Popped da Cherry!

Initially, I was going to write a witty-ish commentary of my experiences at MangaNEXT, but after a week of slacking on the entry, I threw that idea out of the window. To make life easier for myself and you, my 5.75 readers, I’ll write the quick and important highlights of the convention before the jump. And if you’re really absolutely bored out of your mind, you can read my more detailed summary after the jump. Simple, right?

To be blunt, for me, MangaNEXT sucked. Hard. Due to various reasons, I ended up going solo to the convention. Pretty much the last thing I wanted to do. And to make matters worse, I had a raging headache through most of the convention. Yes, I cannot say how much it sucked to go to your first anime/manga convention solo with a headache the size of Texas riding on you the whole day.

The headache aside, the convention itself was actually rather small. Smaller than I thought but then again, I have horrible space relation perception. The panels I did check out were okay but nothing to give praise about. The one or two workshops I dropped in on were interesting and I did pick up a tip or two that by now, I’ve totally forgotten. The dealers’ room was okay but nothing that I can’t just order myself or get in Chinatown (if I’m going to waste money, I rather get a percentage of it back on my credit card damn it). Artists’ Alley I actually avoided since I didn’t care much, sorry Hinano. Gaming area wasn’t bad but I didn’t want to get my arse handed to me by a 13 year old so I didn’t game too much (though I ironically got my arse handed to me by some girl when playing GameCube’s One Piece Grande Battle). Thankfully missed out on whatever the fuck happened later on or before.

The biggest draw, however, was checking out the two cosplay related events. Cosplay Human Chess was entertaining to a degree but got out of hand towards the end. The Cabaret, or at least the parts I stayed for, were pretty good though I could have done without Captain Planet.

And the staff and other con-goers? Guess they were alright. Really wouldn’t know. A rule of thumb is I’m very chicken shit when doing stuff solo, so interacting with random strangers just wasn’t my thang.

Before I forget, going to MangaNEXT marked like the second time in a span of a few weeks that some other guy was wearing the same frickin’ t-shirt as me! I honestly would not have noticed but the guy, more like teenager, pointed out to me as I was passing him and his friend saying, “Hey, you stole my shirt!” I didn’t say anything but gave a “like I really care?” look since I was busy making a call at the time. Still annoying, now that I think about it more, how someone else happened to wear the same thing as me. And for the record, it’s this t-shirt. I doubt the kid even had the t-shirt for long or really knows much about MegaTokyo, but watch me eat my own words when he finds my blog entry about this.

So to sum everything up, my first time blowed due to inexperience, expecting too much, and being way too embarassed to open myself up more.

In no way am I trying to say MangaNEXT sucked in general, but for me it wasn’t exactly all fun and games as others may have described it. Also do not take my negative experience of my first con as any deterrent from going to one yourself; it’s a experience every anime fan should have. I think if one does plan to go to a convention, though, they should do two things. One, go with friends. Unless you’re a social buttefly I think you’ll enjoy the convention better with people you already know. Alternatively, you can try to set up meeting with other online folks you’ve met. For example if I had actually tried, I should have easily met with Hinano and JP Meyer but didn’t. Second, go to a small convention. I really do think going to smaller held events will be more fun versus going to big ones where you may get lost at what to do or not really be able to meet with new people. Once again, if I wasn’t such a chicken shit I probably could have made a few new friends… or at least see who actually knows of my very niche internet fame (HA!).

Maybe next time, if there is one, I go to an anime/manga convention I’ll have more fun. At least from now on, I’ll be better prepared at what to expect. Or if anything else will be bringing a laptop, a huge sign that says I’m “moyism”, and a bottle of aspirin to keep me occupied.

For my longer boring summary of my MangaNEXT experience, read on.

All the juicy parts have already been told but what is a story without the boring parts right?

In reality, going to MangaNEXT was actually a semi-pre-planned idea that got turned into a last minute decision. In other words, I mentioned to my other coworkers whom are also anime fans about MangaNEXT a month or so before the convention to see if they were interested. They seemed up for it but we never got around to finalizing plans due to the nature of working and the three of us being forgetful. Fast forward to the week of MangaNEXT and yea, they were still willing to go but we had to switch schedules around. Matthew and I would end heading up first and Chris meeting up with us later. Normally Matthew would work the weekend but Chris figured it was better we go up first since Matthew and I don’t normally hang out outside of work (I live a hour from work while the two are 10 minutes away). Anyway, at this point things seem good. I even got some of my hometown friends to go… or so I thought.

The night before/morning of, all my hometown friends bailed at the last minute due to various reasons. I was a bit pissed at them but I figured as long as someone was going with me I was okay. Since Matthew and I had already decided to meet up at the convention around 11AM, I at least knew one person I would be able to chill with.

Got to the Crowne Hotel where MangaNEXT was being held on Saturday at 11AM, figuring Matthew would be there soon. Being the impatient bastard I am, I called him up to see where he was… which was apparently still in bed. Yes, he overslept. Matthew said he’ll try to haul arse up so I decided to kill time checking out the convention and bumming in the video gaming area while waiting. Plus the Del Rey panel I wanted to go to didn’t start til noon, so I had time anyways.

Registration was pretty painless though giving up $30 for basically one day was a tad pricy. As I walked my way around the convention area, there were a decent amount of people already considering how “early” it was. Also the majority of them were in costumes, which was cool. I think I checked the Dealers’ Room first just to see how much they’ll be ripping people off but found the prices comparable to what you can get online. Still no frickin’ way they were going to get my money though

Eventually made my way to the combined Video Gaming slash Artists’ Alley area, going straight to the gaming section. Thankfully since it was relatively early, I was able to check out a few games. The real popular multiple player ones were already taken, like the Naruto and Jump Smash Bros games, but I did get a good 30 or so minutes on one of the PS2 Bleach action RPG-ish games. Around this time, Matthew called with some bad news. The short of it was he asked if he could not go considering how much of a hassle it would be for him to come and the various costs; course I was a bit mad but hey, I never want to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. He was pretty apologetic about bailing but it wasn’t like I was going to hold it against him. Now with Matthew dropping out, however, Chris was my last hope of someone to chill with at the convention. Called Chris at work, gave the short of the story, and he seem like he was still going to go after work was done. That gave me some relief… or so I thought at the time.

Around this time, the Del Rey panel was about to start so I headed there. Let me first say, for my first anime/manga panel ever, Del Rey did an awesome job. They came kept things pretty loose and easy-going, but always kept the ball rolling. For an actual report of their panel, I highly suggest either ANN’s Manga Next 2006 article or JP’s blog entry. One of the pluses about the panel and what I felt about Del Rey in general, is how they’re honestly trying to cater to the fans and keep the original manga as intact as possible. Also liked how they were really open to suggestions about trying to match the original Japanese releases and what steps were needed to do so; for example AIR GEAR limited edition badges or the st:Pinky figurines. There’s really not much more I can personally say about the panel that JP or ANN doesn’t do a better job at, but on a slight tangent, I should mention I missed meeting JP as he was like two rows in front of me! D’oh.

After Del Rey, I think I roamed around the rest of the con to kill time until Cosplay Human Chess. By this time, the place was crowded with a lot of cosplayers. Honestly felt like more cosplayers than normal plain clothes people in the hall area. After vaguely looking around at the various cosplayers ranging from popular series like Final Fantasy, DEATH NOTE, Prince of Tennis, Naruto, Inu Yasha, and Bleach, I think I ended up back at the video gaming area to kill time. Totally forgot what I played or did though.

Anyway baring anything important happening inbetween, got in line for the Cosplay Human Chess a few minutes before it was suppose to start. Crazy line let me tell you as it was backed up pass the bathrooms and other panels! About 30 minutes after the event was suppose to start, the staff started to let everyone in and I luckily scored a good seat two rows back from the “center stage”. Basically perfect to see the chess pieces and their battles. My memory was a bit fuzzy about exactly which characters were which chess pieces but I can highlights some of the more funnier battles. In case you’re lost on what I meant about battles, basically when a chess piece takes another opposing chess piece, the associated characters battle. Simple as that. Highlights that I did remember included:

1. Auron losing to Meer via Haro. First battle too.
2. Various Raito/Light battles. There were two of ‘em on the same side. Go fig.
3. A lot of Naruto stuff that was over my head but entertaining nonetheless.
4. UUSSSOOPPPP RUBBERBAND!
5. The One Piece Crew calling Captain Planet. Yes, Captain Frickin’ Planet.
6. Hollow Ichigo coming out of nowhere, literally.
7. The “chess board” getting destroyed in under five minutes.

There’s a lot more I’ve forgotten but I’m sure there are plenty of videos and photos out there on the interweb. By the time Cosplay Human Chess finished, decided to call Chris to see what he was going to do. Short story, ended up being like Matthew. So yes, I was left doing the rest of MangaNEXT solo and unfortunately this was during the low point where nothing interesting was going on.

Memory gets even more vague around here but I know I went back to the Dealers’ Room to see what merchandise they were actually selling. Basically nothing special that one cannot get elsewhere was my take on the room. There was some more wandering around ala Ryoga where I caught the tail end of Vertical’s rather boring panel, at least compared to Del Rey’s. Think there was some more video gaming or taking a quick nap… or something. I know that I did end up going to the Computer Art Creation workshop which was pretty cool with learning some new photoshop tips and tricks. Honestly forgot who ran the workshop but the two artists definitely knew their stuff and it was pretty amazing watching them doing rather good rough drawings on the tablet laptop with ease. I think the only down side was most of the questions were really beginners’ questions that could have been answered if one played with photoshop for like 30 minutes or so. I would write what tips I did learn but for the life of me I can’t remember them right now.

Instead of racking my brain trying to remember, may as well move on to the last event I went to which was the Cosplay Cabaret. It’s basically free for all skits by various cosplayers for fun. The interesting thing about this event, at least for me, was they were suppose to start at 8PM but didn’t til 9:30PM. And the whole time they were setting up the stage, I was inside there… instead of waiting outside like all the other fools. Don’t know why, but they never kicked me out as I just sat there the whole time while the staff was setting everything up. Not that I minded since I did get good seating, though I should have sat closer since I forgot about people being in front of me. Anyway, I only hung around til 10:30PM since I had plans for a late dinner plus the all-day headache was really getting to me. The skits I did see were:

1. Some girl singing the OP and ED songs from Haibane Renmei I think. I can’t rate her on how well she was relative to the originals but her pronunciation of the lyrics sounded good. I did love how the whole audience were holding up cell phones, DS(es), and a portable DVD player like lighters.
2. Comedy musical song/skit using the Ranma 1/2 cast. It was funny but probably would have enjoyed it a bit more if I knew where the song was taken from.
3. Ouran High School Club skit. Basically they re-enacted the scene where the club welcomes a guest. A lot of the audience was “WTF is this?!” as they apparently have not seen the series. What I expected considering most of the con-goers seem high school to college aged. Also didn’t help the skit was really short.
4. Captain Planet comedy hour. Basically the dude went off ala Jerry Seinfeld but not as funny and way too long. Eventually got “pulled” off the stage by one of the staff using a cosplayer’s prop… which broke during the process. I have nothing against Captain Planet but man, the dude playing him kind of sucked. And damn it man, get your colors right! Captain Planet is blue not green!
5. Rock and Roll Bleach Musical. This Bleach cosplaying group, who had a few that really looked like the characters they were playing, re-enacted and sang parts of the actual Bleach Rock-n-Roll Musical. The group’s choreography was rather good considering they’re doing it for fun and their singing, or the bits that could heard due to horrible audio, wasn’t bad.

And thus ended my one semi-horrible day adventure of going to an anime/manga convention. Oh, forgot to mention but the whole “Hey, you stole my shirt!” bit happened between the time I was waiting to get in to the Cosplay Cabaret stage after I killed a few minutes at the Marvel panel before hand. Also for those of you reading this entry and went to MangaNEXT on Saturday, wondering who I was, I was the asian dude wearing tan corduroy pants, a thin black fabric jacket, that dark navy blue megatokyo t-shirt, and a tan baseball cap carrying a tan-ish duffle messenger bag. Odds are no one really noticed me since I’m like a ninja :aorz: