Quick news item today – Yuricon/ALC Publishing will have a table at Summer Comiket on Sunday, August 14, East Hall 5, Row “Pe”, Table #49a .
Drop by, say hi to Rica Takashima, buy “I Love Yuri” goods and yuri manga from ALC Publishing!
Archive for the Events Category
Events: Onna! announces "Be Discovered at Onna"!
Onna!, a three-day festival of women�s roles in animation and comics taking place October 8-10, 2005 in Newark, NJ, is proud to introduce Project Manga!
Be Discovered at Onna! will give aspiring young artists a chance to pitch a manga-style story and art to a panel of publishing professionals, including Onna! Guest of Honor, creator of Jane’s World, Paige Braddock. The panel will include representatives from manga publishing companies – contestants will get guidance and advice from people who are leaders in the manga and comics industries. The winner has the possibility of being published by an American manga company.
Be Discovered at Onna! is just one of the original games and contests developed specifically for Onna!. You�ll also have a chance to play an English-language version of Hyakunin Isshu, the classical Japanese card game of verse-matching, or have the chance to participate in Onna!�s original Drama CD recording. Of course, Onna! will also have all the popular contest and games, from Music Video Contest to a whack-a-thon!
Pre-registration for Onna! is strongly encouraged � save $15 off the at-door price and reserve yourself a place at the most unique con of the year! Register online or email [email protected] for a mail-in registration form or more information.
Onna! – By women, about women, for everyone
October 8-10 2005
Newark, NJ
Event: The Day of the (Yuri) Revolution
Saturday started early around here. Of course I didn’t sleep very much. :-)
In the lobby, after a little adventure with a broken elevator and a very heavy suitcase that left me stranded in the basement for a few minutes, I managed to hand off the heavy suitcase to Serge, shouldered my computer and Pattie took the smaller suitcase, still filled with snacks. Bruce stayed back in case anyone showed up in the lobby and needed an escort and we all headed out to Koujimachi.
The next hour was a flurry of unpacking and set-up, as all such things are.
People began to drift up at 12:00, and by 12:30, there was a small crowd outside ready to be let in. We were still trying to get some last things done, like setting up the computer, but that was fine. By the time we got going, slightly late, as such things always do, we were mostly organized. :-)
After opening remarks, which Rica and I kept short, the guests did their intros.
Then we had the most hysterical Opening Ceremony act *ever*. Healerin did a koudan show – a traditional form of half narrated-half acted one person show. Instead of doing his koudan to a tradtional story, Healerin performed two scenes from the Cutey Honey live-action movie. All I can say is, that it was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a really long time. His rendition of Black Claw was simply genius.
One of our guests was Itou Bungaku, the man who created the term “Yuri.” In 1971, he was editor of Barazoku, a magazine for gay men, and he termed gay men the “barazoku,” the rose tribe, and lesbian “yurizoku,” the lily tribe. That was later shortened to yuri.
We had a little break, and I prepared for my “panel” which in my head was “Erica’s third-degree torture.”
So, there I was, all alone, faced by a room full of people taking pictures and who wanted to know the why, what, where, when and how of yuri in America. I find questions like that maddening, because I really can’t answer for “American fans,” only myself. (Just like at yuri panels at anime cons where I’m asked these huge questions about Japanese culture and acceptance of homosexuality or somesuch…like I can answer for all of Japan…but I digress.
So, with Ive at my side to render my insane ramblings into coherent Japanese, I told the story of how I created Yuricon. Then I answered questions I have no authority or ability to answer. I expect it will be fascinating to see what I said end up in print somewhere. The last question was from Glenn of Anime Tourist – he asked how did I differentiate “Yuri” from lesbian porn made for men. I was a bit glib and answered, “If I like it – it’s yuri.” But, as far as I’m concerned, that is the answer. To me, “lesbian” means two women who love/desire each other. Cheesy porn doesn’t have that – just two woman having sex on each other. That’s never really read “lesbian” to me, so I don’t see where there’s a disctinction to be made at all.
After more than an hour, I was let off the hook, and we had a break before the next panel. To my shame, I was so burnt, I really didn’t listen at all to our brilliant guests who were taking questions and talking about their experiences as writers and artists. (I know, I know…)
After the guest disussion came the AMV contest. I showed a wide variety of anime music videos from Yuri Studios to (what seemed to me) a shell-shocked audience of uncomprehending faces. I hope they liked the music anyway. LOL I came out to watch my favorite video and, as I predicted, all the English-speakers laughed their butts off. I’m sorry the Japanese speakers couldn’t figure out what we were laughing at….and everyone hated the music too – but I love it, so there. Nyah.
The last panel was entitled “Yuri Panel by Yuri Women”. We talked alot about the term “Yuri”. Like with porn movies for guys which are labeled “lesbian” but are really two straight actresses who having sex on each other, “Yuri” waas taken over by hentai doujinshi creators for porn comics with two female characters having sex on each other. Sometimes the characters are actually a couple – but mostly its just fetishy, bodily-fluid-filled porn. Lesbians kind of lost control of the word Yuri.
A lot of the day was spent talking about the word itself, in fact. I think it’s a really good term, and I see no reason why it has to mean porn for guys, when really, its only a teeny, tiny percentage of the world who thinks that’s what it means. When the press release about ALC Publishing’s contract with Diamond Comics went out, the term “Yuri” genre was seen for the first time by many people.
So I asked that all the lesbians in the audience go out and reclaim the word for themselves, particularly the writers and artists, because they can make the biggest effect.
Our final guest list was:
Itou Bungaku – creator of the term “yuri”
Matsuura Rieko – Japan’s most famous lesbian author
Mori Natsuko – lesbian essayist and sci fi novelist
Morishima Akiko – shoujo manga artist and yuri doujinshi artist
Mizoguchi Akiko – lesbian scholar of yaoi
Mizuki Monica – yuri mangaka
Rachel Thorn – shoujo manga scholar and translator
Hagiwara Mami – editor of Anise magazine
And, of course:
Takashima Rica – Yuri mangaka, con chair, genius and all-around goddess.
We also had some stunning industry people there, and a host of translators – so many that I can’t even list them all. All I know is that I thank them all from the bottom of my heart and I owe Ive and Trevor my first and second born children. :-)
It was a pretty amazing cast of characters.
After the last panel, we all milled around and chatted and got to know each other, until it was time to clean up and go. The American staff was mightily fried, and when they learned karaoke wasn’t beginning until 11PM, most of them begged off. But Pattie and Bruce and Serge and I were there and…yes, we sang. :-) Serge, Pattie and Bruce have pleasant voices. lol
The songs started as anime classics, and by the time I left at 3AM were old TV themes from everyone’s childhood. It was pretty funny, even if I didn’t know the shows.
And so, just a few hours shy of 24, the day ended.
But, I believe that the Revolution has just begun….
The Revolution is Nigh…Day 7
And while it may not be televised, it does look like it will be covered by press on both sides of the ocean.
To say that this whole thing has snowballed out of control is a *major* understatement. But I get ahead of myself.
Morning came early, with the child next door slamming doors and stomping around. We slouched around the room, had sandwiches for breakfast and went down to the lobby as usual. Today I wanted to geek out and spend money, so back to Nakano and all the nifty-shifty and slighty seedy stores at the Broadway shopping arcade.
This is a gratuitous “wacky” shot of a palm tree at a gaming place we saw on the Nakano train platform:
We played some games in an arcade – here’s Erin mastering the Taiko game:
And here’s Pattie taking a rest with Ronald McDonald:
P and I both bought doujinshi, I got some manga I would have bought anyway, but this way I saved the shipping, and I got some very nice ROD The TV gashopon. I saw a set for Mai Hime but it was sold and I never saw the separates anywhere else. And no Shizuru. If I can’t have the cool psycho lesbian with the big-ass weapon, then what would the point be?
We had sandwiches for lunch – I still have NO idea what was in mine at all. It gave me a stomachache later, but the wife says it was nerves. Our feet gave up at 3 or so and we crawled back to the hotel to crash. I drank the energy drink Rica made me buy – it tasted gross, so it probably worked just fine.
We met our staff in the lobby and took what *should* in theory be a 30-minute trip, but is, in reality, more like an hour, to Shinjuku 3choume station, which is right around the corner from the Cocolo Cafe.
Staff floated in and, like some kind of stupid joke, *everytime* I tried to do introductions, we were interrupted. It got pretty funny when we were interrupted three times trying to do a kampai.
Eventually we were all in place, dinner was served and we had a really, really nice time. The two hours flew by. The lighting in the restaurant was the worst possible lighting ever for photos, so all these have a weird surreal look, which I quite like. lol
This is a picture of Catherine taking a picture of me taking a picture, so of course, my picture didn’t come out. lol
From the left: Ive, Serge, Donna, Pattie, Kelli, Takami, Rica (waving):
From left to right: Catherine, Sparkle, Trevor:
I LOVE this picture! From the left: Dillon, Mr. Sakuta, Mr. Horai, Bruce. Aren’t they adorable?
The inevitable Takami and Rica eating picture:
And, at last, proof that I was really here and that I really am not photogenic. From the left: Takami, Rica and myself:
I think the energy drink really did work, but since we’re going to have such a long day, we’re back in the room, relaxing and martialing our energy for tomorrow.
Special snaps for Rica Takashima, who has worked *way* too hard on this and is doing an amazing job.
In the last few days, we’ve gotten some new guests, including Mr. Ito Bungaku, who originally coined the phrase yurizoku (“lily tribe”) almost 40 years ago. I think that this event is a tribute to him, and to Yoshiya Nobuko. I’d like to think that she’s with us in spirit.
Don’t expect updates tomorrow, kids – it’ll be a looooong day, ending in hours and hours of karaoke. Maybe I’ll be able to pull myself together for an entry on Sunday, but I promise nothing. ;-)
Yuri Revolution Day 6, Part 1
At last my internal clock has reset itself correctly! Hurrah! I feel as close to human as possible. And it’s gorgeous out, the Hanazono Shrine is really cool and the meeting with Ichijinsha went really well.
The scoop is, Yuri Shimai will be back, hopefully in July. So, yay for yuri fans everywhere! The editors, Nakamura-san and Umezawa-san, were exceedingly nice people, and the meeting couldn’t have gone better, really. I look forward to developing a relationship with Ichijinsha to bring good yuri manga to the English-speaking world. :-)
I feel like we turned a major corner today. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe that the meeting went so well, but for a short moment, I am no longer nervous about Yuricon on Saturday. The translation issue may be awkward, but we’ll be okay. I believe that. (Partially because I finally gave the Hanazono Shrine the money I promised it.)
There are so many things I haven’t written about at all, because I’ve been so tired and unmotivated. The hotel is packed with a variety of people…everyday the lobby looks like the UN is convening. This is a little strange for Tokyo, although at home I’d hardly notice. (Actually, this time I’ve seen alot more foreigners in Tokyo, everywhere. So obviously, last time it was the holiday – everyone was gone home, wherever that was.) The other morning, two fabric salesmen had emptied their sample cases in the lobby and were re-arranging them. Yesterday, there was a ton of luggage in that space, and this morning it was two tables, with old guys sitting and answering questions. You just never know what you’re going to find.
Pattie and the gang are off hunting kitsune (fox) shrines and taking in Harajuku (goth lolita capital of the world) so I’m just sitting around in the room waiting for them, listening to what sounds awfully like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer from my window. It’s probably the yakiimo (baked sweet potato) truck outside. LOL Yes…definitely the yakiimo guy. The wind shifted and I can hear the words now.
In Ikebukuro there are two trucks the ride around with sirens and voices yelling at us. One has a man’s voice – I’m sure it’s some right-wing group exhorting us to expel foreigners or something. The woman’s voice truck keeps repeating a phone number over and over. They are both really annoying. (In fact, as I am typing this, the woman’s voice truck just went by….)
One thing I keep wanting to mention is how REALLY nice and helpful people have been so far. The maps rarely have landmarks I can use (or even *find* half the time) and there’s so little orientation that I’ve been asking alot of metro station guards and koban box policemen for directions – and they’ve all been really nice and helpful. It sounds like a stupid thing, but everytime I’ve ever asked a NYC cop for directions, they’ve acted like I was wasting their time – and then they gave me bad directions to boot, because none of them actually live in the city. So yay for the Metro guys and the Koban policemen! (And no – they don’t speak English, but I can say “Which way is whatever-it-is?” and I know right from left. LOL
And on the way to the Takarazuka theater, some random man stopped and asked in English if we needed help. It just proves once again that that old chestnut about cities being unfriendly is wrong. I know plenty of people are helpful in NYC – I know I help people who are lost there all the time. So, pfft on people who think cities are unfriendly.
Okay…I have a Nero Wolfe novel waiting for me. I’ll catch up again later!
