (never thought I’d say that in this day and age) inspired anime music video.

Anime: Angel Beats, Bakemonogatari, Black Lagoon, Carnival Phantasm, Eden of the East, Eden of the East: Paradise Lost, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22 – You Can [Not] Advance, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Song: “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates

Creator: Alexmichur00 & Dragontamer5788


Past AMVs of the Day

Con Report: Another Anime Convention 2014

Posted on by pantsukudasai56

Hey all, I’d usually start this post off with me saying why I haven’t made a post in forever.  I’m lazy.  Plus Arleigh forgot to remind me when I’m at home.  Plus again, I have been working my ass off for the most part this year.  But, I figure I started to feel bad about not posting much considering how much Arleigh is paying me.  And then I realized that I’m not being paid anything, so I stopped feeling so bad.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s talk about my adventures at Another Anime Convention in Manchester, New Hampshire during the weekend of October 17-19.  Arleigh and I have attended 5 conventions together, 3 Anime Bostons and 2 Anime Expos in LA.  But there’s still many conventions that I attend solo, even though it’s incredibly expensive.  So, whenever I can, I try and go with someone like Arleigh.  However, small local conventions are just not something that I’d call him out from the wrong coast out to the right coast, especially since both of us are pretty much exclusively interested in Japanese guests.  Small, local conventions on the east coast are not going to get any Japanese guests ever. Anime Boston barely gets any, and they bring in well over 20,000 people.  Another Anime Convention is lucky to get 4,000 people.  But you know what?  The location works so well for that.  The convention is held in the convention center of the Manchester Radisson and even though the attendance is only between 3000 and 4000, it makes it feel every bit as busy as Anime Boston.  Not anywhere near Anime Expo or Otakon, but that’s not a bad thing, because both those conventions are stupidly crowded.

This particular convention has a lot going for it.  For one thing, even though I said it’s nowhere near an AB, since it’s a much smaller venue, it certainly feels every bit as big.  At no time will it take you longer than 10 minutes to get from one end of the convention center to the other, but that’s something that can only be truly appreciated with a smaller convention like this.

So what does this convention have going for it anyways?  Well, let’s say for a moment that you’re a fan of English dubs.  If you want to meet certain dub actors, then this is the place to do it without a doubt.  If English dub actors were my thing, I’d have been able to get several autographs no problem.  Now, even thought it’s a smaller convention, it still would normally be as tough to get an autograph as any convention.  However, AAC does something that I would encourage other larger conventions to do.  And to an extent Anime Expo does this as well.  What I’m talking about is that for an extra upcharge, one can essentially buy extra perks.  Basically for $50 extra, you get a free t-shirt, unlimited line skips (yes, any line, at any time, every time any and every day.  But there are maybe 3 events total over the course of the weekend that that would actually be an issue for), front of line access to guest autographs.  Basically, the perks are there to lord it over the cheap ass normals.  Did I do such?  Oh hell yeah.  If I saw a huge line for a panel, even if I didn’t give half a shit about the panel, I jumped the line just because I could, and I knew I was taking a closer seat away from some skinflint.

Now, Arleigh and I typically go to panels hosted by the Japanese guests and/or panels done by industry, such as your Funimations, Sentai Filmworks, Aniplex of America, or Viz Media.  With none of those industry members present at a small convention like this, I had to go into it with a much different mindset.  And you know what?  I still managed to have a ton of fun and still couldn’t see everything I wanted to.  What I did was take part in things that are in even the giant conventions, but we just never had time for.  For example, I actually went and watched the entire AMV contest, including voting on my favorites.  Because I am always ready to pass the buck, I long ago gave Arleigh the list of AMV winners, so instead of me posting them all, I’d hate to take away future AMV of the Day posts.  Buck officially passed.

One thing I can’t very well pass off to anyone else is the very fundamental thing of cosplay.  I’ll admit, I went into this thinking that the cosplay would be mediocre at best.  I grossly underestimated the dedication of anime fans.  Possibly due to the fact that there were less people around and so those that were there really stepped up their game, there was a big percentage of high class cosplay.  Alright, admittedly there were the predictables like Kill la Kill, and Attack on Titan, which has now become the new Bleach and Naruto, but if there’s quality, then repeatablity doesn’t much matter.  So, for right now, I’d like to regale you with pictures I took during my trip there.  Admittedly, I don’t always know what I took a picture of, but if I don’t know there’s two reasons why I took the picture.  Either the costume is cool looking, or the model is very hot. I’d say it’s up to you to decide, but screw that, I’ll tell you what I thought.

First off, we have a Little Mac cosplay.  This is near and dear to me because I have previously cosplayed as King Hippo.  Obviously King Hippo is a million times better, but hey, Little Mac is still pretty cool.

Pretty decent Zach (seriously, the proper contraction of Zachary is Zack.  Enough with this lazy bullcrap) Galaphanakis.  Frankly, I’ve never seen any of the movies, but even I can recognize somewhat famous movie scenes.

No idea what this is.  Looks pretty elaborate though, so I reward people that take the effort to make a decent costume even if they obviously can’t pull it off.

My hotel room faced out to the courtyard.  As I was up in my room taking a break, I happened to see this Sailor Pluto take a seat. I immediately headed out to try and catch her.  Again, due to it being a small convention, the elevators weren’t crazy busy, so I was able to get out there and get her picture.  If she doesn’t look crazy hot, then that’s due to my poor photography skills and not her own natural hotness.

The first of a few Kill la Kill cosplay photos.

May Chang from Full Metal Alchemist.  The charm point is the panda in her hair.  I love when people take the time to bring out the small details like that.

More KlK cosplay.  Is this the last?  Probably not.  I mean, it was only the hottest anime property in the last year, so obviously no one would ever want to cosplay as it.

Again, I dunno, probably some video game.  If it’s familiar to you, then sure, you know the game.  Either way, she’s pretty nice to look at, no?

Another that I’m not really certain of, but she’s showing her panties for everyone to see.  Do you honestly expect someone with the username of pantsukudasai (panties please) to not immediately see this and need to take a picture?  My picture does not do her justice.  Very hot.  If you’re her and you’re reading this, color me surprised.  What are the odds?  You’re also some anonymous pervert on the internet who likes looking at attractive women in cosplay.

Like I said before, one of the most overdone cosplay in recent times is Attack on Titan.  So if you want to stand out to me, the best way to do it isn’t to be one of a million Potato Girls, nor one of three million Levis, or the same number of Mikasas.  No, if you want to stand out, be like this one and be a half eaten Marco.  Brilliant!

No doubt this will be done often in the next several conventions, but SAO II (Gun Gale Online) Kirito was a novelty at the time, so I was surprised to see anyone with this costume already.

From Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai, I can’t resist a Rika.

Another rare male cosplayer.  Most Sir Crocodile cosplayers don’t bother with the cigar.  If you don’t go with the cigar, then what the hell is the point?  Seriously, to anyone that’s considering it, at the very least buy a cheap cigar.  Oh no, you’ll have to spend a day with tobacco on your lip.  You’re not gonna get cancer from one goddamn day.  Stop being a cop out bitch.  Go with realism.

Generally I don’t take pictures of non anime properties, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Batman and Catwoman.

The girls here spent the entire weekend making chalk art.  All in all, I can’t help but be impressed.

Frozen is pretty much the most popular movie in America and the rest of the world.  It’s the top selling BD in Japan as well.  It’s a shame that there wasn’t snow on the ground, but on the other hand if it was that kind of cold out I probably wouldn’t have gotten these pictures in the courtyard.

Again, keeping it all very topical, we have a cosplay of Luffy, or Lucy.  Honestly, I don’t think people truly appreciate what cosplayers like this do.  Most people aren’t reading the manga as it comes out, so the fact that someone gets a current arc cosplay made up is pretty impressive.

Not the greatest of any one of the Honnouji Academy group, it’s just not often that you see them all grouped together.

Again, I usually don’t pay any mind to non anime cosplay, but here we have Bob Ross. If you don’t know who Bob Ross is, then you are a grade A moron.  Perhaps it’s not nice to insult the readership, but come on, anyone that’s at least been in college should know who the hell Bob Ross is.

Pretty good looking Mami.  Know what would have made her look better?  No head.  Ooops, spoilers.

My goddamn unicorn! If that doesn’t make sense, then please hear my story.  First off, a unicorn refers to something that if you don’t have pics, it didn’t happen.  The backstory to all this goes as such.  I saw this girl while I was having breakfast, heading down to an area where there is only on way to go.  I didn’t sweat it, because I figured small convention, only one access point, I should easily find her and get her picture.  After eating, during which she definitely did not come back that way, I headed down there to find her.  I got distracted because I saw the barrel of that gun and figured I had her, but it turned out I was chasing down a Seras Victoria cosplayer.  Then later in the day, as I was on the second floor waiting for a panel to open, I saw her walk by on the first floor.  I rushed down to the first floor, heading to the direction that she was walking.  Amazingly, I could not find her.  Again, this is a small convention, with a basically small floor area.  Finally, I saw her while I was on the same floor as her and got this picture.  FYI, she’s Sinon from Sword Art Online II.  Again, it’s a fairly new show, so I’m amazed that there is a great quality cosplay as this so soon.  Plus, I’m very impressed that she didn’t go running to security when I told her that I had been hunting her down all day.  Yes, I used those exact terms.  Thank you Sinon for not getting me arrested.  Also, I never saw her again the rest of the day, so I’m glad I was able to get a picture of this unicorn and turn her into reality.

Not the greatest I’ve ever seen, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen any Rinoa cosplay that it’s almost fresh again.

Finishing off the day, and the weekend, we have Shiro from No Game, No Life.  This same girl was busy doing a professional shoot earlier in the day.  I suppose I could have just shot a picture, but that’s not how I roll.  Believe it or not, a guy whose username is begging to see panties does have morals.  Luckily for me, I saw her later on in the day.  During the photoshoot, she was wearing a crown.  I think I got the better picture with her wearing panties on her head, which is actually canon in the show.

(To note, every picture taken here was done with the full permission of the person whose picture was being taken.  If for whatever reason you have changed your mind and do not like the way your picture has been taken, contact me and I will take it down, no complaints or questions asked.)

So, with all that said and done, more has been said than done.  But really, while I wouldn’t say break the bank and fly across country to attend, if you find yourself in the Northeast and hear that Another Anime Convention is gonna be going on that weekend, by all means fish out the $50, plus whatever your hotel costs, and you’ll find yourself having a great time!