Archive for the Events Category


Going Underground at Anime Boston

March 19th, 2008

I’ll be on the road tomorrow and at Anime Boston Friday – Sunday. (Table 419 in the Dealer’s Room! Fanfic Writing Workshop at 9PM Friday and Yuri Panel at 3PM on Saturday.)

I’ve got a lot to do to get ready still, then there’s that live-action tetris game that I play as I attempt to pack my car, so no review for a couple of days. Depending on how much fun I’m having, maybe no reviews or reports until I get back. Since I expect to be having a lot of fun, don’t hold your breath, ‘kay? :-) I will attempt to get a Yuri news report together this weekend, but I’m not promising that, either. :-)

Feel free to read back on the 900+ reviews I’ve already posted or, even better, join us up at Anime Boston for Yuricon fun in the flesh. :-)

When I return, we’ll have plenty more Yuri to talk about!





Event Report: Book Signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe and Comic: Dolltopia

January 20th, 2008

Here’s a quick report on the book signing I did the other night, and a little review, too!

Jim Hanley’s Universe, seen on the left, is immediately across the street from the Empire State Building. I took a picture looking up at it from below, but it didn’t really come out. Oh well. I like the ESB – so deco, so excessive, so phallic, so shiny.

I arrived early. I always arrive early. It’s my nature. And not only were we expected, with a table set out and all, it even had good placement right up near the front of the shop. The staff at Jim Hanley’s Universe were *fabulous*. Every last person we dealt with was as nice as can be and they really did a great job of making us feel welcome. Thanks Vito and Harry and everyone at JHU!

I sold a book or two before Abby or J.D. even arrived, which set my whole evening off on a good footing. :-) Then Abby came and got herself all set up. We chatted a bit until at about 6:30 when people started to arrive – except JD, who was stuck in traffic. :-) Patty and David from Prism Comics came and made sure we were all good to go.

I was so pleased that some friendly faces showed to provide support. Mari, John, Chet and Yuri Monogatari 5 artist Jess B. who made a stealth appearance! I made her sign books, but she sneaked out when I wasn’t looking. lol

J.D. finally made it and before she even got her coat off, I made us take pictures together, because I would have completely forgotten to, otherwise. :-) From the left, it’s J. D, me, and Abby.

We really had a terrific time. All three of us sold each other’s books, which was pretty funny. “Now that you’ve bought this book,” we’d say, you should buy one from these two.” And for the most part, people did! Since people came for each of us specifically, it was a very cool way to get our books in front of people who might not otherwise have learned about us. After it was all over, we decided that it was so much fun, we’d definitely try to do this again in the summer as a Pride event. Prism continues to be the least sucky GLBT group I’ve ever dealt with.

Abby quite generously gave me a copy of her Dolltopia comic and I absolutely wanted to tell you all about it immediately. You’ll love it. Run right out and get a few copies for yourself and friends – it would make a great “thinking about you” gift for someone. In fact, next time I see Abby, I’m buying a handful and giving it to friends. It’s like 2 bucks, so there’s really no excuse when you figure it’s cheaper than a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Dolltopia is a mini comic series about doll interior lives and what they do when they break free from the constraints of their molded characteristics. Dolltopia is the world that dolls have constructed for themselves. Inhabiting this world are many dolls that have taken freedom into their own hands, including two modified “Darling Candy” dolls, Candy-O and her partner Candy-X. And yes, that’s parter, as in “life partner.” Abby says of the “Darling Candy” dolls, that they are based on a popular doll model that everyone would recognize. She told me that as a kid, she always used to hack their hair off, make her own clothes for them and drawn makeup and tattoos on them. This was, in part, the inspiration for Dolltopia.

The themes that permeate this comic, “who am I?” “what is my role?” “how can I be free?” are the same as in many an anime and manga relating to artificial intelligences. And they resonate with people because despite our apparent freedom, many of us find ourselves trapped in our bodies, our roles, the perceptions of what we can and cannot do – just like the dolls in Dolltopia. This is a mini-comic that packs a pretty solid punch. And it has non-creepy lesbian dolls, what more can you ask for? lol

Thanks to Abby for turning me on to this series, I now await the next volume impatiently. ;-) And thanks to everyone who came to the event, (I was told that we drew a bigger crowd than a well-known DC artist with the explanation, “But he’s an asshole and you guys aren’t.” LOL) Thanks again to the staff at JHU, and J.D. for setting this all up and Prism Comics for being in existence. It was a fantastic evening all around.





Lesbian Novel: American Goth (and Event News)

January 16th, 2008

In honor of the fact I will be joined *tonight at 6:30* for a book signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe, by author J.D. Glass, today’s review is something I wrote for her brand-new shiny novel, American Goth.

C.S. Lewis once said that myths “are lies…breathed through silver.” Perhaps, then, we can see fiction as a golden filigree of words forged by a smith into an ornament that decorates our lives with tales that are not real, but are not really lies.

American Goth is such a book – an alchemical reaction of ink, paper and intent, forged in the mind of a writer to tell a tale of a quest, of a destiny, of the life of a woman.

In American Goth Glass combines and balances many tensions, as a young woman grasps at her chance to make a life after tragedy; rebuilding herself and her emotional stability with unfamiliar (to her) surroundings, people and rites. Glass’s blend of music, ritual and sex forms a bond of its own, as we find ourselves drawn into Samantha’s life, her quest and her growth.

Less hard-edged than Glass’s previous novel, Red Light, this novel is no less edgy. Like a piece of Celtic knotwork, the reader will be following multiple threads through many connections, until the whole resolves itself into a powerful and exquisitely detailed pattern.

This was the book that I was waiting for when I was 20, when a large part of my time was spent combing through literature searching for some reflection of myself in the universe. I imagine that there are quite a few young, pagan, lesbians out there who will be delighted to train with Samantha, to find themselves part of a destiny greater than themselves and most of all, to find love.

**

Join us tonight to get your own copy of American Goth signed by JD, Shoujoai ni Bouken or Yuri Monogatari signed by me and Tough Love signed by Abby Denson, for a faboulous triple play of fun! I hope to see you there!





Tokyo Tales and Random Utterings on Comiket

January 7th, 2008

“Man hath better thing to do than to eat drink and be merry.”

This was the quote on the menu of the “Rose and Crown Victorian Pub” in Akihabara. Look at it carefully. Notice the small, two-letter word missing that *completely* changes the meaning? It was on the basis of this misquote that we decided to not eat at the pub, since we had better things to do than eat, drink and be merry. Ultimately, we ended up at a Mos Burger, because I hadn’t ever had a chance to eat at one before.

This was the second day we were in Tokyo. (“We” being myself, my beloved wife, our friend and one of my best lackeys, Bruce. and the wife’s friend Barbara and her mother Linda.)

The first day, as I reported, we spent the day looking for the Comike catalog, and diving into 105 yen doujinshi bins.

The second day, we went back to Akihabara to shop and to see if we could find Bruce a catalog. We failed at the latter (as I suspected) but we shopped until we were exhausted. This is easier than it sounds because they keep the stores at a toasty 78 degrees. It exhausts one quickly.

After our Mos Burgers (I had the amusingly named “Spicy Mos Burger” knowing full well it wouldn’t really be anything like spicy, since I had just been in Mexico and Japan really doesn’t know what “spicy” means) we crawled home, too tired to appreciate the maid costumes and Goth-Loli walking by.

I have to say. I’ve come to a new appreciation of Gothic Lolita. While it really isn’t my taste, all those frills and fripperies, I think the people who wear it are on to something. It’s *like* cosplay, but isn’t. They can walk around the streets in it, carefree in their sense of self-worth and be different, while managing to be fashionable and not freakish all at once. It’s pretty much the win look for the young Japanese rebel. You don’t even need a gang to make you look less dumb and anyone walking next to you gets powerup points off your charm. I approve.

Anyway, here are some pictures I took and some things I jotted down that pretty much have nothing to do with the pictures. By the way – click on the pictures for larger versions. These are really small and hard to see.

On New Year’s Day, the first shrine we went to was the Toyokawa Inari Shrine. This was the wife’s request. She has collected a nice skulk of kitsune which are arranged decoratively around the house. I have no objection to them, being a dog person myself, and since she includes Gyuubimon when she feeds them, I think it’s swell.

The first two days we were there, Beat Takeshi was not on TV and we started to worry, but then after that, he was on every night. It’s just not TV in Tokyo if Beat Takeshi is not on. BTW, he sponsored an arts show that came on right before or after the Nodame Cantabile special, about real young musicians.

At Toyokawa, I saw this statue and was just moved to take a picture. After I caught up with everyone, we walked back a bit to it, where the wife pointed and said “that was my offering.” It was kind of interesting that of all of them, that was the one I took a picture of. I also put a yen piece in between the ears of one earless kitsune, who I had the whimsical notion of stealing, taking home and feeding.

This is Bruce, drinking sweet sake because it’s traditional. (If he reads that, he’ll laugh.) Afterwards, we headed for the Tokyo Tower area, as I reported previously, so I could make my hatsumode and we could have yakisoba at the Zojouji. We’ve done that three times, now – it’s a tradition. :-) Also, at Tokyo Tower, we shopped for souvenirs, had a pee and decided to try the much-advertised-on-the-subway McPork sandwich, because we could not imagine it being good. It wasn’t. :-)

I know you all think you know what Comiket is like, but really…you don’t unless you’ve been there. The first day nearly killed the wife, Bruce and I. We were there for less than four hours and we felt like we had dug ditches for 36. It wasn’t just that we were carrying alot. I was, but that wasn’t it. It was just brutal. There are a lot of people and your brain just isn’t used to the navigation necessary. It’s hard to watch where you’re going, look for stuff that interests you and keep an eye out for a particular table you’ve marked down. I came with a list, and because we had the Catalog a couple days early, we were able to add a few things to look for, but the sheer numbers of things to look at and the distances one has to walk nearly broke us. We bought what we wanted and fled. Seriously.

The day after New Year, we went to Asakusa, so I could make my offering to Kannon. I have never seen the Sensouji this crowded. They had moved the bronze incense brazier from the middle of the path – it’s this enormous thing that I didn’t think could be moved. People were getting to the top of the stairs, looking back and saying “sugoi” then taking pictures. I said “wow” and took a picture. Here it is. The path is crowded with people for about another half mile back.

On the second day of Comiket, Bruce and I went one way, while the wife and her friends went another. They left about halfway through the day, Bruce and I plugged our way around lines and took a beating for the team. We held up a lot better, but I had bought so much that my bag weighted about 35-40 pounds.

I literally could feel the moment when my arches fell. lol It was in the middle of the Marimite section. After we stood on line for this bag from UGO (and the stuff inside, of course, but really all I wanted was the bag….)

After we had consumed, we met up with Rica Takashima and Ivy, who was stunning as one of our translators at Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo. We jabbered for a while, Ivy left us, and we collected the wife. Bruce, wifey, Rica and I went out to dinner where we had okinomiyaki and monja. My favorite was the mentaiko and cheese monja, with the tuna and cheese okonomiyaki coming in a close second. The beef and scallion monja and the pork okonomiyaki were both good too, but the mentaiko and cheese one was my fave.

We could see Fuji-san from our room. Here is a day view. It was really a lot clearer than this picture makes it look. But all but the first day or so, we had “Kyou no Fuji-san.”

The third day of Comiket, the line to get in the place was about an hour long. Then we headed right for Atelier Miyabi, Fujieda Miyabi’s circle, expecting another hour long line. But we got through in about 20 minutes. The line for Russian Blue later in the day was longer. We probably went to fewer circles on day three, but had to range more widely to find them, so we crossed all of the east halls, twice and went around the west halls as well. After we were done, we decided to go back to Atelier Miyabi again and get a few more copies of the calendar for gifts. Amazingly, they had some left. Oh, and Iono-sama was selling them! It was so awesome, she had on “Blue” and was flanked by two maids. lol I really wish I was good at stealth photography. Where’s Tsutako when you need her? :-)

I cannot even begin to tell you how crowded the third day was. There was one intersection that was just a solid logjam of people. Bruce and I kept looking at each other and laughing, because we were so jammed in, that the only thing that got us through was the pressure of people from behind. The guy next to me got his hand jammed up uncomfortably against the guy in front of him, but I shifted a bit so he could extract it. He was all right, but looked a little pale. Probably because a foreign female asked if he was okay.

Twice I was bumped so hard I lost my balance. Once, the guy who I slammed into and I turned and apologized seriously at one another, because we hit each other *hard.* The second time I completely lost my footing and started to fall backwards, but was laughing about it. Bruce went to catch me, but I regained my footing just then, so my pride remained intact. We were so battered that day, I was surprised we didn’t come home with bruises. Thank heavens for winter clothing. There is NO way I’m doing a summer Comiket.

Here’s a sunset view. The sun set right behind the mountain every night, which made for breathtaking scenes that photo’ed poorly. Everytime I took a crappy shot, I could feel Tsutako glaring at me in spirit – again. :-)

We had gotten the special Toranoana ceramic cup for buying the catalog there, but we learned Bruce has a thing for cups (he picked up an adorable sake cup at Comiket, as we slogged through the east halls 4-6) so we gave it to him. He and I shared a Big Sight canned coffee set that depicted two girls arriving at BS looking normal, then one going all weird and freaky over a catgirl cosplay while the other looks disconcerted. I liked how they depicted girls doing that, and not otaku. (The cans now live in my work cubicle where they can make me laugh.) Speaking of which, there were way more women at all three days of Comiket than there were five years ago when I first went. Sure, they tend to stay in the BL sections, but almost every line I was on, there were at least some women….except, oddly Russian Blue. You’d think that more women would be in line for Hibiki Reine’s work.

Here’s my random “subway advertisement” photo. It’s for a temp agency, but for some reason, they thought the best representation of the skilled employees they could provide was a cute flan with strawberry sauce, a cherry and whipped cream. I spent the entire trip trying to figure out what went through the ad agency’s mind when they came up with it. Sorry it’s blurry – the train was moving when I took it.

On the last day full day we had in town, Bruce, the wife and I hit up Shibuya for Animate and Mandarake, then went out to Nakano where we had kaitenzushi, which included the best crab legs I’d ever eaten ever, and of course, we bought stuff. :-)

The last day they were in Tokyo, we took Barbara and Linda out for ramen, because that was pretty much the only Japanese food they wanted to try. We ended up at a Korean place, for various reasons, that served delicious, but blisteringly hot, ramen. I liked it, but wow.

Oh, oh – so, *finally* I saw Ayumi Hamasaki perform. And by god, she was one of the worst singers I have ever heard. She didn’t hit a single note of what was a really awful song. I hope she was just having an off night, because she was truly terrible. Her nails had horns. …??

And the last note I have here is this: on the way home from Comiket on day 3, Bruce and I were sitting next to a girl who was crushing on her sempai hugely and obviously. Sempai was a punky little blond number with lots of facial piercings, sunglasses and art school cool. The girl looked at sempai with huge eyes that devoured her, and touched her or something on her belt, her phone, etc, anytime she could. I was trying to not laugh out loud, when sempai was showing her how rough a callous on her hand was, asked kouhai to touch it – and then as kouhai stroked it for about two solid minutes, commenting the entire time how…rough…yes…very…rough.. it was. For pity’s sake, sempai, I hope you sleep with the girl.

There’s my disjointed account of stuff and some pictures. Sorry my internet access was down, so no day-by-day, but you know, mostly we just shopped. ^_^

I’ll start up reviewing again tomorrow, unless work flattens me. :-)





Events: Tales from the Floor of the NYAF

December 10th, 2007

Life on the floor of the Exhibitor’s Hall/Dealer’s Room is not like life anywhere else at a con. There’s a unique ebb and flow, not only of the attendees, but of the other exhibitors, staff, guests, and one’s own biorhythms. When you’re an exhibitor at an event, it feels like you’ve been there forever. Five minutes after you finish, it’s like it never happened. It’s all very surreal. ^_^ There’s a permanent impermanence of a show. Boxes explode into displays and sales items – shiny, colorful – then everything, including walls and floors, all get rolled up and packed away leaving nothing but some scraps to show that anything was ever there.

Imagine a desert. No water, food, life anywhere. Imagine one day, you drive into this desert and suddenly, a town is springing up. Buildings, businesses, schools – everything goes together almost instantly. And then people arrive. They attend classes at the school, buy food and drink from the restaurants suddenly in existence, clothes, toys, entertainment from the businesses, and then, two days later, it’s gone. Like “Burning Man” inside a big, black, glass box. With less fireworks. The desert returns, and only cellophane tumbleweeds cross your path.

I’ve been to and worked at renfaires, pagan encampments, anime cons, scifi cons, trade shows, and festivals all over the world and every time I am mesmerized by the magic of these temporary towns. It truly is magic. I love walking around as people set up and breakdown. The floor of an event is where a lot of deals are made and relationships are built. Of everything that happens at a con, it’s this part that I enjoy most. Meeting people, reconnecting with folks, developing ideas with peers.

The New York Anime Festival was not very big, especially as compared with New York Comic Con, but if you took all the non-manga/anime stuff out of NYCC, NYAF is basically what you have. I heard a rumored attendance of 8K and that seems in line with what I saw. (Although published reports later said 15K, which I can only believe if you counted every attendee day, dealers, guests, panelists, staff and Javits Center staff for all three days.) Reed definitely improved some key things since Comic Con – security was friendly, professionals were treated much better (at Comic Con, we were treated like criminals trying to sneak in) and in general, there was a much less overtly hostile atmosphere. Instead, the staff was pleasant and accommodating. Two things I would like to mention that needed some improvement. One, grouping like vendor with like is fine at, say, a Publisher’s Expo, but for folks who sell chotckes like key chains, it’s not so good. It doesn’t affect the artists or publishers so much (I don’t compete with Del Ray or Tokyopop, really) but for the figurine, manga, DVD and goods dealers, it’s a rotten setup. Most anime cons break those kinds of vendors up. Here they were all in one long row. Secondly, when the Exhibitor’s Hall closed, attendees were not swept out efficiently. They lingered for a long time, getting in the way of breaking down, and clustering on the floor where dollies and handcarts needed to get through. The event staff needs to get them out of the way faster and better. But those were really the only things I felt needed to be addressed. In every other way it was a vast improvement.

My good friends at Drama Queen were kind enough to let me have a piece of their table at which I sold some of our books. It was a better crowd than I thought it would be – and I have to give kudos to the DQ fans. They were not the squealing LFGs one expects. A few folks cross-bought Yaoi and Yuri and some who came for one at least looked at the other. A few folks simply said, “well, I’m more interested in whichever, but thanks.” It was all very pleasant and refreshing – a far cry from the days of “Ewww, Yuri.” Those days were up to about a year ago, so wow. DQ definitely drew a cut-above audience. And owner Tran and staffer Isabel are *fabulous.* If you’re interested in Yaoi, do give them a look. Their books are very well done and fun. I even read a few sitting there. I’ve reviewed their book Audition here, as well. It was pretty damn good.

It’s always lovely to see the regulars who visit when ALC has a table, and it was also nice to reconnect with a few folks I met recently at Yurisai. Kudos to them for being a cut-above, as well. When one young man walked up and shook my hand, said hello, said that Yurisai was his first con and that he loved it, and was now sharing this new love with a friend who had never been to a con, I thought, “This is the win.”  Yuri and Yaoi fans are definitely both maturing – we *can* all be human, if we just try. ^_^

Professionally, it’s always a blast to check up on folks you see at every con, chat with them about new projects and ideas, see where the industry is heading. Korean works are gearing up for being HUGE, I can tell you that. Next big thing? Yeah, I think so.

A lot of great folks stopped by the DQ booth. Some of the folks I owe thanks and hugs to are: May Young, freelance designer extraordinaire, who was a champ all weekend, translator Mari Morimoto (who was NYAF’s chief translator and they kept her hopping,) blogger Casey Brienza (aka Kethylia), Tran and Isabel from DQ, Tara, (wishing you the best of luck!) and blogger Brigid Alverson of mangablog. I also had a moment with Milton Griepp of ICv2, Protoculture Addict’s Claude Pelltier and PW’s Calvin Reid, just in case you think I didn’t talk to any men all weekend. LOL

On the industry side of the board it was my genuine pleasure to catch up with John and Masumi O’Donnell from CPM/Be Beautiful. They were all smiles and high energy and rarin’ to go, which thrilled me no end. The troubles they faced last year are yesterday’s news and they are looking forward to a bright future. We wish them the best of luck.

The folks at Media Blasters remain wonderful. I’m sitting here drinking chai brought over to our table by Johnathan and thinking of him happily. They’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, as always. And I also had a chance to talk to some folks from Tokyopop, which I always enjoy. The editor of the upcoming Kannazuki no Miko release and I had a nice chat about that. I was able to explain Kaishaku and their interest in a short list of fetishes. lol We also talked about Okazaki Mari and her never-really Yuri art, and Sakurazawa Erica, and josei in general. Now that I have an in, we’ll see what rumors news I’ll get first. ;-)

And of course, there were a bunch of cons and dealers that I get lots of love from and give the same to. :-) Looks like Anime Boston will be going onto the Yuricon schedule this year and I got to chat with a bunch of the AnimeNEXT folks as always. Love them. A special shout out of Yuri lovin’ to Bill from Anime Castle and Su from Sci-Fi Continuum. Buy stuff from them, because they are two of the coolest folks ever. And Amber and James from Ultimate Anime, too. ^_^  (The goal here is to butter them up until they send me to the Maiden’s Garden event next year to shop for Yuri doujinshi for them. lol)

It was a tremendous surprise and pleasure to meet Grace Hume, one of the contributing artists to Yuri Monogatari 5. I had no idea she was going to be there, and it was a complete thrill to add her to the list of Yuri Monogatari artists that I have met in person. Grace is the creator of “Emmeline’s Cruise,” one of the two stories in the collection that dealt with an older lesbian character. She even got to sign an autograph. :-D (D’oh! *I* forgot to get her autograph…what a nitwit I am….) Now we’re both stoked about her contributing to the next volume. ^_^

I don’t tend to go to industry panels, favoring the face to face method of “what’s the cool news?” of info gathering. :-) So here’s just a couple of quicky things you’re not getting from ANN yet because it’s all on the QT and so I will be secretive and vague – it’s more fun that way, anyway. ^_^

1) There’s a distant rumour that someone is looking into licensing a title of interest to Yuri fans. I won’t give anything away but, ahem, we may get those Jun and Nene dolls after all….

2) Keep your ears open for a new, very exciting event that will be coming up for 2009. I can’t tell you anything specific, but I can tell you that there has NEVER been anything like it in anime/manga events. (This is me smiling and nodding knowingly.) There’s a lot of enthusiam about it in the industry. You’ll be seeing info about it soon…? ^_^

3) And this so prelim it’s a thought exercise rather than rumor, but who knows how the world will spin, right? How would you all feel about a Mist manga collection in English? Who knows – it could happen. :-)

Well, that’s it from the floor of NYAF. Next event, Comiket, where I will support the Japanese economy by throwing money at it. ^_^