The Cel Shaded Report, 3/22: Atelier Pierrot’s isle return

It’s hard to believe it’s already been about one week since Kawaii Kon 2013 kicked off and five days since it ended. I’ve been alternating quite a bit these past few days between relaxing/recovering from it and wading through the virtual piles upon piles of pictures I shot over the three-day weekend. More galleries and posts are coming in the next few days. Just ran a handful of pictures for a “general cosplay” gallery through the ol’ Photoshop Elements image cleanup tools, in fact.

There was also this random picture that doesn’t particularly fit into my current gallery-organizing, but it’s one that’ll make old-school anime collectors drool with envy:

Yes, that’s a stack of Maison Ikkoku box sets 1-7, sitting at the Friends of the Library Hawaii State Library System table in Artist Alley. A copy of box set 5 in the series recently sold for $88.45 on eBay. Box set 7? $76.56. Let’s not even think of what a complete set, plus box set 8. recently sold for. And it’s available to borrow — $1 per box set, for a one-week period — at a friendly neighborhood library near you (as long as that library is Aiea, although you certainly can put in a remote request for it).

But we also have to start the transition away from Kawaii Kon-related items to other events on the calendar (although with the convention already announcing its 10th annual edition is arriving on April 4-6, 2014, a seed’s certainly been planted already in the back of our minds).

So today we turn our attention briefly to the fledgling convention in town, Oni-Con Hawaii, which hit a milestone in announcing its first guest for its inaugural show: Yuko Ashizawa, a designer for Gothic Lolita fashion retailer Atelier Pierrot. This is the second go-round for Atelier Pierrot in the islands, the first time being at HEXXP last year; OCH will feature an expanded presence, with a fashion show, giveaways and a tea party among the events announced so far.

Also signing on with Oni-Con Hawaii is the Cosplay Chess Brigade, the local group that started off staging a real-life cosplay chess game at last year’s HEXXP and has since pulled off a successful game at Kawaii Kon as well. If you’ve never seen a cosplay chess game in action, it’s pretty neat; I haven’t gotten to my pictures of the Kawaii Kon game yet, but I’ll certainly be posting pics of this group somewhere soon. It seems like they’re ramping up activity in the local community quite nicely.

There’s still no date or location announced for Oni-Con Hawaii, but hopefully that’ll be coming along soon. In the meantime, if you’re interested in volunteering, send all inquiries to info@oniconhawaii.com.

Ota-cool incoming!

“Journey of Heroes” graphic novel: If you have yet to pick up this this manga-style book chronicling the achievements of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team/100th Infantry Battalion in World War II — and you really should get it; author Stacey Hayashi and artist Damon Wong did a great job with it — it’ll be available for sale at the Bishop Museum gift shop. It’s a tie-in with the exhibit “American Heroes: Japanese American WWII Nisei Soldiers and the Congressional Gold Medal,” which also looks like it’s worth checking out. Now through April 17.

Aiea Library Anime Club: This month, you wanted more Black Butler, so you’re getting more Black Butler from librarian Diane Masaki. Club meets at the library, 99-143 Moanalua Road. For more information or to RSVP, call 483-7333 or email aiealibraryanimeclub@yahoo.com. 3 p.m. Saturday.

Anime Manga Society at UH-Manoa: Meets every Thursday and Friday in Kuykendall Hall, room 305. Catch Cyborg 009, Kuroko no Basket and Hanasaku Iroha on Thursdays, or Magi, Psycho Pass and Toriko on Fridays. Social time/announcements 4:30 p.m.: screenings 5 to 7 p.m.

Manga character design workshop: Learn the basics of human anatomy and character design (and how to break those rules to develop your own style) from Tara Tamayori, the artist whose two-chapter story “Eternal Blade” is featured in the Hachi Maru Hachi anthology. Workshops will be held at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (1111 Victoria St., room 200) Cost: $15 per session, payable to the instructor at the beginning of each session. Designed for ages 12 and up. Special note: There’s already a waiting list for these workshops, so email peninkinfo@gmail.com or call the art school at 532-8741 if you’re still interested. April 7 and 14, 1 to 4 p.m.

Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month in front of Hot Unique Imaging on the Uptown side of Pearlridge Center. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/147779161986428 (Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. April 7.

“How to Draw Manga Faces”: If you can’t figure out what participants are going to be learning at this workshop at Treehouse (250 Ward Ave., suite 233) presented by MangaBento, you’re really reading the wrong blog. Recommended for ages 8 and older; cost is $10, art materials included. Feel free to bring your own, too, if you prefer. And yes, this is the same workshop that was supposed to be held March 9 but canceled due to lack of interest; here’s hoping for more interest this time around. Details and a link to register are at treehouse-shop.com/how-to-draw-manga-faces-workshop. 2 to 3 p.m. April 20.