Taraka's World: new york anime festival

Showing posts with label new york anime festival. Show all posts

Sunday, September 27, 2009

NY Anime Festival wrap-up.

Hello readers. I'm Pedro D., a new contributor to this here blog. I'll contribute here on occasion, usually on anime-related topics, but may open my own blog in the near future. Note that this post will be told from my point of view.

The third annual New York Anime Festival has come to a close, and it was a great year. My last NYAF was the first one, and this one topped that. Cosplayers arrived in wildly varying costumes ranging from half the cast of "Naruto", to a surprise appearance from Bumblebee from the "Transformers" live-action films. There were also vendors ranging from your manga & anime vendors, to vendors of gothic-lolita attire, to vendors of toys & weaponry. The Artist Alley showcased works of independent artists, be it original or derivative in nature. The World Cyber Games also held their National Finals here, featuring Gears of War 2, Virtua Fighter 5, Counter-Strike 1.6, and Warcraft III, amongst others. Of course, no anime convention is complete without the prerequisite maids, who held dance shows & contests, and dating games.

Day One started with the rush of otaku going into the vendors area to purchase varying items, most of which not sold in stores. Special Guest Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator (with Sunrise, Inc.) of the Gundam franchise, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, delivered his keynote speech, explaining the concept of the Gundam series. Funimation acquire the license to the "Initial D" series (First through Fourth Stages), and announced the English cast for the "Fullmetal Alchemist" remake, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", with Alphonse and Scar receiving new voice actors. The first day usually builds up to the second day, and Friday didn't disappoint.

Uncle Yo, otaku comedian extraordinaire, kicked off Day Two. His show was as hilarious as usual, with jokes that, in some cases, were even understood by anime neophytes, like the owner of this blog. Yo also had a bit of a surprise for the fans, when an attendee proposed to his girlfriend onstage. Funimation also premiered the English dub of "Soul Eater", which came out better than expected. Special Guest Yui Makino, of "Tsubasa Chronicle" fame, held a concert which I was unable to attend due to the Uncle Yo show taking place at the same time. The arrival of the aforementioned Bumblebee was what stunned the attendees. His arrival was so grand, NYAF volunteers and staff members had to clear enough space for him to move around. He was about 10-12 feet tall, and was actually able to go down to the convention space on the escalator. Bumblebee was, in my opinion, the highlight of the entire show. The day was hectic like usual, especially during the Cosplay Masquerade, hosted by Uncle Yo. Most of the skits were, for a lack of a better term, boring. However, one skit, involving L from "Death Note" and an ice cream sundae, was the funniest one. Yo was even involved with the skit, taking some of the sundae off of L's face with his finger, then licking it. Near the end, Bumblebee returned, dancing to Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" onstage, scaring Yo in the process. In honor of the Gundam anniversary, a Char Aznable cosplayer and a Zaku-II Gundam take over the stage.

The Final Day, like final days of many conventions, is the slow day, when the free stuff are gone and the vendors (rarely) discount their wares. Makino-san, like Tomino-san the day before, held a Q&A session for her fans, though I missed it because NYC public transportation is horrible on weekends. The Neo-Victorian fashion show was held at the Apple Kissa stage (Kissa - Japanese for cafe). Soul Eater chalk art was INCREDIBLE! Most of this day was spent snapping pictures of cosplayers dressed as varying characters.

All in all, I had a lot of fun attending all three days of the event. Special thanks to the owner of this blog for helping me attend the convention and write this piece, Peter Tatara for organizing this incredible event, Dr.Pepper/7Up for providing some of my ammo in the form of Venom energy drink, and Uncle Yo for providing all the laughs. I look forward to seeing all of you guys next year at the New York Anime Festival & New York Comic-Con on October 8-10, 2010. Pics to come shortly. Yeah, I know, shameless plugs there...

Friday, September 19, 2008

Cosplay Month Continues!

I’ve been running a bunch of ideas for blog entries though my work-fried brain and came up with Cosplay Month! Following my first entry of the most popular characters of cosplay I’ve decided to continue with cosplay themed entries up until and including the New York Anime Festival!

Tonight’s entry highlights two really talented cosplayers I’ve found on my daily journies through the world of DeviantArt.com. The pictures were either taken by themselves or by friends.

To start this list off I’ve found someone technically in the profession of cosplay. JoEllenElam aka Lillyxandra is a fashion designer, seamstress, makeup artist, and Zelda addict.

She is known for finding the most amazing locations to photograph her work from the backdrop of pink flowers and bright green lawn for the fairy picture below to the rocky outcrop of a river for a mermaid.

Possibly the greatest Kingdom Hearts cosplayer EVER, Evil-Uke-Sora utilizes costumes designed by herself with wigs and other accessories from friends and the hugely talented photographic ability of some of her fellow cosplayers to bring Sora to life everyday. In the ultimate example of a woman playing a male character to perfection, this 25 year old resident of Munich, Germany seemingly never runs out of ideas for shoots.

As you see below, life can imitate art as Evil-Uke-Sora mimics a scene from the introduction of Kingdom Hearts 2 (left) and one of Evil-Uke-Sora’s favorite cosplay partners, nanjokoji, comes into almost every shoot as Riku. Take a look at how great those Keyblades are!

During the start of a Q&A journal Evil-Uke-Sora put up, she put a link to a picture of her without the costume, wig, and other cosplay stuff. We’ll call these Just Christine:

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With Anime Festivals Come Cosplay…

As the New York Anime Festival is approaching, I feel like it’s time to dust off the old black cloaks, repaint the 6 foot tall broad swords, and once again bribe your brothers or sisters to cosplay the opposite gender so you can go as an Anime couple. With that said, what better way to kick off this blog than to dive into that fun, yet sometimes very disturbing, world of cosplay!

From my experiences at cosplay events, I’ve concluded some characters get much more acknowledgment in the eyes of fans when it comes to taking hours to create costumes, accessories, and props for these events.If anyone feels they will go to the NYAF in costume then perhaps you may try characters not on this list to get more attention or see if you can be a better version of these than other cosplayers.

So without further ado….The Top 10 Characters (not really in order) Cosplayed at Conventions/Festivals are: