Obligatory AFA'09 image for the masses.
The poor proliteriat, unable to make the pilgrimage to Comiket next month (which is also filled with EOY’09 and Comic Fiesta on both sides of the Causeway, and another attempt to lure good money off the sacred pilgrimage to anime fans and self-proclaimed otaku) have decided to make use of AFA’09 as an alternative platform to celebrate their fandom. An air of excitement awaits the hardworking and the resourceful, who could not wait to see their stars off-stage.
The event has also filled me up with emotion, but it’s a mixed feeling, to be honest.
The event has never been this spectacular, and has never been this fascinated yet. I feel that the air has changed, change for the better, a change for the good of the fans. Its existence is an expression of their love for anime, the love for the subculture that revolves around it and the love of being together, among their friends, among other strangers who only knew each other by their online nicknames, and among new converts (think Saki Kasukabe in Genshiken). This is the reason it’s called a “Festival.”
The singing stars of the anime subculture has also made their attendance known. Only those who knew them are excited about it: May’n, Shoko Nakagawa, Yoshiki Fukuyama and the Great Aniki himself are among the stellar of stars that will perform in AFA’09. Exclusive items for AFA’09 are also on sale, although whether there will be an exclusive figurine for AFA’09 is all but a distant memory (for some, not me).
Stars a-coming, people a-dying [of nosebleed] (to quote my previous working colleague’s orginial statement: “Emails are coming, people are dying.”).
It is of undue circumstances, however, that this event also marks my second and final attendance to it.
I am way overdue to go back to study. Others have already pursued their tertiary education, either in the local universities or have gone overseas to pursue their degrees. I am certain that one should must have it in order to fly around the world and land oneself employed; it is a measure to expand the range of jobs that you are qualified to take. Others may dispute me on this matter, so you are free to make your case.
Whose side are you on? (Pictures courtesy of {link:http://www.dannychoo.com/}Danny Choo{/link}.)
I have also fell out of the anime scene both online and offline, globally and locally. I have never followed any anime shows for the past 9 months since the beginning of this year. (I may have followed a few anime shows here and there, but it has never made me anticipate for the next episode or the next chapter.) Coupled with the existence of too many anime blogs and websites (the Danny Choo-wannabes, the “elite” bloggers, the dramatic ones and the plethora of anime-sharing websites), the Odex saga that has killed my enthusiasm for anime, and the “mainstream path” of the anime subculture here, made me put off with it.
I think it’s becoming clear: Danny Choo made anime “mainstream.” Everybody now knows what a meido cafe is, what anime usually entails (fanservice, elements of 2D fascination etc.) and the obvious “hentai” association that is already made difficult with the proliferation of moé-driven shows. This Hollywood-like mindset (of using moé – and bits of sexuality – to sell shows in an economically-depressed environment) just destroyed the “artistic” element of anime, and turn it into a well-oiled, capitalist-driven, sex-driven and mindless-commercialism-crap robot. No more Blue Coccoon, no more high-level action of GITS; heck, I can’t even find one show that has MANLY elements like Hokuto no Ken nowadays!
That’s only 2 paragraphs of my sense of despair for the scene/subculture. I refused to write more, out of the fact that these words suffice my contempt of it.
Lastly, not many people knew, and I prefer to keep this indirect so I shall leave with the following coded message to decode:
Tags: anime festival asia 2009, poem, preview“Of Heraclian question: That Moor made him quiver.
The hesistance of accepting his message, or maintain the ardor of his empire.
It will haunt him the rest of his life.The annointed hour is a-coming.
All the sages have seen this coming:
A bowman will cross his path with Mother.Who you are does not matter;
Who you made yourself to be, is.
Mesopotamia will rise again.The Book is there: Read it with Acceptance!
Your book is empty: write it with goodness!
Knowledge is free: spread it with empathy!But fear the ones who cannot accept:
Let them be, for Life made them such.
Therefore release yourself from that burden.The choice is there:
One will lead mankind to greatness.
One will bring mankind to ruin.”
Entries (RSS)
Ah yeah, i was working up quite a appetite for AFA09, but somehow left me quite tasteless and bland as the days approach. I was thinking of having to set up a plan to involve the local community but eventually things don’t go so well with communication and then the plan actually manifested itself in another way…
in the form of The Figurine Show.
It went so bad on me that i almost didn’t want to go and surrender my anisong tickets.
All except for one compelling reason that i shouldn’t reveal yet.
So i went what i did today and will be at AFA09 to do some hide and seek with DD nanoha and saber for Day 1.
Would be nice to know whom you are :3c
I might have known you… online that is. :3
On the actual day, I maybe wearing my Blood+ T-shirt (my only anime-related merchandise) so it’d be better for others to see me. I’d be mostly wearing a camera bag-cum-convertible haversack.
Ah. A classic case of “hate-the-player-not-the-game”/”better-to-burn-out-than-to-fade-away” syndrome. Nothing wrong with it. I do it most of the time when the things I like go pop(ular). I simply practice moderation and self-satisfaction these days and block out any unwanted external noise.
I’m due for a degree upgrade myself, but I have a big project to get off my chest in the coming years which doesn’t really require paper qualifications. Unfortunately, that piece of paper does hold better prospects monetary and position-wise in hectic S’pore. So I wish you all the best in your future endevours.
Hint: I will break my pink IC in the future.
Bro, I won’t be able to make it for the dinner thing. I got other engagements that day, you guys enjoy yourselves.
While I agree that Danny Choo has contributed to the global surge of the popularity of anime, I wouldn’t say that it was he who mainstreamed it. Rather, he only documented it, the industry has by itself assimilated into Hollywood culture. It’s like a paradigm shift, the conformation of a certain pattern because of its proximity to ideality, that drove otaku subculture to become the way it is now. Manga artists of today will find it hard to get by in Japan if they do not write within the mainstream genres. “It’s going to be especially difficult to make a living for the kind of authors who can’t pen ero/parody/bishonen/bishoujo manga (in fact it is right now).” -Tamiki Wakai, Shounen Sunday mangaka. I suppose the Japanese are seeing how this scheme has benefited the Americans, and are copying them in hopes of achieving similar success.
Just my two cents, may not be worth the two cents though.
Apologies, my man. Spam blocker tried to bite you? (I have also replied in your blog.)
I overlooked the fact that the majority of the moé-crap shows are actually getting more publicity simply because the Internet has given more clout to these kind of shows. When you have too much information on crap, you get the impression that the scene is actually filling up with more crap. (Just like the Internet: only 15% of the information presented are useful; the rest are crap.)
That was my oversight, but I will stand by my resolution on Danny Choo: There is a reason why Gnostics, Mandeans, Freemasons and the various Sufi sects have this thing called, “revealed knowledge.” I prefer anime to be that way.
Re: Everybody Is Scared Excited for AFA’09…
When comments do not seem to work, I fall back on trackbacks! While I agree that Danny Choo has contributed to the global surge of the popularity of anime, I wouldn’t say that it was he who mainstreamed it. Rather, he only documented it, the indu…
[...] « Everybody Is Scared Excited for AFA’09 Nov 18 2009 [...]