Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

Oni-Con XX (2023), a mixed bag

Sorry for the dearth of images this year, as I had to cut my time short at Oni-Con this year (again). Too close in proximity to Kumoricon next weekend to give it the full con experience. It was my intention to, but my Mom whom I live with and care for raised a big stink about it and just wanted me to skip altogether. We argued about it and I said if I cancel my hotels I'm still driving down there each day, despite how exhausting that is. We finally compromised on my just spending Friday night in Galveston then staying as long as I wanted to on Saturday. I even managed to snag a parking spot in the Galveston Island Convention Center this time (which used to be well nigh impossible in years past) and this year I stayed at the Hilton Resort Hotel right next to the convention center. The weather was crappy this weekend in Galveston, as it often is for Oni-Con, but this definitely dampened my mood. It started raining when I turned off Broadway onto 45th street on Friday and didn't let up at all until late Friday night. I did some last minute Christmas shopping in artists' alley for my cousins (once removed, the closest thing I have to nieces and nephews as an only child), and in the dealer's room. The dealer's room was pretty sparse on Friday but more robust today (Saturday).

I enjoyed the AMV showcases presented; no where near as well attended as the OG AMV Contest back in the day, but glad at least SOME kind of AMV content has returned to Oni-Con. It was like Anime Toronto did this past Labor Day weekend. Curated presentations of favorite AMVs throughout the years, no specific categories or competition, just a random sample of curated favorites. The only categories as such were "Old School Anime" and "New AMVs"...the Old School ones ran Friday night around 9pm, and the "New AMVs" segment was today at 12:30pm.

I enjoyed my Friday lunch at Tortuga's new location near Fort Crockett. I miss their old location now, which I did visit for dinner. It is now Doc Holiday's Roadhouse, a very Old West/Texas Themed dining establishment whose chief clientele are older white guys with gray hair. (*looks in mirror* "....fuuuuuck.") ; Still it was a great seafood dinner....blackened Mahi Mahi & blackened grilled Shrimp with a side of roasted Brussel sprouts and seasoned rice. Had a few beers on tap and a frozen house margarita and I was good to go. Also managed to score some Galveston Bay Brewing Blueberry Blondes chilled at Kroger. Spent much of the rest of the rainy evening getting caught up on my favorite seasonal High Fantasy anime on Crunchyroll while knocking back the beers until it was time for the AMV Showcase, which I attended, enjoyed, then went back to my hotel to resume watching anime until midnight then went to bed.

Breakfast was really great...a buffet no less! And the shower after breakfast felt so good. Then I dressed for the day, took my meds, and packed all my stuff up, dropped my luggage in my car in the parking garage then checked out of my room. It did let me use the convention center more easily as a base of operations for the day, but it's not the same as having a hotel room to go back to. And just bumming around the convention center between events is kind of a drag for the experienced con goer. I had an early lunch at Doc Holiday's just to kill time. Made it back just in time for the AMV showcase#2 which I also enjoyed and thanked the presenter for bringing AMVs back to Oni-Con.

But wandering around that big Galveston Island Convention Center with memories of how truly GREAT this con used to be from circa 2012 through 2019, seeing it in its present state just fills me with melancholy. I'm glad to see the younger fans enjoying themselves but they're too young to remember how amazing Oni-Con used to be. It's still in recovery mode...they're finally back to a 3 day convention and all, but the weather probably depressed overall attendance numbers. It makes me sad to wander around the 2nd floor and remember how the line for the AMV Contest used to run down the hall and how packed that Ballroom used to be on Saturday nights when the AMV Contest got underway and the epic collective excitement felt by everyone, the audience reactions, etc. Loved the AMV showcases I got to experience this time, but they just aren't the same experience and it's hard not to feel disappointed and sad for a bygone era. I also used to attend Oni-Con with friends--it was more fun that way--but my one good con buddy moved out of state to escape a horribly abusive home life and also to be with their beloved in another state. I don't begrudge them that at all. But I do miss attending Oni with them all the same. I don't normally mind attending Cons alone, like I did for Otafest and Anime Toronto, but I think the further away I am the easier it is. Going to Oni-Con by myself anymore just leaves me alone with my memories and nostalgia and depression...it's hard to enjoy Oni-Con anymore but that's a me thing, mainly. I know the staff are doing their best.

I was going to stay until 3pm for a autograph session but then heard it had been pushed back to 3:30pm, or more exactly had always been 3:30pm I just misread the printed schedule....and I was just like "nah" and got in my car and came home early, looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight. Not having a hotel room to crash in during down time during the day makes the whole convention experience feel grueling and brutal and frankly more boring. I had to conserve my phone's battery power, too, so no social media, no downloaded Netflix content, etc, adding to the aggressive boredom...and not like I could go sightseeing in Galveston and give up my treasured parking spot in the garage (plus I've seen most of the cool historical things to see in Galveston....I used to live there for a spell). There were some cool panels later in the evening that I might've enjoyed but I and my phone battery don't have the stamina anymore for that.

So Oni-Con XX a mixed bag for specifically me. Parts were enjoyable but it also engendered a lot of melancholy. Bittersweet.

Live Action ONE PIECE (Netflix adaptation) is better than the anime!

I have tried multiple times to watch One Piece, the anime.  I made it as far as 5 episodes in my last attempt but I just can't get into it.  The story just doesn't grab me and I find Luffy and his powers too laughable & ridiculous for the anime medium.  I eventually lose interest and drop the show, every time.  Until now.

Holy shit, you guys!   The live action adaptation of One Piece on NETFLIX is really REALLY GOOD!

I seriously like it better than the OG anime.

The first 5 episodes of the One Piece anime?  Meh.

The first 5 episodes of THIS?  Bam! Right in the feels and I'm crying manly tears nearly every episode.  The use of flashbacks/backstory is well executed and really makes you care for Luffy and his crew.  Luffy's goofy weird powers just make this adaptation feel like a comic book Superhero movie somehow, like it actually WORKS better in live action.  The villains are so over the top they too feel like Comic book Superhero arch villains.  Luffy and his whole crew are just so darn likeable.  In short order we get introduced to the principle cast and the story launches without delay.  The pacing is excellent and holds your interest.  The costume design, the backgrounds, the set design are all on point.  The writing and acting are top notch and feel like a polished Superhero film told in serial form.  

As stated, I'm not fan of One Piece the anime.  But I f*cking love this live action adaptation, probably the best one ever done to date....which is a low bar, true, but this one sails right over it.  I highly recommend it, even if like me you don't really like One Piece.

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (English ReWatch)

So last night I attended an English dub screening of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Japanese: 夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口, Hepburn: Natsu e no Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi) which for me was a re-watch, having seen the world premiere of this movie in original subtitled Japanese at Otakon 2023 in Washington DC this past summer.

The Dub is courtesy of Sentai Filmworks / HIDIVE and features relative newcomers to the industry for the main roles of Kaoru Touno (Gabriel Regojo) and Anzu Hanashiro (Patricia Duran).  As for me I only recognized Shelly Calene Black as the voice of their homeroom teacher.  

For my 2nd time through this story, with the language barrier removed and on the basis of the excellent dub performances, I found the Kaoru & Anzu relationship more believable, natural and plausible.  Just their spending so much time in each other's company, even just scientifically investigating the nature of Urashima Tunnel together, draws them emotionally closer.  Kaoru is grieving the death of his little sister Karin who died from falling out of a tall tree that she was climbing to catch exotic beetles for her brother.  Anzu lives alone in her uncle's condo, having been disowned by her parents for wanting to become a manga artist like her grandfather with only 1 published title to his name who died in poverty and was regarded as a burden and a failure by his family but dearly loved by his granddaughter Anzu.   The legend of Urashima Tunnel is it can grant you any wish but in return you are flung a century into the future....this isn't entirely accurate, as the two begin to discover.   Kaoru's home life is very unstable after his sister's untimely death.  Their mother leaves and his father descends into alcoholism & self-pity and becomes emotionally and physically abusive towards Kaoru, blaming him for Karin's death and wishing Karin had lived instead of him.  He spends long hours alone listening to music by himself to cope.  Meeting Anzu is a stroke of luck and he has in her a friend and confidant he can rely on.  Although they don't get along at first, Karou becomes a familiar face at school and someone to hang out with for Anzu.  

Anzu doubts herself, wrestles with her own adequacy as a mangaka....as an author and illustrator.  Kaoru is slowly able to win her trust and persuade her to let him read the first draft of her manga.  He really enjoys it and wants to read it again.   This makes Anzu very happy and she finally has the courage to submit her manuscript to a publisher, who shows interest and assigns her an editor.  Anzu believes the Tunnel can grant her wish for artistic excellence that will make her work truly stand out.  Kaoru realizes that is not what the Tunnel does and decides to enter the Tunnel one last time....he meets the ghost of his sister and spends some quality time in her company.  His sister is happy to see him but tells her brother it is her sincere wish for him to fall madly in love with a girl at school someday.  This snaps Kaoru back into his young adult form and Anzu's desperate, lonely texts finally reach him in the spiritual beyond.  He learns of her graduation from school, the serialization of her manga, etc. and other milestones of success as she grows into becoming a successful, professional mangaka.  He determines to exit the Tunnel and return to Anzu despite being away for just over a decade and change.  Anzu in the meantime has hit a kind of writer's block and is sinking into a tough bout of depression.  Sitting at the train station where she first met Karou, a random train service interruption announcement takes her back to the moment they first met and she bursts into tears with heavy sobs, heartbroken.  Then suddenly she hears her old High School cellphone ding with a text from Kaoru, announcing his return.  Anzu gathers herself and runs down the train tracks to the crossing where the Tunnel is located....he hasn't emerged yet so she goes in after him, finding him having tripped and knocked himself unconscious.   He wakes in her lap and they embrace then kiss.  Kaoru jokes that with the time dilation effect, their 10 second kiss lasted 6 hours in the real world.

The two emerge from the Tunnel where a light rain is falling, and Anzu returns Kaoru's rusted umbrella to him which he opens for both of them; they can resume their relationship anew....we just kind of have to hand-wave away the awkwardness in age difference....a woman in her 30s taking a boyfriend who is still a teenager physically.  Not unheard of but perhaps a little scandalous.  Reminds me of the same dilemma for Haruka Shitow of RaXephon...and in the RaXephon movie she even bears him a child.... 

But you know, time dilation, undying timeless love, yada yada....awkward, sure, but the do still love each other and the age gap wasn't their fault, etc.  Once the younger person is 18 and a consenting adult, it's all cool, technically.  They were technically born around the same time, etc.

All told, the story takes place between the years 2005 up through 2013.

Anyway, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Japanese: 夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口) is a good movie, beautifully animated.  In subtitled Japanese their relationship felt under-developed and unearned somehow, but re-watching in English made their dynamic feel more believable, at least to me.  I'm glad I watched it again, and I'm always happy to support anime on the big screen.