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< Piro >

that other site...

"if cosplay is love..."

Friday - July 12, 2002

[Piro] - 12:34:02 - [link here]

Then doujinshi is pain. :)

Y'know, it's been a long time since i've done an OSE (One Shot Episode). I was drawing the stuff for what was originally going to be today's comic and it was taking forever (there are some days that the art just doesnt flow well, and when you start late, it sucks that much more). So, after realizing there was no way in pipe cleaner hell that i was gonna finish on time, i put this together instead. :)

Also, i felt the real need to give props to the Bioware guys. A few weeks ago i got this really nice package from Canada, and inside was a copy of NWN signed by all the people who had worked on it. I gotta say, thanks guys, it's sitting in a prominent space on my shelf next to my DigiCharat paws and signed Love Hina manga #1. :) You guys rock, plain and simple. And you KNOW largo hasn't come up for air since it came out :P I have NWN loaded on the machine Seraphim uses, and she has instructions to smack me if get anywhere near it - god, for a few free days to dive into this game (sigh) maybe someday soon.

I suddenly have this really bad idea for a NWN vs Warcraft strip... curse you dom... make these thoughts go away. ^^;;

In other news, plans for Otakon are going well - at least as well as this bunch can plan things. According to the poll which ran for a week, out of 9601 votes, 1193 people said they were 'definately' comming, 1284 said they were 'thinking about it'. So, based on poll results vs. actual crowd at Akon (that poll told us about 480 people were comming to the con, 550 showed up at the panel) well... we might have a LOT of people comming to see Naze Nani Megatokyo Live ^^;;;. The Otakon folks have given us the biggest room they can, but i am starting to think that its still not gonna be big enough. Geh... Where the heck do all you people come from????

So, in an effort to try to make sure everyone has a chance to see us at the con, i'm going to see about getting a second time slot - one later that night. Right now, we are scheduled for 3pm or so on Saturday - i'll see what i can do to get a midnight slot for "Late Night with Megatokyo - NeverNaked Nights" (tentative title)

... er... no, scratch that title...

Anyways, i figure we can do a less formal panel/presentation later that night for those who cant get into the first one. I'd rather plan this NOW rather than at the con. Please keep an eye on the website here the week before the con for the latest updates on our offical schedule and times. As always, i'll spend all the time i can at the Megatokyo table in artist's alley giving out sketches and stuff. I'll bring more index cards this time.

Oh, and i'm planning on doing some artwork for the artshow.

this is actually a big reversal on my normal policy of not putting my work in con art shows or selling it. Why? Well, two reasons. First off, i had a very interesting conversation with the lady who ran the A-kon art show that enlightnened me to a few things. I always felt that it wasnt fair to post my work because i didnt want to crowd out interest in the other work presented in the show. It was pointed out to me that by putting work in the show it would draw people TO the artshow which would be good for the other artists - not bad. I thought about this and decided that she might be right.

I'm of the opinion that these Anime Conventions, which to fans are *really* events where they can gather and meet thier online friends and have some fun for a weekend, need to shift thier official focus a little. To me, they concentrate a little too much on suckin money out of youngster's hands in the dealers rooms. (it bothers me when you have young teens quite literally begging for money outside of the dealer room near the end of a con) Anime cons are not needed as much as they used to be for anime merchandise because most stuff can easily be found online these days. To me, fandom of any sort should have as much to do with creative expression as spending money to buy things.

What's the biggest creative outlet at cons for fans? Cosplaying. I'd like to see the role of artists alleys, fan-produced art and other stuff take a larger role in cons than they do. Most art shows are stuffed away in little rooms that that are hard to find at cons. Think about it - conventions in japan are about FAN works (doujinshi), not where you can buy anime merchandise. I think that this is gradually happening, and i'd like to see it nudged along even more.

Oh, and secondly, the reason for allowing a peice of artwork to go up for auction... i have to face facts, i need a new server. The forums, when more than 100 people start using them at once, tend to lock them up pretty hard. The current server just can't handle it. So i figure i'll put a original piece for auction and use the funds from that to seed the 'New Server' fund. It's gonna have to be a really nice peice of art tho, if i will let anyone pay for it. we'll see if i can actually do anything of good enough quality.

As for the 'outfit' seraphim is making for me... heh. It's looking pretty good. Seraphim is amazing. She can do anything. :)

Oh, almost forgot, one of the things we will be doing for this presentation is answering questions sent in via email (gives us a chance to work them into the presentation) so go ahead and email your questions to nazenani@megatokyo.com, and we'll select the ones we feel like answering. :) We already have a bunch, but i dont know if everyone saw the bit about it in dom's rants. I mean, i dont read them. :P

Lessee, what else. Oh, for some reason Megatokyo seems to have won some awards or something over at the 2002 Cartoonist's Choice Awards. I don't really know why MT would win anything - certainly not best comic and stuff. ^^;; Anyways, thank you very much - award's like this should be won by comics and people who deserve it, and MT doesnt really fall into that category (especially lately). I'm honored to have been selected over the many other fine comics listed. Thank you.

Finally, i'd like to wish Best Wishes to Akamatsu Ken and his wife, who are getting married this weekend. :) (Akamatsu Ken is the manga-ka for Love Hina, and the MT crew had a chance to have lunch with him and his wife at Anime Central - they are just the nicest people and a sweet couple.). I was going to try to finish a gift art for them, but i just have not had the time to do anything worthy :(. Congrats and best wishes from all your fans in the states! :)

I have another big announcement next week too - something that i've been working on for months (many months) has finally come together, and you'll see a few exciting things happin here in a few weeks (probably around the same time as oktaon) I am so gonna need a break after otakon...

it's times like these that i am so glad i have stuff like the 'boards of canada' to chill to... downtempo chill ownz...

----

Megatokyo will
be appearing at:
Otakon 2002 - July 26, 27 and 28
in Baltimore, MD
July 26, 27 and 28.
nyow.

- - - - Support Megatokyo! - - - -

New Capture the Bear poster availible - support MT, buy a poster. they are cool. :P

If you would like to advertise on Megatokyo.com (it's not too expensive, it helps us pay our hosting bills, and we have a really way-cool-l33t banner administration system), please email us at mtstudios@megatokyo.com. for more info.

< Dom >

This picture courtesy of Bunny (B. Jenet in the pic)

"Conventioneering v1.01"

Friday - July 19, 2002

[Dom] - 04:00:00 - [link here]

(addition 7/19) Looking over at Penny Arcade, it looks like Gabe and Batjew are doing a good deal of Warcrafting. Therefore, I would like to issue an friendly challenge to both of them for a 2v2 game on b.net some time. Random races if you want, chosen races otherwise... and of course all in the interest of having fun and learning some more tidbits of strategery. I've already e-mailed Gabe about it, but I figure putting it on the web wouldn't hurt. :) (end addition 7/19)

Alright, the rage has passed. But now I'm going to hate on people who decide to play "hide the farm" behind some trees... there's no point in doing it except to annoy people and prolong an already-over game. I just don't see the appeal. But then again, I'm not the kind of asshole that gets off on annoying people at games--I'm just your run-of-the-mill asshole.

Second, I've been sifting through the nazenani address. And people keep asking about the book. Well, we're hoping one will be out by Halloween, but Skull keeps using the copy machine to xerox his ass. So I guess maybe around Christmas. So please, stop asking about the book!

Anyway. Anime Expo.

I just did a decently long look at Anime Expo for m'job, so I'll keep this one brief, which I guess is becoming my trademark.

First of all, the Million Maximo March. People FLAKED. BIG-TIME. All of you wannabe Maximos out there (save the five who showed up) of you are bastards. I'm holding it again next year, since so many people said they'd recruit. As for the Otakon MMM--well, someone e-mail me with a convenient and legal location... I'll plan it for then. And let's make this one... I guess Friday evening?

I place my hopes in Raijin for the future of US manga. Mostly because I like City Hunter and Grappler Baki, and anyone that can bring Slam Dunk TV to the US gets my vote. Also, I don't think a monthly Shounen Jump running One Piece will -ever- catch up, given it runs weekly. Oh well, there's always the Japanese manga (for me, at least).

I am still amazed that Urban Vision is doing an animated version of... the Sammy Sosa story. I'm sure it's a good story, but... I dunno.

And last but not least, Cosplay is pain too. But also love. See above! (addition 7/19) I've gotten some e-mail asking for me to clarify this statement. Well, after talking to a few more experienced cosplayers than I, cosplayers are _the_ most vulnerable to criticism. People can, and will, tell you to your face that you're fat, ugly, your costume sucks, and you have no right to cosplay. Sure, people do that with doujin, but more often than not they just criticize it while you're happily off doing another one. Or you're just getting nasty e-mails rather than being mocked by a group--which is distinctly unkind but rather frequent. And then there are all the stories about lonely, starving, cold, miserable cosplayers waiting in line for construction judging, unable to leave the line for food or drink... and the late nights at sewing machines just before con (or at con)... it's hell, this hobby of ours. Well. It's worse on the girls, simply because those costumes tend to be more complex.(end addition 7/19)

I'll add to this later when I'm less tired. Zugzug.

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