Falling Stars

Here I am again rocking up to the party ten years late.

So several weeks ago, I started reading the manga Haikyu!! I'd seen mentions of it around for ages, and decided I should finally check it out.

It was pretty good. I was really liking it. Then it got to a point where it got epic, and I was thinking about it a lot, and then I was like, "You know, I think I want to watch this too."

So that's how I ended up marathoning 60 episodes over 9 days.

And I'm not done yet! With either manga or anime. I want to devour it all, but I also don't want it to end. I guess the advantage of coming in late is not having to wait for each chapter or episode to come out? I think the last sports manga I was this obsessed with was Hikaru no Go? It's such a lovely feeling to sink into a canon that right now is your happy place. And to be reminded of the difference between something you enjoy and something you're super excited about.

It kind of snuck up on me though? I mean, I liked the setup of the shounen protagonist with more passion than skill but also amazing natural ability, and of course the destined rival who actually has all the skill except maybe people skills. And I liked the slow unfolding of what volleyball is and how it works, as we meet new characters by twos and threes, and learn the next stage of complexity of the game. Like a really good tutorial! Beautifully paced.

But what hooked me are the two big themes: teamwork and evolution.

I've read sports manga about teams before, but not one that emphasises teamwork so much. Everything is connected: all the plays and all the players. Everyone has their role, and every role is vital. An individual who wants to do it all themselves will just end up with trauma flashbacks of a ball hitting the floor behind them. You have to figure out how to work together, and trust your teammates, and really get that everyone relies on everyone else.

And lots of sports manga is about levelling up. But scarier than striving for excellence, is achieving excellence and then throwing it away, so you can evolve. If you decide to stick with only what you're already good at, you're never going to get any better than that. Having the guts to look at yourself and work out what you need to change to improve - you're going to suck at it for a while, but that's an inevitable part of trying to do something new. And when you finally get there -

When it all comes together - the teamwork and the evolution -

Epic and satisfying.

So yeah. Late to the party, but very happy to be here.

Last month, I went to SMASH!. It was the first time it was at the newly rebuilt International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.

I rocked up at 11:40am, figuring I would have avoided the opening time crowds. Surprise! The line was huge. At least, the line to buy tickets was huge. The line for presold tickets was empty. Apparently, they stopped presales a week before the convention, so obviously lots of people were forced to buy tickets on the day. It took almost an hour to get in, compared to the fifteen minutes I'm used to these days.

Once I got in, it was fine. I had fun catching up with fluffyduck, leareth, aerias, K, S and G.


( Panels )

( Shopping )

( Photos )

LATE TO THE PARTY AGAIN

WE WERE BORN TO MAKE HISTORY

YURI!!! ON ICE DESERVES ALL THE EXCLAMATION MARKS

Marathoned it over four days. My heart. I cannot imagine waiting for it an episode per week. The tension would kill me. I feel so lucky to get to watch it at once and then go backread all the forums and relive all the squee.

I love that it's about someone trying to find his confidence again and someone trying to find his inspiration again. I love the tender unfolding of their relationship. I love the gorgeous ice skating. I love the opening theme. I love that there are no bad guys, only people struggling with their own fears and doubts. I love how much it surprises us, over and over.

Now that I've finished it:

(1) I want to throw my money at DVDs and CDs but where are the English releases?!!

(2) I'm really hungry for katsudon.

I'm almost afraid to watch Season 2 when it comes out because Season 1 was just so good.

"No matter what the real world thinks of this work, in the world of this work you will not be discriminated for what you love. I will definitely protect that kind of world." - Mitsuro Kubo

* It is, not surprisingly, rather difficult to Google for 'free anime'. Even adding the exclamation mark.

* Success!

* So I, uh, kind of marathoned the whole season in one day.

* Everyone who said it was really, really good: you were right.

* I can't help being amused that it was Australia where Rin went to train. And I'm a little sad that he didn't come back with a love of Tim Tams or a phobia of huntsmen or anything else apart from non-country-specific angst.

* I know it's been renewed for a second season, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. There are some shows where the first season is about the most important and dramatic story of the character's life, and forms a complete and satisfying arc. And later seasons just can't match up. (See Veronica Mars or Heroes or Revenge.) I do love the characters, so I'll probably check it out, hoping it won't turn into an endless swimming battles shounen anime.

Just a heads up that the programme and schedule are now up.

Sydney: 17 November - 27 November
Melbourne: 29 November - 6 December
Other cities: see schedule

Highlights include:

Arriety (the new Studio Ghibli movie)
Space Battleship Yamato (live action Star Blazers!)
Buddha: The Great Departure (based on the Osamu Tezuka manga)

Tickets go on sale on 20 October.

Heads up, it's on again, in a couple of the Australian capital cities:

http://12thjff.jpf-sydney.org/

The one movie I definitely want to see is:

Evangelion 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone
Tuesday 9 December 2008, 6:00 PM
Greater Union, George Street, Sydney

Anyone else interested? If so, please let me know. I'll be buying tickets on Monday.

(Note: The movie is described in the brochure as "the first installment in a planned quadrilogy". ARGH! QUADRILOGY IS NOT A #&@% WORD!)

So SMASH! is in its sophomore year, and showing no signs of slump. Very healthy turnout when I went on Saturday, hordes of cosplayers and artists and enthusiastic young folk and even a good swathe of the old crowd. Sometimes it's good just to hang out and let the carnival swirl around you.

There was one event I had to check out though - the interview with guest of honour Hidenobu Kiuchi, the first Japanese seiyuu to attend a convention on these shores. The interviewer seemed inexperienced with bilingual interviewing and did a few awkward things, like ask questions using long and convoluted sentences, and engage in patter aimed primarily at the audience, which made things hard for the translator. But it kind of smoothed out towards the end. The questions were mostly general - how did you get your start, what's the recording process like, etc - but the audience was enthusiastic and the mood positive.

The interview was followed by a live dubbing session, in which Kiuchi performed his lines as various scenes from his anime were played. It was interesting to witness the differences between the roles and how he modulated his voice for each one. Plus bonus audience participation in the supporting roles, which was entertaining.

I went easy on the shopping this time - just picked up some cute Bleach bookmarks and an even cuter postcard with two lovely guys kissing and the caption "The closet is for clothes."

The day seemed to pass too quickly, and I wonder if SMASH! will eventually become a full weekend event. In any case, I'm sure it will be back next year, and all the fans with it.

I remember that day, ten years ago, in that packed out classroom in the Quadrangle Building, when these three guys stood up in front of us and proposed to start an anime club. In years to come, they would be known as the Founders, and the club as AnimeUNSW.

( Memories )

One month from today, it will be the 10th anniversary of the founding of AnimeUNSW.

Its official name is the Anime and Manga Society of the University of New South Wales, but nobody calls it that. To me personally, it will always be 'the club'. It was a big part of my life for a long time - through it, I made some wonderful friends, and had some amazing experiences, and of course watched lots of anime, which I was hugely passionate about.

Back then, the only other anime clubs in Sydney were JAUWS and SAS - the one based out west, and the other a small group of friends. The next closest club was down in Wollongong. SUAnime, Anime@UTS, AnimeMQ - none of these clubs yet existed. So AnimeUNSW became the main social hub for anime fans in metropolitan Sydney, its Friday night screenings regularly drawing not only uni students but high schoolers and fulltime workers - all come together to share their love of Japanese animation.

( Kids these days! aka Uphill! Both ways! In the snow! )

So. Things I've been up to lately:

* Saw Finding Nemo. It's a wonderful feeling to sit down to watch a movie and know you're going to enjoy it. With Pixar, you already know you're in good hands. From all the interviews - and from the quality of their work itself - they seem to genuinely care about their stories. One of the best things about Pixar is that their stories have heart - and they don't get heart confused with cheap sentimentality.

* Saw Pirates of the Carribbean. Very swashbuckly, surprisingly intelligent, and a lot of fun. How cool was Jack Sparrow? He had all the best lines, and his attitude just rocked. It was also interesting for me to see Orlando Bloom in a non-Legolas role for the first time. He did a decent job, although his character was a pretty standard noble-young-hero type. Jack Davenport from Ultraviolet was also in it, but I didn't recognise him in costume, only his name in the credits. The special effects for the pirates were pretty amazing - probably a far cry from the original Disney ride, which I actually went on once when I was little. The slashiness I'd heard about was rather light - still, I'm interested in seeing what the fanfic does with it.

* Heard back from Clarion South about my application. I didn't manage to get one of the seventeen places, but I've been put on the reserve list. I wasn't expecting to get in, so I'm pretty pleased I got as far as I did.

* Received my first ever rejection letter, for Original!Story. It's a milestone on the road to becoming a published writer, but I wish they'd given me more feedback than the very unhelpful form letter they sent. Ah well.

* Attended the AnimeUNSW AGM on Friday. One of the more interesting AGMs, I'll admit, being only the second time in the club's history that there's been more than one contender for a position. Six years now since the club started - bloody hell. We were dreaming about the fifth year anniversary once, and now even that's passed. It'll be ten years before we know it - but with all those fresh new faces joining the exec, I'm hopeful at the thought of reaching that ten year mark. I've met some of the best people in the world through this club, and made some unforgettable memories. I never could have imagined it, back when it all began.

* Saturday was spent at Magic Casements, the first ever speculative fiction festival held at the NSW Writers' Centre. The panels I attended were a bit of a mixed bag. The panel on sources of inspiration was kind of wishy-washy, as you'd expect from the topic, and it also looked like one of the scheduled panelists had piked out. The world-building panel, on the other hand, was excellent, with different approaches from each of the four authors on it. I'd had high hopes for the academic panel, after the Fantastic Fictions conference last year, but it turned out to be pretty dull. I did enjoy the panel on breaking into the business though, with several newcomers discussing their experiences. I also managed to catch up with some of the people in my writing group, who were involved in helping out with the festival.

* Monday morning, at nine sharp, I rocked up to an address on Broadway in response to an ad in the paper. They were looking for hair models for a show - in exchange for lending your services for the day, you got a free cut and colour plus $150 worth of hair products. It was an interesting experience. They picked out eleven of us - ten girls and one guy. Most of the others were uni students, and a few were actually still in high school, which made me feel rather old. I was kind of nervous at first - I wanted a change, yeah, but my hair is probably my one vanity, and what if they wanted to crop it short and dye it lime green or something? They actually made far less radical changes than I'd expected, and it was kind of cool to get a haircut from a topnotch professional. I was there for twelve hours. Most of the day was spent waiting around - I remember thinking, this is probably what it's like to be an actor on a set. They had a professional makeup artist come in and work on us, and they picked out clothes for us to wear, and in the evening we had to get up on a catwalk in front of about seventy hair industry professionals while the organisers demonstrated their work and spoke vigorously about the issues affecting their field. (Undercharging for colour is a major one, apparently.)

* My room has, over the past few weeks, deteriorated into the worst state of disorder I can ever remember. Today I decided to tackle that problem. One of the things I found in my digging was the Madman anime sampler DVD from Manifest. As I was checking it out, I found not only the usual trailers but also a couple of sample first episodes. One of them was .hack//SIGN. Well, well. Some people I know, especially leenabeans, are really into this series. Now I can see why. The sampler DVD only had the dubbed version, but the pull of the story was strong enough to overcome my reservations. My experiences with RO also added another layer of appreciation. I don't know the names of all the characters yet, but I did recognise Subaru. Favourite moment was when the fuzzy yellow hippo creature - is *that* a puchigosu? - was bumping its nose into the wall. I nearly melted. So. Damn. Cute. I want one now - a lifesize one to hug and feed and ride everywhere.