Denkyu: Anime Webzine

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Editor’s Note
Written by Andromeda This year, a friend of mine and I decided to promote our Anime Club at a nearby SciFi Con, ConCarolinas, by hosting a few panels. For those of you who complain about time delays and other things and have never done more than attend a con, you have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. I have now experienced this first hand at a small con and I can not imagine how it is for a large con, though I imagine I’d have just as much fun and frustration.

What really matters though is the end result… that I and those that attended the con had fun. Don’t know about my friend, but I certainly did. Even with the late starts of panels, the lack of a screen for the projector, wrong description for one of the panels and having no clue what I was doing listed as a panel guest on a few of them, a good time was had.

I encourage everyone to if not participate in a panel at least one con, to at least become a volunteer for one. It will add to the enjoyment to any con experience and give you another view of what goes on behind the curtains. And I must say, as a con attendee or even a volunteer… take full advantage of the consuite or hospitality room.

Happy Con Going!!!

On another note, Father’s Day is this month! Be the coolest kid on the block and get him some retro anime that he grew up with, like Gatchaman, Macross, and Speed Racer.

~Andromeda~
Editor in Flux

Written by Andromeda

Attending this year’s ConCarolinas and doing a panel on Sushi, one of the biggest questions was “How do I make sushi rice?” So I thought I would make it this month’s recipe.

Rice is the most important ingredient in sushi. There are several brands of sushi rice on the market. All are white and short-grained, and marked specifically “sushi rice”. If you can’t find sushi rice, then use another type of short grained white rice.

Ingredients
scant 1 1/2 cups sushi rice
scant 1 1/2 cups water
1 piece of Kombu (optional) (Traditional Japanese sea vegetable)
2 tbsp sushi rice seasoning (sushi vinegar)*

Wash the sushi rice under cold running water until the water running through it is completely clear, then drain the rice. Put the rice in a pan with the water and the kombu, if you are using it, cover, and bring to a boil as quickly as you can. Remove the kombu, then turn the heat down and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand for 15 minutes. Do not at any point take the lid off the pan once you have removed the kombu.

Put the hot rice in a sushi-oke (large, very shallow bowl) and pour the sushi rice seasoning evenly over the surface of the rice. Now you will need to use both hands, one to mix the seasoning into the rice with quick cutting strokes using a shamoji (spatula), and the other to fan the sushi rice in order to cool it down as quickly as you can. Mix the seasoning in carefully — you do not want to break a single rice grain.

The sushi rice should look shiny and be at room temperature when you are ready to use it.

*If you cannot find sushi vinegar, you can make your own. To make sushi vinegar, combine 1/3 cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, and a dash of MSG (optional) in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve everything and remove from heat.

Written by Andromeda

Welcome to a world where Sci-Fi and Fantasy become one. Wait? Aren’t those the same thing? Well, yeah, those some would say that Sci-Fi is just a branch of Fantasy. Hey works for me, cause I like it all.

ConCarolina’s is a con that’s any LARPer or Table Top Gamer’s dream. This year they had twice the gaming space as they did last year. So many games were organized that it blew my mind. It was fun to sit there at the table for South Carolina Anime and listen to the players as the role played or played some board game with figures. Are those the same things? I have no clue. The only role playing I’ve done is online.

This con is also a host to some of the best costuming that I’ve seen. There were three different fan groups for Stargate SG1 mostly cosplaying soldiers, but a couple cosplaying others from the series. Their display tables of props were amazing to see, not to mention the Stargate replica that was outside. Granted, it’s not to scale, but it was amazing to see and even had working lights!

Keeping on the fan group topics, there were members of the 501st Storm Troopers in costume, Klingons and Trekkies, Naruto fans, period costumes from the middle ages and best of all for me, Pirates. Lots and lots of Pirates from the Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast. I so want to be a member of this group. Then I will for sure be in conflict next year on when to wear my SG1 costume, my pirate costume and my anime costume.

From last year to this year, there was tremendous growth for ConCarolinas. This of course is a good sign for any con. And from what I understand, they weren’t in the red this year and even made a little money that will completely go to next year’s con. This year they not only added more table top gaming space, but their dealer’s room was twice the size, there was a console gaming room and more anime related panels.

This con was also an experience on a different level than that of just a regular attendee. Talking my friend into helping, our anime group had a Fan Table at the con, making us one of two anime clubs there. I’ve always said that some of the biggest Sci-Fi fans I’ve ever met were anime fans as well. But not only did we have a fan table, but we hosted two panels, co-hosted four and had two anime blocks in the viewing room.

There were a few bumps and bruises made this weekend as I found out somewhat what it was like to be involved with a con and not just attend it. From the planning alone of the panels to the actual weekend of the con, it was a learning experience and one that I would love to do all over again. Hopefully this time with some of the wrinkles in the plans ironed out.

I think one let down that I had about the con was the lack of any anime dealers in the dealer’s room. One would have been nice not only for me but for those anime fans that did attend. For a lot of us in North and South Carolina there isn’t much related to anime. Clubs are few and far apart, there aren’t many places to buy anime paraphernalia other than the rare comic shop or Best Buy, maybe if we’re lucky, Walmart may have something. But come on, who wants to shop there? Hopefully next year an anime dealer will be enticed into coming.

Even though there was a lack of anime dealers, there was an author by the name of Robert V. Aldrich. He’s a funny man, great to talk with, and hosted one of the anime panels with me. Robert, who has a great knowledge of anime, has written a few anime-style books. I haven’t read his published books, but I have read some of his work on his website and must say I enjoyed them. The cover of the books were a bit of a turn off because they looked like cheesy fan art, so don’t judge them by the cover, go past that and dive into the pages. If you want to check out Robert for yourself, then visit his website at http://www.teachthesky.com/ . And I promise he didn’t pay me for this shameless plug.

Another thing I liked about this con was its costume contest. At a lot of anime cons that I’ve attended, I’ve run into many costuming elitists and they can suck the complete joy of doing this. At a Sci-Fi con, they accept you no matter what you look like or level of costume artistry. The rules were simple and the costumes were great. And what other con could you see Stitch from Lilo and Stitch impersonating Elvis? Another aspect that I liked to the costume contest was a separate one held later on in the night for those outfits that aren’t fit for young eyes, the NC-17 costumes. Believe it or not, some actually don’t go in hopes of seeing boobs. [Editor: *cough* *cough*]

An added thing that I liked was the Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing that was done on Saturday at midnight. For some, that’s not their cup of tea, but for others it’s fun! There’s nothing like seeing fishnets and lingerie on both guys and girls singing unforgettable songs while watching the movie. I was surprised last year when I attended. Surprised that something like this was at a Sci-Fi con and not done at an anime con. Things like this that individualize one con from another is what makes it great to go.

Another thing that made this con different from so many others that I attend, is that it does fund raising for charities locally. This year they raised funds for the North Carolina’s Search and Rescue Dog Association. This was done through the Charity Auction they have every year and this year the fan groups, SG-Special Forces and SG-Atlanta provided photo opportunities with the Stargate for donations for the charity.

Anyone in North or South Carolina, I urge you to attend this growing con. It has a lot to offer and is growing every year offering more and more things to its attendees. We need to support this con, to show that everyone here isn’t a bunch of hillbillies or bible thumpers. Check out the website, go into the forums, suggest things that you want to see at the con, volunteer, and pre-register for next year!

http://concarolinas.org/

Written by Andromeda

Animazement has now got to be my favorite con. This year was my first year attending and I’ve never been enticed by so many panels and met so many Japanese guests. It amazed me that a con could have so much to offer and had me remembering the fun I had at the very first con I ever attended. Somewhere along the way I forgot just why I was going to cons to begin with. It wasn’t just to hang out with friends and spend oodles of money in a dealer’s room, but to participate, learn and meet new people.

I first discovered anime back when Toonami first started running on Cartoon Network. Finding out that my old love, Voltron was playing, I tuned in one afternoon and caught an episode of Sailor Moon. Becoming enthralled with it, a few years later when I bought my very first computer and was able to get online, I decided to do some research on Sailor Moon. To this day when asked what my favorite anime is, I will always say first, Sailor Moon. So to my joy and delight, three of the Japanese guests at Animazement had something to do with Sailor Moon.

Going fangirl I decided to get the autographs of Keiko Han who did the voice for Luna and Akira Kamiya who did the voice of Professor Tomoe. I did say there were three. An additional guest had been added that I did not know about until opening ceremonies. I couldn’t help but go double fangirl when I found out that the special effect director of the Live Action Sailor Moon, Nobuhiro Suzumura was a guest and had to make sure I also got his autograph. This con guide will be the most treasure thing I got while at the con.

The list of panels was amazing and it was so hard to decide which ones to go to. Luckily, Bunny-chan went to ones that I couldn’t go to and vice versa, taking notes for each other for later. A lot of the panels were done by the Japanese guests who made it more interesting. It was fun sitting there listening to people ask Toshifumi Yoshida questions about Inuyasha and getting to see a hilarious episode.

Some of the other mentionable panels were Japanese Anime: 2006 which talked about the state of Japanese Animation, emphasizing market size and its characteristics. Dub Your Own Anime workshop. Photoshop Coloring workshop. How to run an Anime Club panel. Many different drawing workshops on different levels from beginners to advanced with emphasis on anatomy and shading. Customizing and Styling Character Wigs, which I would love to see again. Japanese Language Lesson workshops. Kendo demonstration. Character Design Iron Chef-style with Yoshinori Kanemori. Judo Demonstration. Manga Publishing Online.

Of course, intermingled with all these panels and workshops you do need some fun and entertainment and Animazement had plenty of that. Friday night they had a J-Rock dance party. Of course there was the usual fun dance on Saturday night. Can’t forget to mention Karaoke, AMV contest, Quiz Bowl, their musical It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, Cosplay, the Art auction, and the presentation of the Negima Premier.

The musical, It Seemed Like A Good Idea at The Time: A Musical Comedy About Convention Running was fun to watch. It starts with an anime club and a few members thinking it would be a terrific idea to put on an anime convention. What they didn’t see was all the problems that come along with it. Throw in a few song and dance numbers, and they have a hit. Amazingly enough, stage props consisted of a few chairs, a podium from time to time and a tree. By the end of it, the tree was a drunk as the con chair.

This musical idea wasn’t 100% original, but darn it, it comes close. I’ve heard of the musical idea before and one has been put on at JACON by Wasabi Anime, but it’s nothing like this. This musical actually has a script and the actors do sing. The original scores are songs with their lyrics completely changed. I would love to see more of this in the future and can only imagine what the Carolina Otaku Uprising will have in store for the fans next year at Animazement.

I will say the only bad point of the con was when they made everyone wait outside in groups for the AMV contest and Cosplay. It was hot and the majority of people were wearing costumes and the color black. That right there creates major fangirl and fanboy funk. But that didn’t irk me as bad as Cosplay starting almost two hours late. Sitting in on the Feedback Session on Sunday they blamed it on the sound equipment, something about having to change the setup from the Musical to the Cosplay. Now granted, they gave themselves an hour buffer, but the Musical started late as well. Maybe they need to think about moving the Musical to Friday and making that one of the main program blocks for that night.

Next year will mark Animazement’s 10th year. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for this important anniversary. I hope they don’t let down fans like me. This con has definitely been added to my list of cons I will be attending next con season. This year happened to be a fluke that I attended. It was a graduation gift from my friend Bunny-chan. Thanks Bunny!!!

When making your list of cons to attend next year, definitely consider putting this one on your list if you are on the east coast… or where ever you may be!