jason – Page 7 – Otaku Ohana

Ota-cool incoming: Dressed to impress

Cosplay doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As much as we’d like to twitch our noses and *poof* a lovely costume of Sailor Moon or Tuxedo Mask into existence a la Samantha in Bewitched (note: this is what I’m talking about, for those of you who may not be old enough to remember Bewitched), the truth is that it takes a lot of work to craft a costume that turns heads at conventions and other special events.

One of the tools of the trade that cosplayers use is the dress form. Think of it as a mannequin torso on a stand; here’s a selection of what’s available on Amazon. Of course, getting a dress form means spending more money, something that may be in short supply when taking into account all the other supplies one needs to create a high-quality costume.

That’s where a workshop happening this weekend at Aiea Public Library comes in.

Representatives from Anime Matsuri Hawaii will be on hand to show workshop attendees how to create their own dress forms without having to order the real thing; apparently all you need is some duct tape, some plastic wrap and a willing ~~victim~~ partner. They’ll provide the tape, wrap and some fabric that can be used to stuff mannequins or for other crafts and cosplay; you can bring your own partner, as well as a T-shirt that you don’t mind cutting up to make a complete dress form.

Interested? The workshop runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday. It’s free, but be sure to RSVP to cosplay@animematsuri.com if you’re interested so the workshop organizers can bring enough supplies. Aiea Library’s at 99-374 Pohai Place, where there’s still plenty of parking as well as a certain Face of Hawaii Ingress ™ who’s on the final stretch to hitting max-level 16 in the game (in spite of Enlightened efforts to slow her down, too, *sigh*). Call 483-7333.

Elsewhere around town

Kawaii Kon / Comic Con Honolulu volunteer staff meetings: The third session for Kawaii Kon volunteers and the second for Comic Con Honolulu volunteers are coming up, a checkpoint worth noting for those of you interested in helping take care of all the behind-the-scenes things that keep the two events running smoothly every year. Prospective volunteers have to attend a minimum of two staff meetings to qualify for work, after all, and the clock’s ticking … louder for Kawaii Kon in particular, of course, but ticking nonetheless. For more details on volunteering (as well as an enrollment form for anyone joining the party), visit kawaiikon.com/volunteering/volunteer-rules-faqs or comicconhonolulu.com/volunteer/volunteer-rules-requirements. Saturday at the Ala Moana Hotel Plumeria Room; 1:30 p.m. for Kawaii Kon, 3 p.m. for Comic Con Honolulu.

Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month at Pearlridge Center. Yes, there are other things going on on Sunday — the 50th Superb Owl will be overseeing some panthers and horses playing sportsball on one channel, puppies will be romping around on another channel, and it’s the only day of the year when people actually want to watch commercials. If none of those catch your fancy, though, perhaps some drawing is in order. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii (Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Downtown section of the mall.

TJ Fernandez services set for February

(Hat tip to Stella Marie Jacang Kepo’o for sharing this picture of TJ Fernandez at Amazing Hawaii Comic Con last year on my Facebook timeline.)

A few updates on memorial plans for Tristan “TJ” Fernandez, the teen I talked about in my last post:

Earlier today, Jaret Fernandez, TJ’s father, posted information on the Celebration of Life Services. They will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 27-28, at Mililani Memorial Park and Mortuary in Central Oahu (take the H-2 Freeway to the Waipio exit, then turn right if you’re coming from the south or left from the north, then follow the road all the way to the end), mauka chapel. On Feb. 27, visitation starts at 5:30 p.m., with services at 6:30 p.m.; visitation on Feb. 28 starts at 10 a.m., with the celebration of life at 11 a.m. Casual attire.
The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team was a big part of last year’s Fundraiser for TJ, showing up to give him autographed memorabilia and inviting him to be an honorary coach at the team’s final home game in early March. A tweet from our intrepid hoops reporter / Court Sense blogger Brian McInnis noted that the team plans a tribute to TJ at an upcoming game.

One final thought: On Wednesday, Jaret Fernandez shared something TJ posted on Facebook on May 4, 2013, something to make us all cherish life a bit more every day:

“When you think that your life is worthless think again you were born in this world for a reason you may not no what that reason is yet but there is a reason you just have to find it by walking your own path.”

Rest in peace, TJ

There’s no easy way for me to write this, so if this post seems a little more rambling than normal, I apologize. But I’m sad to report that Tristan “TJ” Fernandez, the teen diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in October 2014 and subsequently was the guest of honor at a benefit mini-con organized on his behalf last February, died this morning.

From a Facebook post by Jaret Fernandez, Tristan’s dad:

It’s with a heavy heart that we regret to say after a very hard fought battle with a brain stem tumor; TJ passed away this morning.
TJ was at home among close friends and family which was his final wish.
We wanted to thank all of you for your prayers this past year and will let you know about funeral services later this week.
God Bless…

I took the photo above, of TJ with members of the Pacific Outpost of the 501st Legion, at that fundraiser last year. Shared it in a post soon after the event, too. To see the local fan community rally around this ailing teen and offer him support, comfort and joy — both at the event and a tribute site, Wish for TJ (wishfortj.com), which remains up to this day — was truly inspiring. Equally inspiring was the word I got during Amazing Hawaii Comic Con in September, that TJ was able to make it out to attend that convention for a few hours.

An article by our Rob Shikina (subscription only) noted that when TJ got his cancer diagnosis, he was given one to three months to live.

He ended up living for 15 months.

Nineteen days into this new year, there have already been a number of notable deaths — David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Frey. Not gonna lie … this one hurts the most. My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the Fernandez family.

The Anime Matsuri Hawaii preview: It’s kinda con-plicated

There have been six major conventions this year in our state. I know I keep writing that fact in this space over and over again, but it’s something that’s boggled my mind all this year. It’s a profound time for the local otaku community, one that’s grown from roots in anime and manga to encompass general animation and sci-fi/comic culture as well.

You’d think a friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger would be having the time of his life with all these cons coming in. Yet as the year’s worn on — and it HAS been wearing on me; note how I’ve only had the energy to write fragments of posts about Con-athon 2015, that period between September and October where we had events going on for five straight weekends — the storylines, and figuring out what to write about and not write about here, have become increasingly complicated.

Sure, the first half was just fine — Kawaii Kon was Kawaii Kon, Comic Con Honolulu was a nice sci-fi/comic twist on the Kawaii Kon formula, and HawaiiCon was the vacation-with-some-con-fun of my dreams that I’d really love to return to next year. But then things took a turn for the strange. Amazing Hawaii Comic Con proved that at my age, there really IS a cap on how many attendees and lines one can tolerate before wanting to run screaming back to the safety and solitude of the Otaku Ohana home office. A few weeks after that, Anime Ohana went in the opposite direction, snatching the title of “the state’s most intimate con of the year” away from HawaiiCon (albeit likely unintentionally).

And now we’ve come to the year’s last major convention: Anime Matsuri Hawaii, the local spin-off of a convention that’s been held in Houston since 2007. On the one hand, it’s an anime convention with a heavy dash of professional cosplay and J-fashion. Guests include voice actors Crispin Freeman, Johnny Yong Bosch and Maile Flanagan; Masahiko Otsuka, president of Studio Trigger (Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia); professional cosplayers Vampy, Goldy, Stella Chuu and Reika; music guests Brilliant Kingdom and DaizyStripper; Shunsuke Hasegawa, Putumayo designer; Chinatsu Taira, Metamorphose designer; and Yui Minakata, KERA and Gothic Lolita Bible model. Over in the exhibitor area, you’ll see a number of familiar faces including Gordon Rider/Star-Advertiser “Calabash” cartoonist Jon J. Murakami, Crazy Shirts artist Kevin Sano, Lorenzo Trinidad and Trinigrafx Comics, Charisma Industries, the MangaBento gang, A Bit of Sugar, Crappy Kids, and … umm … Hen Da Ne, otherwise known as “that dealers room space with that guy who always shouts about ‘fresh hot yow-weeeeeee’ and stuff.” Other highlights include:

Two screenings of Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade (touted as the “U.S. premiere” on the schedule, although Trigger representatives screened the finished OAV at Anime Expo earlier this year), at 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday.
The first formal Funimation industry panels at a local convention, hosted by company representative Justin Rojas.
The J-Fashion show (8 p.m. Friday) and Cosplay Showcase (4 p.m. Saturday).
DaizyStripper, with opening act Brilliant Kingdom, performs live in concert at 9 p.m. Saturday.

You can find the full schedule at animematsurihawaii2015.sched.org.

On the other hand, there are a number of factors that have hurt the convention. It’s going up against Black Friday and the opening weekend of the Christmas shopping season. Two major craft fairs — the Winter Craft Fair at the Hawaii Okinawa Center in Waipio Gentry, and the Islandwide Christmas Crafts and Food Expo at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall — will also be running over the weekend, meaning some vendors who might have been all-in for AMHI are instead either selling at those craft fairs or splitting staff and merchandise among shows.

Then there are the events touted on the convention’s website in March that disappeared over the next eight months and aren’t on the final schedule — Club AM (advertised as a late-night dance party for the first two nights of the convention), AM Idol (a talent competition), a formal dance, an anime music video competition and a car show among them. A few days ago, the maid cafe was converted to a cosplay recovery lounge. “Nerdlesque,” a show combining burlesque performance with geek culture, morphed into “Intro to Nerdlesque,” a panel in which Chuu talks about the show. Finally, while I was working on this post early Thanksgiving afternoon, it was announced that cosplayer Yuegene Fay would be canceling her previously announced appearance due to problems with her U.S. customs and immigration paperwork.

Those are easily chalked up to, and forgiven by, logistical issues. But perhaps the biggest elephant in the room, the one that’s spawned an online petition calling for a boycott of everything Anime Matsuri LLC touches and a fair amount of discussion in social media, are the allegations of sexual harassment and general malfeasance levied against con directors John and Deneice Leigh based on what’s happened in Houston and several other places. The Houston Press, an alternative weekly newspaper (think of it as being like the old Honolulu Weekly), ran a pair of articles on the subject; you can read them here and here. You can look up many of the main players and their blogs elsewhere on the Internet if you so choose.

It is what it is. I respect those people’s views, and I can understand why they would want to boycott the show. I also know there are volunteers on the AMHI staff — people who have joined and have stayed on despite knowing this info — who are working hard to present the best show to their attendees this weekend. If I were a full-time blogger rather than a full-time copy editor/page designer who fits blogging in between Tsum Tsum and Ingress sessions and trying to rest and recuperate from all that editing and designing, I certainly would have liked to have had a sit-down with the Leighs to talk about the allegations. But I’m not, and as a journalist by trade, I don’t feel it’s fair for me to pass judgment on covering or not covering a show unless I gave them a chance to respond first.

And so, the show goes on, and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. If I hear anything otherwise, though … we’ll see. If you’d like to join me at the show, prices at the door are $60 for general-admission 3-day passes; $25 for children’s 3-day passes; $30 for Friday passes; $35 for Saturday passes; and $25 for Sunday passes.

And after that I’m going on another mini-vaca… wait, what? Kawaii Kon has a bazillion guests now? Comic Con Honolulu’s built a respectable guest roster, too? And HawaiiCon has Chekov, Uhura and Troi on their 2016 guest list, and they’re moving to the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows? Well. Otaku blogger better blog…

Ota-cool incoming: November rain, cinematic reign

After the flurry of activities that was Con-athon 2015 — five straight weekends between September and October, five convention or convention-like festivals — you’d think we’d be getting a breather with the holidays approaching.

You’d be wrong. Ohhhhhhh so very wrong.

From the beginning of this month’s free-movie roster at Kahua Cafe through Anime Matsuri Hawaii at the end of this month, this has become yet another “want something to do THIS week? Here ya go!” month in an endless parade of such months. This edition of the Ota-cool Incoming calendar starts off with a roundup of all the movies screening in the next few weeks, starting with …

Wednesday Family Nights at Kahua Cafe: All this month, Kahua Cafe will be screening Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli favorites. It’s a family-friendly event, so the movies will be the English-dubbed versions, and they’ll be screening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The lineup:

Wednesday: Kiki’s Delivery Service
Nov. 11: Ponyo
Nov. 18: Spirited Away
Nov. 25: Howl’s Moving Castle

Kahua Cafe is in the back of Na Mea/Native Books Hawaii, on the first floor of Ward Warehouse below The Old Spaghetti Factory. They have a pretty yummy-looking menu, too. Questions? Hit them up on their Facebook event page (they were prompt in answering my questions!) or call 990-0384.

(And if that photo above looks familiar, you have a very good memory.)

Anthem of the Heart: There’s one more screening of this tale from the Anohana creative team of a girl with words sealed away in her heart: noon Saturday at the Consolidated Ward Stadium 16 theaters. Here’s a trailer.

I already mentioned this in my last post, but since then a new review has popped up on Fandom Post. Spoiler alert: It gets an A+. A home video release can’t arrive soon enough for me.

Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie: Not to be confused with Ghost in the Shell: The Original Movie, Ghost in the Shell 2: The Kinda Confusing Sequel to the Original Movie, or Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society: And This One’s Based on the TV Series, this particular installment follows up on the events of the four-part Arise OAV. The prime minister of Japan is dead, the Fire-Starter virus continues to infect Ghosts, and Major Motoko Kusanagi and the members of Section 9 must untangle the complex web of government corruptions and shadowy figures to figure out what’s going on.

Here, have another trailer.

The movie has a limited run at the Consolidated Ward theaters before moving to the Honolulu Museum of Art for nine, count ’em, nine screenings. Your showtimes:

Consolidated Ward Stadium 16: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10, 11 and 16
Doris Duke Theater (Honolulu Museum of Art): 4 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21, 1 p.m. Nov. 22, 1 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27

Tickets are available on Fandango for Ward ($12.25 general, $9 seniors, $8.75 children) and the art museum website ($10 general admission, $8 museum members) for the Doris Duke screenings.

Hawaii International Film Festival: There’s only one anime in this year’s HIFF Fall Showcase (Nov. 12-22). Fortunately, it’s the latest project from one of the best creators still around since Studio Ghibli went dormant: Mamoru Hosoda, director of the great The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the sublime Summer Wars and the sounds-great-but-it’s-still-on-my-pile-of-things-to-watch Wolf Children. His latest movie, The Boy and the Beast, features loner Kyuta (side note: I seem to be writing a lot of synopses these days where the main character is described as a loner of some sort, aren’t I?) embarking on an adventure-filled journey with Kumatetsu, a supernatural beast also isolated in an imaginary world.

Third trailer time!

The Boy and the Beast screens at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 21 and 5 p.m. Nov. 22, with both screenings at the Regal Dole Cannery theaters.

Also, for those of you who enjoyed Journey of Heroes, the comic book recounting the achievements of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion with chibi characters, author Stacey Hayashi has a pair of projects screening as part of this year’s “Made in Hawaii Shorts” roundup: “The Surrender Call,” based on Military Intelligence Service linguist Herbert Yanamura’s actions to save civilians during the bloody Battle of Okinawa, and “The Herbert Yanamura Story,” in which he shares his story and reunites with someone whom he saved from that battle nearly 70 years later. “Made in Hawaii Shorts” screens at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 16 and 10:45 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Dole Cannery theaters, and 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Consolidated Koko Marina theaters. If anyone reads this blog on Kauai, you guys can see these shorts, too, at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Waimea Theatre.

HIFF tickets are $14 general, $12 students, seniors and military members. Memberships are also available for those of you who really love your movies. Visit hiff.org.

Elsewhere around town

“Short Story: Drawings by Brady Evans”: I’ve been covering the work of Brady Evans for quite a while now, from his days winning MangaBento art contests to starting art groups to curating an exhibit about manga in Hawaii to buying pretty artwork by him on display in art shows downtown, and probably a whole bunch of other things in between. Now Brady’s going to have an exhibit of his drawings on display at my alma mater, Punahou School, and I’m thrilled not only because I get to swing by there and see his work, but also because I can stop by the lily pond near Thurston Chapel. Fishies! Turtles! The occasional confused duck! I usually only plan on visiting once a year during the school’s annual malasada fundraiser for scholarships — you know, the Punahou Carnival — so this is a bonus visit for me. Kirsch Gallery (next to Cooke Library); opening reception 3:30-6 p.m. Thursday, exhibit on display through Nov. 19 (gallery hours 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays). Call 943-3247.

Keiki Con: KYAAAAAAAAH IT’S ANOTHER CONVENTION-TYPE EVENT IN THE HANDY PETITE SIZE *runs away*

… just kidding. I’m just feeling guilty that I have yet to do any write-ups for the events that were part of that five-week Con-athon 2015 I mentioned earlier in this post. This event up in Central Oahu seems like it’s going to be a really fun time for keiki of all ages, with food trucks, games, various activities, a cosplay contest (register by 1 p.m. the day of the event); the Hawaii Game Truck; and an Artist Zone featuring make-and-take activities and Pineapple Man artist Sam Campos, Gordon Rider/Ara-Rangers/Edamame Ninjas/Star-Advertiser “Calabash” artist Jon Murakami, and Aumakua: Guardians of Hawaii artist Christopher Caravalho. Kawaii Kon will be on hand to give away f~~ree three-day passes~~ (update 11/6, 5:30 p.m.: a pass will be awarded to the winner of the cosplay contest), too. Mililani Recreation Center 7 (take the H-2 Freeway to the Mililani Mauka exit, then shoot pretty much close to the top of Meheula Parkway; it’s at 95-1333 Lehiwa Drive, for you GPS types), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Comic Jam Hawaii: It’s the holiday season, which means this group of collaborative cartoon artists, ousted by preparations for Santa Claus and giant holiday trains at Pearlridge, is hitting the road this month. They’ll be at Aiea Library — home of the monthly ~~Polar Bear Cafe & Friends~~ Anime Club and the Face of Hawaii Ingress ™ — on Saturday and Nov. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. The library is at 99-374 Pohai Place … and have I mentioned there’s still plenty of parking? What’s that? I mention that every time I mention there’s something at Aiea Library? Well, then. Call 483-7333.

Ota-cool Incoming: La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween party

Those of you who are J-pop fans probably mourned a little bit when local FM radio content went from 24/7 to a few hours every week on the K-pop station with DJ Chikapin’s “J-Morning Saturday” (woo-hoo!). I was sad, but I eventually adjusted; K-pop does have its fair share of catchy tunes, after all (and equally weird music videos, too; hello, Orange Caramel). It’s only when I was writing this Halloween edition of the Ota-Cool Incoming calendar that I realized the biggest void KORL 97.1’s conversion from J-pop to hip-hop left on the local radio landscape.

Namely, we aren’t getting Halloween Junky Orchestra’s “Halloween Party” played several times a day, every day, during this month anymore.

But we will soldier on, dear readers. Mostly because in the Year of All the Things, there’s not much time to sit around and mourn — there’s just too much to do. This particular round starts with what I like to call National Cosplay Recognition Day on Saturday, and Halloween Comicfest. Think of it as being exactly like Free Comic Book Day, except with more orange and spooooooky motifs in the promotional logos.

There’s quite a bit of anime/manga-fan-friendly stuff being handed out this time around, including “Birth of Kitaro” from Drawn & Quarterly (hey, more translated GeGeGe no Kitaro is being released! Yay!), Junji Ito’s “Fragments of Horror” from Viz, and a mini Yo-kai Watch comic, also from Viz. Fans of more traditional comics have Archie, Harley Quinn, Doctor Strange, Batman, Spider-man and Avengers stories to look forward to, among others.

Participating stores around the state include:

Other Realms (The Nimitz Center, 1130 N. Nimitz Highway, suite C-140, Iwilei)
Gecko Books & Comics (1151 12th Ave., Kaimuki)
Dragon’s Lair (95-1840 Meheula Parkway, space E-10, Mililani)
Westside Comics and Games (590 Farrington Highway, #538, Kapolei)
Maui Comics and Collectibles (333 Dairy Road, #102, Kahului)

Selection will vary depending on what each individual retailer orders, so don’t get too upset if what you’re looking for isn’t available. Make sure to buy something else from the store, too; they may be free to you, but they certainly aren’t free for the people providing them.

In the afternoon, there’s the AMHI Halloween Walk. Anime Matsuri Hawaii and KZOO Radio are co-hosting this stroll through Ala Moana Center. Dress to impress in your finest cosplay or J-fashion coordinates, and you could win an upgrade to a Superpass — the convention’s VIP pass — or a free autograph session with a guest who’d normally have a paid session. The fun starts in front of the KZOO studio in Shirokiya at 2 p.m. Saturday and runs through 4 p.m.

After the walk, you have several options: Stick around to hand out treats in front of the KZOO studio between 5 and 6 p.m. (download the security release form here); position yourself for nighttime Halloween hijinks in Waikiki; or head over to the Blaisdell Concert Hall for the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra’s live performance of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Or if you prefer (or live closer toward west or central Oahu and don’t feel like driving aaaaaaaaall the way into town), you could hop into your vehicle of choice and head on over to attend the Halloween Cosplay Runway at Pearlridge Center. Kawaii Kon and Comic Con Honolulu are hosting this kickoff to Pearlridge Center’s Trick-or-Treat Extravaganza. Talk about your costume, then just work it on stage, baby. That’s taking place at the Pearlridge Uptown Center Court from 5 to 6 p.m.

Have fun and stay safe out there, folks. And don’t eat too much candy. You’ll rot your teeth out.

Elsewhere around town

Anime Matsuri Hawaii: I’ll have a full update on all the upcoming cons in my next post, but for now I should mention that the deadline for online preregistration for AMHI is fast approaching; cutoff time is 11:59 p.m. local time Saturday. So if you’ve been on the fence about attending this convention on Thanksgiving weekend, now’s the time to decide if you’re going to pay $55 for a three-day pass for it (or $20 if there’s a child ages 6-12 involved, or $150 if you’d like to go the VIP Superpass route). Tickets for the Grand Tea Party at the Ala Moana Hotel ($35; Sunday, Nov. 29, noon-3 p.m.) are also running scarce. Guests include voice actors Maile Flanagan, Johnny Yong Bosch and Crispin Freeman; Justin Rojas from Funimation; Masahiko Otsuka, Studio Trigger president; professional cosplayers Vampy, Goldy, Yuegene Fay, Stella Chuu and Reiko; Yui Minakata, fashion model featured in KERA and the Gothic Lolita Bible; and fashion designers Shunsuke Hasegawa (Putumayo) and Chinatsu Taira (Metamorphose). Visit hawaii.animematsuri.com.

The Anthem of the Heart: From the makers of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day: The Movie: The One Based on the Anime Series: Which They Also Did comes another tale of emotionally scarred youths which, judging by the official synopsis, seems like it could be another tearjerker:

Jun is a girl whose words have been sealed away. She was once a happy girl, but because of a certain thing she said when she was very young, her family was torn apart. One day, the egg fairy appeared in front of her and sealed away her ability to talk in order to stop her from hurting anybody else. Since this traumatic experience, Jun lives in the shadows away from the limelight. But, one day she is nominated to become an executive member of the “community outreach council.” On top of that, Jun is also appointed to play the main lead in their musical…

Bring your tissues or handkerchiefs to the Consolidated Ward Stadium 16 theaters at 7 p.m. Monday and noon Nov. 7. For more info on the movie, visit anthemoftheheart.com.

Ota-cool Incoming: I’ve been waiting for this day!

Last week in Otaku Ohana: Your friendly neighborhood anime/manga/cartooning blogger jots down every known detail of every upcoming event he knows about. “Yay! That’s done!” he says. “Now I can finally start working on those HawaiiCon and Amazing Comic Con wrap-up reports!”

This week in Otaku Ohana: The Honolulu Museum of Art, in conjunction with Kawaii Kon, announces its lineup for “Japanese Cinema Spotlight,” a month’s worth of Japanese film screenings at the Doris Duke Theatre — including many popular anime and anime-related films screened in Honolulu this year — as a way of leading up to a major exhibit on Japanese street fashion opening at the museum next month. Blogger weeps openly.

Indeed, local otaku, your busy October — which, as you may recall from previous posts, includes an Anime Day, an Anime Ohana, Ingress First Saturday, a Gamer Expo, Boruto and live-action Attack on Titans, and of course ~~National Cosplay Recognition Day~~ Halloween, has just gotten even busier.

Thirteen films will be shown as part of the Spotlight throughout the month; the five relevant to our Otaku Ohana interests here are:

Attack on Titan: Live-action humans taking on CGI Titans? Sure, the movies have been getting skewered by awful reviews, but you know what? We’ve been waiting for this day! (Hopefully with fixed subtitles. Sorry for your misfortune, San Francisco, but thanks for something that will be endlessly meme-able for a 24-hour cycle.) Part 1, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday; Part 2, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20, 22 and 27.

When Marnie Was There: Studio Ghibli’s last film for the foreseeable future had a short run at the Hawaii International Film Festival’s Spring Showcase in April, then a wider theatrical release in June. It’s actually out on home video on Tuesday, but hey, the theater experience is always better, right? Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson, the story follows Anna, a foster child and a bit of a loner who finds a mysterious new friend, Marnie, during a summer stay in Hokkaido. 1 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Oct. 10.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness: A documentary profiling Ushiko, the Studio Ghibli cat. Oh yeah, and you also get a behind-the-scenes look at Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki and directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata around the time they were working on The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, respectively. My priorities may be reversed here. Because caaaaaaaaaaaat. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Oct. 10.

Love Live: The School Idol Movie: Back in 2013, we first met second-year student Honoka Kosaka and her efforts to save her school from shutting down by forming a nine-member idol group, µ’s. Now we’ve reached the point where the senior members are about to graduate and µ’s is ready to dissolve … until they receive news of a special event. Is this their last hurrah? Could this be a springboard moment for the rest of their lives? 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Oct. 15 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28.

Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 for museum members. For tickets and a complete listing of films and showtimes (the original Godzilla is in there, too!), visit honolulumuseum.org/pages/15342-japanese_cinema_spotlight_2015

Elsewhere around town

“Japanese Mythology in Film”: Japanese mythology is at the core of a new book by Yoshiko Okuyama, an associate professor of Japanese studies at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The book, Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime, takes a scholarly approach of analyzing films with such themes, including anime like Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and the live-action Onmyoji, Onmyoji 2, Dororo, Mushi-shi and Departures. Join her for a talk on these topics — and maybe more! — at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Moore Hall room 258, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday. The talk is free and open to the public.

Ingress First Saturday: Ever wanted to learn how to play Niantic Labs’ massively multiplayer augmented reality smartphone game? Feel like honing your skills and learning playing tips from high-level agents? Want to meet The Face of Hawaii Ingress ™ in person? Care to see what Niantic is capable of producing before their new likely-to-be-a-megahit collaboration with Nintendo, Pokemon Go, goes live and turns what we’ve known for several years as the Hawaiian Netmender Fountain portal into Jigglypuff? Come to Kapiolani Park for a day of cross-factional rivalry, fellowship, and … triangles! Lots! And lots! Of TRIANGLES~!

Meet at the Diamond Head Landmark portal (www.ingress.com/intel?ll=21.265395,-157.82058&z=17&pll=21.265395,-157.82058 for those of you with scanners; about halfway between the Waikiki Aquarium and the Natatorium on the park side of Kalakaua Avenue for those who don’t). To the Enlightened, may the odds be forever in your favor. To the Resistance, umm … enjoy the cross-factional potluck afterward? Yeah. That’s it. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Anime Day at Windward Mall: Everything you loved about Kawaii Kon’s past Anime Days will be back for another round, including the Cosplay Runway, games, art activities (including the giant art wall!), discounted three-day passes for Kawaii Kon 2016, a selection of Artist Alley vendors (including artists Jon J. Murakami and Roy Chang, and the Star-Advertiser’s own Erika Engle and her handcrafted jewelry!) and a mall-wide stamp rally for the chance to win a fabulous prize. All of this happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the mall, 46-056 Kamehameha Highway. And, of course, admission is free!

Gamer Expo 2015: Remember when I said last week that the second annual edition of what’s been called the state’s largest video game event would be happening Saturday at the Modern Honolulu? Hit the giant virtual reset button on those plans, because now the event is taking place a full 25 hours later, from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday at the Ala Moana Hotel. Aside from that very-important-albeit-coming-at-short-notice change, everything else remains the same: tournaments for pretty much all the hot games out there (Super Smash Bros.! Hearthstone! Halo! Street Fighter! League of Legends! More!), a retro gaming section, and pretty much all the pew-pew-hack-slash-kick-punch-it’s-all-in-the-mind action you could possibly want. Special guests include Super Smash Bros. pro players Corey “False” Shin, Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland, William “Dkwill” Walsh, Max “Max Ketchum” Krchmar and Michael “MikeKirby” Alvare, and noted Hearthstone streamer Hafu. Professional cosplayers Leah Rose and Uncanny Megan will also be there! Presented by eSports HI; $25 general admission, $43 VIP pass.

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. Sunday.

Keiki Courtyard Cinema presents My Neighbor Totoro: Twenty-seven years(!) after it was first released in Japan, the Hayao Miyazaki-directed tale of two girls and oh-so-huggable furry creatures of all sizes remains one of anime’s most beloved showcases. For proof, let’s go back to this year’s Kawaii Kon Art Auction.

This is “Flower Crown Totoro,” a canvas print by Amanda Coronado. It sold for $270.

This is “Green Totoro,” a watercolor canvas print by Cari Corene. It sold for $300.

This is “Totoro Trio Happy Days,” a stack of plushies by I’m Sew Stuffed. It sold for $300.

… you get the idea. Popular. Eminently bankable. And it’ll be screening for free at the Ward Village Courtyard — the revamped area by the IBM Building — as part of Ward’s ongoing Courtyard Cinema series. A food truck will be there, free popcorn will be available, fun and educational activities will be going on … sounds like a great time for the young and young-at-heart. Sure, it’s the English dubbed version, but it’s free Totoro. Come on. You have to love that. While the screening’s free, tickets are required and can be obtained via the Hawaii International Film Festival ticket site, hiff.tix.com/schedule.aspx?OrgNum=2034&VenueCode=14757. Gates open at 6 p.m. Wednesday; film starts at sundown.

Anime Ohana: This convention, started by Kawaii Kon founder Stan Dahlin and Sentai Filmworks producer David Williams, will feature voice actors Jessica Calvello (Hange Zoe, Attack on Titan; Yuri, Dirty Pair), Monica Rial (Kaede Kayano, Assassination Classroom) and David Matranga (the title role in Orphen) and all the usual accouterments we’ve come to know and love from the other four conventions so far this year. Oct. 9-11, Pagoda Hotel, 1525 Rycroft St. For the latest news, visit the event page at facebook.com/events/742706302513876/; for passes (available in 1-3 day varieties for both children and adults), visit animeohana.com.

Remember the Titans (and the idol girls, Milk Cow and ninjas)

Over the 12 years or so that I’ve been keeping track of the local anime/manga fan community, I’ve seen a number of different series rise and fall in popularity. There was the Inu-Yasha era, the Naruto era, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ouran High School Host Club, Hetalia, Adventure Time, that weird Homestuck anomaly (shudder), Minecraft. And now, we’re squarely in the age of Attack on Titan, the franchise where massive vein-popping naked humanoids stomp around the planet, gobble up regular people (Eren’s mom, ewwwwww nooooooo) like we eat french fries, battle with the Avengers, attend junior high school and star in spinoff after spinoff after spinoff.

One adaptation has gotten a fair amount of attention over the past few months: the Attack on Titan live-action movies, in which real-life people battle real-life CGI Titans. You can see all your favorites — Eren! Mikasa! Armin! ~~Levi!~~ — as they would appear as if they were real and dwelt among us. Here, have a trailer.

To say English-speaking audiences have been eagerly anticipating these movies could be an understatement. The announcement that tickets were on sale came on Monday, with the Consolidated Ward Stadium 16 theaters and the Doris Duke Theater at the Honolulu Museum of Arts listed as local venues; as I’m writing this post on Wednesday, the Thursday, Oct. 1 screening is completely sold out. (Pure speculation on my part, but could Kawaii Kon or one of our other local cons have snapped up all those tickets? This happened before in 2013, when Evangelion 3.0: You Will (Never) Get This Film on Home Video sold out one screening, then promptly re-emerged as part of a Kawaii Kon promotion.)

If you were interested in seeing this film on the big screen — Part 1 in particular — you might want to get those tickets soon. Fair warning, though: Part 1, at least, may fall short of your expectations. And Part 2, for those of you who may have watched Part 1 through *cough* other means, may not be much better. Consolidated Ward Stadium 16; 7 p.m. Sept. 30 (Part 1) and 7 p.m. Oct. 20 and Oct. 22 (Part 2). is Duke Theater screenings TBA.

Also coming soon to a theater near you (as long as “near you” is urban Honolulu):

Love Live! The School Idol Movie: Back in 2013, we first met second-year student Honoka Kosaka and her efforts to save her school from shutting down by forming a nine-member idol group, µ’s. Two anime series and a popular rhythm/card-collecting/relationship simulator/special-event-obsession-magnet game for iOS and Android later, we’ve reached the point where the senior members are about to graduate and µ’s is ready to dissolve … until they receive news of a special event. Is this their last hurrah? Could this be a springboard moment for the rest of their lives? Is it possible that your friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger already looked at the Love Live wiki and read the entire movie plot summary because he’ll be away attending HawaiiCon when this film screens on Oahu? (The answers: can’t say, can’t say, and OKAY YES I’M ALSO THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO CHEATS AND SKIPS AHEAD TO THE ENDS OF BOOKS BEFORE READING THE MIDDLE PARTS.) While supplies last, you can also get a randomly selected shikishi (image board) of one of the nine µ’s members! Consolidated Ward Stadium 16, noon Sept. 12 and 7 p.m. Sept. 14.

The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow: As I noted above, there aren’t any screening times listed yet for the Attack on Titan movies at the Doris Duke Theater. While I was looking, though, something else caught my eye: The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow, an animated feature screening as part of Seoul Cinema 2015, a mini festival of contemporary films from South Korea. The synopsis … well, here, excerpted from the museum website:

An orbiting female satellite picks up a lovelorn pop song on her radio antenna and descends to Earth to try to discover who could be the source of such heartfelt emotions. On the way, she is transformed into the Satellite Girl, complete with Astro Boy-like rocket shoes and weapon-firing limbs, while the balladeer in question—a loser twenty-something playing at an open mic in a coffee shop—meets the fate that befalls all broken-hearted lovers: he is turned into a cow. There is more: a wizard in the form of a roll of toilet paper, an all-consuming incinerator monster, a pig witch.

And then there’s this publicity still.

Omega-squee. Milk Cow for the win, people. 11:10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sept. 20 (free admission!), 1 p.m. Sept. 26 ($10 general, $8 members).

Boruto: Naruto the Movie: Proving that The Last: Naruto the Movie really wasn’t the last Naruto movie, here comes … umm … the last Naruto movie. Until the next one, I suppose, although it really seems like series creator Masashi Kishimoto will be taking a break from ninja tales for a while. This time out, Naruto’s the one tasked with the mature duties — he is the Seventh Hokage for the Hidden Leaf Village now, after all — while Boruto is playing the rebellious wild child role. But when Sasuke shows up to warn of impending doom, and said doom arrives on their doorstep … well, we’ve been through 11 movies and a bajillion anime episodes and manga chapters, you probably know what’s coming next: camaraderie, coming-of-age, teamwork, friendship, respect, all that fun shounen manga stuff. Consolidated Ward Stadium 16, noon Oct. 10 and 7 p.m. Oct. 12.

1 day, Sunday, Otaku Fest fun day

We’ve reached that part of the otaku calendar where we won’t be able to go more than three weeks without a major event popping up. Starting with the Otaku Summer Festival on Sunday, we have HawaiiCon (kicking off in three weeks), Amazing Hawaii Comic Con (the week after HawaiiCon), McCully-Moiliili Public Library’s annual Mini Con (the week after AHCC) and Anime Ohana (two weeks after Mini Con). Whew! I really hope I don’t get sick again during that stretch; because that … would not be good. It seems like I’ve had colds during the most inopportune times this year.

But I digress; there’s an Otaku Summer Festival being hosted by Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu (1239 Olomea St.; it’s that shrine you see off the freeway approaching the Vineyard Boulevard exit going eastbound) that needs to be discussed. It’s seven hours on Sunday crammed with stuff fans like to see. Let’s run down the lineup:

Special guests: Headlining the event is Kyle Hebert, the actor best known as the voice of Kiba in Naruto, Kamina in Gurren Lagann, the older version of Gohan and the narrator in Dragon Ball Z and Ryu in the newer Street Fighter games. He’ll host an hourlong panel starting at 10:30 a.m. and be available for autographs and photos throughout the day at the Hawaii Video Gaming League table. Also scheduled to appear is author Ryter Rong, who will be talking about her new book, Ireland Calls My Name, from noon to 12:30 p.m.

A number of performers will be on hand throughout the day as well; Ryusei Taiko will help kick off the festivities, and the Hanayagi Dance Academy comes in to perform around 10 a.m. Closing out the festival will be Crimson Apple, the local band with a debut album Kickstarter, which is less than $2,000 away from their goal with six days left (come on, people, let’s make this happen).

Food: The festival marks the formal return of The AniMaid Cafe, where servers dressed as maids and butlers serve patrons snacks and drinks and even play tabletop games for a small fee. (They’ll also do a dance routine around 11:30 a.m.) If that’s not your thing, Simply Ono will have a truck parked outside serving up ramen burgers, shoyu pork, kalua pig, poke bowls and more, and a second truck will have yakitori and takoyaki available.

Tons o’ merch: Charisma Industries, Sewing Dragon (hand-sewn plushies) and Shironekoya (kimono and collectible miniature dolls) will be selling their wares, and artists Jon J. Murakami, Devin Oishi, Dennis Imoto and Andy Lee will have tables as well. There also will be a “swap meet” table, so surely there’s something you’ll want to buy, yes?

Competitive opportunities: Cosplayers will want to get in on the cosplay contest at 1 p.m. — register with the AniMaid Cafe by noon! — with prizes in categories including Best Craftsmanship and Best in Character. The grand prize winner will get a photoshoot with Canaan Kutzen of Adept Productions at the Byodo-In Temple at Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kaneohe.

Not into cosplay? There will be other festival games to play (including goldfish scooping!), with a good reason to play all of them: the official Otaku Summer Festival Stamp Card Rally.

Fill out a card and turn it in, and you could be eligible for fabulous prizes, including the official banner hanging outside the shrine right now signed by all the guests and invitations to the staff-only after-party.

The Otaku Summer Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; parking will be available both near the shrine and at Damien Memorial High School. We’ll see if The Cold That Refuses to Die (one week and counting, *sigh*) allows me to attend; right now I’d say the chances are looking pretty remote, but then again I did say in this space that I wouldn’t be at Comic Con Honolulu and I ended up showing up there anyway, so we shall see, I guess. For the most up-to-date information, visit fb.com/otakusummerfestival.

Movies and myths and meanings, oh my!

Throw me a good story rooted in Japanese mythology, and I will make every effort to try to watch or read it. It worked with Studio Ghibli favorites like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Pom Poko and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, other series/movies like Mushi-shi, Summer Days With Coo and (GeGeGe no) Kitaro, and probably countless other series that I’d love to get around to eventually.

Japanese mythology also happens to be at the core of a new book by Yoshiko Okuyama, an associate professor of Japanese studies at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The book, Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime, takes a scholarly approach of analyzing films with such themes, including anime like Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and the aforementioned Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and the live-action Onmyoji, Onmyoji 2, Dororo, Mushi-shi and Departures. But before you click away to go watch, say, Himouto! Umaru-chan, scared off by the phrases “semiotic” and “scholarly approach” in the last sentence, I should note that the book’s written for pretty much anyone who knows anything about Japanese films and mythology. If that’s your thing, then you’ll probably want to check out this book. Here’s a link; you can get 30 percent off cover price by using the code “LEX30AUTH15” at checkout.

But let’s say paying $60-$85 for a book is a tad out of your price range at the moment. No worries; you can still get a taste of what she wrote about through a series of talks she’s going to be giving on four major islands in the next few months. Her first talk is actually coming up … ummmm … Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Hilo Public Library. Which is less than 24 hours from when this post is going live. Apologies for the really late notice; I’ve been dealing with (yet another) cold these past few days. Here’s the list of other confirmed appearances to date:

Kauai

Sept. 19: Hanapepe Public Library, 10-11 a.m.; Princeville Public Library, 3-4 p.m.
Sept. 21: Kauai Community College, Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET), room 106 C/D, noon-1:30 p.m.; Lihue Public Library, conference room, 5-6 p.m.

Maui

Sept. 22: Kahului Public Library, 6-7 p.m.
Sept. 23: Wailuku Public Library, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Sept. 24: UH-Maui College, noon-1 p.m.

Oahu

Oct. 2: UH-Manoa Center for Japanese Studies Seminars, Moore Hall, room 319, 3-4 p.m.

There are a few other tentative dates as well; I’ll add them to the Ota-cool Incoming calendar as I receive them.

By the way, while I’m talking about Ms. Okuyama, let me throw in this quiet announcement and see if anyone notices: I recently accepted her invitation to speak for an hour at UH-Hilo about things related to the local anime/manga fan community. It’ll be on Tuesday, Sept. 15 — a few days after HawaiiCon wraps up, and on the last birthday of my 30s, to boot! Exact time and location have yet to be determined. It’ll either be fun or a total train wreck … hopefully more of the former than the latter. Fingers crossed!

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