Animangaki 2017

"Dear Gakis, today you play the role of a magician. You are invited by our beloved King, Kei-chan the Majestic, to join as citizens of AniManGaki, our magical kingdom." - taken from the official event booklet.

It's been 6 years since the first Animangaki we've attended. Animangaki had always been one of our favourite animation, comics and gaming convention. Since then, we've been coming to the event with full vigour every year. This year is no different. Well, not totally. Our main focus had shifted from being to attendee/cosplayers/media to doujin booth vendors. As such, this year event is totally a refreshing experience, from the way we interact with people to how we manage our time in the event itself.

I could talk about it all day long but I will have the pictures to speak for itself. (This will be a very looong post, so prepare yourself!)

• Day 0. Compared to previous years, this is the first differences that we had experienced beforehand. Being both a doujin booth vendors and one of the figures exhibitors, we had a chance to come to the event the day before the event started to set up all our stuff. It is a refreshing sight to behold in its own way. 

• The event hall. The layout of the event hall is more or less the same, with the doujin booth section expanded a bit to cater more flourishing artists (including me I suppose, haha). The way the logistic was organized can be said to be smooth, but congestion of traffic, especially in the narrow doujin section, was to be expected considering the number of attendees.

• Stage activities. The event featured many local talents to perform on the stage including; The Crestfall Band, Deltarythm, Luna Lorrain, The MASH, Project EG@O, 5 Minute Heroes, Yume and Harmonia ACG.There were also panels and interviews from international cosplayers and artist such as Ying, Joelle and D. Watt. Other main event highlight includes Animangaki Idol and Cosplay Competition.

• The cosplay competition participants had done a great job at showcasing their talents in both prop/costume making and acting, as their strive to awe the viewers of their performance. This year competition is won by the Gilgamesh/Enkidu duo with their Fate/Grand Order skit.

• Later in the evening, we are graced with concerts from the local ACG music group, Harmonia as well as the critically acclaimed international artist, Joelle from Japan, famous for her work in Final Fantasy series and several other video games.

• Upstairs, inside the so called "Elemental Temple" was the heavens for collectors and hobbyist alike, for all the figurines and toys were displayed beautifully. We even had the chance to showcase some of the figurines in our collection for guest to feast their eye upon.

• As for the cosplay, the quality of the costume and the intricate details is nothing to scoff at. Per usual, the event showcase an array of exquisite cosplays from varieties of series and original works.

• To close up event report, we would like to post some of the pictures from our doujin booth. We did not have the time and luxury to do any cosplay this year sadly, as we are too focused on putting up a splendid doujin booth. Since this is the first time we had set up one, we started relatively small, but that doesn't mean it was less in term of quality. Our booth focused heavily on outreach, as such we had fun having visitors to come and learn about a lot of new stuff together. All in all, its was an extremely enjoyable experience.

Thanks for having a read through this post. See you guys for next year Animangaki!

By otaku, for everyone.

Mineral Moe manga - page 5

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The Earth. The third rock from Sol. The only (known) planet with living things. The place we call home.

p/s: I'm really sorry for not posting these two page during the weekends. I had to attend a big event to promote MiMoe project as part of a geological outreach project and as such been really, really busy. It was amazingly fun nevertheless.

Mineral Moe manga - page 4

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The Earth had a single natural satellite orbiting around it; the Moon. The stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying that both the the Moon and the Earth have a common origin.

In the early Earth especially during the Neohadean and Eoarchean eras, the surface of the planet was bombarded with significant asteroids in an event called the Late Heavy Bombardment, occurred approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years (Ga) ago. While evidence of such evidence was overwritten by the Earth tectonic activity, traces of it could still be found on the Moon and other planets.

There were many theories on how water would first formed on the planet Earth. Some suggested extraterrestrial sources; where water was brought together alongside asteroids and/or comets that come crashing down the planet. Other suggested a volcanic origin that would later form moisture on the atmosphere. Nevertheless, water plays an important role for the planet as a whole; from the movement of tectonic plates to the basis of life itself.

Kabukibu! : If Only I Knew Japanese

Hi there guys. Wolvenciel here with your not-so-weekly anime review. Anyways, Today I'll be looking at a unique never before seen theme. Kabuki.

Yes it involves a lot of kabuki acting and recitals. I mean its obvious really. Kabukibu means Kabuki Club.


The Gist

So this all started with a frank, sort of highly optimistic (on first impression) Kurusu Kurogo, a Kabuki enthusiast keen on building up his Kabuki club and further introducing young generations to the old form of commoner entertainment (as opposed to what we might think).

Tonbopedia.

Yes, Kabuki is a commoner entertainment. Made by peasants to be enjoyed by the peasants themselves. Go look it up on Wikipedia or the web if you're really interested.


Isn't That Too Simple Then?

The thing about most of these "club-based" anime themes is that they are pretty similar to each other. Its like sports anime. They have their sort-of formats and set rules they always follow. You start the club small, you build up wacky team members, and you end it with a school festival performance.

This is Tonbo by the way.

That's why these kinds of anime need to have a very strong hook to get people to take an interest and follow through the story as it progresses (even when we already know the whole story flow). Kabukibu isn't exactly spectacular at doing this but its not too shabby either. Plus I'm kind of new to Kabuki so the story might have clicked my curiosity.


The Hook That Is Tonbo

Now, Kurogo might have been the instigator, the start of it all but not one thing in the anime would bear fruit if not for his best friend cum right hand man, Tonbo. Since the start of the anime, anything that came out of this boy's mouth never fails to impress me.

Yes he sometimes get like this

He says all the right things in all the right places. He's like a walking encyclopedia, always throwing out facts here and there and he never ever cease to amaze me with his random antics. Sure, Kurogo himself is quite unique in his own sense but its because of Tonbo that you'll laugh and gasp in awe every single time.

You'll find out why I put this screen capture if you watch the anime

He wears spectacles too.


What It Failed To Do

But then again, no matter how good the character is, it would not matter much if the story doesn't flow nicely. Not to say Kabukibu's story has a shit flow or anything. Its just that there are a few things in the anime that could just be omitted out completely and it would not have affected the story whatsoever.

This woman looked like Azuma from Bakuman

They could have instead expanded a bit more on other parts of the anime that needed more thorough explanation like the performance and stuff. As it is right now, the anime will look as if it wants to tell you about the side characters a bit more but then it decided not to.

Looks very familiar...

For example, on episode 2, the anime showed bits of Tonbo's memory when he was a child and of how he met Kurogo but then that's it. There was no significance as to why they showed that. There are a few more examples I could give but that'd spoil the show for you.


Afterthoughts

I guess maybe the director wanted to show off some parts of the novel (yes Kabukibu! is adapted from a novel) to maybe spurn some interest in viewers to go and check it out. Too bad I'm not Japanese. I can't really read them novels now can I?

This is how I feel every time I decide to write...

In any case, ignoring the fact that there are a few discrepancies in the storytelling, overall it is a pretty enjoyable show about high school kids making Kabuki fun and simple so that its easy for people who know nothing about them to understand and enjoy it without actually changing what Kabuki already is.

Oh right. Akutsu is also an interesting character to watch.

I'd say check it out if you have the time. At least watch three episodes before you decide whether its crap or not.

That's Akutsu. Can anyone tell me what's visual kei?