When last we left the fundraising effort to help Stan and Sharon Sakai with Sharon’s mounting medical bills, the PayPal link for direct monetary contributions was broken. As of today, it’s still broken. And apparently it’s not getting fixed any time soon, either; Stan noted in a Facebook post early this morning that it’ll probably take a few weeks to resolve. (There’s an update on Sharon’s condition in that post, as well. Oh yes, and you don’t need to have a Facebook account to read his updates.)
Good news for those of you who want to contribute right away, though: The Comic Art Professional Society has set up a P.O. box where people can send checks for the cause. (Since the average Otaku Ohana reader tends to skew toward the older demographic, I trust I won’t have to explain what a “check” is in this day and age of direct electronic transfers, PayPal and ATM cards.) Make checks payable to CAPS or Stan Sakai and send them to:
SAKAI FUNDRAISER
C/O CAPS
P.O. Box 656
Burbank, CA 91503
There’s no deadline for contributions, but if you’re like me and tend to forget about things the further out they are, you’ll probably want to contribute sooner rather than later.
Isle-born Stan Sakai, creator of the comic book Usagi Yojimbo and longtime letterer for Groo the Wanderer, is highly regarded as one of the Really Nice Guys in the comic industry. Tag-team partner in fandom Wilma J. and I found this out firsthand back in 2006, when we sent him a bunch of questions for a Kawaii Kon preview article and he sent back enough material to write that article, an online-exclusive supplement with his travel journal and artwork that ended up gracing our weekend section cover for our con coverage that year. He’s been a guest at two Kawaii Kons — 2006 and 2009 — and I’m sure anyone who sat in on one of his panels would agree that he’s quite an engaging fellow. Here’s a picture of him at Kawaii Kon ’09 with a sketch of Usagi, his most famous creation.
What many people probably didn’t know, though, was that around two years before Stan’s first Kawaii Kon appearance, his wife, Sharon, had been diagnosed with a benign meningnoma brain tumor. And while radiation treatment and regular MRIs seemed to keep it in check in subsequent years, according to Stan, it started growing aggressively again in 2010.
She has facial paralysis on the left side (everything happens on the left side). The paralysis includes her throat, vocal chords, and it has even deteriorated her neck bones. She had lost almost 40% of her body weight in a year. She is undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors don’t see any end in sight for this. There are complications because of the tumor, medications, or just coincidence–diabetes, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, compromised immune system. She has a tracheostomy tube for breathing and a G-tube connected to her stomach for a liquid diet. She can take nothing through her mouth. She is bed-bound, but we try to give her daily physical therapy–walking a couple hundred feet with a walker and/or sitting in a wheelchair.
She had been in the hospital and nurse care from April to September, but we are glad she is home. She requires 24 hour care, so daughter Hannah and her family moved in with us. This includes 18 month old grandson Leo, and another grandchild due in February/early March.
While there have been regular updates on Sharon’s condition on Stan’s page, friends and colleagues have largely shown their support by sharing their thoughts, prayers and well-wishes with the couple. Now, however, a more formal campaign to help pay for the mounting medical bills has emerged: CAPS, the Cartoon/Comic Art Professional Society, is organizing a charity art auction and is now soliciting donations from artists worldwide. The actual auction itself will be announced at a later date. Artists, you can find a form that you can download, fill out and send in with your contribution at www.garageartstudio.blogspot.com/2013/11/help-stan-sakai.html. If you aren’t artistically inclined but still want to donate to the cause … well, this part of the post was where I was supposed to write that you could go to that same Garage Art Studio post and donate via PayPal, but the link is broken at the moment. Stay tuned either here or to my Twitter feed for any further updates.
To Black Friday and beyond!
This special holiday shopping edition of the Ota-cool Incoming! calendar, spotlighting one special anime-themed shopping event and craft fairs where regular local anime con vendors like idkwhat2wear, Bit of Sugar and Team nemu*nemu, Audra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga, will be selling stuff over the next few weeks, is unofficially brought to you by “Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday,” a classic nemu*nemu comic strip from 2009.
Can’t make it to any of these events? Vendor websites are linked in the paragraph above. It should be noted that nemu*nemu has their holiday sale running through Dec. 16 (might I recommend the $25 e-book bundle with all six volumes, freshly recolored volumes 2-4 and introductions by industry luminaries including a certain friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger?). Audra’s taking commission requests, to boot; I’ve always had to restrain myself from buying every single piece Audra’s ever drawn, so now’s your chance to have that very same conundrum of choosing what you want to buy. Meanwhile, over at idk’s site, you can only buy their shirts at the moment, but every order comes with two randomly chosen buttons.
Art+Flea Presents “Totoro Black Friday”: The monthly “destination for creatives, by creatives” takes a Ghibli turn this month. Shop for one-of-a-kind handcrafted items from dozens of vendors. and celebrate the works of Hayao Miyazaki, to boot. Swing by the Photo Ops Hawaii photo booth or watch Andy Lee of Charisma Industries work his drawing magic live, too! Admission: $3, but you can take $1 off if you come dressed as your favorite Ghibli character and another $1 if you bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. Fresh Cafe (831 Queen St.); 5-10 p.m. Friday.
27th Islandwide Christmas Crafts and Food Expo: With idkwhat2wear and Bit of Sugar. Admission: $4 general, $3 military families and seniors 65 and older, free for children 12 and under. Neal Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall; 4-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
Hawaii United Okinawa Association Winter Craft Fair: With idkwhat2wear (yup, it’s a split-squad weekend for them!), the nemu*nemu crew and all the fresh-out-of-the-fryer andagi and other tasty Japanese treats that you can afford to eat. Admission: Free, but $5 will get you into the banquet hall (where idk and nemu*nemu are) 30 minutes before the formal opening time. Hawaii Okinawa Center (94-587 Ukee St., Waipio Gentry); 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
“An Evening in Waipio”: With idkwhat2wear. Think of it as like the Winter Craft Fair mentioned above — right down to the $5 early-bird offer — except in the dark of night. Hawaii Okinawa Center; 5:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 11.
Moanalua High School Winter Craft Fair: With idkwhat2wear, the nemu*nemu crew and Bit of Sugar. Admission is free, but bring your walking shoes if you’re not there at the crack of dawn waiting for parking, because you’ll probably be hiking from somewhere in the surrounding Salt Lake neighborhood. At the high school, 2825 Ala Ilima St.; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 14.
Honolulu Gift Fair: Stacey Hayashi, author of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team graphic novel Journey of Heroes (now heading into a second printing!), will be one of the vendors in attendance. Admission is free. Blaisdell Exhibition Hall; 3-9 p.m. Dec. 20, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 21 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 22.
Crowdfunding, the Internet-connected notion where people contribute to a big pot of money to help a particular project go from someone’s idea to reality, has really become popular as of late. Local otaku-centered events have been become more popular as well, with events from traditional anime conventions like Kawaii Kon and Oni-Con Hawaii to what I’m calling “micro-cons,” convention-like experiences on a smaller scale like the recent Mini Con at McCully-Moiliili Library, Kawaii Kon’s Anime Day at Windward Mall and Taku Taku Matsuri, dotting the calendar.
But is there room for a crowdfunded micro-con in Honolulu? The University of Hawaii Anime Manga Society thought so when they launched a Kickstarter campaign for M.O.E., the Manoa Otaku Experience, on Sept. 4. And with a little over a week to go before the funding campaign ends, the answer is: Yes. Yes, there is. At $2,066, the total raised so far is a shade over the fundraising goal of $2,000, which means there will be an event on some Saturday down the line.
So tomorrow’s MOE Matsuri, a collaboration between UH AMS and Taku Taku Matsuri meant to give an extra promotional/funding boost to the campaign, has turned into a celebration of sorts as well. Appropriate, because when you look at elements of the M.O.E. proposal and compare them to what happened a few months ago at Taku Taku Matsuri, the two events share similar traits. MOE Matsuri will feature a cosplay cafe, vendors (including friends of the blog Jon Murakami and idkwhat2wear, along with annastetic x candy, CAS Crafts & Collectibles, The Rambling Scholar, Bryan + Pueo, Studio Mind Ore, By Thought and Sydney & Max), games and Taku Taku Matsuri organizer Yuka Nagaoka rocking a schoolgirl uniform. (Yes, that won out over “cross-dress,” “Lolita” and “nekomimi maid” in a recent poll of … umm … one person, it would seem.) That’s all happening on the third floor of the UH-Manoa Campus Center, rooms 307-310, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
As for MOE itself, here’s what else the organizers are hoping to incorporate:
Cosplay events — contests, a fashion show and Cosplay Chess
Karaoke contest
Video game room
AMV (anime music video) contest
Admission to MOE won’t be free, but if you contribute to the Kickstarter campaign, you can pre-register for $8-$10. (There are 95 slots available at the lower price, so best get in on that now if you want to save a few bucks.) If you’d like to have a meal at the Cosplay Cafe as well, there are still 39 $30 funding packages up for purchase. Other funding options are also available. And let’s not forget about stretch goals that include T-shirts and more days for the event (which admittedly seem out of reach at this late date, but who knows, maybe the several dozen of you who still read this blog will surprise me somehow and really push this thing higher). You have until 10:37 a.m. Oct. 19 to contribute, so visit ow.ly/pJYNF if you’re interested.
While I’m talking about crowdfunding campaigns, there are two others of note going on at the moment:
The Chalk Twins, sisters from Florida who have drawn chalk art at conventions nationwide, is running an Indiegogo campaign to fund trips to 16 anime cons next year … and Kawaii Kon is on that list. Perks include bookmarks, signed prints, T-shirts and original sketches and artwork. The funding period runs through Oct. 31; visit ow.ly/pJZSn.
Here locally, 11-year-old Mariana Agena, daughter of Twitterite Lance Agena, is selling her manga, Code: Flower Fairys, as a fundraiser for a trip to this year’s Pop Warner National Cheer Competition in Orlando, Fla. $6 gets you a 110-page PDF, and while it may not have a professional sheen to it — it’s basically scans from a sketchbook — it’s still incredibly cute. Besides, buying it gives you instant karma points for helping nurture the artistic and literary creativity of an 11-year-old girl. The campaign is ongoing at gumroad.com/l/POUq.
More for the month
MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists usually meets every second and fourth Sunday of the month at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (1111 Victoria St., room 202). Visit www.manga-bento.com. Meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 27.
Kawaii Kon volunteer meeting #2: You’ve seen that there are going to be a number of great guests coming to next year’s show, and you know there are going to be thousands of people who are going to show up to see those guests. So why not help out a bit? It’s time for the second of several volunteer staff meetings over the next few months. Prospective volunteers must attend two meetings, so why procrastinate? Start now. Learn more about volunteering and download the proper forms at www.kawaii-kon.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7788; the meeting, at Kakaako Waterfront Park, will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 19.
Aiea Library Anime Club: Young adult librarian Diane Masaki will be screening episodes of I Don’t Know What My Young Adult Librarian Will Be Showing At Club, But I’m Sure It’ll Be Really Neat! at the library, 99-143 Moanalua Road. Never heard of that series? It’s a romantic comedy featuring an awkward teenager surrounded by a bevy of moe-blob girls. Or I may have just made that up on the fly because the actual series has yet to be determined. But anyway. For more information or to RSVP, call 483-7333 or email aiealibraryanimeclub@yahoo.com. 3 p.m. Oct. 19.
Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month at Pearlridge Center; locations within the mall may vary. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii(Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 20.
Oni-Con Hawaii: Guests include Yuko Ashizawa, a fashion designer with Atelier Pierrot; Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu and his band, the Earthbound Papas; Hiroshi Takahashi, voice of Ryu in the later Street Fighter games, Eiji Kikumaru in Prince of Tennis and Japan in Hetalia;Sana, visual kei musician; and J. Michael Tatum, voice of Sebastian in Black Butler and France in Hetalia. Also featuring the Cosplay Chess Brigade and Yu x Me Maid Cafe & Host Club. Preregistration open now; $45 for a three-day pass, or buy a la carte: $20 for Friday, $30 for Saturday, $25 for Sunday. Three-day passes are also available at MiniQ (98 Kauhale St., Aiea) and all Big City Diner locations. Hawai’i Convention Center, Nov. 1-3.
Welcome to October, the month where, if you can’t find some event that interests you, you have to start questioning whether your heart’s really still into this anime/manga fandom.
A bunch of major players are hosting events this month: Kawaii Kon. The Hawaii International Film Festival. Taku Taku Matsuri. Oni-Con Hawaii (yes, I’m counting them now even though it’s a November event, because I’m checking in to my hotel Halloween afternoon and will probably be too busy covering it to be able to write them into the November Ota-cool! calendar, so yay). McCully-Moiliili Library manager Hillary Chang. That’s not even factoring in regular meetings of groups like Comic Jam Hawaii and MangaBento, or the Space Battleship Yamato live-action film from 2010 screening at the Ward theaters toward the end of the month.
There’s something going on pretty much every week — so much, in fact, that I ended up breaking up my customary beginning-of-the-month Ota-cool Incoming! post into three parts, for easier reading. And part 1 focuses on the big-bang kickoff to the month, what I saw as one crazy busy day several months ago: Saturday.
About a 30-minute, 14-mile drive separates the Kawaii Kon-hosted Anime Day at Windward Mall and Mini-Con at McCully-Moiliili Library. That information will come in handy for the truly hard-core fans among you, as both of those events are happening at roughly the same time — Anime Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mini Con from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If time and/or parking are your priority, perhaps Mini Con, sponsored by the library, Collector Maniacs and the Ross Dress for Less across the street (in the old Longs building!) ought to be your first stop. Now in its fourth year, Hillary Chang has invited her by-now standard roster of all-star artists ready to meet and greet patrons — Gordon Rider / Ararangers artist Jon Murakami, nemu*nemu artist Audra Furuichi, Crazy Shirts designer and Kikaidaverse fan artist Kevin Sano, and Brady Evans and Tara Tamayori with their dual Pen & Ink Works / Hachi Maru Hachi attack. (It’s super-effective!)
Jon, Audra and Kevin will all have stuff for sale — Audra in particular will have another lineup of I-wanna-buy-them-aaaaaaaaaaaall original artwork — and Pen & Ink Works will host a workshop at 11 a.m. There also will be free swag to collect (bookmarks! pencils!) and free anime screenings throughout the day. Cosplayers also will receive special prizes just for cosplaying, so go for it! Besides, Hillary’s always unveiled a costume of her own every year. You wouldn’t want her to feel all alone in her creative endeavors.
Weird (but given my recent history with covering such events, totally not expected) thing: I don’t think I ever posted a Flickr gallery of last year’s Mini Con. So if you want a taste of what this year’s event will probably look like, here you go:
The larger of the two events is Anime Day, which took over a bunch of empty storefronts and the centerstage area of Windward Mall last year. Most of the accoutrements from last year’s event are back this year: cosplay contests, free anime screenings and a dealers room / Artist Alley hybrid (where one of the vendors, I understand, will be a certain beading enthusiast who also writes a popular Star-Advertiser business column, selling anime- and video game-themed jewelry). The Comic Jam Hawaii gang will be hosting the Art Wall and sketching stations as well. The only thing that’s missing is that giant Christmas tree that regularly spewed out artificial “snow” in the centerstage area, but that Anime Day was also held in early December, so there’s that.
There’s also the promise of a “few surprises.” If you’ve been keeping track of the Kawaii Kon Facebook page in recent weeks, for starters, there has been that whole “here’s a picture of a particular character … what does this all mean?” running bit … I’m only speculating here, but could we finally be getting some confirmed answers to that question? And will it be, as your friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger thinks, the announcement of the voice acting trio of Rob Paulsen, Grey DeLisle and Quinton Flynn as guests for Kawaii Kon 2014? We shall see, I suppose.
Weird (but given my recent history with covering Mini Con 2012, totally not expected) thing: I don’t think I ever posted a Flickr gallery of last year’s Anime Day, either. So if you want a taste of what this year’s event will probably look like, here you go:
And that’s still not everything going on this weekend. Some other events of note:
Star Wars Reads Day: May the force of literacy be with you! Eight libraries — Aiea, Aina Haina, Hawaii Kai, Kahuku, Kapolei and Mililani on Oahu, Makawao on Maui and Princeville on Kauai — will be hosting Star Wars-themed giveaways and activities. Aiea will host members of the 501st Imperial Legion and the Mandalorian Mercs, as well as offer activities for the kids, between 10 a.m. and noon. Kapolei will also have 501st members and kids’ activities between 10 a.m. and noon, while Mililani will have a bunch of giveaways between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Cap it off with a screening of Star Wars: The Clone Wars from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at Hawaii Kai.
Got it? Awesome. Be a v-kei creature of the night and come out to play at Nextdoor (43 N. Hotel St.) from 9 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Comic Jam Hawaii: This Sunday is the first one of the month, which means it’s time for another Pearlridge sketch session. Join this group of collaborative cartoon artists from 1 to 4 p.m. and draw to your heart’s content. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii.
Keep in mind, this is just what’s happening on one weekend this month. Next time, there’s a whole film festival’s worth of material to delve into. And then after that, there’s the rest of the month to cover.
It’s going to be a wild ride, folks. Strap in and enjoy.
Spent a good chunk of the 19th anniversary of my 18th birthday checking out Brady Evans’ “Crossing Cultures” manga exhibit at Windward Community College (short-form recap in six words: it’s really awesome, go visit it; long-form recap coming in Otaku Ohana after I soak up a bit more staycation time).
Close to two weeks later, long since the warm fuzzies from staycation relaxation were replaced by the smothering blanket of daily work stress, running through my mind this morning:
OH MY GOSH THE WINDWARD HOOLAULEA IS TOMORROW THE EXHIBIT CLOSES ON WEDNESDAY I’VE ONLY HAD TIME TO WRITE CAPTIONS FOR SEVEN PICTURES OUT OF 70 IN TWO GALLERIES THE WINDOW FOR THE OCTOBER OTA-COOL INCOMING! UPDATE IS COMING UP FAST AND THE LAST TIME I UPDATED OTAKU OHANA TOYS N JOYS WAS STILL OPEN KYAAAAAAAAH MUST WRITE AND POST SOMETHING NOOOOOOOW *flail flail flail flail flail*
It’s probably going to be a while before those two galleries — one for the exhibit proper, the other, a side gallery dedicated to the drawings exhibit visitors have created — are ready for viewing. They may not be out until an end-of-the-year retrospective, truth be told, with all of October’s events, plus the possibility that I may be called upon to review some films screening in the Hawaii International Film Festival, looming on the horizon.
But for me to say nothing further about the exhibit before it ends in less than a week would sell it short, because there’s still quite a bit going on. There’s the aforementioned Hoolaulea from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, where the Honolulu Printmakers will be hosting a hands-on manga printmaking activity and Gallery ‘Iolani will be open for visits. There’s also the final curator’s walk-through and artist meet-and-greet session from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, featuring Gordon Rider/Star-Advertiser “Calabash” cartoonist Jon Murakami and doujinshi artist Kyunyo.
You can also get a virtual taste of the exhibit at the excellent tie-in website hawaiimanga.com, with exhibit photos, sound clips of the featured artists and downloads for a treasure trove of materials including the exhibit booklet, Rose Dela Cruz’s tie-in manga and bookmarks with Audra Furuichi’s nemu*nemu pups. Brady, along with featured artists Tara Tamayori and Audra, also did an interview with Hawaii Public Radio’s Noe Tanigawa posted under the somewhat unfortunate title of “POW! Crossing Cultures: The Art of Manga in Hawaii.” (I’m sorry, but the whole “let’s add sound effects to something about comics, because when people think comics, they think of the Adam West-era Batman TV show” strikes me as a tired media cliche, ranking right up there with “MANGA! Wow! Girls are reading comics now!” on the irritation scale for me.)
Here’s a taste of some of the highlights from my visit to the exhibit, starting with … the entrance! There are several discrete sections to the exhibit: the history of manga (the first wall of which is shown here); a discussion of the local otaku community; and displays on a number of local series influenced by manga.
Here’s curator Brady during the exhibit walk-through, talking about the nemu*nemu display. Worth noting in this picture:
The girl with the red backpack was wearing an Iwatobi Swim Club jacket. That club will be very familiar to those of you who know about the fanservice-for-fujoshi swimming anime Free! How she got that jacket that quickly, I have no idea.
It’s an Aiea Library young adult librarian sighting!
And here’s Brady next to costumes of Fullmetal Alchemist’s Alphone Elric and Persona‘s Teddy in the Kawaii Kon section.
There’s quite a bit of art on display, but here’s a figure study from one series that I haven’t highlighted very often in this space: Marisa Torigoe’s “Children of Aumakua,” one of the series from the Hawaii Star Manga Project anthology.
Journey of Heroes writer Stacey Hayashi was the scheduled featured guest of the day. She talked about the creative process behind the manga depicting the World War II story of the 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team in chibified form.
Cacy & Kiara artist and MidWeek cartoonist Roy Chang also showed up as an unscheduled featured guest of the day. He and Stacey swapped books later on.
And, of course, some Star-Advertiser anime/manga blogger dork is part of a display where local manga “dignitaries” — the others being Kawaii Kon senior administrator Roy Bann and Star-Advertiser “Bento Box” cartoonist Deb Aoki — shared some thoughts about the evolution of Hawaii’s otaku community.
Roy Chang and I were chatting a little after Brady’s walk-through, and we both agreed that the exhibit’s production values were impressive, on a level with the Osamu Tezuka exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2007. Certainly worth checking out if you have some free time over the next few days.
It took a few weeks for me to confirm the news, but now that all the players have been properly notified and the signs printed, I can now type this with authority: Both Toys N Joys stores — the store in Kaimuki, as I noted in the September Ota-cool Incoming! calendar, and the Aiea store, at 98-150 Kaonohi St. in the Westridge Shopping Center — will be closing on Sept. 23.
The Aiea store hasn’t been around as long as the Kaimuki store — 25 years compared to Kaimuki’s 30 — and it only had a fraction of the selection, but it’s always held a closer, more cherished spot in my heart. Part of it is because it’s physically closer to where I’ve lived all my life (central Oahu represent!). But it’s mostly because back in the days before one-click Internet shopping and a GameStop in every large neighborhood, it was the place to go to feed a budding local otaku’s ever-growing hunger for video games (both domestic and import) and anime collectibles. There’s a clerk there, Steve, who’s also been there for what’s seemed like forever. I don’t think he’s been there all 25 years — kinda hard to remember who was behind the counter when you’re 11 or 12, which is how old I would’ve been when the store opened — but it’s most assuredly been a long time. Friendly smile, always chats with me whenever I come in … great guy to know, really. I wish him and the other staffers nothing but the best in their future endeavors.
Here’s the current Aiea clearance sale breakdown:
All toys 25 percent off (plushies 50 percent off)
All video games 10 percent off
All DVDs 15 percent off
All Airsoft guns 20 percent off
All replica swords 25 percent off
There’s a good chance that the percentages will go higher the closer we get to closing day, so if you want to gamble on your preferred item of choice still being around for an extended period of time, it’s your call. You aren’t going to find anything super popular — it doesn’t seem like the merchandise mix has been updated for several months — but hey, you can think of it as your last chance to have a vintage otaku treasure hunt of sorts.
After the jump: some additional notes on events in September and October that have hit my radar after I published that Ota-cool calendar.
When last we left our intrepid Hachi Maru Hachi creative team of Jordan Takemoto, Rose Dela Cruz, Brady Evans and Tara Tamayori back in March, the talents behind the local manga anthology were getting ready to release their second issue at Kawaii Kon and pondering the possibilities for a third issue for next year.
Well, we’ve reached the “open solicitation” phase of the creative process … and if you or any local artist-types you know want to be part of that next issue, now’s your chance. Tara — she of “Eternal Blade” and that series’ perverted panda — posted the following today on the Hachi Maru Hachi Facebook page:
Hey all! Tara of “Eternal Blade” here! We are looking for people interested in doing their own manga and getting it published. All that is required is for you to have some sort of relation to the islands of Hawaii and have confidence that your work is ready to get out there.
We won’t just take anyone. Make sure to contact our president, Jordan Takemoto, with a 20-24 max page, one-shot story with character designs and concept, background, and fashion. We also want some inking examples of your work (if it’s digital that is fine), color is optional, and method of work (traditional/digital/both). Be ready and persevere against our strict president because he will poke holes in your story until there are none. If you are in younger than 18 make sure you let us know and have the consent of your parents. We do not wish to pull you away from school work. ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))))))
This is a lot of work but we hope you can contact us with all of this by the end of this month (or a little later since i posted this late). That way there is room to get this printed by February and sold at the Kawaii Kon in March. Good luck! Or がんばって‼ (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
Interested? You can get in touch with Jordan via the aforementioned Facebook page.
Welcome to this month’s edition of Ota-cool Incoming! … which technically should have come out a few days ago, ideally before Sept. 1, so that I could have gotten one more Comic Jam Hawaii meeting in here. What can I say; work the past few nights, ever since I last posted something here, has been cah-ray-zy.
This month’s spotlight event is one for which yours truly served as an adviser: “Crossing Cultures: The Art of Manga in Hawaii.” The exhibit, at Gallery ‘Iolani on the Windward Community College campus, is a journey through the history of manga locally, from its origins in Japan through its influences on the local fan community.
There’s a veritable who’s who of local artists and writers spotlighted, including Audra Furuichi (nemu*nemu), Roy Chang (Cacy & Kiara), Jon Murakami (Gordon Rider), Marisa Torigoe (“Children of Aumakua” from the Hawaii Star Manga Project), Stacey Hayashi and Damon Wong (Journey of Heroes), Patsy Y. Iwasaki and Avery Berido (Hamakua Hero), Tara Tamayori (“Eternal Blade” from Hachi Maru Hachi) and Kyunyo (“Emperor’s Seal”). All of this is curated by Brady Evans, Pen & Ink Works founder and Hachi Maru Hachi contributor.
The number of special activities tied in to this exhibit could probably fill an average Ota-cool Incoming! calendar by themselves. Start with the opening reception, running from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday. Every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. for the duration of the exhibit will feature the curator’s walk-through and artist talks, where you can meet some of the participating artists. And as part of the Windward Hoolaulea(10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 28), the Honolulu Printmakers will be hosting a hands-on manga printmaking activity from noon to 2 p.m., and the gallery will be open on what will be the only Saturday it’ll be open for the exhibit’s run.
If you can only make it out to see the exhibit, it runs through Oct. 2; there’s an area where you can sketch to your heart’s content, so at least you’ll have that. Gallery hours are 1-8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays and 1-5 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
For many local fans of anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics), the social calendar is divided into two seasons: “Kawaii Kon” and “waiting for the next Kawaii Kon.”
—Me, in my Taku Taku Matsuri preview from Friday
I love “waiting for the next Kawaii Kon” seasons like the one we’re in right now. We just wrapped up a busy August with the ’90s Anime Art Exhibit and Taku Taku Matsuri, and it looks like anime and manga fans will have plenty of opportunities to stay busy through November with the exhibit “Crossing Cultures: The Art of Manga in Hawaii” at Windward Community College next month; Mini Con at McCully-Moiliili Library, Kawaii Kon’s Anime Day at Windward Mall and the Hawaii International Film Festival in October; and of course the inaugural edition of Oni-Con Hawaii in November. And those are just the big events.
I’ll have a new edition of the Ota-cool Incoming! calendar posted in a few days with all the details, but for now I have a camera full of pictures begging to be shared. So before we move forward, let’s look back at the two big events in August.
The ’90s Anime Art Exhibit
I’m still a bit hard-pressed to explain why this exhibit, at the Loading Zone gallery downtown, was called a “’90s” anime art exhibit. Sure, there were a number of pieces by artists Julie Feied, Dennis Imoto, Devin Oishi and Chanel Tanaka that showed influences from shows of that era (Dragon Ball Z! Sailor Moon! Crayon Shinchan!), but it wasn’t the be-all, end-all theme of the show that I was expecting. Heck, the reception I attended on Aug. 9 featured anime music videos with Madoka Magica footage in them. And then there was the improv troupe (they were good, albeit a bit out of place). There were a handful of cosplayers, but not enough for me to stick around for the cosplay contest later that evening. Besides, talking to Dennis and Devin, I got the sense that there was a much more vibrant crowd the previous week, during First Friday. Such is life, I suppose.
The brainchild of Yuka Nagaoka acquitted itself quite nicely its first time out of the gate. Aside from a tight parking situation and the fact that the sound system speakers were located near the dealer area, making it difficult to conduct transactions any time there was music playing or performances going on, it was a nice little festival with a healthier-than-anticipated turnout, and it seemed like everyone was having a good time. And yes, just as she mentioned in that article I referenced above, Yuka did, indeed, wear her bright red kimono. She even danced to Psy’s “Gentleman” in it … not an easy feat in the warm weather we’ve been having lately, I’d think. Other highlights included artists — including some of the Comic Jam Hawaii regulars! — at the MangaBento table, doing their thing; the Yu x Me Maid Cafe & Host Club dancers filling their recommended event quota of “Mune Mune Kyun”-ing; and (not pictured) me buying waaaaaay too much Azumanga Daioh swag for my own good (but those chibi figures were sooooooooo cute, I swear!).
There aren’t very many pictures mostly because (a) I had to leave before the Cosplay Chess Brigade got to do their thing so I could go to work and (b) as I grow older, I’m finding that I’m becoming more and more of a hopeless introvert and don’t feel comfortable asking total strangers to take their pictures. But still I soldier on. Somehow.
Surprise! It’s August already, and 2013 is just whipping on through. Seems like only yesterday that I was pondering whether to start marathoning all of the Marvel Comics movies that I haven’t seen to prepare myself for Iron Man 3 (for the record, that’s Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers … yes, I’m just as behind on my live-action movie watching as I am with my anime watching and manga reading, sigh) … and before I realized it, I had missed the theatrical run of not only that, but also Star Trek: Into Darkness AND Man of Steel. AND I’m going to have to hurry to catch Monsters University, too. I did manage to catch Despicable Me 2 (human characters were okay, Minions were awesome) and Pacific Rim (human characters were okay, Jaegers versus Kaiju were awesome), though, so at least there was that.
The summer movie blockbuster season may be winding down, but it seems like the Ota-cool Incoming! calendar is heating up, with no less than five, count ’em, five events taking place over the weekend starting on Friday. I think this pretty much covers all the high points for the next few weeks; of course, if anything new worth noting arrives here at Otaku Ohana Central, I’ll try to let you all know as soon as my schedule allows.
To the calendar!
’90s Anime Art Exhibit: The Loading Zone (47 N. Hotel St.) in the Chinatown art district is hosting this artistic tribute to the days of Evangelion, Escaflowne, Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop and countless other series that I’ve loved that now officially qualify as “vintage” anime. Sigh. MangaBento “Tomo-e-Ame” participating artists Julie Feied, Devin Oishi and Dennis Imoto will have work in this exhibit, as will artist Chanel Tanaka.
From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, as part of First Friday, there will be music by VJ Christian Berg, a dance performance by Blank Canvas, a fashion show presented by Visual Kei Dark Castle at 9 p.m., and Aloha Beer Company specialty beer on tap.
From 7 p.m. to midnight Aug. 9, you can meet the artists and enjoy an improv show by Mr. Aaron Presents from 8 to 10 p.m. and a cosplay contest at 10 p.m.
Both events will feature caricatures by Andy Lee and an art workshop; cover at each event is $5. And if you can’t make either event, the exhibit itself will be up through Aug. 26. Gallery hours are 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or by appointment. Visit www.facebook.com/events/205760262908791 (no Facebook login required).
Aiea Library Anime Club: Young adult librarian Diane Masaki will be screening episodes of Hetalia Axis Powers at the library, 99-143 Moanalua Road. For more information or to RSVP, call 483-7333 or e-mail aiealibraryanimeclub@yahoo.com. 3 p.m. Saturday.
Kawaii Kon Beach Day: Watermelon smashing! Sand-castle building contests! Watermelon smashing! The Cosplay Runway! Watermelon smashing! A game of Capture the Flag! And did I mention the watermelon smashing? Indulge your inner Gallagher and have some fun in the sun at Magic Island Beach Park. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Comic Jam Hawaii: They’re baaaaaack! After a one-month break, this group of collaborative cartoon artists is back at Pearlridge Center for their regular first-and-third-Sunday-of-the-month gatherings at Pearlridge Center. As usual, locations within the mall may vary; visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii(Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Summer Smash 2013: It’s the island’s biggest Airsoft shoot-em-up event of the summer, presented by Impact Games and Ash Bash Productions at Hawaii All-Star Field off Nimitz Highway (someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s the patch of land just after the entrance to the Disabled American Veterans Hall). So how did this make it into Ota-cool Incoming!? Kawaii Kon will be there, preregistering attendees for the 2014 convention (preregister at Summer Smash, get an exclusive patch!) and hosting a cosplay contest, to boot. (I’m kinda hoping one team shows up as Social Welfare Agency Special Ops Section 2. Just because.) For more information on the event and where to register, visit www.facebook.com/events/357207584390708/ (no Facebook login required). Sunday.
MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists usually meets every second and fourth Sunday of the month at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (1111 Victoria St., room 200). Visit www.manga-bento.com. Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 11.
Taku Taku Matsuri: A summer festival with an anime/manga slant featuring food, games, artists and vendors selling all sorts of cultural swag, photo shoots, live music, and the Cosplay Chess Brigade and Yu x Me Maid Cafe and Host Club, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 25 at Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu (1239 Olomea St.). Volunteers also needed; training sessions are at 1-3 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.-noon, 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Aug 18. Meet at Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu for that, too.
Future Attractions
Mini Con 2013: The comic con in the handy petite size returns for its fourth year at McCully-Moiliili Library, 2211 S. King St. nemu*nemu artist Audra Furuichi has already confirmed her participation … and the date also happens to coincide with Star Wars Reads Day, so could a tie-in with that be forthcoming, too? Hmm. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 5.
Oni-Con Hawaii: Guests include Yuko Ashizawa, a fashion designer with Atelier Pierrot; Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu and his band, the Earthbound Papas; Hiroshi Takahashi, voice of Ryu in the later Street Fighter games, Eiji Kikumaru in Prince of Tennis and Japan in Hetalia; and Sana, visual kei musician. Also featuring the Cosplay Chess Brigade and Yu x Me Maid Cafe & Host Club. Preregistration open now; $45 for a three-day pass. Hawai’i Convention Center, Nov. 1-3.
Kawaii Kon 2014: Guests include voice actors Michael Sinterniklaas and Stephanie Sheh and professional cosplayer Leah Rose. Preregistration open now; $37 for a three-day pass for children ages 5-12, $42 general admission. Hawai’i Convention Center, April 4-6, 2014.
When last we left the fundraising effort to help Stan and Sharon Sakai with Sharon’s mounting medical bills, the PayPal link for direct monetary contributions was broken. As of today, it’s still broken. And apparently it’s not getting fixed any time soon, either; Stan noted in a Facebook post early this morning that it’ll probably take a few weeks to resolve. (There’s an update on Sharon’s condition in that post, as well. Oh yes, and you don’t need to have a Facebook account to read his updates.)
Otaku Ohana 