Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

Pretty good Anime Matsuri X (2016)

All in all, I had a pretty good time at Anime Matsuri X (ten) this 2016 season.  I finally got to meet voice actors Vic Mignongna and Chuck Huber, well known for their anime work of course but who have also collaborated on a passion project of Vic's called Star Trek Continues, a web series done very much in the classic style of the original series (TOS).  I bought headshots from both of them in their Star Trek uniforms, with Vic as Kirk and Chuck as McCoy.  The show is really great if you get a chance to watch it on their website.  I have my mom's computer hooked up to our TV via HDMI cable, so I'm able to watch it on the TV screen, and if you get wrapped up in the story, it feels like TOS is back on the air again.

Anyway, I had fun at Anime Matsuri this year.  I sampled some food truck fare (Coreanos), and also this was my friend Sarah's first ever Anime Matsuri, so I made sure she had a good time, serving as her guide a little.  I ended up missing a few panels I otherwise would have wanted to go to, but I felt it was more important to make sure the newbie person enjoyed themselves.  Here we are all together on day 2.  I'm in the middle, in Next Generation Science officer garb.

We enjoyed gawking at other cosplayers as well, and many people stopped Sarah to ask an take her picture, especially ensemble photos of her with other Tokyo Ghoul characters.  I even got a few photo-ops from people, including a Kylo Ren cosplayer who asked a buddy to take a picture with the both of us.  He posed and threatened me with his lightsaber while I shrunk back in mock terror and disbelief.  It was fun.

Here I am with voice actor Chuck Huber on Day 1.  Chuck had his own booth set up in the back of the dealer's room and was more than happy to greet fans and take selfies, outside of the regularly scheduled autograph sessions.  What a great guy!

Here I am, posing with actor Vic Mignogna, on Day 2.  Had to wait in line a long time for the ticket to wait in line again to actually meet this man and get his autograph, but it was totally worth it.  We chatted briefly and amicably about Star Trek Continues, Level E, and RWBY.  Vic laughed out loud when I said Prince Baka of Level E is basically "Space Loki".  He also noted that he's been too busy to actually sit down and watch RWBY yet, but asked me the best place to find it.  I recommended Crunchyroll.  To be honest, I don't know for sure how Rooster Teeth records RWBY, but it would probably be the case that the voice performances were recorded first, and the animation created around those performances later.  Vic did know what Qrow looks like, but I hope he gets to enjoy the finished product very soon.  I know I did.

Here's a brief selfie of me with voice actress Leah Clark, after I got her to autograph my copy of Suzuka, where she voices the titular character.  It is one of her favorite roles and she also did a lot of the ADR script writing for this show as well.  She said she was very pleased to be tapped to voice Suzuka because she felt she understood the character very well and wanted to see her done correctly.  She felt ownership already as the ADR script writer and felt a sense of relief upon being given the role, because then she could give Suzuka the performance Leah felt was needed for this character.  I later attended a panel hosted by Leah Clark that was mildly amusing and broadcast on her "Periscope" channel.  I also attended a panel on adaptive script writing hosted by Mike McFarland on Day 1 that was very eye opening and informative and pretty much the best panel I attended the whole convention.  By Day 3, I was feeling exhausted, tired of dealing with the B.S. of downtown traffic, street closures and construction, and decided to just skip the last day completely.  There were a panel or two that might have been interesting, but I just wasn't feeling up to it the 3rd day.  I missed out completely on seeing Stephanie Young, David Brehm or Johnny Yong Bosch, but since I'd seen all of these people before, I didn't feel too badly that I missed them this time around.  I also missed out on the RWBY fan panel, but since there was bound to be a lot of drama this year, I'm kind of glad I did.  I also didn't go completely crazy in the dealer's room this year; I didn't get any figurines, only one Mako plushie from Kill La Kill. 

There was one vendor selling RWBY merch for a considerable markup, but alas not the Ruby Rose plushie I was hoping to find:

All they had were the RWBY figurines; I didn't buy (I can get them cheaper, direct from the RT Store) but it was nice to be able to hold their boxes in my hand and look directly at the figures, see their true size, etc.  As I recall, I've only ever seen the RWBY plushies at Oni-Con before, and I hope they have them again later this year.  I want this first run Ruby Plush, because I like it much better than the "Chibi" versions currently in stock in the RT store...

It's not BAD, I just don't like it nearly as much as the original run (see above this image).  I love the original's wry smirk, etc.  Curiously, the RT store seems to be perpetually sold out of the first run Ruby, but first run Weiss, Blake, and Yang are still for sale.

My favorite purchase in the dealer's room was the Nozomi Entertainment re-release of Dirty Pair: Features.  This is a 3 disc set of 3 feature films featuring the Dirty Pair and 2 original English dubs, one from Streamline Entertainment directed by Carl Masek, the other by ADV Films.

Kei has the same voice actor, but Yuri is voiced by Allison Sumrall instead of Jessica Calvello this time around in the ADV Films dub.  Anyway, I watched these movies every night after a day at the convention.  They were great!  Same over-the-top action comedy as always.  I will eventually re-watch them with the Streamline dub, where Yuri is voiced by Wendee Lee.  Should be interesting.

All in all it was a very good con and I'm glad I went!

Psycho-Pass 2: Completed.

In anticipation of the release of Psycho-Pass: The Movie, which is screening in my area later this month, I did a marathon watch of Season 2 of Psycho-Pass last Friday as of this writing in order to be fully caught up on the story.  I had to that point only seen all of Season 1, which I loved.  I had also only seen the first couple of episodes of Psycho-Pass 2 while it was still a broadcast dub.  I remember liking it, but I abandoned it at the time because of all the hate and negative feedback the second season was getting from some very loud fans of the first season on Facebook.  In reaction, I put the show on personal hiatus, vowing to return to it later.  Having now completed Season 2, I'm at a loss to really understand all the initial vitriol by certain fans of Season 1 that felt let down or cheated somehow by Season 2.

I found the second season to be every bit as gripping and compelling as the first.  It was another great sci-fi thriller, with interesting twists, good cliffhangers that lent well to our marathon session, because we were always eager to find out "what happens next!?", etc.  True, there's no Kogami per se in this season, except as a representation of Tsunemori's conscience when she's privately wrestling with her own thoughts.  It says to me she still loves him and cannot forget him, and I love her for that.  The romantic tension between these two was half the fun of Season 1.  Their attraction to each other was as powerful as it was impossible to make a reality in the dystopia governed by the Sybil system.  Season 2 is just as thought-provoking, philosophical, every bit as disturbingly violent, etc.  Psycho-Pass 2 gets a passing grade from me at any rate. 

The main thing I don’t like about Psycho-Pass (the anime series) is that it relies upon as its central conceit a deliberate blurring of the differences between psychosis, i.e. “normal” individuals having a psychotic break(down) and genuine psychopathy, i.e. psychopaths.  I get that the title is a kind of word-play and riffs on the Japanese pronunciation of “psychopath”.  I can’t tell if the Sybil system is just unable to recognize psychopaths, only normals on the verge of psychosis?  Or maybe it recognizes “garden variety” psychopaths that we in the 21st century would recognize, but there has seemingly been an evolution of “undetectable” psychopaths able to evade standard electronic monitoring and screening.  Moreover, since Sybil is essentially a collective hive mind of such “asymptomatic” brains, and regards itself as the essence of cold, utilitarian perfection that is, in Niezschean fashion, somehow “above” mere human morality clouded by “useless” sentimentality, it sets itself as the ultimate arbiter of justice.  But its power is near absolute…and absolute power corrupts absolutely, per Lord Acton’s maxim.  Psycho-Pass is a thought provoking dystopia about the over-reliance upon technology and the complete discounting of “merely human” judgement, intuition, etc.  It has moments that are genuinely horrifying and is excellent social commentary on our own pervasive state surveillance apparatus.  Sybil is the ultimate Emperor with No Clothes, which only Inspector Tsunemori is privy to.  It is her struggle to remain moral and uncorrupted while working for a very flawed and corrupt system.  She maintains a private faith in democracy and greater justice tempered with humility and mercy, a quite different vision from Sybil’s coldly utilitarian “paradise”.  Cherami Leigh is new to the cast and plays the thoroughly unlikable, very cocky rookie Mika Shimotsuki.  She is basically Tsunemori's polar opposite and is always questioning Tsunemori's action and judgement, meanwhile demonstrating her own terrible judgement and naivete throughout.  She writes highly critical, damning reports that cast Tsunemori in the worst possible light, but Tsunemori ignores these barbs, as does the agency Chief, who has a private understanding with Tsunemori as established in Season 1.   Mika Shimotsuki in the end winds up a rather pathetic figure, a wholly craven "Winston Smith" who obsequiously declares her love for "Big Brother", a.k.a. the Sybil System.  Meanwhile Tsunemori maintains her personal integrity throughout and forces the Sybil system to reform & purge itself and re-establish its shaky truce with Tsunemori.  It recognizes Tsunemori as a long-term threat to its own viability, and Tsunemori certainly still has her own criticisms and distaste for the Sybil system, but she is willing to see just how far Sybil will progress in its new path of "reform".

In any case, I now feel caught up on the story and look forward to seeing Psycho-Pass: The Movie later this month when it screens at my local Alamo Drafthouse.